Chapter 2 Uncle Nine
Li Daoxuan wanted to go down the mountain to have a look. He wanted to understand the world below the mountain and see the world. Most importantly, he wanted to eat something good instead of just eating the cabbage in the temple.

It’s a pity that it’s very difficult for disciples of Baiyun Temple to go down the mountain. Without the approval of the real master, he has to wait until he reaches adulthood before he can go down the mountain to travel.

As he is less than twelve years old now, he still has to wait for many years before he can go out. If he stays in this boring mountain every day, studying and chanting scriptures every day, he will become stupid sooner or later.

If he could be selected this time, it would be great. Li Daoxuan was thinking about how to perform better later. Although Baiyun Temple was a branch of Maoshan, they practiced the Qingwei School of Zhengyi Taoism, and mainly used the talismans of the Shenxiao School.

What he practices on a daily basis is the method of quiet cultivation of inner alchemy, and what he draws are the talismans of the Divine Thunder Method.

This time when he went down the mountain, he must have chosen a disciple who was good at drawing thunder spells. He was usually good at drawing five thunder spells, but he was often hiding his shortcomings. If he showed his skills all at once, wouldn't it be obvious that he was just slacking off?
This talisman cannot be too good, nor too bad, it can only be among the top three among the senior and junior brothers.

Having made up his mind, Li Daoxuan felt motivated.

After the meal, just as Zhang Mingcheng had said, the old Taoist called all his disciples to gather in the Jade Emperor Hall.

He held a dustpan in his hand and stepped in four directions. His face was full of peace and scrutiny. He glanced at everyone and said in a leisurely voice: "I summoned you here to see your progress in cultivation. Today is a snowy day and there is nothing to do. You will mainly learn the art of drawing talismans and master the five thunder talismans. If you can draw the best thunder talismans, I will reward you."

After the old Taoist finished speaking, the disciples in the hall were stunned for a moment and then started to whisper to each other. After a few quiet discussions, they began to draw talismans on the table.

Don't underestimate the art of drawing talismans. Drawing talismans in Taoism is a major matter. Normally, you need to light three incense sticks to pay respect to the Taoist ancestor, then wash your hands and face, and wait until your mind is calm before you can draw talismans.

When drawing the talisman, one must not be distracted or give up halfway. The strokes must be smooth and seamless, and the painting must be beautiful and majestic.

The more neatly drawn the talisman is, the more powerful it is said to be. Although Li Daoxuan scoffed at this, he still mastered this ability honestly.

The tip of the pen was dipped in cinnabar, and he tapped the yellow paper lightly. The painting was neat and smooth, and it was completed in one go. A beautiful palm thunder symbol was drawn.

Li Daoxuan was admiring the talisman he had drawn, but something changed before his eyes. The Taoist characters on the talisman seemed to have come to life, transforming into Tai Chi Yin-Yang fish leaping and dancing.

Li Daoxuan was stunned by the scene. Before he could come to his senses, the black fish transformed by the Dao characters jumped into his eyes. He was so scared that he closed his eyes and took a step back. After making sure that there was nothing unusual, he dared to open his eyes carefully.

The Jade Emperor Hall was still quiet, and there was no strange feeling in his eyes. The strange scene just now seemed to be an illusion. If Li Daoxuan hadn't seen it clearly, he would have thought that he was dazzled.

But he was sure that he really saw something strange. The Taoist characters on the talisman really turned into black fish and swam into his eyes.

But no one would believe this if he told it to others, so Li Daoxuan could only keep it to himself for the time being.

He looked at the fellow brothers around him and saw that someone had already handed over the talisman, so he stopped waiting.

The talisman was handed to the old Taoist, who looked at it and smiled. He waved to Li Daoxuan, indicating that he could leave.

Li Daoxuan naturally would not stay in this leaky Jade Emperor Palace, so he stamped his feet and ran back to his residence. He lived in a large bunk bed, with ten people each living in one room.

After all, in Baiyun Temple, only Taoist priests who have been ordained can have a single room to live in. If you practice the law in the palace, you can also find a secluded place in the mountains to open a cave to live alone.

Although the room was a common bed, it had everything. Li Daoxuan took off his shoes and climbed onto the bed, picking up paper and a pen from the bookshelf beside the couch. He lay on the table on the bed and lowered his head to draw the pattern painted in the Jade Emperor Hall.

However, the Yin-Yang fish did not appear this time, and the talismans and Taoist characters on the paper did not move at all, which made Li Daoxuan scratch his head.

"Is it really my illusion?" Li Daoxuan wondered in his heart. He still didn't want to believe that what he just saw was an illusion.

He used several pieces of paper to draw carefully, but all to no avail. When his fellow apprentices came back, Li Daoxuan was looking at the text on the paper with a dark face.

Seeing this, the brothers all teased him and said with a smile: "Brother Daoxuan, do you feel that you didn't draw well in front of the master just now, so you are working hard to improve yourself now?"

This remark caused everyone to laugh happily. Li Daoxuan just glanced at them and ignored them.

He stared at the paper quietly, recalling all the details of drawing the talisman in the Jade Emperor Temple.

"Focus, focus. Is it possible that I need to concentrate?" Li Daoxuan pondered, blocking out the noisy voices of his fellow disciples, and calmly looked at the paper on the desk.

When the mind is as calm as a mirror, then I pick up the pen to draw the talisman. The ink spreads and it is done in one stroke. When the talisman is finished, I see the yin and yang fish in the Taoist language swimming on the paper and then instantly appearing in my eyes.

This time, Li Daoxuan did not panic, but watched the black fish enter his eyes. In a flash, he felt two black fish in his eyes. One should be the one he got in the Jade Emperor Hall before, and the other one he got now. But what is the use of this black fish? No matter how Li Daoxuan fiddled with it, the black fish in his eyes did not move at all. He could only give up temporarily and then calmly draw the talisman.

Just as he thought, as long as he focused on drawing the talisman, the Yin-Yang fish would appear. Seeing the third black fish jumping into his eyes, Li Daoxuan felt dizzy and yawned continuously.

He wrapped himself in clothes and crawled into the quilt. Soon he fell into a deep sleep.

While half awake, Li Daoxuan saw a bright light in front of him.

He opened his eyes and looked over, and saw several books appearing before him.

Talismans, Taoism, supernatural powers, magic weapons, formations, and alchemy.

He could read the names on every book clearly.

"Where is this?" Li Daoxuan looked around in confusion. It was all white. There was no up, down, left, or right, and nothing was there. It was like chaos, with no clear boundaries.

Li Daoxuan was a little panicked. He remembered that he should have been sleeping in the Taoist temple, so how could he come here for no reason?

But the panic only lasted for a moment, then he calmed down and looked carefully at the surrounding environment.

Apart from the six books in front of him, there was nothing else here. He came here for sure because of books, so Li Daoxuan walked towards the books without hesitation.

I first tried to open the book on Taoism, but the book was indifferent and I couldn't open it.

I looked through the magic weapons, magical powers, formations, and alchemy. They were all the same and could not be turned over.

In the end, only the talisman remained, floating quietly in front of Li Daoxuan.

"You are the only one left." Li Daoxuan stretched out his hand and flipped the book of talismans. Then he saw three black fish leaping out of the body and merging into the book.

The book of talismans emitted light, and then was gently opened by Li Daoxuan.

Right on the first page of the book, there is a painting of a character that Li Daoxuan is very familiar with.

Before Li Daoxuan could say the man's name, the person in the painting turned into golden light and appeared.

The man stood in front of Li Daoxuan and smiled at him.

"I am Lin Zhengying from Mount Mao, nice to meet you, young friend."

"Nine, Uncle Nine?!" Li Daoxuan was shocked. He didn't expect to see his Uncle Nine, Lin Zhengying, here.

"Oh? It seems that you know Lin, you are lucky." Uncle Jiu said with a smile. "But I am here to teach you the art of talismans, I hope you will not be half-hearted."

Li Daoxuan was just about to say something about greetings and reminiscing about the past when he saw Uncle Jiu wave his sleeves and a table covered with yellow talismans appeared.

Uncle Jiu pointed at the table with a smile and said to Li Daoxuan: "Please fill up these 12,000 yellow talismans first."

"Draw 12,000 talismans?! Are you trying to kill me?" Li Daoxuan was shocked. He had never heard of such an outrageous request. You know, an ordinary Taoist priest might not be able to finish drawing 12,000 talismans in his lifetime. Asking him to finish so many talismans in one night, isn't that wishful thinking?

"Don't panic, my friend. If you can't finish drawing these twelve thousand talismans, you won't be able to get out. No matter how long you spend here, it will be a night outside." Uncle Jiu smiled nonchalantly. He just looked at Li Daoxuan with a gloating look, looking at his livid face.

Li Daoxuan looked at the thick yellow talisman on the table and knew that he was on a thief's car. He could only open his sleeves and start the long journey of drawing talismans.

When he woke up from his sleep, his hands were still drawing talismans unconsciously.

"Twelve thousand... newborns!"

(End of this chapter)