Chapter 168: Book of Talismans
Translator: StackThatCoin Editor: Hitesh
Like how the spring rain moistened everything silently, the dark beams that filled the air penetrated every single object without making any noise. Softly and gently, they pierced through all the furniture and decorations in the entire palace, leaving behind countless tiny holes that one could not see with naked eyes. After that, these dark beams plunged into the ground soundlessly, reaching a distance of one thousand feet underground. Wherever they passed, tiny wisps of dark smoke came coiling up. Several dozens of such dark beams brushed against Wu Qi's body, and he could smell a faint stinking scent coming from the dark smoke.
Their penetrating force was incredible, and each contained a deadly poison. Wu Qi carefully used his divine sense to scan a dark beam that flew past him. He discovered that it was made from the Acquired poisonous gases of the earth core, mixed with the polar light found in the extreme altitude, and were refined using the Nether Aura that came in the last stream of each day’s sunlight. From an incorporeal substance, it was transformed into corporeal substance, then transformed back to incorporeal substance again. The process was repeated a few times, and lastly, several dozens of poisonous objects that could harm the body and soul of cultivators were added to it. Only then was it considered successfully made.
It was a vicious and evil technique lying between magical treasure and magical technique, a technique that came with formidable power. Once someone was hurt by it, the consequences would be devastating. Even the body of an ordinary Earth Immortal would be pierced through by it, and once the body was contaminated by the poison that came together, even the Dharma Body of an Earth Immortal would become rotten and disintegrated, and his Nascent Soul and soul would suffer from a severe injury. There was a record concerning such an evil method in the Scroll of Stealing, but this was the first time Wu Qi saw something as malicious and venomous as it.
Xu Fu watched how the dark beams showered and riddled the entire palace, frowned and shook his head as he said, "Am I really becoming older already? Why do I feel something is not right? Tsk, I don't have a good feeling about it. Why is there an anxiety in my mind?"
He spun and returned to the palace to walk two rounds in it. Suddenly, he pointed his right index finger out, and a tiny, dark beam quickly condensed into a strange, twisted rune on his fingertip. Casually, he unleashed the rune and shot it into the ground. With that, the soil under the palace became condensed; from ordinary earth, it became as dense as pure steel. Ringing of metal clashing rang out, as countless sharp blades suddenly emerged inside the earth. Bringing together an incredible coldness, they swept across everywhere, slicing and cutting through everything on their way, wreaking a havoc in the underground.
While the sharp blades were chopping and slicing ferociously, there was a ball of Earth Core Venomous Flame ten thousand feet in diameter that began burning ragingly and soundlessly from one hundred thousand feet below, melting all the sand and soil into dark lava while pushing its way up to the surface. In the blink of an eye, besides a thin layer of soil on the surface that could still keep its good condition, the stratum below the palace had been completely destroyed, while green grasses growing in the palace all withered and died.
Right at this moment, as Wu Qi realized that the situation did not permit him to stay any longer, he had long fled out from the wooden city. Xu Fu had his eyebrows frowned, strolling a few more rounds in the palace. Only then did hi nod his head and had his mind relaxed. With both hands clasped behind his back, he strode towards the foremost palace, where the banquet was going on. Although on the surface, Ying Zheng's residence did look exactly the same as before, it had actually been riddled with countless tiny holes. Numerous maids were running back and forth hurriedly, replacing all the furniture and decorations which had countless tiny holes on them.
Wu Qi did run fast enough, as he immediately fled out from the wooden city upon realizing things were out of his control. But although he was nimble, Xu Fu's strike was faster and more vicious than he expected. Wu Qi was slightly hit by a single thread of venomous flame that burst out from earth's core and the dark smoke, which left a large patch of red burn mark on his right leg, and a jet of heat poison had penetrated into his viscera. If it were any other ordinary cultivator, having this jet of heat poison that had been breeding for ages underground into their bodies would be a serious problem. But, with just a slight twitching movement of the False Cores in his Fire meridians, this jet of heat poison was instantly absorbed by them, transformed into innate Fire energies that began circulating throughout his body.
Although Wu Qi had no fear of any heat poison with the unique cultivation technique, the burn wound on his right leg still brought him a severe pain. In addition to that, as he was nearly riddled by the bizarre, dark beams, Wu Qi was so angry that his eyebrows kept twitching violently. While remaining in the earth, he pointed his finger in the direction of the wooden city and cursed inwardly, "Xu Fu, you old fool! Those Spirit Energies in your Dharma Eyes will be mine! Not only that, the mystic technique of cultivating the Dao of Primordial Talismans will be mine too!"
Nevertheless, as this place was the field headquarter of Qin army, not only was it occupied by several hundred thousands of elite soldiers, there were also many formidable cultivators. Li Si, Xu Fu, Ying Zheng, they were all experts with incredible cultivation bases. Wu Qi dared not underestimate Xu Fu, and did not want to do something to him in a hurry. He could only strike once, as once he failed and alerted other people in the field headquarter, it would be nearly impossible for him to make the escape.
He pondered for a while, sneered and left the field headquarter, proceeding straight into a great mountain to the left of the campsite.
For the next three days, Wu Qi was busy running about in the mountain forest. He was searching and visiting those remote places fully enveloped with poisonous miasma and poisonous gases, dark and desolated, wet and filthy corners. At those places, he caught unknown numbers of strange and peculiar poisonous bugs, and harvested numerous bizarre, venomous herbs and plants.
The Scroll of Stealing covered and contained almost everything. Among them, there were all kinds of strange formulae that he could use to concoct poisons and ecstasies. It was reasonable and explainable, as the secret treasure vaults of those Heaven Immortals, Gold Immortals, or some greater existences would certainly be guarded by their loyal apprentices and disciples, or divine or immortal beasts that they subdued. The techniques of stealing taught by Scroll of Stealing were among the best under the heaven, but the cultivation base of one that used them did not necessary have to be the strongest under the heaven. In many cases, those apprentices, disciples, divine and immortal beasts who guarded the treasure vaults would possess the cultivation base many times stronger than Wu Qi.
On top of that, no cultivator would doze off, and a round of secluded cultivation would usually take them several hundred or thousands of years. Under such situation, all kinds of ecstasies and poisons would be a vital tool if he wished to sneak into the treasure vault and steal something. Among all the ecstasies found in Scroll of Stealing, there was one that Wu Qi could concoct now: the 'Drunken Dragon Incense', an ecstasy that could be concocted with over seven hundred and eighty formulae.
In this world existed an extraordinary plant named: 'Drunken Dragon Grass'. If an ancient divine dragon consumed one, it would become drunk and never wake up for one thousand years. The Drunken Dragon Incense mimicked the medicinal strength of the plant, fusing different types of weaker herbs into one and producing a brutal and powerful ecstasy. According to Scroll of Stealing, the Drunken Dragon Incense was categorized as the Ninth Immortal Grade among all ecstasies under the heaven, and listed as the seventh most powerful in that grade. Therefore, it could be concocted with the most numbers of formulae, over seven hundred of them.
After spending three days bustling about, Wu Qi was lucky enough to find all the poisonous herbs and bugs in the forest that allowed him to concoct Drunken Dragon Incense using three different formulae. Carefully and meticulously, he followed the formulae and processed these materials, eventually produced three tiny incense sticks.
Three incense sticks produced with different formulae did not conflict with each other, and could be used at the same time. According to Scroll of Stealing, with the stacking of the medicinal strength, even a Heaven Immortal or Immortal Beast of Thirty-Sixth Grade would pass out upon inhaling it. Although the incense sticks were not produced with the strongest formula, but for Wu Qi to deal with the current situation, they were more than enough.
After three days of hard labor, what he got were three pale-pink incense sticks, three inches long and having a diameter of a small green bean. Wu Qi weighed the Drunken Dragon Incense in his hand, then gave a weird laugh. Without delaying further, he once again exercised the escape art and sneaked into the field headquarter of Qin army.
When the curtain of night hung down, it was the time for Ying Zheng and his loyal ministers to enjoy a banquet again. Wu Qi waited patiently until the banquet concluded, casting a watchful eye on how all the people returned to their own room and rested. Apparently, Ying Zheng had drunk more wine than usual today. Bathed in a high feeling, he put on his armor and helmet, brought a troop of one thousand Yulin Army men, and went on patrolling in the campsite for almost two hours. Only by the time the moon raised to the center of the sky did he return to the wooden city, accompanied by Xu Fu and Li Si.
It was until Ying Zheng settled down in his main palace and began his daily cultivating routine, that Li Si and Xu Fu left the palace quietly.
Outside the palace, both Li Si and Xu Fu exchanged a glance, then parted without showing any emotion on their face, proceeding into two small side palaces located on the left and right of Ying Zheng's palace. It was not tough to tell that the relationship between Li Si and Xu Fu was not harmonious. One of them was the leader of all Imperial ministers while the other one was the chief to all the loyal and close ministers. Thus, they could never get along well.
Upon seeing the rather stiffened relationship between Li Si and Xu Fu, Wu Qi nodded his head silently.
Carefully, Wu Qi restrained all his aura, taking the opportunity before Xu Fu entered the side palace and lit the three Drunken Dragon Incense sticks in the largest bedroom in it. He carefully placed three incense sticks in different corners of the room, then immediately squeezed back into the ground.
The odorless Drunken Dragon Incense diffused into the air rapidly, filling every inch of the bedroom.
Outside the bedroom, Xu Fu was seen giving out some orders to a few practitioners. After dismissing them, he walked into the bedroom with hands clasped behind his back. He had a gloomy and darkened expression, as the doors behind him closed by themselves. Frowning his brows, Xu Fu strode to a large bed placed in the center of the room, took off his long robe and sat down slowly on the bed.
The green gleams in his eyes were flashing. His lips twitched as he sneered and said, "What a Li Si! You've surprised me by telling His Majesty that you found the location of a demon flood dragon, allowing His Majesty to hunt it and complete his first stage cultivation in Nine Dragons Cauldron Grand Magic. Hmph! If I allow you to claim that great merit, doesn't that mean my status in His Majesty's mind would become lower than yours? You ought to know that it was me who informed His Majesty of the location of the last demon dragon!"
Shaking his head, Xu Fu continued saying after sighing, "I've caused His Majesty to suffer from injury, causing the loss of soldiers and captains. Although His Majesty does not keep that in mind, if Li Si is able to contribute great credit again... B*stard! I've already asked those good-for-nothing fools to keep an eye on Li Si. How could he still able to find that flood dragon?"
After murmuring a few words under his breath, Xu Fu's eyes suddenly rolled up with no prior sign, then fell heavily on his back onto the bed. The back side of his head knocked heavily on the bed frame and produced a loud knocking noise. However, as Xu Fu had deployed many Primordial Talismans in the bedroom, no sound from the room could be heard outside. As a result, although several hundred black-robed practitioners were guarding outside, none of them realized something was happening in the room.
Wu Qi hastily sprung out from underground, and with a leap, he sat onto Xu Fu's body. Then, without the slightest hesitation, he exercised all the restraining methods learned from Scroll of Stealing and could be used by him right now, using them to form a tight shackle on Xu Fu's acupoints, meridians, spiritual ocean, dantian and some other important parts.
With both hands, Wu Qi opened up Xu Fu's eyes and brought his face before the old man's face, having his eyes pointed right at the old man's eyes. After that, he exercised the mystic technique. From the depth of Xu Fu's eyes, a tiny and dazzling green vortex lit up suddenly, and a wisp of spirit energy that looked like smoke quickly burst out from both his eyes, shooting right into Wu Qi's eyes. A green gleam began shooting out from Wu Qi's eyes as blood vessels in his eyeballs expanded and poked right out, turning his eyes as big a cow's. They nearly sprung out from his eye sockets.
Xu Fu had cultivated his pair of Dharma Eyes for ages. Thus, there was an enormous spirit energy contained in them. Wu Qi only absorbed for the time of three breaths, and it nearly made his eyes explode, as he could no longer withstand the injection of the spirit energy.
He halted the exercising of mystic technique, storing the absorbed spirit energies deep into both his eyes. After that, he pulled off the only storage ring Xu Fu had on his finger at his quickest speed, and stole all the unique materials that were used to produce talismans from his sleeves and waist belts.
He took a peek into the storage ring using his divine sense briefly. To his shock, he found a jade book with thirty-three volumes in the ring, and on its cover were three large characters: 'Script of Ancient Law'. Countless profound runes were partly visible within the jade book. Apparently, it was the book used to cultivate the Dao of Primordial Talismans. The finding brought great joy to Wu Qi. He impatiently transferred all the objects in the ring into his own storage ring. After doing that, he pulled out Sword of Greedy Wolf and thrust it out.
The sword gave a ferocious cry, and in the blink of an eye, it had stabbed into Xu Fu's chest.