Chapter 1542: A bit redundant
"I’ll handle this."
Instead of Xiao Mu opening the way for them, Lin Fan stepped forward and opened up the array for them.
In fact, it was more efficient for Lin Fan to do so since all it took was a wave of the array flag. At this point, he could easily control the small part of the array that was used to hide this pavilion away.
It took far less time than it did with Xiao Mu and he didn’t have to rely on the token.
Seeing this, it didn’t seem like there was a reaction that came from Xiao Mu as its face was blank. But anyone that looked carefully could see the emotion that appeared in Xiao Mu’s eyes.
It wasn’t envy, it was a bit of helplessness over the fact that it had been replaced.
After the array was swept away, the pavilion revealed itself and it seemed like nothing more than a normal pavilion. But anyone that had a decent pair of eyes could see that there was something here.
This wasn’t the same as the array that had protected the last pavilion, but there was something that was similar about it.
"It’s talismans." Xiao Mu was the one that spoke.
Lin Fan already knew this since he had been able to figure it out just with the skills that he had obtained from the array pavilion. But he didn’t say anything since he didn’t want to be the one that stepped forward this time.
Lin Fan had already cleared quite a few of these pavilions, so he didn’t want to keep clearing more of them.
But the main reason was that it was hard to ignore the way that Ye Qing Huan and Xiao Mu looked at him. They clearly suspected him already and their gazes were to question him on it.
It was painful to have them keep looking at him like this, so he was sitting back this time.
It would also be good if Xiao Mu were to learn a bit more about these different professions.
Xiao Mu didn’t move after saying this and continued observing the area. But then all of a sudden, Xiao Mu took a step forward.
When it did, there were flames that appeared in front of it.
These flames gathered before being shot out, but they weren’t shot at Xiao Mu. Rather, it seemed like they were being shot at anywhere that Xiao Mu wasn’t standing.
However, it wasn’t as if this was a mistake.
The main reason for this was that there were other talismans that had been arranged around the area that absorbed the flames and then shot them in a different direction.
The one that had set up this array didn’t just use a single kind of talisman to create the array. They made sure to mix in all kinds of different talismans into this array, giving it the ability to adapt on the fly.
At the same time, there were all kinds of things that this array could do because it was made of all these different talismans.
After the flames were shot out again, they actually became more intense and moved even faster than before. It seemed like after they were absorbed, they had been infused with extra power that made them even stronger.
This was part of the extra ability that had been infused into this array by the talismans.
While Xiao Mu was following the flames, there was something else that was stirring.
It was hidden behind the flames, but there was another talisman that was releasing another attack.
It was supposed to be an attack that would catch the one defending off guard after they were hit with the flames.
Only this didn’t really have an effect on Xiao Mu.
All Xiao Mu did was use its body to shatter the attacks that came at it.
Even though Xiao Mu was made of wood, it wasn’t as if the materials that were used to make its body were weak. These were materials that allowed it to explode with the power of someone in the Rebirth Realm if it wanted.
As such, these flames really couldn’t do anything to Xiao Mu.
Neither could the hidden ice needles that came after the flames were scattered by Xiao Mu.
The one that had designed the array was quite interesting as they chose to use fire and ice together in one attack. But in the end, none of that mattered as these attacks just couldn’t break through Xiao Mu’s defenses.
As Xiao Mu was smashing its way through this array that had been placed at the door, Lin Fan was able to analyze the different talismans that made up this array.
While analyzing this, the expression on his face slowly changed as his eyes filled with...disappointment.
Even though this was something different from what he was used to, it wasn’t as if he found it that interesting.
This talisman array almost seemed a bit redundant in his eyes since it seemed like it focused more on the power of the talisman itself instead of actually forming a proper array.
The talismans were placed in a way where there was more focus placed on the different interactions that they had with each other. It wasn’t as if the array was designed in a way that took into account combining the power of the talismans.
Thinking of his past life, Lin Fan had read about talisman array techniques where one was able to inject a bunch of talismans into the array to increase their power and overwhelm opponents at higher levels of cultivation.
It was just that this array wasn’t that.
With his knowledge and vision, Lin Fan could see that the main focus of this array was, "It’s about identifying the talismans and finding the right way to deal with them. It isn’t an actual array."
Shaking his head, he really felt that this talisman array was a bit lacking because of this.
But he did have to admit that each of the talismans were meticulously crafted.
After Xiao Mu cleared the final talisman, the array broke apart and the door opened for them.
Xiao Mu had no hesitation as it went forward, but Lin Fan and Ye Qing Huan quickly followed behind it just in case the door closed on them. They had learned their lesson from the array pavilion.
After entering the pavilion, the test turned out to be quite simple.
This was an array that was dedicated to the profession of crafting talismans, so it was only natural that the test would be related to that. It was a simple test that was about seeing how Xiao Mu could identify what was wrong with the talisman samples that were prepared.
Xiao Mu didn’t have any problems identifying the errors, but there was something about this that Lin Fan and Ye Qing Huan found strange.
"There’s nothing stopping Xiao Mu from taking this trial?"
In the past, the owners of the pavilion would have stopped Xiao Mu from even approaching the trial, much less letting Xiao Mu take the trial. The only one that had actually allowed Xiao Mu to take the trial was the elder of the poison pavilion and that was because of the relation between her and Xiao Mu’s creator.
The fact that Xiao Mu wasn’t being stopped from taking this test seemed to go against everything that they had encountered so far.
But they didn’t say anything as they continued watching Xiao Mu pass the tests.
If the other side wasn’t going to say anything, there was no reason for them to say anything about this. They wanted to see just what the other side was planning for Xiao Mu.
The third test was just as expected.
It was to have Xiao Mu create a talisman on its own and show what it was capable of.
But this seemed to be the one that Xiao Mu actually struggled with the most.
After all, the knowledge that Xiao Mu was drawing on was the knowledge that came from the Dao Sect. It wasn’t knowledge that it had incorporated as its own and it was just a database that it was accessing.
Since this information wasn’t its own, it was only natural that it wasn’t able to use it the way that it wanted to.
It was like just reading the answers from a textbook without fully understanding them.
Lin Fan seemed to want to help Xiao Mu, but Ye Qing Huan stopped him.
She could see that there was this look in Xiao Mu’s eyes that showed that it hadn’t given up. Xiao Mu was clearly still trying to figure out a way to pass this trial on its own.
In that case, it wasn’t their place to interfere.
After a long silence, that was when Xiao Mu finally picked up the brush and started drawing.
With his knowledge, Lin Fan was able to tell that what Xiao Mu was doing was indeed unique. It seemed like it had been able to understand the material that it had been given and used it to create a unique talisman.
With that, there was no reason to worry about Xiao Mu not being able to pass the trial.
It was just that they were more worried about whether Xiao Mu would be allowed to pass the trial or not.
When Xiao Mu finally finished the talisman and put the brush down, there was silence that followed.
It didn’t seem like the other side was going to judge the talisman that Xiao Mu made with how silent they were.
That was until all of a sudden, a voice rang out.
"You pass."