Chapter 4: Running Around (Part 1)
Guo Shier and the others arrived at the inner hall. Before they could speak, they saw many message talismans flying over, all aimed at the shopkeeper and the appraiser. The two hurriedly caught them. They were all from various major families, and the content of the talismans was almost the same—requesting to meet with several high-level professionals.
The mad talisman master slapped his own forehead suddenly, stepped forward, and said respectfully, “I am Mu Zhijian, a junior mad talisman master from the Jianmu family. It’s an honor to meet you all, seniors.”
The shopkeeper also realized he hadn’t introduced himself yet. He rushed forward and said respectfully, “I am Mu Tong, an intermediate talisman master from the Jianmu family. It’s an honor to meet you all, seniors.”
Guo Shier nodded. This was the custom when professionals met. He said, “I am Guo Shier, a wandering professional and a senior grand talisman master.” These words nearly knocked the two off their feet.
Ying Mo stepped forward and said, “I am Ying Mo, a wandering professional and a senior grand martial master.”
Zhou Xiaoling said, “I am Zhou Xiaoling, a wandering professional and an intermediate grand martial master.”
Luo Zhan, having obtained the soul pearl of a mutated being, had also risen to the rank of junior grand master. He said, “I am Luo Zhan, a wandering professional and a junior grand martial master.”
Mu Zhijian and Mu Tong were so shocked they felt dizzy. Even the lowest-ranked among them was already a junior grand master, more powerful than the elders in their families. As for Guo Shier, a senior grand master, that was a level they could never even aspire to.
Soon, the representatives of the eight major families arrived. Ying Mo, impatient to deal with so many people, said, “We won’t stay here long, so… you don’t need to come in.”
The clan heads and elders indeed didn’t dare enter. After all, there was a senior grand master in the inner hall, along with three grand masters, whose strength was enough to dominate the entire Shenghua City.
Mu Tong was puzzled, not understanding why Ying Mo refused to let the clan heads in, but he didn’t dare object either. He said, “Senior… please give us orders. Our Jianmu family will definitely…”
Guo Shier said, “It’s nothing serious. We just run out of supplies and need to buy some food. We came to your Shenghua City specifically to exchange that fifth-level mutated brown bear pelt for some grain.”
Mu Tong couldn’t believe it. “Just that?”
Mu Zhijian also opened his mouth wide in shock. This was too excessive—using a fifth-level mutated brown bear pelt to exchange for food. How could its value even be calculated?
Ying Mo nodded. “Alright, hurry up. We still have things to do.”
Mu Tong mustered up courage and said, “Senior, we don’t know how much grain it will take to exchange for that mutated brown bear pelt.”
Guo Shier also didn’t want to delay and said, “Try to exchange as many as possible; the more, the better.” He didn’t have time to stay longer. It was Zhou Xiaoling who was observant; she whispered, “Shier, aren’t you looking for the coordinates of secret realms? Those clan leaders might know them.”
Only then did Guo Shier realize it. His mind was fixed on food, and everything else was completely forgotten. Was he really just a foodie? He smiled and said, “Mucong, could you ask your clan leader to come in?”
Mucong was overjoyed and said, “Yes, I’ll go invite the clan leader. Please wait a moment, senior.” He rushed out excitedly.
Soon, Mucong brought in a middle-aged man. Upon seeing Guo Shier and the others, the man immediately bowed and said, “I am Mu Cu, the clan leader of the Jianmu family and a junior Talisman-Warrior Saint. It’s an honor to meet you, senior.”
Guo Shier was delighted. Hearing a junior saint address him as “senior” made him very happy. He said, “Mu Cu, please don’t be formal. Have a seat.”
Mu Cu sat down carefully. Guo Shier found it strange. A saint was considered a high-level professional, and even when meeting professionals with virtual or physical altars, there was no need to be so cautious. He said politely, “Mu Cu, I have a question for you.”
Mu Cu replied anxiously, “Please give your instructions, senior.”
Guo Shier said, “It’s not really an instruction. I’m just asking about the area around the Hundred Great Continents… Do you know how many secret realms there are? Do you have their coordinates? Most importantly… are there any passages leading to other continents?”
Mu Cu looked astonished. It was the first time he had heard someone ask such a question. He said, “There’s only one passage to a secret realm here… Those below the rank of saint can’t pass through it at all. This place is almost like an isolated continent.”
Guo Shier was stunned. He immediately checked the coordinates he had and couldn’t help but sigh. By using a Cross-Continent Talisman, he could enter the Hundred Great Continents directly, without going through a secret realm.
Ying Mo asked, “Do you know that secret realm’s coordinates?”
Mu Cu replied, “Yes, almost every family knows them, but very few dare to enter.”
Guo Shier said, “In that case, thank you.”
Mu Cu said, “You’re welcome. Although our talisman skills are quite low, as long as we stay within this continent, there’s no danger. There aren’t many mutated talisman beasts here, and if there are, they’re mostly in the deep mountains and rarely come out. So… level-five mutated talisman beasts are extremely rare. When we go hunting, most of the mutated talisman beasts we encounter are level two or three. Only with good luck might we see one of level four.”
Guo Shier finally understood why bringing out the skin of a level-5 mutated talisman beast had caused such a stir. He had initially thought it was because the level of talisman practitioners here was too low, but after meeting Mu Cuo, he realized it wasn’t the case. With a master at the sage level, killing a level-6 or 7 mutated talisman beast wasn’t impossible at all.
Eagle Demon said, “We just want to exchange this beast skin for some food.”
Mu Cuo replied, “There’s no problem. Whatever amount you need, Shenghua City will provide it.”
Guo Shier said, “You don’t need to overpay. Exchange this skin for food at market price. Also, please give me the coordinates of this secret realm.”
Mu Cuo took out a blank talisman, marked the coordinates on it—something that couldn’t be spoken—and handed it to Guo Shier, saying, “These are the coordinates.”
Guo Shier stored the coordinates in the Ancient Ink Lotus and smiled, saying, “We only need enough for four people for three months. The excess can serve as a reward for these coordinates.”
Mu Cuo was overjoyed and thanked him repeatedly.
Guo Shier and the others stayed in this shop, as it took time to gather food. Two days later, a large amount of food was delivered, including a substance similar to flour that piqued his interest.
It was a fruit from a tree called Qianbai Yao, also known as the Demon Fruit. When ground into powder, it was white and delicate. Used to make cakes, it was soft and fragrant—a delicacy Guo Shier had never tasted before.
He specifically asked for saplings of Qianbai Yao and planted them in the cultivation talisman. This was Guo Shier’s habit—whenever he encountered a plant he liked, he would either transplant it or find seeds to cultivate it. With the cultivation talisman, almost anything could be grown, most of which were edible plants, a few were spiritual herbs and medicines, and there were also a few rare trees, such as the Zhu Ling Wood.
On the third morning, Guo Shier simply opened a talisman gate in the shop and left quietly with Eagle Demon and the others.
……
Eagle Demon asked, “What’s the name of this secret realm?”
Guo Shier shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Luo Zhan sighed, “Another dense forest. Thankfully it’s a plain… otherwise flying would be exhausting.”
This secret realm was an extremely large plain, somewhat similar to the Amazon rainforest from Guo Shier’s past life. The trees there were extremely tall, the forest was humid and hot, with countless rivers. Walking there would surely lead to getting lost. Fortunately, all four of them were used to flying and wouldn’t get lost in the forest.
Hearing the successive roars from the forest, it was clear that there were many mutated talisman beasts or other powerful creatures in this secret realm.
Trees hundreds of meters tall were everywhere; the entire forest resembled an ocean of green foliage stretching as far as the eye could see. Countless birds filled the sky, flying in flocks up and down. For now, no dangerous mutated birds could be seen.
Guo Shier said, “Let’s look for an exit first. Hopefully, it doesn’t lead to the Hundred Lands Continent.”
Eagle Demon replied, “Fortunately, we didn’t enter through the secret realm’s entrance. Otherwise, we might have been flung out by it, which would have been quite interesting.”
Recalling how they first entered the secret realm, Guo Shier couldn’t help but laugh. “Since we used the talisman gate to enter, we’ve hardly ever been flung out. Let’s fly in this direction,” he said, pointing ahead.
Zhou Xiaoling asked in surprise, “Why fly that way? I think the left side is better.” She pointed to the faintly visible mountains on the left.
Guo Shier explained, “According to the coordinates, the mountainous area should be closer to the Hundred Lands Continent.”
Zhou Xiaoling immediately said, “Then I’ll pretend I never said that.”
Eagle Demon laughed. “Shier is right. Although he often gets lost, he’s never completely lost and can always find his way out.”
Guo Shier called out, “Hey, Uncle Eagle Demon, are you praising me or insulting me?”
Eagle Demon laughed loudly, “I’m praising you, haha!”
The four flew in the direction Guo Shier indicated. In fact, within the secret realm, flight direction wasn’t important—luck was. If one wasn’t lucky, anything could happen.
After flying all day, at dusk, Guo Shier said, “Let’s find a place to rest.”
Eagle Demon said, “That big tree looks good. Let’s rest on its top.” He flew over and stopped beside a huge tree canopy. After circling it once, he used his life talisman sword to cut through the canopy and said, “Shier, you can set up the talisman house on it and secure it with virtual talismans.”
Guo Shier smiled. “That’s a good idea—very creative.” He released the talisman house and used virtual talismans to fix it atop the tree, creating a comfortable nest.
Zhou Xiaoling exclaimed happily, “I like it!”
Since they were on the tree canopy, they couldn’t set up talisman arrays for protection, so the talisman house stood out sharply in the sea of trees. But Guo Shier didn’t mind. He was no longer an ordinary professional; he was nearly a high-level professional capable of constructing virtual altars. Even if they encountered stronger mutated talisman beasts, he was confident he could withstand them.
After eating something briefly, Guo Shier sat on aanimal skin and began cultivating his soul. Eagle Demon, Luo Zhan, and Zhou Xiaoling immediately sat around him.
As everyone knows, just by sitting beside Guo Shier, the speed of soul cultivation increases dramatically. This is because when Guo Shier cultivates, his soul emits strange fluctuations that greatly benefit those around him.