Treasure

The talisman was covered in crooked, distorted markings; it was none other than a God-Speed Talisman. In the cultivation world, such talismans are considered bottom-tier, lacking elemental properties and possessing incomplete restrictions, which explains the crude markings. However, they do have one advantage: they can be activated by anyone with a shred of mana.

Yet, even a talisman of this caliber was something Yan Chihuo did not possess. He tucked the God-Speed Talisman away and picked up the Yellow Jade Blade. It was engraved with four restrictions, confirming it was indeed a Talisman Artifact. The reason it only had four restrictions was not because the jade material was poor, but because the craftsmanship of the person who refined it was mediocre.

Yan Chihuo carefully examined it and identified the four restrictions as those for the Falling Rock Art. It seemed this jade blade was the Talisman Artifact belonging to the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon.

He recalled the old man mentioning that an Earth Shrinking Talisman could be found in the Earth Cave, so he prepared to search each cave one by one. As he stepped past the old man's body, he noticed a jade ring on the ring finger of the man's right hand.

It wasn't that he hadn't noticed the ring before, but after obtaining these few treasures from the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon, he found it strange that the old man's body was otherwise completely empty of belongings.

He slid the jade ring off and held it in his hand, turning it over to inspect it, but he sensed nothing unusual. He tried channeling his true energy into it, only to feel a layer of mana resistance from within. His heart leaped with joy; he knew this must be a treasure, for otherwise, it would not contain such mana.

However, this layer of mana was incredibly resilient. He channeled his true energy for the duration of a cup of tea, yet he could not break through. He withdrew his energy and slipped the ring onto his own finger. A thought occurred to him: since this ring was a treasure, even if he didn't know what it was, others might. Wearing it openly would likely invite covetous eyes, so he tucked the ring into his robes instead.

He continued along the passage and soon encountered a cave entrance marked with the seal-script character for "Heaven." He mused, Could this be the Heaven Cave? That man told the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon to retrieve an Earth Shrinking Talisman from the Earth Cave; perhaps there are treasures in this Heaven Cave as well.

He walked inside, but the cave contained only furniture like stone tables, chairs, and a stone bed, seemingly used by the old man for rest. On the stone table lay a circular, pitch-black Metal Token. He did not know what it was made of, and while it bore several magical markings, Yan Chihuo could not decipher their meaning.

Though he didn't know what it was, Yan Chihuo picked it up from the table. Only then did he notice a tiger head engraved on the back, with the character "Seven" beneath it.

He placed the Metal Token into his robes and searched the Heaven Cave once more, but finding nothing else, he left. The next stone cave was marked with the seal-script character for "Earth."

Yan Chihuo entered and found a statue of a man with a tiger's head. In front of the statue was a table with a Jade Box, and on the floor were several meditation cushions; it appeared to be the old man's place of cultivation.

Yan Chihuo first picked up the Jade Box, chanting a spell under his breath until a layer of stone armor covered his body. Only then did he open the box. There were no traps like poisonous smoke or hidden darts as he had feared; inside lay only three talismans.

He picked up the first one. True energy flowed across its surface, and it was inscribed with complete spell restrictions—it was the Earth Shrinking Talisman. Yan Chihuo felt a surge of joy; with this talisman, his strength would immediately rise to a new level, and he might even be able to make some cultivators at the Body Forging Late Stage suffer, though this talisman could only be used once.

The second and third talismans also pulsed with flowing true energy and bore complete spell restrictions. The second talisman's restriction was for the Imprisoning Earth spell, an earth-elemental binding talisman.

Seeing this, Yan Chihuo realized he had narrowly escaped death. If the old man had carried this talisman during their fight, he would have died a thousand times over. In fact, he was even luckier that the old man's cultivation had fallen to the Body Tempering Middle Stage; had he recovered to the Body Forging Late Stage, he could have cast the Imprisoning Earth spell even without a Talisman Artifact, and the outcome of the battle would have been obvious.

Yan Chihuo did not recognize the spell restriction on the third talisman. Unable to dwell on it, he simply tucked all three talismans away.

Finding no other treasures in the Earth Cave, he moved to the next stone cave. The exterior was marked with the seal-script character for "Human." The interior was similar to the Heaven Cave, likely the place where the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon rested. There was some food here, but nothing else; the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon must have carried all his treasures on his person.

Yan Chihuo checked several other stone caves, only to find they were completely uninhabited. After finishing his search of the final cave, he began to worry.

Although the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon and his master were dead, how to leave this place remained a difficult problem. The flock of crows outside would certainly not let him leave just like that.

Yan Chihuo pondered for a moment, thinking, The Heavenly Evil Blood Demon and his master must have left this place before; there must be a way to avoid those Crow Monsters, I just haven't found it yet.

He searched every stone cave again but still found nothing. Then, he remembered the jade ring. He took it out and channeled his true energy into it, attempting to wear down the mana barrier. The barrier was incredibly stubborn; it took over an hour of effort before it weakened even slightly.

Seeing that the method was effective, Yan Chihuo applied himself with patience, grinding away at it bit by bit. The mana barrier was simply too strong to be broken in a single day. Yan Chihuo steeled his resolve; when hungry, he ate the food found in the cave, and when tired, he slept on the bed.

Three days later, Yan Chihuo felt significant progress. The mana barrier was now only a thin layer, seemingly ready to break at any moment. He gathered all his mana and poured it in continuously.

After a long while, Yan Chihuo heard a sound like a "pop," as if something had shattered, and the mana barrier was instantly pulverized. In that instant, his consciousness and mana flooded into the jade ring.

It felt as if his entire being had entered the object, allowing him to see everything inside with perfect clarity. It was a space about five yards in diameter, containing several items.

The first thing to catch his eye was a Green Jade Staff. It resembled the one the old man had used to fight him, but in terms of quality alone, it was far superior to the previous one.

He picked up the Green Jade Staff and discovered it possessed dozens of restrictions. Upon closer inspection, he found there were forty-one in total. Yan Chihuo was shocked; this was a Dharma Tool, something that could only be wielded by cultivators at the Qi Gathering Stage. It must have been left behind by the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon's master. The old man had likely intended to use this treasure only after advancing to the Qi Gathering Stage.