Chapter 602: Great Dao Immortal Talisman

In an instant, Lu Yang felt something was off.

However, he maintained his composure on the surface, reached out to accept the 【Great Dao Immortal Talisman】 handed to him by Banshan, and began to examine the talisman paper in his hand.

What the hell is this thing?

Lu Yang focused his cultivation and stared at it, soon seeing the true face of the so-called 【Great Dao Immortal Talisman】. In his eyes, it looked more like a type of credential.

The next second, a large swath of text surfaced before his eyes:

【User Notice】

【Respected cultivator: Welcome to purchase goods and services from our “Seeking Dao Treasure” platform (hereinafter referred to as “the platform”) within Heaven-Earth Immortal Travel.】

【Before officially using the “Seeking Dao Treasure” platform services, please be sure to carefully read and comply with all the rights and restrictions stipulated in this 《User Notice》. Please be sure to read carefully, fully understand, commit, accept, and abide by each clause under this 《User Notice》.】

【I. Service Terms.】

The densely packed characters instantly filled Lu Yang’s entire vision, almost making him suspect it was a soul attack. Even more terrifying was the content of the text.

Boundless! There was simply no end in sight.

Not only that, but the content was extremely obscure and difficult to comprehend. Even with Lu Yang’s current cultivation as a Golden Core True Lord, he couldn’t understand it at a glance.

Nevertheless, he patiently read through to the very end.

【Do you agree?】

Lu Yang paused for a moment, but his gaze seemed to carry some sort of certification function. That 【Agree】 button immediately began to flash.

【User agreement confirmed.】

【Welcome, respected cultivator. We wish you a pleasant shopping experience on Seeking Dao Treasure. Your access to the Great Dao Immortal Talisman has been officially activated.】

‘What the hell!’ Lu Yang’s mouth parted slightly.

This thing counts as confirmation just by looking at it?!

I didn’t even click anything!

At this moment, Lu Yang couldn’t help but frown. This beastly style and domineering terms gave off the scent of the Holy Sect.

‘The Great Dao Immortal Talisman, a rare treasure refined by Heaven-Earth Immortal Travel, is the Natal True Treasure of the Taiyin Immortal Venerable. It’s also the official, sole currency within and beyond the Celestial Mansion. With it, one can buy cultivation, realm, pills, magic treasures, Dao foundations, divine abilities... even Fruit Positions!’

Simply unbelievable!

‘The Great Dao Immortal Talisman—currency of the Celestial Mansion—this entire system was created by the Taiyin Immortal Venerable and spread throughout the entire Realm Heaven.’

What is this?

An image encompassing all of Heaven and Earth!

‘Taiyin Immortal Venerable… conservatively estimated to be at the same level as True Lord Feixue before her breakthrough, a First-Class True Lord… no, very likely already a Great True Lord!’

Considering that the Taiyin Fruit Position might rival the Supreme Fruit Position within the Celestial Mansion, this Taiyin Immortal Venerable probably corresponds to 【Soaring High】, and is even more threatening—because he’s not trapped in the Underworld and has the ability to interfere with the real world!

‘No, wait…’

Lu Yang recalled the knowledge he had just absorbed through the Great Dao Immortal Talisman and relaxed slightly: ‘It seems the Taiyin Immortal Venerable hasn’t appeared for a long time either.’

‘At least, in my current state, I won’t draw his attention.’

‘The key still lies in this Great Dao Immortal Talisman.’

Thinking of this, Lu Yang couldn’t help but lower his head and gulp. After the recent data infusion, he now fully understood what this thing was.

‘It’s just a piece of scrap paper.’

That’s right—essentially, this thing had no intrinsic value. But that Taiyin Immortal Venerable turned it into a projection of his own image, encompassing the entire Realm Heaven.

Using his cultivation, Dao attainment, and realm as its backing.

And so, the Great Dao Immortal Talisman, originally just scrap paper, gained value. As more people began using it, its value became fully anchored.

‘What can ten million buy? Nothing. At most, a well-crafted, spirit-rich cave dwelling, a flying vessel for travel, and a full suite of supporting cave services. For Qi Refiners and Foundation Establishment cultivators, perhaps it’s great—but to a True Lord, it’s trivial.’

That’s why Banshan had lent money so straightforwardly.

After all, a mere ten million really meant nothing to him. As a True Lord—even an External Dao True Lord—he had minting rights for the Great Dao Immortal Talisman.

That’s right, there were different grades of Great Dao Immortal Talisman.

The lowest grade was the External Dao Talisman issued by External Dao True Lords like Banshan. Mid-grade ones were the Orthodox Talismans issued by orthodox Immortal Lords of the Celestial Mansion.

And the highest grade—naturally—was the Taiyin Talisman issued by the Taiyin Immortal Venerable.

That was also the most valuable. The exchange rate with the External Dao Talisman in Lu Yang’s hand was 1:1000—and even then, it wasn’t guaranteed that you could exchange it.

Lu Yang followed behind Banshan, pondering to himself.

Soon, as they fully entered the Celestial Mansion, a vast scene unfolded before his eyes—and then he froze, because the Celestial Mansion looked bizarre.

It was a mountain.

A towering divine mountain stood at the center of heaven and earth, like a central axis. Surrounding the mountain were layers upon layers of land masses, stacked upward.

There were a total of nine layers. The first layer had the widest span, almost equivalent in size to the Five Regions of the world as Lu Yang knew it. The second layer shrank by nearly half, and so it continued, layer by layer upward. By the time it reached the top, it seemed no larger than an island—but was shrouded in mist, and not even Lu Yang could clearly see it.

This is the Celestial Mansion?

Lu Yang looked toward Banshan, who had anticipated his confusion and smiled as he explained: “Fellow Daoist, since this is your first time here, I imagine you have many questions in your heart.”

“No worries, I shall explain them all to you.”

“That way, you won’t accidentally break the rules. That’d be troublesome—there are fines involved.”

“But Fellow Daoist can rest easy. After all, we are True Lords. Most of the Celestial Mansion’s rules don’t concern us. Just a bit of basic understanding is enough.”

“Take this first layer, for example. It is specially designated for mortals. The Immortal Venerable is merciful, and believes that battles among cultivators often lead to mortal casualties. So, the widest and most resource-rich layer was allocated to mortals, letting them mine to their heart’s content and contribute to cultivators above.”

“Only mortals?”

Lu Yang frowned slightly. “Cultivation resources are incredibly precious and often carry divine anomalies that are hard to approach. Mortals would have trouble even discovering them—how could they mine them?”

Banshan blinked in realization, then nodded in understanding:

‘Ah, Fellow Daoist misunderstood. When I said mortals, I also meant Qi Refiners... haha, force of habit—I didn’t really consider them cultivators.’

Lu Yang: “...”

This Celestial Mansion is starting to feel more and more wrong!

As Lu Yang’s thoughts shifted, Banshan continued: “The second to fifth layers are where each sect of the True Lords is based, mainly for recruiting disciples.”

“In addition, every year a group of mortals passes the Immortal Exams, ascending from the first to the second layer. Those with better talent can join sects. The less talented blend into second-layer society and become local cultivators. It’s seen as social mobility.”

“As for the sixth to eighth layers, those are territories of Heaven-Earth Immortal Travel.”

“To my knowledge, only the Immortal Lords of the Taiyin and Sun lineages, and their descendants, are permitted to enter the sixth layer and truly become ‘mountain people’.”

Throughout the entire Celestial Mansion world—

Below the sixth layer was the mountainside and foot: ants, crawling insects, consumables. Only above the sixth layer was considered truly atop the mountain—only then could one be called human.

And those on the mountain—naturally—were immortals.

“As for the ninth layer at the very top, that is the Dao arena of the Taiyin Immortal Venerable. It has not been opened for many years and is not our concern.”

At this point, Banshan paused his steps.

Lu Yang looked ahead. What he saw was a colossal city, suspended between sun and moon, nestled amidst the mountains—its scale rivaling that of a continent.

“This place is called 【Alliance Prestige】.”

Banshan smiled slightly: “This is the headquarters of our External Dao Alliance. As an External Dao True Lord, Fellow Daoist is now one of us.”