Cultivation: I Have a Golden Talisman

In a grand hall atop an Immortal Mountain.

Nine Life Soul Cultivators sat in a circle. The atmosphere was quiet and solemn, yet tinged with a certain dullness.

Wisps of green smoke curled up from a censer to the side of the hall, filling the air with the scent of sandalwood.

Fang Cheng and Daoist Qiu sat next to each other, watching an elderly Life Soul Realm woman in the center present a Spiritual Object she intended to trade.

On a table before her lay a piece of coral radiating a precious light.

The nine people present were all top masters from the East Desolate Cultivation World. Some hailed from the ten great sects, some from prestigious families, and two were master Loose Cultivators.

Each person had one opportunity to present a treasure they wished to trade, specifying the desired item or category in return, after which the other cultivators could make offers.

Some had presented items that were too obscure and found no takers, forcing them to sheepishly return to their seats.

The cultivators were no strangers to Fang Cheng. When they first saw him, their gazes held a mixture of awe and curiosity.

Years ago, while only at the Life Talisman Realm, he had slain nine Life Soul Masters in succession. This had severely crippled the Rakshasa Sect and sent waves throughout the entire Wilderness Domain, and his fearsome reputation had spread far and wide.

Now that he had advanced to the Life Soul Realm, his aura was as deep as an abyss and as vast as the sea, and no one dared to slight him.

Cultivators skilled in sensing auras could faintly detect a dense Evil Qi emanating from him. Their hearts trembled as they guessed the man before them possessed a murderous intent the likes of which they had never encountered.

Suddenly, Fang Cheng’s expression shifted slightly. He frowned, as if he had sensed something.

Daoist Qiu gave him a curious glance and sent a voice transmission, "Fellow Daoist Fang, is something amiss?"

Fang Cheng replied coolly, "It’s nothing."

He said no more.

Through the Resentment Celestial Demon, he had sensed everything Jingyuan and Jingxuan were experiencing in the Marketplace Shop. His intuition told him that the shop was far from simple.

’I need to go and check on them.’

Fortunately, at the beginning of the exchange meeting, everyone had unanimously chosen Fang Cheng to go first. He had successfully sold one Fourth-rank Magical Artifact and five Third-tier Magical Artifacts, trading them for a large amount of Spiritual Medicine and Profound Gold. Among them were four types of Spiritual Medicine needed to refine the White Tiger Divine Pill!

Including the five types collected by the Yinluo Sect and the Fang Family over the years, and the three he had personally found before, he had now gathered twelve of the twenty-five Spiritual Medicines required for the White Tiger Divine Pill.

Thirteen remained.

These remaining Spiritual Medicines were even rarer and more precious. Without some fortuitous encounter, they would be incredibly difficult to find through conventional means.

It was safe to say he had already achieved his goal for today’s trade meet.

He had little interest in the items the next few people were offering, so he simply stood up and said, "Fellow Daoists, something has come up. I must take my leave for now. We shall meet again at the auction in two days!"

Hearing this, everyone else also rose to their feet to see him off.

...

Fang Cheng walked out of the grand hall, his figure quietly vanishing and his aura disappearing in an instant.

Inside the hall, several people looked at each other, their brows furrowed. One of them said, "That Fellow Daoist Fang from the Yinluo Sect has such a profound cultivation. I couldn’t even detect how he left... Mr. Luo, your Divine Sense is the strongest among us. Did you sense anything?"

The man called Mr. Luo was a middle-aged man with white hair. He gave a bitter smile and shook his head. "Fellow Daoist Fang’s Divine Techniques are profound and mysterious. I am far from his equal."

Another person said, "If even you couldn’t sense him, Brother Luo, then his true strength must be comparable to the Mid-Life Soul Stage."

A woman looked at Qiu Chaohuan and said slowly, "Fellow Daoist Qiu, the Yinluo Villa is a mere five hundred *li* from your Taiyi Sword Sect. Now that such a formidable figure has emerged in your neighborhood, what are your plans?"

Qiu Chaohuan stroked his beard and said in a low voice, "Although the Yinluo Sect is one of the Demonic Sects, their conduct has the bearing of a major sect. The same is true for Fellow Daoist Fang."

The woman let out a light laugh. "Fellow Daoist Qiu, you are being too naive. Throughout history, whenever a master who can dominate the world and remain unrivaled in their realm appears, which sect or clan doesn’t eventually become their vassal?"

"A figure like that is destined to have all the world’s powers support him alone so he may achieve his path to eternal life. Ascendant Lingji of old is the best example. Do you really think all the treasures in Ascendant Lingji’s Hundred Treasures Hall were crafted by him alone?"

Qiu Chaohuan smiled calmly, offering no comment.

The old woman who had been selling the Coral Spiritual Object sneered, "What, are you all planning to obstruct his meteoric rise?"

The woman smiled. "We either obstruct him and sever his path of cultivation to preserve our own strength, or we become his vassals early on and share in the good fortune. My greatest gain today was meeting this legendary figure in person."

"It seems Fairy Cao already has a plan," someone said with a chuckle.

The woman nodded slightly. "If it were just my Cao Family seeking the Yinluo Sect as a patron, they likely wouldn’t be interested. Therefore, I wish to form an alliance with you, my fellow Daoists. What do you all think?"

Hearing this, everyone fell silent.

Meanwhile, after leaving the grand hall, Fang Cheng appeared outside the shop in the span of a few breaths.

He transformed into a formless and intangible strand of Celestial Ghost Sword Qi, hovering in the void. He watched the two brothers silently, not revealing himself.

Inside the building.

Jingxuan had already unraveled the fifth Grand Buddha Array and was heading toward the sixth floor with Jingyuan.

The arrays left in the building were all fragmented parts of the Bright Mandala Embryo Barrier. He already possessed a solid foundation in the Array Dao, ready for a breakthrough, and with the Array Spirit Maiden’s guidance, he quickly cracked the remnants.

Within his Sea of Consciousness, a supremely complex and inscrutable Grand Array was being outlined by countless points of spiritual light. Faint glimmers flowed through the array, and the Buddha Light seemed almost dreamlike.

The Array Spirit Maiden sat cross-legged in the center of the Grand Array. Her posture was elegant and serene, and under the glow of the Buddha Light, she possessed a somewhat sacred air.

The Bright Mandala Embryo Barrier.

According to the Array Spirit Maiden, it was a Fifth-rank Array!

Although she understood the principles behind the array’s transformations, actually setting one up was harder than ascending to heaven.

Not to mention, an ordinary Array Master couldn’t possibly refine the Array Flags and Array Discs needed for this Buddha Array. The treasure required to anchor the array’s core also had to be a Fifth-rank Magical Artifact, a Spiritual Object, or be personally suppressed by a Tribulation Realm Cultivator!

In the blink of an eye, Jingxuan broke the sixth Buddha Array. Jingyuan said nothing, but deep down, he was utterly impressed by his younger brother’s abilities.

’At this rate, it seems we might actually get that Fourth-rank Talisman!’

If it were any other shop, he might have been skeptical, but this place was backed by the Nine Nether Demon Sect. He was certain they must have a Fourth-rank Talisman.

’If they try to go back on their word and refuse to give it to us, then we’ll just have to ask Father to step in.’

He had grown up listening to his mother, Ye Yan, tell stories about his father. He knew his father’s cultivation and Divine Techniques far surpassed those of cultivators at the same level, and that he had on several occasions slain opponents of a higher Cultivation Realm.

’Now that Father has a Mid-stage Life Soul Cultivation, there’s probably no one in the entire Eastern Wilderness who can be his match!’

’Unless a Dharma Aspect expert appears, who can possibly contend with him?’

At this thought, his steps lightened as he followed Jingxuan toward the seventh floor...

On the ninth floor.

A water mirror floated in the air, showing the image of the two brothers ascending the floors.

Before the water mirror sat two women.

One of them was none other than the Saintess of the Nine Nether Demon Sect, Bing Wuyi.

She wore a light gauze robe and her fair, jade-like feet were bare. The thin fabric outlined her fiery, curvaceous figure, making her extremely alluring.

Beside her was a languid beauty in a half-sleeved gown with an embroidered bodice. Her hair was styled in a fluffy, playful falling-horse bun, and a faint three-petaled plum blossom mark adorned her forehead, giving her a sacred and elegant air that was hard to forget.

The Cyan Rattan Demon King of the Valley of Ten Thousand Beasts.

"This boy is quite something," the Cyan Rattan Demon King said softly, her beautiful eyes fixed on the water mirror. "I wonder which power managed to nurture such a remarkable Immortal Seed."

An odd expression appeared on Bing Wuyi’s charming face. "The features of these two youths bear a strong resemblance to an old acquaintance of mine. Could they be his descendants...?"

"Oh? Such a coincidence?" the Cyan Rattan Demon King said in surprise.

Bing Wuyi smiled faintly. "We’ll know whether they are or not when they come up. However, if they truly are his descendants, Demon King, I’m afraid you won’t be able to hold onto that Great Wei Cloud Terrace Talisman of yours."

The Cyan Rattan Demon King frowned. "If he truly has the skill, my Valley of Ten Thousand Beasts can afford a single Fourth-rank Talisman. But from the way you’re talking, it sounds like even my Valley of Ten Thousand Beasts can’t afford to offend this person you speak of?"

Bing Wuyi’s smile faded. She sighed softly and said with a serious expression, "That’s right."

A look of astonishment appeared on the Cyan Rattan Demon King’s face. Across the entire Eastern Wilderness, you could count the number of cultivators the Valley of Ten Thousand Beasts feared on one hand.

Each of these individuals was a peak cultivator within the Life Soul Realm, an almost invincible existence.

Among them was Bing Wuyi’s master, the Supreme Elder of the Nine Nether Demon Sect, Blood Demon Zhao Wuji.

There was also the Dharma Guardian Elder of the Nine Truths Sect, Kong Ji Taoist.

Beings such as these two had no children or descendants.

’So, a person who has descendants and also fits Bing Wuyi’s description... Could it be that Great Demon King from the Sea Emperor Hall?’

’But these two youths don’t have a demonic aura... ’

Although a Fourth-rank Talisman was not as valuable as a Fourth-rank Magical Artifact, for a major sect, it was still a treasure of strategic importance.

The fact that the Valley of Ten Thousand Beasts dared to offer a Fourth-rank Talisman as a prize in this collaboration with the Nine Nether Demon Sect showed how important this matter was.

The Cyan Rattan Demon King’s mind raced. Finally, she said, "If that’s the case, then this matter will likely have to involve yet another power..."