Chapter 8: Sea Gate (Part 2)

Xuan Ai said, “To obtain a hunting talisman, one must be at least a Mad Master level; Masters are not allowed to leave the city. In fact… if not for Guo Shier coming, I wouldn’t have gone either. It’s already very risky for Mad Masters to go out. Only by reaching the rank of Advanced Mad Master can one have some chance of survival. It’s only as a Saint Master that one can roam freely in exclusive secret realms.”
He added, “Of course, this is only near Qing City. If one goes further away, even with the strength of a Saint Master, it’s still very dangerous.”
After learning a bit more about the situation, Guo Shier asked, “If it’s so dangerous, why are there so many mutated talisman beasts?”
Pang Guang replied, “The predecessors of Sea Gate have explored it countless times but still can’t explain why there are so many mutated talisman beasts. However, since it’s a sealed secret realm, that must be the reason. Once inside, all professionals’ talisman gates cannot be used, not even cross-domain talismans. Hehe, how many people actually have cross-domain talismans?”
Guo Shier quietly checked his own cross-domain talisman—it indeed could no longer be used. Aside from the entrance and exit of the secret realm, no one could enter or exit using talisman gates, ensuring its seclusion. Unfortunately, Sea Gate hadn’t fully taken control of this secret realm; otherwise, their strength would have increased significantly.
“It’s because of the mutated talisman beasts… that Sea Gate is so generous in inviting outsiders? That’s actually a good strategy,” Xuan Ai said. “Only by eliminating all the mutated talisman beasts in the secret realm can Sea Gate truly develop it. By then, things will be different. Hehe, that would be a true exclusive secret realm. I guess even the inner sect would move there.”
Guo Shier said, “One month is enough time for us to prepare…” He looked at the falling snowflakes and added, “I hate snowy weather. Let’s go hunting once the snow stops.” The extreme cold isn’t suitable for the Dark-Wing Scorpions and Blade Shadow Beetles to move around, and the Ancient Flame Sparrows also dislike the cold.
Eagle Demon asked, “Are there any talisman maps near Qing City?”
Pang Guang replied, “They’re already prepared. Hehe, we found them in the inner sect. Qing City doesn’t sell talisman maps… though they’re quite simple. Detailed maps are the sect’s secret and can’t be given away casually.”
Guo Shier understood well—secret realm maps aren’t something just anyone can get. He asked, “What about the place we’re going to… how are the mutated talisman beasts distributed there?”

Pang Guang said, “This is a good choice. The area you’re going to is where mutated rune beasts of levels three to five are active. Occasionally, you might encounter level six ones, and as for level seven… the chance of that is extremely low. It’s a fairly suitable hunting ground.”

Guo Shieru shook his head and said, “No, this place… the mutated rune beasts here are too weak. I want to go to areas where level six, seven, or eight mutated rune beasts are active.”

Xuan Ai explained, “I know you’re strong enough to go to those areas, but the mission I’ve been given… doesn’t allow it. Unless we hunt a large number of mutated rune beasts to prove our strength to go to higher-level areas, we won’t be able to take on new missions.”

Guo Shieru actually had his own goals—he wanted to cultivate his spirit beasts and spirit insects, both of which required a large amount of blood and essence from mutated rune beasts. Although there were many secret realms, few contained a large number of such beasts, and those that did were extremely dangerous. With just him and Ying Mo, their strength wasn’t enough. If a level nine or ten high-tier mutated rune beast appeared, the chances of them being killed would be very high.

Thus, this opportunity was rare and tempting to him.

Guo Shieru said, “Alright, then let’s hunt the weaker mutated rune beasts first. Once we have enough, we can look for other areas. By the way, Xuan Ai, what if someone attacks us?”

Xuan Ai replied, “Although there are many hunters inside, once they spread out, you can hardly see anyone. In exclusive secret realms, it’s strictly forbidden for hunters to fight each other or steal each other’s prey. Hunting tokens can record many things, and here… no one dares to break the rules.”

Guo Shieru wasn’t convinced and asked, “What if conflicts arise?”

Xuan Ai said, “There are two ways to resolve them. One is to go to the judgment hall in Qingcheng, and the other is… to have a duel at the rune platform, deciding things through skill. But in the wild, hunters aren’t allowed to attack each other.”

Pang Guang added, “Actually, this rule is meant for disciples of the sect. As for foreign wandering hunters… if conflicts occur between them, well, unless they go to the judgment hall themselves, no one will pay attention.”

Xuan Ai nodded and said, “This time, you’re considered my assistants. Wandering hunters won’t dare attack us because I’m an inner sect disciple.” This was the advantage of belonging to a sect—sects could provide their disciples with many protections and benefits, far more than what wandering hunters could get.

Guo Shieru nodded and said, “That makes more sense.”

How could there be no strife in this world? Especially for wandering professionals, who had to fight against heaven, earth, mutated talisman beasts, and even their own peers. Wandering professionals had the most enemies; without the protection of any sect, they could only rely on their own strength to survive. Eagle Demon understood this all too well.

Guo Shier asked, “Is the food ready?”

According to Xuan Ai’s plan, they would stay in the wild for several months, so they needed to prepare a large amount of food. The most important was grain, while meat could be obtained at any time from those mutated talisman beasts.

The main food in Hai City was rice. Unlike the North Talisman Sect and Chenxiao Sect, where staple foods were noodles.

Pang Guang said, “No problem. I’ve already prepared it. There are two talisman storage bags in total, enough for you to last a year, along with plenty of vegetables. Although they weren’t grown using cultivation talismans, they’re fresh and well-preserved.” He handed two talisman storage bags to Guo Shier.

Guo Shier took a quick look and handed them to Eagle Demon, saying, “Hmm. Let’s rest for a while first, then get ready to set off.”

Xuan Ai was used to following Guo Shier’s commands since he was in the Bloody Secret Realm. Although this mission was conducted in his name, it was still Guo Shier who was in charge. He knew Guo Shier’s abilities and understood that this young man was extraordinary.

Pang Guang arranged everything in an orderly manner—selecting rooms and arranging accommodations. Due to limited rooms, Guo Shier and Eagle Demon shared one room, Xuan Ai and Pang Guang shared another. Only Chen Hong, being a woman, had her own room, while Luo Zhan and Huo Bao shared one room.

During this month, Guo Shier hardly left his room, staying inside and searching through his inherited memories for skills to cultivate Spirit Beasts and Spirit Insects. The talisman professionals from ancient times, commonly known as ancient talisman users, didn’t have skills divided as finely as today’s, but they did possess many powerful and practical skills, especially when it came to using Spirit Beasts and Spirit Insects.

The hardest part of cultivating Spirit Beasts was inducing spirituality in them, followed by determining how long they could remain outside after being released—longer was obviously better. These two aspects were the most challenging, after which came the progression of the Spirit Beasts. Various practical techniques captivated Guo Shier. Aside from reciting mantras before sleep, he spent all his time familiarizing himself with related spells.

A month might not be long, but Guo Shier received a great deal of knowledge. He mastered several techniques for advancing Spirit Beasts and learned how to prepare food specific to them. It turned out that Spirit Beasts also needed to eat—relying solely on the nourishment from their life talismans was far from enough. Their food had to be placed in spirit storage talismans and then added to the beast talismans at regular intervals, without the need to take them out; the process could be carried out directly within the life talisman. This was an excellent skill.

The food for Spirit Beasts required the flesh and essence of numerous mutated talisman beasts, with higher-level mutated beasts being preferable.

Spirit Bead was also a type of food, though it was rather luxurious. If combined with the flesh of mutated talisman beasts, a single Spirit Bead could be used to create a large amount of food for Spirit Beasts, enough to sustain them for months. It was only now that Guo Shier realized how wasteful it had been to use Spirit Beads as food before, as the Spirit Beasts simply couldn’t absorb that much essence, resulting in most of it being wasted.

That morning, Xuan Ai came over and said, “Shier, we can go hunting now. Hehe, this year’s large-scale hunting campaign started five days ago. It’s our turn to leave the city. We just need to register at the city gate, and then we can start.”

Guo Shier nodded, called Luo Zhan over and gave him a few instructions before saying, “Alright, just the three of us. No need to bring anyone else. You know why.” He had the secret of the Giant Perch Dragon, which Xuan Ai already knew about. It was a powerful weapon, and with it, they could easily obtain enough prey.

Xuan Ai smiled and said, “Of course I know.” Otherwise, he wouldn’t have insisted so much on bringing Guo Shier into the secret realm. His task was to hunt a certain number of mutated talisman beasts to earn rewards and points from the sect, especially since the sect’s inheritance had to be obtained through points. Only by hunting mutated talisman beasts could they gain high points; joining an inspection team would mean it would take even longer to accumulate enough points.

Pang Guang said, “I’ll take you there. Old Luo, stay at home and wait for me to return before we go out again.” He had spent a lot of time with Luo Zhan lately, and the two had become friends.

The four of them went to the main street. Guo Shier asked, “So many people? Are they all going hunting?”

The street was crowded with people, mostly professionals, most of whom were at theCrazy Master level, with few at theSaint Master level. There were also many vendors.

Xuan Ai said, “Most of them are hunting professionals. In early spring, the secret realm is when mutated talisman beasts are weakest, so that’s when the most professionals leave the city.”

As they approached the city gate, someone shouted, “Look! Look!”
Guo Shier turned to look and couldn’t help but exclaim, “Wow!”