Death Jade looked similar to white jade on the surface, but it didn't have the white luster of white jade. Its color was much duller, and there seemed to be a layer of pale mist floating inside. Overall, it looked more like white marble.
The Death Jades Xie Chenghua brought back were small pieces the size of a ring. They weighed a lot, around two to three catties.
I picked up a small piece and carefully felt it. It was just as Xie Chenghua had said. The Death Jade had thick Yin energy, and it was cold to the touch. However, it made people restless and didn't feel comfortable.
I put the Death Jade away and looked at the two paint cans in Liu Chuande's hands.
The two small buckets were covered with black cloths. From a distance, I could smell a faint stench. It should be the sky sunflower blood.
I forced a smile and asked Liu Chuande, "Although the sky sunflower blood is common, it's not easy to find. Brother Liu, why did you find so much?"
Liu Chuande shook his head. "Not much, not much. These two buckets are only half-filled. Even if you add them up, it's not enough to fill one bucket."
I was puzzled and asked, "Then, why are they stored separately?
Is there a difference between the sky sunflower blood? "
Liu Chuande nodded and smiled. "Of course, there's a difference. The Yellow Emperor's Canon of Internal Medicine says that a woman takes fourteen days to become a sunflower and twenty days to give birth to a purple carriage.
Childbirth is a process where Yang energy gives birth to Yin energy. The first sunflower and the second sunflower are different.
These two buckets are filled with First Sunflower Blood and Last Sunflower Blood. "
After listening to him, I understood. Metaphysics wasn't a superstition. It was a kind of science, similar to pharmacology. The different ingredients in different medicines, as well as the concentration of those ingredients, would affect the final effect of the medicine.
Liu Chuande used to be the president of a branch. Although his strength wasn't good, he was a Fengshui Master who had embarked on the path of cultivation. He was a great master, and his knowledge of the basics was more solid than mine.
I reached out to receive them and thanked them. Then, I returned to the room on the second floor where Xiao Jin and I were staying.
With these two things in hand, the next step was to explore.
However, when I was about to use my spirit energy to make talismans, I found something else.
The tools used to create talismans were very simple. Apart from the materials used to condense Qi, there were also two other things: talisman paper and talisman brush.
The talisman paper itself was only a carrier, and no matter if it was Daoist Qi or Shaman Qi, both of them could be carried, so there was naturally no need to worry too much. However, the talisman brush was different.
The Taoist Qi was used to make talismans using the weasel hair brush. The main purpose was to use the weasel hair brush's spirituality and its ability to break evil spirits. But now, regardless of whether it was the Sky Sunflower Jade or the Death Jade, as long as it contained Yin Qi, it would be accompanied by evil spirits. If the weasel hair brush was used again, there was no need to start making talismans. The weasel hair brush and the Sky Sunflower Death Jade would clash first. By then, it could only achieve the effect of twice the effort with half the result.
After pondering for a while, I remembered that the Death Scripture had a relatively uncommon talisman brush called the Fox Armpit Brush.
Fox armpit, as the name suggested, was the armpit hair of a fox.
Foxes were Yin in nature, and their armpit hair was also Yin in nature compared to the rest of their body hair. Using fox armpit hair to make a pen would naturally not have to worry about the risk of conflicting with the Dead Sunflower Jade. Moreover, fox hair itself was more spiritual than wolf hair, and it was originally used to make some unorthodox Yin Talismans. At this time, if it was used to make talismans with Witchcraft Qi, the effect would surely be better.
Unfortunately, the Fox Armpit Brush was extremely rare and precious.
There was an old saying that the skin of a thousand sheep wasn't as good as the armpit of a fox. From this, one could see how precious the Fox Armpit Brush was.
Although a pen didn't need much fur, how many armpit hairs did a fox have?
If one wanted to collect the fur needed to make a pen, they would need dozens of foxes.
Moreover, they couldn't be ordinary foxes. They had to have a strong body and strong intelligence. If the requirements were stricter, they would have to find a female fox.
This time, I was in a dilemma. I had read about this kind of talisman brush in the Death Scripture. Ever since I had stepped on the path of cultivation, I had never heard of this kind of brush. How could I find one in such a short time?
Feeling helpless, I had to go downstairs to discuss with Xie and Liu.
After listening to me, the two of them looked at each other in bewilderment. "I've never heard of this kind of talisman brush. I'm afraid we can't find a place to buy it."
What should I do?
I had agreed on half a month's time with the hunchbacked old woman, and it was already past the halfway mark. If I couldn't make the talisman by then, it would be a small matter if I lost face, but if I made the old woman unhappy and something happened, it would be bad.
Moreover, I had agreed to make talismans with the intention of befriending her.
Ever since the appearance of the Luo Hou Star, I had practically become a lone star, surrounded by enemies. That old woman's strength was tyrannical, and forming a good relationship with her would be greatly beneficial in the future.
Not only that, but after confirming that witchcraft qi could be used to make talismans, it would also be extremely beneficial to the increase of my strength.
After all, witchcraft qi and Dao qi were different. Up until now, I had only discovered that witchcraft qi could be used in magic tools. Apart from that, I hadn't discovered any other uses for witchcraft qi.
As a result, although I had the strength of Shi Yao, my combat power hadn't increased much compared to when I had pressed acupoints to consummate. Once I succeeded in making talismans with witchcraft qi, my combat power would directly skyrocket.
However, looking at the current situation, after working hard for half a day, it would most likely end in failure.
Just when I was feeling a bit dejected, Xie Chenghua said to me, "Boss, we definitely can't buy this fox armpit brush, but we can make it ourselves. Fox fur is always in high demand in the fur market. If worst comes to worst, we can just buy a few dozen fox furs and carefully pick out the armpit hairs.
Making a brush itself isn't difficult, and we can just make one ourselves. "
My eyes instantly lit up. This method wasn't hard to think of, but I was a little blinded by the situation.
Even though fox fur was expensive, making talismans was a process that burned money, so it wasn't a big deal.
Immediately after, I prepared to get the two of them to purchase fox fur, but just as I was about to speak, I suddenly remembered that the fox fur sold in the market had all been tanned, and the spirituality within had long been lost. It was useless to buy it, so we had to find the original fur that hadn't been processed in any way.
I told the two of them my thoughts, and Liu Chuande smiled. "That's not a problem. There's a fur factory in our city, so there's definitely original fur there. I'll go look for it with Old Xie."
"Then, I'll leave it to you two."
I heaved a sigh of relief and asked the two of them to take care of this matter. Then, I went back to study the compatibility between my spirit energy, the geraniums, and the dead jade.
Xie and Liu were very efficient. When they left, it was already afternoon, and they returned before the sky was dark. However, their faces didn't look good. "It's true that the fur factory has a supply of original fox fur, but it's not the right time. This year's fox fur has just been harvested, and the factory doesn't have any in stock."
It wasn't impossible to find some scattered fox fur, but the price was very high, and it would take a long time to collect them.
The manufacturer had given us at least one month to collect fifty fox fur pelts.
I didn't want to give up, so I asked them, "Have you asked the other fur factories? If we can ask several fur factories at the same time, perhaps we can speed up the process."
Xie Chenghua shook his head. "They've asked the biggest fur factory in the city, and it's one of the biggest in the country. All the other fur factories combined aren't as big as this one. Even if we ask a few more fur factories, I'm afraid they won't be able to help us."
I didn't know what to do now. I thought for a while and decided to find the hunchbacked old woman. I wanted to tell her the situation and see what she had to say.
When Liu Chuande heard that I was going to find the old woman, he suddenly slapped his thigh and screamed, "I got it!"
Then, he said to me, "Boss, that old woman is a fox spirit. Since she's cultivated to her level, she must be quite old. She should have a lot of foxes and grandchildren. Isn't it perfect to ask her to take care of the fox armpit brush?"
I also understood. Right, we had been busy for a long time, and now, the idea was right in front of us.
I went out and went to a hotel not far from the shop. The hunchbacked old woman was staying there.
I asked around and found the old woman's room number. Before I knocked on the door, the old woman seemed to have seen me. She opened the door but didn't invite me in. Her cloudy eyes gazed at me and asked, "Have you finished making the Deceiving Talisman?"
I shook my head and used my Dao energy to isolate the surroundings. Then, I told her why I had come.
The old woman was surprised. She frowned. "The fox armpit is the most spiritual hair of the fox clan. If you take it, I'm afraid it will delay your cultivation for several years … All right, I can give you the fox armpit. However, you have to tell me the truth. How confident are you in making the Deceiving Talisman?"
I thought for a while then gave her a reasonable answer. "Seventy percent!"
When Xie Chenghua and Liu Chuande went to the fur factory, I had tested the geraniums and the dead jade. Although their compatibility wasn't as high as the cinnabar and the Dao energy, they were compatible. If I could find a way to increase the compatibility, the Deceiving Talisman wouldn't be a problem.