Chapter 4: Xing Yunzi (Part 1)

Although Li Ran and the others were displeased, they didn’t want to offend that person. Of course, if a fight really broke out, they weren’t afraid either—after all, they had fought their way through countless dangers along the way, their souls hardened like iron and their wills as strong as steel. They watched the man quietly, staying on high alert.
After a while, the man nodded and said, “You don’t need to be wary. It’s useless anyway. Hehe, since you can understand the language I speak, it proves we’re not enemies. Well, my name is Xing Yunzi.”
Li Ran was slightly shocked. Xing Yunzi? That name was interesting. He vaguely recalled some legend but couldn’t be sure, so he became even more cautious. He said, “Xing Yunzi, it’s an honor to meet you!”
Qi Wu Zhen and the others couldn’t understand their conversation and grew anxious inside. Guo Shier said, “If you walk around here without knowing the local language, it must be quite inconvenient.”
Xing Yunzi asked, “Oh, what solution do you have?”
Guo Shier replied, “I can pass it on to you.” The only method he could think of was to use inheritance to assess how powerful the other person’s soul was. Since Guo Shier had no special combat skills in his past life, he could only rely on the talisman skills he acquired in this life.
Xing Yunzi was surprised. “Inheritance? How? Is there such a way of learning?”
Guo Shier said, “As long as I touch your forehead with my finger… you can inherit knowledge of over a dozen languages.”
Xing Yunzi frowned slightly before quickly smiling again. He wasn’t afraid of these people; he had absolute confidence in his own strength. He said, “No problem. If there’s such a method, I’ve really learned something new.” With that, he floated over to Guo Shier, still with his hands behind his back, looking relaxed, though the silver light in his eyes intensified.
Guo Shier was also very bold. Without any hesitation, he reached out and touched Xing Yunzi’s forehead.
With just a light touch, Guo Shier immediately pulled back his hand and said, “That’s enough.” Yet his heart was pounding wildly, because the other person’s soul wasn’t weak at all—on the contrary, it was vast and immense. Although it wasn’t as pure as his own, its scale was no less than his.

Guo Shier was well aware that his opponent was far stronger than him. He had a altar, which allowed his soul to be truly utilized, whereas his opponent had a powerful soul but no altar to amplify it, nor any spells to use—only some force he didn’t understand surrounding him. He gave Li Ran a glance, signaling him not to act rashly. The information gained from this exploration was enough to make him highly vigilant.

Xing Yunzi touched his forehead and said, “Is that it already?” Then his expression changed slightly as he exclaimed in surprise, “Huh… It can actually be done like this!”

In an instant, Xing Yunzi scanned through the knowledge transmitted to his soul. It should be noted that Guo Shier’s inheritance wasn’t given for free. If Xing Yunzi didn’t have a strong soul, he would have experienced severe pain. The inheritance included knowledge in over a dozen languages—not much by some standards, but not little by others. An ordinary soul could never handle such a large amount of information at once; only a trained soul could receive it so easily.

Any expert from the Spellcraft Clan, especially top professionals like Li Ran, understood what Guo Shier’s inheritance meant, and everyone was sweating profusely. When they saw Xing Yunzi receive the inheritance so effortlessly, they immediately concluded that his soul was extremely powerful.

Xing Yunzi said, “Not bad, a good method, hehe.” This time he spoke in the language of the Spellcraft Clan. Except for Serichelin, who didn’t understand, everyone else got it. The script of the Spellcraft Clan had many similarities to Chinese characters.

Then Xing Yunzi added, “It’s fate that we meet. What are you doing here? This space is unstable. If you stay here… well, you probably don’t yet have the ability to move through the void. Staying here is very dangerous.”

Guo Shier replied, “We’re looking for a passage to the universe’s greater world.”

Xing Yunzi thought for a moment before saying, “That passage has been blocked. I remember it wasn’t very large and seemed to have collapsed in several places. How do you plan to pass through?”

Li Ran said, “We have a way. A temporary obstacle… shouldn’t be a problem. We can clear it.”

Xing Yunzi blinked in disbelief and said, “Oh, if you can clear the void, that’s truly remarkable. Well… here’s a jade slip. You should be able to use it. Just place it on your forehead; it contains the coordinates I’ve recorded.”

Li Ran was overjoyed. He reached out to take it and said, “Thank you!”

Xingyunzi stared at Guo Shier for a long time before saying, “It’s a shame. With such excellent talent, it’s being wasted. Well, since you’ve given me something in return, I won’t let you suffer… Here’s a cultivation technique for you to consider. It might be useful as a reference compared to the skills you’re learning now.” He took out a jade slip—green in color and about the size of a thumb—and handed it to Guo Shier.

Guo Shier took it and said, “Thank you.”

Xingyunzi glanced at the others and said, “Meeting here seems like fate. I have many rare items here. Do you have anything to trade?” He added, “It’s only because of your strength that you can trade with me. Otherwise… I wouldn’t stay here at all.” His tone was extremely arrogant.

Guo Shier and the others were stunned. He actually wanted to trade and even gave them a chance? This man was too arrogant. Yet, no one had any objections to trading. For any race to grow stronger, trading with other races was essential, especially for experts like Li Ran, who placed even greater emphasis on trade and interaction. This was also why, upon arriving in a strange place, they first looked for populated areas.

Li Ran said, “Okay, we can trade. But it’s a bit chaotic here. Let’s find a more stable area.”

Xingyunzi couldn’t help but laugh. He said, “No need to change places. It’s fine right here!” With that, he pressed his hand downward, and a massive force suddenly appeared, shocking Li Ran and the others. In just an instant, the pressure appeared and then vanished, and all the spatial cracks within a kilometer disappeared as well.

Guo Shier couldn’t help but exclaim, “Whoa! That’s too extreme!”

Xingyunzi’s mood improved greatly. Those words pleased him more than any praise. Having succeeded in showing off, he pressed his hand down again. Instantly, the ground seemed to be struck by an invisible hammer, sinking down a meter. Ripples spread out with each of his gestures. With a light command, “Melt!” the entire ground melted away.

Li Ran and the others didn’t notice the changes in the terrain below; they were focused on Xing Yunzi’s gestures, which were those of a spell, but altered to the point where they couldn’t identify which spell it was. At that moment, as Xing Yunzi took action, they sensed a unique quality associated with talismans—a quality that other races couldn’t learn, though it differed greatly from how the Talisman Clan used them. The talismans used by professionals of the Talisman Clan were pure talismans, whereas Xing Yunzi’s spells contained many other types of energy, an unfamiliar energy that was clearly very powerful.

The ground melted in an instant, after which Xing Yunzi shouted a single word: “Solidify!” Immediately, a wall rose high around them, and the ground quickly solidified, as if paved with jade. In the center, there was even a raised stone platform. Xing Yunzi nodded in satisfaction and said, “This is perfect!”

Guo Shier couldn’t help but laugh. Xing Yunzi’s behavior reminded him of a saying from his past life—this guy was a typical showoff, a master who loved to put on an act. He said, “Great, truly impressive.” Xing Yunzi needed someone to cooperate so he could act showy, so Guo Shier played along willingly. He had long seen through such things; it didn’t require any effort from him. After all, it was just a matter of praising him generously—by making him feel comfortable, he might even gain an advantage in the deal.

Everyone stepped down. The ground was still warm, feeling like freshly baked hot cakes.

Xing Yunzi finally smiled. He was quite handsome, not a supermodel, but still attractive, especially with his eyes, which gave off a particularly stern aura, shimmering with silver light—definitely not human-like. He said, “Hmm, I need items with unique features. Of course, I also have plenty to offer in exchange. I’m sure it will satisfy you.”

Guo Shier wanted to test him, so he casually took out a bottle of high-grade talisman pills and said, “This is an efficient, non-toxic, and fast-acting healing potion. Well, as long as the person isn’t dead, they can be saved… Of course, there’s a condition: it must be a mechanical injury. If they’re poisoned or injured by something else I don’t know about, this potion won’t be very effective.”

Xingyunzi showed a look of disdain and said, “I have plenty of this kind of medicine…” He casually picked up the talisman bottle and added, “What I want are the raw materials, not the finished product.” With that, he opened the bottle and poured out a pill the size of a parasol tree seed; his expression immediately changed. Come on, high-grade talisman pills—no matter what race one is, as long as they’re human, they’re extremely effective and are precious treasures that can save lives across all races.

Guo Shier smiled and said, “You can test it first… then make a decision. I trust your judgment.”

Xingyunzi stared intently at the subtle runes flowing on the talisman pill. It was a light green pill. Although not top-tier, it was definitely a high-grade talisman pill—a rare treasure even among the talisman clans. He sniffed it closely, his expression changing again as he said in a deep voice, “What kind of pill is this?”

Guo Shier replied, “It’s just a talisman pill, a healing medicine unique to our talisman clan. Hehe, its effects are quite good.”

Xingyunzi pondered for a moment before saying softly, “A talisman pill? Strange… I feel a sense of familiarity…” With that, he swallowed the pill in one gulp and narrowed his eyes slightly. After a while, he nodded and said, “It is indeed a good healing medicine, but it has little effect on me.”

Guo Shier understood. Just as low-grade talisman pills had little effect on him, the stronger one’s power, the higher-grade the talisman pills they needed.