Runes Bewitch the Mind

The Armored War Bear's explosive burst, coupled with the suppression and killing power of an Exorcism Talisman.

The Headless Evil Spirit was dead beyond dead.

Evil entities like this, harmed by Wandering Evils and tainted with a trace of evil aura, were normally not particularly formidable.

By Su Qing's estimation, if the late Li Erhe had not been caught unprepared, he would not have fallen victim to the Headless Evil Spirit.

Even so, Su Qing had no intention of leaving the Hiding Cave for the moment.

He had the Lizard Warrior lead over a hundred Wood Spirit Servants in cleaning up the corpse fluid.

The corpse fluid tainted by the evil entity made him want to vomit from several meters away, even with the Profound Iron cover of the Hiding Cave blocking the stench.

The Puppets had no senses, so doing this sort of work caused them no suffering at all.

What surprised him was that after the corpse fluid had been cleaned away, a faint, bizarre pattern remained within the bear paw print.

He had never seen that pattern before, yet it inexplicably felt familiar.

The Armored War Bear crouched down, allowing Su Qing to inspect the pattern on the ground from up close.

Before long, Su Qing made a firm judgment.

"It's a rune, a rune I've never seen before!"

As he spoke, his eyes gradually reddened. The pattern on the ground seemed to possess an endless allure, drawing all his mind and spirit into it.

By his ears, as if there were strange sounds, yet as if it were merely his own muttering.

"Copy it, obtain it, master it, and you will master everything!"

"Wicked Script? Divine Script? Or perhaps Immortal Script, Dao Script? No matter which one it is, obtain one and you can soar to great heights, rise straight into the ninefold heavens, become Immortal or Ancestor from then on, with an everlasting lifespan—what bliss!"

"The paths of immortals, monsters, and wicked gods, the laws that reach the heavens, are right before your eyes. Just pick up the talisman brush and lightly set down one stroke, and your Immortal Path will be worlds apart!"

The murmured whispers grew increasingly bizarre and seductive. If anyone had noticed, they would have known that voice was not one Su Qing could possibly make.

It was ethereal and hollow, as though the voices of countless living beings had gathered together, playing in unison a melody passed down from antiquity to the present age, then turning it into the language of the present day to lead others down the same road as them!

Su Qing's consciousness was muddled. After looking at the pattern a few more times, his mind seemed to have fallen into a dream, making clear thought impossible.

Guided by the pattern, his instincts could think only of the benefits of drawing it.

The pattern had to be an Ancient Rune, one with all manner of inconceivable abilities.

It was said that a third-tier Artifact Refiner had once branded an Ancient Rune onto a magic treasure, granting it the power to suppress and kill Nascent Soul cultivators. There were also tales of Talisman Masters who had mastered Ancient Runes, where a single sheet of Talisman Paper could transform into heaven and earth itself and nourish countless living beings.

Ancient Runes were the scripts of every cultivator in the Celestial Origin Realm's dreams, ladders to the heavens. Storytellers in the Market often began a protagonist's fateful encounter with a fall from a cliff, an accidental entry into an Immortal's Cave Mansion, and the acquisition of Ancient Runes.

Before Su Qing awakened his panel, he too had harbored countless fantasies about Ancient Runes.

Now, though the pattern on the ground was incomplete, he had the panel. As long as he drew a single stroke, his Proficiency would increase. Even if it was incomplete, he could still achieve something with it.

This was a heaven-sent opportunity bestowed upon Su Qing!

His guided thoughts ignored all the dangers of drawing this pattern, thinking only of the benefits of mastering this rune.

Just as Su Qing was about to step out of the Hiding Cave and begin drawing the talisman.

His chest suddenly hurt. The Spider Doctor was repairing internal damage.

Damage?

When had he been injured?

Su Qing shuddered in alarm.

After the shock came fury.

His intelligent mind seized the high ground.

His cautious instincts sprang into action.

"You forge Tier 1 Puppets every day until you're worked half to death, and you only earn a thousand or so. Yet you want to ascend to heaven on a single talisman like everyone else? Do you think you're the protagonist of some wish-fulfillment novel?!"

He viciously slapped himself across the face.

Although he had been bewitched by the Demonic Script and had just felt as though he were in a dream, the Cultivation World was so dangerous that he could not afford to dream such sweet dreams!

After berating himself, he looked again at the pattern, and fury immediately surged from his heart.

"Bold Demonic Script, how dare you damage my Dao Heart!"

The Armored War Bear half-crouched on the ground, its bear paw pounding the pattern with all its might like a war drum.

The earth shook and mountains swayed. Only after it had hammered the southwest corner of the small courtyard, several meters across, into a pit more than ten feet deep did it finally stop.

Su Qing ordered the Lizard Warrior to scatter three Exorcism Talismans into the pit. Only when Yellow Light flared did he finally let out a long breath.

What had just happened was truly perilous beyond measure.

The Headless Evil Spirit itself had not been difficult to deal with.

What was difficult was the rune it had left behind.

It truly was an Ancient Rune, but not Divine Script that could confer godhood, nor Immortal Script of Hundred Transformations and divine abilities. Neither was it Dao Script containing the ultimate truths of heaven and earth. It was not even Demon Script or Wicked Script.

It was Evil Script!

It was the foundation of an evil entity's existence, and also the poison that could turn living beings into evil entities!

Draw one stroke, and then there would be a hundred, a thousand.

From then on, one would grow increasingly mad by the day, falling into evil without even realizing it.

"What kind of bizarre thing is that evil entity at the Gao Family Butcher Shop? The first time I went there, more than twenty Exorcism Talismans were enough to force it back. Now, even the Headless Evil Spirit influenced by it carries Evil Script on its body!

"If it keeps growing, when it erupts one day, will those few Foundation Establishment Grand Cultivators in the Market be able to withstand it?"

No!

Whether they could withstand it or not, he certainly could not.

Tomorrow, he would follow Hundred Treasures Pavilion to the Spirit Field District and stay there for a while. He needed to lie low first!

But the Spirit Field District was currently a chaotic mix of dragons and snakes, and with demonic beasts invading as well, it could hardly be called safe.

"Sure enough, I still don't have enough Puppets!"

All fear stemmed from a lack of strength.

With his current wealth, he truly could forge more Puppets for himself.

But his divine sense limited the size of his Puppet force.

By his estimate, while controlling his current Puppets, he could at most operate one more Armored War Bear. He could not use up every last bit of his remaining divine sense, or full-load divine sense operation would drive a person mad over time!

"If only I had a little more time to forge the Meditating Doll. Once my cultivation reaches the Fifth Layer of Qi Refining, my divine sense will be able to control more Puppets."

Su Qing sighed softly.

With the panel, all he lacked was time.

This was also the key reason he could resist the temptation of Ancient Runes.

Ancient Runes might be good, but they were not necessarily stronger than the runes currently in use.

Countless tens of thousands of years had passed, and generation after generation of cultivators had deduced, refined, cast off the old, and brought forth the new.

The contemporary rune system was more complete, and the path upward was clearer.

Cultivating to the utmost limit, it might not be any worse than Ancient Runes.

There was no point overthinking it. Painfully, he scraped off the still-usable Profound Iron Essence from the Lizard Warrior that had died in the line of duty, then took a new one from his Storage Bag to restore the ranks.

Su Qing clapped his hands and returned to his room to begin today's medicinal bath.

He had been bewitched by the Evil Script just now, and his five viscera and six bowels seemed to have suffered some damage. Though the Spider Doctor had busied itself repairing the injuries, he had still lost some vital essence in the end.

Soaking in the medicine barrel, the medicinal power seeped through his skin, burrowed into his bones, and then spread through his limbs and bones, his five viscera and six bowels.

By the time he stood up, he estimated that he had absorbed only around one-fifth of the medicinal power in the entire barrel.

"According to the description of the Immovable Heavenly King Technique, once I can absorb all of the medicinal power, I will meet the conditions of Swallow Gold Plunder Essence and the Inner Refinement Essence Furnace. At that point, I will have stepped across the threshold of a Tier 1 Body Cultivator."

Su Qing was not anxious about the progress of his body cultivation.

It would be good enough if it strengthened his body and improved his health. As a Puppet Master, he had never intended to resort to martial force and violence.

At the very least, before all his Puppets had been spent, he would never personally enter the front lines of battle.