Five Elements Strange Sword Talisman

A wave of scorching heat rushed toward him, but Chen Fan's expression remained calm.

With a swish, his figure suddenly blurred.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The next moment, three deafening explosions rang out in succession. Three fireballs slammed viciously into the ground behind where Chen Fan had been, leaving three charred marks in the searing air.

Only then did Chen Fan's figure reappear off to one side, his expression composed.

"So fast!" The Red-robed Woman's expression finally shifted. That kind of speed shouldn't have been possible for a cultivator at the second layer of Qi Refining.

Her expression turned grave. She decided to unleash her killing move before things could get out of hand. With a flip of her hand, a talisman radiating a distinct surge of spiritual power appeared in her palm.

But Chen Fan moved, too. Five talismans appeared in his hand at once. He drew upon his True Qi to activate them, and they transformed into five streaks of different-colored light that shot away.

"This... Five Elements Strange Sword Talisman?" The Red-robed Woman's expression changed again. She looked at Chen Fan in surprise. "I underestimated you. You're only at the second layer of Qi Refining, yet you possess such a precious talisman. But this alone probably won't be enough..."

Just as she shook her head with a quiet laugh, the five streaks of light suddenly began chasing one another. A dazzling, multicolored ring appeared in the air. Rainbow-colored bands of light gradually formed between its points, connecting them into a slowly rotating five-pointed star. A terrifying surge of spiritual power began to emanate from it, making the woman's expression change.

Wood at the start, water at the end—the Five Elements Array!

Chen Fan's expression tightened. He hooked two fingers, gathering a wisp of white True Qi, then pointed several times at the five-pointed star in midair. The True Qi shot out at once and struck the star's center.

Boom!!

It was like a massive hammer coming down. A deafening roar suddenly rang beside the Red-robed Woman's ears.

As she watched in shock, the Five Elements Array began spinning at tremendous speed. Amid a dazzling torrent of light, it came crashing toward her, slow and ponderous!

The Red-robed Woman pushed off with her toes and shot backward, but to her horror, she felt a powerful force locking onto her from every direction. The Five Elements Array was moving slowly, yet it seemed unstoppable, leaving her nowhere to retreat and nowhere to dodge!

Ahead, wood overcame earth; to her left, fire overcame metal; to her right, metal overcame wood; behind her, earth overcame water. Even above her, water overcame fire, sealing off her escape.

Her vision was instantly swallowed by a vast expanse of brilliant, five-colored light!

She felt as if she were trapped in a small world, besieged on every side.

"Boom!"

"Pfft!"

The Five Elements Array crashed into the Red-robed Woman, sending her hurtling backward. She spat out a broad spray of bright red blood as she flew through the air.

"The Five Elements Strange Sword Talisman—how could it..."

Before she could finish, her whole body turned into a streak of white light and vanished from the Martial Arts Arena.

At the sixth layer of Qi Refining, she had been utterly defeated by Chen Fan in a single strike.

"The five elements overcoming one another—that's the key to the Five Elements Strange Sword Talisman." Chen Fan murmured calmly to himself.

At that moment, a dark-ink character appeared on the enormous white jade plaque above the arena:

Grade A!

At the same time, a small green jade token descended from the air and landed in his hand. A tiny star was visible on it.

One-Star Heavenly Soldier!

Chen Fan held the little jade token and took a closer look. A streak of white light flashed across it, and several digits suddenly appeared.

"50!" Chen Fan murmured in surprise.

Immediately afterward, a vast green glow burst from the jade token in his hand.

Quick to react, Chen Fan flung it away at once and warily watched the token.

"Hey! Are you trying to kill me by throwing me around?" A large green bird suddenly appeared, a golden star etched on its head.

It flapped its enormous wings and glared at Chen Fan, baring its teeth.

"A green-feathered bird?" Chen Fan frowned slightly. He couldn't understand why a jade token had suddenly turned into a bird.

"Bah! I am an Ancient Immortal Bird," the Green-feathered Bird said disdainfully.

"Then why were you inside this jade token? No, you're the token's Artifact Spirit?" Chen Fan seemed to realize something.

"You're pretty clever. No wonder you earned a Grade A rating. This is the first time anyone has received a Grade A rating in the First Layer of the Heavenly Court." The Green-feathered Bird looked Chen Fan up and down as it spoke.

"Kid, what's your name?" the Green-feathered Bird asked with a roguish grin.

"Chen Fan."

"Mm, not a bad name. Follow me from now on, and I'll make sure you achieve immortality." The Green-feathered Bird regarded Chen Fan with the air of an old sage, trying to take him on as a minion.

"This jade token belongs to me now. Since you're its Artifact Spirit, you should obey me," Chen Fan said calmly.

"Uh... How about this: we'll be equals. You be the boss, and I'll be second-in-command... No, just equals. No one outranks anyone." The Green-feathered Bird stared at him with its round, rolling eyes.

"So everyone has an Artifact Spirit inside their jade token?" Chen Fan ignored the Green-feathered Bird and continued asking questions.

"That's right, but those are all low-grade Artifact Spirits. I'm the only true Ancient Immortal Bird. Sooner or later, I'll take my place among the immortals." The Green-feathered Bird lifted its head proudly.

"Tell me, what does the number 50 on the jade token mean?" Chen Fan asked.

"You don't even know that? It represents how much Immortal Qi you have in the Heavenly Court. You just passed the trial, so you were rewarded with 50 points of Immortal Qi. You also got a superior Immortal Cave."

"An Immortal Cave?"

"That's right. Anyone with a Grade C rating or higher gets an Immortal Cave of their own. Grade C is low-grade, Grade B is mid-grade, and Grade A is naturally superior." The Green-feathered Bird nodded.

Chen Fan nodded slightly at that. He recalled the secret chamber where he and Chen Jingjing had entered Wang Yunlan's Immortal Cave. That must have been what it was.

"Do you need Spirit Stones to activate a Teleportation Array every time you enter?"

"Only outsiders need a Teleportation Array to enter, and only after getting the cave owner's permission. The cave owner can enter whenever and wherever they like," the Green-feathered Bird said.

"Oh? How do I enter?" Chen Fan asked.

"Just like this..." As soon as the Green-feathered Bird spoke, its body burst apart again, turning into a mass of green light that enveloped Chen Fan. In an instant, they vanished from where they stood.

The next moment, Chen Fan appeared outside an ancient manor.

Spiritual energy far denser than that outside washed over him. He surveyed his surroundings and realized he was standing in a medicinal field. Several green plants grew in the spirit-rich soil.

"Seven-Star Grass?" Chen Fan recognized the green plants and was somewhat surprised.

Seven-Star Grass was the main ingredient used to make Mid-grade Talisman Paper. The yellow talisman paper the old man had given him in the great hall earlier was only low-grade. It could handle talisman inscriptions of about the same level as the Five Elements Strange Sword Talisman. If a more profound inscription were written on low-grade paper, it wouldn't be able to withstand it and would burn up on its own.

The materials and process for making low-grade talisman paper were inexpensive, but Mid-grade Talisman Paper was rare. Seven-Star Grass had gone extinct several hundred years ago. He hadn't expected to find several plants growing in the Heavenly Court.

"You've got a good eye, kid. The Seven-Star Grass and medicinal field are exactly what set a superior Immortal Cave apart from a mid-grade one. And the spiritual energy here is far denser than anything outside." The Green-feathered Bird smiled broadly.

At that, Chen Fan took a deep breath. A cool sensation flowed from his nose and mouth through his lungs, then descended into his dantian.

After hesitating for a few moments, he sat cross-legged on the ground and began circulating the Blazing Heaven Sword Art. He drew in the spiritual energy, guiding it through his meridians and slowly transforming it into Blazing Heaven Sword Qi, which he stored in his dantian.

Gradually, the Sword Qi replaced all the True Qi in his body and gathered in his dantian. A vortex formed at its very center, making it absorb True Qi faster and faster.

Meanwhile, in a luxurious room in a distant city, a Red-robed Woman sat on the floor. She suddenly opened her eyes, her face filled with disbelief.

"How could the Five Elements Strange Sword Talisman have such power? And from a mere cultivator at the second layer of Qi Refining..." Her Heavenly Court clone had been killed, and her Divine Soul was now damaged.

"Yueru, what's wrong?" A middle-aged man dressed in a Daoist robe came over, concerned.

"Dad." The Red-robed Woman looked at him and called out.

"I just accepted a Heavenly Court trial mission, but I lost. My Heavenly Court clone was killed."

"You ran into an expert?" The middle-aged man frowned and asked.

"I suppose..." The Red-robed Woman suddenly sounded uncertain. If someone at the second layer of Qi Refining counted as an expert, what did that make her, at the sixth layer? Yet she had been completely defeated.

"What was his cultivation level?"

"The second layer of Qi Refining." The Red-robed Woman smiled bitterly.

"Never mind... What? Did you just say the second layer of Qi Refining?" The middle-aged man had started to comfort his daughter, but then he came to his senses. She had said the second layer of Qi Refining.

"Mm." The Red-robed Woman nodded with a bitter smile. Since becoming a prodigy, this was the first time she had felt her face burn with shame.

"What exactly happened?" The middle-aged man's expression turned grave. He knew his daughter's strength well. Just how powerful could a cultivator at the second layer of Qi Refining be?

"He used the Five Elements Strange Sword Talisman and combined the Sword Talismans into an array..." The Red-robed Woman recounted her battle with Chen Fan in full.

After a long while, the middle-aged man said, "Recover your Divine Soul first. Once you enter the Heavenly Court again, open the Recording Stone. I want to go in and see for myself."

"Dad, you... You're a Foundation Establishment Realm expert. If people found out you were going up against a cultivator at the second layer of Qi Refining..." The Red-robed Woman exclaimed in shock.

"It's fine. Calm your mind and recover first." The middle-aged man rose and left.