Talisman

"You're not wrong. For that, I have two pieces of evidence. First,"

Suddenly, Yur's aura rapidly receded until only the sight of him confirmed his presence. This was possible because of a necklace that Yur had under his clothes. The necklace was engraved with the low-level inscription of 'Hide' which covered Yur's aura completely. Shui made this artifact to bluff the clan.

"As you should know, artifacts of the harmony series have no aura left by the creator and those crafting a harmony series artifact must know how to completely hide their aura. You don't think a little boy like Shui could really teach me something this complicated, right? I'm sorry if you overestimated me but I defintely wouldn't be able to do this without an expert's help. And as for the other piece of evidence,"

Yur had already crushed the belief anyone had in the opposition's words and was now planning on putting the finishing touches. Shui went next to Yur and pulled out a two and a half feet long green longsword.

"May I ask all those who you with spiritual sense to check this out?"

The sword had the same design as a common iron sword but was of a different colour. However, the sight was enough to tell that the two couldn't be put on the scale. And the effects made it foolish to compare them. The sword had the same effects particular to the harmony series but amplified along with a shocking addition. The moment the sword appeared, the plaza turned windy and all of the clan felt lighter.

"I shouldn't have to tell you but this is a artifact of the harmony series at supreme spirit-rank."

Even though they had already suspected it, the confirmation from Yur made many gasp in surprise. Even Nalos only had a blessed spirit-rank artifact but the sword was above that. However no one doubted his assessment because of the wind that was summoned by the sword. Resonating with the natural world was a sign of a spirit-rank artifact and the intensity of the resonance made them sure that it was of supreme-class. Additionally, since the cultivation method of the Heaven clan was of wind-attribute, they were even more clear on the ability of the sword.

"This sword was created by Shui's master and as I'm sure you can tell by it's aura, it was made recently. It was named 'Windy Peak' and is a gift from him."

"Wonderful."

Even Nalos wasn't unaffected by the sword, and once he had spoken, even if those prosecuting could come up with a few holes in Yur's explanation, they could only hold their tongues. Naturally, the sword wasn't actually made by Shui's imaginary master but in a collaborative effort between Shui and Bartos. Bartos was the one who handled the process while Shui controlled Bartos' aura so it didn't reach the sword and applied martial intent to his hammer. Even they didn't expect to make a supreme spirit-rank artifact from the process but considering that Shui immediately went unconscious after the sword was made, it proved that it was also due to luck. Even so, the experience of creating a supreme spirit-rank artifact for the first time opened a door in Bartos' mind that he was sure would help him improve.

Without being able to criticise Bartos any more, Bartos was proved innocent and Windy Peak was sold to Nalos for two thousand gold. It could have sold for more but Bartos gave Nalos a discount in exchange for ensuring that a similar incident didn't happen again. Shui had agreed beforehand to sell the artifact to Nalos since he had no interest in it and believed he owed Nalos a favour for helping him in the competition. Rather than a weapon that he wouldn't be able to use, he rathered the one thousand gold he got from the sale.

A long distance away from the Heaven clan, after hearing the result of the trial there was someone who chuckled.

"To think they would use such a method, what a clever idea."

Even among the clan, there were those who doubted the existence of Shui's master despite how unbelievable it sounded, and she was of the same opinion. Even Bartos and his apprentices suspected that Shui had a master before he refuted, but those investigating him didn't think so. They were of the opinion that he reached such a height without someone to guide him. For the true geniuses that populated the capital city of Alterna it was possible and so though the chance of it was small, it was also possible that Shui's talent was of such a magnitude. The main reason they hoped he didn't have a master was because that would mess with everyone's plans. That was their true fear.

"Mistress, should we change our approach?"

"No, let's just watch for now. I suspect their side should be making their move soon. If that talent ends up wasted during this period, then it's his fault for refusing my offer."

Meanwhile, after the trouble had settled, Shui began pondering the insights he gained from witnessing the birth of a supreme spirit-rank artifact. However, these insights weren't related to blacksmithing, but rather talisman creation. Talismans were inscriptions added on to a medium to directly display their effects, and so by simply slapping a talisman onto an adequete object, the result would be the same as if the symbol was directly inscribed onto it.

Talismans seemed be less popular in current times but Shui saw use for them after reading about it. If he mastered the use of talismans then his skill in inscriptions would directly be able to increase his battle potential. Unfortunately, he was stuck on the last step of creating a talisman.

For ease of use, he planned on using long strips of special paper made from mutated flora bark as the media. The initial steps in creating a talisman were the same as drawing a low-level inscription but the final step had him stomped. To complete a talisman, he had to imagine the talisman sucking in the foundational energy from the natural world to power itself. Talismans were generally single-use items but since they could be activated with only a tiny amount of nature energy, Shui believed that he could make them useful.

Before witnessing the birth of the artifact, Shui couldn't fully imagine the nature energy in the environment being drawn in to the talisman and so he hadn't succeeded in creating even a single talisman. But when he had seen the spirit-rank artifact right before he passed out, he saw the moment when the sword was wrapped in a faint green glow. The energy that was normally close to transparent had gained a light green shade that matched the colour of the sword.

In his eyes, the colour of energy would deepen as it increased in intensity, but he knew the cause for this change was different. The change was like when the energy of a cultivator became intertwined with his aura and shared its properties. When he saw that the sword was able to do something similar, he had vague feeling that it would be the key to creating a talisman.

With only the final stroke left, Shui began the final step of the process. With his vision turned off, he imagined the talisman glowing with a gold light as faint yellow energy was absorbed by it. After absorbing enough energy he imagined it bursting with light before the talisman turned into ashes.

Once he finished imagining the scene, Shui waited before turning on his vision and instead examined the talisman with his fingers. If it was another failure then the surface would become burnt and he would have to try again. He hesitantly brushed his right index finger across the paper before switching on his vision in surprise.

Instead of the burnt surface he was expecting, the talisman seemed to be made of crystal rather than paper due to its shiny appearace and fixed shape. The symbol he had used for the talisman was 'Light', so it was rather simple to draw, but the joy of having finally made one success after 267 failures was enough to bring him to the brink of tears. As relief and joy filled his body, he ended up reaching a state of clarity and peace that seemed so natural that the natural energy in the Library willingly gathered around and washed his body.

Without even thinking about it, he used the breathing method and steadily increased the energy inside his body. Normal children would find the breakthrough to late Mortal Realm to be harder, but for someone who could advance at anytime he wanted, a simple whim was enough to push him to that level.

When the natural energy returned to its tranquil state, Shui finally regained his rationality and realised that he had broken through to the seventh level in the Mortal Realm.

"A bit earlier than I had planned but this works too."

Though he only broke through because of how calm and carefree he was, Shui didn't think much of it. Cultivating in the Mortal Realm was something that took as much effort to him as breathing, so even without meditating he could advance to the next level. In fact, Shui believed that if he felt like it he could push further to the eighth and then ninth level. However, for the sake of his steady foundation and perfect progress, he erased that urge.

"This should be enough to register."

After examining his body, Shui looked at the talisman he had just finished and pulled several more bundles of paper from his sachel.

"I hope I can finish this in time."