Chapter 702: Casually Painting Mountains And Rivers

“With this, we can recover some of our losses.” Huangfu Song let out a slight sigh of relief and tucked away one of the Exemption Talismans. He handed the other two to Li Fan and Dongfang Yao.

“This piece of junk?” Dongfang Yao held the multicolored talisman up to his eyes and examined it closely, skepticism plain on his face.

“I’ve heard of this item before.” Li Fan narrowed his eyes, recalling. “When the Immortal Alliance issues a mandatory mission, a cultivator can use this Exemption Talisman to disregard the order completely.”

“Exactly!” Huangfu Song nodded with satisfaction, his earlier gloom gone.

“What’s the use of that?” Dongfang Yao muttered, still not understanding.

Huangfu Song shot him a glare. “Ordinarily, not much. But at a critical moment, it can save your life. Say a full-scale war breaks out with the Five Elders Council and cultivators get conscripted to the front lines. Others would have to beg for favors from their connections or march obediently into battle. With this, we can walk away from that kind of disaster without a second thought.”

“So basically, this is a pardon from death itself!” Dongfang Yao finally grasped the value of the item and tucked it away with care.

“Right, and here's the important part: these Exemption Talismans aren’t registered. Whoever holds one owns it. If someone offers a high enough price, we can even sell them off.” Huangfu Song added, “Brothers, to avoid drawing covetous eyes, don’t carry these on you in your day-to-day lives. Store them in the Tianxuan Mirror’s space.”

Dongfang Yao nodded repeatedly.

Li Fan, meanwhile, studied the map on the Heaven-Measuring Mirror. “Though we’ve been compensated with the Exemption Talisman, our Qingxuan Points have been zeroed out. This whole venture came to nothing. What are you two planning next? Re-enter the White Mist, or pack up for now?”

“The curtain has just risen. How can we stop now? We already have a map of the known territory in hand. We can head straight for the unmapped areas. Our exploration efficiency has multiplied countless times over.” Huangfu Song's choice was obvious, his eyes practically burning with endless greed.

Dongfang Yao naturally sided with Huangfu Song.

Li Fan clapped his hands in praise. “Rising stronger after every setback, that's the mark of a true hero! In that case, I'll replenish our supplies, and then we'll set out immediately.

“But...” Li Fan's face showed difficulty. “I'm afraid finding a life-extending item as cheap and effective as the Longevity Pill will be hard.”

Huangfu Song and Dongfang Yao nodded in understanding.

“I can't keep letting you take the losses, brother. I need to think of something too,” Dongfang Yao volunteered, offering to share Li Fan's burden.

They agreed to meet again in two days, then went their separate ways.

***

The Beastkin World.

Xu Bai lay with his eyes shut, floating flat on his back in the sky as if asleep.

The seventeen-petaled Tianling Flower hung silently above his forehead, emitting a faint, milky-white light.

A mysterious power seemed to gestate around Xu Bai, warping the air. Ripples of multicolored light spread outward from him.

From the ground of the Beastkin World, it looked as if another sun, made of swirling colors, had appeared in the sky.

Faced with this strange sight, countless exotic beasts felt a deep reverence and knelt to the ground in worship.

The disciples of the Medicine King Sect, however, wore strange expressions and murmured among themselves.

With Liu San standing guard beside Xu Bai, none of them dared say anything too extreme.

More than ten days ago, Liu San had found Jiao Xiuyuan.

Jiao Xiuyuan showed great interest in the transaction Li Fan had proposed.

However, he stipulated that he must first see with his own eyes whether the Tianling Flower in Li Fan's possession was truly as miraculous as the rumors claimed.

Li Fan's true self was not present, and could not be contacted. So, after hastily returning with Jiao Xiuyuan's communication spirit talisman, Liu San intended to report the matter directly to the avatar.

But after arriving at the Beastkin World, Liu San discovered that Xu Bai was in some kind of epiphanic state.

Not daring to disturb him, Liu San began to guard him instead.

“Old Liu, the insight our sect leader is grasping this time appears quite formidable.” Fang Zaiji's voice sounded beside Liu San's ear.

Fang Zaiji himself did not appear; the voice was coming from a golden eyeball instead.

This was a prototype Fang Zaiji had crafted after making headway in his research on the true Medicine King Cauldron.

Drawing inspiration from the Oneiric Seasons Array within the Medicine King Cauldron, which connected the consciousness of all members, he had created a set of eighty-one Sight-Sharing Eyes. Their holders could not only communicate with one another but also synchronize and share what they saw and heard. Even their perceptions of changes in spiritual qi and their insights could be shared, as if each were experiencing it directly.

“You could speak to me directly through my sea of consciousness, yet you insist on murmuring in my ear,” Liu San frowned, his expression displeased.

“What do you know? This is called ritual significance,” Fang Zaiji retorted with a snort.

Liu San turned his head and looked at the golden eyeball.

The golden eyeball immediately darted aside. “Old Liu, let's talk this out properly. This thing wasn't easy to refine...”

Liu San had no patience for the other's nonsense. Just as he was about to make a move, he sensed something and raised his head to look at the sky.

Xu Bai, still in slumber, suddenly raised his right hand. Using his finger as a brush, he swept it through the air in one fluid motion.

Countless points of light converged in the sky. Moments later, a vivid, lifelike painting of a surging, roaring river appeared in the heavens.

“Go!”

Xu Bai pointed downward with his finger.

The painting turned into a stream of light and plummeted toward the Beastkin World.

Boom!

Out of nowhere, a mighty river descended from the heavens and slammed into the earth below.

Xu Bai's movements did not stop.

Towering peaks, ancient pine trees, great valleys...

One beautiful painting after another appeared in succession, then, like falling meteors, flew to every corner of the Beastkin World.

The earth roared without cease.

Ancient trees burst through the soil, mountains and rivers rose from the ground, plains bellowed and tore open.

Like a God of Creation, Xu Bai conjured matter from nothing, shaping the Beastkin World to his own will.

Liu San and Fang Zaiji stared at the scene, stunned and lost in thought.

“This...” Fang Zaiji sounded uncertain.

“This isn't a change achieved by attuning to the Heavenly Dao of this minor world. It's a forceful twisting and rewriting, done with some kind of miraculous external force,” Liu San said, seeing it clearly.

“The young master's avatar is able to do this so effortlessly likely because he’s on home ground. But even that only raises the power the young master can draw on. It doesn't change the essence of this divine ability.”

A glint of sharp light flashed through Fang Zaiji's eyes. “So you're saying that if someone used this technique in the main Xuanhuang World, with sufficient power, they could reshape mountains and rivers as easily as painting on a scroll?”

Liu San's face grew grave. Slowly, he nodded.

“Issue a gag order to all sect disciples. This matter must be kept strictly confidential,” he said, his voice low.

By their reckoning, even measured against the standards of the ancient cultivation world, this was an extraordinary divine ability.