The Might of Spirit Talismans

Lu Ye sorted through all the clues and gained a rough understanding of his current situation.

There was no denying that his situation was far from good. The biggest problem was that his cultivation was too low. A pack of wolves could trap him up a tree, and if he casually ran into any cultivator harboring ill intent, he would surely be powerless to resist.

The good news was that with the Battlefield Mark, he knew which direction led to a way out.

But he had no idea how far he currently was from the Crimson Blood Sect's territory.

To reach the Crimson Blood Sect's camp in the Spirit Stream Battlefield, he needed a certain level of cultivation. Therefore, his most urgent task was still to increase his strength!

He had quite a few Spiritual Pills available. If he could absorb and refine them all, his strength would definitely rise considerably. He did not dare say he could reach any particular level of Lingxi, but at the very least, he would gain more ability to protect himself.

With a plan in mind, Lu Ye lowered his head and looked at the Wolf Pack gathered below. If he wanted to cultivate, he first had to escape this predicament. This was no place for cultivation.

Though those wolves could not do much to him, they were making quite a commotion. It would be easy for them to draw someone else's attention, making them a potential danger.

After thinking for a moment, Lu Ye took the spirit talismans from the Storage Bag the Sect Master had given him. After picking through them, he selected a Golden Wheel Talisman.

Of the more than thirty spirit talismans, only half were offensive talismans. The rest were either defensive or auxiliary. The dozen or so offensive talismans were all Fire Attribute or Metal Attribute spirit talismans, perfectly suited for someone like Lu Ye, whose Five Elements were Primary Fire and Secondary Metal.

The Sect Master had clearly taken this into consideration when gathering these spirit talismans.

Lu Ye had not chosen the Fire Attribute spirit talismans mainly because he suspected they would make quite a stir. Names like Explosion Talisman and Fire Serpent Talisman alone gave off a wild, violent feeling.

How to activate a spirit talisman was a problem. Lu Ye had never used one before.

But no matter what, he had to give it a try now. He needed to get out of this predicament as quickly as possible.

Holding the spirit talisman in his hand, Lu Ye carefully poured Spiritual Power into it.

A layer of golden light immediately surged from the spirit talisman. Then, before Lu Ye, the golden light condensed into something shaped like a disc.

The disc gleamed with golden light. It was translucent and roughly the size of a washbasin, with Spiritual Patterns flowing within it.

Before Lu Ye could react, a golden blade slashed out from the disc. The blade was crescent-shaped and vanished in an instant.

With a dull thud, Lu Ye looked up and saw a deep slash mark appear on the trunk of a great tree in the distance, so thick that several people would have needed to link arms to encircle it.

"Sss, sss..." From the translucent golden disc in his hand, crescent-shaped blades slashed out one after another without end. In an instant, the surrounding trees suffered disaster. Branch after branch was severed and came rustling down.

So that's how it works! Lu Ye understood. He hurriedly adjusted the direction of the disc in his hand and aimed it at the Wolf Pack below.

Sss, sss, sss...

The incomparably sharp golden crescents tore through the air and struck the wolves clustered together. Blood splashed at once, and flesh flew everywhere.

The vicious wolves, each the size of a calf, were cleaved in two the instant they were hit.

The Wolf Pack clearly panicked and scattered in every direction. Lu Ye continuously adjusted his aim, trying to send the blades toward wherever the wolves were most densely gathered.

One wolf after another was slain, and the smell of blood spread through the air.

After a short while, the Wolf Pack seemed to realize something was wrong. A wolf howl sounded from the distance, and the wolves gathered below tucked their tails and fled at high speed, leaving behind more than a dozen corpses.

Lu Ye controlled the disc in his hand and pursued the fleeing wolves with it for a while, exhilaration roaring through his heart.

Spirit talismans truly were good things. A single talisman allowed a cultivator who had Opened Three Apertures, like him, to slaughter without restraint. The only slight imperfection was that this was his first time using a spirit talisman, so he did not quite understand how to control its direction and accuracy. Otherwise, he could have killed even more.

Just as he was thinking this, Lu Ye suddenly felt exhausted. His heart pounded wildly, golden stars danced before his eyes, and his body swayed. He nearly toppled off the tree trunk.

The fright nearly scared him out of his wits. He hurriedly steadied himself and panted heavily for a while.

After recovering a little, Lu Ye looked down and discovered that the translucent golden disc had already vanished. The spirit talisman in his hand had also dimmed, its patterns blurred and obscure.

This spirit talisman could no longer be used. Lu Ye came to this realization.

But what had happened to him just now?

After inspecting himself, Lu Ye figured out the truth.

The Spiritual Power inside his body had been used up! His three Spiritual Apertures were completely empty, and the Spiritual Power that had originally been stored within them had utterly dried up.

That was why he felt so exhausted.

He hurriedly took out a Spirit Nurturing Pill and swallowed it, refining it with all his strength. Only after quite some time did he recover a little.

Naturally, a single Spirit Nurturing Pill could not restore him completely. Before the pill's power had even fully dispersed, he leaped down from the tree.

The smell of blood here was too thick and could easily attract more ferocious beasts. It was better to leave first. As for the medicinal power accumulating within his body, he could dissolve it while walking. It would merely be less efficient.

He also took the time to pull out his longsword, cut off several large chunks of wolf meat, and stuff them into his Storage Bag.

This incident taught Lu Ye a lesson. When using spirit talismans, he absolutely could not get carried away. He had to keep watch over the consumption of his own Spiritual Power at all times.

This time, he had only been killing wolves. If he encountered hostile cultivators next time, then once his Spiritual Power ran dry, all he could do would be wait for death.

Half a day later, Lu Ye sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion in a dry, dark cave.

There was no shortage of such caves in the wilderness. After inspecting it, Lu Ye determined that this was most likely an unclaimed cave. Staying here, he would not have to worry about being disturbed by some ferocious beast returning home.

The cave's conditions were mediocre, but this was not the time to be particular. If nothing unexpected happened, Lu Ye felt that he might be living here for a while.

He had previously checked the surrounding area and found no traces of particularly ferocious beasts. There were, however, many small animals.

That was good news for him. If he got hungry later, he could go out hunting at any time and would not have to starve.

Before Lu Ye lay a large pile of miscellaneous items. He was taking stock of his belongings.

There were three Storage Bags: Steward Yang's, Zhou Cheng's, and the one the Sect Master had given him. These things were not valuable. In any case, every cultivator Lu Ye had seen possessed one, perhaps even more than one.

The Sect Master had not carried one, but he surely had other means of storage. That was not something Lu Ye could know.

Twenty-five Spirit Nurturing Pills. Twenty had been given to him by the Sect Master, while five had come from Steward Yang's and Zhou Cheng's Storage Bags. There had originally been six from those bags, but Lu Ye had taken one after killing the wolves.

Sixteen Qi and Blood Pills in total. Most had been given to him by the Sect Master, while the smaller portion had come from Steward Yang's and Zhou Cheng's Storage Bags.

Eight Healing Pills.

More than thirty pieces of Primordial Magnetic Ore, large and small, as well as some other ores whose names Lu Ye did not know.

One storybook!

One Golden Cicada Free and Unfettered Art!

Nearly thirty spirit talismans of all kinds.

Five sets of clothing in various styles.

The miscellaneous pills that had previously been stored in Steward Yang's and Zhou Cheng's Storage Bags were nowhere to be found. The Sect Master had likely confiscated them while Lu Ye had been cultivating aboard the Flying Dragon Ship. Those bottles of pills probably had not been anything good.