Wrong

Before him stretched a plaza paved with what looked like white marble. White clouds and mist swirled all around it, and several hundred meters away stood a massive building with a resplendent golden roof and walls of white jade. It was practically a heavenly palace. 💗😈  👤♦

"Just as its name suggests, the Heavenly Court." Chen Fan murmured in awe.

He took a step forward, savoring the rush of spiritual energy gathering around him. A solid force appeared in his dantian.

Qi Refining Layer 2. That was the level of his true body.

After he entered this place, the Heavenly Court had given him a body of its own, one also at Qi Refining Layer 2.

Just then, a commotion erupted not far away in the plaza, drawing Chen Fan's attention.

"Look, someone's about to challenge the First Layer of the Heavenly Court—and they're doing it in public! This is a rare opportunity. Maybe we can learn something." A man in blue hurried toward the massive building.

Chen Fan blinked. An image had appeared above the enormous building, like a projection magnified dozens of times and suspended in midair. Even from several hundred meters away, he could see it clearly.

In the image, a man stood calmly in an arena, empty-handed. Facing him was a woman holding a long sword, her expressionless gaze fixed straight ahead.

"I know him. He's Wang Feng, an elite disciple of Heavy Sword Peak. He's at Qi Refining Layer 5, so it's about time he challenged this first layer." Several people had approached Chen Fan at some point. One of them pointed at the man in the image as he spoke.

"I've heard that talismans are his specialty, and he's deeply versed in the Eight Trigrams and the Five Elements. The talismans he draws are incredibly powerful. Facing that sword cultivator, it's hard to say who'll win." Another man said with a deep furrow in his brow.

Chen Fan considered this. He, too, had dabbled in the art of talismans. In his previous life, during his long years of cultivation in the mountains, he had studied countless ancient texts, including Daoist arts involving the Eight Trigrams, the Five Elements, and the art of strange gates and hidden armor.

Talismans were among the first Daoist arts he had studied after embarking on the path of cultivation. Later, once he became a sword cultivator, he had devoted himself to the sword.

"Chen Fan, what are you doing here?" A familiar voice came from behind him.

Chen Fan slowly turned around. Chen Jingjing and Zhang Rumeng were walking toward him.

"Just having a look," Chen Fan replied mildly.

"Perfect. Come with me. Let's go meet Senior Sister Wang Yunlan from the Inner Court of Heavy Sword Peak. She broke through the First Layer of the Heavenly Court two years ago and earned the title of One-Star Heavenly Soldier. Her younger brother, Wang Feng, is challenging the First Layer today. We can listen to her insights on talismans and learn from her experience challenging the Heavenly Court. It'll be a great help to us in the future." Chen Jingjing finished speaking and strode off without waiting for Chen Fan to answer.

Zhang Rumeng smiled gently at Chen Fan, then followed her.

Chen Fan could only shake his head helplessly and trail after them. But when he saw the two of them suddenly step through a curtain of light, his expression changed.

"A Teleportation Array? This is a Teleportation Array..." Chen Fan was stunned.

Back when he had studied the art of strange gates and hidden armor, he had learned a great deal about Teleportation Arrays. Unfortunately, he had lived in the Age of Dharma Decline, when many spiritual materials had long since gone extinct. In the end, he hadn't even managed to create a miniature Teleportation Array. He never expected to encounter such a massive one here.

He was about to stop and study it when he heard Chen Jingjing call to him from inside the array, urging him to hurry up.

Chen Fan had no choice but to step through as well. Chen Jingjing placed a Spirit Stone into a slot, and the scene around them shifted in an instant. The three of them appeared in a spacious room.

After putting the slightly dimmed Spirit Stone back into her pocket, Chen Jingjing headed farther inside.

A tall woman ahead seemed to hear them. She turned and looked at the three of them. When she saw Chen Fan, her expression turned cool, and her brows furrowed slightly.

Chen Jingjing hurriedly apologized. "Senior Sister, this is my older brother. He's also interested in talismans and hopes to learn a little here."

"Mm." Wang Yunlan gave a soft acknowledgment, then expressionlessly turned back to the image ahead. It showed the battle between Wang Feng and the sword cultivator.

The two were already fighting. The sword cultivator held a steel long sword, its swings unleashing surging Sword Qi with impressive force. Sword flashes rained down on Wang Feng, so dense they seemed ready to tear him to pieces in an instant.

Wang Feng's toes struck the ground, and he darted backward. Calmly turning his hand over, he produced a palm-sized yellow talisman. Strange, intricate patterns had been drawn across it in bright red cinnabar.

"Go!" Wang Feng roared, whipping his hand forward. The limp scrap of paper suddenly hardened like refined iron. With a hiss, a flame sprang up on the talisman, and it shot out as a golden-red streak. It flew straight toward the dense rain of sword flashes, looking utterly insignificant—as though the torrent of light would swallow it in an instant.

A sharp hiss rang out.

The golden-red streak burst apart. Amid a blinding golden light, the torrent of sword flashes faded into thin air. They had all been illusory afterimages. Only one blade-like streak remained, shooting straight toward him.

Wang Feng roared again and flung out another talisman. It caught fire and became a golden-red streak of light, which collided head-on with the sword flash.

The streak and the golden light crashed together and exploded. The sword cultivator was forced to pull back her sword and retreat several steps.

"Ha!" The sword cultivator let out a sharp cry. Her sword flashed like a bolt of lightning as she charged Wang Feng again, while he kept flinging talismans at her, each one transforming into a streak of light.

"Don't speak later. Listen carefully while Senior Sister Wang explains. The First Layer of the Heavenly Court isn't easy to break through. Wang Feng's ability to hold his own against that sword cultivator is largely thanks to Senior Sister Wang's advice and the formidable art of talismans." Chen Jingjing suddenly came to Chen Fan's side and spoke in a low voice.

Chen Fan nodded slightly without speaking. He turned his gaze to the image, his brow furrowing.

Challenging the First Layer of the Heavenly Court meant entering the Heavenly Court Hall and being matched against a randomly selected One-Star Heavenly Soldier. To break through the first layer, a cultivator sometimes needed more than strength; luck mattered, too. If someone at Qi Refining Layer 5 happened to face a One-Star Heavenly Soldier at Qi Refining Layer 6 or 7, they could only suffer a crushing defeat.

Every time a One-Star Heavenly Soldier won a battle, they were rewarded with Immortal Qi. It accumulated until they had enough to qualify to challenge the Second Layer of the Heavenly Court.

As for the requirements to break through the second layer, the difficulty increased considerably. Rumor had it that there were strange trials and missions.

"Watch closely. The decisive moment of Wang Feng's fight is coming." Wang Yunlan suddenly spoke.

At her words, Chen Jingjing and Zhang Rumeng immediately focused on the battle in the image.

"Bang!"

A golden streak of light suddenly burst at the tip of the sword cultivator's blade. A fierce wave of spiritual energy forced her to withdraw her sword and retreat.

"Go!" A glint flashed through Wang Feng's eyes. He shouted and turned his hand over, revealing another yellow talisman. With a hiss, it burst into a blue orb of light in his palm.

In the next instant, Wang Feng crushed the orb, scattering it into countless tiny streaks of light. They danced through the air, then shot toward the sword cultivator in a dense rain!

The sword cultivator's pupils contracted sharply. As she retreated, she swung her sword without delay, unleashing a mighty wave of Sword Qi to meet the countless streaks head-on. It shattered a great many of them, but even more seized the opportunity to strike her. Amid an unbroken hiss, they slammed into her body. It was as though she had been struck by a bludgeon, and she flew backward.

Wang Feng lunged after her, his movements swift. He flung out another talisman, which erupted in dazzling golden light in midair. Reaching into it, Wang Feng pulled out a gleaming refined-iron long sword and brought it crashing down on the woman.

The woman hurriedly raised her sword to block. With a heavy clang, she couldn't help coughing up a mouthful of blood!

The refined-iron sword silently shattered into streaks of light and gradually faded away. Wang Feng didn't slow for an instant. While the woman was still blocking, he had already flung out another talisman with his other hand. It burst open with a hiss, and in a wash of emerald light, a peachwood sword silently thrust out, lightly pricking the woman without even piercing her clothes.

With a tearing sound, more than a dozen finger-thick vines suddenly sprang from the peachwood sword, swiftly binding the woman's hands and feet. The sword cultivator could no longer move and could only watch helplessly as Wang Feng threw out another talisman.

Amid a wash of red light, Wang Feng drew out a massive sword wreathed in flames. He swung it hard, and the blade burst into roaring fire as it slammed into the woman. Flames instantly engulfed her from head to toe!

"Hmph!" In desperation, the woman gave a sharp shout and snapped the vines wrapped around her body. She immediately retreated to the edge of the Martial Arts Arena.

"Go!" Wang Feng roared once more and flung out another talisman. It erupted in a patch of earthen-yellow light.

Wang Feng slammed his palm down on the yellow orb, driving it into the ground. The earth in front of him heaved violently. With a thunderous crash, a massive stone sword burst through the ground. Wang Feng yanked it free and hurled it at the sword cultivator.

A deafening boom rang out in midair. The massive stone sword exploded into countless tiny fragments, which rained down on the woman with a string of shrill whistles.

"That's the Five Elements Strange Sword Talisman, and it's the key to Wang Feng's victory. First, he used ordinary talismans to fight the woman to a draw and wear down her True Qi. The Five Elements Strange Sword Talisman is the most powerful, so he saved it as his trump card. All five elemental sword talismans—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—were unleashed together. In her current state, the woman couldn't possibly withstand them." Wang Yunlan explained.

Chen Jingjing and Zhang Rumeng nodded repeatedly as they listened.

"Senior Sister, does that mean Senior Brother Wang..." Zhang Rumeng asked in astonishment.

"That's right. He succeeded." As soon as Wang Yunlan finished speaking, the woman in the image had nowhere left to dodge. She could only leap off the Martial Arts Arena, ending the fight.

Wang Feng had successfully broken through the First Layer of the Heavenly Court. On a white jade plaque above the arena, two ink-black characters appeared. At the same time, a small green jade pendant descended from the sky and landed in Wang Feng's hand.

"Grade C. As long as it isn't Grade D, that's already a decent result." Wang Yunlan nodded slightly as she looked at the two ink-black characters.

"Exactly. I remember only five people have ever earned a Grade B. One of them is the young prodigy of our generation, Xiao Munan." Zhang Rumeng nodded in agreement.

"You still need to keep working hard. The art of talismans is powerful, and it's a great weapon for challenging the First Layer of the Heavenly Court. If you train diligently, you may be able to succeed within two years..." Wang Yunlan turned around as she spoke.

But she stopped halfway when she saw Chen Fan standing there with a furrowed brow, looking thoughtful. Her expression immediately turned cold as she fixed her gaze on Chen Fan. "You disagree with what I said?"

Chen Jingjing and Zhang Rumeng looked at Chen Fan in surprise. Chen Jingjing even clutched at her clothes and glared at him in exasperation, urging him not to say anything reckless.

Chen Fan merely shook his head and said calmly, "No. Talismans are indeed powerful. It's just that the way he used the Five Elements Strange Sword Talisman was wrong."

The moment Chen Fan said this, Chen Jingjing's face went pale. She had worked so hard to get close to the genius Senior Sister Wang Yunlan, hoping she would guide her in the future so that she could make the Chen Clan flourish.

She never expected Chen Fan to shatter all her hopes with a single sentence.

"Chen Fan, what nonsense are you spouting? Apologize to Senior Sister Wang, now!" After snapping at Chen Fan, Chen Jingjing hurriedly turned to Wang Yunlan with an apologetic expression. "Senior Sister, please ignore him. He injured his Divine Soul in Demon King Valley a few days ago and still hasn't fully recovered."

"No matter. But I'd like to hear from your brother exactly how the Five Elements Strange Sword Talisman was used incorrectly." Wang Yunlan said coldly.