Chapter 22: The Spirit Talisman Performance

In a small valley deep within the Heavenly Punishment Mountains, purple flowers covered the ground, and lush grass grew abundantly. Within this valley stood twenty-three powerful cultivators at the Divination Spirit stage. A “Natural Invisibility Array” had already been set up here, masking the auras of these cultivators so that outsiders could not detect them. Outside the array, the scene appeared exactly as it should, in perfect harmony with nature, while inside, it concealed the fluctuations of their vital energies from external observation. Those whose spiritual awareness had not reached the early Consolidation stage could not see through this invisibility array.

At that moment, the twenty-three cultivators were divided into four groups, each sitting in a different direction. Among these groups was one that included Shi Jue and Leng Yu, along with six members of the Cangyang Valley’s guard team led by them. Shi Jue spoke with doubt, “Master Yanren, you said this Natural Invisibility Array would definitely prevent the beasts from detecting us, but it seems they’ve already noticed us.”

It turned out that Shi Jue had observed that the beasts in the Heavenly Punishment Mountains, such as the three-tailed dragon, had stopped in mid-air a hundred miles away and were no longer advancing, which led to his suspicion.

Yanren was the leader of Wanlu Lake, one of the three cultivation sects on Tianhua Continent. Wanlu Lake was renowned for its expertise in arrays and had established itself on Tianhua Star. On their headquarters island in Wanlu Lake, each island housed a powerful array designed to deter those with ulterior motives. This Natural Invisibility Array originated from Wanlu Lake.

Besides Shi Jue’s doubt, the leaders of the other two groups also looked at Yanren with confusion. These two leaders were the heads of the other two major cultivation sects: Dong Qing, leader of the Golden Soul Sect, and Qing Chuan, leader of the Yuanhuo Sect.

Shi Jue had long planted soul shackles on several disciples in the Immortal Slaying Valley. Thus, when the Heavenly Sound Insects led the beasts to destroy the valley, Shi Jue immediately became aware of it. After identifying the real culprits, he quickly met up with Leng Yu and then contacted the three cultivation sects, revealing the plan of the demonic cultivators in the Heavenly Punishment Mountains. He convinced the sect leaders, and together they came to the Heavenly Punishment Mountains to eradicate all the beasts.

Yanren, exuding an air of elegance, smiled upon seeing Shi Jue’s doubt and said, “Fellow Shi Jue, apart from cultivators at the Consolidation stage or above, it’s impossible for anyone else to detect any anomalies here. I think the beasts in the Heavenly Punishment Mountains might have noticed something else and are temporarily hovering in the air.”

Shi Jue, Dong Qing, Qing Chuan, and the others heard this and slowly nodded, temporarily believing Yan Ren’s explanation. Unexpectedly, at that moment, the voice of the Three-Tailed Dragon came from the air: “Shi Jue, Yan Ren, Dong Qing, Qing Chuan, can you people from the four directions come out of the Invisibility Formation?” The Divine Tool revealed everything it had discovered to the Three-Tailed Dragon, who then immediately shouted, “This is bad!” Shi Jue, Yan Ren, Dong Qing, and Qing Chuan, the four leaders, exchanged shocked looks. If the beasts could see through the Invisibility Formation, it meant there must be someone with a cultivation level above the Fusion Stage behind them. These four leaders, along with Leng Yu, were only at the Mid-Divine Split Stage. If there truly was someone above the Fusion Stage among the beasts, they would surely be easily killed, so they naturally became panicked. Just as the four leaders were in distress, the Three-Tailed Dragon, the Illusory Butterfly, the Heavenly Sound Insect, the Ice-Blood Ant, along with the beasts, had already arrived above the valley, shouting loudly with obvious mockery. “Guys, no matter if there’s a cultivator at the Fusion Stage or not, we have no choice but to fight to the death now,” Shi Jue said calmly. Yan Ren, Dong Qing, and Qing Chuan suddenly realized their situation—they would surely not be able to escape if there was indeed someone at the Fusion Stage among the beasts, so fighting to the death might give them a chance to survive. “Alright, let’s fight these beasts to the death,” the three leaders replied in unison. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! The twenty-three powerful beings at the Divine Split Stage, having failed in their ambush, all flew into the air. These twenty-three came from four groups: the Golden Soul Sect—Dong Qing, Dong De, Dong Ze, Dong Cong, Dong Hong, five in total; Wanlu Lake—Yan Ren, Yan Jia, Yan You, Yan Shan, Yan Xuan, also five; the Yuanhuo Sect—Qing Chuan, Qing Ping, Qing Gui, Qing Fu, Qing En, five again; and Shi Xian Valley—Shi Jue and Leng Yu, both at the Mid-Divine Split Stage, along with six members of the Cangyang Valley’s guard force. As these twenty-three flew into the air, Qu Yi, standing behind the beasts, laughed and shouted, “Guys, get the spirit talismans ready—let’s give these leaders a proper welcome.” It turned out that after learning there were twenty-three powerful beings at the Divine Split Stage, Qu Yi didn’t want the beasts of the Heavenly Punishment Mountains to fight to the death. He took out spirit talismans with the power of the Divine Split Stage obtained from the Spirit Talisman Cave and distributed them to the Three-Tailed Dragon and other beasts at that level. Qu Yi currently had only thirteen subordinates at the Divine Split Stage and didn’t want to risk them dying. However, he had nearly five hundred spirit talismans of that type—useless now, but perhaps useful in the future when his strength grew.

Therefore, Qu Yi decided to put on a grand performance with spirit talismans, allowing these twenty-three people to have a good ‘look’. As soon as he finished speaking, four mid-stage Divination Beast creatures—Three-Tailed Dragon, Illusional Butterfly, Heavenly Sound Insect, and Ice-Blood Ant—along with nine early-stage Divination Beast creatures—Golden Qilin, Flying Shadow Black Panther, Heavenly Winged White Tiger, Blizzard Ice Silkworm, Dark Scented Cold Fox, Four-Winged Flying Dragon, Thunder-Eye Dragon Sculpture, Phantom Dragonfly, and Golden Spotted Bee Queen—all took a spirit talisman and immediately activated it.

The Nine Swords of Void was a spirit talisman infused with metal energy, possessing only the power of early-stage Divination Beasts. When activated, nine golden swords, each a hundred meters long, appeared in the air within a kilometer and swung in an orderly pattern, forming a Sword Formation of Void. If struck by one of these swords, all the metal energy contained within it would instantly penetrate the body, completely destroying it.

The Crushing Force Talisman, a spirit talisman of mid-stage Divination Beast power, emitted corrupting wood energy. A wave of putrid aura, filled with intense notions of death, erosion, and destruction, would cause one to sink into despair, leading to immediate decay and death.

The Abyssal Yin Talisman was a spirit talisman that released water energy, also at mid-stage Divination Beast power. It carried the icy mist from polar abysses, capable of freezing a Nascent Soul to death, as well as Yin water that disrupted mental functions.

The Ten Rounds of Heavenly Fire Talisman was a spirit talisman that emitted fire energy, also at mid-stage Divination Beast power. It resembled true blue fire descending from the sky, delivering ten consecutive devastating blasts that destroyed everything in its path.

The Earth-Shattering Sky-Covering Talisman was a spirit talisman that released earth energy, also at mid-stage Divination Beast power. It turned the ground into flowing sand, encasing the body and causing the loss of vital energy, or it caused the sky to collapse, with countless boulders falling, leaving no escape and reducing a Nascent Soul to ashes.

The twenty-three powerful beings at the Divination Beast stage had just arrived when they were completely enveloped by thirteen spirit talismans.

The fury of the Nine Swords would erase one’s cultivation upon contact; the Crushing Force would destroy them with corrupting energy; the Abyssal Yin’s icy springs would crack their bodies; the Ten Rounds of Heavenly Fire would burn everything to ashes; the flowing sand and falling rocks would leave no place to hide.

The twenty-three people, clutching their magical treasures, urgently unleashed their life-saving techniques in a desperate attempt to resist. One after another, light barriers of vital energy rose, protective auras surrounded them, and spells isolated them from the outside world. With all their might, they fought against those thirteen spirit talismans.

“Ah! Ah! Ah!”

Cries of defiance and curses of resentment echoed throughout the Heavenly Punishment Mountains, accompanied by the explosions of Nascent Souls.

After one round of spirit talismans, all those at the early-stage Divination Beast level among the twenty-three died.

Dong Ze, Dong Cong, and Dong Hong from the Golden Soul Sect, Yan Jia, Yan You, Yan Shan, and Yan Xuan from Wanlu Lake, Qing Ping, Qing Gui, Qing Fu, and Qing En from the Yuanhuo Sect, and the six members of the Valley Protection Law Enforcement Team from the Immortal Slaying Valley—all were killed by the spirit talismans.

At this moment, amidst the raging storms of energy, only Dong Qing and Dong De from the Golden Soul Sect, Yan Ren from Wanlu Lake, Qing Chuan from the Yuanhuo Sect, and Shi Jue and Leng Yu from the Immortal Slaying Valley remained. These six mid-stage Divination Realm warriors were the only ones who could barely withstand the attacks of the spirit talismans.

However, when all thirteen spirit talismans were activated simultaneously, the collision of energies amplified their power to an even more formidable level, making it extremely difficult for these six to resist.

Finally, the thirteen spirit talismans exhausted their last traces of energy and were about to stop.

Dong Qing, Dong De, Yan Ren, Qing Chuan, Shi Jue, and Leng Yu longed for this moment and prepared to fly away quickly to escape the encirclement of the monsters. Due to resisting the attacks of the spirit talismans, they had already spent more than half of their vital energy. Realizing they could no longer fend off the monsters’ attacks, they could only try to escape and seek revenge later.

But at that moment, Qu Yi flew in the air and laughed, “The spirit talismans are very effective. Guys, let’s launch another round of attacks. I want to enjoy the sight properly.”

Hahaha!

The more than two hundred monsters in the Outward Emergence Realm standing behind Qu Yi laughed in unison, eagerly watching the thirteen monsters in the Divination Realm flying in the air.

Sure enough, as soon as Qu Yi finished speaking, the three-tailed dragon and the other thirteen monsters produced another spirit talisman each, reactivating all thirteen talismans that once again enveloped the six stubborn survivors.

Dong Qing, Dong De, Yan Ren, Qing Chuan, Shi Jue, and Leng Yu’s bodies were filled with blazing inner fire, but no matter how furious they were, there was no time to vent it. They could only quickly summon all their vital energy to protect their bodies and resist the attacks of the thirteen spirit talismans.

The Nine Swords Returning to Void Talisman, the Crushing All Things Talisman, the Earthly Abyss Yin Talisman, the Heavenly Fire Ten Extinctions Talisman, and the Earth Supporting Heaven Covering Talisman—five types of spirit talismans, totaling thirteen, were once again unleashed above the valley, mercilessly attacking the six. This time, their vital energy was almost completely exhausted.

After a long while, when the energy of the spirit talismans ran out and the intense energy in the world dissipated, the figures of the six finally became visible.

Dong Qing, Dong De, Yan Ren, Qing Chuan, Shi Jue, and Leng Yu lay limp on the ground.

“Wuyuan, come out. I’m giving these six to you,” Qu Yi said while flying in the air, releasing Wuyuan from the Dimensional Sphere with a laugh.

“Woooh, Qu Yi, you’re really a good person!” Wuyuan exclaimed joyfully.

As long as he drinks the life essence of these six people, he can advance to the middle stage of Spirit Splitting with just five yuan—how could he not be happy?