Chapter 1: Compensation (Part 1)

The Beast Sorcerer felt deceived by his son, but since he had come this far, right or wrong, he had to avenge his son. He sighed inwardly—his son had great potential and talent, having advanced to Beast Sorcerer in his twenties. This had led to an arrogant personality. Living not with the West Symbol Sect but following him to Qin Guang City, he relied on the sect’s reputation to look down even on the Qin family, becoming increasingly domineering.
“What audacity! Wait until I catch you… then we’ll see if I still have the right to know! I, Wu Qing, want to see whose disciple you really are!”
Luo Zhan and Xiao Feng stepped forward to protect Guo Shier and the other five children. Luo Zhan sneered, “If you want to stir up conflict between the two sects, go ahead. But… the consequences won’t be something a mere Beast Sorcerer like you can handle!” His words sounded weak, as he needed to protect Guo Shier and the others.
When their path was blocked, Qin Zilu quickly ran away to report back.
Guo Shier said, “Catch me? Heh, give it a try!” He wasn’t afraid, as he possessed ancient talismans and his life talisman ball. By certain standards, he already qualified as a Sorcerer, though his lack of foundational knowledge kept him from meeting those standards. In terms of combat strength, he was no weaker than any other Sorcerer.
Luo Zhan hesitated. He knew Guo Shier was strong, but killing a representative of the West Symbol Sect in Qin Guang City would be troublesome, especially since their next stop was the West Symbol Sect. He whispered, “Shier, do we really have to fight?”
Guo Shier replied helplessly, “It’s not up to me. Heh, Uncle Luo, when they attack later, just hold them off for a while—leave the rest to me!” He couldn’t afford to be careless either. If caught by this guy, even just a few slaps would be unbearable.
It was standard combat formation for Beast Warriors to protect Beast Sorcerers. With a Beast Sorcerer present, the Beast Warrior’s role was merely to protect them, as it was the Beast Sorcerer who possessed the powerful offensive abilities.
Luo Zhan and Xiao Feng took out their talisman tools, and Huo Bao and the other three also pulled out theirs, surrounding Guo Shier. Guo Shier and his opponents simultaneously activated their talismans.

With a flick of his hand, Wu Qing released the beasts from the dozen or so beast talismans, most of which were wolf-like creatures. These beasts had average attack power but incredible speed, making them the most commonly used by beast spellcasters. Wolf-shaped talismans were the easiest to create, as wolves were abundant in the grasslands.

Besides the dozen or so wolves, there were also two giant black bears. These bears were entirely black, standing three meters tall when upright. They could not only break through the defensive circles of talisman warriors and block their rapid attacks but also serve as excellent shields against talisman arrows.

One black bear stood in front of Wu Qing, while the other charged straight at him. The other wolves circled around, ready to coordinate with the bears and launch fierce attacks at any moment. This attack pattern was a common fighting strategy for beast spellcasters, allowing them to attack when advancing and defend when retreating.

Wu Qing said proudly, “Kid, although you’re impressive—reaching the rank of talisman caster at just nine years old, heh—your combat strength is very low. Didn’t your master tell you to show proper respect to beast spellcasters? You can surrender. I won’t kill you… as long as you apologize to my son and pay sufficient compensation! Hmm, that talisman beast skin, right?”

Guo Shier laughed and said, “No wonder you stood up for that good-for-nothing. It’s the talisman beast skin that has you so interested, heh. If I respect you, I’ll call you uncle. If not… you’re just a scumbag! A pile of rotten trash! Ugh! As a beast spellcaster, you bully a nine-year-old child and still act so smug. You’ve wasted your life! To steal a child’s things and speak in such lofty terms—how shameless! How dare you still live in this world? Die already!”

Wu Qing was stunned. He had never seen a child utter such vicious words. At first, he was stunned, then exploded with anger.

Zhu Dachang retreated to the side of the street with his guards. He was just an armor talisman master and didn’t dare step forward in a fight. Hearing Guo Shier’s insults, he also couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat. Such words from an adult might be normal, but coming from a nine-year-old child was simply unbelievable.

Wu Qing’s face turned pale with rage. He roared angrily, “You little brat…” He pointed with his right hand, releasing a talisman formula to summon his beast talismans and launch an attack.

The black bear roared and charged at him.

Luo Zhan also roared and swung his talisman sword to block. With his skills, dealing with a black bear was no problem at all—after all, a Talisman Warrior’s strength was extraordinary. Two wild wolves emerged from either side of the black bear. With two sounds of bowstrings, Chen Bing and Chen Hong each shot an arrow from their talisman bows.

Guo Shier concentrated intensely on controlling his life talisman sphere, which required the use of his soul power. The talisman arrows hit the wild wolves, causing them to slow down slightly. Xiao Feng quickly stabbed their heads with his talisman spear, causing the wolves to shatter into black smoke and vanish. Luo Zhan slashed at the black bear’s chest, forcing it to recoil.

By then, Guo Shier had successfully activated the bird talisman. While arguing with Wu Qing, he had quietly begun to control his life talisman sphere. By the time Wu Qing took action, the sphere had taken shape in his mouth, and he quickly activated the bird talisman. A thin red thread shot out of his mouth and instantly turned into a red egg. As the eggshell cracked, a tiny bright red bird flew out, chirping a few times before transforming into a beautiful large red bird with sparks flying from its body. It circled Guo Shier several times and chirped a few more times; Guo Shier clearly felt the bird’s attachment to him.

Guo Shier pointed at Wu Qing and shouted, “Burn him!” He sensed that the beautiful red bird could understand his intentions. The red fire bird chirped as it rushed toward Wu Qing, shooting a thin stream of fire from its sharp beak, which hit the black bear in front of Wu Qing instantly.

Like sparks falling on gasoline, with a loud explosion, the black bear turned into a blazing torch. Wu Qing was terrified. He let out a scream as the beasts surrounding Guo Shier and the others fled back desperately. As soon as the fire bird appeared, he knew something bad was happening. He never expected the opponent to have such terrifying talismans. He wasn’t sure whether they were spiritual talismans or ancient talismans; if they were ancient talismans, he needed to run away immediately. He never imagined it would be a true ancient talisman, even more powerful than ordinary ancient talismans.

Since Guo Shier had no intention of killing, the fire bird’s behavior seemed strange. It quickly sprayed red flames, burning all the beasts to death, then kept approaching Wu Qing, driving him into panic. He kept sending out more beasts, as if stopping would mean the flames would fall on him. A Beast Warrior activated his beast armor, roared, raised his talisman sword, and rushed toward the fire bird, slashing at it viciously.

Luo Zhan growled softly, “Seeking death!” He had seen with his own eyes a great talisman martial artist forced to flee in all directions by the Fire Bird—how could a mere minor beast martial artist even think of killing it? The Fire Bird quickly dodged, and a spark flew out, landing directly on the beast martial artist. In an instant, that beast martial artist turned into a pile of ashes. Once the Fire Bird sensed murderous intent, its counterattack became extremely fierce. Wu Qing also understood the mystery behind this. He was drenched in sweat, and most of the beast talismans he carried had been destroyed by the Fire Bird. In fact, he still had one spirit talisman-level beast talisman—the first talisman he received from his life talisman. But seeing the terrifying fire flow of the Fire Bird, he simply couldn’t bring himself to use it. If it were destroyed by the Fire Bird, he wouldn’t even have a place to cry—after all, it was his most precious treasure. After burning two beast martial artists to death in a row, Wu Qing’s followers dared not advance any further, watching helplessly as the Fire Bird circled around him. Wu Qing, pale-faced, stared at the agile Fire Bird. After struggling for a while, he finally said, “I lose… I surrender!” The Fire Bird didn’t attack either; it just flew around Wu Qing. With each circle, Wu Qing’s forehead would break out in cold sweat. As for Wu Shenxi, he was completely terrified. He stared blankly, with more sweat on his forehead than his father. Guo Shier ordered Luo Zhan to step forward. Luo Zhan quickly subdued Wu Qing. Only then did Guo Shier open his mouth and inhale. The Fire Bird reluctantly transformed into a red thread and landed in his mouth. Wu Qing saw this clearly, his face turning even paler. This was clearly a skill of a talisman master. He couldn’t believe that a nine-year-old child actually possessed a life talisman. Guo Shier said smilingly, “Since you’ve surrendered, I won’t kill you. I want your son to apologize to me… and pay me some compensation…” Zhu Dachang, watching from the side, was sweating profusely. Hearing Guo Shier’s words, he felt even more terrified, as Guo Shier simply repeated what Wu Qing had said earlier. Wu Qing swallowed hard and said, “You… don’t go too far!” Guo Shier laughed and said, “I’m not going too far. This is all what you said before. Why didn’t you think it was too much at that time?” Wu Qing gritted his teeth and said, “You can’t kill me… I’m a representative of the West Talisman Sect!” Guo Shier burst into laughter and said, “Oh, a representative? Very well. If your son refuses to apologize, I’ll cut off one of your arms. If you refuse to pay compensation, I’ll cut off one of your legs. Well, I’ll heal your wounds quickly with talisman pills… for free. Don’t worry. If I say I won’t kill you, I won’t. I keep my word!”

Wu Qing’s cold sweat streamed down in profusion; this was simply too cruel. He asked, “What compensation do you want?”
Guo Shier muttered, “I’m just a kid. Even if I don’t keep my word, no one will blame me…” He smiled and said, “My demands aren’t high. I want compensation for my mental and physical losses, and also… my talismans. Using them once requires a lot of materials to repair, so that needs to be compensated too!”
Wu Qing felt his head spinning; he knew it was impossible to get away without paying a price this time.
Guo Shier said a few words to Xiao Feng, who then walked up to Wu Shenxi with a grin, grabbed him by the collar, and dragged him over like a dead dog.
This guy was a complete coward. Before Guo Shier could say anything, he started apologizing nonstop, with tears and snot streaming down, which made Guo Shier frown. He said, “Hey, Wu Qing, what kind of upbringing did you give your son? Although the people of the Western Talisman Sect are all bastards, I’ve never thought of them as cowards. Your son has really shown us something.”
Wu Qing’s pale face instantly turned red.