Inuyasha’s Journey to Immortal

The Shikon Jewel wasn't merely a crude means of massively boosting a demon's demonic power or a human cultivator's spiritual energy.

It could also enhance external objects.

For instance, the Brutal Dragon Spear in the original story—or Inuyasha's own Tessaiga.

To avoid having his mind influenced, his will distorted, or even being directly controlled by the Shikon shard, Li Xia chose cautiously to use the jewel's power to enhance his talisman brush and the spiritual ink needed for drawing charms. By improving things indirectly, he aimed to greatly increase the quality and potency of the talismans he created.

Besides, giving it a try wouldn't cost him anything.

He took half an hour to calm his mind and body.

Getting himself into peak condition.

Then, Li Xia picked up the talisman brush he frequently used from the desk.

He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but the moment he picked it up, he felt the brush was a little heavier than usual. After dipping it in spiritual ink, that feeling of weight became even more tangible—an indescribable heaviness.

"Shikon shard, don't disappoint me,"

Li Xia murmured, then steadied his thoughts and did his best to gather what little mana he had, channeling nearly all of it into the brush.

His mana flowed along the carvings on the brush into the tip, which had been dipped in cinnabar-based spiritual ink—causing the red ink to suddenly radiate a dazzling glow.

Seeing this, he was surprised and delighted: it worked!

Immediately, he began drawing with swift, flowing strokes, aiming to complete a low-tier Strength Talisman in one go.

But to his disappointment, he made a minor mistake midway. At one point, the pressure he applied with the brush was uneven, and before the talisman could take form, it poofed into a layer of ash.

This kind of failure is unavoidable in the process of drawing talismans.

Especially today—his brush was heavier than usual, and he wasn't fully used to it. That contributed to the failure of his first attempt.

Setting the brush down, Li Xia began meditating to recover.

To draw that single Strength Talisman, he had already consumed more than half of his spiritual energy.

Yes, that's right.

He was this weak.

His talent was utterly unremarkable.

If cultivation levels were divided into realms like "Qi Refining" and "Foundation Establishment," then after ten years of hard work, he had only just reached the half-step of the first level of Qi Refining.

Not even a full-level one.

And recovery was slow—typically taking an hour or two to fully replenish his energy.

That was why, every time he drew even a basic Strength Talisman—regardless of success or failure—he had to immediately meditate and restore his mana. It was also one of the main reasons why, despite nearly ten years of focusing on the Li Clan's talismanic arts, he had only managed to accumulate about a hundred talismans in total. And a key reason he hadn't used any spells to fight when confronting the flesh-faced mask demon. And one of the biggest reasons he craved the power of the Shikon shards.

His goal in this supernatural world was immortality—eternal life.

But someone like him, who could barely draw a single low-tier talisman a month, how could he possibly hope for longevity, let alone eternal life?

"If Heaven gave me a chance to reincarnate and cross into this extraordinary world, then no matter what—I have to experience what immortality feels like."

"And mastering the Talisman Path is the first step toward that."

"Only when I possess a large number of powerful talismans will I have the strength to protect myself, the power to speak with my fists, and the means to seize the things that benefit me."

Therefore...

"To draw talismans, I spent ten years painstakingly practicing calligraphy and painting."

"To draw talismans, I even dreamed of those strokes, repeating them over and over."

Talismans were his confidence.

For him right now, they were the foundation of everything.

While meditating, Li Xia drank a special spiritual tonic brewed by his clan that could speed up mana recovery.

This fragrant spiritual liquid was made from a type of spiritual spring water, combined with various herbs.

This particular spring water came from a rare spirit spring, and throughout the entire peninsula, only four such springs—with thousand-year-old lineages—remained. One of them was under the control of the Li Clan of the Talisman Path.

This was one of the key reasons the Li family had remained strong for so long.

After all, this spring water didn't just help refine mana-replenishing tonics—it also had many miraculous effects. For example, drinking it long-term could help cultivators maintain their peak youthful condition, and even improve their constitution to some extent. It was said that centuries ago before the "Era of Decline" arrived when the springs were still in their full glory, someone who monopolized a single spirit spring had a real chance at ascending to immortality.

They could become a regional mountain god or earthly immortal, with a lifespan that stretched far beyond normal limits.

Unfortunately, the "Era of Decline" ended that glorious age of cultivation.

After downing the cup of spirit tonic, Li Xia instantly felt his recovery rate speed up by about 30%.

"Too bad... as a low-level cultivator of the clan, I'm only allowed three bottles of this spring water tonic each month."

Three bottles—only about six liters.

Pathetically little.

He usually had to be extremely frugal with it.

And when he thought about how those with outstanding talent in the main bloodline were given half a container each month, a wave of sourness filled his heart.

So envious.

"Wait a second… If the power of the Shikon Shards can enhance the quality of cinnabar spiritual ink, then can it also improve the quality of the spirit tonic?"

As this thought struck Li Xia, he was instantly moved.

He had always been plagued by the issue of slow mana recovery.

After using any mana, it would take a long time to replenish, making the practice of spells twice the effort for half the results.

After all, those with natural talent cultivated faster, had higher cultivation levels, greater mana reserves, and recovered far more quickly.

This meant that others could cast dozens of spells a day, easily gaining experience and improving their proficiency through repeated use.

But in his case, no matter how carefully he planned and exhausted himself, he could barely cast ten low-tier spells in a day. Naturally, his experience accumulation couldn't compare with those naturally gifted.

In the short term, there was no way for him to change or improve his innate talent.

But he could rely on external aids to make up for his lack of mana and slow recovery speed.

Realizing this, Li Xia no longer hesitated.

He removed a few Shikon Shards from his talisman brush and embedded them into a bamboo container.

The bamboo tube held a portion of the spirit tonic used to restore mana.

Here, is an important clarification:

The shard Li Xia left with the girl A-Li was the one from the flesh-faced mask demon's forehead. The seven he took with him were the purified shards that had long been cleansed by A-Li.

In other words, the current state of these shards was one in which the relatively benevolent spirit Midoriko had completely suppressed the utterly evil spirit Magatsuhi. As long as he didn't greedily embed the shards directly into his body, there wouldn't be much danger.

This point could also be seen in the original series, where the artist who created spirit-ink paintings—akin to a magical "Ma Liang's brush"—initially had the ink that protected its master instead of turning against him. Only when greed took over, and he let the ink absorb his blood, did it end up backfiring and killing him.

Likewise...

Unpolluted Shikon Shards, when embedded into Tessaiga or the Brutal Dragon Spear, didn't produce any backlash.

So, to be extra cautious, Li Xia even had a few white mice tested first. After observing no negative side effects—in fact, noticing some faint signs of beneficial transformation in the mice—he finally dared to take two small sips himself.

"The fragrance of the tonic is so much stronger than before..."

Just one small sip and Li Xia's eyes instantly widened.

"This…"

He stood frozen in place, silently amazed—completely dazed!

As it turned out, the effectiveness of the spirit tonic had undergone a qualitative leap, becoming 30 to 50 times more potent than before!

"One Shikon Shard can make a mid-to-low-level demon's power multiply in a short time… I never expected these seven shards could enhance a low-tier spirit tonic to this extent—boosting it by dozens of times!"

"I'm rich! I'm rich!"

"If I sold this tonic to the clan's higher-ups…"

"No, no, no! A commoner with a treasure is bound to attract trouble! Until I have the strength to protect it, no matter what—I can't reveal this kind of thing!"

(End of Chapter)