left behind these memories. It seemed like Zhong Kui had not retained any recollections related to the Five Ghosts' origins.Xiao Yu opened the door to the consultation room and entered. The woman was...Chapter 485: The Brush Breaks

Although Xiao Yu and the old man were now laughing and chatting, he clearly remembered that Xiao Yu had just ruined his talisman. That talisman was given to him by his master for self-protection, and there were only two of them in total. However, one of them was casually destroyed by Xiao Yu.

Moli glanced at Xiao Yu but did not dare say anything. Although the effect of that talisman was limited, an ordinary person who fell victim to it would still suffer quite a bit. But as for Xiao Yu, he casually crushed it without even scratching himself. Therefore, all Moli could do was glare angrily at Xiao Yu and refrain from speaking.

"Humph... Moli, this is Senior Xiao! Didn't you hear me Show some respect!" The old man naturally noticed Moli's attitude. Seeing that Xiao Yu wasn't upset about it, he let out a long sigh of relief and sternly called out to Moli.

Not to mention anything else, just the insight Xiao Yu had in magical arts was something he couldn't compare with. Moreover, it seemed like Xiao Yu's cultivation was based on righteous energy.

The origin of righteous energy was clearly recorded in their family genealogy. If not for this record, even if he witnessed what Xiao Yu did, he wouldn’t have thought about the possibility that he cultivated righteous energy.

Although Xiao Yu didn't admit it, nor did he deny it. Sometimes, some things could be understood without needing to spell them out explicitly.

"Junior Moli has met Senior Xiao!" Although Moli was unwilling, he still had to listen to his master's words. Therefore, with an unhappy look on his face, he bowed slightly toward Xiao Yu.

"Mm." Xiao Yu nodded in response.

Looking at the young boy before him, Xiao Yu turned to the old man and asked, "Do you have materials for drawing talismans here"

The old man stood by the side. Upon hearing what Xiao Yu said, his eyes lit up instantly. Knowing that Xiao Yu was looking for materials to draw a talisman, he became very excited: "Yes! Yes! Please follow me!" After saying this, he pointed into the ancestral hall.

"You two can wait in the main hall." Old Man Du Zhiping saw Xiao Yu enter the house and turned around to say to Li Bingguang and his son.

The elder's name was Li Zhiping, but he could also be called Du Zhiping since he had always stayed in the ancestral hall and thus used his mother’s surname Du instead of his father’s Li. Even for Mo Lili’s name, it was the same with Du as the family name, although they would say Li when they interacted with others.

After telling Li Bingguang and his son everything, Du Zhiping turned around to enter the ancestral hall, followed by an old man. Mo Lili walked behind the elder and entered inside too. After he went in, he focused on the main entrance of the ancestral hall.

Liang Bingguang and Li Zixiong looked at each other blankly. They were well aware of talismans but had no idea why Xiao Yu wanted one. Could it be that Xiao Yu was also…. At this thought, both of them were even more shocked.

“Right, if not for this reason, how could Xiao Yu get along so amicably with the clan elder Only by being of the same ilk can this explanation hold! Besides, given the elder's personality, even when the commander-in-chief of the Nationalist Army visited him in his home back then, he wouldn’t leave the house. How much less a young man like Xiao Yu”

When they thought about it, both of them exchanged glances and hurriedly left the ancestral hall. They knew that this matter was beyond their knowledge and investigation capabilities. Even as clan leaders, they only had superficial knowledge of things; they didn’t know anything about the deeper secrets of the family.

With Xiao Yu in tow, Du Zhiping led him to a corner on the other side of the ancestral hall. There was an archway here too. After entering through it, Xiao Yu’s eyes lit up.

The rooms here were unlike those in the main chamber of the ancestral hall that had two floors but felt like only one. Here, however, there were still two levels with a staircase leading upstairs at the side of the wall.

The interior decor was very classical and almost identical to an ancient room. Xiao Yu nodded his head as he looked around this place. While there were many such rooms nowadays, they would all be equipped with modern appliances. But not here—after glancing around for a moment, Xiao Yu saw that quite a few flowers had been planted inside but no modern electrical devices whatsoever.

Soon enough, the elder prepared everything needed: brush, vermilion powder, and talisman paper. After taking up his brush and concentrating slightly, he took a deep breath and began drawing on the talisman paper.

Mysterious symbols appeared one by one as Xiao Yu’s hand moved across the paper, with all his spirit concentrated at the tip of his brush. He did not dare to slack off even for a moment; after all, this art of talisman-drawing was such that if he made so much as an error, the talisman would be rendered useless. Hence, Xiao Yu’s attention was highly focused.

When Xiao Yu finished drawing once, he used his brush tip to dip into some vermilion powder and then started copying it on top of the previous one. As he copied again and again, perspiration slowly appeared on Xiao Yu's forehead and his complexion turned slightly pale. But Xiao Yu did not put down his pen.

Du Zhiping and his disciple watched closely as Xiao Yu drew the talisman. They had already recognized the symbol that Xiao Yu was drawing and Du’s face suddenly tensed up when he saw that Xiao Yu had copied six times; but seeing no unusual expression from Xiao Yu, he let out a sigh of relief, still staring intently at Xiao Yu’s brush without daring to even breathe deeply.

By the tenth iteration, Du Zhiping's breathing had become slightly labored.

By the twentieth iteration, droplets of sweat appeared on Xiao Yu's forehead, and Du Zhiping's forehead was sweating even more profusely than Xiao Yu’s; he was far more nervous at this moment than Xiao Yu could ever be.

Even though beads of perspiration kept rolling down Xiao Yu's forehead, he didn't stop drawing.

"Snap!"

When Xiao Yu reached the thirtieth iteration, his forehead was drenched in sweat and these droplets were trickling down his cheeks to the floor. When Xiao Yu completed the final stroke of the thirtieth iteration, there was a sharp snap as the pen in his hand broke.

Seeing Xiao Yu’s pen break, Du Zhiping's expression relaxed and he let out a long breath; he wiped away the sweat on his forehead.

Xiao Yu painting talismans had made him very nervous. He was even more anxious than Xiao Yu because the Thousand Butterfly Talisman that Xiao Yu had just drawn was one of Du Zhiping’s own, and every time the talisman was replicated, a layer of butterfly-shaped defense would form due to the air currents, increasing its protective power.

Even he, after over a hundred years of cultivation, could only draw six layers of Thousand Butterfly Talismans. So when Xiao Yu drew the sixth layer, his heart was in turmoil and conflicted; one part of him wished for Xiao Yu to surpass that limit while another hoped for him to fall short.

Only after Xiao Yu reached the tenth layer did this conflict within him subside because at that point, he had already been far surpassed by Xiao Yu. His mind was calm and all he could feel was anxiety—worries over Xiao Yu’s safety and well-being. He only hoped for Xiao Yu to draw more layers.

Previously, when he saw Xiao Yu reach the sixth layer, he felt jealousy that a young man like him could match his strength. When Xiao Yu surpassed him, he wished for his failure because that would have indicated their difference in strength wasn't too great.

However, once Xiao Yu drew the tenth layer, Du Zhiping was left far behind and couldn’t catch up no matter how hard he tried; at this point, he felt a sense of hopelessness. A young man surpassing him so greatly made him feel like all his years of living had been wasted.

Once Xiao Yu reached the twentieth layer through replication, Du Zhiping could only admire him deeply and the feeling of hopelessness vanished. He mocked himself internally: "Why am I comparing myself to a freak Isn’t this just seeking pain"

When Xiao Yu drew the thirtieth layer, he couldn't describe his own state of mind either. At this moment, he actually just wanted Xiao Yu to draw a few more layers because it seemed like he was waiting for a miracle.

Although he hoped that Xiao Yu would draw more layers, when Xiao Yu's brush snapped, he let out a long sigh of relief instead.

Xiao Yu saw the broken brush and did not get up but slowly closed his eyes. He took several deep breaths, slightly adjusting the righteous aura in his body before opening his eyes again.

When Xiao Yu opened his eyes, he noticed Du Zhiping staring at him intently with a look of disbelief in his eyes.

Xiao Yu glanced at Du Zhiping and didn't say anything but picked up the talisman on the table and passed it to Du Moli, saying: "Senior Sound won’t call you for nothing. Here, take this!"

"R-Really... give me" After hearing Xiao Yu's words, Du Moli’s face showed a look of disbelief. His master had also told him about the Thousand Butterflies Talisman; he naturally knew what the thirtieth-layered Thousand Butterflies Talisman meant, which was why he looked like this.

It must be noted that just now when he not only attacked Xiao Yu but also didn't give him a pleasant expression, even calling Senior Sound was done unwillingly.

But Xiao Yu's actions at the moment left him somewhat at a loss. However, looking at the talisman handed to him by Xiao Yu, he wanted to accept it but dared not; thus, he couldn’t help turning around and looking towards his master.

"M-Master Xiao... This is too precious!" Du Zhiping said in a voice with some tremble.

Du Zhiping was also bewildered by Xiao Yu's actions. He didn't expect that Xiao Yu would give this talisman to Du Moli. One must know, having such a talisman was like gaining another life.

Moreover, when he saw the talismans drawn by Xiao Yu, he didn't even know how to address him anymore. Xiao Yu's cultivation level clearly surpassed his by a wide margin; however, calling him Senior didn’t sit well with him since he was over a hundred years old while Xiao Yu was only in his twenties—he couldn’t bring himself to call him that. Therefore, he called him Master.

Usually, all he could draw were six-layered Thousand Butterflies Talismans; once, when he performed exceptionally well, he drew a seven-layer talisman. That talisman was still stored in his cloth bag and had always been considered as a treasure by him. But now Xiao Yu wanted to give Du Moli a thirty-layer stacked-up Thousand Butterflies Talisman. How could this not make him excitedspital's affairs"Xiao Hongyang was currently taking pulses for these elderly people. Upon seeing Xiao Yu enter, he said this to him.“Yes, it’s almost done; Old Huang is likely to return to the capital...