Chapter 5: Analysis Of The Secret Script, Brain Matter Tanned Into Skin
“This is my Immortal Destiny!”
After a long time, Fang Shu came back to his senses, his eyes shining brightly.
Ding ling ling!
He cautiously took out his own Soul Suppressing Bell again and shook it vigorously.
This copper bell was not given by Second Uncle, but an ancestral heirloom that could calm the mind and clear the heart, dispel illusions, and protect the clan members.
Fang Shu confirmed repeatedly that the various pieces of information in his mind were not delusions or illusions, but a strange object named “Dao Talisman” or “Talisman of the Outer Disciple” truly existed in his mind.
He murmured in his mouth: “Storybooks did not deceive me; there truly is Immortal Destiny and wondrous encounters in this world.”
He suddenly felt that the Immortal Path in this life had hope.
After savoring it for a moment, Fang Shu’s expression became calm as he began to ponder what benefits this strange object could bring him.
“The first use for Evil Warding should be to protect me from disasters and schemes, which is a passive effect. As for the second recording use…”
His heart stirred, and he silently called out: “Dao Talisman.”
Buzz!
In Fang Shu’s mind, runes immediately surged and formed into lines of text:
【Talisman Master: Fang Shu】
【Lifespan: Currently sixteen years old, Life Reduction in Progress, expected to end at twenty-seven in this state due to Essence Blood Depletion, not natural lifespan reduction, can be restored through recuperation】
【Realm: None】
【Cultivation Magic Power: None】
【Cultivation Method: None】
【Cultivated Magic: Secret Mouth-Sword Technique】
【Mastered Magic Tools: Long Tongue Sword（Secret Mouth-Sword Technique）, Soul Suppressing Bell】
……
A long string of information popped up in his mind, densely packed, from major to minor, including languages, texts, possessions, meanings of various terms, and so on, even pulling out a long list of kinship relations from his memories.
At first glance, it was quite dazzling and overwhelming.
But this effect also made his heart race with excitement.
“Worthy of being a tool used by Mountain Sea Immortal Palace for Transmitting Techniques; the effect is extraordinary.
With this object, I can check my own Cultivation Progress and Physical Body condition anytime and anywhere, equivalent to carrying a team of physicians with me.”
While sighing, he familiarized himself with the Dao Talisman.
Because he had obtained some vague Past Life Wisdom in a dream before, he quickly figured it out in just a few tries, and with a thought, much of the dense information on the Dao Talisman was hidden, leaving only the main parts.
The text interface among them was also made more concise by him.
For example, the lifespan line was directly changed by him to:
【Lifespan: 16/27（Life Reduction in Progress）】
Especially the two words “Life Reduction,” bright red and eerie, made him feel extremely stinging to the eyes.
Fang Shu couldn’t help but touch his chest.
He didn’t even need the Dao Talisman to detect the cause of his bodily injury and Life Reduction; he knew it must be due to the Long Tongue Sword inside his body.
Fortunately, according to the Dao Talisman’s description, his expected lifespan was only an estimate based on the current state, not a direct reduction, and it could still be repaired through health preservation.
Fang Shu thus suppressed the shock in his heart.
However, his urge to rush to the Marketplace and seek refuge with Second Uncle became even more uncontrollably urgent.
What a joke!
It was one thing not knowing, but now that he knew he was truly undergoing Life Reduction, who could stand it?
Especially since he, Fang Shu, wouldn’t even live past thirty in this life—it was simply too bullying!
But bullying was bullying.
The Long Tongue Sword was after all his only Magic, and now that he had mortal Monster heart essence blood in hand to alleviate the symptoms, Fang Shu wouldn’t just throw away the Long Tongue Sword.
He forced himself to shift his attention away from the two words “Life Reduction.”
After calming his mind, he began to ponder the third function of the Dao Talisman.
Buzz buzz!
The two words 【Analysis】 immediately jumped out in his mind.
The Dao Talisman indicated to Fang Shu that he could throw any incomprehensible text diagrams, languages, or music into it.
After the Dao Talisman chewed and analyzed them, it would transmit them back to him in language and text he could understand.
The richer the texts and languages accumulated by the Talisman Master, and the clearer the understanding of a particular language or text, the higher the accuracy of the Dao Talisman’s analysis of that language or text.
Fang Shu suddenly realized: “So it’s like a translator.”
In an instant, Fang Shu thought of many wonderful uses for this.
He could completely rely on this function to learn Fox Language and Bird Language.
If he mastered them, he could then serve as a teacher for little monsters, write documents, pass messages—no matter where, he could find a way to make a living!
“After all, it’s just a ‘Talisman of the Outer Disciple’ Dao Talisman.” Fang Shu thought to himself, while also looking forward to:
“According to what it said when recognizing its master, perhaps it can grow with my Cultivation, like a natal Magic Tool. Then, it might have even greater uses.”
After sorting through it several times.
He understood all three functions of the Dao Talisman and tested them out.
Then Fang Shu jumped to his feet and paced back and forth in the Cave, his mind constantly swirling with visions and expectations for his Cultivating Immortality career.
Suddenly.
His gaze shifted downward and landed on that tiger skin again, his eyes flickering!
He immediately picked up the tiger skin and read the text on it word by word, especially the words “Magic Secret Script.”
What is Secret Script?
It is also known as Immortal Script, Dao characters, Rune seed text, and so on.
This kind of script was created by ancient Immortal Cultivators who comprehended heaven and earth, nature, and the principles of all things with great wisdom, far surpassing so-called dragon scripts and phoenix seals.
It is said that in ancient times, this script itself contained great Magic Power; holding it could summon wind and rain, change the heavens and earth.
But learning it is extremely difficult.
In ancient times, to learn even a simple character, Cultivators had to first cultivate a Magic to Great Completion, then condense an Immortal Script in their mind and call it a “Talisman seed,” which had wonderful uses.
Given the high threshold, and the direct Immortal Script carrying heavy Karma—ordinary people might die of lifespan exhaustion or soul dispersion just from glancing at it.
Successive generations of Immortal Cultivators thus encrypted the Immortal Script, so that only those with dedicated hearts and profound wisdom could unravel its true meaning, successfully embedding the principles of heaven and earth into ordinary text.
Developing to the present.
The world’s Cultivation Methods, Classics, Talismans, Magic Tools, and all sorts are centered on Secret Script.
Secret Script itself varies endlessly: profound, simple, new, old, integrated into every aspect of Immortal Studies, immensely vast, yet every character is a gem.
According to Fang Shu’s Second Uncle.
In a scripture Classic of over a million words, the most critical core pointers might be just one “Secret Script” character.
The other million words of text and diagrams are merely various explanations and analyses of that one Secret Script character.
Only by truly understanding that one “Secret Script” character has one truly learned the scripture; otherwise, no matter how fluently memorized, it’s fake effort and self-deception.
This situation in Immortal Studies Cultivation is called “one character worth a thousand gold” or “true transmission in one sentence, false transmission in ten thousand volumes.”
Fang Shu held the tiger skin.
He found that the Secret Script for Fur-Shedding and Skin-Changing Technique numbered exactly thirteen, not too many or too few, and the characters were not very complex, similar to his Secret Mouth-Sword Technique, both being Shallow Magic.
With his experience learning Secret Mouth-Sword Technique, plus the old fox’s Cultivation insights recorded on the tiger skin, if he devoted himself fully, one character per month, he should master this Magic in a little over a year.
“Taking a full year off to master one Shallow Magic—this speed is already medium talent.”
He calculated in his heart: “Unless there’s a good teacher to guide, or occasionally using Refining Essence Monster skins for practice, the time would shorten.”
Thinking of this, Fang Shu’s gaze flickered again.
He had at most one Refining Essence-level Monster skin, and a good teacher… would depend on whether he truly had the Opportunity!
Fang Shu stared intently at the dense text on the tiger skin, and silently, the Dao Talisman he had just taken into his body appeared in his mind.
He silently called: “Analysis.”
In an instant, Fang Shu’s eyes seemed to hallucinate; the characters on the tiger skin flew up as if rushing toward him, surging into his mind.
Before he could react and memorize the text surging into his mind, it had all been absorbed into the Dao Talisman.
Especially those thirteen incredibly complex Secret Script characters, which could not be copied or imprinted without mastery—they were actually drawn into the Dao Talisman and bloomed with faint light.
Just seeing this scene filled Fang Shu with strong anticipation.
Immediately after, the Dao Talisman trembled lightly and transmitted a message:
【Analy《Fur-Shedding and Skin-Changing Technique》, method detailed but slightly incomplete, Secret Script complete, thirteen in total. This analysis… estimated time 179 days… prior sage’s Experience in the method… estimated time 77 days… method contains corresponding Magic Tool remnants, can be analyzed and viewed… estimated time 49 days… compared to Talisman Master’s existing text library, analyzing…
This analysis of this technique, estimated fastest 34 days to complete, requires Talisman Master’s assistance.】
A series of tadpole-like text swam past Fang Shu’s eyes, leaving him momentarily dazed.
But he didn’t have time to be dazed for long, because in the instant he was out of it, the Dao Talisman in his mind had already begun analyzing the 《Fur-Shedding and Skin-Changing Technique》.
Of the thirteen originally strange and obscure Fur-Shedding and Skin-Changing Technique Secret Scripts in his eyes, one had already begun to have its “outer skin” peeled away, exposing itself to him.
This feeling was extremely profound, indescribable in words or text!
Fang Shu felt himself in a state of sudden inspiration; every glance at the Magic content on the tiger skin added a bit more understanding and an idea in his mind.
In the past, when pondering Secret Script, he had to draw and paint, buy various Materials for verification, but now he completed all that in his mind.
Moreover, the Dao Talisman in his body would remind him that he could use the various traces on the tiger skin to assist in analyzing the Secret Script.
A term popped into Fang Shu’s mind:
“Divine object!”
This “Talisman of the Outer Disciple” could actually analyze Magic Secret Script!
With the aid of this object, learning a Magic might truly take effect in just one month?!
For a moment, Fang Shu was filled with endless emotions, ultimately left with only one thought:
“What kind of force is that Mountain Sea Immortal Palace? Merely a Talisman of the Outer Disciple for outer disciples has such mighty power. Could it truly be an Immortal Palace…”
Next.
Because he had witnessed the Analysis function of the Dao Talisman, and mastering one more Magic meant one more means of self-preservation.
He suppressed the impulse to head to the Immortal Cultivator Marketplace and instead entered Seclusion in the rock Cave for Comprehension.
When thirsty, he drank a mouthful of heart essence blood from the Gourd; when hungry, he hung the Long Tongue Sword outside the Cave to catch incoming birds and hawks.
Only in the rarest cases did he venture out of the Cave.
Later, he discovered a finger-width stream at the cliff edge; after using the Long Tongue Sword to lead it into the Cave, he was like in closed death Seclusion, completely immersed in comprehending the Magic.
One, two… three, four…
Finally, three days earlier than the Dao Talisman’s estimated 34 days, Fang Shu spent only 31 days to fully comprehend all thirteen Secret Scripts of the 《Fur-Shedding and Skin-Changing Technique》, able to visualize them completely in his mind and copy them by hand.
He had fully comprehended this technique.
He only needed to process one Monster skin and Sacrifice and Refine it into a fur Magic Tool, and he would have mastered this technique!
……
This day.
When Fang Shu emerged from the state of Seclusion Comprehension, his expression was dazed.
He still found it hard to imagine that in just one short month, he had comprehended a Magic.
A year’s worth of effort completed in one month.
He even suspected whether he was still in that Monster Restaurant, bewildered by the old fox’s ghost technique, trapped in an illusion without knowing it.
Fang Shu thought to himself:
“Since doubts remain, why not fully master this technique to test the wonder of the Dao Talisman, whether true or false!”
Immediately, he took out the old fox corpse from the stone wall of the rock Cave.
When he first began comprehending Fur-Shedding and Skin-Changing Technique, the Magic recorded methods for preserving fur and repairing the corpse.
At that time, though Fang Shu hadn’t comprehended any Secret Script, he could still follow the Gourd’s painting to prolong the Demonic Energy in the old fox corpse.
Now, a month later, he cut open the beeswax and honey on the old fox corpse and indeed found its Demonic Energy condensed and not dispersed, merely with shriveled flesh, Organs.
But this had no impact; on the contrary, the old fox’s Demonic Energy had seeped even more into the skin than a month ago.
“Good.” Fang Shu exhaled lightly.
He then followed the Magic’s records and found that although this old fox had not yet entered the Dao for Refining Essence, it was not far off; its entire skin was sufficient for Sacrifice and Refining into a Magic Tool.
After examining the old fox corpse for a moment, Fang Shu took out the Long Tongue Sword.
He skillfully peeled off its entire body’s fur, and then there was a crisp crack in the Cave.
It was him using the Tongue Sword to lift off the old fox’s skull, completely extracting its brain marrow.
The first step in making skin into a Magic Tool was tanning the fur.
And in tanning, besides using various Medicinal Herbs, the most authentic method was to use the Monster’s brain pulp for tanning.
According to the 《Fur-Shedding and Skin-Changing Technique》, the pulp made from each creature’s brain was just enough to tan its entire body’s fur—quite magical.
Over this past month, Fang Shu had experimented multiple times with wild birds and beasts.
Sitting cross-legged in the rock Cave.
He stirred the brain pulp with special techniques, then evenly applied this Liquid to the inside of the fox fur.
Next was waiting and kneading.
Letting the Demonic Energy in the old fox’s brain pulp seep as much as possible into the fur, forming the embryonic tool—not hard but soft, neither rotting nor decaying—then it could be Sacrifice and Refined into a Magic Tool.
