Talisman Sword

Daoist Yan spoke with a laugh, but his round eyes were wide as he stared fixedly at Yu Ci. Yet Yu Ci still wore that same expression, as though the sight of more than twenty herb gatherers sprawled dead, the enemy's mockery, and the divine might of the Nine Yang Talisman Sword could only make him react this much.

"Good. You've got guts too. This Daoist was afraid you were nothing but a soft-legged shrimp who'd flee at the sight of battle!"

The more Daoist Yan was surprised by Yu Ci's nerve, the more he wanted to smash that strange thing of his. Instead, he was in no hurry to strike. He merely took a step forward, closing to within two zhang of Yu Ci, lightly swaying the talisman sword as he gave a dark chuckle.

"Why the Nine Yang Talisman Sword? This Daoist can tell you a thing or two. Heh heh, Bai Ri Mansion is stingy and petty. They only bring out the low-grade Three Yang Talisman Swords to deal with you mortal juniors, and that already has you wagging your tails in delight. Yet you don't know that within Bai Ri Mansion, there are Six Yang Talisman Swords, Nine Yang Talisman Swords, and Pure Yang Talisman Swords, all of far superior quality!

"Of course, Bai Ri Mansion would never bring out those latter three. But however cunning they may be, they still have to drink this Daoist's foot-washing water. Ten years ago, this Daoist slipped into the mansion and secretly learned this method of 'fusing refinement.' As long as one has enough Three Yang Talisman Swords as a foundation, they can be tempered and fused step by step—from Three Yang to Six Yang, then Nine Yang, then with the impurities erased, returned to Pure Yang. That is the ultimate limit.

"For the past two years, this Daoist has traveled back and forth between Sky Rift Valley and Juebi City. Though it was arduous, I have finally brought the Nine Yang Talisman Sword to completion. Compared with Pure Yang quality, it is only a hair's breadth short. Three becoming nine, and nine is the ultimate number of yang—its might has already reached its peak. With this sword in hand, even if you stumbled into dog shit and gathered enough Shrimp Whisker Grass to exchange for a Three Yang Talisman Sword, you still could not withstand a single slash from this Daoist's blade!"

Having said this, Daoist Yan burst out laughing again. Yet amid his laughter, Yu Ci maintained his earlier posture. He neither relaxed nor panicked, and naturally showed no unusual reaction. In the vast mountain forest, only the startled beasts and birds answered with a few noisy cries.

The laughter stopped abruptly. Daoist Yan could no longer laugh. His round eyes narrowed unnaturally as he finally understood that this pretty-faced boy before him was no worthless junior who could be frightened witless with a few words. If he kept tangling with him, not only would he fail to find any amusement, but even after slaughtering him, he would likely be left with a bellyful of anger.

"Good, good. This Daoist will send you, you bold little pretty face, on your way!"

As Daoist Yan spoke, he stepped forward once more and raised the Nine Yang Talisman Sword in his hand. He was tall and long-armed; with those movements alone, the swallowing red light nearly crossed the distance of two zhang and engulfed Yu Ci.

Within the heat wave rushing at his face, the talisman sword's unique sharp, piercing aura drove straight toward Yu Ci's brow. Yu Ci did not force himself to hold his ground. He slowly took a step back, while the five fingers of his left hand, which had remained hidden in his sleeve, slowly closed around the talisman stored on the Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror.

"Hm?" Daoist Yan sensed something. His gaze flicked toward Yu Ci's hand, only to see a great quantity of watery mist and cloud vapor surge from the pretty-faced boy's sleeve. In the blink of an eye, it formed a curtain of fog. Lit by the firelight from this side, the figure behind the fog appeared and vanished, becoming even harder to grasp as the light shifted.

"Trying to run again!" With an angry roar, Daoist Yan's talisman sword cleaved through the air with hissing sounds. In an instant, it tore apart the fog before him and, in passing, cut down the moving figure behind it with a single stroke.

The moment the sword light swept through, Daoist Yan knew something was wrong. This was clearly a trick to deceive the eye. He instinctively turned and slashed again, but struck nothing but air.

By the time he held his sword at center and looked around with his round eyes, his face had turned dark as water. In only a few breaths, a thin mist had blanketed several mu of forest. The fog could not truly block much, but it was nighttime, and there was no light at all in the depths of the woods. The only source of illumination was himself, holding that sword.

Naturally, he could see clearly wherever the firelight shone. But beyond that range, his vision was greatly obstructed.

Yu Ci drifted along the very edge of the light, as though he might plunge into the depths of the forest at any moment.

"Cunning little pretty face. But such crude eye-deceiving tricks are useless against this Daoist!"

As that thought passed through his mind, he felt a touch of regret. What a pity I only forced my breakthrough two years ago. My divine soul still needs nurturing, and some abilities cannot be used freely. Otherwise, how could this brat still be alive?

With that thought, Daoist Yan did not need his eyes at all. Relying solely on the workings of his divine intent, every movement within a radius of ten zhang was reflected in his mind. He quickly discovered that Yu Ci did not seem intent on fleeing far away. Though his figure flickered in and out of sight, he remained within reach of Daoist Yan's vision.

Something was wrong. This pretty-faced boy was waiting for an opportunity to strike!

Snapping out of the state of divine-intent perception, his tall body suddenly dropped and contracted, nearly hovering just inches above the ground. He rolled in midair, as nimble as a spirit monkey leaping between trees, and crossed several zhang in an instant.

The very moment his toes left the ground, a sharp crackle of searing air brushed past his ear. The forest already illuminated by the firelight suddenly grew far brighter, as a blazing white chain of light tore through the void and shot across.

Even while rolling through the air, Daoist Yan noticed that long chain of lightning. It was as if the dazzling light chain had lashed the corner of his eye, leaving a mark that would not fade for a long while.

With an explosive boom, the lightning missed Daoist Yan, streaked across the area, and struck a poplar tree at the edge of the forest opposite him, its trunk as thick as a bowl's mouth. The poplar snapped in two, then caught fire and burned.

Only then did Daoist Yan land. Still shaken, he straightened up and caught sight of the poplar that lightning had blasted into charred wood. The corner of his eye twitched twice. If his divine-intent perception had not gradually become more practiced these days, allowing him to enter that state at any moment, he might not even have known what had happened if that strike had hit him.

Palm Thunder! To use it so quickly, he must have some sort of Jade Talisman.

"This junior has a bit of wealth after all."

He forced himself to remain calm and sneered repeatedly. Yet without realizing it, he had changed "pretty face" to "junior." Then he gritted his teeth and said,

"This Daoist wants to see whether you have more talismans stored away, or this Daoist has more skill!"

Before he finished speaking, he pressed his index and middle fingers together and swept them through the air with the speed of wind, drawing ten twisted paths in the void. Strands of red light hung in the air like seared brands.

"Wind and fire, turn like wheels—go!"

A violent gale suddenly rose from level ground, carrying scorching heat as it swept in all directions. At once, it scattered the thin mist laid around them into fragments. At the outer edge, Yu Ci was still regretting the missed Palm Thunder strike when his expression immediately changed.

"Drawing talismans with qi!"

This was true talisman-drawing with qi!

Though he had long suspected it, once it was confirmed, he could not help but draw in a cold breath. This was not the trick he had performed earlier with the aid of the Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror. This was the genuine ability of the vicious man before him.

To draw talismans in empty air, without relying on any medium and yet draw spiritual light to oneself, was not something that could be achieved with the turbid force of a mortal body. One had to cultivate the body and refine qi to an extremely high realm, strengthening the human divine soul to a certain degree and attaining the cultivation of Differentiate Consciousness, Transform Thought. From the divine soul, one generated a wondrous thing known as divine intent, further divided into divine consciousness and divine thought. Using these in place of spiritual catalysts such as cinnabar and peachwood, one summoned spiritual responses and formed talismans that truly possessed effect.

If so, then this vicious man before him had certainly reached the Spirit Communion realm. He had already escaped the Three Mortal Gates and become one of those legendary cultivators possessed of boundless divine powers.

The difference between them was immediately clear!

Without the fog's cover, Daoist Yan caught Yu Ci's trail with his eyes. He turned around and gave a dark chuckle. "Junior, do you now understand this Daoist's prowess?"

Yu Ci pressed his lips together and said nothing.