65% Success Rate Improvement

Without the backlash from broken resonance, Xiao Yao could now freely practice crafting various jade talismans. The thought that those miraculous talismans might be successfully created by his own hands filled him with uncontrollable excitement. Creating a jade talisman was no simple matter; it required prolonged practice. What he needed to do now was to complete the relatively simple Peace Talisman.

Every talisman pattern was exceedingly complex, and during the engraving process, even the slightest mistake was unacceptable. Though it was Xiao Yao’s first attempt, and he possessed both experience and sharp eyesight, the coordination of his hands would require persistent training before he could achieve true precision.

After twelve consecutive failures, Xiao Yao did not feel the least bit discouraged; his mindset remained calm and steady. Even as his failures accumulated, his hands became steadier, and his hand-eye coordination improved.

On the fifteenth attempt to engrave the Peace Talisman, as he finished the final stroke, the Hetian jade tablet suddenly emitted a gentle glow—Xiao Yao had finally succeeded in engraving his very first Peace Talisman!

He was elated. Having tasted success once, he was determined to press on, continuing to engrave more Peace Talismans to further improve his success rate.

Two hours later, there were four more Peace Talismans in his Sacred Soul Ring, and his success rate for crafting them had risen to about fifteen percent.

He was quite satisfied with this rate. In such a short span, with only a little practice, his success rate had already surpassed Pan Wu’s, all thanks to the foundation of the Sacred Soul.

Pan Wu’s success rate for Peace Talismans hovered around ten percent—not because his spiritual power was lacking, nor because his engraving skills were deficient. Quite the contrary: in both respects, he was exceptionally strong. His vast spiritual power was enough to support him through continuous crafting, and his engraving skill was flawless; even crafting a thousand talismans in a row, he would not make a single mistake.

The low success rate stemmed entirely from resonance.

Now, having inherited the Sacred Soul Foundation that Pan Wu had painstakingly cultivated over three millennia, Xiao Yao benefited from the efforts of his predecessor. What had been the most challenging aspect for Pan Wu—resonance—came as naturally to Xiao Yao as breathing, without the slightest difficulty.

For him, the greatest challenge in crafting Peace Talismans was now the flawless engraving of the patterns, which would require extensive practice to reach Pan Wu’s former level.

Xiao Yao practiced until one in the morning before finally washing up and going to bed.

This session of crafting Peace Talismans had given him even greater confidence in his spiritual power.

After inheriting Pan Wu’s Sacred Soul Foundation, he had received Pan Wu’s immense spiritual power in its entirety, and his soul’s realm had been elevated directly to the Sacred Soul stage.

His greatest advantage now was his vast spiritual power!

Even though he had yet to begin cultivating any soul-secret techniques, his spiritual power was already comparable to Pan Wu’s in life, and his soul’s realm far surpassed his predecessor’s. Any soul or spiritual techniques Pan Wu had mastered in his lifetime would be readily accessible to Xiao Yao once he fully integrated those memories.

The only thing he lacked now was a strong physical constitution and even a trace of spiritual energy.

Because of this limitation, any skills or techniques related to physical strength or spiritual energy were difficult or impossible for him to use.

For example, when engraving Peace Talismans today, if his physical constitution were stronger and his hands more stable, his success rate would certainly rise dramatically.

The cultivation methods Pan Wu had accumulated over three thousand years were simply innumerable. Any one method Xiao Yao chose to practice would, in the eyes of modern people, be considered a miraculous secret art. Improving his physical constitution and cultivating spiritual energy would be a simple matter.

Yet precisely because Pan Wu had amassed so many methods across the millennia, Xiao Yao needed to make his selection with great care.

As for the cultivation of soul-secret techniques, there was little need for deliberation—with the Sacred Soul Foundation, he could finally begin cultivating the Sacred Soul Formula, the technique Pan Wu had long dreamed of mastering. Having inherited Pan Wu’s immense spiritual power, and with all his soul and spiritual techniques now at hand after merging their memories, he could use any of them with ease.

With the Sacred Soul Foundation, which purportedly granted an undying soul, as long as he cultivated step by step, he would be fine.

Though in the future he would have the ability to possess and reincarnate without limit, Xiao Yao still preferred the body he now inhabited.

Though eternal youth and immortality were extravagant hopes for this body, through cultivation, it could yet be made stronger and its life extended.

With so many cultivation methods available, Xiao Yao naturally needed to choose wisely.

As the only remaining cultivator of the Western Zhou era with a complete inheritance, Pan Wu’s cultivation methods were of the highest order. After three thousand years of cultivation, his understanding of the Dao went straight to the source, though limited by talent, he could progress no further.

His primary cultivation method was the “Mysterious Origin Pure Tranquility Grand Dao Longevity Art,” which was divided into four realms: Gathering Qi, Transforming Spirit, Returning to Void, and Unity with the Dao.

His main Daoist arts were the “Celestial Thunder Technique” and the “Supreme Pure Law of Yin-Yang and Five Elements.”

His primary body-forging method was the “Golden Flesh and Jade Bone Glazed Immortal Body.”

The names alone of Pan Wu’s main cultivation, Daoist arts, and body-forging techniques sounded lofty and awe-inspiring.

In reality, this was indeed the case. Pan Wu’s primary cultivation method was a supreme secret art aimed directly at immortality, and his Daoist and body-forging techniques were also among the most powerful and top-tier secret arts.

However, the more advanced the secret art, the harder it was to master.

Why did ancient cultivators disappear from the world? Besides the gradual thinning of the world’s primordial energy, the requirements for talent were simply too high. Without suitable inheritors, these arts slowly faded into oblivion.

Pan Wu’s cultivation method presented insurmountable challenges even at the very first stage, Gathering Qi, in the present age of thin spiritual energy.

Gathering Qi required attuning one’s spiritual power to the world’s primordial energy and, through resonance, absorbing the endless energy of heaven and earth.

Even in the ancient age, when primordial energy was abundant, this step was already exceedingly difficult, with only a handful capable of achieving it. Though the line of cultivators was never wholly broken, inheritors became fewer and fewer, so that by the Western Zhou period, Pan Wu was the only true bearer of the orthodox tradition.

As primordial energy grew scarcer, the Gathering Qi stage had to be simplified. After countless generations of trial and improvement, by the Western Zhou era, the method shifted to Refining Essence into Qi.

Gathering Qi absorbed the energy of heaven and earth; Refining Essence into Qi used the body’s own vital essence, a method far less efficient and of much lower quality.

PS: Once again, my thanks to Pastoral Shepherd for the generous reward!