"What?" Cha Ming asked, perplexed.

"The quivering, the flickering. It's unnecessary and destabilizes everything. Your brush strokes should be smooth, like gentle burning flames. You're adding too much wildness into the character. I confess, if you could ever condense the talisman, its destructive might would far exceed that of anything I could draw up. However, I have never seen anyone succeed with this method. Now that I think about it, where is your copy of Elementary Fire-Element Magic Talismans: The Burning Brush Method?"

Cha Ming frowned. "I didn't take it out. I took the book on five-element crafting instead."

Feng Huoshan's expression darkened. "I suggest you stop reading it. It is a flawed text, and you won't gain anything good from it."

"But I sensed great power from it," Cha Ming protested. "How could it possibly be flawed with such an overbearing presence?"

Feng Huoshan shook his head. "You don't understand. The one who wrote it, Mei Guo, was quite eccentric. He was a senior master here when I began my apprenticeship. Obsessed with creating his own path. Every day, countless explosions would happen in his workshop. Everyone had doubts, but given his rank, he was given much leeway.

"Unfortunately, things did not end well for him. You see, he died at seventy-five years of age, which is quite young for a foundation-establishment elder, whose lifespans can reach two hundred years. He died in an explosion in his laboratory while crafting a talisman. This book is the sole record of his research, but it is very frowned upon to learn from it. Fortunately, those who've stumbled upon it simply make no progress, and no major explosions occur. Therefore, it hasn't been taken off the shelves."

"Then what do you suggest I do, Brother Huoshan?" Cha Ming asked.

"For starters, return the book and take out the introductory book I mentioned," Huoshan said. "While I do not suggest studying it, if you are truly curious, wait until you gain more experience. I once heard our guild master say that there are many paths to success, and that everything converges upon a single point. Perhaps there is merit to his research, but it is better to read this book as an informed individual."

Cha Ming had a fair bit to digest, so he decided to first instruct Huoshan on a single fire rune and a single earth rune to start. He painted them in midair at a slow, deliberate pace, letting him absorb the essence of each rune as he painted it. After each rune was completed, he imprinted it on a sheet of talisman paper, which Huoshan could use for future study.

Huoshan attempted to paint each talisman three times before Cha Ming stopped him. "Technically you are performing every motion correctly," Cha Ming said. "But you're lacking the meaning and intent behind the character."

"Meaning and intent?" Huoshan asked in a confused tone.

"Don't you infuse meaning and intent into your talismans?" Cha Ming asked.

"No," Huoshan confessed, "the orthodox school of thought is that as long as one's technical skill is correct, the talisman will be successfully created."

"Then what is the highest level of efficiency you have ever achieved?" Cha Ming questioned.

"Perhaps eighty percent?" Huoshan replied.

"Then this is likely your problem," Cha Ming said. "It is less of an issue for the least complex characters. However, powerful characters require deep comprehension. According to what I have been taught, each character represents a truth of the universe. It is a name that holds power, and the name means something."

Seeing the man's confused look, he decided to try another approach. He took out his brush and began drawing a different rune, a basic rune at the fifth level. A glimmer of recognition flickered across Feng Huoshan's eyes.

"Look on as I draw the rune and reach out with your incandescent force. Try to feel the rune. Try to understand it." Cha Ming continued to draw slowly while Huoshan tried to perceive it from every angle. Once the talisman was completed, Huoshan looked even more confused.

"I didn't feel anything like what you just said," Huoshan said. "That felt like pure technical skill."

"That's because it was," Cha Ming said. "Now take a look at this one and observe it just the same." Cha Ming drew the rune once more. This time, he poured in his entire comprehension of the character, his feelings about it, and his knowledge of its purpose. Every stroke had depth. As he drew, he saw Huoshan's initial confused look begin to fade, slowly being replaced with a pensive one. "Do you understand now?"

"Only somewhat," Huoshan admitted.

"I would be surprised if you fully understood the first time," Cha Ming said. "I have never taught this subject before. You are the first. I learned this character under very different circumstances."

When Cha Ming had learned, the character had been presented on a different material, a material that made it easy for Cha Ming to isolate the intent and study it. It wasn't surprising that he couldn't mimic it exactly. Those same conditions would only be present for those who studied the jade slips he had been given. "Now, take a look at the power of these two talismans."

Cha Ming threw the first purely technical talisman at the dummy in the room. It was engulfed in mild flames, and the dummy reported its rating.

Fifth-Grade Mortal Talisman, Efficiency—72%.

Huoshan nodded appreciatively. Cha Ming then threw out the second one. The flame was noticeably more intense and burned much longer.

Half Sixth-Grade Mortal Talisman, Efficiency—98%.

Huoshan's eyes widened. "You mean to say that not only can you increase the efficiency to the high nineties, but you can increase the grade by a half step?"

"I'm not exactly sure of the specifics," Cha Ming admitted. "To be honest, I've never performed this type of testing before I came here. The half-step ratings during my exam surprised me as well, and I had assumed it was due to the power of the rune alone. Now that I think about it, I was indeed mistaken.

"I speculate that there are two components that are contributing. First, I have already explained that your understanding of the character impacts the character drawn. However, there is another component."

"Which is..?" Huoshan said.

"Intent," Cha Ming replied. "Your intent and feelings toward the talisman contribute to its power. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to separate your feelings and your comprehension. I'll hazard a guess that one-hundred-percent efficiency pertains purely to comprehension of the runic character, while the upgrade in quality is due to the intent projected. Unfortunately, I have no way to verify this."

Huoshan was silent for a moment, after which he picked up his brush and ink to go practice on his own. "Do come find me if you have any questions about magic talismans," Huoshan said. "I'll have to trouble you as I study."

"Naturally," Cha Ming said.

***

Weeks flew by as Cha Ming continued studying talismans under Feng Huoshan's guidance. In return, he taught the man many new characters. While they weren't immensely useful for higher-level talismans on their own, they gave him a foundation with which to research new magic talismans. They were both quite pleased with the arrangement.

Unfortunately, Huoshan's tutoring had its limits. With his help, Cha Ming progressed very quickly in fire and earth talismans, but that was his limit. Cha Ming eventually had to find different teachers for different elements. Feng Huoshan was happy to arrange such meetings. With Huoshan's help, he learned the Five-Fire Cremation Talisman.

He also took advantage of the man's proficiency in the earth element to learn the Lone Mountain Suppression Talisman. The center of this talisman was naturally a single mountain character. It was linked to several other characters—people, land, structures, and weapons. The link expressed a suppressive relationship.

Through Luo Ming, he learned the Myriad Ice Shield Talisman. From Hua Dong, he surprisingly learned two talismans. The first was the Eight Treasures Healing Talisman, while the second was of much darker origins. It was named the Five Poisons Talisman, and it contained six characters. The central character was that of a man, while the five surrounding characters represented the five poisons—snake, scorpion, centipede, toad, and spider. The relationship between these six characters was self-explanatory.

Unfortunately, Huoshan was unable to find Cha Ming a teacher for metal-type talismans. Moreover, the other least-grade talismans they had knowledge of would take Cha Ming longer to master due to their high count of runic lines. Therefore, in the three weeks he had remaining, Cha Ming focused on two things.

Firstly, he independently studied a metal talisman, the Nine Blades, One Dao Talisman. It was an offensive single-target talisman. In addition, he continued to frantically study the four poetic talismans. Unfortunately, out of fifty attempts, he only succeeded in creating a single Crumbling Talisman. This only made matters worse, as the emotional backlash made him feel as though the sky was falling.

Despite his poor chances of success, he decided he would still participate in the examination. It didn't hurt to gain experience on the proceedings. There was also little cost to the examination. He would only need to supply his own ink and pay a nominal fee. With this relaxed attitude, he rested on the last day. On Feng Huoshan's advice, he went to admire a famous tourist attraction, the Quicksilver Art Gallery.

Cha Ming had always admired artwork in any form, whether it be music, calligraphy, or paintings. He appreciated the construction of beautiful buildings and even well-done flower arrangements. This applied to both his previous life and his current life. After all, people only had one life. Why not enjoy the beautiful things while they lasted?

Like everyone else, he lined up to enter the museum bright and early in the morning. It was a national holiday, so many people were taking advantage of the free admission. He smiled as he saw kids bouncing in and out of the line, impatient and wondering what their parents wanted to see. They wouldn't appreciate moments like these until they were older.

Like everyone else, he walked around the art gallery as he pleased. He saw the works of many local artists. There were also guest pieces. They rotated between the art galleries in several kingdoms and empires.

Like everyone else, he saw things superficially with just a glimmer of understanding. That didn't take away from his enjoyment; quite the opposite—it made him realize the true level of skill involved in portraying things in such a thought-provoking way. No one would ever truly understand these famous pieces of art.

And for Cha Ming, that was half the pleasure.

***

The art gallery was large, so it took him the whole day to file through the building at a leisurely pace. It was near the exit that he spotted an intriguing exhibit. It was a closed-door exhibit, meaning that an additional fee was required to enter the separate room. He entered despite the extravagant price of five mid-grade spirit stones, and that made all the difference.

As soon as he entered the room, he felt incomparably relaxed. The scent of fresh roses gently kissed his nostrils. The humidity in the air peaked, as though there was a pool of hot water in his surroundings constantly giving off steam. To his surprise, that was indeed the case. In the center of the room there sat a large copper basin filled to the brim with hot water and rose petals. Four gorgeous maidens took turns filling the tub, but as they poured, the water level never changed.

There were also four large trees that dropped cherry blossoms on the floor of the room. This was all despite it being the middle of winter. The entire scene struck Cha Ming as surreal. His eyes flickered to the plaque beside a tree. It read, Relaxing Spring of Youth by Jun Xiezi. It was then that he realized that the tub, the maidens, and the trees weren't real. They were only part of the painting. Even the vivid scent of roses and the humid air he felt were also part of the painting.

"You seem troubled, young man," an aged voice said from behind. A silver-haired man walked up beside him.

"A little," Cha Ming said. "I have a troublesome examination tomorrow. To pass it, I need to make things that have eluded me for months. I made them once, my masterpieces. But I have never been able to replicate them."

This wasn't the only thing weighing down on him. He had visited the Alchemists Association a month prior and obtained less-than-consoling news. His status wasn't high enough to catch the senior alchemists' attention. Meanwhile, the junior alchemists were helpless to provide the pills he needed due to his unique cultivation method. As a result, his cultivation had practically halted in its tracks.

"Ah," the man said understandingly. "This happens to me as well from time to time. I'm a painter, you see. Before I paint a masterpiece, not only do I need inspiration, but my mind and soul must be relaxed and at peace. I cannot create a masterpiece without pouring everything I am into it. But how can I do that if my soul and my emotions aren't in tip-top shape?

"In addition, I've noticed that I can never truly replicate a masterpiece. Even if I try to paint the same thing, it will always be slightly different. That is because I've changed as a person. I see it through a different lens than before, so my inspiration has changed.

"I often come to the art gallery, both for inspiration and for relaxation. Or I go to music concerts. On occasion, I play Angels and Devils. Meditation is too dry and dull, and even though it seems like my mind is relaxing, it isn't. It's working hard at calming down, which is ironic given my intent."

The man said nothing more, and both he and Cha Ming took a seat in front of the painting. Cha Ming let everything go as he immersed himself in the image. He imagined himself bathing in that hot tub. He let the smell of cherry blossoms permeate and purify him. And out of the corner of his eye, he could barely see an intricate component of the painting he had never seen before. Yet as he focused on it, it disappeared.

Was I mistaken? Cha Ming thought, only to see the flicker once more. After the second time, he was convinced: This was no mere painting. It was that and so much more. It was a runic diagram that drew on the energy of heaven and earth and gave it that surreal, calming quality. But the painting wasn't made of runes. The painting gave birth to them.

An hour passed before Cha Ming stood up and prepared to leave. "Many thanks, senior," he said, bowing. The old man simply smiled at him and continued relaxing. Cha Ming returned to his residence near the guild that night and didn't practice his talismans. He was free of care and tension and filled with the realization that tomorrow would either work out for him or it wouldn't. It truly didn't matter.

For the first night in three years, he had a good night's sleep.