Chapter 5: Testing the Blade (Part 2)

Xian Ruidai casually opened a talisman gate and waved, saying, “Goodbye! Tell that handsome old man he’s indeed a handsome old man!” She stepped through, with Zhang Yaojin following closely behind. Zhou Xiaoling glanced back at Guo Shier and, without saying another word, stepped through the gate as well.
Watching the gate gradually disappear into the air, Guo Shier let out a deep sigh and said, “Let’s continue searching for the way home.”
The handsome old man suddenly appeared and asked, “Have they left?”
Guo Shier was surprised. “Why didn’t you come out just now?”
The handsome old man frowned and said, “I hate saying goodbye to others; it makes me feel uncomfortable, so I simply didn’t come out.”
Guo Shier shook his head, not expecting the handsome old man to be so sentimental. He said, “We’ll have the chance to meet again in the future. They should be able to advance to the Virtual Spirit Mirror and build their own altars.”
The handsome old man replied, “Not necessarily. Without help, it will be very difficult for them to build their own altars.”
Guo Shier said, “There’s no need to worry about that. The Gudai family has many experts. Once they reach that level, the family will surely help them. Xian Ruidai is even younger than me, so the family must take her very seriously. Zhang Yaojin, on the other hand, is more of a problem—the Gudai family might not recognize him.”
The handsome old man said, “With the help of powerful experts, they might succeed. Kid, I was originally planning to take them to a secret realm, but now it’s unnecessary. Your soul’s energy is so strong that you don’t even need to train there.”
Guo Shier knew that his soul’s energy could only refine and purify his soul, but not increase its strength. He said, “What I need to do now is build a Virtual Form Altar. Even with your help, I still have a lot to do.”
The handsome old man replied, “Of course. Many talismans need to be inscribed by you. I can only assist, not replace you.”
After Zhou Xiaoling, Xian Ruidai, and Zhang Yaojin left, Guo Shier suddenly felt lonely. He said, “Uncle Eagle Demon, Uncle Luo, this place isn’t good. Let’s move to another continent. By the way, handsome old man, how many continents and secret realms’ coordinates do you know? Can you give them to me?”
The handsome old man said, “I know many… Do you want them?”
Guo Shier replied happily, “Yes, of course! I’m lost now… precisely because I know too few continents and secret realms.”

The handsome old man said, “This is easy.” He directly passed on a set of teachings to Guo Shier. After glancing through them, Guo Shier was stunned. The old man gave him a huge number of coordinates for hidden realms across the continent—so many that it was astonishing. He estimated there were ten times more than the coordinates he had before.

Guo Shier had previously collected coordinates for about thirty continents and over a hundred twenty hidden realms. Adding those given by Xian Ruidai, after removing duplicates, he had about a dozen new continent coordinates and over twenty new hidden realm coordinates. However, the old man gave him more than four hundred continent coordinates and over a thousand five hundred hidden realm coordinates. But most of them couldn’t be used yet because they were too far away.

With so many coordinates, Guo Shier was at a loss. There were simply too many to choose from; he didn’t know which continent was closest to his hometown, nor which hidden realm was a mystical one. With a wry smile, he said, “Damn it… No worries when there were no coordinates, but now that I have them, I’m even more confused… Where should I go? I can’t possibly visit every continent.”

After giving him the coordinates, the old man retreated back into the Ancient Ink Lotus. He had many tasks to attend to—preparing a virtual altar framework, making minor modifications to the Ancient Ink Lotus, and purifying some materials inside it. After understanding the Bai Na Zhu, his speed in processing materials increased dramatically, and the purified materials were of extremely high quality.

Guo Shier frowned as he examined the coordinates. Each coordinate was actually a series of ancient runes. He needed to insert these runes into interdimensional talismans or portal talismans to determine if they could be used. It was a tedious task. It was manageable when there were few coordinates, but with so many at once, he was overwhelmed.

Soon, Guo Shier noticed a set of golden ancient rune coordinates and another set of silver ancient rune coordinates, whose colors differed from the usual ones. Curious, he asked, “Old Man, what are these golden coordinates for?” He used soul vibrations to ask, so even though the old man was inside the Ancient Ink Lotus, he could sense it.

The old man replied, “The golden ones represent continents, and the silver ones represent hidden realms. They are all special continents and hidden realms, just different from ordinary ones. Alright, stop bothering me. I’m busy.”

Guo Shier continued to flip through the pages with a grim expression. He saw a coordinate marked specially and suddenly remembered that it was the coordinate given by Li Ran, the place to go after he advanced to Great Sage. He was almost at the Virtual Form Altar now; if he didn’t go now, it might be too late. He tried to input this coordinate into the Interdimensional Token.

“Sigh!”

Guo Shier let out a long sigh. This coordinate also didn’t work— the distance was too great, even the Interdimensional Token was useless. Shaking his head in frustration, he said, “This is troublesome… Which coordinate should I use?”

Try the golden coordinate? Just as Guo Shier was about to input the golden coordinate into the Interdimensional Token, the old man said, “By the way, don’t use the golden or silver coordinates. Your strength isn’t enough; going there would be suicide. It’s better to advance to the Solid Form Altar first.”

Guo Shier couldn’t help asking, “Old man, which coordinate do you think I should use?”

The old man replied irritably, “It depends on your goal. Are you planning to collect materials, practice, or have some other purpose? If you don’t make it clear, how can I help you choose a coordinate?”

Guo Shier sighed, sounding a bit depressed, and said, “I plan to go home…”

The old man bluntly said, “Then go home! Why are you sighing? It’s nonsense!”

Guo Shier gritted his teeth in anger and said resentfully, “If I knew where home was… would I be so troubled? I’m lost!”

The old man said, “I know you’re lost, but I can’t help you with that. I don’t even know which continent your home is on. Figure it out yourself.”

Guo Shier gritted his teeth and said, “Never mind… I’ll try them one by one! I refuse to believe I can’t find my way back!”

Eagle Demon asked, “Shier, where are we going?”

Guo Shier replied, “Just wander around!” He opened the Interdimensional Token and stepped inside.

Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan followed in. Before they could see the surroundings clearly, Guo Shier opened the Interdimensional Token again and stepped in. Eagle Demon smiled bitterly in resignation and pulled Luo Zhan along.

After using the Interdimensional Token repeatedly to rush forward, Eagle Demon finally couldn’t bear it anymore. He grabbed Guo Shier and said, “Shier, wait a moment!”

Guo Shier asked, “What’s wrong?”

Eagle Demon smiled bitterly and said, “Shier, calm down.”

Guo Shier said, “Uncle Eagle Demon, don’t worry. I’m very calm!” Luo Zhan also noticed that something was wrong with Guo Shier and advised him, “Shier, don’t rush. We’ll definitely find our way back. With me and Eagle here, hehe, you don’t have to worry.”

Eagle Demon also advised, “Guo Shier, even if we can’t return for now, there’s no need to rush. There are people at home to take care of things. Your master Kumu and his wife Monier will look after your family.”
Guo Shier sighed deeply and said, “The Gu Xi Long family… such troublemakers!”
Eagle Demon smiled and said, “Actually… if not for them bringing us here, you wouldn’t have become a high-ranking Great Sage Master, nor would you have Gu Mo Lian and Old Handsome. You wouldn’t have met so many friends either, and I wouldn’t have advanced to a high-ranking Great Sage Master either. Shier, we haven’t lost anything.”
Guo Shier slowly sat down and nodded. “I get it.” He suddenly realized that perhaps due to Zhou Xiaoling’s departure and the inability to find their way home, he had lost control of his emotions and become impatient. After calming down, he said, “Yes, we’ve gained a lot.”
Seeing Guo Shier gradually calm down, Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan both breathed a sigh of relief. Guo Shier was their backbone; if he lost his composure, things would get troublesome.
Eagle Demon asked, “Where is this?”
Earlier, Guo Shier had continuously used cross-dimensional talismans to travel through a series of continents and secret realms, and they had now arrived on a strange continent.
After examining the area, Guo Shier couldn’t help but laugh. He had traveled through seven continents and four secret realms in one go, without stopping anywhere. He wasn’t even sure which continent this was. At this point, he was completely lost and said, “It’s a strange continent. I don’t know where it is.”
Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan could only force smiles. They could also use talisman techniques, but not as freely as Guo Shier. Eagle Demon said, “Then let’s not worry about it. Let’s find a city first. We need some supplies; our food is almost gone.”
Guo Shier nodded. “Good idea. Let’s go!”
It was a continent with beautiful mountains and clear waters. Guo Shier flew into the air and said, “There should be people living on this continent.”
Luo Zhan said, “This continent is great. The land is fertile, and there’s an abundance of plants.” The more continents they had visited, the more they realized how rare a good continent was.
Soon, they saw vast primeval forests. The trees here were tall and dense, with flocks of birds circling in the sky. From time to time, groups of animals could be seen in the woods, their numbers so large that it surprised Guo Shier and the others.
Eagle Demon said, “What a great place! I don’t see any mutated talisman beasts.” No mutated talisman beasts meant that ordinary people could enter this forest.
Guo Shier said, “I see a small village!”

The Eagle Demon suddenly flew high into the sky. After a moment, he descended and said, “There’s more than one village—several small villages. Let’s go take a look.”
Flying close to the treetops, the three of them moved forward.
The Eagle Demon said, “There’s a path here! Let’s go down.”
A dirt path, clearly made by humans, appeared in the forest, and the three of them landed. Guo Shier said, “This path is quite wide.” It was a dirt road about five or six meters wide, with signs of cutting along the sides, many tree stumps exposed above ground, and a few sparse branches sticking out.
Guo Shier suddenly turned around and asked, “What’s that sound?”
Ding! Ding!
The sound of bells came from afar.