It was a speed that surpassed thought. Daoist Yan didn’t even have time to change his expression before he was slain by a single sword strike. The Nine Yang Talisman Sword remained in his hand, and his tall body was still standing, but he was indeed dead—cleanly and efficiently, almost absurdly so.
Yu Ci didn’t blink, staring at the unfolding scene before him until the head of the Six Suns fell to the ground.
“The vibrations affect the soul. Fascinating!”
In truth, calling the Seven Stars Talisman Sword a “talisman sword” wasn’t entirely accurate. Even though it could condense the energy of heaven and earth, using essence blood as its framework to become a tangible object, it was still fundamentally a talisman. Being a talisman, it naturally required a spiritual stimulus. The sensation of the soul’s vibration, the opening of the void, and the simultaneous spiritual response was unprecedentedly exhilarating.
Yu Ci, having tasted the thrill, wanted to release another talisman to try.
However, at this moment, a sudden relaxation overcame him, and a heavy fatigue abruptly took hold, with weakness sweeping through his entire body. Yu Ci quickly bit the tip of his tongue, the wound from spitting blood at the Seven Stars Talisman Sword still fresh, the stinging pain making him shiver and dispelling some of his drowsiness.
This place wasn’t safe. Yu Ci reminded himself as he struggled to stand and staggered toward Daoist Yan’s remains, which lay ten zhang away.
At some point, a light drizzle had started falling in the mountain forest, the raindrops suppressing the rampant wildfires and raising puffs of blue smoke. The coolness permeated his skin, further driving away his sleepiness.
After taking only two steps, Daoist Yan’s headless corpse collapsed with a thud, hitting the damp soil.
Standing before the remains, Yu Ci was still a bit dazed. Had he really just killed a legendary transcendent cultivator?
Of course, strictly speaking, Yu Ci didn’t believe it was luck. From start to finish, the odds of life and death between him and Daoist Yan were fifty-fifty. It was just that he was more familiar with this kind of gambling choice, while Daoist Yan lacked this skill, and thus deserved to be slain here.
He only felt that Daoist Yan was weaker than he had imagined.
During the battle, the greatest threat came from Daoist Yan’s last method of sending his sword across the air, which indeed had the power of a transcendent cultivator. The other abilities, such as sharper perception, superior swordsmanship, and deeper cultivation, didn’t make a fundamental difference.
With this doubt, Yu Ci looked down at the Nine Yang Talisman Sword, which had caused him so much trouble. It lay in the mud, its red glow dimmed to nearly extinguished, yet up close, it still radiated a heat different from the surrounding air.
“This is the sword?” Yu Ci picked up the talisman sword and observed it. To his surprise, this incredibly sharp Nine Yang Talisman Sword was actually made of wood, only a foot long, which explained why it looked like a short stick from a distance. The sword’s body was inscribed with numerous dark red patterns using a spirit ink similar to cinnabar, almost covering the original color of the wood.
Swinging it casually a couple of times, the air emitted a humming sound without the sensation of a sharp blade cutting through. Injecting his true energy into it, the dazzling red light from the previous night appeared again, but the sword’s glow, though accompanied by the sound of a blade cutting the wind, didn’t feel as sharp as when it was in Daoist Yan’s hand.
Was this the difference in their levels? Yu Ci didn’t dwell on it and started searching Daoist Yan’s body for any treasures.
The result was quite peculiar.
“Nothing… absolutely nothing?”
After a thorough search, he found nothing. Not only were there no treasures, but even the common items one would carry were missing. It was as if this fierce cultivator, apart from a talisman sword and some clothing, was utterly penniless, which was clearly impossible!
Yu Ci, not wealthy himself, always carried some essentials while traveling, gradually accumulating a small collection. His waist pouch was always stuffed full. By this logic, wandering cultivators should be similar, yet Daoist Yan was unusually clean. Could he really be living without worldly possessions, coming and going unburdened?
Impossible. Daoist Yan had blended in with the herb collectors under the pretense of picking shrimp whisker grass, so he must have prepared at least a stone box.
Grasping this inconsistency, Yu Ci felt no frustration, his gaze meticulously scanning Daoist Yan’s body again and again.
Suddenly, his eyes locked onto the little finger of Daoist Yan’s left hand.
There was a circle of black lines, like a ring, around the base of the finger. For some reason, when Yu Ci’s gaze touched the ring, it seemed to trigger a clash of two forces in his mind, faint but distinct.
What was that?
With this thought, Yu Ci bent down to remove the ring and examined it closely.
The tactile sensation was ordinary, and the material and craftsmanship were unremarkable. Yet, Yu Ci had a feeling that this ring was merely an outer shell, with something wrapped inside.
“Perhaps, peel it off?”
With this absurd thought, Yu Ci clenched it in his palm. He didn’t apply force, but the feeling in his hand was very real, with the shape and size of the ring clearly imprinted in his mind.
Then, something strange happened.
A small hammer appeared out of nowhere, striking with a “bang,” as if breaking an eggshell. The image of the ring in his mind shattered, and immediately, his mind was filled with a multitude of items, packed to the brim, as if cramming an entire room.
Yu Ci shuddered violently, the overflowing sensation transferring from his mind to his palm. At that moment, his hand felt like it was holding not a small ring, but a room filled with various items.
Yu Ci took a deep breath and finally understood:
“A storage ring!”
Reality finally merged with fragments of past memories. Yes, this was the legendary, wondrous portable space owned by cultivators, possessing the power to store vast amounts within a tiny space. In his youth, he had seen it on the Twin Immortals; it was almost emblematic of a cultivator’s identity.
“An incredible item…” This thought had just surfaced when Yu Ci was stunned, as an indistinct idea abruptly intruded, like a storm rising on a calm sea, and his emotions surged like raging tides.
This emotion diverged from the storage ring itself; he still held the ring, the swelling sense of fullness clear and distinct, with layers of items within it almost spilling out. But he ignored all these things completely.
At the peak of the emotional wave, his remaining bit of rationality was roaring:
Is it still there?
He didn’t care about the ring, at least not compared to that thing. He only wanted to know if the “little hammer,” which had just appeared from the void and shattered the ring’s outer shell, was still there. Where was it?
With a “ding,” the storage ring slipped from his palm, hitting a protruding rock and bouncing away.
Yu Ci did this intentionally. He didn’t immediately pick up the ring but stood in place for a long time. During this period, he forced himself to forget the recent sensations and memories, making his mind a blank slate before stepping forward to retrieve the ring.
Yes, he would try again.
Breathing heavily, Yu Ci’s hand trembled as he grasped the ring.
Taking a deep breath, Yu Ci wanted to apply force. If possible, he would crush the precious storage ring. But there was no need for such trouble. As soon as he had the thought, the ring in his hand slightly vibrated, and then the overflowing fullness once again transcended physical limits, directly feeding back into his mind.
Everything went as desired!
Happiness spread, and Yu Ci had to muster all his willpower to retain a bit of rationality and give one last command.
With the sound of a “whoosh,” countless items poured out from his half-open hand. The reality of the tangible objects before him, compared to the spiritual fullness, was undeniable. A heap of items appeared out of thin air, piling up like a small mountain before Yu Ci.
Valuable, worthless, useful, useless… whatever they were, they were undeniably real. More importantly, Yu Ci had extracted them from the wondrous storage ring with his own power.
He no longer needed to look for any “little hammer” because that hammer was himself. That mysterious power originated from his own soul, integrated with his life, manifesting and vanishing with a thought, as natural as breathing.
He recalled Red Yin’s description of the cultivation realm from long ago:
“Dividing the consciousness into thoughts, revolving the divine intent—this is Divine Connectivity.”
Yes, only with a strong soul and formed divine intent, only by splitting the divine intent into separate consciousness and thoughts, could one open the storage ring.
What did that signify?
It meant truly surpassing the “Three Mortal Obstacles” truly possessing magical powers, and truly entering the “Divine Connectivity” realm.
Yu Ci felt all the blood rush to his face until his lips went numb. He struggled to maintain his last shred of rationality. Then, he extended his hand, not activating the Bronze Mirror but using his fingers to trace those incredibly familiar paths in the void.
As his fingertip moved, his heartbeat calmed. At the same time, the miraculous pulsation of his soul reappeared, as if he had gained another “self.” But with
the alignment of his heart and soul, the pulsations quickly synchronized, merging into one.
There might be spiritual light at his fingertips, or there might not be. But in Yu Ci’s eyes and mind, a familiar world unfolded.
In the chaotic void, empty and dark, Yu Ci’s finger seemed magical, lighting up a star with each movement, drawing bright lines from those stars, slowly but swiftly. Hundreds of stars lit up, becoming brilliant nodes in the void’s painting.
Talisman completed, spiritual response. In the misty rain, a massive blue arc of electricity suddenly lit up, piercing the sky and merging with the overhanging clouds, like an inverted lightning, wondrous and beautiful, followed by rumbling thunder.
A single Five Thunders Talisman drained all of Yu Ci’s strength. His knees gave way, and he panted heavily, though it looked like he was laughing hysterically.
Divine Connectivity was an invisible, insurmountable high wall, a true starting point on the path to immortality.
And at this moment, that high wall collapsed before Yu Ci, turning to dust!
“Ah!”
In a roar, Yu Ci kicked out, toppling the small mountain of items with a crash, pieces flying in all directions.
This emotional outburst seemed baseless but was undeniably rooted in Yu Ci’s heart.
When a long life journey has a single clear goal, and years of hard work remain out of reach, anxiety, hesitation, and despair are inevitable. But Yu Ci had suppressed all this with sheer willpower, supported by solitary courage, like a lone wolf trudging along an endless path.
The pressure never lessened, only buried deeper. Over the years, it accumulated, finally erupting in the joy of today, in this near-mad roar.
Divine Connectivity, becoming a cultivator, marked Yu Ci’s new identity, facing a completely different world!