Wrong

Before him lay a square paved with what looked like white jade, surrounded by drifting clouds and mist. Several hundred meters away stood a massive building with resplendent golden roof tiles and walls of white jade—a true celestial palace. 💗😈  👤♦

"Truly worthy of the name Heavenly Court." Chen Fan murmured softly.

He took a step forward, savoring the thrill of heaven and earth's spiritual energy converging. A solid power coalesced in his dantian.

Qi Refining Layer 2—this was his true body's cultivation level.

After entering here, the Heavenly Court had also shaped a body for him, at the Qi Refining Layer 2 realm.

Just then, a sudden commotion not far off on the square caught Chen Fan's attention.

"Look, someone's about to challenge the first layer of the Heavenly Court—and it's an open challenge! This is a rare chance; maybe we can learn something." A man in blue robes hurriedly dashed toward the massive building.

Chen Fan was slightly startled. Above that enormous structure, an image appeared, magnified dozens of times and suspended in the air like a projection. Even from hundreds of meters away, he could see it clearly.

In the image stood a man, empty-handed, with a calm expression in the center of a martial arena. Opposite him was a woman holding a longsword, her face expressionless as she stared ahead.

"I recognize him—that's Wang Feng, an elite disciple of Heavy Sword Peak, at Qi Refining Layer 5. It's about time he challenged this first layer." Several people had unknowingly approached Chen Fan, and one of them pointed at the man in the image.

"I hear his specialty is the way of Talismans, and he's deeply studied the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams. The Talismans he draws are incredibly powerful. Against that sword cultivator woman, it's hard to say who'll win." Another person frowned as he spoke.

Chen Fan listened thoughtfully. He too had dabbled in the way of Talismans. In his past life, during long years of cultivation in the mountains, he had read countless texts, including Daoist arts like the Mysterious Gate and Hidden Armor, the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams.

The way of Talismans was actually the first Daoist art he had encountered when he first stepped onto the path of immortality. Later, after becoming a sword cultivator, he focused solely on 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 looking around," Chen Fan replied flatly.

"Perfect, come with me. Let's go meet Senior Sister Wang Yunlan of our Heavy Sword Peak's Inner Court. She broke through the first layer of the Heavenly Court two years ago and earned the title of One-Star Heavenly Soldier. The one challenging the first layer now is her younger brother, Wang Feng. She can explain some insights on Talismans and her experience breaking through the Heavenly Court—it'll be a big help to us in the future." Chen Jingjing finished speaking and, without waiting for Chen Fan to respond, strode forward.

Zhang Rumeng gave Chen Fan a slight smile and followed.

Chen Fan shook his head helplessly and slowly trailed behind. But when he saw the two suddenly step into a curtain of light, his expression changed.

"A teleportation array—it's actually a teleportation array..." Chen Fan's heart was shocked.

Back when he studied the Mysterious Gate and Hidden Armor, he had a deep understanding of teleportation arrays. Unfortunately, that was the Age of Ending Dharma, and many spiritual materials had long gone extinct. He had never even been able to make a miniature teleportation array, let alone expect to see one this large here.

He wanted to stop and study it, but Chen Jingjing called out to him from inside the array, urging him to hurry.

Chen Fan had no choice but to step into it. He saw Chen Jingjing place a Spirit Stone into a slot, and in an instant, the surroundings shifted. The three of them appeared in an empty indoor space.

Chen Jingjing retrieved the slightly dimmed Spirit Stone and tucked it into her robe, then walked further inside.

Ahead, a tall woman seemed to hear the noise and turned around to look at them. When her eyes landed on Chen Fan, her expression was cold, and she frowned slightly.

Chen Jingjing quickly said apologetically, "Senior Sister, this is my brother. He's also very interested in the way of Talismans and hopes to learn a bit here."

"Mm." Wang Yunlan gave a faint hum, turned expressionlessly back to face the image ahead—the battle between Wang Feng and the sword cultivator woman.

By now, the two in the image had already engaged. The sword cultivator woman held a fine steel longsword, and with each swing, Sword Qi crisscrossed with impressive force. A rain of sword lights densely pelted Wang Feng, as if about to tear him apart in an instant.

Wang Feng's toes suddenly pressed into the ground, his figure retreating sharply. Calmly, he flipped his hand, revealing a palm-sized yellow Talisman paper, its surface traced with strange, arcane patterns in cinnabar red.

"Go!" Wang Feng suddenly roared, hurling it with force. The originally soft paper turned as hard as refined iron. With a hiss, a flame burst from the Talisman, and it shot out as a golden-red streak, meeting the dense rain of sword lights. It seemed insignificant, as if it would be instantly swallowed by the torrent of light.

A sharp crack.

The golden-red streak exploded. Amid a blinding glare, the torrent of sword lights dissolved into thin air—all of them mere illusions. Only a single, ribbon-like sword light cut straight through.

Wang Feng roared again, flinging another Talisman. It ignited into a golden-red streak that collided head-on with the sword light.

The streak and the golden light crashed together with a thunderous blast. The sword cultivator woman was forced to withdraw her sword, stumbling back several steps.

"Ha!" The sword cultivator woman let out a clear cry, her sword like a ribbon as she charged at Wang Feng again. Wang Feng kept flinging Talismans, each turning into streaks of light to meet her assault.

"Don't speak later. Just listen quietly to Senior Sister Wang's explanations. The first layer of the Heavenly Court isn't easy to break through. The main reason Wang Feng can match that sword cultivator woman is Senior Sister Wang's experience and those incredibly powerful Talismans." Chen Jingjing suddenly stepped close to Chen Fan and whispered.

Chen Fan nodded slightly, saying nothing. His eyes were fixed on the image, and his brow furrowed slightly.

Challenging the first layer of the Heavenly Court meant entering the Heavenly Court hall and drawing a random One-Star Heavenly Soldier to fight. To break through, a cultivator sometimes needed not only strength but also a bit of luck. Otherwise, a Qi Refining Layer 5 cultivator facing a One-Star Heavenly Soldier at Layer 6 or 7 would be utterly defeated.

Every victory for a One-Star Heavenly Soldier earned them Immortal Qi. Accumulating enough Immortal Qi was the prerequisite to challenge the second layer.

As for the second layer's requirements, the difficulty would increase greatly. Rumors said it involved strange trials and tasks.

"Watch closely. This next part will decide Wang Feng's victory or defeat." Wang Yunlan suddenly spoke.

Chen Jingjing and Zhang Rumeng immediately focused intently on the battle in the image.

"Bang!"

A golden streak exploded at the tip of the sword cultivator woman's blade. A sharp wave of spiritual energy forced her to withdraw her sword and retreat.

"Go!" A gleam flashed in Wang Feng's eyes as he roared. He flipped his hand, producing another yellow Talisman. With a hiss, it burst into a blue orb of light in his hand.

The next moment, Wang Feng crushed the orb into countless fine streaks of light. They danced through the air, shooting toward the sword cultivator woman like a dense rain of droplets!

The sword cultivator woman's pupils contracted sharply. As she retreated, her longsword moved swiftly, sweeping out a vast Sword Qi that met the streaks head-on, shattering a large swath of them. But even more streaks slipped through, striking her body in a continuous series of hissing impacts. She reeled as if struck by a heavy hammer, flying backward.

Wang Feng stepped forward, his figure swift as he closed in. He flung another Talisman, which exploded midair into a blinding golden light. Wang Feng reached into it and pulled out a gleaming golden refined iron longsword, slashing it down at the woman's head.

The woman scrambled to raise her sword to block. With a heavy clang, she coughed up a mouthful of blood!

The golden longsword shattered into streaks of light in the air, gradually fading. Wang Feng's movements were unrelenting. As the woman blocked, his other hand had already flung another Talisman. With a hiss, it burst into a soft green glow. A peachwood sword silently thrust out, lightly touching the woman's body—but it didn't even pierce her clothes.

With a tearing sound, over a dozen finger-thick vines suddenly extended from the peachwood sword, rapidly binding the woman's hands and feet tightly. The sword cultivator was instantly immobilized, forced to watch as Wang Feng flicked out another talisman.

In a flash of red light, Wang Feng drew a giant sword wreathed in flames. With a fierce swing, the blade itself burned into roaring fire, slamming heavily into the woman, setting her entire body ablaze.

"Hmph!" In desperation, the woman let out a sharp cry and actually snapped the vines binding her body, retreating swiftly to the edge of the Martial Arts Arena.

"Go!" Wang Feng roared again, another talisman flying from his hand, exploding into a cloud of earthy yellow light in the air.

Wang Feng slapped the yellow mass hard into the ground. The earth before him suddenly churned, and with a rumble, a giant rock sword burst through the surface. He yanked it out and hurled it fiercely at the sword cultivator.

With a thunderous crack midair, the entire rock sword exploded into countless tiny stones, raining down on the woman with a series of sharp whistling sounds.

"This is the Five Elements Strange Sword Talisman, the key to Wang Feng's victory. He first used ordinary talismans to fight the woman to a draw, draining her true qi. Now, with the Five Elements Strange Sword Talisman at its peak power, he throws it out as his trump card. With all five elemental sword talismans—metal, wood, water, fire, earth—unleashed together, the woman in her current state cannot withstand it," Wang Yunlan explained.

Chen Jingjing and Zhang Rumeng nodded along intently.

"Senior Sister, does that mean Senior Brother Wang..." Zhang Rumeng said in surprise.

"That's right. He succeeded." Just as Wang Yunlan finished speaking, the woman on the screen had no room to dodge and could only leap off the Martial Arts Arena, ending the battle.

Wang Feng had successfully broken through the first layer of the Heavenly Court. On a white jade plaque above the arena, an ink-black character appeared, and a small green jade pendant fell from the sky into Wang Feng's hand.

"A Grade C evaluation. As long as it's not Grade D, it's a decent result." Wang Yunlan nodded slightly after looking at the two ink characters.

"Yes, I recall only five people have ever received a Grade B evaluation, and one of them is our generation's young powerhouse, Xiao Munan," Zhang Rumeng agreed with a nod.

"You both still need to keep working hard. The path of talismans is formidable and a sharp tool for breaking through the first layer of the Heavenly Court. If you cultivate with focus, you might succeed within two years..." Wang Yunlan turned and said.

But she stopped mid-sentence when she saw Chen Fan standing still, frowning as if lost in thought. Her expression turned cold as she stared at him. "You disagree with what I said?"

Chen Jingjing and Zhang Rumeng looked at Chen Fan in surprise as well. Chen Jingjing clenched her small clothes, glaring at him with a look of frustration, signaling him not to speak recklessly.

Chen Fan shook his head slightly and said calmly, "No. The path of talismans is indeed formidable. But the way the Five Elements Strange Sword Talisman was used just now—it was wrong."

The moment Chen Fan spoke, Chen Jingjing's small face turned pale. She had worked so hard to connect with the genius senior sister Wang Yunlan, hoping to have her as a guide to revive the Chen Clan.

She never expected Chen Fan's single sentence to shatter all her hopes.

"Chen Fan, what nonsense are you talking about? Apologize to Senior Sister Wang, now." Chen Jingjing then quickly turned to Wang Yunlan, her face full of remorse. "Senior Sister, don't mind him. He injured his soul in the Demon King Valley a few days ago and hasn't fully recovered yet."

"No matter! But I'd like to hear from your elder brother here—just where exactly was the usage of the Five Elements Strange Sword Talisman wrong?" Wang Yunlan said coldly.