Chapter 237 - 230: Underhanded Methods, Seeing Bai Ling Again

Chapter 237: Chapter 230: Underhanded Methods, Seeing Bai Ling Again

The Demon Beasts appearing in the Celestial Talisman Institute were dubbed Talismanic Dao Beasts by the Cultivators.

They had been appearing one after another ever since the Sect Protection Array vanished five years ago.

The first Cultivators who encountered them discovered that no matter what Magic they used, they couldn’t inflict any damage.

They even thought they might have run into some Demon Emperor or Demon Venerable.

It wasn’t until a Cultivator attacked with a Talisman that they discovered only Talismans could harm the beasts.

Furthermore, only when there were fewer than five Cultivators nearby would a Talismanic Dao Beast leave behind a special Jade Pendant.

When one’s Divine Sense touched the Jade Pendant, it could be absorbed into the Sea of Consciousness.

Once a complete Jade Pendant existed within the Sea of Consciousness, a Cultivator could obtain the Talisman legacy they wished to cultivate from it.

At first, the Cultivators couldn’t understand why the Talismanic Daoist Holy Land would do this.

But then they discovered that this method greatly enhanced their learning and understanding of the dao of Talismans.

When they realized the speed at which they could cultivate Talisman legacies was at least three times faster than normal, everyone grew excited.

And so, they crafted Talismans, used them to slay Talismanic Dao Beasts, and obtained the Divine Sense Talisman legacies.

It had to be said that this method allowed Cultivators to progress in their Cultivation of the dao of Talismans with incredible speed.

In just a few short years, the Talisman Cultivation of the Cultivators in the Celestial Talisman Institute had improved significantly.

People like Hua Guihe, for example, were already able to craft fourth-rank Talismans after only three or four years.

Nowadays, the Cultivators in the Celestial Talisman Institute spent their days desperately crafting Talismans. Once they had saved up enough, they would team up to hunt Talismanic Dao Beasts.

Slaying Talismanic Dao Beasts required a massive number of Talismans, so the Cultivators inside spent almost all their time crafting them.

As for what was happening in the outer regions, they had heard about it from Cultivators who arrived later.

But not many cared. After all, not only was everything normal inside the Celestial Talisman Institute, but their Talisman Cultivation was also advancing at a rapid pace.

Both their inherited Talisman knowledge and their skill in crafting them were improving at a visible rate.

No one cared in the slightest whether the Cultivators in the outer regions lived or died.

After learning about the situation in the Celestial Talisman Institute, Jiang Zuo found a secluded third-rank Talismanic Dao Beast to test things out for himself.

He found that it was exactly as he had heard.

Even with his astonishingly powerful physical body, he couldn’t harm it in the slightest.

Only using a Talisman could inflict effective damage.

Seeing this, Jiang Zuo simply found a room and began crafting Talismans.

As long as he had enough Talismans, these Talismanic Dao Beasts weren’t difficult to kill.

Crafting Talismans consumed a Cultivator’s Spiritual Power and Divine Sense.

The Cultivators who could enter the Secret Realm all possessed Divine Sense, but for most of them, it was still very weak.

They were all too young and hadn’t had much time to cultivate their Divine Sense.

And if one’s Divine Sense wasn’t strong enough, the success rate of crafting Talismans would be low.

For these Cultivators, a success rate of twenty to thirty percent was already considered quite good.

But Jiang Zuo was different.

He had no fear of depleting his Spiritual Power, and his Divine Sense was far stronger than theirs.

Furthermore, Jiang Zuo had already begun crafting far more advanced Beast Patterns over two hundred years ago.

Crafting these relatively low-level Talismans was as simple as eating a meal for him.

All sorts of Five Elements Talismans were swiftly created under Jiang Zuo’s hands.

Jiang Zuo spent three days crafting over one hundred of each third-rank Five Elements Talisman.

If not for the limitations of his Divine Sense, Jiang Zuo would have crafted even more.

Finding a lone third-rank Talismanic Dao Beast, Jiang Zuo hurled the Talismans in his hand at it as if they were free.

After being bombarded with fifty consecutive Talismans, the third-rank Talismanic Dao Beast was killed.

Upon its death, the beast left behind a Jade Pendant that emitted a faint glow.

A closer look revealed the numeral "3" on the Jade Pendant.

Jiang Zuo extended his Divine Sense, and the Jade Pendant quickly vanished, reappearing inside his Sea of Consciousness.

Any other Cultivator would only be able to browse the Jade Pendant with their Divine Sense.

But Jiang Zuo used visualization to conjure a phantom image of himself next to the Jade Pendant.

This phantom pushed the Jade Pendant, moving it toward the Mysterious Stele.

The Mysterious Stele was initially unmoved, but when the Jade Pendant came extremely close, a faint light flashed from the stele and swept over it.

Jiang Zuo’s eyes narrowed.

He clearly saw a faint wisp of black energy being swept out of the Jade Pendant, dissipating under the Mysterious Stele’s light.

’This Divine Sense Jade Pendant really is tainted!’

’I don’t know what purpose this hidden black energy serves, but it can’t be anything good.’

With the black energy removed by the Mysterious Stele, Jiang Zuo felt safe enough to inspect the Jade Pendant.

He extended his Divine Sense, and a portion of a Talisman legacy immediately appeared in his mind.

"What a clever method. It’s as if I learned this Talisman knowledge myself."

"No wonder the other Cultivators can’t refuse. You’d never find such a good deal anywhere else."

Jiang Zuo couldn’t help but be amazed by this technique.

If the Talismanic Daoist Holy Land’s trial concluded successfully, the Cultivation Realm would soon see a large batch of new Talisman Masters.

"If the Jade Pendants are tainted, then these Cloud-Rubbing Pills that enhance Divine Sense are probably tainted too."

"However, with the Mysterious Stele here, even the Daoist Shackles can’t do anything to my Sea of Consciousness. I doubt these Cloud-Rubbing Pills could be more powerful than the Daoist Shackles."

Jiang Zuo took out the few Cloud-Rubbing Pills he had.

Crafting Talismans was incredibly taxing on his Divine Sense, so Jiang Zuo couldn’t help but consider using the Cloud-Rubbing Pills.

If his body were normal, Jiang Zuo would have had reservations and might not have dared to consume them.

But he was already burdened by the Daoist Shackles, and the Mysterious Stele had just purged the foulness from the Divine Sense Jade Pendant.

So, Jiang Zuo didn’t hesitate any longer and swallowed a Cloud-Rubbing Pill.

As the Cloud-Rubbing Pill went down, Jiang Zuo quickly felt a cooling sensation in his mind.

A strange power gathered in his Sea of Consciousness.

This power grew stronger and stronger, as if it were about to burst his Sea of Consciousness.

And just as he suspected, this power contained another, hidden force.

The Mysterious Stele was triggered once again, sending another beam of light sweeping through his Sea of Consciousness.

However, when Jiang Zuo looked forward to this power expanding his Sea of Consciousness and strengthening his Divine Sense...

...he was left speechless.

His Sea of Consciousness had expanded, but only by a tiny bit.

The expansion was only about one-fiftieth of its total scope.

’Is my Sea of Consciousness just too powerful, or are these Cloud-Rubbing Pills actually nothing special?’

Jiang Zuo muttered.

Seeing how ineffective the Cloud-Rubbing Pill was, Jiang Zuo decisively swallowed the remaining four pills in one go.

With four more Cloud-Rubbing Pills in his stomach, Jiang Zuo’s Sea of Consciousness now truly felt like it was about to explode.

After a sharp bout of pain, his Sea of Consciousness finally expanded by a noticeable amount.

In total, the five Cloud-Rubbing Pills had expanded the radius of his Sea of Consciousness by ten percent.

Although it didn’t seem like much, a quick calculation made Jiang Zuo realize it wasn’t a small amount at all. It had saved him at least ten years of hard Cultivation.

With his enhanced Divine Sense, Jiang Zuo’s efficiency at crafting Talismans improved significantly. One after another, third-rank Talismanic Dao Beasts fell to his massive volley of Talismans.

Jiang Zuo also tried to kill a fourth-rank Talismanic Dao Beast, but he found that with only third-rank Talismans, no matter how many he used, he could only wear it down.

Actually killing it was impossible.

「A month passed in the blink of an eye.」

’Although the Divine Sense Jade Pendants left behind by the Talismanic Dao Beasts are tainted, the Talisman legacies within them are the real deal.’

’What is the Talismanic Daoist Holy Land trying to achieve by tampering with the Divine Sense Jade Pendants?’

’To control us and restore the Talismanic Daoist Holy Land?’

Jiang Zuo pondered after absorbing another Divine Sense Jade Pendant.

Over the past month, his Cultivation in the dao of Talismans had progressed at a divine speed.

There were no problems with the Talisman legacies he obtained from the Divine Sense Jade Pendants.

However, Jiang Zuo didn’t dwell on it too much.

The reason for the Talismanic Daoist Holy Land’s scheme would be revealed sooner or later. He just needed to wait.

「Several more months passed in the blink of an eye.」

There were quite a few Cultivators in the Celestial Talisman Institute, and Jiang Zuo saw disciples from the Spirit Seal Sect like Bu Yuehua and Gongyun Dan.

He even recognized a few disciples from the Black Tortoise Dao Sect.

However, Jiang Zuo only watched them from a distance, not going over to greet them.

For now, this place was safe, so there was no need to reveal himself to them.

But one day, as Jiang Zuo was hunting a third-rank Talismanic Dao Beast alone, a figure drifted gracefully toward him.

The figure drew near but showed no signs of stopping.

Jiang Zuo looked over and noticed something unusual about the figure.

Before Jiang Zuo could speak, the figure spoke first. "I heard someone saw you, but I didn’t quite believe it."

"After all, a mere Divine Body Realm Cultivator, even one with a physical body comparable to a fourth-rank Demon Beast, shouldn’t have been able to survive in spatial turbulence."

"I never expected you to actually be alive, to have entered the Talismanic Daoist Holy Land, and to have achieved such proficiency in the dao of Talismans."

The figure chuckled lightly, sounding like an acquaintance of Jiang Zuo’s.

"You’re Bai Ling? Did you just send a Paper Puppet? Come here in person, and we can have a little chat."

Jiang Zuo said with a menacing smile as he looked at the figure.

This figure was not a real person, but a Paper Puppet.

And the only one who knew he had been trapped in spatial turbulence was Bai Ling, the one who had pulled him into her Pocket World Spirit Treasure.

"Hee hee, you’re too strong. I wouldn’t dare meet you so casually."

"But your time is running out. In my eyes, you won’t be a threat for much longer."

Bai Ling said with a giggle.

Hearing this, Jiang Zuo’s eyes narrowed. He hurled a Fire Talisman, and the Paper Puppet instantly burst into a ball of flame.

’Could she be the one pulling the strings behind the scenes?’

’It’s not impossible. She’s always seemed strange.’

’But if she thinks my Divine Sense will also be affected and controlled, she’s gravely mistaken.’

After a moment of thought, Jiang Zuo dismissed it.

It was unrealistic to try and find Bai Ling. If she was involved, she would reveal herself sooner or later.

He would just have to deal with her then.

Jiang Zuo went back to single-mindedly killing Talismanic Dao Beasts and cultivating Talisman legacies.

「Soon, another year and a half had passed.」

"Alright, I can finally craft fourth-rank Talismans!"

In less than two and a half years since entering the Celestial Talisman Institute, Jiang Zuo had successfully crafted a fourth-rank Talisman.

Crafting a fourth-rank Talisman meant Jiang Zuo could now kill fourth-rank Talismanic Dao Beasts.

To craft this fourth-rank Talisman, Jiang Zuo had been in seclusion for over three full months.

Jiang Zuo crafted several more fourth-rank Talismans in one go, then headed out to hunt a fourth-rank Talismanic Dao Beast.

However, the moment he stepped outside, Jiang Zuo sensed that the atmosphere in the Celestial Talisman Institute was a little off.