Chapter 5: Preparation (Part 1)

Guo Shier also started cursing, “You old bastard! Using free child labor… Do you want to drive me to death? If I die, then you’ll die too! Give me half an hour to rest!” After cursing, he felt relieved.
The handsome old man was stunned by the curses. After a while, he suddenly laughed and said, “We really have the same temper.”
Guo Shier was completely defeated by him and ignored the handsome old man. He focused his mind on his soul, beginning to analyze the gains and losses from the previous refinement, carefully recalling the process, and identifying its shortcomings. Meanwhile, he kept shaking his hands, interlacing them to gently massage his palms and relieve the cramping fingers.
After resting for about twenty minutes, he started refining the second concealment talisman.
Out of eighteen talismans, he only failed once; all the others succeeded on the first try. The handsome old man had to admit that Guo Shier was extremely skilled. He said, “You rest. I’ll take care of the concealment talisman. It can’t be used yet. You can’t handle the next step—only I can.”
The handsome old man stopped cursing, which made Guo Shier feel a bit uncomfortable. He said, “Okay, I’ll take a nap. Call me when you’re done.” He was utterly exhausted, though his body wasn’t really tired—just highly stressed. Once he relaxed, he felt extremely fatigued.
…
Dozens of kilometers away from the territory of the Gu Family, Hanbing Baiyan was leading a group of people on their journey. This time, he had brought another senior Grand Sage from the Baiyan family, along with six intermediate and junior Grand Sages, to venture deep into the Wild Battle Secret Realm.
Hanbing Baiyan said, “Fourth Brother, we must find a new inheritance altar. But this place is too dangerous. Should we go deeper?”
Tian Baiyan replied, “We must go deeper. Otherwise, what will happen to our family’s inheritance? Sixth Brother, what exactly is going on this time? Are those people disciples of the Gu Family? Can you be sure it’s them?”
Hanbing Baiyan sighed and said, “Only the disciples of the Gu Family are that domineering. Fourth Brother, I can’t defeat them—they’re too strong. One of them probably has a Virtual Form Altar. Their strength is beyond our reach.”
Tian Baiyan also sighed and said, “All the other inheritance altars have been taken by other families. We can’t interfere. We have to find a new altar. It’s a pity that the altars in the Wild Battle Secret Realm can’t be moved—they can only be used there. Let’s keep searching. The deeper we go, the more dangerous it gets. Even if we find one, we won’t dare bring our disciples in. Sigh.”

When Hanbing Baiyan mentioned Guo Shier and the others, he gritted his teeth in anger, but since their strength was inferior, there was nothing they could do. He said, “I’ve already stationed people at the entrance and exit of the secret realm. We have the talismanic shadows of that group. Once we spot them, huh, we must find a way to take revenge.”
Tian Baiyan’s expression changed slightly as he said, “Lao Liu, don’t act recklessly. If they’re from the Gu family, attacking them will bring trouble to our family.”
Hanbing Baiyan retorted unwillingly, “Are we supposed to let them go?”
Tian Baiyan replied, “Lao Liu, right now it’s not about revenge—it’s about finding the right altar. I hope you won’t put the cart before the horse! Can you be a little more rational?”
Hanbing Baiyan’s face turned ugly. He clenched his fists angrily and said, “Alright, I’ll listen to Fourth Brother.”
Tian Baiyan asked, “Which direction should we go?”
Hanbing Baiyan, clearly more experienced than Tian Baiyan, pointed to the left and said, “Go that way. Be careful—there are advanced spirit beasts everywhere.” The direction he pointed to was exactly where Gu Xibin was.
……
Guo Shier opened his eyes and saw eighteen concealment talismans on the ground. He picked one up and examined it closely. The greenish talisman body had turned pure black, with green or blue ancient runes flashing inside. Due to their extreme smallness, they were barely visible if not paid close attention to. The shape of the talisman body wasn’t square either but dragon-shaped.
The handsome old man said, “This is the shape of a Shadow Dragon. Since I used Shadow Dragon bones, I shaped it into that form. There are eighteen concealment talismans in total—one for each of you. After removing six, twelve will remain, which will be useful later. Now, let’s start crafting the small talisman pillars for the talisman array. There are eight in total, so we need to hurry.”
He took out eight hollow bones, slightly curved, about a foot long, also made of greenish bone. Guo Shier asked, “Are these Shadow Dragon bones again?”
The handsome old man replied, “Of course. What else could be used if not Shadow Dragon bones? Shadow Dragon bones are the best material for making concealment talismans. The outer layer of this talisman array must use concealment talisman pillars. Hmph, if I hadn’t hunted several Shadow Dragons, I wouldn’t have been able to gather this much material.”
Guo Shier felt his scalp tingle. The old man hadn’t just hunted a few Shadow Dragons—he’d hunted several! A Shadow Dragon would be extremely unlucky to encounter him. The handsome old man continued, “These are made from eight Shadow Dragon ribs and also serve as the talisman bodies. You need to cast spells on them… Stop shaking. With your previous experience in casting concealment talismans, crafting these eight pillars shouldn’t be difficult.”

Guo Shier really was trembling. He understood that a talismans pillar and a talisman were different concepts—the creation of a talismans pillar was far more complex, and it required a large number of virtual talismans for enhancement. He had no idea how many virtual talismans would be needed this time.

The handsome old man said with a smile, “Ninety thousand virtual talismans per enhancement, nine million for one talismans pillar. I’m the same—nine million each. In total, eighteen million virtual talismans, for eight pillars.”

Guo Shier collapsed to the ground in shock and exclaimed, “Damn! That’s too brutal!”

After a quick calculation, he felt terrified. Nearly four minutes of continuously emitting virtual talismans could easily lead to exhaustion. And there were ten such sessions in total—could that not result in deaths?

The handsome old man shouted, “Get up and work!”

With no way to escape, Guo Shier had no choice but to get up obediently. He resolved inwardly that he would definitely hold on and said, “Getting ready—three, two, one!” Purple talisman flames flared, lifting the bones of the Shadow Dragon. His fingers began shooting out a large number of virtual talismans.

The handsome old man also cast virtual talismans, just like Guo Shier. He reminded him as usual, “Pay attention to the rhythm.”

Guo Shier didn’t even have time to reply; he kept casting virtual talismans frantically. By halfway through, sweat streamed down his face like a stream, soaking his clothes completely. His focus was absolute—his eyes were fixed on those bones, and he even had an illusion that he had become a starving dog, seeing nothing but bones…

After over two hundred seconds, Guo Shier cast his final spell and roared, “Great! Done!” Suddenly, he felt it wasn’t that difficult after all. As long as he worked hard enough, he could achieve it.

A hint of appreciation flashed in the handsome old man’s eyes as he said calmly, “There are still nine sessions left! Ten minutes of rest, then continue!”

Guo Shier felt an urge to grab the handsome old man and beat him up with the Ancient Ink Lotus. He said, “Can’t you give me some encouragement?”

The handsome old man smiled and said, “Very good, very good. Continue!”

It took most of the day to finally complete the eight talismans pillars. Though extremely tired, Guo Shier had reaped great rewards. By the end, he could cast over six thousand virtual talismans per second—a level typical of advanced Great Sage Masters. He hadn’t reached this level before because his rapid advancement left him lacking in many foundational skills. This process of crafting talisman weapons gave him a chance to make up for it.

Instead of lying down to rest right away, Guo Shier stood in front of the eight floating talismans pillars, a satisfied smile on his face. The handsome old man also smiled and praised, “Little brat, not bad at all. You managed to do this on your first try.”

Guo Shier twelve bowed solemnly in thanks, and the old master accepted it calmly.
The old master said, “Little brat… uh, kid, take a break. You don’t need to do anything for the subsequent refining tasks; just leave them to me.”
Guo Shier twelve asked, “Is there anything else that needs to be refined by me?”
The old master replied, “No more. They’re all my tasks. You lack too many materials—everything will have to use mine… Collect more materials in the future. Whether it’s to build your own altar or refine sacrificial treasures, without materials, you can’t do anything.”
Guo Shier twelve said, “Got it. I’ll take a nap.” He collapsed onto the ground and fell asleep immediately. In fact, he had already been exhausted and had been holding on until now; as soon as he lay down, he started snoring.
The old master smirked and said, “So weak…”
Fortunately, Guo Shier twelve was asleep and didn’t hear it. Otherwise, he would have been so angry he’d spit blood. A high-ranking great sage being weak? If he had met the old master a few years earlier, he would have been utterly despised by him.
The old master’s figure disappeared into the Ancient Ink Lotus, and the eight talisman pillars followed him in.
The Ancient Ink Lotus rotated slowly, and no one could see what the old master was doing inside. Even if Guo Shier twelve had been awake, he wouldn’t have known. The old master had created his own space within the Ancient Ink Lotus, allowing him to block external views.
Guo Shier twelve slept soundly until early the next morning. When he got up, he saw the Ancient Ink Lotus still rotating slowly. Without collecting anything, he turned and went downstairs. At the foot of the stairs, he saw the Eagle Demon sitting cross-legged. He asked, “Uncle Eagle Demon, where are they?”
The Eagle Demon asked, “Are you ready?”
Guo Shier twelve replied, “Not yet. The old master still has some things to refine.”
The Eagle Demon said, “They’ve all gone to the ditch edge to watch Gu Xi Bi.”
Guo Shier twelve wondered, “What’s there to see?”
The Eagle Demon replied, “I’m not sure either. It seems Lao Zhang and Xian Ru Dai are betting on something. I don’t know what, but Lao Zhang has been acting strangely these days and gets annoyed easily.” He seemed to think of something funny and couldn’t help but laugh. “You haven’t seen it… A little girl like Xian Ru Dai can make him explode with anger with just one sentence. If I hadn’t pulled them apart, they would have started fighting.”
Guo Shier twelve frowned slightly and asked, “What sentence?”
The Eagle Demon replied, “Xian Ru Dai said that no man in her family has ever been able to inherit anything—this has been the case for thousands of years. So she said Zhang Yaojin isn’t a man… Lao Zhang went berserk as soon as he heard that.”

Guo Shier was speechless. He also couldn’t figure out why Zhang Yaojin could receive the inheritance—it was truly baffling. He thought, “Could it be that this guy was a woman in his past life and was reborn as a man, but his soul remains female, which is why the altar recognized him?” He said, “Forget it. Ignore him. It’s fine once he calms down. It’s normal not to understand right now.”
Eagle Demon said, “The trouble lies with Xian Ruidai and Dingding. Now they are senior and junior sisters, fellow disciples. Xian Ruidai made a bet with Zhang Yaojin, dragging Dingding into it as well. There was a huge uproar yesterday. If not for considering you, they might have started fighting right then. Before dawn today, the three of them ran away. I can’t go, so I had to ask Lao Luo to follow them.”