Chapter 78: Remote Teaching

Elder Jiao’s words had barely fallen when another elder suddenly widened his eyes and exclaimed, “Wait—these… these are runes!”

“Runes?” Everyone froze. That didn’t seem right.

But the man was certain. He stepped closer and explained, “They’re spell runes—look here! It’s as if the talisman had been taken apart.”

He flipped through the stack of pages one by one. “If you connect the strokes on each sheet in order…”

Everyone leaned in to look—and sure enough, they realized he was right. The mysterious symbols were indeed the strokes of a spell rune, only completely deconstructed. Each individual brushstroke of the talisman had been drawn on a separate page.

“Look here in the corner—there are small notes!” the elder pointed excitedly. “It says how much spiritual energy should be infused at each stroke, and in what order!”

Everyone craned their necks to see. In the lower right corner, in small, neat handwriting, it read:

“Inject three parts spiritual energy, increase to four at one-third of completion.”

Everyone: “…”

Was this… even possible?!

No one knew what to say. This was beyond detailed—meticulous to the point of absurdity. With instructions like these, any cultivator could recreate the talisman, no matter how poor their foundation.

“This… what spell is it, exactly?” Hall Master Xu Qingfeng asked in confusion.

As soon as he spoke, a sheet of yellow paper fluttered free from the stack.

“Eh? Is this a finished talisman?” someone gasped.

They caught it quickly. It was indeed a completed spell—but completely inert, no spiritual energy at all. More like a demonstration piece.

“Elder Li!” Xu turned to the man who’d recognized the runes. “You’re the most skilled in talisman craft—can you tell what kind this is?”

Elder Li studied it carefully, frowning deeper by the second. “It resembles a communication talisman… but not exactly. There’s something different—additional runes fused into the pattern. I can’t tell what it’s meant for just yet.” He flipped it over—and his eyes brightened. “Wait, there’s writing on the back! Looks like Daoist Yun left us a note.”

Everyone perked up immediately. “What does it say?”

Elder Li read aloud:

“Draw several hundred copies of this talisman and distribute them to everyone who wants to attend the class.”

“…”

A long silence fell over the hall. Everyone stared at one another, utterly bewildered.

“Daoist Yun… what does she mean by this?”

No one could figure it out. After a moment, Xu Qingfeng spoke up. “Since Daoist Yun instructed us to make these, she must have her reasons. Let’s follow her directions first.”

The others nodded. Fair enough. Just do it first and ask later.

They immediately sent for cinnabar and talisman paper and began drawing. With Yun Jiao’s instructions so incredibly thorough, even a novice could follow along—and these were all cultivators of the Eight-Petal rank or higher. Within half a stick of incense, they had produced forty or fifty completed talismans.

Elder Li, the expert in talismans, went through them all. He frowned again. “Strange… these still look a lot like communication charms.”

“Why don’t we test one?” someone suggested.

Xu Qingfeng, curious himself, nodded. He picked up a talisman and channeled his energy into it.

The moment his fingers touched it, streaks of red light flashed across the room—then a faint beep echoed in the air.

Everyone froze.

Then—

“Hello? You finished drawing them already? That was quick—efficient bunch, aren’t you?”

It was Yun Jiao’s voice!

But the shocking part wasn’t that her voice came through—it was that the exact same voice was coming from every single talisman in the hall at once.

The same tone, same words, overlapping in perfect unison, echoing like a chorus.

What kind of heavenly communication spell was this?!

Xu Qingfeng and his fellow elders stood dumbstruck.

“Hello? …Hello? Xu Hall Master, are you there?” came Yun Jiao’s voice again, clearly puzzled by the silence.

Xu jolted back to himself. “Y-yes! I’m here! Daoist Yun, this… what sort of talisman is this?”

“Oh, that?” Yun Jiao replied casually. “I just modified the communication charm a bit. Turned it from single-link messaging into multi-link broadcasting. I figured you might not understand how it works, so I sent the diagrams too. Just a little gadget—nothing impressive.”

Everyone: “…”

A little gadget?!

She had just invented an entirely new type of talisman—something no one in the entire cultivation world had ever done before—and she called it a little gadget?!

Wasn’t she supposed to specialize in formations and medicine? Since when could she casually innovate brand-new spellwork?!

How is anyone supposed to live up to that?!

“Right,” Yun Jiao continued, oblivious to their collective existential crisis. “About those lessons—since there are too many people and Qingyang Temple is too small, I thought we could switch from in-person classes to remote lectures. That way there’s no limit to how many can attend.”

“Wh—what?” everyone stammered, still lagging behind her train of thought.

“I mean,” Yun Jiao explained patiently, “you can hand these talismans out to every disciple who wants to learn. I’ll start the lessons at the appointed time through the connection channel.”

Everyone fell silent—then their eyes lit up at once.

Of course! With a charm like this, not just four hundred disciples—even four thousand could learn simultaneously!

“Daoist Yun, you truly think far ahead!” Xu Qingfeng exclaimed in awe. “This invention could revolutionize all of cultivation! It’s brilliant—simply brilliant!”

“Also,” Yun Jiao added cheerfully, “classes are fine—but I’ll still need tuition fees.”

“Tuition…?” Xu blinked.

“Payment. Wages. Silver.”

He hesitated, then nodded fervently. Ah, he thought, she must be saying that to ease everyone’s conscience, so no one feels guilty about learning Qingyang’s secret arts. What a considerate person!

He was moved almost to tears.

“Of course, of course!” he said gratefully.

“As for the price,” Yun Jiao continued, “nothing big—just a token amount.”

“Yes, yes, of course.”

“Really, no need for much. Let’s say…”

“Mm-hm.”

“One hundred taels per person.”

“Mm… Wait, what?”

“Of gold,” she added pleasantly.

“……”

Xu Qingfeng felt an entire mouthful of old blood rise to his throat.

Had he just… misheard that?

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(End of Chapter)