With this thought in mind, Yu Ci successively lifted the c0rpse’s hands. As expected, there was a ring on the left index finger, already slipped to the first knuckle. Had he arrived a bit later, this ring would have become the spoils of these herb collectors.
Yu Ci took it off. There were no carvings on it, but its style and feel were very familiar. Yes, it was exactly the same as the storage ring on his hand.
“Ah, indeed a cultivator.”
Tossing the ring in his hand, Yu Ci stood up, intending to talk to the herb collectors behind him. Unexpectedly, those people were already on high alert, and seeing his actions, they assumed he intended to silence them. They screamed in unison and scattered like frightened rats.
With the ring still in his palm, Yu Ci was left standing there, slightly dumbfounded. He laughed silently. In the end, did it look like he was robbing them?
However, he didn’t care about how others saw him. He calmed his thoughts and focused on the ring. He wanted to see what was inside it and if there were any items that could identify the deceased.
With a thought, the invisible “little hammer” struck down.
In his mind, it seemed like there was a “clang” sound. The “outer barrier” of the ring was unbreakable! Yu Ci was startled. He gripped it tightly and tried again, but the result was the same.
“Fake? Doesn’t seem like it!” Yu Ci clearly felt that there was a space inside the ring, definitely not an ordinary item. However, the outer layer seemed to be wrapped in a layer of thin mist, blocking the sharpness of his divine sense, making it difficult to penetrate.
“Probably has a restriction.”
The so-called restriction is a type of passive trigger talisman mechanism attached to an item. Yu Ci wasn’t completely ignorant of this technique. When he was with the Twin Immortal Sect, he saw Immortal Zilei and Immortal Chiyin use this method on secret chambers and important items. He had also seen some unlucky fools trigger these restrictions and die miserably.
The memory of this magical technique was deeply ingrained in him.
It seemed that the restriction on this storage ring was not as dangerous as those set by the Twin Immortal Sect, but for now, Yu Ci couldn’t find a way to open it.
“Let’s keep it for now.” Yu Ci thought, temporarily storing the ring. To his surprise, the storage ring couldn’t be placed inside another storage space, so he had to place it elsewhere.
After doing all this, he followed the trajectory of the c0rpse’s fall and the lingering aura of the beast, walking slowly into the depths of the forest. It didn’t take long for him to reach the battlefield inside.
What he saw made him widen his eyes involuntarily. Before him was a patch of glaring scorched earth.
This was real scorched earth. On the ground, covering about an acre, no vegetation remained. Only ashes with residual warmth and rocks half-buried in the ground, seemingly scorched to the point of crumbling. At the center of the scorched earth was a hemispherical depression, not very deep, but with radiating cracks along its edge, the longest of which extended beyond the scorched earth into the forest.
This was the source of the strong burnt smell outside.
Yu Ci walked over, first marveling at the power required to create such marks. Even more curious was why he hadn’t heard a sound from the mountain earlier.
Soon, his eyes were fixed. On the ground at the edge of the depression, he saw a very familiar pattern. Although torn apart by countless cracks, he was sure it was a talisman pattern, specifically a type he knew from the demon diagrams and ghost patterns.
The ground was not only covered with demon diagrams and ghost patterns. After careful inspection, Yu Ci discovered that within a radius of about a zhang (3.3 meters) from the center of the depression, traces of Yun Zhuan Thunder Script, Dragon Seal Phoenix Script, and the three major talisman systems from the “Supreme Clarity Mystical Star Talisman Classic” could be found. From this perspective, it seemed like a giant jade talisman had been laid flat on the ground.
Looking at the fragmented talisman traces on the ground, Yu Ci held his breath involuntarily.
He was an expert in this field. Although his current cultivation limited his achievements in talisman techniques, he had studied talisman books for many years and had a keen eye. Given the intricate structure of the talisman patterns he saw, within the confirmed ground range, what kind of complex, profound, and even incredible talisman was this?
The “Supreme Clarity Mystical Star Talisman Classic” also recorded some very complex and dizzying high-level talismans, named “Celestial Talismans,” which might be even more intricate than this. But Yu Ci had always considered those as the stuff of legends, used only by celestial beings, and never dared to aspire to them. But this one in front of him, could it also have been used by a celestial being?
Standing at the edge of the pit, observing the surrounding ground, Yu Ci felt something was off.
He extended his vision from his feet to the periphery and back again. After pondering, he jumped into the shallow pit and crouched down, looking at the edge of the scorched earth.
The battle between the beast and the cultivator was so intense that the surrounding ground was lower than the outskirts, indicating the aftermath of their clash. Initially, being too close to the pit, he didn’t notice, but from this angle, it was obvious. The ground formed a gentle slope rising from the center of the pit, with at least a foot of difference between the highest and lowest points.
Carving talisman patterns deeply into wood was believable, but etching them a foot deep into the ground, what kind of technique was that?
Clearly, the talisman wasn’t carved. If it wasn’t carved, then…
Yu Ci didn’t stand up but directly pressed against the soil at the bottom of the pit. There were still some claw marks left by the beast, half a foot deep, clearly visible. Yu Ci gently rubbed with his fingertips, then moved to let the noon sunlight shine down, squinting to look through the claw marks.
Beneath the cracks, there was a glint. It was a different luster from the soil and rocks.
Yu Ci quickly dug through the soil, revealing a metal plate of sorts, with a distinctive texture.
This was it!
While digging, he had already seen the soil structure. If he was correct, the talisman patterns penetrated through this plate, leaving deep marks in the soil.
Just as he was about to examine it, a gust of wind brought the scent of strangers, starkly different from the forest’s smell.
In that instant, his mind went blank. He leapt out from the edge of the pit, slipping the metal plate into his storage ring. A moment later, a hissing sound erupted, raising a cloud of dust on the scorched earth.
Without stopping, he dodged left and right in a series of erratic movements, finally confusing the attacker. Realizing that Yu Ci wasn’t a novice, the attacker’s momentum faltered.
Yu Ci seized the opportunity, suddenly flipping and escaping the passive situation. His eagle-sharp eyes fixed on the attacker. Although angry at being ambushed, his eyebrows raised upon a closer look.
The attacker was thin, wearing a large gray robe, bald and expressionless, looking like a monk. But with yellow eyes set in narrow sockets and a sharp face, he resembled a venomous snake. The sneak attack just now was like a snake lurking in the grass, suddenly baring its fangs and spitting venom, very sinister.
However, appearance and behavior aside, looking at this person, Yu Ci felt a clear sense of:
This snake-like monk, could he also be a Three Steps to Ascension cultivator?
The sense came from his soul. At this distance, the other’s aura seemed to stimulate his soul. The previously hidden “lamp” spontaneously rose to his head, casting its “beam” on the monk. Simultaneously, his body heated up, feeling similar to when Daoist Yan locked him with sword qi from afar.
The monk gasped in surprise, then sneered coldly: “Which brat dares to covet the Star Shooter Disc, let’s see if Buddha allows it…”
He was answered by Yu Ci’s fist to his face.
The monk yelped, sliding backward as if his feet didn’t touch the ground, barely dodging the blow, then cursed angrily: “Damn brat!”
Yu Ci also sneered. Since the monk had initiated a sneak attack, he should be prepared for retaliation. What’s with all the nonsense!
He quickly stepped forward, delivering another punch.
He attacked swiftly, without much variation. Although the monk’s cultivation was profound, his sleeve fluttered and a gray fabric swished by, making sounds like cutting through the air, extremely rigid. Unfortunately, it missed.
Yu Ci ducked, perfectly synchronizing with the monk’s movement. Moreover, he tossed a talisman.
It was a hastily prepared talisman, not particularly powerful. During its flight, the outer blue light belonging to the Bronze Mirror rapidly peeled off, revealing the talisman’s true color. Like a spark, it flickered towards the monk.
The monk reacted quickly, twisting his lean body to leave a large gap, letting the spark fly by.
Unfortunately, he underestimated it.
Among the talismans Yu Ci practiced, apart from palm thunder, five thunder talismans, and other thunder script spells, there were few directly offensive talismans. Most were for support, but with some ingenuity, they could still be highly effective, like this talisman. The spark didn’t fly by but curved in mid-air, hitting the monk’s back.
The monk staggered and fell to the ground, his back pierced, releasing his last breath before he could even scream.
Yu Ci didn’t feel relieved at all.
He turned around and leapt into the air, immediately seeing a hidden presence approaching.
The hidden one revealed himself: it was a bald monk, wearing a large gray robe, exactly like the previous attacker. What stood out was a pair of snake-like yellow eyes that locked onto Yu Ci’s gaze.
This scene…
He dodged, the gray robe flapping, making a dry sound like cutting through the air, exactly like before.
What was this?
Only a few words echoed in Yu Ci’s mind:
“Illusion?”
No, it couldn’t be.
There must be a way to break it.
Goblin: I will be accepting sponsored chapters for AM from now on at BuyMeaCoffee page. It’ll be $5 per sponsored chapter. Just buy the 5 Coffees and write the name of the novel you want to sponsor in the “Say something nice” section.