Chapter 236 - 229: Reward, Talisman Demon Beast

Chapter 236: Chapter 229: Reward, Talisman Demon Beast

Blood splattered toward Jiang Zuo, but he blocked it with a Spiritual Shield.

However, the immense power from the self-detonation still threw Jiang Zuo back over a hundred meters.

"Senior, are you alright?"

The female Cultivator ran over, asking with a worried tone.

"I’m fine. Can you tell me what’s going on? I’ve been in seclusion and only just came out."

Jiang Zuo shook his head and asked.

"Oh, I see."

The female Cultivator said with a look of understanding. She then began to tell Jiang Zuo what had happened in the Talismanic Daoist Holy Land over the past few years.

The strange changes in the Talismanic Daoist Holy Land began in the fifth year.

For the first five years, the Cultivators who entered were puzzled by the Secret Realm’s changes.

In the past, the Talismanic Daoist Holy Land had never lasted this long.

When Cultivators studied the Five Elements Talismans, they only needed a basic understanding to pass the trials and proceed to deeper training grounds.

Upon passing a trial, they would receive various rewards, which always included some Secret Manuals for Five Elements Talismans.

But this time, the trials had become incredibly difficult.

To pass the trials, one needed to have mastered the fundamentals of the Five Elements Talismans.

Many Cultivators with weaker foundations had to spend several years just to pass the trials.

It was then that the Cultivators realized they would be able to stay in the Talismanic Daoist Holy Land for a very long time.

No one was too concerned, though. After all, the Talismanic Daoist Holy Land had reappeared after five thousand years; some changes were to be expected.

Besides, while the trials in the Talismanic Daoist Holy Land had become stricter, the duration of their stay was also longer.

This was a good thing for the Cultivators.

The only complaint from some Cultivators was that passing the trials now offered almost no rewards.

Only those with exceptionally high scores in the trials received rewards.

The real turning point came in the fifth year.

One day during the fifth year, the Cultivators discovered that the Celestial Talisman Inquiry Sect’s Sect Protection Array had vanished.

Third and fourth-rank Demon Beasts began appearing within the sect grounds.

That alone wasn’t so bad.

After all, third and fourth-rank Demon Beasts were not to be feared when people acted together in large groups.

What truly terrified the Cultivators were the events that followed in the sixth year.

Starting in the sixth year, the Cultivators who were still lingering in the outer areas, unable to pass the trials and delve deeper into the sect, began to undergo all sorts of strange mutations.

Some Cultivators would undergo a drastic change in temperament overnight, turning into humanoid monsters that attacked anyone on sight.

If caught and subdued, they would self-detonate, taking even more Cultivators down with them.

Because of this, the remaining Cultivators lived in constant fear for their lives.

Even the most trusted companions would sleep in separate rooms at night, to avoid being attacked should their friend suddenly mutate.

"What about the people who passed the trials? How did they react?"

Jiang Zuo asked after a moment of thought.

"I don’t know. No one has come down from the mountain."

The female Cultivator shook her head.

Jiang Zuo asked a few more questions, but the female Cultivator didn’t know much more.

The only certainty was that the longer one stayed in this area, the more dangerous the situation would become.

Even if others weren’t the ones to go berserk, you knew that sooner or later, it would be you.

As for leaving the Secret Realm on their own, Jiang Zuo didn’t need to ask to know it was impossible.

Those still lingering in this area all had mediocre talent in the dao of Talismans.

If they could have left, the Cultivators in this area would have been long gone.

The female Cultivator was also planning to attempt the trial again, so Jiang Zuo went with her.

The site of the trials was the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams Tower.

Upon entering the tower, one would find themselves in a large hall.

The hall contained the Five Elements Gates; walking through the appropriate gate would begin a trial.

Behind the gates were rooms constructed from the five elements and eight trigrams.

Each person who entered would find themselves in a different room.

The rooms contained corresponding test questions, and one had to complete the questions in three rooms to pass the trial.

Supposedly, one only had to complete a single room’s trial in the past.

But now, not only had the number of rooms increased, but the difficulty also grew with each question.

Jiang Zuo led the female Cultivator into the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams Tower, where they saw over twenty Cultivators gathered in the main hall.

Most of the Cultivators still remaining in this area were here.

It seemed staying in the tower was the safest option, as none of these Cultivators were willing to leave.

The arrival of Jiang Zuo and the female Cultivator earned them a few sideways glances from the others.

But they quickly returned to drawing Talismans, all of them focused on passing the trials as soon as possible to escape this dangerous region.

After thanking Jiang Zuo again, the female Cultivator mustered her courage and walked into one of the Five Elements Gates.

Jiang Zuo didn’t linger either; he chose a gate and walked through.

"Replicate a second-rank Talisman."

The trial wasn’t complicated. A Talisman floated in the room; Jiang Zuo just had to study it and draw a replica.

Deciphering a Talisman was like reverse-engineering a code—not an easy task.

Under normal circumstances, most of the Cultivators in the Secret Realm would be unable to decipher a second-rank Talisman.

Many Talismans were impossible to reverse-engineer at all.

However, the Talisman before him wasn’t completely unfamiliar to the Cultivators.

It would have been documented in the Five Elements inheritance they had studied, but for the trial, slight modifications had been made, requiring the Cultivators to adapt.

This trial posed no difficulty for Jiang Zuo. With just a glance, he drew a nearly identical Talisman.

The Talisman in the second room was also a second-rank Talisman, but it was significantly more difficult.

Upon reaching the third room, he was required to draw a third-rank Talisman.

’No wonder there are still Cultivators outside who haven’t been able to pass the trials after several years.’

Jiang Zuo actually hadn’t studied the dao of Talismans for long—only twelve years in total.

But by understanding the principles of the dao of Talismans, and with the aid of his powerful Divine Sense, Talismans of the third rank and below posed no difficulty for him.

Jiang Zuo spent a fair bit more time deciphering the third-rank Talisman in this room.

But once he successfully deciphered it, his replicated drawing was nearly flawless.

"Trial passed! Based on your performance, you are awarded one ’Cloud-Rubbing Pill’."

"You may choose to take the trials for the other Five Elements Talismans, or you may proceed directly to the Celestial Talisman Institute."

Two lines of text slowly materialized before Jiang Zuo.

A flash of light appeared in the room. When it faded, a jade vial containing a pill was left behind.

’A Cloud-Rubbing Pill? A pill that increases Divine Sense?’

Jiang Zuo looked closer and saw that the effects of the Cloud-Rubbing Pill were written on the jade vial.

After a brief thought, Jiang Zuo decided not to consume it. He stored it away and chose to take the other Five Elements Talisman trials.

The subsequent trials were all similar.

In the end, Jiang Zuo spent some time completing all five of the Five Elements Talisman trials.

The reward for each trial was the same; after passing them all, Jiang Zuo found himself with five Cloud-Rubbing Pills.

"Oh? I didn’t expect someone to be able to cultivate all Five Elements Talismans simultaneously, and with a nearly perfect foundation at that. A pleasant surprise indeed."

"Not even one hundred and fifty years old? And his Cultivation at the mid-stage Divine Body Realm isn’t weak."

"Daoist Shackles? Did this boy offend some powerful figure?"

"However, that is not a problem. This boy is worth keeping a close eye on."

In a building at the highest point of the Celestial Talisman Inquiry Sect, a figure of light had been sitting with its eyes closed.

But when Jiang Zuo passed all the trials, the figure slowly opened its eyes.

The data Jiang Zuo had provided when he was tested by the Celestial Talisman Inquiry Stele materialized before it.

After reviewing the information, the figure slowly nodded and closed its eyes once more.

...

After passing all the trials, Jiang Zuo was transported to the Celestial Talisman Institute.

The Celestial Talisman Institute was the deeper training ground within the Talismanic Daoist Holy Land.

Here, one could learn the true legacy of the Celestial Talisman Inquiry Sect.

The only way to obtain the Talisman Treasure rewards from the Celestial Talisman Inquiry Sect was from this place.

The surrounding buildings were still ancient and elegant, but the first thing Jiang Zuo did upon arriving was look up at the sky.

The sky was still overcast, looking just like it did in the outer regions.

Jiang Zuo hadn’t walked far before he saw a group of Cultivators up ahead, surrounding and attacking a fourth-rank Demon Beast.

This in itself was not a rare sight.

But after watching for a moment, Jiang Zuo noticed something unusual.

A total of five Cultivators were surrounding the fourth-rank Demon Beast.

Four of them were Cultivators at the Three Flowers Realm.

But not a single one of them was attacking the Demon Beast with their own Magic.

Instead, every one of them was using Talismans to cast their spells.

Normally, fighting a Demon Beast with Talismans would be easier and simpler.

But this was no ordinary fourth-rank Demon Beast.

The damage from the Talismans was greatly diminished against it.

And yet, these Cultivators stubbornly used only Talismans, refusing to employ any other tactics.

Further away, several other Cultivators were watching the battle.

But none of them showed any intention of stepping in to help.

Jiang Zuo took it all in, and a theory gradually formed in his mind.

"Blue Extreme Fire Talisman!"

Once the fourth-rank Demon Beast was nearly exhausted, one of the Cultivators let out a great roar.

BOOM!

A massive, azure flame materialized from thin air, engulfing the fourth-rank Demon Beast.

"A fourth-rank Talisman! That guy, Hua Guihe... I can’t believe he’s progressed so quickly. He can already create fourth-rank Talismans!"

The expression of one of the watching Cultivators changed.

Any Cultivator who managed to reach the Celestial Talisman Institute could replicate a third-rank Talisman.

But the gap between a third-rank and a fourth-rank Talisman was immense.

Entry to the Talismanic Daoist Holy Land was restricted to those under three hundred years of age.

To have cultivated to the Three Flowers Realm and also achieved proficiency in the dao of Talismans by the age of three hundred was exceptionally rare.

Mastering a fourth-rank Talisman was considered almost impossible.

Before Hua Guihe, out of the thousands of Cultivators who had entered the Secret Realm, fewer than ten had mastered fourth-rank Talismans.

The Blue Extreme Fire Talisman was incredibly powerful, and the fourth-rank Demon Beast was already severely weakened.

Burned by the Blue Extreme Fire Talisman, the fourth-rank Demon Beast perished.

Then, Jiang Zuo’s eyes narrowed as he watched.

After the Demon Beast died, it didn’t leave a corpse. Instead, it transformed into a faintly glowing Jade Stone that floated quietly in the air.

Hua Guihe and the other four Cultivators immediately sat down around the Jade Stone, focusing their Divine Sense on it.

Under the combined Divine Sense of the five, the Jade Stone gradually dissipated.

The surrounding Cultivators could only watch the five with envy.

Jiang Zuo quietly went to wander elsewhere.

He discovered that the Cultivators in the Celestial Talisman Institute mostly operated in small groups of five or fewer.

They formed teams to hunt the Demon Beasts that appeared here.

However, most other teams of Cultivators were hunting third-rank Demon Beasts.

After a Demon Beast was killed, it would transform into a Jade Stone, and the Cultivators would then sit and use their Divine Sense to absorb the energy it emitted.

After a brief conversation with a few of the watching Cultivators, Jiang Zuo finally understood the situation in the Celestial Talisman Institute.