Days passed as Lin Mu kept on making Diamond Mountain Talismans.
His success rate with the lesser grade Diamond Mountain Talismans was getting better and was at ten percent now. This was a double increase from the last time and had taken Lin Mu nearly ten days to achieve.
~huu~
Lin Mu had been making the Diamond Mountain Talismans for about fifteen days now and it was past the two week minimum mark that Alchemist Ruoxian had talked about.
"He still hasn't contacted me… looks like he might not be finished yet." Lin Mu muttered to himself after checking his Communication Jade Slip.
Since there was no message, he reckoned he could go back to making more Diamond Mountain Talismans. He was improving at it and was feeling quite pleased with his progress too. Lin Mu could feel that his overall understanding of formations was also improving at the same time.
This time though, Lin Mu decided to raise his level and try the next grade of the Diamond Mountain Talismans.
"The Great grade Diamond Mountain Talisman, it's the highest level and can defend again the attack of a False immortal realm expert." Lin Mu revised the information as he read about the method of production.
While the basic runes and circuits for it were the same, the way the great grade Diamond Mountain Talisman differed was in the number of them. If the minor Diamond Mountain Talismans had one set of the runes, and the lesser grade Diamond Mountain Talismans had five then the Great grade Diamond Mountain Talisman had twenty five sets!
This complexity was the reason why a spirit formation talisman could actually block an immortal level attack. Even if it was just a false immortal and not a true immortal, it was still quite a big difference.
After all, if a few of these were given to experts of the mortal worlds, wouldn't they simply become able to defend against Immortal ascension experts with ease?
That could very well flip the power dynamic of the world. And it would still be within the limits of the world too as any spirit Qi cultivator could technically make a Diamond Mountain Talisman as long as they had the skills to.
For Lin Mu though, the Diamond Mountain Talismans weren't for use. They were just for practice and improving his own skills.
With the complexity that the Diamond Mountain Talismans had, one could actually make several immortal formations with ease. But the advantage was the fact that the Diamond Mountain Talismans needed ingredients that cost a negligible amount to Lin Mu.
If he were to do the same with actual immortal grade formations, things would quickly get wasteful and expensive.
~BOOM~
But not even thirty seconds since Lin Mu had started with the great grade Diamond Mountain Talisman, it exploded. This time the power of the explosion was higher than the lesser grade Diamond Mountain Talismans.
"Yeah… definitely more complex…" Lin Mu had understood his mistake, but also knew that fixing it wasn't going to be easy.
Lin Mu tried again and again, going through talisman paper like crazy. In less than two hours, he had already used up around five hundred sheets and there was still no success. In fact, he hadn't even finished half of the talisman before it failed.
But Lin Mu didn't lose hope, and continued his work.
Minutes turned to hours, and hours turned to days.
Hundreds of attempts became thousand and thousands became tens of thousands.
And finally, Lin Mu saw some positive result.
~HUMM~
A talisman was held in his hands, the runes on it still glowing faintly.
"It's done… barely… but done…" Lin Mu wiped the sweat off his brow.
His entire robe was now in tatters with how many explosions it had endured. Even on his chest one could see scorch marks, though these were just surface level. His actual skin would not get injured by an explosion at this level.
~huu~
'At least it's done…' Lin Mu felt like actually sleeping after this.
He had been working on the Diamond Mountain Talismans for nearly four weeks now. The only breaks he had taken were when he had stopped to check if Alchemist Ruoxian had contacted him.
But there was still no response, which only made him think that the process might be taking longer. Still, it wasn't like he was in a hurry and thus could wait with ease.
"Still, the success rate for a great grade Diamond Mountain Talismans is too low… not even 0.00001%." Lin Mu looked at the waste talisman paper that was lying around him.
He had basically run out of all of them, despite the massive amounts he had purchased earlier. Lin Mu had originally bought over a hundred thousand sheets of them, and had only used less than twenty thousand when making the Minor and lesser grade Diamond Mountain Talismans.
But with the great grade, he had used over eighty thousand sheets of the talisman paper.
'At the very least, the Diamond Mountain Talismans I made will be more than enough to compensate for the cost of the talisman papers.' Lin Mu now intended to exchange the Diamond Mountain Talismans for three times the amount he had earlier.
Done with his practice, Lin Mu decided to just sleep. But before that, he took a look at the Immortal Apple tree and saw that the flower bud on it had already turned into a blooming flower.
"There's still some time before it will turn into an apple and even more time for it to turn into a ripe immortal apple." Lin Mu muttered to himself.
Looking at the Immortal apple tree gave rise to a different thought in Lin Mu's mind, though.
'Perhaps I should look into some more plants like these. The Grand Sky Pavilion should definitely have a few at least…' Lin Mu thought to himself.
With that decided, Lin Mu closed his eyes and drifted off into a deep sleep. His body disappeared from the Sleepscape, leaving the plants to their own devices.
In the past four weeks, Lin Mu had expended quite a of Qi but it still couldn't compare to the mental fatigue he had accumulated. After all, making formations needed a lot of willpower as well as concentration, which could easily exhaust a person.
The fact that he could last for four weeks while making a complex talisman like the Diamond Mountain Talismans alone was a testament to his determination.
Upon truly sleeping, Lin Mu's body started its natural work. The Aperture within his chest continued to spin and released minute amounts of Immortal essence that was being slowly infused into his cells.
Right now his body could still not use the Immortal essence directly, so this was no different than getting the cells adapted to it. After all, after the immortal essence was infused into the cells, it would dissipate in a short while.
But that wasn't all as Immortal Qi was also swirling around his body. With each breath, it would be pulled into his lungs and absorbed into his meridians before being circulated all over the body.
The signature immortal Qi circuit that Lin Mu had made worked on its own and passively increased Lin Mu's stores of it. The Qi that he had depleted was being replenished automatically and it wouldn't be long before it was back to the original level.
~Meow~
Lin Mu was roused from his slumber by a sound. His eyelids twitched before opening up, only to see Little Shrubby staring at him while standing on his chest.
"Mmm? Little Shrubby?" Lin Mu yawned.
"That man is at the door." Little Shrubby replied.
"What man?" Lin Mu furrowed his brows.
"The alchemist." Little Shrubby responded.
"Alchemist Ruoxian?!" Lin Mu stood up while Little Shrubby hopped off his chest. "Strange… I don't think I ever told him where I'm staying." He muttered.
Regardless of what the reason might have been, Lin Mu decided to first see the man. He didn't think Ruoxian would try to enter the courtyard without an invitation, either. Not only were there arrays protecting it, there was also the Saintess staying there.
Even if she wasn't there all the time, her perception could always cover it and act on it. Plus, Lin Mu hadn't missed the additional security that she had added in the form of illusory spells.
They weren't exactly formations, but could be compared to talismans. If they detected threats, they would trap the intruder in an illusion and they would stay in it for quite a long time.
Lin Mu quickly opened the door of the room and walked to the gate of the courtyard.
~Creak~
And surely, there was Alchemist Ruoxian waiting for him.
'He seems anxious…' Lin Mu could tell from looking at his face.
"Daoist Mu Lin, so you really were home." Alchemist Ruoxian said, with a hint of nervousness.
"Yes… I was in seclusion." Lin Mu replied.
"I apologize if I've bothered you by coming directly, but there has been a certain development, I'm afraid."
