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[HP] 84: The Essence of Talismans—The Entanglement of Yin and Yang
🕑 Added 2025-08-07 15:30:02 +0000 UTCPerhaps because Louis had agreed too easily, Hermes ultimately insisted on establishing an Unbreakable Vow before he could relax.
That suited Louis just fine. Without hesitation, he grabbed Hermes’s head to begin the vow—
But it failed.
“So you’re not a wizard at all?” Hermes stared at Louis.
“Well… I sort of am. Just a different type. I’m a Qi Mage—I use Qi Magic,” Louis, the true-blooded Muggle, replied with a serious face.
“Hold still. Let me take a look.” Hermes floated around Louis once, then landed on his shoulder to examine him.
After several minutes, Hermes opened his eyes—and jumped in shock.
“By my divine father... Your body truly is something even the gods would marvel at.” He looked at Louis like he was some rare creature. “You’ve got two external forces inside you.”
“What’s wrong with that?” Louis asked.
“Normally, having external forces isn’t a big deal. But in your case, they’re two completely opposite forces,” Hermes explained. “And they’re not even coexisting peacefully—they’re wrapped around each other, binding like chains.”
“Sounds pretty harmonious to me. Yin-Yang balance is a major tenet in alchemy, isn’t it?” Louis replied indifferently.
“That’s called Yin-Yang fusion in alchemy. Mercury represents Yin, sulfur represents Yang—when fused, they form a stable product: gold,” Hermes said. “A person can’t maintain Yin-Yang balance like that… unless you want to turn into a statue.”
“Turn into a statue?” Louis’s heart skipped a beat. He thought of the origin of the twelve talismans—Shendu.
But Shendu turned into a statue after losing the talismans...
Hermes tutted as he examined Louis. “Your so-called Qi Magic is truly fascinating, but it’s because of its existence that your body is managing to stay balanced. If that balance is ever truly achieved…”
“What happens?” Louis asked, a little nervous.
“Nothing,” Hermes replied, a bit confused himself. “Are you sure you’re human? Not some magical creature in human form? The vitality in your body could probably resurrect stone statues.”
Resurrecting statues? The Rat Talisman?
Louis tensed slightly—but Hermes didn’t seem to suspect the truth. After all, convincing someone—especially a god—that a living person was actually a statue was no easy task. Even if that “person” was just a head.
Still, Hermes’s words stuck with him. The Qi Magic affecting the Yin-Yang balance sounded exactly like the interplay between his Qi Magic and the talismans.
But weren’t the talismans Shendu’s power? Could they really be described as Yin-Yang entangled? Wasn’t Shendu supposed to be pure evil?
Hermes went on. “Although your Qi Magic won’t threaten your life, it’s suppressing your power. The stronger it gets, the weaker your internal strength becomes.”
“Is there a way to fix that?” Louis asked.
“There is. You just need to alter your Qi Magic’s polarity. I’ve examined it—it has dual polarity. Should be easy to reverse,” Hermes offered.
Reverse polarity? So basically, change it from Positive Qi Magic to Dark Qi Magic?
That really rubbed Louis the wrong way.
“But this magic’s tied to human morality, isn’t it? Changing it isn’t that simple. People may be fickle, but not that fickle,” Louis said skeptically.
Hermes was silent for a moment. Then he said, “I think you’re misunderstanding both yourself and your Qi Magic. I’ve never seen a trickster who was a good person. In a way, you’re impressive—you even manage to lie to yourself.”
A vein popped on Louis’s forehead.
“I know it’s unpleasant to hear,” Hermes continued, “but the polarity of Qi Magic seems tied to how one understands it, not to their actual moral nature. After all, you somehow managed to cultivate Positive Qi Magic, didn’t you?”
Hermes exposed Louis’s true nature without mercy—at that moment, he was probably a split second away from death.
“Fine, I’ll give it a try,” Louis said through gritted teeth.
Don’t get him wrong—he wasn’t admitting Hermes was right. He just wanted to prove him wrong with cold, hard facts.
——Half an hour later——
Louis stared stiffly at the tendrils of dark Qi coiling around his hand, his expression as dark as the Qi itself.
Hermes didn’t gloat. He’d meant what he said—it wasn’t mockery, just observation.
“How do you feel?” Hermes asked.
“Pissed. I want to hit someone,” Louis said with malice in his eyes.
“Huh? This magic has reverse feedback effects on the user?” Hermes was startled.
“No. That’s just me talking,” Louis rolled his eyes. “I feel like the power inside me is no longer constrained. So… is the problem solved?”
“Of course not. You haven’t dealt with the real root yet,” Hermes replied. “The reason your power changes with your Qi Magic’s polarity is because there’s something wrapped around that power that shouldn’t be there. Based on your symptoms, that power leans toward darkness, but it’s being restrained by light.”
Hermes didn’t understand the distinction between Positive and Dark Qi Magic, so he used his own terms.
Put simply, Louis was like a classic dark villain sealed by justice.
Fortunately, Hermes was a morally ambiguous god—if this had been some righteous hot-blooded type, they’d probably be throwing hands with Louis right now.
“So I need to break that restraint?” Louis asked with a frown.
“Exactly. Shatter it and unleash your true power,” Hermes said. “I don’t know enough about your power, so I can only offer the concept—you’ll have to figure out the rest.”
Right. He had to figure it out himself.
There was no way Louis could tell Hermes the truth about his abilities. He’d have to deduce it on his own. Fortunately, he had a theory.
The twelve talismans originated from the evil dragon Shendu. He was a demon who wielded dark Qi by nature—but the talismans weren’t the original form of his power.
Originally, they were just ordinary powers he wielded inside his body.
The creation of the talismans was actually a result of a sealing ritual. A warrior named Lo Pei used Positive Qi Magic to seal Shendu, dividing his power into twelve separate symbols. So the talismans were really the result of Positive Qi restraining dark energy.
That’s why Louis experienced the phenomenon Hermes called “Yin-Yang entanglement” in his body. When his Positive Qi Magic grew stronger, the talismans' power weakened.
Because what he was strengthening was the outer shell—the seal—of the talismans, not Shendu’s internal power.
***
