Chapter 8: The Mutated Earth Dragon (Part 2)

The Earth Dragon was completely in a state of confusion, unaware that someone was approaching its head. It only struggled frantically.
Qi Nanshan moved at incredible speed, reaching the Earth Dragon’s massive head in just a few breaths. He raised his talisman sword high, and a greenish glow flashed from it. With a loud shout, he thrust the sword downward with force.
The blade pierced straight into the Earth Dragon’s brain. Although its brain was small compared to its body, it was still enormous to Qi Nanshan. This single strike ended the Earth Dragon’s life. With a loud crash, the dragon collapsed to the ground, convulsing.
The poor Earth Dragon died in humiliation, not even managing to launch a talisman attack.
Guo Shier celebrated by jumping up, but Huo Bao panicked and grabbed him, pulling him away from the cliff’s edge. “Shier, be careful! Don’t fall!”
“Let’s go down!”
An Earth Dragon was an invaluable treasure. A mutated one, además, a talisman beast—its value was immeasurable. Guo Shier excitedly ran over to Luo Jie. He suddenly noticed that Luo Jie’s face was covered in cold sweat and asked, “Master, why are you…?” Not knowing what to say, he simply took out a towel to wipe his master’s sweat.
Luo Jie said, “Shier, we’re really lucky. Hehe, I’m still scared… so scared!”
Guo Shier was puzzled. “Scared? What is there to fear, Master? The Earth Dragon is dead, isn’t it?”
Luo Jie replied, “That’s why I say we’re lucky. If the Earth Dragon had just a little more strength, my Thorny Sky Wheel might not have been able to break through its defenses. If it had stayed conscious enough to avoid the continuous attacks of the Thorny Sky Wheel, it might have escaped. Hehe, on our own, we simply couldn’t have stopped such a huge creature.”
Only then did Guo Shier realize that his master didn’t even have a 10% chance of defeating the Earth Dragon. He was filled with admiration—his master was truly wise, excelling at seizing opportunities. From decisively intervening to strike at the Earth Dragon, he maximized that slim chance and ultimately succeeded, with no one hurt in the process.
Luo Jie laughed and said, “Finally, we can reap the rewards. Haha, this is the temptation of the secret realm!”
Guo Shier followed Luo Jie down. When he reached the Earth Dragon’s body, he couldn’t help but exclaim, “How can we dismantle such a huge creature? We don’t have even a few months… can we really finish processing such a massive body?”

Luo Jie laughed and said, “It’s not that exaggerated. Let’s take it step by step. Hehe, this is the moment of harvest—our most joyful moment as spellcasters. It’s about enjoying and uncovering treasures… Let’s act quickly. First, collect and purify the blood. This time I’ll use the Sixteen-Symbol Purification Method. Watch carefully.”

Guo Shier was shocked. The Sixteen-Symbol Purification Method required the use of one’s personal talisman book and was considered a top-tier purification technique. He replied loudly, “Yes.”

Huo Bao and the others also climbed down. Guo Shier said, “Baozi, you guys go down and search around the cliff face. I think there should be many treasures there—those who managed to reach here despite the sand veil must be quite powerful. Anything that survived must be valuable. Go look!”

Luo Jie thought for a moment before showing a delighted expression. He called out, “Luo Zhan, come here!”

Luo Zhan rushed over and asked, “Elder, what’s the matter?”

Luo Jie smiled and said, “Take some people down and search at the foot of the cliff for anything valuable.”

Guo Shier rolled his eyes and quickly said, “If we find anything, I want my share too.”

Luo Jie scolded him jokingly, “You little money-grubber! Alright, you’ll definitely get your share.” He patted the body of the Earth Dragon vigorously and said, “Look at its scales—so beautiful, covered in natural talismanic patterns.”

“Da Shan! Da Shan!”

Qi Nanshan jumped off the Earth Dragon and said, “Elder, congratulations!”

The two burst into laughter. Luo Jie said, “I never thought I’d be able to hunt such a talismanic beast even in old age. Hehe, Da Shan, help me find the Earth Dragon’s bloodline and create an opening.” His voice was filled with joy.

Qi Nanshan took his talisman knife and found the wound cut by the Thorny Sky Wheel. He said, “We should be able to find it from here. Elder, give me a tube!”

Luo Jie handed him a refined talisman tube and said, “Insert it into the bloodline. Be careful.” Then he took out several talisman bottles and handed them to Guo Shier, saying, “Once I’ve purified the blood, you collect it in these bottles. One bottle can hold about 300 pounds.”

Guo Shier, holding the four bottles, followed Luo Jie eagerly.

Qi Nanshan plunged the talisman tube into the Earth Dragon’s wound, making Guo Shier break into a cold sweat—this guy was absolutely fierce. Soon, he used his talisman knife to cut through thick blood vessels and inserted the tube, shouting, “Done!”

The talisman tube floated automatically. Luo Jie exhaled a silver mist, which transformed into his life talisman book in front of his chest. He tapped the book lightly, causing a talisman to fly out; he tapped again, and so on—sixteen times in total, producing sixteen talismans that formed a hemispherical shape. Calmly, he said, “Spin!” The sixteen talismans began to spin rapidly, generating a powerful suction force that reached into the talisman tube, causing blood to gush out instantly.

“Refine!”

Guo Shier held a bottle beneath the sixteen talismans, and the purified blood dripped into the bottle one by one. Over time, the bright red blood formed a thin stream, which gradually turned into a flow of blood rushing into the bottle. Guo Shier calculated carefully, with three more bottles ready at his feet for replacement.

The sixteen talismans spun swiftly, producinga large amount of mist—the impurities that had been removed.

After about six hours, all four bottles were filled. Guo Shier took out the bottle he had prepared and said with a smile, “Master, give this one to me.”

Luo Jie nodded. “There isn’t much left. I’ll give it all to you.”

This talisman bottle was made by Guo Shier himself and was much inferior to Luo Jie’s—capable of holding only about a hundred pounds of liquid. Gradually, the flow of blood became thinner, turning into a stream before dropping drop by drop. Luo Jie said, “That’s it. It’s a pity… There’s not much blood left from this Earth Dragon; most of it has disappeared.”

The Earth Dragon’s body had shrunk significantly. It was unknown what was in the sand veil that could drain its flesh, but fortunately, it hadn’t been exposed to the sand veil for long, otherwise not even this little amount of blood could have been collected.

After putting away the sixteen talismans, Luo Jie excitedly took out a giant talisman sword. The old man actually wanted to handle the dismemberment of the Earth Dragon himself, which scared Qi Nan Shan into rushing to stop him. He said, “Hey… Hey! Old man, let me do it… I’ll handle it. You just give instructions—don’t! Don’t be impulsive!”

Guo Shier almost burst into laughter. He said, “Master, your disciple truly admires you, deeply admires you!”

Luo Jie asked in surprise, “Shier, why are you laughing?”

Guo Shier held back his laughter and said seriously, “Master, the way you hold that giant talisman sword… it’s really scary!” An old man with a hunched back holding a huge sword looked utterly bizarre, no wonder Guo Shier laughed. Not to mention Qi Nan Shan refusing to let him do it, even Guo Shier himself couldn’t bear to see his master handle it personally.

“A disciple should take on the labor when necessary. Hehe, Master, let me do it!”

Guo Shier stepped forward to take the sword. But his appearance became even more comical—like a little monkey wielding a big sword—making Luo Jie laugh heartily.

Qi Nanshan smiled bitterly and said, “Sigh, you two… Guo Shier, you’d better go rest aside. I can’t bear to have a child do the work.”
Guo Shier was unwilling to give up and said, “What’s the big deal? I can dissect this Earth Dragon.”
Qi Nanshan didn’t say much and simply said, “Hmm, then make a cut on the Earth Dragon!”
Guo Shier exerted all his strength, thrusting the talisman knife hard at it. With a clang, the knife left a faint white mark on the Earth Dragon’s body. He was surprised and said, “Huh? It’s so hard?” He kept chopping and stabbing with the talisman knife for over ten minutes until he was finally too exhausted to stand, sitting down on the ground and sighing, “What the heck is this? Why is it so hard?”
Qi Nanshan picked up the talisman knife with a smile and said, “This is a mutated Earth Dragon! One of the fiercest land talisman beasts. Even after death, those without strength can’t do anything to it.”
Guo Shier smiled bitterly and said, “I was too hasty. Actually, if there were an existing wound, cutting from there would be much easier.”
Qi Nanshan laughed heartily, picked up the talisman knife, and went to the wound on the Earth Dragon to start cutting. He said, “It’s a pity that most of the flesh on the Earth Dragon’s outer layer has withered away. Only its skin and scales are still in good condition.”
Luo Jie carefully examined the scales on the Earth Dragon. Each scale was as big as a washbasin, three fingers thick, with sharp edges, and each had natural talisman patterns. He exclaimed, “Natural talisman bodies—no matter what talismans are made from them, they’re the best bases. Heh, I wonder how many scales this Earth Dragon has.”
Qi Nanshan let out a long shout, calling those who had gone outside back. He couldn’t dissect this huge Earth Dragon alone. Soon, everyone who had gone outside returned. Huo Bao said, “Shier, there are many bones. We don’t have time to search carefully… Why did Grandpa Nanshan ask us to come back?”
Guo Shier laughed and said, “Let’s get to work first. Heh, such a huge Earth Dragon will keep us busy for a while.”
The physical labor was done by the talisman warriors, while the smaller tasks fell to Guo Shier and the other five. Luo Jie directed everything, providing more than a dozen large talisman storage bags. Dissecting an Earth Dragon wasn’t something just anyone could do—it involved many tricks and considerations. With Luo Jie directing on-site, they wouldn’t damage these rare and valuable items.
The valuable parts of the Earth Dragon were its blood, scales, skin, dragon tendons, bones, and internal organs. Among them, the most useful and priceless was its heart, one of the key materials for creating a life talisman book.
“Elder, I’ve found the Earth Dragon’s heart!”

Qin Nanshan climbed out of the earth dragon’s belly, covered in blood. Luo Jie said excitedly, “Let’s go take a look, Shier, come with us!”