Ying Xuanzi and the other two descended from the sky, and Chen Zhen and Wu Dao saw the change in Gu Mo's eyes.
Wu Dao's aged face showed a flicker of excitement. "Senior brother, your eyes..."
"They've recovered."
Gu Mo nodded naturally, though he was still admiring the desolation around him, which now appeared in full color to his eyes.
Although he could use his Mental Energy to scan his surroundings and bring the scenery directly into his mind, the feeling could never compare to seeing it with his own eyes.
"Martial Uncle Mo, when will you break through to the Talisman Ancestor level?"
Fang Yi looked at Gu Mo, who had still been admiring the scenery. Hearing the question, Gu Mo's aged face flashed with astonishment.
"Wait, aren't you thinking too highly of me? It hasn't been that long, and you already expect me to break through to the Talisman Ancestor level?"
"It'll take at least several years, and that's only if I encounter a fortuitous opportunity. Now that I've mastered the Great Desolation Scripture, I can give it a try, but it won't be that quick!"
"Not everyone is you!"
Perhaps because his eyes had recovered, Gu Mo was less composed than before.
Ying Xuanzi spoke up then. "I'll find a way to contact someone from Talisman Valley or the Divine Sect and see if I can get a Myriad Talisman Heavenly Heart."
"Myriad Talisman Heavenly Heart?"
Fang Yi was puzzled.
Wu Dao explained from the side, "The place where Talisman Valley is located is called the Myriad Talisman Mountain Range. At its center is a strange place, and whenever an Immortal Talisman Master from Talisman Valley or the Nine Heavens Taiqing Palace is about to pass away,
"they go there. After they die, their Mental Energy is bound by that strange place.
"After enough years have passed, something called a Myriad Talisman Heavenly Heart is born in that place, which is known as Myriad Talisman Valley. It can greatly temper Mental Energy. If a Lesser Immortal Talisman Master obtains and uses one, they'll have a fifty percent chance of breaking through to become a Greater Immortal Talisman Master.
"And if an Advanced Immortal Talisman Master refines one, it increases their chance of becoming a Talisman Ancestor by twenty percent. The key is the special power it contains."
Chen Zhen added from the side, "It can provide a starting point. Even if the breakthrough fails that time, continuing to temper oneself along the path of its effects can speed up the process of becoming a Talisman Ancestor."
After Wu Dao finished explaining, Fang Yi had not expected Talisman Valley to possess such a foundation.
"I keep telling you to read more, but who knows what you spend your days doing? You don't even recognize certain heavenly treasures."
Ying Xuanzi glared at Fang Yi. Ying Huanhuan, who had been listening to Ying Xiaoxiao talk about comprehending the Great Desolation Scripture inside, was unhappy when she heard that.
"Fang Yi spends his time cultivating. Like... weren't those martial arts created by Fang Yi?"
Ying Xuanzi's old face turned ashen at Ying Huanhuan's rebuttal. Could he not even say a word about Fang Yi now?
What a powerless father!
Fang Yi laughed inwardly. To keep Ying Xuanzi from really sending him flying with another slap, he hurriedly asked, "Wait, what does this have to do with the Nine Heavens Taiqing Palace?"
"Talisman Valley did originally discover the place, but it wasn't that powerful back then. Possessing a treasure was a crime in itself, and it was the Nine Heavens Taiqing Palace that protected the place for them.
"Since the Myriad Talisman Heavenly Heart born there doesn't guarantee a breakthrough to the Talisman Ancestor level, even those Greater Immortal Talisman Masters didn't want to offend the Nine Heavens Taiqing Palace, which already had a Samsara Stage expert at the time, for its sake."
Ying Xuanzi slowly revealed this secret.
"So Myriad Talisman Valley came to be shared between the Nine Heavens Taiqing Palace and Talisman Valley.
"I don't know exactly how they divide it, but the Immortal Talisman Masters produced by those two usually come about this way."
"That's also why the Nine Heavens Taiqing Palace's arrays are so formidable. How could they reach that level without enough Talisman Masters?"
Fang Yi rubbed his chin. So there was such a treasure. But he asked, "Would Talisman Valley and the Nine Heavens Taiqing Palace give us something that good?"
"We'll try trading for it."
Someone who might possess Samsara Stage combat strength had finally appeared, so Ying Xuanzi had to make an effort no matter what.
Even if Gu Mo became a Talisman Ancestor, he might still be unable to match the Yuan Sect, but things would certainly be much better than before.
"Would you demonstrate?"
Ying Xuanzi looked at Ying Xiaoxiao and Gu Mo.
Although Fang Yi had mastered it too, he rarely fought others. Or rather, the fights he had had within the Dao Sect had never required him to use an enhancing martial art like the Great Desolation Scripture.
Thus, they had seen Fang Yi use the Great Desolation Scripture the first time, but almost never again afterward.
"All right."
Ying Xiaoxiao also wanted to try this legendary, wondrous scripture. The next moment, she activated the power of desolation within her.
Desolation rapidly spread from where she stood. The power of desolation traveled through the earth and surged into Ying Huanhuan's body.
"Heavenly Dipper Three-Flower Sword!"
Ying Huanhuan drew the longsword at her waist, and the power of desolation immediately flew out with it. Sword Qi dozens of zhang long swept through the air, carrying not only the sharp power of the Heavenly Dipper but also the extremely corrosive power of desolation.
"Not bad. That's at least the strength of Three Yuan Nirvana, an increase of two Yuan. If your comprehension of desolation rises another level, you should be able to defeat a Four Yuan opponent at One Yuan Nirvana, perhaps even a Five Yuan one."
Fang Yi casually wiped it away.
Ying Xuanzi awkwardly withdrew his hand, then turned his gaze to Gu Mo.
Gu Mo shook his head. "I won't try it. If I did, the commotion would be too great.
"But I can still make a rough estimate. Using the Desolation Demon Eye with my Mental Energy, even someone at the perfected Death Profound Realm probably wouldn't be my match."
"Unless someone at the Samsara Stage intervenes, I should be unrivaled in the Death Profound Realm..."
After saying that, Gu Mo seemed to recall something and added, "Of course, monsters like the young sect master are exceptions."
"Ah, only One Yuan against Three Yuan?"
Ying Huanhuan was a little disappointed. She muttered, "But Fang Yi could fight an Eight Yuan opponent when he was at Three Yuan. Now, even someone at the Life Profound Realm might not be his match."
"Why does it feel like the Great Desolation Scripture can't even compare to what Fang Yi has mastered?"
Hearing his daughter belittle the Great Desolation Scripture, Ying Xuanzi could not help looking at it, worried that the Great Desolation Tablet might take offense.
The Tablet Spirit simply listened in silence.
After all, it was only natural for the Ice Master to belittle it.
As for Fang Yi?
The things he had mastered were beyond even the Tablet Spirit's master, let alone the Tablet Spirit himself. He was already convinced that Fang Yi's inheritance could not possibly have originated on this continent.
So what Ying Huanhuan said was true.
"Do you think just anyone can compare with me?" Fang Yi said as though it were only natural.
Ying Huanhuan rolled her eyes, her pretty face full of exasperation. "Give you a little sunshine, and you'll shine, won't you!"
"All right. If you have any problems, contact me whenever you need to." Seeing that the matter was settled and the threat of the Yimo King had temporarily been lifted, the Tablet Spirit was much more at ease.
The entire mountain began to rumble once more as the Great Desolation Tablet sank back underground. As soon as it had sunk, however, a grayish-yellow power began spreading rapidly outward from it.
It gave Ying Xuanzi a fright. Thinking the Great Desolation Tablet intended to do something to the Dao Sect, he could not help looking at Fang Yi.
No son knows his father better.
Fang Yi looked at the grayish-yellow glow that had already begun to cover the entire Dao Sect's array.
It was invisible without a close look, but one could feel that the array enveloping the Dao Sect had grown much sturdier.
"I came to an agreement with the Great Desolation Tablet. It'll protect the Dao Sect for the time being too. An ordinary peak Samsara Stage expert won't be able to break in, so we can be much more at ease."
"Huh?"
Ying Xuanzi was not the only one stunned. Everyone else looked equally puzzled.
Could he really negotiate that too?
Young sect master, did you really not sell yourself to the Great Desolation Tablet?
Giving him a martial art was one thing, but it was even helping protect the Dao Sect. Even Zhou Tong had never managed that.
Or rather,
from the time the Dao Sect discovered the Great Desolation Tablet until now, they had not even known it could communicate.
Fang Yi was the first to set that precedent.