Chapter 3: Blade Shadow Mantis (Part 1)

Holding his life talisman sword, Eagle Demon severed the last long leg before realizing the Blade Shadow Mantis had already died. Noticing everyone staring at him strangely, Eagle Demon wondered, “What’s wrong? Is there something… wrong with me?”
“Hehe, Uncle Eagle Demon is so awesome! Cutting so many legs!”
Eagle Demon said puzzledly, “Twelve, I was restricting the Blade Shadow Mantis’s movements—of course I had to cut its legs. What else could I do?”
Guo Twelve kept saying, “Of course! Cut well, cut brilliantly, cut excellently…” He was talking nonsense.
Eagle Demon scratched his head, not understanding Guo Twelve’s meaning, and said, “A level-7 mutated talisman worm— it can no longer threaten us.”
Guo Twelve inwardly marveled at the power of their combined efforts. The Blade Shadow Mantis was actually quite strong, but with all four of them working together, it had no chance to fight back. Its fate was sealed the moment it came into contact with them. Especially Qi Nan Shan, who already had the strength to kill the Blade Shadow Mantis in an instant. If it weren’t for his first attack, they would have had to fight harder to eliminate this mutated talisman worm. Even if the Blade Shadow Mantis had tried to escape from the start, no one here could have caught up.
Having easily killed a level-7 Blade Shadow Mantis, Guo Twelve was in high spirits. The Dark-Winged Scorpion chirped, its desire clearly transmitted from its soul. He smiled and said, “If you want it… I’ll give it to you!”
Guo Twelve knew that due to the scorpion venom in its body, the meat of this Blade Shadow Mantis could no longer be eaten. Flesh and soul were intertwined, and he didn’t plan to use it to craft insect talismans, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to feed the Dark-Winged Scorpion.
With Guo Twelve’s approval, the Dark-Winged Scorpion immediately let out a proud chirp. A group of small scorpions, under its command, rushed at the mutated Blade Shadow Mantis and bit into its wounds.
In just a moment, the Blade Shadow Mantis was left with only its shell, its flesh and soul completely devoured.
Such a large Blade Shadow Mantis’s flesh and soul were enough to help the Dark-Winged Scorpion advance in strength. So once the small scorpions climbed back onto its back, it fell into a deep sleep. Guo Twelve reluctantly put away the Dark-Winged Scorpion, knowing he couldn’t rely on its help for now. He said, “Not bad… not bad. It’s a shame… such a shame!”
Monier wondered, “Baby, what are you saying? What’s not bad? What’s a shame?”

Guo Shier was both happy and troubled as he said, “The Dark-Winged Scorpion can advance now. It’s a pity we can’t use it for now; we must walk on our own.” This time, the Dark-Winged Scorpion truly would be advancing, which meant that up to this point, the ancient insect talisman had finally returned to its peak condition. Under Guo Shier’s cultivation, the ancient scorpion within the talisman had finally grown, and he was well aware of the difficulties involved.

Monier said cheerfully, “That’s great! This talisman is really good—it can help the spirit within advance. You must have invested a lot of effort… Once the Dark-Winged Scorpion advances, the quality of this talisman can reach the level of a true ancient talisman, bringing future benefits.”

Guo Shier nodded. Ever since he saw Li Ran’s Soul Altar, he understood that with it, he could nurture numerous spirit beasts to support the altar. The three precious talismans in his possession were all highly valuable, especially since they had been advanced through his own cultivation. Once he built his own Soul Altar, the Ancient Flame Sparrow, the Giant Nesting Dragon, and the Dark-Winged Scorpion would all be valuable aids.

Guo Shier and Eagle Demon hadn’t received the complete inheritance of the Ancient Soul Altar—only the teachings of a lower-level sage. If they wanted to advance further, they would need to join a sect on the Advanced Continent. As for Qi Nanshan, he didn’t have such concerns. The inheritance of the Black Talisman people was enough to elevate him to a high-level Grand Sage, though progressing further would still be difficult.

Qi Nanshan said, “Let’s continue along this path.”

With a casual gesture, Guo Shier put the entire body of the Blade Shadow Mantis into his talisman bag. He said, “The Blade Shadow Mantis’ lair should be nearby. Let’s go take a look.”

Following the trail of the Blade Shadow Mantis, they flew low through the air.

After a while, they saw another Blade Shadow Mantis, killed by a single strike from Eagle Demon. It was a level-four Blade Shadow Mantis, relatively weak, and seemed to be a mate of the one they had killed earlier.

Apart from its soul essence, the body of this Blade Shadow Mantis wasn’t worth collecting, but Guo Shier still put it away—after all, it could be sold for some money. He was more interested in its meat. He had tasted the meat of a Green Blade Shadow Mantis before, which was incredibly delicious, and he believed the meat of this one would be just as good.

Just as they were about to leave, Qi Nanshan suddenly said, “Huh? There’s something underground!” His soul was unique, allowing him to detect extremely faint soul fluctuations.

Guo Shier used a spell to investigate briefly and exclaimed in surprise, “There are Blade Shadow Mantis eggs! Damn! These are valuable!”

Mutated Parasites that can lay eggs are rare, and the number of offspring they produce is extremely small. However, there is one characteristic: in each clutch of eggs, there are always two to three eggs that are particularly strong and likely to directly become Aberrant Eggs, thus growing into Aberrant Parasites—powerful entities. Guo Shier had inherited knowledge in this area and understood its mysteries, which is why he was so surprised upon discovering the eggs of the Blade Shadow Mantis. Monier also knew a little about it. Neither Qi Nanshan nor the Eagle Demon had such knowledge. Qi Nanshan asked, “What’s the use of Blade Shadow Mantis eggs?” He was dismissive. He didn’t even care about Level 7 Blade Shadow Mantises—how powerful could their eggs be? Guo Shier smiled and said, “Just because the parents aren’t capable doesn’t mean the offspring can’t be. Grandpa Nanshan, these eggs are extremely useful to me. Well, I’ll need to stay here for at least ten days.” Monier said, “Okay, then let’s wait for ten days.” Qi Nanshan shook his head but didn’t object either. He said, “Fine, as long as they’re useful. I’ll help you hunt some mutated Parasites in the meantime.” Guo Shier said happily, “I need more flesh, blood, and essence from mutated Parasites.” The Eagle Demon said, “I’ll go hunting too.” After discovering these Blade Shadow Mantis eggs, Guo Shier had a plan in mind. He said, “My wife, I need to craft a Bug Talisman. Hehe, luckily I collected the shells of Blade Shadow Mantises; otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to do this… It’s a shame there aren’t higher-level Parasite shells.” Monier thought for a moment and said, “No problem. The shells of Level 7 Blade Shadow Mantises are sufficient for crafting one. But your purification techniques need to be very skillful. The success of this Bug Talisman depends on your methods.” She couldn’t get involved in this and could only do some auxiliary work. Guo Shier said, “The inheritance from the Ancient Soul Altar includes specific purification methods. Plus, I have the best Talisman Fire, so it shouldn’t be a problem.” Monier was surprised. “You’re using Talisman Fire for purification? That’s extremely difficult. One mistake could destroy the shell.” Guo Shier said, “It’s okay. I have special incantations I can use. Hehe, it’s a good chance to practice. I’ve created too few talismans. Although I’ve received complete inheritance, I’ve had little practice. I’ll take this opportunity to see what the ancient inheritance is really like.” Qi Nanshan said, “Shier, you craft the Bug Talisman here. My wife and I will go hunting. Be careful.” Guo Shier replied, “It’s fine. With my wife protecting me, there won’t be any danger. This area is likely the territory of Blade Shadow Mantises, so mutated Parasites won’t come here for now.” Qi Nanshan nodded and said, “Alright, Eagle Demon, let’s go!” He and the Eagle Demon immediately stood up and flew away.

Guo Shier said, “I’ll set up a protective talisman array.” This was a simple protective talisman array he created while cultivating in seclusion at the Chenxiao Sect after receiving his inheritance; it wasn’t very powerful. In just two years, he couldn’t create a powerful array, so he could only make a basic defensive one.

Monier nodded and watched as Guo Shier arranged the talismans. Guo Shier took out a stack of talisman cards from his life talisman sphere—about the size of playing cards from his past life, a thick stack of eighteen in total. The earth-yellow talismans didn’t look particularly remarkable. With a casual toss, the eighteen talismans floated around him; these were still inactive. As a series of incantations were recited, the talismans trembled and emitted waves of yellow light.

Soon, the talismans drifted outward. Then, Guo Shier took out a handful of red talisman beads and inserted them one by one into the ground—seventy-two in total. As the incantations were activated, the red-lit beads fell to the ground and then sank beneath it. Another series of incantations was chanted, and the talismans floating in the air seemed to be restrained by an invisible force, suddenly falling down.

Monier exclaimed in amazement, “Is this an ancient talisman array?”

Guo Shier cast the final incantation, and a faint red glow flashed. He said, “This is the simplest ancient talisman array. It doesn’t have much power—only capable of blocking sound and breath, as well as repelling weak mutated talisman worms. The process is complicated and not very practical.”

Monier said, “That’s already quite good. Talisman arrays are usually studied only by those who have reached the rank of Great Sage. You’re just a junior sage, yet you’ve already come into contact with them.”

Guo Shier smiled and said, “I’ve only mastered the basic aspects of the inheritance. A large part of it hasn’t been put into practice yet. I need time to digest it slowly. Perhaps it will take another ten years before I can fully grasp the knowledge required for a junior sage. By then, I’ll need to find an altar for the next stage of inheritance.”

The protective talisman array gradually rose. Although everything around remained unchanged, Guo Shier knew that once any movement occurred, this array would come into effect.

After carefully sensing the faint soul fluctuations underground, Guo Shier said, “The eggs of the Blade Shadow Mantis are probably about three meters deep. Well, I’ll start by crafting insect talismans first.”

Monier smiled slightly and said, “Baby, let me see the ancient methods of talisman crafting from the ancient inheritance. Hehe, I’m really curious—what’s the difference between the ancient methods and our current inheritance?”

Guo Shier replied, “As far as I know, there’s a huge difference.”

Monier said, “I know ancient spellcraft is very different from what we use now. I hope it will give me a surprise.” Guo Shieru had no defenses against her. Any spellcaster would never cast spells in front of strangers, but Guo Shieru didn’t care. He and Monier were like father and daughter. Over the years, Monier’s care for him had been genuine, without the slightest pretense, and he deeply appreciated this. Taking out the shell of the Level 7 mutated Blade Shadow Mantis from his spell storage bag, Guo Shieru began to craft the Ancient Insect Spell.