Chapter 230: A Hidden Dragon Returns to the Sea, a Swallow to its Nest

Xing gave a wry smile. “Next time we run into him, he’ll have surely recovered his strength. When we see him then, we should just run. What ‘kill him’?”

While Lan Yan and Xing were chatting, Qin Haoxuan was also using his spiritual sense to probe the restriction on the Qiankun Talisman. In the short time they had been talking, he had already probed it several times and had figured out a few of the simple inscriptions within. This restriction, set by the Spirit Tree Realm’s Yunhe, was ridiculously simple compared to the two restrictions in The Great Art of Talismans.

After figuring it out, he, who had studied restriction inscriptions with Xing for a time, no longer needed to ask for his help. He used his spiritual sense to condense a series of Spiritual Imprint Arrays, laid out an extremely simple spiritual sense array, and directly broke the Qiankun Talisman’s restriction.

As the restriction was broken, a faint spiritual energy rippled out, attracting the attention of the chatting Xing and Lan Yan.

“Quick, quick, open it and see what’s inside!” Xing grew excited. This business of killing and plundering for spoils was his favorite thing.

Following his words, Qin Haoxuan took out one hundred low third-grade spirit stones and infused their spiritual energy into the talisman. He then saw a five-foot cubic space. Inside this space were many items. Among them was a pile of low third-grade spirit stones, roughly estimated to be around thirty thousand. There was also a strangely shaped object that looked like a key. This key had another restriction on it. When Qin Haoxuan probed it with his spiritual sense, he found that this restriction was countless times more complex than the one on the Qiankun Talisman itself. He was certain this key did not belong to Yunhe. With his pitifully weak spiritual sense, he certainly could not have opened it.

Besides the key, there was also a giant tortoise shell. It had a few ancient patterns on it, and the lines were sparse, looking as if it were quite old. Beside the shell were three bronze coins, not the current currency of the Soaring Dragon Nation. It seemed this tortoise shell and the coins were tools for divination. And looking at how large the shell was, and its sparse yet special patterns, and the ancient, deep aura it exuded, it had to be some kind of very special tool for innate calculation.

In addition, there were some miscellaneous items. These other things were probably nothing to a Spirit Tree Realm cultivator like Yunhe, but to Qin Haoxuan, they were good things, such as pills to quickly recover spiritual energy and pills to rapidly heal injuries.

Seeing the items inside this space, Xing’s eyes went wide. He shouted, “Treasures! Treasures!” It was unclear if he was talking about the Qiankun Talisman or the items inside it.

However, Qin Haoxuan now understood that this Qiankun Talisman was a small spatial spiritual talisman where one could store things. It just cost one hundred low third-grade spirit stones to open. He wanted to get a clearer look at the items inside, but suddenly, the talisman flashed, and the space disappeared.

“Why did it close on its own?” he asked Xing with surprise.

Xing covered his mouth and laughed. “This Qiankun Talisman requires one hundred low third-grade spirit stones to open once, and the energy from those hundred stones can only support it for ten to twenty breaths.”

Lan Yan also laughed, clearly also thinking that Qin Haoxuan was a country bumpkin.

He was stunned for a moment, then cursed, “Holy crap, this thing is just a money-burning toy! Who can afford to use something so expensive?”

“You’re selling a favor after getting a good deal. There are so many good things in that talisman; you’ve hit the jackpot,” Xing laughed. “If that Yunhe knew his Qiankun Talisman had been dropped, he would surely be frantically searching for you to fight to the death, wahaha!”

Xing had very high standards. For him to call something a good thing, it certainly couldn’t be bad. Qin Haoxuan smiled with satisfaction. “That’s right, thirty thousand low third-grade spirit stones! I’ve become a rich man too. For a short time, I won’t have to worry about spirit stones anymore.”

Who knew that before his words had even faded, Lan Yan would laugh. “You’re this happy over thirty thousand low third-grade spirit stones? To make a single Talisman Horse costs one hundred thousand low first-grade spirit stones. Your thirty thousand low third-grade stones are only worth three low first-grade ones.”

Qin Haoxuan was in a great mood and didn’t get angry with the girl. He retorted with a grin, “Why don’t you give me one low third-grade spirit stone? Do you have any?”

Lan Yan shook her head. “No.”

“Then there you have it. Compared to you, I have thirty thousand low third-grade spirit stones. I am a rich man,” he couldn’t help but laugh. Just a few days ago, he had worked himself to the bone to kill Hua Yang and the others, only to earn ten thousand low second-grade spirit stones. Today, he had gotten thirty thousand low third-grade ones from Yunhe. After subtracting the cost of infusing the Bifang and the stones used for escaping, he still had a net income of twenty thousand low third-grade spirit stones. For a considerable period of time, he wouldn’t have to worry about spirit stones. How could he not be happy?

“Hey, right, that tortoise shell and three bronze coins in your Qiankun Talisman just now, they’re very special divination tools. Take them out, and I’ll do a divination for you,” Lan Yan said, not wanting to get entangled in the issue of spirit stones and thus changing the subject.

“Well, since we don’t know what to do next, it would be good for you to divine for us.” Qin Haoxuan also remembered the ancient-looking tortoise shell and coins. With thirty thousand spirit stones as his backing, he unhesitatingly took out another hundred and opened the Qiankun Talisman’s space.

He reached his hand inside and touched the ancient tortoise shell. A strange aura was transmitted through his hand to his mind, giving him a feeling of the vastness of time. No matter how hard he tried, the tortoise shell wouldn’t budge. And the three bronze coins were also as if they had taken root, completely immovable. As he looked at the large tortoise shell, he even briefly lost his senses, and an inexplicable feeling of reverence welled up in his heart.

He couldn’t move them, but Lan Yan didn’t believe it. She walked over and said, “Let me try.” She reached her hand into the space and, when she touched the large shell, a strange expression flashed across her face. Then, she circulated the spiritual energy in her arm and tried to move it. But even when her face was flushed red with effort, the shell did not move. Next, she tried to move the coins, but the three of them, which were about the same size as ordinary coins, also seemed immovable.

“What a strange feeling,” she said, withdrawing her hand, carefully recalling the tremor she had felt in her heart when she had touched the items. Reverence. It was definitely reverence, she thought. Just like when I see the elders of my sect performing a divination, a reverence for the Heavenly Dao, for life.

Xing, not to be outdone, said, “Let me try!”

In the end, after they had all tried, the three of them looked at each other. No matter how hard they tried, the tortoise shell and the three bronze coins would not move, as if they had fused with the space itself.

Lan Yan rolled her eyes. “Forget it, forget it. I can do it without them.”

“You really know how to do divination?” Qin Haoxuan looked at her with surprise. “If your divinations were accurate, you wouldn’t have been captured.”

Lan Yan’s small nose wrinkled. “Who said my calculations are not accurate? Although there was a small calamity, a small setback in the middle, am I not fine now?”

Xing persuaded him, “Let her do it. In any case, we don’t know how. We can listen if her divination suits our hearts, and not listen if it doesn’t.”

Qin Haoxuan thought that made sense. Since he didn’t know what to do next anyway, he might as well listen to her divination.

“Are you going to do it or not?” Lan Yan looked at Xing with displeasure. This fellow had no reverence at all for the sacred art of divination. “With no sincerity at all. How many people beg me for a divination, and I don’t even agree.”

“Do it,” Qin Haoxuan nodded.

Lan Yan took out her own small tortoise shell, only one-tenth the size of the large one, and three bronze coins and began her calculation. The patterns on this small shell were numerous, and although it also had a somewhat ancient feel, it was far inferior to the large one in the Qiankun Talistan.

She placed the three coins in the shell, then covered both ends with her delicate white hands, closed her eyes, and began to chant and shake it. Qin Haoxuan noticed that as she shook it, the difficult and cunning look on her face was swept away, replaced by one of piety and holiness. The cute and difficult Lan Yan was gone, replaced by a pious and holy one. As she shook it, the tortoise shell and the air produced a strange resonance. Guided by the spiritual energy she released, the shell vibrated even more intensely, and the three coins inside rattled. A very strange and wonderful feeling rose in Qin Haoxuan’s heart.

He looked at her with astonishment. He had agreed to let her do a divination but had never really believed that a little girl could actually perform such a task. After all, divination was not as simple as just taking a tortoise shell and a few coins and shaking them. It involved the profound mysteries of heaven and earth, the eight trigrams and the six arts, personal fortune, and the principles of the Heavenly Dao, among many other complex elements.

Xing and Qin Haoxuan exchanged a look, clearly also amazed by her methods. He saw the doubt in Qin Haoxuan’s eyes and said, “Let her finish. In any case, we don’t know how. There’s no harm in listening to her calculation.” Although Xing was from the Netherworld and usually acted irreverently, in the depths of his heart, he still held a great reverence for things like divination. Divination was a profound art that encompassed the creations of heaven and earth.

Finally, she stopped shaking the tortoise shell, but the three coins inside were still jumping about, striking each other with a clear, crisp sound. She released one hand, and the three coins fell to the ground. She looked at the hexagram, and after a moment of contemplation, said, “The hexagram says, ‘A hidden dragon returns to the deep sea, a lone swallow should return to its nest.'”

“Go back?” Qin Haoxuan was taken aback. Thinking of Master Chi Lian, who would surely not let him go easily, he shook his head. “Calculate again, calculate again. I absolutely cannot go back.”

Lan Yan would not have it. Her large, watery eyes widened in anger. “How can you be like this? If you’re just going to keep doing it until you get the hexagram you want, then what’s the point of divination?”

Qin Haoxuan frowned. “I’ll be a dead man if I go back now. Do you want to see me die? If I die, you’ll be all alone and helpless.”

Xing also remembered that if they went back and ran into Master Chi Lian, he would surely capture Qin Haoxuan without mercy. With his deep resentment, it would be difficult to even commit suicide at that point. So, he also chimed in, “Exactly, exactly! Do it one more time.”

“You two have no reverence at all!” she scolded them, and then, with a look of helplessness, did it one more time. “This time, the hexagram says you should find a place to hide and increase your strength, and then go back.”

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