Cultivation: I Have a Golden Talisman

With the death of the Master of Ten Thousand Transformations Sect, the celestial anomaly in the sky dissipated.

Fang Cheng stepped out of the Feather Divine Soldier, collected the storage pouch of the Master of Ten Thousand Transformations Sect, and stared silently at his formidable foe for a moment.

He considered it for a moment, but instead of refining the corpse with the Li Hen Demon Light, he put it away.

The Master of Ten Thousand Transformations Sect had truly lived up to his reputation as a Late-stage Dharma Phase Cultivator. If it weren’t for that special Dream Spirit Incarnation, the battle would have been far from an easy victory. In fact, Fang Cheng might well have been utterly defeated.

It was a classic case of striking first, before being struck yourself.

Given the ways of the Ten Thousand Transformations Sect, unless he was willing to bow his head in submission and become a Spirit Slave refining Talismanic Coins for them, a confrontation with the Master of Ten Thousand Transformations Sect was inevitable.

After slaying such a formidable foe, Fang Cheng should have been elated, but instead, he was overcome with a sense of melancholy.

The path of cultivation was long and fraught with peril. The Master of Ten Thousand Transformations Sect himself had probably never imagined he would fall on this day, at the hands of such an unexpected enemy.

The thought put Fang Cheng on high alert.

He recalled the Feather Divine Soldier and transformed into a streak of Demonic Light, shooting through the clouds before appearing in the sky above Heaven Shepherd City in a flash.

The Cultivators in the city had been watching the great battle from afar. As the light dissipated, they saw a young man in wide, flowing robes emerge.

The crowd of Cultivators hastily bowed their heads, their hearts seized by terror.

Seeing this, Senior Sister Qin of Miaoxiang Tower felt her mind reel as her eyes filled with awe.

’To think that Elder Demon Fang of Yun Country is this powerful. I completely underestimated his strength... With his true power, he probably has few rivals in all of Jin Country!’

’The man he just killed... was that the Heaven Shepherd City Lord? To think the City Lord also had a Dharma Cultivation! And from the looks of it, he wasn’t an ordinary one, either...’

’There must be many secrets at play here. I have to report this to headquarters immediately!’

Fang Cheng passed through the City Defense Array and went straight to the City Lord’s Mansion.

He had already obtained the jade tablet from Shang Shang, the dao companion of the Master of Ten Thousand Transformations Sect, which gave him control over the City Defense Array and the restrictive formations of the City Lord’s Mansion. Entering the city was like walking into his own home.

The City Lord’s Mansion still contained many Spirit Servants and Maids from the Ten Thousand Transformations Sect. Fang Cheng showed no mercy. His sword light danced through the halls, and soon, no one was left alive.

One must pull up the weeds by the roots!

This included the mother-daughter pair, Shang Shang and Shang Youyi. While he was at the Qi Family Immortal Castle, he had Qi Huaisan and the other cultivators there eliminate that potential threat on his behalf.

Had their roles been reversed, he was certain the Master of Ten Thousand Transformations Sect would have been far more ruthless.

Since the entire Ten Thousand Transformations Sect had chosen this path of enslaving the world, they had to be prepared to suffer the consequences.

「A short time later.」

Fang Cheng appeared inside the Earth Palace of the City Lord’s Mansion.

This Pocket World Spiritual Building was rather peculiar. There were no mountains, rivers, Spirit Veins, or other structures inside—only a single, ancient, enormous, and solemn Divine Hall.

Bronze pillars stood like a forest within the hall. Ever-burning lamps hung on the walls, their brilliant light creating an atmosphere of mystery and silence.

The floor of the grand hall shone like a mirror, though its material was a mystery.

At the far end of the hall stood an enormous humanoid bronze statue, towering over three hundred zhang tall. Standing beneath it, Fang Cheng was like a tiny ant.

Fang Cheng examined the bronze statue closely. Its attire was most peculiar—ancient and simple, unlike the style of modern-day Cultivators.

One of the statue’s hands rested on its chest, forming an unknown hand seal. The other rested over its Dantian, forming another strange hand seal.

Behind the statue floated seven golden wheels. Each wheel was filled with countless bizarre patterns depicting all of creation, seemingly containing infinite profundities.

Fang Cheng’s heart stirred. The statue’s expression was solemn, yet it also seemed to hold a hint of compassion. Its hand seals were exceptionally strange. For a fleeting moment, it felt to Fang Cheng as though the statue wasn’t forming hand seals, but holding heaven and earth in its grasp.

At the same time, the Creation Golden Talisman in his sea of consciousness trembled slightly, and a new line of text materialized.

[Talisman Master] Fang Cheng

[Divine Power Technique]

Nine Revolutions Profound Origin Technique - Novice (0/9000)

"So this is the source of the Master of Ten Thousand Transformations Sect’s legacy!"

A look of sudden understanding dawned on Fang Cheng’s face.

He formed a hand seal with one hand, making a tentative attempt. Instantly, a vast and surging power condensed in his palm.

HUMMM!

A low rumble echoed from the void, accompanied by the sound of countless deep voices chanting. It wasn’t a Buddhist chant, however; it sounded more like voices paying homage to the great deeds of a mortal emperor.

One after another, round Talismanic Coins with square holes materialized in the air around Fang Cheng before converging and surging into his body.

"I see!"

Fang Cheng released the hand seal, and the phenomena around him vanished.

This legacy was a Divine Technique for "attaining sanctity through the physical body," a remnant from some unknown sect of the Ancient Era.

Its cultivation method involved refining Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi into Merit Talismanic Coins, then using those coins to temper the physical body, endlessly enhancing it and unlocking its hidden potential.

Presumably, after the Master of Ten Thousand Transformations Sect comprehended the legacy from the bronze statue and cultivated all the way to the Dharma Realm, he must have found his own speed of refining Merit Talismanic Coins too slow. That must be why he came up with the idea of having the world’s cultivators sustain him.

With an endless supply of Talismanic Coins to refine, he might truly have had a chance to break through to the Tribulation Realm.

And he had been cautious enough, specifically targeting small, remote nations like the Wood, Lu, and Yun Countries, while avoiding the eight major powers of the Jin Country.

To hide his strength, he didn’t even touch the "grass around his own den," leaving the entirety of Mu Tianyuan alone.

Unfortunately for him, he ran into Fang Cheng...

At that moment, as Fang Cheng gazed at the massive bronze statue, a different idea took root in his mind.

The statue was made of "Profound Gold and Red Copper," an excellent Artifact Refining Material, suitable as a base for many Fourth- and Fifth-rank Magical Artifacts.

Fang Cheng knew the refinement method for a Tier Five Feather Divine Soldier. Since returning from the Xuanyu Realm, he had collected a fair amount of Profound Iron Immortal Gold, but he had found few materials that could compare to the Profound Gold and Red Copper of this statue.

Although it seemed a shame to destroy the statue, which contained the legacy of the Nine Revolutions Profound Origin Technique, a Tier Five Feather Divine Soldier was far more valuable in comparison.

Fang Cheng took out a Mountain Moving Talisman, infused it with Magical Power, and pressed it against the bronze statue.

The next moment, a vast spiritual light erupted, instantly enveloping the enormous bronze statue. Then, with a flash of light, the statue vanished from the hall, leaving only a dazzling silver Talisman suspended quietly in the air.

Upon the Talisman was a hazy white mirage, slowly rotating. At its center was the very same bronze statue.

Fang Cheng collected the Mountain Moving Talisman and moved to the spot where the statue had stood. After a brief search, he found a mechanism and opened a hidden doorway.

Behind the door was a Treasure Vault, containing all the wealth the Ten Thousand Transformations Sect had accumulated over the years.

Compared to the Qiankun Saint Sect in the Wilderness Domain, the treasures in this vault paled in quantity, but when it came to Tier Three and Tier Four Treasures, it was by no means lacking.

In total, there were over a dozen kinds of Fourth-rank Magical Artifacts, medicinal pills, Talismans, and Spiritual Objects.

In addition, there were various Secret Technique Jade Scrolls and books, mountains of Spirit Stones, and a large quantity of unrefined Talismanic Coins.

*

*

*

The Council Hall, City Lord’s Mansion, Heaven Shepherd City.

Fang Cheng sat on the main seat, looking out at the assembled Life Soul Cultivators in the hall.

The Life Soul Elders of Mu Tianyuan’s eight great families were all present.

Aside from the Qi Family, who had been the first to pledge allegiance, the other seven families had all participated in the attack against him. With the exception of those he had already killed, Fang Cheng had placed a Divine Soul Prohibition on all the remaining elders as punishment.

Word of the earth-shattering battle outside Heaven Shepherd City a few days prior had already spread. There were many private speculations about the strength of the "Smiling Wanderer," but everyone agreed on one thing: he was no weaker than any of the Dharma Great Powers in Jin Country.

Now that the Smiling Wanderer had unified the eight great families of Mu Tianyuan and possessed the combat strength of a Dharma Realm expert, he could stand on equal footing with the Five Sects, Two Towers, and One Hall of Jin Country.

The upper echelons of the Qi Family were in high spirits, already subtly positioning themselves as the foremost of the eight great families.

At the Qi Family’s initiative, the Heaven Shepherd Alliance was formed. Fang Cheng served as the Alliance Leader, overseeing all matters.

Qi Huaisan was appointed Vice Alliance Leader, while also serving as the City Lord of Heaven Shepherd City.

Another Life Soul Loose Cultivator from Mu Tianyuan joined the alliance, also taking on the role of Vice Alliance Leader.

The Life Soul Cultivators from the remaining great families were all appointed as Elders.

The Heaven Shepherd Alliance was built with the disciples of the eight great families as its backbone, absorbing Loose Cultivators and mortal Immortal Seeds as its flesh and blood. All Divine Techniques and Secret Techniques, excluding each family’s core legacies, were shared. Anyone who contributed to the alliance could earn merit points and exchange them for these resources.

Everyone knew full well that this was essentially the path to establishing a formal sect.

Once the master-disciple lineages from outside the great families grew strong enough, a true sect could be officially founded.

After establishing the Heaven Shepherd Alliance, Fang Cheng issued two commands.

The first was to eradicate all traces of their enemy. He dispatched the alliance’s experts to the Wood, Lu, and Yun Countries to hunt down the remnants of the Ten Thousand Transformations Sect and eliminate anyone connected to its former master.

The second was to gather three types of resources: Spiritual Medicine, Profound Iron Immortal Gold, and Dao Pattern Spirit Jade.

The Spiritual Medicine was for the White Tiger Divine Pill, which would determine if Fang Cheng could break through to the Dharma Realm in a short period.

The Profound Iron Immortal Gold was for a future Tier Five Feather Divine Soldier. This was a long-term plan, stocking up in advance, as he was still a long way from being able to refine one.

Afterward, Fang Cheng and all the cultivators in the hall worked together to refine a Magical Artifact known as the Command of the Alliance Leader.

This token, much like a Contract Jade, contained the blood essence and soul oaths of all the great Life Soul Cultivators. To hold the command was to wield Fang Cheng’s own authority. Anyone who defied it could have their divine soul effortlessly obliterated by the holder.

With this, the original power structure of Mu Tianyuan was completely overturned.

Many lower-level Loose Cultivators found that with the emergence of the Heaven Shepherd Alliance, their path of cultivation was now filled with new opportunities and resources. It was a thousand times better than their previous existence, surviving on scraps in the shadow of the eight great families.

Those fortunate enough to pass the Heaven Shepherd Alliance’s assessments and join could gain access to a wealth of resources, including Cultivation Methods, rare medicinal pills, Spirit Stones, Talismans, and Secret Techniques.

As long as one had talent and the will to strive, there was now a clear path for advancement!

"Alliance Leader, Elder Qin of Miaoxiang Tower requests an audience."

In the council hall, not long after the other cultivators had departed, a Maid entered and spoke respectfully.

Fang Cheng nodded. "Show her in, and serve tea."

The Maid turned and left, returning shortly after with two beautiful women.

The woman in the lead wore a simple, elegant long dress. Her temperament was dignified, poised, and radiant. Her cultivation had already reached the Life Soul Realm, her vast power subtly restrained.

The woman behind her was dressed in an ice-blue palace gown. Her figure was full and curvaceous, and her rounded hips swayed like ripe peaches as she walked.

Her fair, beautiful face had a pure and serene quality, but the gaze she directed at Fang Cheng held a distinct, coquettish allure.

It was none other than Miss Wan’Er of Miaoxiang Tower.

...