Chapter 233 - 226: Recorded Forbidden Words, Entering the Talismanic Daoist Holy Land

Chapter 233: Chapter 226: Recorded Forbidden Words, Entering the Talismanic Daoist Holy Land

The origin of the Knowledge Stone Tablets was ancient, older than anything Jiang Zuo knew.

According to the tablets, they were created by a Cultivator who explored the Endless Sea. He was severely injured during his expedition and stumbled upon this island.

Exploring the Endless Sea was a near-certain death mission, and the Cultivator was mentally prepared for this before he entered.

He knew that even if his wounds healed, he would never be able to find his way back. With his lifespan running out, he settled down in one of the tribes on the island.

He had thought about teaching the island tribespeople Cultivation, but unfortunately, the Spiritual Qi on the island was thin, and with such a small population, no one had been born with a Spirit Root.

So, he taught the tribespeople language, writing, and various life skills instead.

Knowing that the things he taught might be lost to time, before his end came, he used the materials he had on him to refine a large batch of stone tablets, passing down all the knowledge he had imparted.

These Knowledge Stone Tablets naturally became the tribe’s treasures, passed down from one generation to the next.

However, through countless tribal wars, these Knowledge Stone Tablets had been scattered and ended up in the hands of different tribes.

The Bone-piercing Tribe possessed only a small fraction of them.

Jiang Zuo wasn’t interested in the contents of most of the Knowledge Stone Tablets.

But among the dozen or so Knowledge Stone Tablets, there was one that was exceptionally unique.

The moment Jiang Zuo glanced at it, his mind went blank.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t decipher anything from it.

’An entire page of Forbidden Words?’

Jiang Zuo gazed at the Knowledge Stone Tablet and began to ponder.

’Unlikely. A single Knowledge Stone Tablet has about two hundred characters.’

’If that many characters were all Forbidden Words, the Cultivation Realm would have discovered their existence by now.’

’So, it’s more likely that this Knowledge Stone Tablet contains a Forbidden Word, and that Forbidden Word has corrupted all the other characters, making the entire tablet unreadable.’

’In that case, Forbidden Words have a corrupting, contagious quality. Anything that coexists with a Forbidden Word will be tainted.’

’Forbidden Words: cannot be recorded, cannot be spoken, cannot be heard.’

’But this Knowledge Stone Tablet somehow recorded a Forbidden Word.’

’The only possibility is that it was written on the Knowledge Stone Tablet before it *became* a Forbidden Word.’

’Then, for some reason, the Forbidden Word came into being.’

’The once-written word wouldn’t just disappear. Instead, it became like a censored word in a modern novel, and to prevent people from guessing what it was, it gained that contagious, corrupting quality.’

Jiang Zuo picked up the tablet and asked Xiao and Cang, "Does your tribe have any records of this tablet’s contents?"

The young man was named Xiao, and the young woman was named Cang.

"No. We brought it over because we can’t understand this Knowledge Stone Tablet at all. Just looking at it makes our heads spin. We were hoping you could help us decipher it, Master."

Xiao shook his head.

Jiang Zuo was slightly disappointed to hear that.

But he had expected this outcome.

The tribes on the island had existed for far too long. Much of their ancestral knowledge had been lost, to say nothing of the mere stories recorded on the stone tablets.

In addition to knowledge, these tablets also contained some stories recorded by that Cultivator.

"I don’t know the contents of the tablet either. However, it’s useless for you to keep it, and it might not be a good thing for your tribe."

"I’ll take this Knowledge Stone Tablet. I’ll trade you a weapon and a piece of armor for it," Jiang Zuo said after a moment’s thought.

He had no intention of negotiating. He took a Tier 2 dagger and a piece of Tier 2 leather armor from his storage pouch and handed them to the pair.

"This weapon can inflict fatal damage on most of the beasts on this island, and this armor will allow you to withstand most of their attacks," Jiang Zuo stated simply.

Xiao and Cang were overjoyed, holding the dagger and leather armor. They couldn’t bear to put them down.

"Master, we know how powerful you are. But the people in our tribe might not agree to us trading a Knowledge Stone Tablet with you," Cang said, hesitating for a moment.

They had witnessed Jiang Zuo’s power firsthand, which made them incredibly desperate for the strength he possessed.

From their perspective, trading a useless Knowledge Stone Tablet for a powerful weapon and armor was completely acceptable.

Although the Knowledge Stone Tablets were precious, they had been circulated among the tribes before.

Especially since if they lost a tribal war, they would lose everything, let alone a Knowledge Stone Tablet.

"It doesn’t matter. Just tell them I forced you to trade. Say that if you didn’t agree, I would wipe out your entire tribe. If they don’t believe you, tell them to come find me," Jiang Zuo said calmly.

Xiao and Cang were so frightened they were rendered speechless.

They knew very well that this outsider before them had the power to do it!

The two didn’t dare say another word. They took the dagger and leather armor and returned to the Bone-piercing Tribe.

"What? You traded an ancestral Knowledge Stone Tablet with that outsider for this dagger and leather armor?"

The two didn’t hide anything and told the previous generation’s witches what had happened.

The previous generation also consisted of two witches, one male and one female. Upon hearing the news, the old male witch became furious.

These Knowledge Stone Tablets were not just ancestral treasures of the tribe; he had lived with them for decades and considered them as important as his own life.

And now, Xiao and Cang had just casually traded one away to an outsider.

"Witch Ancestor, I’ve already tested this dagger. It’s incredibly sharp! With this, if any tribe dares to attack us, we can use it to catch our enemies completely off guard!"

"And besides, that outsider is teaching us how to cultivate Martial Arts!"

"According to him, as long as we succeed in our cultivation, we’ll be able to do some of the things mentioned on the Knowledge Stone Tablets!" Xiao said earnestly.

Although he was still young, he clearly understood the tribe’s current situation.

If that weren’t the case, he and Cang would never have taken the risk of contacting Jiang Zuo after witnessing his power.

Xiao had long sensed that if the Bone-piercing Tribe didn’t make some changes to grow stronger, it would be attacked by other tribes in a dozen years at most.

"Xiao and Cang were not wrong. The other tribes don’t know how powerful this outsider is. This person is probably as formidable as the Master who left the Knowledge Stone Tablets in the first place."

"Among the seven tribes, our Bone-piercing Tribe is nearly the weakest. If we are defeated by another tribe, our tribe will cease to exist, let alone the Knowledge Stone Tablets."

"Trading one Knowledge Stone Tablet for a Cultivation Technique that allows us to cultivate is completely acceptable."

"Not to mention, we also got these two Divine Weapons."

However, the old female witch was much calmer. She stated her analysis coldly.

After hearing this, the male witch just sighed and said no more.

Seeing that the two witches had no objections, Xiao and Cang both breathed a sigh of relief.

Before telling the truth, they had been prepared to be stripped of their "witch" titles.

...

’Normally, a tablet recording a Forbidden Word would be useless to me.’

’However, I have the Mysterious Stele.’

’Once the refinement progress of the Mysterious Stele reaches 100%, maybe it will be able to decipher the Forbidden Word.’

Jiang Zuo thought carefully as he held the Knowledge Stone Tablet.

If there was anything in the world capable of countering the Forbidden Words, the Mysterious Stele was undoubtedly one of them.

After all, it could even deceive the Celestial Dao itself.

’I should go check on the other six tribes as well.’

Jiang Zuo then paid a visit to the other six tribes.

With his powerful Divine Sense, Jiang Zuo didn’t need to enter the tribes or force them to hand over their Knowledge Stone Tablets.

Jiang Zuo merely had to stand nearby to read the Knowledge Stone Tablets they kept preserved like treasures, one by one.

However, after visiting all six tribes, Jiang Zuo did not find a second, similar Knowledge Stone Tablet.

It was a bit of a shame, but not unexpected.

Returning to the valley, Jiang Zuo resumed his cultivation as usual.

From then on, Xiao and Cang often came to find Jiang Zuo to learn and cultivate the Blood God Skill.

With Jiang Zuo’s help, the two of them soon reached the initial stage of mastery, succeeding in Skin Refining.

Seeing this, they were both greatly invigorated.

Jiang Zuo was a man of his word. To speed up their learning of the Blood God Skill, he took a tiny bit of flesh and blood from the Golden Wolf Demon Venerable, made it into a potent tonic, and had the two drink it to aid their cultivation.

It was truly a pitifully small amount; any more and Jiang Zuo feared they would be unable to withstand it and explode.

As long as there was enough Blood Qi, progress in cultivating the Blood God Skill was incredibly fast.

Both Xiao and Cang quickly broke through one stage after another.

Great Success in Skin Refining, then Muscle Training, and Bone Refining.

In just a little over two years, they had both cultivated to the realm of Great Success in Bone Refining.

After achieving Great Success in Bone Refining, Xiao and Cang were now able to guide and help the young people in their tribe begin their cultivation.

Meanwhile, Jiang Zuo was silently waiting for another event to arrive.

The Daoist Talisman Holy Land Secret Realm!

Calculating the time, the Talismanic Daoist Holy Land should be opening soon.

Worried that the Spiritual Qi on the island wouldn’t be enough to open the Secret Realm, Jiang Zuo deliberately transferred a large amount of Spiritual Qi over from the Pet Beast Spirit Garden.

「Another three months passed.」

Inside the cave, Jiang Zuo’s Divine Sense suddenly stirred. He then took out the key to the Daoist Talisman Holy Land Secret Realm from his storage pouch.

The Secret Realm key began to emit a faint, fluorescent glow.

This was the sign that the Secret Realm was about to open. Within three days, the key would open a gate to the Secret Realm.

And just one day later, the Secret Realm key erupted with a dazzling light, transforming into a pale yellow gate of light.

Without hesitation, Jiang Zuo stepped through it.

In the Cultivation Realm—whether on the human Ancestral Continent, the Western Divine Continent, or in the lands of the Demon Race—gates of light appeared one after another wherever a Secret Realm key was located.

Cultivators who had long been prepared stepped into the gates of light.

After the scenery before Jiang Zuo’s eyes changed, he found himself in a vast, sandy desert.

As far as the eye could see, there were no buildings in sight.

’My disguise is useless, and I can’t fly.’

Jiang Zuo had altered his appearance before entering.

But just like in the Phoenix Blood Secret Realm, the Talismanic Daoist Holy Land had the same rules.

WHOOSH!

Before Jiang Zuo could make another move, a giant Sand Worm burst from the swirling sands beside him and lunged viciously at him.

’A Tier 4 Demon Beast!’

’This Talismanic Daoist Holy Land is just as they said—teeming with Demon Beasts.’

Jiang Zuo silently reached out, grabbed the Sand Worm’s head, and crushed it to a pulp.