Spell Talismans

Li Qi's reaction seemed to surprise the Grand Shaman and the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, but since the banquet had already begun, they didn't say anything more.

Everyone still remembers what happened before, and there are even video recordings, but everything has been 'reset'.

Apart from the memory, everything was as if it had never happened.

The banquet officially begins, and everyone eats normally.

Everything that had happened before had been recorded, Li Qi had already seen the corresponding news on the terminal.

The news headline reads, "Young Master Wushen Mountain engages in friendly competition with students of the Imperial Academy, resulting in a draw and demonstrating gentlemanly conduct."

There were also videos and photos of themselves and others, but none of them showed three against hundreds; the only ones were of Liu Junyi and the three of them clashing and evenly matched.

The scene of three men fighting against hundreds of others only exists in written records; this part was cut from the video.

Although I didn't hide the truth, there was still some selfish motive involved.

Let's start eating. Put other matters aside for now. After all, this is a diplomatic state banquet, and the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial has personally come forward. There's no need to worry about other trivial matters.

However, while eating, Li Qi was also trying to contact Yan Ke and Bo Yue, who were sitting not far away.

The three of them ate and chatted without any expression on their faces.

"Have you sensed anything unusual?" Li Qi asked first.

"Yes, I sensed a unique cosmic light, but... it's different from what I've been exposed to," Yan Ke replied.

His tone was somewhat confused, as if he didn't know how to explain.

Bo Yue then said, "It's a unique cosmic light, and it's different from Yan Ke's. It's somewhat similar to... me?"

"You?" Li Qi in surprise.

But he immediately remembered that Bo Yue actually had similar methods.

The Daoist essence of Bo Yue, the 'Demon Seed'.

"Wait, if we're talking about something similar to your Demon Seed, then it's time travel?" Li Qi recalled for a moment and realized what he was feeling.

Bo Yue's Demon Seed can 'cut off' a period of time's possibilities, and then develop naturally within it. If the development conforms to Bo Yue's wishes, he can confirm that this period of time is real, and then everything that happens in the Demon Seed will become real.

If things don't go as he expects, he can cut everything out, turning it all into an illusion, so that everything except his memories is as if nothing ever happened.

Li Qi had been poisoned by a Demon Seed back then, and if Shen Shuibi hadn't reminded him, he almost wouldn't have woken up.

"So, the refresh just now was a method similar to that of the Demon Seed, and we were all reverted?" Li Qi asked the other two for their opinions.

"No, I felt a great sense of danger and opened the world barrier of the small world. This thing cannot trace back the special cosmic light, but... the arrangement on it is somewhat damaged, and it will probably take half a year to restore it," Yan Ke replied.

"I was reverted, but it's nothing, right? When I used the Demon Seed, I reverted to my past every day," Bo Yue said.

Li Qi also said, "I also used some methods to prevent myself from being retrospectively analyzed. I always feel very dangerous."

"It's just my personal feeling. We'll ask the Great Shaman later and see what he has to say, since it was probably them who did this," Bo Yue replied while chewing on some meat.

"By the way, did you use the Demon Seed on Liu Junyi?" Li Qi suddenly remembered something else.

The activation of the Demon Seed is instantaneous, and its termination is also instantaneous. Others will not have any special feelings about it, and there will be no trace of it except for their memories.

"I used it, but it was ineffective. His Dao heart was flawless. He didn't notice the existence of the Demon Seed, but he remained steadfast until the very end. Even after it was over, I couldn't go back in time." Bo Yue said, his tone somewhat helpless.

"There are people like this? I've heard about your Demon Seed, but how can someone be this strong?" Yan Ke in surprise.

"I've heard rumors again? How come you always know everything? Please don't do anything that would be beneath your dignity. You're like a gossip all day long." Bo Yue said angrily.

The Yan Ke an awkward laugh and said nothing more.

Li Qi chuckled, then fell silent, simply memorizing Liu Junyi's appearance.

This should be the true genius of the Tang Kingdom.

All of this happened in their minds. In reality, the three of them sat in their respective seats, enjoying the meal.

It was indeed delicious food; this meal was extremely luxurious.

There are five kinds of staple foods: millet, sorghum, rice, sorghum, and yellow millet.

Orangutan lips, badger roasted meat.

The emerald green of the swallows, the graceful curves of the streams.

The covenant of the eagle, the sinews of the true dragon.

Numerous treasures are laid out on the table.

Seasonings include pickled vegetables, roasted dried meat, mustard sauce, knotweed, ginger, pepper, salt, fermented black beans, maltose, honey, and so on.

It's much better than what Li Qi bought himself.

However... Li Qi didn't quite understand.

Human Path seems to have a particular fondness for enslaving or torturing true dragons.

Whether it's the dragon carriage they ride in or the dragon tendons they're eating right now, it's all the same.

Is it because of the war with the East China Sea?

Even if they are fighting each other, why do they hate each other to this extent? Wushen Mountain and Tang Kingdom also have conflicts, but they don't eat each other's flesh.

Moreover, these events reminded Li Qi of some things.

Regarding... the young Dragon Soul on the attacker after he was attacked in Baiyue.

Are you in contact?

Let me make a note of it for now.

With these thoughts in mind, the banquet time flew by.

After a hearty meal and drinks, all the rituals proceeded as planned until late at night, when the banquet finally ended.

Everyone left.

Li Qi and the other three joined up with the Great Shaman and then left.

I returned to my car.

Inside the car, the Great Shaman naturally opened up his own little world, blocking any possible prying eyes.

Then, before Li Qi and the others could ask any questions, he nodded. "Young Master Li Qi, Young Master Ke, you two did a good job."

Li Qi and Yan Ke exchanged glances, then simultaneously cupped their hands and asked in unison, "Where is this?"

"You two both managed to resist today's cosmic reversal, that's good," the Great Shaman said to the four of them as he found a place to sit down.

Bo Yue's expression immediately turned serious.

What's so strange about this time travel?

"Don't worry, it won't harm you, and it's even less of a concern for Young Master Yue." The Great Shaman said casually, then reached out and grabbed Li Qi and Yan Ke.

Li Qi and Yan Ke immediately felt something being drawn out of their bodies!

While extracting the energy, the Great Shaman explained, "This kind of cosmic light reversal should be a very dangerous thing, just like Young Master Ke's special cosmic light. If you are not used to it, you will be drawn into it, and many extremely strange things will happen to you. It is easy to get into trouble. So when you encounter such a thing, you should try to avoid it or resist it like today."

"However, this is, after all, Divine Ability used by the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial Ceremonies, so it is within a controllable range and will not cause you any harm. As for Young Master Yue, he often uses Daoist rhymes to reflect back to himself, so he already has resistance and will not be affected."

Li Qi was puzzled for a moment, so he interjected and asked, "Then why do you say we did a good job?"

"Being vigilant is a very good quality, so I want to commend you."

"Especially for Young Master Yue, even if your own Daoist aura is like this, you must take it seriously if you encounter an unknown cosmic light retrograde, otherwise you won't even know how you died."

"Moreover, this will prevent that guy's Divine Ability from being fully effective, resulting in incomplete regression and leaving causal clues, allowing me to trace back to the past and understand the origins of his Technique Method."

"He had to show his skills, but he didn't expect that you juniors of the eighth rank would all have ways to resist. This caught him off guard and gave me the upper hand when I face him later," the Great Shaman said with a smile.

The three of them immediately understood.

So, this is also part of the power struggle among the bigwigs at the top?

Are we, along with others, also one of the ways the Great Shaman and that purple-robed nobleman are fighting?

At this point, the high shaman continued, "There's one more thing, which can be considered a reward for you."

As he spoke, he finished his extraction, pulling out two... half-broken Daoist auras?

Then, he took out two talismans, introduced the two Daoist principles into them respectively, and then used Method Formula to seal and carve them.

But a mysterious fluctuation could be seen emanating from above.

An unknown, yet dizzying, character left its mark on it, eventually transforming into two brand-new talismans.

He handed one of the cards to Li Qi: "After all, it is just a remnant of the Divine Ability and can only be used once. However, after using it, you can rewind to your past self for about a quarter of an hour. In other words, you can retain your memories and restore your body to the state it was in a quarter of an hour ago. The effect is the same as if the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial had performed it himself. I have set two trigger modes on it: one is for you to trigger it actively, and the other is for you to trigger it when you are on the verge of death."

"This is a life-saving item, so I'll give it to the two of you," the high shaman said, distributing the two talismans he had made.

One letter from Li Qi, and one letter from Yan Ke.

"What about mine? What about mine?" Bo Yue raised his hand.

The high shaman ignored him.

Bo Yue awkwardly withdrew his hand, pretending he hadn't said anything.

But Li Qi examined the talisman for a few moments, then asked, "Great Shaman, has Zhong Minglou been reverted?"

As he spoke, Li Qi glanced at Zhong Minglou beside him.

He still had that charlatan's smile, and didn't say a single word all night.

The great shaman spoke up for him, saying, "Don't worry about him, he has his own methods."

After speaking, the Great Shaman produced three iron tokens. "By the way, apart from Young Master Li Qi, the three of you come here. I will give you Human Path terminal. I have already included the description of this item inside. You can use it yourselves. Young Master Li Qi should already have one, so I won't worry about you."

"Then, there are still more than twenty days before the start of the Imperial Academy. You can do whatever you want during this time. I have to go out for something. I won't be in Chang'an during this period. If you need anything, contact me through the terminal. Anyway, it's consuming the power of the Dragon Vein, so why not use it? Don't try to save it for them." The Great Shaman said casually and sent out the terminal.

However, Li Qi, who was listening in the back, suddenly felt a chill.

Wait, the Dragon Vein.

His previous way of thinking prevented him from realizing that there was anything special about the term "Dragon Vein".

But now he has just eaten a dragon tendon, seen the real dragon pulling the cart, and recalled the Dragon Soul he encountered.

All of this is done out of Human Path considerations.

Now, one of the foundations of Human Path is called the Dragon Vein?

Why not call it connections?

Is there some deeper meaning?

Fortunately, there was a great shaman standing right in front of him, so after he finished sending the message to the terminal, Li Qi immediately stepped forward and said, "Great Shaman, I have a question to ask you."

The high shaman had finished giving instructions and was about to do his own thing, but when he saw Li Qi come up and ask a question, he stopped and said to him, "Hmm? What's the question? Go ahead."

For the Great Shaman of Wushen Mountain, all the young masters are their juniors, so unless the two masters are enemies, they are generally not too distant.

"This young man wishes to ask why one of the foundations of Human Path is called the Dragon Vein," Li Qi asked, cupping his hands in greeting.

The great shaman was taken aback for a moment, then laughed heartily, "Haha! Good question, it seems you noticed it, not bad, not bad."

However, after laughing, he shook his head. "But this matter cannot be explained clearly. You are too young, and it is not good for you to know too much. As long as you know the name of this thing, you will definitely not mispronounce it."

Upon receiving this answer, Li Qi felt a chill run down his spine, and then immediately nodded in agreement.

Although the details weren't explained, Li Qi had already guessed a lot of things.

After saying this, the high shaman paused for a moment, clearly deep in thought.

After a few seconds, he seemed to have made up his mind, and then said to Li Qi, "However, since you've thought of this... then in that case..."

"Don't go off on your own with them tonight. Come with me. I'll take you somewhere to broaden your horizons. I see you're well-versed in the classics, and you can recite almost all kinds of tales and anecdotes by heart. Moreover, you're quick-witted and good at summarizing intelligence and information. Letting you see more things should help your growth."

"Yes." Li Qi immediately bowed and agreed.

If the great shaman says it's helpful, then it must be helpful!

There was no need to worry about anything else, and Li Qi agreed without hesitation.

"Alright, that's settled then. Go do your own thing. Li Qi Qiyi will come with me later. The rest of you can do as you please. Find your own accommodations. You won't be short of money, will you?" the Great Shaman asked.

In Li Qi's view, it was unlikely that the others were short of money, because they agreed readily.

Apart from Zhong Minglou.

Zhong Minglou simply nodded slightly, without giving a direct answer.

To be honest, Li Qi was a little curious about the daily life of this charlatan. How did this kind of person manage to eat, drink, and relieve himself?

However, I'll pass on going out with the Great Shaman tonight; I'll check it out another time.

After a while, the dragon carriage arrived at its destination.

After arranging some trivial matters, everyone said their goodbyes and prepared to find a place to stay in Chang'an on their own. After all, the Imperial Academy did not allow students to stay on campus; if they wanted to study, they had to find a place to live on their own.

The four separated.

Only Li Qi followed the Great Shaman.

The high shaman waved his hand. "Come on, follow me, I'll tell you the details on the way."

"By the way, Young Master Li Qi, Senior Yun Fang mentioned you to me, saying you resemble his disciple."

Upon hearing the name, Li Qi immediately recognized who it was.

Senior Yun Fang was the person who came to Baiyue with my teacher to pick me up back then.