As Li Xin scanned through the list of talismans, his gaze stopped at the “Summoning Trace Talisman.”

  The Summoning Trace Talisman. A talisman that detected lingering traces of energy to locate lost items or minute remnants. Its usefulness was high not only in real combat, but also in everyday situations. In particular, trace-tracking detection abilities were highly valued even among talismans.

  Accordingly, the value of its Talisman Method was high as well. The required contribution was a full 10 points. Li Xin currently possessed only a mere 4 points of contribution.

  I’ll look at it later, once I’ve accumulated enough contribution points.

  Li Xin shifted his gaze again. In the process, he also discovered the Talisman Method for the Warm Heart Talisman, which he had already learned.

  [Required contribution: 5 points.]

  By the standards of two-stroke talismans, that was fairly high. Most ordinary life-use Talisman Methods were usually around three to four points. At that price, it meant the talisman’s utility went beyond simple daily use.

  The Warm Heart Talisman Method can be found easily even in the market. Of course, the contents are different, but…

  There was a clear difference between an official Talisman Method and a copied manuscript. The biggest difference lay in accuracy. Copied methods struggled to preserve the original structure in its entirety. Large or small, errors inevitably crept in, and those errors directly translated into differences in the final result. Up to two strokes, this was not a major problem, but from three strokes onward, even minor deviations led to fatal outcomes. That was why, from three-stroke talismans onward, an official Talisman Method was absolutely necessary.

  Li Xin continued examining the talisman list. For reference, simple additional-stroke talismans like the two-stroke Strength Talisman or Lightness Talisman were usually priced around three points.

  Li Xin briefly considered the two-stroke Lightness Talisman Method as well, but it was not a priority right now. What Li Xin was aiming for were Talisman Methods that were rarely seen even in the markets.

  Among them, one stood out clearly—Concealing Fragrance Talisman. A talisman that wrapped body odor, food smells, sweat, and the like in fragrance.

  A simple deodorizing talisman. Judging by its effects alone, it looked ordinary—but—a problem every cultivator experienced at least once. Blood, sweat, medicinal herbs, beasts, even the stench of demonic beast corpses. Scents that clung to the body were far harder to remove than one might think.

  Li Xin knew that fact better than anyone.

  When I worked as Xu Hui’s assistant, the smell of demonic beast blood lingered for two full days.

  Sticky, heavy, fishy. No matter how much he washed, the foul stench would rise up again at some point. If he could fully internalize the effects of the Concealing Fragrance Talisman, that single effect alone would be worth the price.

  There was no hesitation. Li Xin paid 4 contribution points and immediately borrowed the official Talisman Method for the Concealing Fragrance Talisman.

  None of the Archive Pavilion’s documents could be taken outside, and all contents had to be fully absorbed here. A cultivator’s memory was exceedingly sharp, and once seen, the contents would not be forgotten. Of course, only if one truly understood them.

  Someone lacking comprehension would probably have to rent the same book multiple times.

  This, too, was one of the mechanisms the Talisman Union had put in place to reclaim contribution points. The reading area located deep within the Archive Pavilion. Late sunlight streamed in through the window frames, gently covering the edges of the desks. There was no one around. Li Xin sat in the most secluded seat and opened the borrowed Concealing Fragrance Talisman Method.

  A thin booklet. At a glance, it looked no different from the Talisman Methods commonly seen in the markets. As he turned the pages, the introductory sentence caught his eye.

  [To conceal fragrance means that one must first create fragrance. From the stage of preparing ink, brush, and paper, the process of shaping fragrance has already begun.]

  The first thing explained was the ink mixture. Rather than ordinary carbon ink, it stated that one must mix in powder made by drying the roots of Flower Fragrance Grass. The exact ratio was three pinches of fragrance powder per one ink cup. If there was too much fragrance powder, the energy would scatter; if too little, the fragrance would not manifest.

  This is closer to perfumery than talisman crafting, isn’t it?

  Most talisman masters would struggle at this stage, or simply buy pre-made fragrant ink to use instead, but for Li Xin, this method was not unfamiliar. It was very similar to the process of neutralizing demonic beast blood.

  As expected, no knowledge is ever truly useless.

  Compared to the highly reactive demonic beast blood, mixing fragrance powder into ink was not particularly difficult.

  Next came the brush. The text specified that one must use a horse-hair brush mixed with tail hair. Horse-hair brushes were known for their durability and stiffness. In particular, the hairs from the tail section were called Heavenly Tail, prized for their excellent elasticity and density. The following explanation concerned the talisman paper.

  [For the Concealing Fragrance Talisman, one must use White Pine Paper.]

  White Pine Paper was a special paper made by infusing white paper with pine resin, weak to heat but capable of holding energy for long periods.

  Li Xin quietly exhaled.

  ‘From ink to paper, every single thing is demanding.

  For ordinary two-stroke talismans, plain white paper, regular ink, and a standard brush were sufficient, but because the Concealing Fragrance Talisman was a special talisman related to fragrance, strict conditions were imposed on every material.

  After reading all the material explanations, Li Xin moved on to examine the talisman diagram. The Concealing Fragrance Talisman was classified as a two-stroke talisman. However, at a glance, the diagram spread before him felt complex enough to be mistaken for three or even four strokes.

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  The difficulty’s pretty high.

  The first stroke was the talisman’s central axis. Along a long horizontal line flowed three tremors. Those tremors were not mere decoration. They acted as a kind of ignition line, awakening the fragrance’s energy and dispersing it into the air. In other words, this first stroke contained the function of generating fragrance.

  The second stroke appeared, at first glance, to be a simple straight line, but it was designed to subtly change direction at the very moment the brush was lifted. That slight deviation caused the fragrance to spread in a radial pattern.

  As these two strokes interlocked, the entire talisman naturally formed a structure that regulated the flow of fragrance. In the end, the Concealing Fragrance Talisman did not simply hide odors, but created a new fragrance to disperse existing smells.

  “Then wouldn’t ‘Dispersing Fragrance’ be a more accurate name than ‘Concealing Fragrance’…”

  Li Xin muttered casually to himself.

  That was when it happened.

  “Why do you think that?”

  A sudden, unfamiliar voice reached his ears.

  Li Xin reflexively lifted his head. Across the desk, in a seat that had been empty just moments ago, a young man in a black robe was now sitting there. He held a book with no title in his hand, and his long hair draped down, covering half his eyes. His clothes were neatly arranged without a hint of disorder, but more striking than that was his presence. His overall aura was so ordinary that it felt unsettling instead.

  He concealed his presence.

  Li Xin realized instinctively. It wasn’t that Li Xin had failed to notice—his counterpart had deliberately concealed himself. Even so, Li Xin continued speaking without showing surprise.

  “Functionally speaking, ‘dispersing fragrance’ seems more accurate. It’s closer to scattering the smell than hiding it.”

  “Hm…”

  The young man lifted his head and slowly closed the book. Only then could Li Xin see his face clearly. A youthful face, clean and well-defined features. And atop them, a shallow yet unfathomable smile. The young man gently raised his hand and pointed at the diagram as he asked.

  “Do you know what the word ‘concealing’ actually means?”

  “Doesn’t it mean hiding fragrance?”

  When Li Xin answered cautiously, the young man let out a soft chuckle.

  “That’s how people usually think. Hiding fragrance. But you can also see it the other way around. ‘Hiding with fragrance.’ That is, using fragrance as a tool to conceal something else.”

  Hiding with fragrance? The young man’s words were not mere wordplay. They were an interpretation that pierced straight to the essence of the Concealing Fragrance Talisman. The moment Li Xin heard it, he understood instinctively.

  “Then the thing being concealed isn’t the fragrance itself, but something else.”

  The young man nodded leisurely.

  “That’s right. Smell, energy, traces… the Concealing Fragrance Talisman uses fragrance to hide everything that can be sensed.”

  Then he continued.

  “One more thing. The character ‘conceal’ doesn’t just mean to hide. It also carries the meaning of hiding naturally, without being consciously noticed.”

  At those words, Li Xin’s eyes gleamed. Understanding clicked instantly.

  The Concealing Fragrance Talisman was not a simple deodorizing talisman. By pushing fragrance to the forefront, it altered sensory priorities—a kind of deception. To conceal did not mean merely to hide, but to make something go unnoticed. And its target was not limited to scent alone. Presence, spiritual energy, even killing intent. All of it fell within the framework of the senses.

  A two-stroke talisman could not completely block the senses. In that case, it was better to blur the senses themselves. That was the core principle of the Concealing Fragrance Talisman.

  “So that’s why it’s called ‘concealing.’”

  Li Xin was impressed. To think such profundity was hidden within a mere two-stroke deodorizing talisman. The name ‘Concealing Fragrance’ perfectly expressed the talisman’s intent.

  “You grasp things faster than expected. Especially for someone encountering the Concealing Fragrance Talisman for the first time.”

  The young man slightly raised the corner of his lips. The smile was plain, yet it left Li Xin with the strange feeling of having been seen through.

  Li Xin gave no particular reaction, only bowing his head slightly. There was no reason to get carried away by praise. Right now, identifying who this young man was mattered more. Concealing presence, blurring existence, speaking with insight that pierced the essence of talismans… None of it was ordinary.

  “Thanks to you, I learned something. Thank you.”

  “If you learned something, that’s good.”

  The young man opened his book again. His movements were natural and quiet, as if he had been sitting there from the very beginning.

  Li Xin also lowered his gaze back to the Talisman Method. But his attention was entirely focused on the young man sitting across from him.

  In the quiet space, only the sound of pages turning flowed. Then, the young man spoke first. His tone was casual.

  “I actually came here looking for you.”

  Li Xin’s hand, which had been turning the pages, trembled ever so slightly. However, he did not lift his head. Instead, he asked back in a calm voice.

  “For me?”

  “There was a record that Xu Hui’s assistant had entered the Archive Pavilion. I was curious. Wondered if Xu Hui had an assistant she was personally raising.”

  He spoke Xu Hui’s name directly, without the honorific of talisman master. There was no hesitation or courtesy in his tone.

  Calling Xu Hui so casually means… he must have a higher standing than her.

  Li Xin quietly raised his head.

  “Do you know Talisman Master Xu Hui?”

  The young man met Li Xin’s gaze calmly. Eyes without a hint of wavering. Clear, deep pupils whose depths could not be read.

  “I do. Xu Hui is a rather special existence even within the Talisman Union.”

  The young man turned his head, flipped a page, and continued.

  “There are only a handful of talisman masters who can formally draw Demonic Beast Talismans. That’s how dangerous it is.”

  “Dangerous?”

  The young man lightly tapped the desk with his finger.

  “Demonic Beast Talismans use demonic beast blood and flesh as materials, right? Handling that requires strong essence. The problem is that the process erodes one’s vitality.”

  Li Xin’s eyes shook.

  “Erodes vitality…”

  “Demonic beast energy is rough and sharp. The moment you engrave it onto paper, mix it into ink, and draw it with a brush, that energy invades the talisman master’s body directly. Simply put, every time you swing the brush, your lifespan shortens a little.”

  The young man smiled faintly.

  “Xu Hui is only a little over forty this year.”

  Li Xin was rendered speechless. Just how much of her lifespan had she lost. How much pain had she endured to live until now.

  “Cultivators who pursue longevity do not age easily. But Xu Hui didn’t choose that path. Even now, she’s probably somewhere, drawing Demonic Beast Talismans.”

  The young man’s hand quietly brushed across the desk. Like someone caressing an old memory.

  Li Xin asked cautiously, “…Why are you telling me this?”

  Xu Hui had always been expressionless and never showed her emotions. She had not even explained why she took Li Xin in as her assistant. The young man paused for a moment before answering.

  “If you’re Xu Hui’s assistant, you might one day lay your hands on Demonic Beast Talismans. When that time comes, you need to know. What price you’ll have to pay.”

  A price. At those words, Li Xin’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

  The young man slowly rose from his seat.

  “You’re Li Xin, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll remember you. We might meet again someday.”

  With that, the young man left the Archive Pavilion quietly, without leaving behind a single trace of presence. Li Xin closed the book for a moment and shut his eyes.

  Xu Hui and Demonic Beast Talismans—Those names lingered heavily in his chest.