Volume 1 Volume 6 Chapter 29

Volume 6 Chapter 29: Assistance, Shock (Part 3)

The art of talismans is a very deep branch of Taoist spells. A cultivator compresses the natural laws they understand into a small space, embedding them into talisman paper. Each type of talisman has its own power, but they cannot be used without the consent of the one who casts them, or if not done correctly; otherwise, they cannot be controlled.

Even Xu Qingfan was surprised that he could easily remove the "Spirit Sealing Talisman." He knew that, according to images in his mind, these talismans should have been used by a nine-tailed demon fox, and he had been ready to give up after studying them for a while.

However, after studying the "Spirit Sealing Talisman," Xu Qingfan was amazed to find that, although the talisman was stuck to the "Spirit Locking Ring," it did not fit with it. When he forced the power, the "Spirit Locking Ring" and "Spirit Sealing Talisman" boosted each other’s power but also repelled each other at the same time.

It seemed that the "Spirit Sealing Talisman" had its own unique way of being used. Although the nine-tailed demon fox had obtained the "Spirit Locking Ring" and "Spirit Sealing Talisman," it did not know how to use them correctly. Using the normal method to activate the spell only managed to unleash some power, but it caused the "Spirit Locking Ring" and "Spirit Sealing Talisman," which should have worked together, to repel each other.

Xu Qingfan had only used a small Taoist spell to create a little disturbance in the surrounding Spirit Qi to peel off the legendary talisman—the "Seal Talisman."

After a brief moment of shock, both Xu Qingfan and "Auspicious" and "Ominous" were filled with joy.

"Ominous" was even more impatient and couldn’t hold back, shouting, "Quickly take down all these charms! As long as these charms that trap my energy are gone, my power will decrease by at least thirty percent."

Without needing "Ominous" to remind him, Xu Qingfan also knew this. He carefully picked up the charms beneath his feet, as these precious charms might be very useful in the future, and then began to uncover the other charms.

Just like that, Xu Qingfan continuously peeled off the charms from the "Spirit Locking Ring" and put them in his sleeve. After half an hour, he had removed nine hundred ninety-nine "Spirit Sealing Talismans," filling his sleeve, and Xu Qingfan was quite pleased with his haul.

As more "Spirit Sealing Talismans" were removed, the purple mist around the "Spirit Locking Ring" gradually became much lighter.

Although getting nine hundred ninety-nine "Spirit Sealing Talismans" made Xu Qingfan very happy, the progress in solving the "Spirit Locking Ring" was not encouraging.

After all, the "Spirit Locking Ring" was a divine object. The death energy within the skull was immensely powerful and unmatched in corrosive strength, yet after a full three days, the death energy had only corroded a little more than two-thirds of one link in the long chain of the "Spirit Locking Ring."

Once all the "Spirit Sealing Talismans" were taken down, the speed of corrosion did speed up a bit, but it remained basically unchanged.

Compared to Xu Qingfan’s prediction of one day’s time, it had taken three times longer, but the "Spirit Locking Ring" was still not unlocked. Zhuyin and the nine-tailed demon fox could return at any time, and Xu Qingfan couldn’t help but feel anxious.

Just then, somewhere in the Southern Wasteland, the nine-tailed demon fox had already brought Kui back to the Southern Wasteland and found Zhuyin, who was running around wildly in the Southern Wasteland, following its scent.

Meanwhile, countless Earth-level and lower-level demon beasts, even those not as strong as heavenly-level demon beasts, were left far behind, with no mercy shown to them as they were endlessly hunted by the Righteous Alliance cultivators after their defeat, leaving behind many corpses.

Now, let me share some casual talk.

At that time, many of the fox demon clan’s descendants were hiding among the countless demon beast corpses. After the Righteous Alliance cultivators chased after them, they crawled out from the pile of bodies, constantly collecting the inner cores of the demon beasts that had been killed. This was part of the plan they had set long ago, and ever since the battle between the Southern Wasteland demon beasts and the Righteous Alliance cultivators began, the fox demon clan had been doing this. Fox demons are cunning and clever, and good at hiding, while the Righteous Alliance cultivators and Southern Wasteland demon beasts were focused on fighting, completely unaware of this situation.

The actions of the fox demons were part of the plan that the nine-tailed demon fox had established even before leading countless demon beasts into chaos in the Shenzhou Continent. Otherwise, with the intelligence of the nine-tailed demon fox, it would not have chosen to fight the Righteous Alliance knowing that the Southern Wasteland demon beasts were at a disadvantage. The argument that happened between the nine-tailed demon fox and Kui before the decisive battle was also because of this.

Kui and Zhuyin, being ancient wild beasts, naturally had a strong intimidation power over ordinary demon beasts. Forming an alliance with them was something they had to do, for without these two ancient demon beasts, the nine-tailed demon fox would not be able to control such a large number of Southern Wasteland demon beasts.

But now, the nine-tailed demon fox began to focus on training the abilities of its offspring and direct descendants.

Just as the nine-tailed demon fox expected, the Southern Wasteland demon beasts suffered great losses after invading the prosperous Middle-earth, while the fox demon clan seized the opportunity to acquire a large number of demon beast inner cores. Over the next several decades, many Earth-level and even heavenly-level demon beasts emerged from the fox demon clan, greatly increasing their strength and elevating them to a status equal to that of ancient demon beasts in the demon beast world.

After the Righteous Alliance cultivators finished chasing down the fleeing Southern Wasteland demon beasts and turned back, they discovered that a large number of demon beast inner cores had been taken by someone, but they couldn’t find out who did it.

Alright, let’s stop chatting.

After the nine-tailed demon fox returned to the Southern Wasteland, it discovered that Little Gold’s presence had suddenly vanished. While feeling both alarmed and furious, it noticed Zhuyin darting wildly around the Southern Wasteland, which made it even angrier. It roared at Zhuyin without waiting for an explanation, losing the rare calm demeanor it usually had as a demon beast.

For the nine-tailed demon fox, losing Little Gold was just a loss of a way to grow stronger, but if the two kylins broke free, it would lead to a life-or-death situation.

The nine-tailed demon fox was huge, standing dozens of tall units, but in front of Zhuyin, which was hundreds of tall units and stretched for miles, it looked tiny. Yet, when faced with its furious roar, Zhuyin, who had seemed so imposing before the master in black, didn’t dare to retort. It simply lowered its head and listened to the reprimand from the nine-tailed demon fox.

Fortunately, the nine-tailed demon fox, worried about the two kylins trapped in Black Mountain, only roared for a moment and then ignored Zhuyin, whom it regarded as foolish. It quickly flew deeper into the Southern Wasteland. With its speed reaching its peak, it covered the thousand-mile distance in an instant.

※※※※

Two days later.

"The nine-tailed has returned."

"Auspicious" had been watching the green skull corroding the "Spirit Locking Ring." At that moment, the "Spirit Locking Ring" was on the verge of collapsing. The purple aura on it was faint, but it still struggled to hold on. Suddenly, it trembled and spoke in a serious tone.

Hearing the words of "Auspicious," Xu Qingfan felt a rush of anxiety and asked, "Where is it now?"

"It is now less than a thousand miles away from us."

"Auspicious" focused even more intently on the green skull’s effect on the "Spirit Locking Ring," as if doing so could speed up its collapse. Usually calm, there was now a hint of urgency in its tone.

"Little Black!"

After hearing the words of "Auspicious," Xu Qingfan felt a jolt in his heart and decided to hold nothing back, shouting.

Little Black understood Xu Qingfan’s meaning and joined him at the point where the green skull met the "Spirit Locking Ring," each of them using their full strength to unleash Death Qi and Withered Qi, starting to eat away at the "Spirit Locking Ring."

Xu Qingfan’s Withered Qi and Little Black’s Death Qi, even together, were still over ten times weaker than the green skull. Even when combined, they couldn’t increase the speed much, but Xu Qingfan hoped to make it just a little faster, as it was now a matter of life and death.

After adding Xu Qingfan and Little Black’s power, the corrosion of the "Spirit Locking Ring" sped up a little, but to everyone’s eyes, it remained incredibly slow.

"We are only five hundred miles away now."

The voice of "Auspicious" became more urgent and serious.

Xu Qingfan clenched his teeth slightly; he had already used all his "Withered qi" to the fullest, and now his strength increased by three parts.

"They have arrived outside Black Mountain."

The voice of "Auspicious" was filled with a sense of despair.

"Crash!"

At that moment, a faint cracking sound was heard. After a full five days, the "Spirit Locking Ring" finally broke under the corrosion of death energy.

But this was just one of the four "Spirit Locking Rings" wrapped around the "Ominous" legs; three "Spirit Locking Rings" were still wrapped around the "Ominous."

"Woo…"

"Aow…"

"Hiss…"

At that moment, three different yet powerful roars sounded from outside the cave, the sounds continued and got closer to Xu Qingfan’s position.

The situation was very urgent.

But fortunately, after removing one "Spirit Locking Ring" and taking off all the "Spirit Sealing Talismans," "Ominous" had gained the ability to break free from the three "Spirit Locking Rings" on its own.

"Ow…"

"Ominous" also let out a roar, suddenly releasing an endless aura of fierce authority, its four legs continuously pounding heavily on the ground. The three "Spirit Locking Rings" wrapped around "Ominous" stretched and shrank repeatedly under its pull, making a constant creaking sound as they struggled under the weight.

"Crash!"

Another cracking sound rang out, but compared to the previous one, this one was much louder and clearer.

The nine-tailed demon fox, Kui, and Zhuyin, who were rushing into the mountain, also heard this breaking sound. The three roars became more anxious, and Xu Qingfan could vaguely see in the long dark tunnel leading into the mountain, six points of light, either red or green, shining fiercely with endless rage. These were the glowing eyes of the three demon beasts.

"Crash!"

Under "Ominous," the third "Spirit Locking Ring" broke.

But at the same time, among the three heavenly level demon beasts, the fastest, Zhuyin, with its enormous head, had already entered the mountain’s belly first, its fierce and shining eyes staring fiercely at one person and four beasts inside the mountain.