Chapter 235 - 228: 9 Years, Transformation

Chapter 235: Chapter 228: 9 Years, Transformation

Like many other Cultivators, Jiang Zuo arrived alone before the Celestial Talisman Inquiry Stele.

The Celestial Talisman Inquiry Stele stood tall before the gates of the Celestial Talisman Inquiry Sect. A closer look revealed that the sect’s Sect Protection Array was still active, a faint curtain of light enveloping the entire grounds.

It seemed that to enter the Celestial Talisman Inquiry Sect, one had to pass a talent assessment from the Celestial Talisman Inquiry Stele.

Cultivators approached the Celestial Talisman Inquiry Stele one by one. Those who passed the test were teleported inside the gates of the Celestial Talisman Inquiry Sect.

Those who didn’t pass were teleported away directly.

However, anyone who possessed a key to the Secret Realm and made it here had considerable talent in the Dao of Talismans.

Jiang Zuo watched from the side for a moment and only saw a single person get sent away.

Without waiting any longer, Jiang Zuo walked up to the Celestial Talisman Inquiry Stele.

As he drew near, Jiang Zuo saw that the Celestial Talisman Inquiry Stele appeared to be engraved with characters.

He couldn’t help but look, his gaze following the characters upward.

But before he could make out what the characters were, the scene before him shifted, and he was inside the gates of the Celestial Talisman Inquiry Sect.

Only then did Jiang Zuo understand that this was how the Celestial Talisman Inquiry Stele tested a Cultivator’s talent in the Dao of Talismans.

Jiang Zuo glanced around.

Unlike the desert world outside, the Celestial Talisman Inquiry Sect still had the appearance of a grand, impressive sect.

The surrounding buildings were ancient and elegant, and the flora was lush and vibrant.

’The Daoist Talisman Holy Land Secret Realm is mainly for imparting Talisman inheritances.’

’According to the sect’s records, the Sect Protection Array wasn’t active in the past. When walking through the Celestial Talisman Inquiry Sect, one had to be careful of surprise attacks from Demon Beasts.’

’Perhaps because it hasn’t appeared for five thousand years, things have changed. The Cultivators who entered this time don’t need to worry about being ambushed by Demon Beasts inside the sect.’

’The rules of the Talismanic Daoist Holy Land are also very simple. You go to the various Inheritance Lands, learn the Talisman inheritances, and then undergo assessments. Based on the results, you can receive various rewards.’

’It’s said that someone once received a Talisman Treasure as a reward.’

’Hmm, first, I’ll check the layout of the inheritance buildings.’

Information he had seen in the Black Tortoise Dao Sect related to the Talismanic Daoist Holy Land flashed through Jiang Zuo’s mind.

After five thousand years, the situation in the Talismanic Daoist Holy Land had undoubtedly changed somewhat.

Jiang Zuo didn’t mind. No matter how many inheritances he ultimately obtained, he was still going to hunt down his share of the Demon Beasts in this Secret Realm.

On the notice board ahead was a map of the Celestial Talisman Inquiry Sect, and many Cultivators were gathered around it.

Jiang Zuo walked forward as well.

Before the Celestial Talisman Inquiry Stele, Gongyun Pill finally met up with Bu Yuehua and the others.

"Junior Sister Gong, what took you so long? Senior Sister Bu has been waiting for you for a long time," a senior sister from their sect said reproachfully.

"Senior Sister, it wasn’t on purpose! I was teleported to a place swarming with Demon Beasts. If I hadn’t run into a powerful senior brother, I would’ve died right there," Gongyun Pill explained, her voice full of grievance.

"What happened?" Bu Yuehua asked, sensing that something was vaguely wrong.

After some discussion with Bu Yuehua and the others, Gongyun Pill discovered that among their group of sect-mates, she was the only unlucky one.

The other senior sisters had been teleported to locations not far from the Celestial Talisman Inquiry Stele.

Although they also encountered fourth-rank Demon Beasts, there were quite a few other Cultivators nearby, and most of them were well-prepared elites.

Working together, they killed those fourth-rank Demon Beasts without much effort.

After they gathered, they had been waiting for Gongyun Pill to arrive.

"A Brother Zhou who could crush a fourth-rank Demon Beast with a single move?"

"Junior Sister Gong, you can’t be joking, right?"

But the group of disciples from the Spirit Seal Sect didn’t quite believe Gongyun Pill’s words.

Effortlessly crushing a fourth-rank Demon Beast was something even a Cultivator at the Perfection of the Three Flowers Realm couldn’t do.

"It’s true! That Brother Zhou... he looked like... like this!"

Gongyun Pill tried her best to gesture with her hands, but unfortunately, no one could understand what she was trying to show.

"Alright. As long as you made it here safely, that’s what matters. Let’s enter the Celestial Talisman Inquiry Sect first. We can talk about the rest later."

Bu Yuehua clapped her hands, interrupting their conversation.

’A Cultivator named Zhou...’ she thought of Jiang Zuo.

However, even if Jiang Zuo wasn’t burdened by the Daoist Shackles, he couldn’t possibly possess such formidable strength.

So the thought just flashed through her mind and was gone.

Bu Yuehua held great prestige in the Spirit Seal Sect, so the others said no more. They followed behind her, passed the talent assessment together, and entered the sect.

It was the same for the other Cultivators.

After the better part of half a day, there were no more Cultivators around the Celestial Talisman Inquiry Stele.

Anyone who hadn’t arrived by this point had most likely died at the hands of Demon Beasts.

Inside the gates of the Celestial Talisman Inquiry Sect, it was bustling with activity.

This time, the Celestial Talisman Inquiry Sect had distributed over a thousand keys to the Secret Realm.

A small portion of the Cultivators who entered had died, but a great number still remained.

The dormant Celestial Talisman Inquiry Sect seemed to have come back to life.

To cultivate the Dao of Talismans, besides having talent for Talismans, one’s talent for Cultivation was also essential.

Furthermore, the type of Talisman a Cultivator could draw was heavily related to their Spirit Root Attribute and the Cultivation Technique they practiced.

If a Cultivator with a dominant Water Spirit Root wanted to draw a Fire Attribute Talisman, it was basically impossible.

After the Celestial Talisman Inquiry Sect became an inheritance Secret Realm, the Inheritance Lands within the sect were also divided according to the Cultivators’ Spirit Root Attributes.

As long as Cultivators went to an inheritance building that matched their own Spirit Root Attribute, they could study the corresponding Talisman inheritance.

There were also various assessment grounds within the sect.

Once they felt their skills were sufficient, they could go and take an assessment.

Passing the assessment not only granted rewards but also allowed them to learn further inheritances.

...

Jiang Zuo and over a hundred other Cultivators were in a large hall, studying Metal Attribute Talismans.

On the front wall of the hall hung an ancient Talisman.

By focusing one’s gaze on it, one could enter a state of Learning, and relevant knowledge about Talismans would continuously flow into their mind.

Below the ancient Talisman, talisman paper and Spiritual Ink would be continuously and automatically generated.

If one ran out of their own supplies, they could take some from here to practice drawing Talismans.

’The Beast Pattern Rune Technique and the Dao of Talismans, though similar in principle, are actually vastly different.’

’The Beast Pattern Rune Technique is more like a fundamental force of the world. Once mastered, it can be wielded, requiring at most the expenditure of Divine Sense to drive it.’

’But aside from Divine Sense, it requires no external objects.’

’The Dao of Talismans is different.’

’The Dao of Talismans is more like a much lower-level version of the Beast Pattern Rune Technique.’

’These low-level Character Formulas have almost no power on their own.’

’A Cultivator not only needs to master these low-level Character Formulas but also needs to infuse them with power to make the Talisman effective.’

’The methods of infusing power are the Cultivator’s Spiritual Power, Divine Sense, and Spiritual Ink.’

’Among them, Spiritual Ink is the most important.’

’For low-grade Spiritual Ink, just mixing Spirit Stones into the ink is enough.’

’For high-grade Spiritual Ink, various rare materials need to be refined into the ink.’

’If the Beast Pattern Rune Technique is profound and esoteric, then the Dao of Talismans is complex and tedious.’

For the past three years, Jiang Zuo had been diligently studying the Dao of Talismans.

Having first learned the Beast Pattern Rune Technique, Jiang Zuo now had a thoroughly deep understanding of the Dao of Talismans.

Unlike what he had initially imagined, his mastery of the Beast Pattern Rune Technique didn’t give him much of an advantage in learning the Dao of Talismans.

There was almost nothing in common between the two.

However, because he understood the principles of the Dao of Talismans and his Divine Sense was far stronger than that of an ordinary Cultivator, Jiang Zuo’s speed in practicing the art was still incomparably faster than others.

Jiang Zuo had come with the intention of mastering the Dao of Talismans, and he cultivated with extreme focus, completely oblivious to the outside world.

As time went by, the number of Cultivators in the same hall as him gradually decreased.

After an unknown amount of time, the number of Cultivators in the hall had dwindled by more than half.

Jiang Zuo also got up and left the Metal Attribute Talisman hall.

However, he didn’t go to take an assessment. Instead, he went to the Wood Attribute cultivation hall next door.

He planned to finish studying the Talismans of each attribute branch and then go to the assessment grounds to complete all the tests at once.

Jiang Zuo was immersed in his Talisman Cultivation, and time flew by.

By the time he walked out of the Wood Attribute hall, only a few people were left inside.

Jiang Zuo then went to the Water Attribute Talisman hall.

Only a few people were left studying here as well, and no one gave Jiang Zuo a second glance when he arrived.

Likewise, Jiang Zuo had no interest in anyone else.

In Cultivation, time has no meaning.

An unknown amount of time passed.

"I’ve finally finished studying the fundamentals of the Five Elements Attribute Talismans."

Jiang Zuo stretched as he walked out of the Earth Attribute Talisman hall.

At this point, besides himself, there was no one else left in the Earth Attribute Talisman hall.

However, as Jiang Zuo walked out and his mind was no longer entirely focused on Talismans, he immediately sensed that something was amiss.

He looked up at the sky.

The sky of the Talismanic Daoist Holy Land was dark and gloomy, creating a somewhat oppressive feeling.

The Sect Protection Array that had been present when he first entered the sect had vanished at some unknown time.

’Nine years have actually passed?’

Jiang Zuo checked the system time and discovered that in a flash, nine years had gone by.

Jiang Zuo instantly had a bad feeling.

A normal Secret Realm wouldn’t last for nine years.

They usually kick people out in less than a year.

’Don’t tell me everyone else has left, and I’m the only one still in the Secret Realm?’

With this thought, Jiang Zuo quickened his pace and headed for the Talisman assessment area.

However, he had only gotten halfway there when he saw other Cultivators.

It was two female Cultivators. When they saw Jiang Zuo, they showed obvious signs of alarm and quickly walked away.

’What happened in the Daoist Talisman Holy Land Secret Realm during these nine years!’

The thought flashed through Jiang Zuo’s mind, but he didn’t stop them to ask questions, instead continuing straight toward the assessment area.

After walking a bit further, Jiang Zuo’s Divine Sense stirred.

He faintly heard a cry for help.

With a flicker of his body, Jiang Zuo sped toward the source of the sound.

Soon, Jiang Zuo saw a female Cultivator fleeing for her life, pursued by a male Cultivator whose eyes glowed red.

"Senior Brother, please save me!"

Seeing Jiang Zuo, the female Cultivator disregarded her image and shouted in panic.

Jiang Zuo moved in, reaching out to restrain the male Cultivator, intending to investigate his condition.

"Senior Brother, be careful! He’s going to self-destruct!" the female Cultivator immediately shouted a warning.

Jiang Zuo’s heart went cold. He then saw the red-eyed male Cultivator’s body suddenly swell, and then with a BANG, his entire body exploded!