Chapter 412: Repairing the Strength Talisman

The people from Yuhuai Mountain had left, but Ju'an Small Pavilion didn't quiet down. Instead, it became even livelier, a chaotic hubbub of small characters, even though they tried to keep their voices down.

"Oh, I was so stifled!" "Me too!"

"That strange old man is really formidable; he almost discovered us." "That's Ju Yuanzi. Lord Ji Yuan even has several books of edicts written by him, so of course he's powerful!"

"Oh, right, I remember now—it was him!"

Some of the small characters flew over to the table, hovering and looking at the clean plates, exclaiming loudly.

"These people can really eat; they cleared the whole table!"

"Yeah, yeah, not even a drop of soup left!" "And the main thing is, they didn't even wash the dishes! Are they expecting Lord Ji Yuan to do it?"

"They're so audacious!" "Right! Let's go to Yuhuai Mountain and bring them back!"

"To Yuhuai Mountain!" "To Yuhuai Mountain!"

"Are you guys crazy...?" "Who are you calling crazy?"

"You, you, and you!" "Aaaah!" "Waah-yah-yah!"

A group of small characters jumped, flew, and swung around the courtyard, while the little paper crane watched and listened very intently from the side.

Meanwhile, Ji Yuan picked up a tray and began collecting the plates, completely oblivious to the clamor in the courtyard.

Fortunately, Ju'an Small Pavilion was secluded. Also, thanks to the rewritten plaque and the large jujube tree, even though the little characters kept their voices down, it was still the middle of the night, and they might have disturbed others.

Ji Yuan waved away the small characters who were holding trays and trying to help lift them into the basin. He stacked all the plates himself and collected the cups and chopsticks.

He glanced up at the little paper crane and smiled helplessly. Then, Ji Yuan carried the tray back to the kitchen, and soon after, all the small characters lined up and streamed into the kitchen behind him.

Ji Yuan found washing dishes incredibly easy; he didn't need any special magic. He simply put some water in a basin, gently wiped a plate, and all the stains would slide off with the water. The entire process was as effortless as plucking clean dishes from water.

As soon as Ji Yuan stood up and looked around, the small characters gathered around him immediately scattered back into the courtyard. They began chattering and arguing again, with several "battlefields" of debate and different topics of contention.

"Ah, hehe..."

Ji Yuan smiled, stretched his limbs, and walked directly to the bedroom, closing the door behind him.

"Lord Ji Yuan is going to rest!" "Shhh..."

"Shhh..." "Shhh..."

The courtyard fell silent, as if a television had been muted—quite magical, but it wasn't the end.

The small characters had already figured out a method for silent communication. After all, they were characters, inherently designed to convey meaning.

So, they quickly split into two or three large factions, intuitively combining into various suitable words to debate with each other. While there were no vulgar terms, they were clearly having a great time.

The little paper crane's observation spot had moved to the tree, from which it watched the commotion below, resembling troop movements on a sandbox. It occasionally flapped its paper wings, clearly enjoying the spectacle immensely.

Inside the room, Ji Yuan hadn't gone to sleep. Instead, he took out the cutting tools and the stack of intact yellow paper that had been stored there for years. The recent lightning tribulation had destroyed two Golden Armored Strongmen, but he wasn't in a hurry to create new ones; his priority was to make repairs.

While the prototypes of the Golden Armored Strongmen resembled talismans, they differed significantly in essence. After years of using them, Ji Yuan had made an important discovery.

He found that the Golden Armored Strongmen became more adept with use. The same six strongmen felt different when first refined compared to after some time in service. They would gradually adapt to the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and the terrestrial energy once manifested.

Furthermore, the hundreds of superimposed movements would become increasingly skillful and fluid, just like a person perfecting a skill through practice. After this, he could continue to cut out more movement patterns and gradually add them to the already formed Strongman talismans, thereby fundamentally improving their quality.

Ji Yuan wasn't sure if this was due to the number of superimposed layers in his Golden Armored Strongmen, the specifics of his refining process, or simply because they were unique as he crafted them himself. In any case, the original, cruder Strongman talismans certainly wouldn't function in this manner.

This method allowed Ji Yuan to circumvent the common issue of refining too many Strongman talismans at once, which often led to failure. Instead, he continuously improved his existing Golden Armored Strongmen in this manner.

Between quantity and quality, Ji Yuan prioritized quality while maintaining a suitable number. This approach had already caused his original six Golden Armored Strongmen to evolve from their initial 324 movements to 600.

In fact, having lost two earlier, Ji Yuan felt quite pained upon reflection.

After a moment of recollection, Ji Yuan retrieved another Yellow Turban Strongman talisman from his sleeve.

The Yellow Turban Strongman talisman in his hand felt extremely coarse, with scorched marks along its edges and a deep, slightly toasted color. This was the very strongman he had used to withstand the first heavenly lightning bolt during the tribulation—the first Golden Armored Strongman Ji Yuan had ever refined.

Ji Yuan could sense that the strongman wasn't destroyed, but the impact was undoubtedly significant. Its state was highly unstable, so much so that he didn't dare summon it, fearing the talisman would disintegrate after a single use.

After examining it for a while, Ji Yuan began cutting yellow paper with scissors. As he cut, he infused his magic power and spiritual intent into it, visualizing the movements and majestic aura of the Golden Armored Strongman.

Soon, a paper cutout was ready. He placed his left palm against the original Strongman talisman, and with his right hand forming a sword-finger gesture, he brought the newly cut paper figure close to the talisman. He gently pressed it on, focusing his spirit and intent on visualizing their fusion.

"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle..."

After a sizzling sound, black smoke rose, and the paper immediately turned charred black, then crumbled into ashes.

'It's not working... I'll try again!'

Ji Yuan refused to give up. He began cutting again, this time spending a significant amount of time visualizing all 324 initial movements and spiritual intents, then repeatedly brought them close to the scorched Strongman talisman.

By the latter half of the night, the entire bedroom was filled with the smell of charring, and countless gray-black ashes were scattered on the floor. As for the Strongman talisman on the table, it remained unchanged.

Ji Yuan frowned, looking at the Strongman talisman on the table, unsure of what to do with it.

By this point, due to Ji Yuan's nocturnal efforts, with flashes of light and the smell of burning emanating from his room, the small characters and the paper crane outside gradually realized that Lord Ji Yuan wasn't sleeping but was busy with something.

So, they all gathered by the doors and windows outside, occasionally communicating in extremely tiny whispers, creating constant rustling sounds.

Ji Yuan inside the room, of course, was unaffected by these sounds, yet he still found the situation a bit perplexing.

He could imagine that after enduring such a heavenly lightning baptism—even if it was just the first "appetizer"—it was no ordinary lightning. If this Golden Armored Strongman talisman could be repaired, it would surely be exceptional; it would be a great pity to let it be destroyed.

"Buzz..."

The hum of the Green Vine Sword sounded beside him. Ji Yuan looked up to see the Green Vine Immortal Sword gracefully fly before him, quietly hovering above the tabletop.

As the Green Vine Sword hummed, all the small characters outside immediately fell silent in fright, pressing tightly against the doors and windows, afraid to move. While they deeply respected Ji Yuan, truthfully, what they feared most was this immortal sword.

The Green Vine Sword in the room, of course, was not humming because of the noise outside. At this moment, the entire sword, including its scabbard and hilt, emitted a faint luminescence. As Ji Yuan's attention shifted to the immortal sword, the last four characters on the scabbard dimmed, while the four characters "Spirit-bred Green Vine" glowed particularly brightly.

"Snap!"

Ji Yuan slapped his forehead and finally chuckled.

"I've been stuck in a mental dead end! Heavenly lightning is associated with wood, and while lightning tribulations vary, they all carry significant meaning. You, born of wood spirit, carrying metallic sharpness and the vitality of spring, embody both creation and destruction. You are precisely the sword to break this deadlock!"

"Buzz..."

The immortal sword hummed again, a clear, sustained ringing sound.

Ji Yuan stood up and pointed his sword-finger at the Green Vine Sword with his right hand.

With a crisp "ding," a soft white glow rippled from the sword's body. Though seemingly gentle, this glow was incredibly sharp. The charred paper scraps that still retained some form on the floor immediately turned to dust. Fortunately, the table, chairs, and other items remained intact.

But as the white glow rippled onto the tabletop, the Strongman talisman on the table trembled violently, as if caught in a strong wind yet pinned to the surface.

"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle... sizzle, sizzle, sizzle..."

A faint electric gleam appeared on the Strongman talisman, making Ji Yuan's eyes narrow. He couldn't help but blurt out.

"There's still lightning contained within it!"

The next moment, Ji Yuan narrowed his eyes, then slightly opened them again. He rotated his sword-finger, and the hovering Green Vine Sword also turned with his finger's movement, its scabbard tip pointing towards the Strongman talisman below. The spiritual light on the sword grew subtly stronger.

Ji Yuan regulated his breathing, searching for an intuitive rhythm within the Strongman talisman's flickering lightning.

At the precise moment a lightning spark expanded, Ji Yuan hooked his finger downwards, and the Green Vine Sword also pointed downwards simultaneously.

"Now."

"Thump..."

The sword scabbard struck the tabletop with a muffled thud. A bluish spiritual light flowed from the scabbard's tip, sweeping over the Strongman talisman with some of it merging into it, while the vast majority returned to the Green Vine Sword after rippling for a few moments.

"Crack, crack, crack..."

The Strongman talisman on the table began to change. Its scorched edges turned to ash and crumbled away, leaving behind a slightly hollowed-out humanoid strongman talisman.

"Phew..."

Ji Yuan exhaled slightly. Although the Strongman talisman appeared more damaged, its almost disintegrating instability had sharply decreased.

"Let's try again!"

Ji Yuan's confidence surged. He sat back down at the table, picking up the scissors and yellow paper, while the Green Vine Sword slowly rose and remained quietly angled beside him.

At dawn, Ji Yuan's bedroom floor bore another layer of ashes and debris, but he was in high spirits, a smile on his face.

In Ji Yuan's hand was a perfectly restored Strongman talisman. No longer the color of yellow paper, it now exuded a dark, deep hue, like dulled, heavy gold. Its weight in hand was slightly heavier than before, though to an ordinary person, it would still feel like just a piece of paper.

"It's finally done!"