Chapter 1: The Inheritance of Symbols and Martial Arts (Part 2)

Soaking in the swelling-reducing liquid, Guo Shieru stretched comfortably. He had already begun to experience the benefits of physical training—his strength was rising rapidly, and his body was filled with boundless energy. It felt absolutely wonderful.
The swelling-reducing liquid was extremely precious, and Guo Shieru realized this as soon as he soaked in it. The swollen rune patterns on his arms gradually flattened after being immersed in the liquid, turning into faint rune designs that were barely noticeable unless one paid close attention. This was different from physical training in the Lower Rune Continent, where the rune patterns were much darker, mostly dark green or black, with few faint red ones.
In the Chenxiao Sect, faint red rune patterns were specifically used for rune casters’ physical training, acting as their secret symbols for training. True Symbol and Martial Artists, on the other hand, had faint green rune patterns on their bodies. Unlike those in the Lower Rune Continent, these rune patterns were more powerful and yielded better results in physical training.
After several soakings in the swelling-reducing liquid, the rune patterns on Guo Shieru’s body became almost invisible. Even the ones on his face could easily be mistaken for a blush if not examined closely.
Besides studying with his master in the basement every day, Guo Shieru also trained in various Symbol and Martial skills with Eagle Demon in the mornings to adapt to the power he was gaining. According to Kuumu, those who were not true Symbol and Martial Artists didn’t need to learn too many offensive techniques—having a strong body was sufficient, as the offensive power of Symbol and Martial Arts was far less formidable than that of runes.
Kuumu would sometimes spar with Guo Shieru to train his attacking and evasion skills.
As he gradually absorbed the knowledge from the Path of Illusory Runes, Guo Shieru also began to think about creating his own runes. He hoped to make a spiritual rune; he had no interest in ordinary runes below that level.
The inheritance he received in his soul contained a lot of information about rune creation, but to turn it into his own knowledge, he still had to practice hands-on. Learning and practice were equally essential steps.
The first step was to find materials. Kuumu might not have many other things, but he had an abundance of various materials. With his strength, he could already slay mutated rune beasts, and thanks to his extensive travels, he had collected far more materials than Luo Jie. Guo Shieru plunged into the material repository and began collecting various precious materials in large quantities.

Guo Shier asked Ku Mu if he could use the materials he had collected. Ku Mu was too lazy to answer and simply waved his hand, signaling that he could use them as he wished. The message was clear: use whatever you want. According to Ku Mu’s thinking, to achieve something significant in crafting, a large amount of material was necessary. He didn’t care about those materials at all because he already mastered the virtual talismans; physical talismans held little meaning for him.

Once he started making talismans, Guo Shier felt time was insufficient. Aside from his morning exercises and nightly chanting, which he never skipped, he spent his remaining time cleaning and preparing materials. He had developed a method for purifying materials, which required twelve talismans in total—four fire talismans, four water talismans, and four rare cold-energy talismans. These twelve talismans, driven by special incantations, could handle most material purification tasks. Compared to Master Luo Jie’s sixteen-talisman purification method, this approach was simpler and more practical.

Ku Mu gave him a set of talisman-making tools, including dozens of precious spirit-level tool talismans that couldn’t be found with Master Luo Jie. These were highly advanced auxiliary spirit talismans, which he stored in his life talisman sphere.

During this time, Guo Shier focused on purifying various materials and processing them systematically. He gained a deeper understanding of sword talismans. From the teachings he had received, he knew that sword talismans were extremely powerful. The sword talisman he obtained was of high quality, and he hadn’t fully utilized its power before. Now, he could use most of its functions.

Therefore, this time Guo Shier decided to create an auxiliary talisman specifically to support the sword talisman. The so-called sword talisman auxiliary talisman was designed to confuse the enemy, drawing their attention to the sword light emitted by the auxiliary talisman, so they couldn’t determine the true target of the sword talisman’s attack and make wrong judgments. Although sword talismans were powerful, skilled opponents could counter them, so Guo Shier came up with this method to enhance the attack’s effectiveness.

It took Guo Shier four months to create this auxiliary talisman. He wasn’t in a hurry and worked calmly. Although it took a long time, he succeeded on the first try and also learned the essence of talisman-making, assimilating the teachings he had received from the Path of Illusory Talismans.

Ku Mu was satisfied not because Guo Shier had created a spirit-level talisman, but because of his steady attitude and patient learning pace. It was no easy feat for a child to reach such a level.

Unnoticed, Guo Shier had been living in the Chenxiao Sect for over half a year. He began to ponder how to reach the Altar Secret Realm. He now understood that even if he obtained the learning methods of the Talisman Master, without the inheritance of the Void Confusion Path, his learning outcomes would not be good. No wonder Kuumu didn’t restrict him from reading any books—those knowledge pieces had to be combined with the inheritance of the Void Confusion Path to achieve the best learning results.

During these six months, he spent half an hour every day copying books and creating talisman scripts, all of which were materials needed by Master Luo Jie. Eagle Demon had also gathered some books and materials related to the Talisman-Warrior Master. These were all gifts he planned to give to Master Luo Jie and Grandpa Nanshan.

Guo Shier had once checked the Talisman Gate, but unfortunately, it couldn’t be used inside the Chenxiao Sect. It was only after asking Kuumu that he learned that the Talisman Gate could only be used outside the sect, at least a hundred miles away, because the Chenxiao Sect was surrounded by a massive talisman array, which rendered the Talisman Gate unusable within it.

Kuumu didn’t care that Guo Shier possessed the Talisman Gate. He knew that even if Guo Shier left the Chenxiao Sect to find his original master, he would eventually return, as the Lower Talisman Continent offered no benefit to his growth. Moreover, he could see that Guo Shier treated Monier very well. As the saying goes, give love and you’ll receive love—Monier’s unconditional care for Guo Shier had earned his recognition as well. Therefore, Guo Shier could only find his own way back and couldn’t discuss it with his master. Some things could be done, but they must never be spoken out loud.

Guo Shier approached Eagle Demon, and the two discussed returning there.

“Uncle Eagle Demon, we must go to the Altar Secret Realm. My master might already be waiting there.”

Eagle Demon smiled bitterly. “How can we get there? That secret realm opens only once every sixty years, and it’s located in the great grasslands… By the way, how can your master even get there?”

Guo Shier replied, “We have the Talisman Gate, so we can enter and exit the secret realm at will. As long as we’ve been to a place before, we can enter it again.”

Eagle Demon exclaimed, “That’s… that’s extremely convenient. Then let’s go there.”

Guo Shier shook his head. “We can’t go through here. The Chenxiao Sect has a powerful talisman array that restricts the use of the Talisman Gate. I can only use it more than a hundred miles away from the sect.”

Eagle Demon said, “There are such restrictions?”

Guo Shier nodded and said, “I want to bring Huo Bao and the others over so they can also experience the Talisman-Warrior Void Confusion Path.”

Eagle Demon asked, “I wonder if we can get spots? That path is really powerful—going through it once can quickly boost one’s strength. Well, how about discussing it with your master?”

Guo Shierou shook his head and said, “I can’t say it directly. Although he won’t stop me from going anywhere, if I clearly state that I want to leave the Chenxiao Sect, he won’t agree. Even if I promise to come back, he’ll feel embarrassed.”
Eagle Demon nodded in understanding. After pondering for a moment, he said, “Let’s go take on a mission. That way, we can leave under a legitimate pretext. Well, just find a simple mission.”
Guo Shierou had mostly stayed in the withered tree manor, rarely going outside and unaware of what was happening outside. Eagle Demon, on the other hand, often went out, having explored almost the entire Chenxiao Sect. Except for a few places he couldn’t access, he even knew the sect better than many inner sect disciples. It was his habit—when wandering in the great plains, it was essential to understand the geographical environment.
Guo Shierou asked, “Where should we go to take on a mission?”
Eagle Demon smiled and said, “It’s right next to where we got our identity badges. It’s easy to find. That’s where the inner sect disciples gather.”
Guo Shierou said, “Okay, I’ll go talk to my master and masteress.”
Eagle Demon replied, “Alright, I’ll wait for you in the courtyard.” He also wanted to go back. He had left in a hurry last time and hadn’t finished discussing some matters. If he could see Luo Jie, he could ask him to look after things.
Guo Shierou first went to the back courtyard, where Monier lived. She would come over from time to time, so a small stone building had been arranged there for her to stay in whenever she visited. Guo Shierou asked the maid downstairs, “Is masteress upstairs?”
The maid bowed and said, “Yes, young master. I’ll go inform her.”
Monier had already heard him from upstairs. She poked her head out of the window and smiled, “My baby has come! Come up quickly.”
Guo Shierou smiled as he went upstairs and called, “Masteress.”
Monier habitually hugged Guo Shierou and said cheerfully, “Baby, why do you have time to come out today?”
Guo Shierou replied, “Masteress, I plan to take on a few missions. Hehe, I’ve been stuck in the talisman-making room underground for so long; it’s getting boring. I want to go out and do some missions to change my mood.”
Monier said, “Take on missions? Baby, you don’t need to take on any missions. The rewards are hardly anything… If you need anything, I’ll find it for you…” She doted on Guo Shierou greatly and didn’t want him to take any risks at all.
Guo Shierou said, “Masteress, I won’t take on big missions. I’ll just take on some small ones. Hehe, I’ll operate around the Chenxiao Sect.”
Monier thought for a moment and said, “Alright, I’ll accompany you.”
Guo Shierou said, “As for my master… please ask masteress to talk to him. He’s still busy and it’s unclear when he’ll be done.”

Monier took Guo Shier by the hand and led him out, with the Eagle Demon silently following behind.
Most sects had sect missions that summoned their disciples to complete tasks in exchange for rewards and sect points, which could be used to secure entry into the Illusory Path. Thus, the mission distribution hall was always bustling with activity. Monier wore a purplish-red robe—a sign of being a patriarch-level figure. Wearing such a robe meant she could walk around the Chenxiao Sect with authority.
Monier led Guo Shier into the mission hall, where the lower-ranked disciples immediately made way for them, all looking puzzled, unsure why this patriarch-level expert had come to the hall where lower-ranked disciples received missions.
The inner sect disciples responsible for distributing missions were at most master-level. Upon seeing Monier approach, they quickly stood up to greet her and asked respectfully, “Elder Sister, what can we do for you?”
Monier smiled and said, “I’m here to take missions!”
The inner sect disciple was stunned. Could a patriarch-level expert really compete with ordinary disciples for missions? It was utterly strange.
Suddenly, someone called out, “Hey! Old lady, you’ve come to the wrong place!”
Monier immediately flew into a rage.