Brian Carter's home in Xinchuan was located in the northern district, in a fairly nice neighborhood near the North Ring Road, a one-bedroom apartment.

Originally, William Brooks's family also lived in this neighborhood, but they had bought their place, while Brian Carter was only renting.

Now, the The Brooks Family only had one empty apartment left unsold.

Upon entering the apartment, the first thing that met the eye was a scene of utter mess.

After following William Brooks around for two or three years, Brian Carter had gradually grown fond of this line of work, and the thrill of treasure hunting often drove many in this business to travel far and wide, to practice or collect a few items.

So, a good portion of Brian Carter's past earnings had been spent on this. In this small living room, there were all sorts of antiques—whether battered ceramics, old-style furniture, or jade pieces and coins. Altogether, there were a dozen or twenty items, all displayed in the living room.

Originally, these things had all been neatly organized by Brian Carter, but after William Brooks got into trouble, he brought over more than a dozen groups of people to pick through the items. However, as it turned out, in these years of treasure hunting, he had more often been fooled than not, and not a single one of these antiques ended up being sold.

But everyone needs a learning process.

With so many chances to be fooled, Brian Carter's own appraisal skills had gradually improved.

He still kept these things to this day, mainly for the sake of remembrance.

But right now, he had no mind to bother with them. He tidied up the square table in the living room, then spread out a newly bought sheet of 64-size yellow rice paper, set out ink, a brush, and an inkstone, adjusted his mood a bit, then took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and began to recall the key techniques for drawing the [Seeking Script Talisman].

Chapter 005: Perspective

"Gather your essence, energy, and spirit."

He still didn't know what "essence, energy, and spirit" truly meant, but as he recalled the techniques for drawing talismans, in just a short while, Brian Carter, who had been standing at the table holding his breath, gradually exuded a faint, almost imperceptible aura.

This aura was the subtle gravity that comes from being utterly focused on something.

At this moment, in Brian Carter's mind, there was nothing but the sheet of paper and the brush before him.

With lightning speed, he suddenly grabbed the ink-dipped brush. With practiced skill, Brian Carter's right hand began to dance across the yellow rice paper in a flurry of strokes.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Like a dragon diving into the sea, or an eagle soaring through the sky, strange and mysterious curves unfurled with the movement of the brush. Meanwhile, beads of sweat the size of beans sprang from Brian Carter's forehead like bamboo shoots after a rain.

Every stroke, every line, felt as if it drained countless amounts of energy from his body, even exhausting his mind. Yet Brian Carter did not hesitate or pause for a moment, pouring all his essence, energy, and spirit into the talisman below with unwavering focus.

In just over a dozen breaths, as the final stroke was completed, the tension in Brian Carter's mind suddenly snapped, and his whole body collapsed to the floor with a thud.

As he hit the still relatively clean floor, Brian Carter immediately lost all consciousness.

A single talisman, a simple yet mysterious pattern, just a dozen or so strokes, had drained all his spirit and strength.

It wasn't until more than ten minutes later that a faint groan sounded from the floor. Brian Carter, who had been unconscious, slowly opened his eyes. The moment he regained awareness, a wave of overwhelming fatigue swept through his body.

It was like an ordinary person staying up for two days and nights without sleep, utterly exhausted, and then being forced to sprint a kilometer under inhuman torment. Such suffering would make anyone feel like they were dying.

But no matter how tired he was, Brian Carter still forced himself to stay somewhat awake, fished his phone out of his pocket, and, after confirming that he had only been unconscious for a little over ten minutes, finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Only a dozen minutes? I still have plenty of time to study this [Seeking Script Talisman], so there's no rush to go to the hospital to see Aunt Grace."

Relaxing a bit, Brian Carter tried to get up, but as soon as he shakily stood, his foot slipped and he fell again with a thud, landing face-first on the floor.

Although he managed to protect his hands and feet in time, his arms still took quite a hit, stinging with pain.

"Damn!"

His legs were weak, his back ached, and all sorts of sensations finally became clear at this moment, making Brian Carter curse out loud as he lay on the floor, panting.

He truly hadn't realized that pouring all his essence, energy, and spirit into drawing a talisman would have such severe consequences for himself.

The only good thing was that, now awake, he could feel his strength slowly returning bit by bit.

"Forget it, better rest for a while before studying this damned talisman again."

Resigned to reality, Brian Carter lay there panting like a dead dog. It was a good half hour before he finally managed to stand up again, still a bit unsteady.

This time, things were clearly much better; at least standing up was no longer such a struggle.

"[Seeking Script Talisman], [Seeking Script Talisman]..."