Heaven-Reaching Talisman

"Old man, go easy on the wine. Come back when you run out."

Chen Ning filled two wine gourds and handed them to the Wine Maniac.

"Good. When this old man runs out, I'll come here for more."

The Wine Maniac laughed heartily.

Chen Ning laughed in exasperation and pointed at him. "I was just being polite. Besides, didn't I teach you how to distill strong liquor? When you run out, you can make it yourself."

Chen Ning had freely explained the principles of the still to both men precisely because he feared they would make another trip when they ran out of wine.

To his surprise, the Wine Maniac shook his head vigorously. "No, no. This old man is too lazy to bother. I'll just come here for it. I'm off!"

The Wine Maniac tied the wine gourds to his waist, then leaped away from the courtyard.

Only then did Chen Ning fill two more enormous wine gourds and hand them to Li Changtian.

He said gratefully, "This junior cannot thank you enough for stepping in, Sword Immortal."

"You mustn't!"

Li Changtian reached out to support Chen Ning's arm and said shamefacedly, "Never mind what outsiders say. Please don't embarrass me, young friend. I am unworthy of the title Sword Immortal."

Chen Ning: "..."

Chen Ning thought the Sword Immortal was a real master of the humblebrag.

He was even worse than Chen Ning.

Yet Li Changtian had meant every word. Ever since he had watched Chen Ning dance with his sword and recite poetry while drunk that night, prompting a breakthrough in his own Sword Dao realm, he no longer dared to be arrogant.

Outsiders could go on calling him the Sword Immortal.

But he had truly come to understand his own worth.

He was still a long way from being a true Sword Immortal.

"Young friend, I shall take my leave. If you ever need me in the future, I shall be duty-bound to help."

With that, Li Changtian's figure soared through the air, drifting away.

He left only a single sentence behind:

"I shall remember the swordsmanship Sect Leader Chen taught me..."

Chen Ning watched Li Changtian's departing figure and felt that he seemed to have done something incredible while drunk that night.

For now, though, he had better check his reward first.

"Ding! Based on the outcome, the host is deemed to have completed option one, [Furiously berate Han Zhuang and retain the position of sect leader]. Rare-grade reward obtained: [Heaven-Reaching Talisman]."

"[Heaven-Reaching Talisman]

Category: Cultivation Method

Grade: high-tier heaven grade

Proficiency: max level (great perfection)

Description: A supreme Cultivation Method lost from the inheritance of talisman masters. Inscribe talismans to commune with the power of heaven and earth and command the divine Sha of the nine heavens for your own use. Its applications are endless."

After claiming the reward, Chen Ning immediately felt countless kinds of talisman knowledge appear in his mind.

It included all manner of applications, combinations, and inscription methods...

It was as though he had immersed himself in the art for years.

"High-tier heaven grade?"

Chen Ning murmured to himself, marveling inwardly.

In this world, heaven grade was the highest known grade for Cultivation Methods and martial techniques.

Chen Ning also noticed one detail: the [Heaven-Stealing Ghost Hand] he had obtained the first time was a Divine Ability, whereas this [Heaven-Reaching Talisman] was a Cultivation Method.

Compared with Divine Abilities, Cultivation Methods served as a foundation, usually used for cultivation, circulating Primordial Qi, increasing cultivation, and breaking through levels.

[Heaven-Reaching Talisman] was the core and foundation of talisman cultivation.

Divine Abilities were easier to understand. As a means of combat, they could usually be used directly, much like martial techniques.

Divine Abilities were simply more advanced skills.

The [Bewitch Hearts] he had obtained from a task involving Xiao Mei last time was a Divine Ability.

He simply had not had a chance to use it yet. The people he had faced these past few days had all been experts, and Chen Ning had worried about exposing himself. From these experiences, he increasingly felt that rare-grade rewards seemed to be generally powerful.

"I just wonder... are there even higher-grade rewards above rare-grade ones?"

But those still seemed rather distant for now. Chen Ning shook his head and prepared to start making talismans.

Now that he had obtained [Heaven-Reaching Talisman], he had to put it to use. Whether he wanted to commune with the power of heaven and earth to command the natural elements or summon divine Sha, he needed to prepare some talismans to carry with him.

They would serve as trump cards.

They could save his life at a critical moment.

For this, Chen Ning even took a bath, washed his face and hands, and rinsed his mouth. He also had Su Ling'er prepare a brush, ink, cinnabar, yellow paper, and other supplies in advance.

When the moon was bright and the stars sparse, Chen Ning focused his mind and gathered his Qi. Holding a weasel-hair brush, he began to inscribe.

Su Ling'er leaned against the ancient tree in the courtyard, quietly watching Chen Ning inscribe talismans.

"Big brother Sect Leader is so handsome..."

A gentle smile graced Su Ling'er's face, and beneath the moonlight, she seemed to form a beautiful painting.

At this moment, Chen Ning's attention was entirely on the talismans.

And after what had happened yesterday, Chen Ning had also grown quite fond of Su Ling'er.

She alone had stood up and argued with Han Zhuang on his behalf. For that reason alone, Chen Ning chose to trust her.

Besides, as the Thief God's granddaughter, Su Ling'er had most likely come to the sect for heavenly materials and earthly treasures, divine weapons, and the like. Compared with the other spies' objectives, that was much safer.

And simpler, too.

Unlike the other spies, who had come either for the Dragon-Seeking Sect's legendary secret treasure or for the position of sect leader.

What a headache...

By this time, however, Chen Ning had finished inscribing ten talismans.

The ten talismans lay quietly on the stone table. Chen Ning looked them over and could not help frowning.

"Sigh... the quality is too poor..."

Chen Ning glanced over them and picked up only three. He crumpled all seven of the others into a ball and casually tossed them on the ground like trash.

The three talismans in his hand were, in order, a Protective Talisman, a Divine Speed Talisman, and an Immortal-Trapping Talisman.

Chen Ning was most satisfied with the first, the Protective Talisman. It was the highest quality.

The Immortal-Trapping Talisman and the Divine Speed Talisman were also fairly practical. Though their quality was a little lacking, they were barely usable.

Only the seven discarded talismans were of the poorest quality. They could still be used, but with [Heaven-Reaching Talisman] at his disposal, his pride would not allow him to use such trashy spirit talismans.

"Sigh... the success rate is only one in ten. That's much worse than I imagined."

Chen Ning felt dejected for a while, but then he thought it might be because this was his first time inscribing talismans and he lacked practice. Perhaps he would do much better in the future.

It was late, and after spending the day making strong liquor and inscribing talismans, Chen Ning was already very sleepy. He said a word to Su Ling'er and went back to his room to rest.

Smiling, Su Ling'er followed him, hoping big brother Sect Leader would take her in for another night.

Chen Ning could not refuse her and agreed. But there was only one bed in the room, so naturally, he slept in it and let the little loli sleep on the floor.

A breeze quietly swept through the courtyard.

It happened to lift the seven talismans Chen Ning had discarded.

On Verdant Peak.

In the Grand Elder's room.

Cang Yue was examining a secret letter she had unfolded.

A gust of wind blew in, rattling the window lattice.

A woman's voice suddenly rang out. "Your Highness, I went to the sect leader's place to check. The Sword Immortal and the Wine Maniac have both left."

"I know."

Cang Yue did not look up, continuing to examine the words in the secret letter.

There were no outsiders here, so the woman was more accustomed to addressing Cang Yue as Your Highness.

The woman stepped forward and took out seven talismans, presenting them to her.

"Your Highness, these were found in the sect leader's courtyard."

Faint golden patterns lit up on the talismans in the dark room.

"This is..."

Cang Yue's beautiful eyes narrowed as she gazed intently at the seven talismans.