Zhang Caifeng's action of holding a large bunch of talismans greatly pained her father, Zhang Daoyun, the sect leader of Longhu Mountain.
It was important to note that even in Longhu Mountain, people capable of drawing talismans were rare. There were only a handful, and even the lowest-grade fire talismans had a daily output of only a few.
Zhang Daoyun initially thought that the talismans in Zhang Caifeng's hand were all the accumulated assets of Longhu Mountain.
However, his reaction only made Zhang Caifeng more annoyed. She directly threw the entire stack of talismans at Zhang Daoyun.
Zhang Daoyun fumbled and quickly caught the talismans, feeling extremely distressed.
"What are you doing, you girl? Do you know how precious talismans are... Huh?"
Zhang Daoyun immediately sensed something was amiss. He knew very well that the talismans in his hand were not mere decorations; he could feel the energy contained within them.
What surprised him even more was that the patterns on the talismans were not the traditional patterns of Longhu Mountain. These patterns were simple and fluid, possessing a unique aesthetic appeal.
"These... these are not Longhu Mountain talismans. Where did these talismans come from?"
"I drew them!" Zhang Caifeng said very proudly.
"You? How is that possible!" Zhang Daoyun was somewhat incredulous.
"Heh, Dad, don't you know that talismans aren't patented by Longhu Mountain? There are still plenty of people in the world who can make talismans.
Moreover, the technology for making talismans in Longhu Mountain is already outdated!"
Zhang Caifeng, being a clever and intelligent woman, knew that her father was tirelessly working for the development of Longhu Mountain. Therefore, she deliberately used this topic to divert Zhang Daoyun's attention.
As expected, Zhang Daoyun's eyes were now fixed on those talismans, and he had completely forgotten about Ling Tian.
"This... this... Huh, these patterns seem interesting..." Zhang Daoyun, as an expert in drawing talismans, immediately recognized the connection between these talismans and those of Longhu Mountain.
"You're saying you drew these talismans?" Zhang Daoyun asked, full of suspicion.
"Naturally!" Zhang Caifeng replied very proudly.
"I just don't believe it!"
"Then I'll draw one for you to see!"
Saying this, Zhang Caifeng turned around, spread out paper and brushes, and began to prepare the pigments for drawing talismans.
Watching her daughter's smooth and flowing movements, Zhang Daoyun hesitated. At first, he thought his daughter was boasting, as Zhang Caifeng had always disliked the tedious task of drawing talismans. But now, it seemed that was not the case.
Zhang Caifeng took a piece of yellow paper, spread it on the table, dipped her brush in the pigment, and began to draw.
Seeing his daughter's brushwork, Zhang Daoyun knew she wasn't boasting. Zhang Caifeng's strokes were very fluid, without any hesitation, and the ink was applied evenly.
In just half an hour, a talisman appeared on the paper. Zhang Daoyun picked up the talisman, very surprised. He could feel the immense energy contained within it.
His daughter had said she had mastered the art of drawing talismans, and it seemed she wasn't exaggerating.
However, as he looked closely at the talisman, he noticed something else was wrong. This talisman was different from the ones Zhang Caifeng had shown him earlier; the patterns seemed a bit more complex.
"Girl, what's going on? Why are the patterns on these talismans all different?"
"Oh, my dear father, I thought you were an expert in drawing talismans. It seems you're just a pseudo-expert!
You don't understand this? The patterns on these talismans are actually formations.
The talisman I drew, after ignition, has a flame temperature that is several hundred degrees Celsius higher, and the range of the flame has also expanded by nearly a meter!
If you don't believe me, you can try it!"
"I'll try it then!"
Zhang Daoyun truly didn't believe it. He directly grabbed a few talismans and went to the backyard. Zhang Caifeng, feeling indignant, stayed in her room and chatted with Ling Tian on her phone.
Half an hour later, a shocked Zhang Daoyun returned to Zhang Caifeng's room.
"Girl, did that brat teach you this talisman-drawing technique?"
"Oh, Dad, you're so impolite. His name isn't 'brat'; it's Ling Tian, and he's my boyfriend!"
"You... he's a married man!"
"So what? As long as he has me in his heart, and I have him in mine, and we love each other, that's enough! What era is this! Old-fashioned feudalism!"
Zhang Daoyun suppressed the anger in his heart.
"Let's not talk about that for now. Did you really learn these things from Ling Tian?"
"Of course. Ling Tian's talisman-drawing technique is far superior to yours. Longhu Mountain draws talismans by copying, only knowing the result but not the reason.
That's why, over the years, Longhu Mountain's technology in talismans has not only failed to progress but has regressed...
Think about it, how many traditions has Longhu Mountain lost over thousands of years! How many talismans are difficult to replicate now...
I'm not being alarmist, but perhaps in a few more generations, the tradition of making talismans in Longhu Mountain might completely die out!"
Zhang Caifeng's words were quite blunt, and Zhang Daoyun felt very displeased. However, he opened his mouth but found himself unable to refute her; what Zhang Caifeng said was the truth.
"However, if Ling Tian taught you the technique for making talismans, isn't he afraid of being held accountable by his sect?"
Zhang Daoyun suddenly said with a very serious expression.
In China's martial arts world, the concept of sects was deeply ingrained. On one hand, many martial artists considered their sect's martial arts to be the best, looking down on all other martial arts.
On the other hand, various martial arts sects guarded their secret techniques very strictly.
To prevent their secret techniques from being learned by others, these martial arts sects not only rarely exchanged knowledge about martial arts, especially their ultimate moves and killing techniques, but even refused to teach them to disciples who were not direct disciples.
Some even feared that teaching their disciples would lead to their own obsolescence, and in the end, they would take these secret arts to their graves.
In fact, this was not just a problem in China's martial arts world; China's medical and artisan communities all suffered from this malady, leading to the loss of countless traditions and inheritances throughout China's long history of thousands of years!
And within the martial arts world, secretly learning other sects' martial arts or arbitrarily passing on one's own sect's martial arts and secret techniques to others were considered major taboos. There were quite a few bloody incidents or even sect annihilation tragedies caused by such actions.
Especially for those who secretly learned other sects' martial arts, if discovered by those sects, they would be crippled in their martial arts at best, and at worst, they would be directly killed or their entire sect annihilated!