Chapter 6: Quotas (Part 1)

A burly man, with his upper body bare and a black leather armor belt around his waist bearing over a dozen talisman pouches, wore black arm guards. His skin was covered in layers of talismanic patterns, and his face was also densely adorned with small talismans. He had long, grayish hair, a leather strap tied across his forehead, and a pheasant feather stuck in the back of his head.
He dismounted from his horse and stepped forward slowly. This was a great talisman martial artist, on par in presence with Qi Nan Shan. The two stood face to face. The man said, “I am Mad Wind Old Monster! Who are you?”
Qi Nan Shan replied proudly, “I am Qi Nan Shan of the Northern Talisman Sect!” His voice rolled across the land like thunder.
Another burly man dismounted from his horse and walked over. He said indifferently, “Mad Wind Old Scoundrel!” He too was a great talisman martial artist.
The three of them stood in a triangular formation.
Mad Wind Old Monster and Mad Wind Old Scoundrel’s behind them, the great sorcerer shouted, “Mad Wind Old Poison!”
Luo Jie straightened his back and roared, “Luo Jie of the Northern Talisman Sect!”
Guo Shier said, “Guo Shier of the Northern Talisman Sect!”
Mad Wind Old Scoundrel snapped, “Adults are talking—kids, stay out!” Laughter erupted immediately.
Guo Shier was furious. Ever since his soul awakened, he had never considered himself a child. Without saying much, he lightly tapped his life talisman sphere, and a pale golden spirit talisman floated up, rising straight into the air as a golden thread. He said calmly, “You’re Mad Wind Old Scoundrel, right? You old fool, take this talisman!”
Mad Wind Old Scoundrel sneered, “Just a child sorcerer. Go ahead and try!”
A sharp howling sound suddenly arose. Mad Wind Old Poison shouted, “Old Scoundrel, be careful!” As a great sorcerer, he understood that this attack was no trivial matter. When he saw Guo Shier’s talisman attack rise as a golden thread into the air, he knew trouble was coming and quickly warned him.
Mad Wind Old Scoundrel looked up and his expression changed drastically.
A golden barrier formed by a sword talisman, as large as a door panel, descended from the sky with a howl. The terrifying aura made him realize this attack was no less powerful than one launched by a great sorcerer. With a roar, a huge battle axe appeared in his hand—an axe the size of a wheel, covered in talismans, a high-grade talisman weapon.
Mad Wind Old Scoundrel couldn’t dodge. Unable to lose face, he roared and swung the axe at the golden barrier.
Qi Nan Shan, having witnessed Guo Shier’s extreme attacks before, leaped backward abruptly, returning to Luo Jie’s side in an instant. He shouted, “Back away!”
Boom!

Cangfeng Laoxie cursed violently. He was struck by the golden light barrier and sent sitting on the ground. The immense force almost destroyed his battle axe. He never expected this kid to be so powerful.
Guo Shier moved his fingers slightly. The golden giant blade didn’t disappear but rose back into the air before falling again. Even Cangfeng Laodu’s expression changed. He tapped his life talisman book, and seven ice spears flew out in succession. Shouting, “Go!” he commanded.
Luo Jie roared, “You’re mine!”
Seven streams of red fire shot out and collided head-on.
Cangfeng Laoguai screamed as he grabbed Laoxie and dashed forward abruptly. The golden blade slashed down with a loud explosion, creating a trench about one meter deep and five meters long in the ground. Amidst the dust, Guo Shier’s loud laughter could be heard. He shouted, “Laoxie, you’ve got guts… You shameless wretch! Prove it by taking on one more attack from me!”
Boom! Boom…
Seven consecutive explosions showed that Luo Jie had easily deflected Cangfeng Laodu’s attacks.
Qin Nanshan laughed heartily and said, “Cangfeng Laoxie, you’re so embarrassing… Haha, hahaha!”
Cangfeng Laoxie’s face turned red, but since it was covered in talismans, no one could tell. He had been careless—given his strength, he shouldn’t have ended up in such a mess. With a shrill cry, he tried to charge forward, but was grabbed by Laoguai, who said sternly, “Laoxie, don’t go crazy! There’s still important work to do!”
After seeing Guo Shier launch a master-level attack, the members of Cangfeng’s team had to hold back. With three master-level opponents, if they started fighting, the masters themselves might not be harmed, but their subordinates would surely suffer casualties. With the secret realm right ahead, they couldn’t afford to weaken their strength.
Cangfeng Laodu ordered, “Stop it all!” Glancing at the golden giant blade still circling in the air, he was both surprised and incredulous—how could a child possess master-level strength? It was terrifying.
Everyone around was stunned. Who was this kid? He had beaten a great talisman martial artist into a mess.
Luo Jie said, “Shier, put it away. They won’t attack anymore.”
Guo Shier snapped, “That bastard underestimated me… Hmph.” In truth, he was very pleased. This sword talisman was truly extraordinary, even a great talisman martial artist could hardly resist it. But he also knew he had benefited from the element of surprise. If the opponent had taken it seriously from the start, he might not have achieved such good results.

Guo Shier gently tapped the sword talisman, and the swirling golden great blade transformed into a golden thread, falling back into the True Spirit Talisman. He opened his mouth and swallowed his life talisman sphere, then slowly sat on the horse’s back. Huo Bao and the other three were filled with envy and surprise—they never expected Guo Shier to be able to rival a Grand Talisman Martial Artist already.

Kuangfeng Laodu laughed heartily and said, “You all step back. Old Xie, old freak, let’s meet this new friend.” His tone shifted quickly from hostile to one of meeting new friends.

Luo Jie smiled faintly. He was just as cunning and certainly didn’t want to fight to the death against three master-level experts—it wasn’t worth it. No one would do something that brought more harm than gain. He also laughed and said, “Alright, Dashan, Shier, let’s go meet this new friend. Haha.”

“Haha! With new friends here, how can we forget our Black Eagle Horse Team!”

Two warhorses slowly approached, and the two middle-aged men on them were both Grand Talisman Martial Artists. Guo Shier thought to himself, “Huh? Are Grand Talisman Martial Artists not valuable anymore? Why are there two of them?”

Suddenly, a loud laugh was heard, and a person rushed over from the wandering squad. Guo Shier was stunned—he recognized this person; it was the Eagle Demon who had eaten his grilled meat skewers and given him a spirit talisman back in Nanbao. And he was also a Grand Talisman Martial Artist.

The two middle-aged men, one tall and one short, were covered in talisman patterns, with even denser patterns on their faces, making it impossible to see their expressions clearly. Both rode horses draped in black cloaks embroidered with a thunder eagle.

The tall Grand Talisman Martial Artist said, “I’m Feng Yuan from the Black Eagle Horse Team.”

The shorter one said, “I’m Ma Shangdian!”

Seeing the Eagle Demon approaching, Feng Yuan shouted, “Eagle Demon! What are you doing here?”

The Eagle Demon replied coldly, “It’s none of your business!”

Ma Shangdian said calmly, “The two of us… can easily drive you away!” Tension hung in the air among the three. Kuangfeng Laodu coughed and said, “Since everyone’s here, it’s a good time to discuss matters related to the secret realm!”

The Eagle Demon smirked, stepped in front of Guo Shier, and said with a smile, “We meet again.”

Guo Shier immediately realized this guy was trying to build a relationship with him. The Kuangfeng Horse Team had three master-level members, while the Black Eagle Horse Team had two experts. It was clear there was conflict between the Eagle Demon and the Black Eagle Horse Team, and he didn’t seem very friendly toward the Kuangfeng Horse Team either. By getting close to him, Guo Shier could at least have someone to rely on. He smiled and said, “Hello, Uncle Eagle Demon.”

The Eagle Demon was surprised. “Huh? You know me? I don’t think I mentioned my name last time.”

Guo Shier smiled and said, “How could the famous Eagle Demon of the grasslands not know?” A little flattery instantly improved the Eagle Demon’s mood. Feng Yuan and Ma Shangdian, seeing that the Eagle Demon recognized Guo Shier, stopped talking further. This kid wasn’t easy to deal with—just earlier, they had clearly seen that Lao Xie had made a casual joke, only to provoke Guo Shier into using a talisman. What made things worse was that Guo Shier was just a child, so they couldn’t really take it seriously. Winning would be disgraceful, and losing would be embarrassing. Both of them suddenly understood the purpose behind Guo Shier’s actions and were secretly shocked—this child had done it on purpose. With a child involved, no matter the outcome, it wouldn’t matter much. Either way, there would be an excuse to stop fighting, allowing everyone to sit down and negotiate. They exchanged glances, both showing surprise. Kuangfeng Lao Du clearly was the leader of the Kuangfeng Horse Team. He said, “This secret realm was discovered by our Kuangfeng Horse Team, and since it has a limit on the number of people who can enter, by rule, we should get 70% of the spots.” “There’s a limit on the number of people?” Guo Shier was very surprised—how strange that a secret realm could have such a limit. Feng Yuan said coldly, “70%? Why not take it all? You can have at most 30%! Since when has the Three-Eyed Well become your Kuangfeng Horse Team’s territory? How ridiculous!” Kuangfeng Lao Xie sneered, “Oh, so… the Three-Eyed Well is your Black Eagle Horse Team’s territory? How laughable!” Ma Shangdian said darkly, “If you can’t even beat a kid, stop talking nonsense!” Kuangfeng Lao Xie immediately jumped up and shouted, “How about… we have a fight? You short hunchback, all you know how to do is sneak attacks—what else can you do?” The moment he spoke, the atmosphere became tense. Guo Shier found it amusing and asked softly, “Master, how do you know about this limit?” Luo Jie replied, “This is a secret realm that has been opened before. Only after it’s opened once can its secrets be understood.” After saying that, Ma Shangdian closed his eyes, ignoring Kuangfeng Lao Xie completely, which made Lao Xie furious. Kuangfeng Lao Du said, “30%? Just because of your Black Eagle Horse Team? We need at least 60%! If not, then let’s go to war!” Guo Shier asked, “How many spots are there in total?” Ma Shangdian replied indifferently, “720 people. Once that number is reached, the secret realm will close—no one more can enter. If there are fewer people… the realm will remain open.” The Eagle Demon said from the side, “One hundred thirty-seven people have already entered this time. You can calculate how many spots are left by yourself.” “583!”

Guo Shier blurted out. He shook his head slightly; the quota was too low—10% of the total was only 58.3, meaning 58 people. Suddenly, he remembered something and asked, “Do warhorses count as part of the quota?”
Eagle Demon replied, “No! No animals or beasts count; only humans do! This secret realm is damn weird.”
Guo Shier was stunned. Counting humans but not beasts was truly peculiar.