Just when Song Qingming felt that he had found a way to make a fortune, it didn't take long for him to realize that he had thought too simply. Except for the first two times when his formation was successfully sold, he only sold one set of formation in the subsequent gatherings, and no one was interested.
It’s not that there’s anything wrong with the formation he created, it’s just that there are only fifty or sixty people gathering at Caolu Mountain at a time, and most of them are regular customers who come here frequently.
Generally, a cultivator only needs one set of formations. Like magic weapons, they can be used for a long time without being damaged. Besides, not everyone needs them.
With the few remaining formations in his hands, he had no choice but to ask his family to help take them to Qinghefang for disposal. When the cunning Fourth Elder saw the pile of formations, he was very suspicious that they were not made by him, so he had to find several excuses to get away with it.
The profit margin of low-level formations is already low, and producing too many at one time will easily arouse suspicion of the source. Besides, the Caolushan market is too small and too far to Qinghefang.
This won't work. If he wants to earn spirit stones, he has to find a new method.
If you want to not worry about sales in the short term, you can only buy items that are common and consumed in large quantities in the market.
After much thought, the only two things that meet his needs are elixirs and talismans. Compared to alchemy, the art of talismans is obviously more suitable for him now.
Talismans are relatively common consumables, which can be used in fighting, hunting monsters, and practicing. Low-level talismans are basically disposable consumables, and the market demand is huge. No matter which market, a few more low-level talisman makers will basically not affect the market.
Alchemy requires talent and a lot of investment to be effective, so each family will only choose to train people with talent.
In comparison, the requirements for talisman makers are not so high. In the early stages of talisman making, there is not much emphasis on talent. As long as you are willing to spend time, it is not difficult to get started.
Talisman making is also the most popular skill among cultivators among the hundred arts of immortal cultivation. Generally, cultivators will master this skill by the late stages of Qi Refining. The Song family has a good inheritance of the way of talismans, and there are two top-grade talisman makers in the clan.
Song Qingming got to work right away. He took out the talisman-making materials he had prepared long ago, a family-inherited secret book on talisman-making, a silver low-grade talisman pen, a jar of cinnabar made from the blood of monsters, and dozens of blank talisman papers.
These were all exchanged by Song Qingming at the Gold Storage Pavilion a few days ago. The family's inheritance management of the art of talismans is not that strict. No matter how talented you are in making talismans, you can easily obtain them by spending five merit points in the Gold Storage Pavilion.
When Song Qingming exchanged for the talisman inheritance, the Fourth Elder only gave him a few words of advice, telling him not to be obsessed with cultivating immortal skills and neglect his practice.
After placing the talisman paper and cinnabar on the table, Song Qingming picked up the silver talisman pen and began to make the first "Pure Mind Talisman".
Most of the first-level low-grade talismans are auxiliary-type talismans, and the "Purifying Mind Talisman" is the most common one among them. After using it, it can make people calm their minds in a short period of time, and allow people to quickly concentrate their spiritual consciousness when practicing exercises.
Whether it is a breakthrough in cultivation, or when refining pills or weapons, it will have some effect. Most cultivators will have several of these on them. This talisman is also the most common low-level talisman on the market.
Following the talisman-making method in the talisman-making secret book, after dipping the tip of the pen with red cinnabar, Song Qingming used the spiritual power in his body to slowly inject it into the pen in his hand, and began to draw the talisman on a blank piece of talisman paper.
Back when Song Qingming was learning the art of formations in the family, the elders of the clan personally taught him carefully for a year before he was able to get started. If he were a casual cultivator without any guidance, he might not be able to reach the entry level in three years.
Although talisman making is one of the simpler types of immortal arts, it is not easy for beginners to draw a complete and qualified talisman in one go.
At the end of the day, Song Qingming drew eight talismans in a row, but none of them reached the qualified level. Excluding the ones that failed halfway through, only two were successfully drawn. Unfortunately, although these two talismans were shining silver on the surface, the spiritual power contained in them was very thin.
Song Qingming placed the talisman in his hand, and observed it carefully for a while. Then he pinched his fingers and chanted a spell. The talisman in his hand suddenly emitted a silver light, and a cool spiritual energy quickly came from the palm of his hand. However, not long after, the spiritual power on the talisman suddenly became chaotic, and flames suddenly appeared on the talisman, turning it into a fireball, which burned to ashes in an instant.
Looking at the pile of ashes left in his hand, Song Qingming showed a helpless smile on his face. It turned out that it was still far from enough.
In addition to his daily inspections of Lingyuan Mountain, Song Qingming spent all his time learning talisman making, often seeking guidance from Song Changxin. During this period, he also made a special trip to Mujiao Town to consult with Aunt Song Changling, the most talented talisman maker in the clan and a top-grade talisman maker.
With the help of the incomplete map, he was able to speed up the recovery of his spiritual power. The materials for making talismans that should have taken a month to use up were used up in less than ten days.
After some hard work, Song Qingming finally reaped the rewards. The four Qingxin Talismans in his hand were also the four most perfect ones among the hundreds of times he had made in the past ten days. After carefully trying one again, he felt the spiritual power contained in the talisman and the effect after use, and he showed a satisfied smile.
Song Qingming straightened up with a look of joy on his face, stretched his aching waist, and looked at the three remaining silver talismans in his hand. The materials were worth more than a dozen spirit stones, and he exchanged them for three Qingxin Talismans. Although he had expected this, the initial investment of spirit stones still made him feel a little distressed.
After learning to make talismans for more than ten days, he could only successfully make four talismans out of more than one hundred talisman materials. According to the prices in the market, at least twenty talismans must be made out of one hundred materials to make a profit. It takes an average of two years for an ordinary talisman maker to reach this level, and the initial investment is at least hundreds of spirit stones.
In other words, it would take an ordinary talisman maker at least three or four years to earn spirit stones by relying on this skill. This is the easiest talisman making to learn. Not to mention the higher investment required for things like alchemy. Without a decade or twenty years of heavy investment, there would be no return at all.
After obtaining three Qingxin Talismans, Song Qingming was not in a hurry to make this type of talisman again. Instead, he opened the family's talisman-making secret book and began to make another kind of talisman, the "Fireball Talisman". According to the elders of the clan, the art of talisman-making is to try other types of talismans more often so that it will be easier for him to control the spiritual power when using the pen.
It was not until two months later that Song Qingming finally reached the threshold of a low-grade talisman maker and increased his success rate in talisman making to nearly 20%.
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On Caolu Mountain, Song Qingming, dressed in a green shirt, arrived at the gathering point early. He chose a place closer to the center, skillfully put up a wooden sign, took out a bunch of spiritual objects and placed them on the stall, then picked up a book of talismans that he had bought nearby last time and read it carefully.
It has to be said that Caolu Mountain is quite famous in the northeast of Qinghe County. In the past few months, Song Qingming has seen many cultivators from nearby major families here. Even several elders from the Song family, which is more than a hundred miles away, have come here to buy spiritual objects.
Now he is very familiar with the procedures here. If he comes earlier, he can occupy a better stall. However, he still doesn't dare to occupy the best seats in the middle even though there are still vacancies.
He has been here seven or eight times. Although no one has told him specifically, it is not difficult for him to find out that the seats in the middle have always been reserved for several late-stage Qi Refining cultivators who often come here. Naturally, Song Qingming did not dare to greedily occupy these vacancies and inexplicably offend those with higher cultivation.
Half an hour later, dozens of cultivators arrived at the top of the mountain one after another. This time, there seemed to be more people attending the meeting than usual. Song Qingming was somewhat glad that he had come here early and occupied a good position. In less than half an hour, he had sold more than a dozen talismans of various types.
After more than two months of study, he has now learned how to make five or six kinds of talismans and can be considered a real talisman maker.
It is relatively easy to get started in the art of talisman making, but to become a qualified low-grade talisman maker, one must be able to make at least eight kinds of talismans and maintain a 20% success rate to be considered a low-grade talisman maker.
"Fellow Daoist, do you want to buy some medicinal pills?"
"As long as it's a elixir that can improve your cultivation, it can be exchanged for spiritual objects on the stall at the same price."
After finishing speaking, Song Qingming put down the letter in his hand and looked at the person who came. Unexpectedly, this person turned out to be one of his old customers, so he hurriedly smiled.
This man's name is Qin Zhen. He is a casual cultivator who often goes to Yunwu Mountain to hunt monsters. He also has several subordinates and often organizes people to go deep into Yunwu Mountain.
During the few months that Song Qingming set up a stall in Caolu Mountain, Qin Zhen would buy a lot of talismans whenever he came, and he especially liked his "Qingxin Talisman".