Chapter 75: Using Magic Techniques

　　Since mastering the Imperial Flight Technique, Han Li had become even more intrigued by the potential of the other two magic techniques, “Soul-Lock Talisman” and “Telekinesis Technique”, so he spent large amounts of time and energy, hoping that one day he could make a sudden breakthrough like he did with the Imperial Flight Technique and gain a flash of insight.

　　But after spending some time on valuable research, Han Li discovered that he was unable to use these two techniques. It wasn’t because of an inherent defect in Han Li’s const.i.tution, but rather because his body wasn’t strong enough for either technique.

　　As described in the book, the Soul-Lock Talisman was a type of charm that one had to prepare beforehand. Han Li used yellow paper that he bought from a nearby small town and followed the book’s instructions, drawing the pattern with a writing brush.

　　Even though the book did not describe what materials should be used to create the talisman, he kept thinking back to Doctor Mo’s silver-colored talisman. He naturally adopted the use of this precious and luxurious silver powder. Whether this material was effective or not, Han Li did not know, but his homemade talismans soon looked exactly like the ill.u.s.trations found in the book.

　　What a shame! Even though the talismans’ appearance was identical, it was still not enough.

　　Whenever Han Li performed the activation incantation, the writing on the magical talisman would not emit a dazzling silvery light that had appeared back when Doctor Mo used the Soul-Lock Talisman. Nothing strange or out of the ordinary occurred either. It was an utter failure, causing him to fall into a predicament with no room for improving it. He didn’t know whether his failure was due to an error in chanting the incantation, his inability to grasp how to do it, or a mistake in creating the talisman.

　　But after a more recent investigation, a different result was revealed.

　　After an intensive series of studies about materials, folklore, and magic techniques, Han Li finally discovered that the talismans used by cultivators were not objects that ordinary mortals would recognize. They were not made of ordinary papers and materials, but rather materials that only cultivators would know how to process into talismans. These materials could only be found in special areas accessible only to cultivators. Because of this, even though he had performed the incantation gesture perfectly, he never succeeded.

　　Telekinesis Technique also followed the same logic.

　　Han Li used to believe that he could cast the Telekinesis Technique on whatever item he casually picked. He practiced on common household items, such as knives, blades, etc, but failed in every attempt.

　　But now that Han Li was more informed, he finally understood that the Telekinesis Technique could only control objects that had been specially crafted for cultivators. It would not work on ordinary items.

　　As a result, Han Li took the weird and bizarre items he gained from Doctor Mo, including the Soul Luring Clock and the seven silver knives used in the Seven Soul Devouring Technique, and used them as a medium for the Telekinesis Technique. After some experimenting, however, not a single item could be used to perform the technique. This made Han Li be extremely disappointed. None of these items could be used with the Telekinesis Technique; he had no choice but to stop until he found a suitable object.

　　(TL: The Soul Luring Watch is the watch that Han Li and Doctor Mo used to control Crooked Soul)

　　Since he knew that his problem was a lack of suitable objects for the Soul-Lock Talisman and the Telekinesis Technique, Han Li could only s.h.i.+ft his attention elsewhere. He intended to take the other secret martial arts skills and magic techniques in order to combine them and increase his own strength, raising him to new levels in a relatively short period of time.

　　After entertaining this wild fantasy , Han Li once again resumed his bitter and difficult training. He quickly completed several small achievements.

　　After several attempts, he successfully fused together the s.h.i.+fting Smoke Steps technique and the Imperial Flight Technique.

　　Although he thought of it as a fusion, it was actually just Imperial Flight Technique followed by s.h.i.+fting Smoke Steps. The harmony and compatibility of the two techniques had to be carefully controlled; otherwise, mistakes would easily occur. For this reason, Han Li devoted quite a bit of energy and attention to these aspects.

　　But just with this, he was able to remove the disadvantages of the Imperial Flight Technique and the heavy energy consumption of the s.h.i.+fting Smoke Steps, gradually perfecting both techniques. He appeared as a mixture of lightning and fire whenever he unpredictably s.h.i.+fted to the next location, appearing and disappearing in different spots.

　　Not long after, Han Li also gained a novel insight on a different application of the Fireball Technique.