Good news: Xiuniang really could activate talismans.
Bad news: the activation was less effective than Gu Zhao's.
Even with the hand seals and incantations Gu Zhao had taught her, perhaps because the nature of the Mana used for activation differed, quite a bit of spiritual power dissipated from the talismans during activation, leaving them able to exert only around seventy percent of their effects.
What surprised Gu Zhao was Bai Ke.
Logically, as a Demonic Beast restrained by thunder magic, she should have been directly struck by backlash from the Yellow Talismans during activation. Yet though she felt somewhat uncomfortable, she had actually managed to activate the talismans successfully.
"Why is that?" Gu Zhao did not understand.
Yet Bai Ke seemed to have realized something. When she looked at Gu Zhao, there was an indescribable terror in her eyes. "These talismans contain a vast, righteous force that restrains all sinister evils and strange horrors. My soul happens to carry no Killing Intent, or else I simply wouldn't be able to use them!"
She had never seen such a force anywhere in this world!
Whether they were deities who had absorbed the divine power of incense offerings, or Spirit Lords who constantly tempered their own Mana, neither possessed such grand and righteous effects when dealing with sinister ghosts and bizarre demons. As for mages who had never formed a pact, had limited lifespans, and relied solely on their own cultivation, they were only weaker still.
Just what backwater corner had this fellow sprung from? What inheritance did he cultivate? His Mana clearly did not seem all that high, so why were the spells he wielded so powerful? He could even summon heavenly lightning!
Hearing Bai Ke's words, Gu Zhao instead began to understand somewhat.
Bai Ke had mentioned Killing Intent again, and he could not help recalling the aura the Five Thunder Token had absorbed when he killed those ghosts. It had arisen precisely from the evil those ghosts had committed.
That happened to match what Bai Ke had said: because she had committed no evil, her soul carried no Killing Intent.
Daoists above aligned themselves with the heart of Heaven, and below conformed to human ethics. Though they did not interfere with the natural cycle of rise and fall, if one committed evil for the sake of desire, one's soul would naturally become impure and Killing Intent would cling to it. The various Daoist schools and methods that subdued demons, eradicated devils, expelled ghosts, and slew evil were aimed precisely at this Killing Intent!
Bai Ke was an outsider and faced further obstacles, but since she had no Killing Intent after all, at least she would not suffer backlash from the Mana.
"Though I don't know whether that's exactly how it works, I'll take it as such. As long as the logic holds." Having thought that through, Gu Zhao stopped dwelling on it and merely took out a box.
"What is this?" Bai Ke asked. She casually flipped open the box, and the entire fox froze in shock.
Inside the small box lay stack after stack of yellow paper folded into triangles. Through the yellow paper, one could see the talismanic patterns drawn within in cinnabar.
Bai Ke's eyes turned into circles, and all the fur on her neck stood on end as she cried out, "So many?"
In her view, these talismans, akin to single-use Magic Artifacts, could even allow an ordinary person like Xiuniang to block the attacks and movements of the Golden Wind Sect's Guardian Ghost Gods. They had to be exceedingly precious. Even if Gu Zhao could make them, he should not have many.
But what was she seeing now?
This palm-sized little box was packed full with twenty or thirty of them!
"Xiuniang and you have formed a pact, so the thunder talismans work weakest for you. I won't give you thunder talismans. These are Heavenly Dipper Talismans and Black Tortoise Black Fiend Talismans—one for offense and one for defense. They're the most effective combination," Gu Zhao said.
There was no need to mention the Heavenly Dipper Talismans. The Black Tortoise Black Fiend Talismans were also talismans from the Upper Clarity Heavenly Heart True Method.
Unlike the thunder talismans in the <Divine Firmament Jade Pivot Five Thunder Great Method>, which could not be drawn without sufficient cultivation, most talismans in the Upper Clarity Heavenly Heart True Method had no cultivation restrictions apart from a select few. However, the power the talismans could unleash was closely tied to the cultivation of the person who drew them.
Take the Heavenly Dipper Talisman, for example. With Gu Zhao's current cultivation, it could only stop that Golden Wind Sect ghost god for a moment. Once his cultivation grew stronger, perhaps the power triggered by the Heavenly Dipper Talisman could directly destroy it.
Seeing the densely packed talismans in the little box, Bai Ke's eyes lit up.
But Xiuniang abruptly shut the box and hurriedly pushed it back to Gu Zhao. "Young Master is leaving to handle important matters. Little White and I can't help you, so how can we still take your Yellow Talismans?"
Bai Ke opened her mouth, but said nothing.
Gu Zhao rubbed Xiuniang's soft hair and handed the little box back to her. "Take them. What I'm doing isn't dangerous, and I've kept some for myself. You don't want me worrying about the village while I'm out handling matters, do you?"
Xiuniang felt both like crying and laughing. She had no choice but to take the box back. After thinking for a moment, she looked seriously at Gu Zhao. "Young Master, is there really no danger in you going out this time?"
"There really isn't," Gu Zhao nodded.
"Then Young Master isn't refusing to let Xiuniang follow because you don't want Xiuniang to be your maid?" Xiuniang asked pitifully.
"Of course not," Gu Zhao said with a smile.
"Then is Young Master willing to let Xiuniang be your maid?" Xiuniang blinked her bright, watery eyes and asked expectantly.
"How did we get onto the subject of being a maid?" Gu Zhao was helpless. As a new-generation youth born beneath the red flag and raised in the spring breeze, how could he still have notions like keeping maids in his heart? "I think of you as a little sister."
Xiuniang rushed to say, "I don't want to be your little sister. I want to be Young Master's maid!"
Gu Zhao was speechless. Seeing that Xiuniang was about to cry, he could only nod. "All right, all right. Be my maid. From now on, you can serve me tea and water, make my bed, and fold my blankets."
Xiuniang's eyes lit up. "Okay!"
Gu Zhao: (°ー°〃)
"All right, go back to slee—" Before he could finish, a white line appeared along the eastern horizon. After the battle, explanations, talisman testing, and chatting, dawn had already arrived.
"Creak—"
The sound of a door opening rang out. Elder He pushed open the main gate and saw two people and one fox gathered in a circle in the little courtyard, whispering among themselves.
Elder He blinked, then swiftly turned around.
Bang!
Perhaps because she knew Gu Zhao was not leaving for good, or perhaps because she had successfully become Gu Zhao's maid, Xiuniang was in an exceptionally good mood over the next two days. She also diligently cultivated with Bai Ke through their pact.
Though she had only just begun, Xiuniang's cultivation grew at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Gu Zhao stroked his chin and pointed at the Five Thunder Token in his mind. "You're no good. She just casually forms a pact, and her cultivation speed rises to this level. Yet you need me to kill monsters before I can level up!"
Five Thunder Token: "..."
Bai Ke did explain his confusion. "How could ordinary people cultivate through a pact this quickly? Xiuniang is fast only because her soul is compatible with mine and she has only just begun cultivating. Later on...
Later on, having formed a pact with a descendant of the Celestial Fox like me, her cultivation speed will naturally still be faster than everyone else's!"
Bai Ke:
Seeing Bai Ke's smug expression, Gu Zhao reached out to pet her. Bai Ke dodged and jumped into Xiuniang's arms, only for Xiuniang to hand her right back to Gu Zhao.
Bai Ke gave two little "Ying ying" cries, but still lay across Gu Zhao's thigh. While enjoying herself, she awkwardly warned him, "I'm not a wild beast anymore. Don't treat me like a pet!"
Gu Zhao nodded and scratched the back of her neck.
Bai Ke bared her teeth in pleasure.
Bai Ke: (▼へ▼メ)
Before you continue