Ling Qingzhu, the Nine Heavens Taiqing Palace!

However, just as the Red-Armored Pig's tusks were about to touch Ah Yin, in that moment when her life hung by a thread...

Clang!

A clear sword cry suddenly rang out from the heavens!

Then, under the gazes of countless people across the Douluo Continent...

A streak of emerald sword light descended from the sky!

Slash!

Just like that, the thick-skinned Red-Armored Pig, which ordinary blades could barely scratch...

Was instantly slain by that streak of emerald sword light!

Not only that, but the casual sword strike also carved a bottomless ravine into the cliff behind it.

The sudden turn of events stunned Ah Yin, who had closed her eyes to await death.

Outside the screen, Tang San abruptly stopped wailing too, staring blankly at the sword scar.

The next moment, translucent azure petals slowly drifted down from the sky.

A huge emerald lotus radiating a sacred aura slowly descended from the clouds.

And upon that green lotus...

An extraordinarily beautiful woman stood quietly, dressed in a pale gauze dress, her bare feet as flawless as jade.

A thin veil covered her face. Her bearing was cool and otherworldly, like an immortal banished from the heavens, untouched by the mortal world.

In her hand, she held a three-foot sword shimmering with a strange glow like autumn waters.

This woman was an immensely popular figure in the Martial Universe, a peerless genius whose status was incomparably noble.

Ling Qingzhu!

With Ling Qingzhu's appearance, rows of dazzling golden captions thoughtfully appeared beneath the sky screen.

[Well-known figure of the Martial Universe: Ling Qingzhu.]

[Identity: peerless genius of the Nine Heavens Taiqing Palace, a super sect of the Eastern Xuan Region.]

[Cultivation: Creation Realm Peak.]

Reading these captions, everyone on the Douluo Continent felt even breathing grow difficult.

Creation Realm Peak!

Although this was no longer their first time hearing of this realm, every appearance represented an invincible power that inspired despair.

Then another introduction to the structure of the Martial Universe appeared on the sky screen.

[Brief overview of the Martial Universe's structure:]

[There are hundreds upon thousands of low-ranking dynasties like the Great Yan Dynasty in the Eastern Xuan Region.]

[Above them are intermediate dynasties, high-ranking dynasties, and super dynasties with deep foundations.]

[Standing above all dynasties and ruling the fates of countless trillions of living beings throughout the Eastern Xuan Region are the Eight Great Super Sects! (With the recent addition of Sky Palace, there are now nine great super sects.)]

[The Nine Heavens Taiqing Palace is one of them.]

Boom!

After reading this introduction to the world's structure...

The royal families of the Douluo Continent's two great empires both fell into profound silence.

Xue Ye slumped on his dragon throne and shook his head bitterly.

"Hundreds upon thousands of Great Yan Dynasties..."

"That Myriad Gold Merchant Association that broke Sect Master Ning's legs was merely a faction in a single city of a low-ranking dynasty..."

"And those super sects that can command Creation Realm and Nirvana Realm experts actually rule hundreds upon thousands of such empires!"

Xue Ye felt utterly disheartened.

The two great empires that the Douluo Continent took such pride in probably would not even qualify as the smallest village in the structure of that world!

Meanwhile, at Shrek Academy...

Yu Xiaogang stared at the strangely glowing sword in Ling Qingzhu's hand on the sky screen, his eyes full of puzzlement.

"That sword... there's no trace of a Soul Ring. Could it be a weapon forged in that world?"

"But how could an ordinary weapon have the power to cleave a cliff?"

As if sensing everyone's confusion on the Douluo Continent, the sky screen changed its captions again.

[Equipment of the Martial Universe: spirit treasures.]

[Cultivators can fuse special materials with the energy of heaven and earth to forge spirit treasures.]

[Spirit treasures are divided into low, middle, and high grades. Above these are Earth Rank Spirit Treasures, Heaven Rank Spirit Treasures, and even Pure Yuan Treasures, possessing the power to destroy heaven and earth.]

[A single high-grade spirit treasure is enough to allow an Earth Origin Realm martial artist to kill a Heavenly Origin Realm expert across the realm gap.]

At this...

Tang San's face instantly turned deathly pale.

He instinctively touched the hidden weapon at his waist that he took such pride in, Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges.

"Spirit treasures, weapons that can incorporate the energy of heaven and earth..."

A deep sense of defeat rose in Tang San's heart.

The Tang Sect Hidden Weapons he prided himself on all relied on the physical force of mechanical triggers to launch their attacks.

Even coated with poison, how powerful could they be?

Yet their spirit treasures were not only made of indestructible materials, but could also directly harness the violent Yuan Power between heaven and earth to attack.

Before spirit treasures that could split a cliff with a casual sword stroke...

His Godly Zhuge Crossbow and Rainstorm Pear Blossom Needles seemed to have a very long way to go.

All that talk of all living beings being equal before hidden weapons.

It simply was not true.

Meanwhile, in the image...

Standing upon the green lotus, Ling Qingzhu merely cast a casual, cool glance at the Red-Armored Pig split in two on the ground before looking away.

In her eyes, a low-ranking demonic beast like this did not even qualify for a second sword strike from her.

Just as she prepared to ride her green lotus away...

Her gaze suddenly fell upon the slightly trembling Blue Silver Grass at the cliff's edge.

"Oh?"

Ling Qingzhu gave a soft exclamation, then slowly floated barefoot down from the green lotus to Ah Yin.

She bent slightly at the waist, curiosity showing in her beautiful eyes as she carefully examined the little blade of grass emitting a pale golden glow.

"What a peculiar plant."

Ling Qingzhu murmured to herself.

"There isn't even the slightest fluctuation of Yuan Power about it. It's practically no different from the most ordinary weed."

"And yet it actually contains an immense, pure life essence."

"Judging by how rich this vitality is, it has probably been growing for at least a hundred thousand years."

Hearing Ling Qingzhu's analysis, Tang San's heartbeat instantly quickened on the Douluo Continent.

"She saw through it!"

"She realized Mom is a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast!" Tang San was so nervous that his palms were covered in cold sweat.

But what would anyone from the Martial Universe know about Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts?

In Ling Qingzhu's understanding, anything without Yuan Power and a Demon Crystal was not a demonic beast.

Ling Qingzhu extended a slender, jade-like finger and gently touched Ah Yin's blades.

Ah Yin immediately recoiled in fright, drawing her leaves back.

"It has even developed a faint trace of intelligence."

Ling Qingzhu nodded slightly. Though her tone was cool, it held no killing intent.

"A hundred-thousand-year-old spirit herb, even without Yuan Power, is still an exceptionally rare material for medicine or pills that restore vitality."

"As it happens, the palace master has recently entered seclusion to contemplate reincarnation and needs some gentle spiritual substances rich in life energy as aids."

"I'll take this little plant back to Taiqing Palace and plant it in the Spirit Medicine Garden to cultivate for now."

With that...

Ling Qingzhu waved her jade-like hand and took a mutton-fat jade box engraved with exquisite formations from the Universe Bag at her waist.

Then a strand of gentle Yuan Power burst from her fingertip, digging Ah Yin out together with the soil around her roots before carefully placing her in the jade box.

Once all this was done...

Ling Qingzhu stepped onto the green lotus again and became a streak of light, speeding out of Great Desolation Commandery.

The sky screen froze.

[Number Five Explorer, hundred-thousand-year soul beast recultivating from scratch, Ah Yin.]

[Encountered the Nine Heavens Taiqing Palace's peerless genius, Ling Qingzhu.]

[Status: harvested as an ordinary spirit herb.]

[Current identity: taken back to the super sect Nine Heavens Taiqing Palace, reduced to an ornamental plant/reserve medicinal ingredient in the Spirit Medicine Garden.]

[Live broadcast temporarily paused.]

At this sight, the entire Douluo Continent fell somewhat quiet.

Inside Shrek Academy...

Dai Mubai and Oscar exchanged a glance, each seeing the odd look in the other's eyes.

Although Ah Yin had avoided being eaten by the wild boar and could be said to have kept her life...

She was a dignified Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast of the Douluo Continent, the Blue Silver Emperor whose might had once shaken the world!

Yet after going to that world, she had actually been treated as a somewhat aged tonic herb, dug up by the roots, packed into a box, and carried away as a potted plant!

It was like a lofty queen suddenly being mistaken for a cabbage and pulled up to take home.

The stark disparity and humiliation were simply harder to bear than killing her outright.

"San..."

Dai Mubai looked at Tang San kneeling on the ground beside him, wanting to comfort him but not knowing where to begin.

By now, Tang San's expression had twisted to a frightening degree.

Humiliation, anger, unwillingness...

All sorts of complicated emotions intertwined in his heart.

He was relieved that his mother had not died, but humiliated that she had now become a potted plant in someone else's Spirit Medicine Garden!

At any moment, someone might pluck her out, refine her into a pill, and eat her!

"Martial Universe, Nine Heavens Taiqing Palace..."

Tang San clenched his teeth, forcing the words out through them one at a time.

Beside him, Yu Xiaogang gave two awkward dry coughs, trying to ease the atmosphere.

"Ahem, San, look on the bright side."

"Since the Nine Heavens Taiqing Palace is a super sect, the environment in its Spirit Medicine Garden must be excellent."

"As a plant-type soul beast, your mother might even absorb better nutrients there and cultivate faster."

Although these words sounded like self-consolation...

They really were the only reason available that could make Tang San feel a little better.

But the sky screen would not give them much time to settle their emotions.

As Ah Yin's image faded, all five explorers in this new batch had now been fully shown.

Immediately afterward, the sky screen's notification sounded again.

[As someone among this batch of explorers has encountered another major core system of the Martial Universe...]

[Switching to returning footage of Number Two Explorer, Star Luo Empire Soul Grandmaster Zhao Si!]

Hearing this notification...

Everyone on the Douluo Continent looked up in unison, their faces filled with astonishment.

That level-twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster from the Star Luo Empire?

What core system had he encountered?

With a ripple like flowing water, the image lit up again.

The Star Luo Empire Soul Grandmaster named Zhao Si lay covered in blood in a deep alley of a bustling city.

He gasped for breath, his eyes full of relief at having survived a brush with death.

Before him stood a thin old man in gray robes, his entire body radiating strange spiritual fluctuations.

"Senior, th-thank you for saving my life."

Zhao Si weakly cupped his hands toward the old man.

The gray-robed old man gave a sinister chuckle, his hawklike eyes fixed on the spot between Zhao Si's brows.

"Heh heh, no need to thank me."

"Although you have no Yuan Power, I can see that your Niwan Palace is exceptionally spacious. You're naturally fine material for cultivating Spiritual Power."

"What do you say, boy?"

"Would you like to take me as your master and become a distinguished Talisman Master?"

"A Talisman Master?"

Hearing this unfamiliar term, Zhao Si, who sat slumped on the ground, was also somewhat bewildered.

He was just an ordinary rank-twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster from the Star Luo Empire.

His Martial Soul was a rusty iron saber, and he would be hard-pressed to break through to Soul Elder in this lifetime.

How had an expert from another world suddenly come to want him as a disciple?

In the image, the gray-robed elder seemed to see Zhao Si's confusion.

He gave a dry chuckle, extended a withered finger, and gently tapped the spot between his eyebrows.

"In this world, besides cultivating Yuan Power."

"There is another kind of person, born with a spacious Niwan Palace and a soul unlike those of ordinary people."

"Through special cultivation methods, they condense this intangible spiritual power into tangible substance, allowing them to control objects from a distance and even lay down astonishingly powerful Talisman Arrays!"

"These people are called Talisman Masters!"

As the gray-robed elder's words fell.

To give the people of the Douluo Continent an intuitive understanding.

Rows of dazzling golden subtitles thoughtfully appeared beneath the heavenly screen.

[The Martial Universe's second cultivation system: spiritual power and Talisman Masters!]

[Realm divisions: One Seal to Nine Seal Talisman Master.]

[Above them are Spirit Talisman Master, Heavenly Symbol Master, Immortal Talisman Master, Talisman Sect Master, and the Divine Manifestation Realm!]

[Talisman Masters possess strange and unpredictable methods. Not only can they give spiritual power tangible form to attack souls directly, but they can also remotely control hundreds or thousands of weapons to slay their enemies.]

[High-level Talisman Masters can lay down enormous Talisman Arrays encompassing heaven and earth with a single thought, burning mountains and boiling seas with boundless might!]

Boom!

After everyone finished reading this introduction to the Talisman Master system.

It was as though a massive bomb had been dropped on the entire Soul Master World of the Douluo Continent.

Spiritual power?!

Remotely controlling hundreds or thousands of weapons?! Laying down arrays with a single thought?!

On Shrek Academy's training ground.

Tang San, who had just been in such agony over his mother's suffering that he wished he were dead.

Now saw these subtitles on the heavenly screen and froze on the spot as though struck by lightning.

Tang San stared fixedly at the words "control objects from a distance" and "give spiritual power tangible form," his breathing quickening.

"Niwan Palace-isn't that the upper dantian?"

"That world actually has a complete and profound system for cultivating spiritual power?!"

Cold sweat instantly soaked Tang San's back.

Having lived two lives, what were his greatest trump cards?

One was the Tang Sect Hidden Weapons, and the other was the Purple Demon Eye, which cultivated spiritual power!

On the Douluo Continent, Soul Masters knew only how to rely on brute force and had no understanding of how to develop spiritual power.

That was why his Purple Demon Eye, combined with hidden weapons, had always been an unstoppable killing tool.

But now, in this Martial Universe, there was a whole group of Talisman Masters who specialized in cultivating spiritual power!

They could even turn spiritual power into tangible hands and feet, controlling hundreds or thousands of weapons flying through the sky at once!

"How am I supposed to fight that?!"

Tang San felt his scalp tingle.

If he fired the hidden weapons he took such pride in at a Talisman Master.

His opponent would not even need to move. With just a sweep of spiritual power, his Godly Zhuge Crossbows and Rainstorm Pear Blossom Needles would instantly stop in midair.

They might even fall directly under his opponent's spiritual control, turn around, and shoot him full of holes like a hornet's nest!