Chapter 28 | You Said You Only Wanted to Die

Li Nanzhu didn't wake up until the next day.

The talisman ink on the table had been overturned, just as she had expected. Fortunately, the completed talismans were not easily soiled, though it was a pity about the rest of the talisman paper.

After her first successful drawing, she had simply kept going, forgetting that a beginner’s inability to properly master their mental power would lead to it being completely drained by the talisman paper.

Usually, it was recommended to rest after every two or three sheets.

She had drawn eight in one go, directly depleting her mental power and causing her to collapse.

Her head was still swimming, so Li Nanzhu brewed some spirit-tempering tea. Finally, her head began to feel much better.

While resting, Li Nanzhu took a careful look at the talismans she had drawn yesterday. She had been in such a good flow that she hadn't had time to inspect the finished products.

Looking closely now, she discovered they were actually all tier 1 mid-grade talismans.

After taking inventory, excluding the first dust-cleansing talisman she drew, there were two Heart-Calming Talismans, one Blood-Stopping Talisman, three Protection Talismans, and two Lighting Talismans.

However, because her cultivation was currently too low and it was her first time drawing them, the effect of the Protection Talismans was limited to defending against a single ordinary blow from a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Still, they were more than sufficient for those in the Qi Condensation stage.

Li Nanzhu was very satisfied, though it was a shame they weren't high-grade. She would have to draw more to improve.

After tidying everything up, Li Nanzhu went straight to the Library Pavilion.

She had been spending her time reading basic introductions to the cultivation world and books related to talismans, so this was the first time she seriously looked at the layout of the entire building.

The Library Pavilion had five floors. Each floor contained cultivation techniques of different levels; the higher the floor, the more advanced the techniques. According to Mu Wenyan, the manuals he had given her to practice previously were all taken from the fifth floor.

Previously, Li Nanzhu had only lingered on the first floor, looking at the basics. If she wanted a good mental power cultivation technique, it seemed she would have to go to the fifth floor.

From reading novels in her past life, Li Nanzhu knew that each floor of the Sword Heart Sect's Library Pavilion had restrictions. For example, outer disciples could only enter the first floor, inner disciples could enter the second and third, and so on.

At the same time, one had to have a disciple token and register to enter. Furthermore, various books were not allowed to be taken out and could only be read within the Library Pavilion.

However, the Five Elements Dao Sect had no such restrictions.

After all, the entire sect only had ten people.

Who would these restrictions even be restricting?

According to Mu Wenyan, Feng Yi's original words were: "I'm the Sect Master, so I can set whatever rules I want. Why have so many restrictions just to enter the Library Pavilion? Just cancel them all. Look for whatever you want to see yourself."

Therefore, Li Nanzhu could easily go up to the highest floor, a place where only those at the elder level could enter in other sects.

If Cang Dongqing knew about this, would she be twisted with jealousy?

Li Nanzhu hummed a little tune and walked straight up to the fifth floor.

However, the scene on the fifth floor was clearly different from what she had imagined.

She had thought the books on the fifth floor would be few and the space wouldn't be very large.

But to her surprise, the space on the fifth floor was actually much larger than the first, and even the books inside seemed to stretch on without end.

Li Nanzhu stepped back to the stairs and re-entered.

That's right, it's the fifth floor. Wait, are all the manuals of the Five Elements Dao Sect concentrated on the fifth floor?

But Li Nanzhu had also glanced at the other floors as she came up; they were all filled with books and various jade slips, so it didn't look like they were fake.

Or was it that the top floors of all large sects were like this?

Li Nanzhu shook her head. If she couldn't figure it out, she wouldn't think about it. She started searching through the bookshelves row by row.

Fortunately, although there were many cultivation manuals, they weren't difficult to find. Each bookshelf was clearly labeled with the type of technique it held.

Li Nanzhu even saw many different pill recipes and equipment diagrams.

Pulling one out at random to look, Li Nanzhu almost choked on her own saliva.

It was actually the recipe for the Foundation Establishment Pill, which was said to have been lost.

One should know that there were very few pills currently available in the cultivation world to help with breakthroughs because the recipes had been lost. Even the Shenmu Sect, which was the most skilled at concocting pills, had been relying on stock left behind from long ago.

It was only because pills didn't expire that they could still be sold.

She hadn't expected to find it on the fifth floor of the Five Elements Dao Sect's Library Pavilion.

Li Nanzhu pulled out several more in succession. Not just pills, but even magic tools, talismans, and arrays—she found many things that had been lost for countless years.

Li Nanzhu felt that the more she dug into her sect, the more ridiculous it seemed.

Things that were lost to everyone else were piled up in heaps at the Five Elements Dao Sect.

However, since she hadn't learned the other subjects yet, she simply packed all the talisman-related materials into her storage bag to study slowly once she returned.

After searching for a while longer, Li Nanzhu finally found the mental power cultivation technique she had been longing for.

Flipping through it briefly, just a few glances allowed her to faintly grasp the method for cultivating mental power.

It was indeed a very high-level technique. She didn't know what grade it was, but Li Nanzhu didn't care as long as it was useful.

After taking another lap to confirm there were no other books she needed, Li Nanzhu returned directly to her courtyard and began cultivating her mental power according to the book.

Perhaps because she had drunk a lot of spirit-tempering tea earlier, Li Nanzhu didn't feel the difficult or stagnant sensation mentioned in the book. On the contrary, after practicing, she felt even more refreshed.

However, on the final page of the book, Li Nanzhu saw a sentence.

【If one fails to comprehend it for a long time and the power of the mind is difficult to master, one can use an appropriate magic tool to attack their own sea of consciousness, which also aids in cultivating mental power.】

Li Nanzhu: "..."

Wait, who wrote this?

Attacking one's own sea of consciousness could very likely turn someone into an idiot if they weren't careful. Unless one specifically pursued mental cultivation, mental power would slowly strengthen as one used their divine sense after reaching the Golden Core stage, though the increase would be very small.

So what kind of psychopath would attack their own sea of consciousness for no reason to practice?

Li Nanzhu flipped through the entire book carefully again and confirmed that this sentence had been added later.

It was likely written by some unreliable senior of the sect.

Li Nanzhu really wanted to ask: Did you try this yourself after writing it?

But although her current mental power cultivation was going smoothly, it was still far from the effect Li Nanzhu wanted.

If using mental power to draw talismans before was passive use, now she could actively choose how much mental power to use each time. She could actively stop it, so drawing a single talisman wouldn't cause her mental power to cover the entire sheet.

At the very least, it now covered only half the sheet.

The most perfect state for drawing a talisman should be having the mental power cover only the lines of the patterns.

Still, Li Nanzhu reluctantly accepted her current progress.

According to her method yesterday, she could draw 8 sheets; after saving power, she should be able to draw 16.

Cultivating mental power was a long process; she certainly couldn't fully master it in just a few hours.

But being able to reach this level within a few hours was already an exceptionally gifted existence—Li Nanzhu simply didn't know it.

She simply picked up her brush again to start drawing talismans. To prevent herself from fainting again, she decided to draw 15 sheets this time. That way, she shouldn't pass out.