Hour of the Shadow Ox (07:00 PM - 08:00 PM)
Enchanted Everwood Farm
Returning to his isolated dimension, Aksai was greeted by the perpetually twilight sky.
Making his way into the wooden farmhouse nestled amidst the farm, he sought out his meditation spot.
Settling onto the mattress, he retrieved the jade slip bestowed upon him by Aunt Reta.
"2nd Order Talisman Inheritance," Aksai murmured as he examined the roughly five-inch-long and two-inch-wide jade slip, resembling a perfectly carved ruby-like gem.
Holding it up to his eyes, he noted its remarkable light refraction, akin to that of a glass slab of similar dimensions.
To ordinary mortals, this jade slip would serve as nothing more than a paperweight. Only the cultivators with Nascent Spirit Sense could discern the hidden contents within.
Regulating his breathing through a brief meditation, Aksai directed his Spirit Sense into the slip. Closing his eyes, he delved into the layers of texts and diagrams inscribed within.
The information stored inside the 2nd-order talisman inheritance jade slip was astounding in terms of quantity and quality, to say the least. Aksai found this to be the most comprehensive inheritance he had ever encountered.
The jade slip contained numerous chapters elucidating foundational concepts in talisman-making, detailing various methods and the selection of ingredients. It also explored the dos and don'ts of talisman crafting, as well as their applications in fields such as alchemy and Array Formations.
Moreover, it served as an encyclopedia on both common and rare cultivation resources, outlining their processing methods for talisman creation. It even touched upon stacking talisman effects to amplify their output.
Aksai stayed in a trance-like state reading through the information recorded on the jade slip. He wasn't trying to understand anything at this point. He only wanted to process everything so that the neural link fabric would take care of the rest.
Upon completing his scan of the entire jade slip, Aksai received a notification from the neural link fabric, appearing as a prompt on the Spectral Screen before his eyes. Although it took him more than 4 hours to process everything, the wait was worth it.
[ All data from the jade slip has been successfully copied and saved to the neural link fabric's core memory. No anomalies or data corruption detected. The knowledge can be divided into data packets and safely imprinted onto the hippocampus. ]
A faint smile graced Aksai's lips as he observed the notification appear before him. He carefully stowed away the jade slip into his storage ring, recognizing that it had fulfilled its purpose.
"It's no wonder Aunt Reta kept her late husband's talisman inheritance hidden," Aksai mused, exhaling deeply as he contemplated the gravity of the situation.
"The Spirit farming families in the neighborhood, myself included, assumed it to be a mere 1st-order mid-grade inheritance, but in reality, it's a 2nd-order low-grade one. With the potential to create three 2nd-order low-grade talismans, the implications of such knowledge becoming public... well, it's unsettling to consider.
Even the Lakir family might have been tempted to act against her. The consequences for Aunt Reta and her son could have been dire," Aksai sighed, shaking his head. "I guess I owe her one," he acknowledged silently.
Aksai could surmise why Aunt Reta had entrusted him with this 2nd order talisman inheritance. After a cursory examination, it became evident that Aunt Reta herself wouldn't have been able to fully utilize its potential.
Restricted by her mid-stage Spirit Refining cultivation and limited access to cultivation resources, Aunt Reta specialized in refining 1st order low and mid-grade talismans. This ensured maximum production success with minimal resource wastage.
Despite possessing a 2nd-order talisman inheritance, Aunt Reta's expertise was confined to crafting 1st-order late-stage talismans. To be considered a 2nd-order talisman maker, one must consistently produce 2nd-order talismans, a feat beyond her capabilities.
Thus, Aunt Reta decided to give the entire 2nd order inheritance to Aksai. She believed that he would be like her, restricted by his cultivation and accumulated resources. In the end, he would become an average talisman maker like her.
Even though Aksai had almost no chance of becoming a 2nd order talisman maker, the inheritance was enough for him to make a living. With Aksai acting as a big brother and path paver, Aunt Reta's son would also have a relatively easy time becoming a talisman maker. The two would be able to help each other out and earn together.
One could say that Aunt Reta had put a lot of thought into the gift. It was supposed to benefit Aksai and her biological son both.
Even with the complete recording of the 2nd-order talisman inheritance on his neural link fabric, Aksai couldn't claim the title of a 2nd-order talisman maker. At most, he possessed theoretical knowledge in the field, gaining invaluable insights into crafting 2nd order talismans.
Assimilating theoretical knowledge into practical skill was a protracted process, especially with 2nd order inheritances due to their complexity.
Although Aksai's progress would outpace others, he understood the importance of diligent practice and accumulating firsthand experience. Only when theory and practice harmonized could he rightfully claim the title of a 2nd order talisman maker.
"So, if Array Formations are the so-called big appliances, working on a constant supply of electricity with complicated Printed Circuit Boards in them, then the talismans are like the battery-operated small appliances."
Aksai mused to himself, recalling the information briefly recorded on the jade slip and comparing it with the concepts of his previous world.
"The talismans are small array formations that use simple and straightforward Essence Equations," Aksai continued to ponder, his mind delving deeper into the matter as various paragraphs, diagrams, and methods related to the 2nd-order talisman inheritance flashed before his eyes.
"The Essence Equations act as the Printed Circuit Boards, providing the base of the talisman with certain features and applications.
Change the Essence Equations and you'd end up with a talisman with a completely different use. Two talismans that made use of the same cultivation resources in their production can have two different applications based on their Essence Equations.
For example, the concept of electricity is consistent in both big and small appliances, yet it's the Printed Circuit Boards in them that dictate their respective applications, enabling users to utilize them according to their needs.
This is fascinating, but I suppose I should digest this inheritance slowly. I'll need to prioritize a few things before committing to promoting myself as a 2nd order talisman maker."
Aksai concluded, waving his hand to dismiss the Spectral Screen in front of him.
Aksai was a very patient man.
Even though he had stored the data recorded in the jade slip given to him by Aunt Reta, Aksai hadn't allowed the neural link fabric to imprint the knowledge on his hippocampus yet.
The process of memory imprinting was bound to take a few days once started, during which Aksai could only make use of the neural link fabric's functions in a limited manner.
Plus, his own cultivation as well as regular activities would be affected while the memories were directly being etched onto his mind.
Therefore, unless he dealt with all the lingering matters that needed his immediate attention, Aksai didn't initiate the memory imprinting.
After all, turning the knowledge into the core part of his memory was just one aspect of assimilating with the knowledge recorded in the jade slip. The bigger and more important part was practice, for which Aksai wasn't ready yet.
"Never mind about the amount of practice, the lengthy assimilation period, and the required number of cultivation resources that I am bound to waste on gaining experience," Aksai mused aloud.
"Gaining this 2nd order talisman inheritance can be considered a battle half won. After all, even if someone has money, it is not guaranteed that they can obtain such an inheritances. I wonder how Aunt Reta's husband managed to acquire such a precious thing," he wondered before shaking his head.
Aksai wasn't planning on asking Aunt Reta where her late husband got the inheritance from. After all, every cultivator had some secrets that they safeguarded, even from their closest ones. Asking about such things was considered rude and a breach of privacy.
Aksai was confident that unlike Aunt Reta, who was still stuck as a 1st-order talisman maker, he would eventually be able to become a 2nd order talisman maker using the 2nd-order talisman inheritance as his foundation. So he didn't really need to dig deep.
After all, he could rely on the cultivation resources produced by his Everwood farm to practice the art of talismans. Anything that he didn't grow on his own land could be bought using the wealth generated by the Everwood farm's overall produce.
Plus, Aksai had the help of the neural link fabric. Others in his place might take a few years to a few months to turn the knowledge recorded in the jade slip into part of their core memories. However, Aksai could reduce that time to a few days.
What's more? The neural link fabric would also assist Aksai during the actual talisman production, providing all kinds of support. Some of the processes could be automated after Aksai had executed them enough times, saving him time and energy.
After the neural link fabric had gathered enough data from the live experiments, Aksai could also make it run simulations to derive the success rate of his about-to-be-created talismans. The sandboxing of such events could allow him to avoid a lot of pitfalls while saving on the cultivation resources involved in the actual process.
Aksai's limitations in the production of 1st order and even 2nd order talismans stemmed from his own base cultivation. As long as he kept improving his Spirit cultivation and continued to produce more talismans, he would have practically no bottlenecks in the field.
Technically speaking, only foundation builders were supposed to create 2nd order talismans. However, there were many geniuses in each field who could punch above their weight. If Aksai played his cards right, he too had a chance to become a 2nd-order talisman maker by the time he entered the 9th stage of the Spirit Refining realm.
[ Daily task completed. 7th layer of Basic Greenwood Tantra was executed for 20 cycles. Estimated improvement in cultivation– 0.003%. Automated Cultivation terminated due to diminished gains below the required criteria. ]
While recording the 2nd order inheritance onto the neural link fabric for the last four hours, Aksai also completed his daily cycles of Spirit cultivation using the Automated Cultivation feature.
When he received the notification about Automated Cultivation, he couldn't help feeling a bit downcast.
"My Spirit cultivation has almost stagnated after entering the late-stage Spirit Refining realm. I guess I need to prioritize my body cultivation even more than before. Only then can I have enough confidence to search for information related to late-stage Spirit Refining.
I'll need to increase my individual might before mingling with other late-stage Spirit Refiners to gain some knowledge and perspective from them," Aksai thought as he got up from his position.
As he walked out of the wooden farmhouse, Aksai still seemed lost in thought.
After staying in the 7th stage of Spirit Refining for more than two years and barely improving, Aksai had come to realize that Spirit cultivation wasn't as straightforward as he thought. At least not for someone like him with low-grade Spirit Root Aptitude.
Although there were a few examples of drifting cultivators managing to establish their foundation and enter the 2nd Spirit cultivation realm, to Aksai's knowledge, they could be counted on one hand.
And even then, he suspected that those drifting cultivators had to have a better grade of Spirit Root Aptitude or better cultivation resources than him to overcome the challenges he faced.
Aksai was starting to understand why late-stage Spirit Refining cultivators who were about to reach 50 years of age sought opportunities amidst dangers.
It wasn't that nobody had thought of sticking to Spirit farming and avoiding dangers like him. It was that they couldn't stay put while the deadline to establish the foundation was ticking away, slipping through their fingers like sand.
"Although I'm sure my talent for Spirit cultivation isn't the best, it's not the absolute worst either. So I don't think I should hit pause on the practice of Spirit cultivation and focus all my attention on body cultivation," Aksai mused as he caressed his chin.
It was said that there was no way for one to enhance their lifespan in body cultivation. However, Aksai could feel that his qi-based body cultivation was different, and this general rule didn't apply to him.
As long as he kept advancing into the higher realms of body cultivation, there was a chance for him to pursue Immortality using a different path.
Although the effects of body cultivation on his estimated lifespan weren't apparent yet, Aksai was sure that the picture would change once he entered the 2nd body cultivation realm, which was the Argent Body Realm.
"Hold on a second. Why should I choose between Spirit cultivation and body cultivation when I have decided to walk on the Immortal Path of the druids?" Aksai smiled to himself, pondering.
"The results I have obtained from my recent Spirit bloodline experiments are increasingly promising. I just need more 'guinea pigs' to confirm some of my hypotheses.
Once I do that, most of the hurdles related to body cultivation and Spirit cultivation should resolve on their own."
As a farmer reaps what they sow, so too shall you harvest the fruits of your labor.
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