"Please correct me, Elder Wang."
Ye Ling said nothing more. He picked up the brush from the table and began to draw.
After all, he was facing an elder, not Leng Qingqiu, whom he could tease freely. If he agitated Elder Wang into a heart attack, this celebration would turn into a funeral.
So Ye Ling held back a little and did not directly form hand seals to condense the characters.
In theory, the characters for "Thunder" and "Blaze" were incompatible—but that referred to their simplified forms.
During the process of simplification, much of their original content had been stripped away. Because of that, later generations were naturally unable to fuse the two characters together.
But in Ye Ling's hands, things were different.
Both "Thunder" and "Blaze" carried the meaning of "explosion." Once combined, that aspect of "explosion" became more complete, giving rise to the concept of "overload"—a power that exceeded the original destructive force of mere explosion.
Fortunately, Ye Ling was only writing with brush and ink, without injecting a trace of True Qi or Mental Force. Otherwise, a massive explosion would have erupted on the spot. Ordinary paper simply could not withstand the "Thunderfire" character.
"Let me see."
As a Golden Core Stage cultivator, Elder Wang naturally did not stand beside Ye Ling to watch him draw the talisman. He waited until Ye Ling finished before speaking.
As expected of a disciple from a hidden clan—this control of the brush, this precision. If only my own disciples… my disci—
Damn it!
While admiring Ye Ling's brushwork inwardly, Elder Wang examined the meaning within the characters.
Damn it!
What were these Spell Vein Lines and that Spell Seal Pattern?
This should clearly be the "Thunder" and "Blaze" characters—but why was one Spell Vein Line missing here?
As a Talisman Master, Elder Wang's expression gradually stiffened.
He did not think Ye Ling was scribbling nonsense. With his experience, he could tell at a glance that the entire talisman contained no mistakes. As long as one infused it with True Qi and Mental Force, it would form successfully.
Yet with all his knowledge of Talisman Dao, he had never seen this talisman recorded in any manual or ancient text. It looked as if it had just been created.
No way.
Did this kid really invent a brand-new talisman right in front of me?
The more Elder Wang studied it, the more absorbed he became. His face darkened unconsciously.
Seated farther away, Elder Zhang could only see that Elder Wang's expression had turned grim. He had no idea what it meant.
Afraid things might become awkward, he hurried to smooth things over.
"Brother Wang, Young Friend Ye is still young. It's normal for him to have some wild ideas. This talisman is probably just something he sketched casually. There's no need to take it too seriously."
In truth, Elder Zhang was also too far away to see clearly what Ye Ling had drawn. He had only noticed that Ye Ling spent less than a minute on it before handing it over to Elder Wang. It hardly looked like something done with care.
Although Ye Ling hadn't infused it with True Qi or Mental Force and thus wasn't truly drawing a talisman, even sketching incantation patterns on paper was no simple matter.
Even if Ye Ling understood both "Thunder" and "Blaze" thoroughly, adding connection points between them while removing redundant parts would still require thought.
In Elder Zhang's eyes, Ye Ling had merely doodled. Elder Wang must have seen too many mistakes, which was why his expression had turned so grim.
However—
"Brother Zhang…"
Elder Wang slowly raised his head. When he looked at Elder Zhang, there was unmistakable confusion in his eyes.
Elder Zhang's words sounded unbearably harsh to him.
You're telling me this is a casual sketch?
Then what have I—no, what have you and I been doing all these years?
Elder Wang knew Elder Zhang's attainments in Talisman Dao were solid. The two of them were roughly equal, perhaps with slight differences, but nothing significant.
That was precisely why the emotions in his heart were so complicated. He had wanted to say something to Elder Zhang, but when the words reached his lips, he didn't know how to begin.
Admit defeat?
Wait—why should I be the only one losing face?
At that thought, Elder Wang's expression changed. He quickly handed the talisman Ye Ling had drawn to Elder Zhang and said in a tone of surrender, "Take a look."
"Young people… making mistakes is very… very normal…"
Elder Zhang took the talisman, already thinking about how to give Ye Ling a graceful way out. But as soon as he saw what was on it, his voice trailed off.
You old bastard!
You did this on purpose to make a fool of me!
After reading the entire talisman and running through countless deductions in his mind, Elder Zhang understood.
There was nothing wrong with it.
A new talisman had been born.
He still couldn't determine exactly how powerful it would be, but once completed, its might would surpass the Great Thunderlight Talisman several times over.
It should be known that a key component of the Great Thunderlight Talisman is "Thunder." Yet this talisman not only contained "Thunder," it also incorporated "Blaze," equal to it in power. Its might was far more than a simple one-plus-one addition.
Within it was a newly derived meaning—the "overload explosion" character that the elders had only ever seen recorded in certain ancient texts.
The significance of this talisman went far beyond merely surpassing the Great Thunderlight Talisman in power. It represented an entirely new way of combining "characters" with "characters."
If one could thoroughly study this talisman, it would undoubtedly open up a new path in the Talisman Dao. Such an achievement would justify being called a Half-Saint among Talisman Masters.
And if someone could even distill the underlying principles behind it, that would be nothing short of a Saint in the Talisman Dao!
Elder Zhao: "No way. Is it really that bad?"
Elder Sun: "Young people make mistakes. That's normal. Let's have a look."
The two of them had no idea what was going on. They assumed Elder Zhang, like Elder Wang, was being overly particular. They even thought Elder Zhang's stern expression was directed at Ye Ling—when in truth, it was because of Elder Wang.
In their view, Ye Ling was young. So what if his ideas ran a little wild? So what if his drawing style was unconventional? None of that mattered. They weren't about to get angry at a youngster the way Elder Wang and Elder Zhang supposedly had.
Who hadn't been young?
If you weren't hot-blooded and full of shifting ideas, could you even call yourself young?
And so—
Elder Zhao: "!!!"
Elder Sun: "!!!"
In the end, they truly weren't angry at Ye Ling. But the inexplicable heaviness in their chests felt worse than anger.
After a moment to steady themselves, the four elders exchanged glances. Each understood that the others had already realized just how terrifying Ye Ling was.
If this talisman had been taught to him by his elders, then the sect behind him must be unimaginably formidable.
But if Ye Ling had drawn it himself on a sudden whim, by sheer inspiration, then that was even more terrifying.
Standing beside them was a once-in-ten-thousand-years peerless genius of the Talisman Dao.
How could a Half-Saint appear casually?
Especially in this era, when the Talisman Dao had already matured and stabilized.
Forget a Half-Saint—even Master-level Talisman Masters across the entire cultivation world could be counted on two hands.
Of course, if they had a choice, they would prefer the latter possibility.
If the Talisman Dao were to produce a Saint, it would firmly claim the top position among the Six Arts. That was the lifelong dream of everyone who walked this path.
Their gazes toward Ye Ling grew heated.
Tsk. It's not that serious, right?
On Ye Ling's side, he knew his move had been decent, but he had no idea what it truly implied.
If he knew Elder Wang and the others already regarded him as a future Saint, he would probably—
Double down!
If he really earned the title of Saint, wouldn't Emotion Points come pouring in?
He could just give a speech anywhere and rack them up on the spot.
Still, he felt a little dissatisfied.
Not because he couldn't handle the burning stares of these elders, but because—
Wasn't this a bit too little?
Whether it was because Elder Wang and the others were old and worn down, or simply because they weren't that capable, he didn't know.
In any case, even after squeezing all four of them dry, Ye Ling had gained less than 5,000 Emotion Points in total.
Divided among the four, that wasn't even as much as a single Leng Qingqiu.
Leng Qingqiu might be mediocre, but at least she gave 2,000 points when drained. How could the four of you not even match her?
Ye Ling felt genuine frustration over this. Still, he patiently answered Elder Wang and the others' eager questions.
Looks like I'll just treat them as sponsors.
Finding it dull, Ye Ling shifted his gaze toward the audience below the stage.
Sure enough, he would have to rely on the power of the masses.
He still needed more than 40,000 Emotion Points to complete his mission.
...
Garrison Guard Headquarters, Command Room.
This was the most heavily guarded place in all of Tianqiong City, protected by layers of security and even a Formation capable of shielding celestial secrets.
"Miss Leng, are you certain there's truly an extremely dangerous Demonic Cultivator hiding among the crowd?"
The Garrison Guard's commanding officer frowned as he looked at Leng Qingqiu.
After revealing her identity, she had been personally introduced by the City Lord to the Garrison Guard's command room. The City Lord himself remained outside, acting as bait to draw the hatred of any Demonic Cultivators.
However, because Leng Qingqiu had conducted a large-scale scan, the scene she had transcribed was packed with people.
Under normal circumstances, the Garrison Guard would have time to investigate one by one. On ordinary days, there were never that many outsiders in the city.
But now, Tianqiong City was flooded with people who had come to watch the commotion. Screening them individually was almost impossible. Even finding a single local face within the crowd Leng Qingqiu had written out was difficult.
Trying to pick out one Demonic Cultivator from that sea of people was no different from searching for a needle in the ocean.
More importantly—
"And how exactly did you discover this?"
Under the commander's questioning, Leng Qingqiu found herself momentarily speechless.
On her way here, she had been so focused on urging the Garrison Guard to disperse the crowd as quickly as possible that she had forgotten she would need to explain the source of her information.
After a brief pause, she said, "It's my family's secret treasure. If you scan in this direction, you'll definitely find the Demonic Cultivator."
Eve absolutely could not be exposed. Even as a half-human, half-Succubus, the Garrison Guard would never let her go.
So Leng Qingqiu could only use her family's secret treasure as an excuse.
Unfortunately—
"Sorry, Miss Leng. The Garrison Guard is busy. We don't have time to play along."
The commander's tone had already turned cold. In his view, Leng Qingqiu was clearly using the excuse of a Demonic Cultivator to get the Garrison Guard to help her search for someone.