Chapter 192: Demon-breaking Talisman: The Power of Space

192. Chapter 192: Demon-breaking Talisman, Power of Space

Xiao Zhangqing couldn't linger in his pain and quickly gathered the destroyed puppets and Magic Treasure.

Immediately after, he stopped testing with the other two third-tier puppets and instead tried sending several second-tier puppets to assault the altar.

The result was a great disappointment.

Unable to reach third-tier level, even late-stage second-tier puppets, once they entered the black mist, were like meat buns thrown at a dog—gone with no return.

They only struggled a couple of times, slightly stirring the black mist, then fell completely silent.

Xiao Zhangqing couldn't even retrieve them.

Obviously the puppet cores were completely destroyed, losing all effect.

And the consumption of the black mist was almost negligible.

"Second-tier puppets are useless…"

"Unless there are enough third-tier puppets and Magic Treasures, perhaps we could grind this evil spirit to death…"

Xiao Zhangqing still had the mood to joke with Gu Zongyuan and Su Wushuang.

Just now, the third-tier puppets that entered the black mist had a fairly good effect.

But to completely exhaust and erase the black mist, even if not needing hundreds of third-tier puppets, dozens would still be required.

And the third-tier puppets Xiao Zhangqing had, including the ones just scrapped, numbered only three.

These three were forged from all the materials that Character: Liyang Immortal City had managed to collect over the past ten years.

Therefore using third-tier puppets to grind the white‑clothed female evil spirit to death is simply unrealistic.

Gu Zongyuan and Su Wushuang both understood this, so when Xiao Zhangqing joked, neither of them replied.

Having lost a few second-tier puppets, Xiao Zhangqing stopped futile puppet experiments and pulled out two thick stacks of Talisman Scripts from his storage bag.

Each stack contained over a hundred sheets.

They were the Soul Stabilizing Talisman and the Demon-breaking Talisman.

These two kinds of Talisman Scripts have suppressing effects against evil spirits.

Especially when encountering an evil spirit, or when plagued by one and needing to sever the connection, these Talisman Scripts are especially effective.

"So many Talisman Scripts?"

Gu Zongyuan saw the Talisman Scripts Xiao Zhangqing produced, his eyelids involuntarily flickered; even after long acquaintance, he now gained a fresh appreciation of Xiao Zhangqing's composure.

Even though today's investigation of the evil spirit was quite dangerous, he hadn't carried so many Demon-breaking Talismans and Soul Stabilizing Talismans.

Under normal circumstances, carrying a dozen or so would already be considered a lot.

When they first entered the ruin, he had already taken out all the Demon-breaking Talismans from his bag, assuming Xiao Zhangqing had done the same.

He didn't expect that Xiao Zhangqing would now produce another two thick stacks.

The moment the Demon-breaking Talisman was taken from the bag, it sensed a strong evil spirit aura and began to faintly heat up, ready to ignite at any moment.

Xiao Zhangqing immediately summoned his mana and suppressed the Talisman Script's tendency to self‑ignite.

He wasn't igniting the Talisman Scripts for self‑protection now, but for offense! He still remembered clearly the decisive point when he dealt with Mu Renjie at Nanshan Fang.

Back then he wasn't yet Mu Renjie's match; it was by wielding numerous Demon-breaking Talismans and Soul Stabilizing Talismans that he first battered Mu Renjie, severely wounding his vital energy, and then, using his powerful Soul Transformation, finally eliminated Mu Renjie in one blow.

Among the two stacks Xiao Zhangqing pulled out, most were second-tier Talisman Scripts, but a considerable portion had reached the lower‑grade third-tier level.

For lower‑grade third-tier Talisman Scripts, a handful can be powered by Foundation Establishment Realm mana, but if many are activated simultaneously, the power of the Golden Core Realm is required to handle them smoothly; otherwise they risk missing the target.

Buzz! First, he activated the fragments of the Immortal Stone, instantly releasing the stored solid mana; under Xiao Zhangqing's control, a full two hundred Talisman Scripts floated in the air like a combinatorial array.

Just as Xiao Zhangqing was about to let the white‑clothed female evil spirit experience Mu Renjie's fate and learn what a 'rain of talismans' feels like,

the white‑clothed female ghost, hidden in the black mist, turned away from the three and whose features were unseen, suddenly moved.

It abruptly turned, lifted its head, and stared intently at Xiao Zhangqing.

At this moment, the group could faintly discern its face through the black mist.

Its features were delicate—not exceedingly beautiful—but of above‑average appearance; aside from its eyes, it resembled an ordinary female cultivator.

Its eyes were completely hollow, exuding an indescribable eeriness and gloom.

Anyone who meets its gaze feels a chill down the spine.

Such eyes should display no expression, leaving outsiders unable to read any emotion.

Yet now, not only Xiao Zhangqing but also Gu Zongyuan and Su Wushuang could clearly sense a strong 'interest' in those eyes! As if a jealous lecher spotting a peerless beauty; or a famished beast seeing prey…

This intense feeling was far stronger than the hunger to devour blood and soul that Xiao Zhangqing felt when first awakening it! "Is it because of the Demon-breaking and Soul Stabilizing Talismans?"

Xiao Zhangqing thought to himself, it was his deployment of the two stacks of Talisman Scripts that triggered the white‑clothed female evil spirit's sudden movement.

Thus, these two kinds of Talisman Scripts indeed have a tremendous effect on evil spirits.

No longer hesitating.

A full two hundred second- and third-tier mixed Talisman Scripts, driven by Xiao Zhangqing's mana, rained down on the white‑clothed female evil spirit at the altar like raindrops.

Since these were not primary damaging Talisman Scripts, the explosion of the rain of talismans was not very loud, and was weaker than the attacks of Su Wushuang and Gu Zongyuan.

However, the special anti‑evil, stabilizing power of the Soul Stabilizing and Demon-breaking Talismans dispelled the ruin's gloomy terror, making it calm, harmonious, and filled with a holy aura.

And the white‑clothed female evil spirit atop the altar at the explosion's center grew increasingly frantic, almost 'mad'.

Heh heh heh! Like water droplets splashing into a scalding oil pot, the black mist, illuminated by countless Talisman Scripts, began to melt rapidly, and the white‑clothed female evil spirit emitted a sharp, piercing sound.

Xiao Zhangqing and the two others showed delighted smiles, believing the massive number of Talisman Scripts could inflict fatal damage on the white‑clothed female evil spirit.

If so, they now had a way to deal with the white‑clothed female evil spirit.

After all, the materials for third-tier puppets are hard to gather, almost as strategic as Condensing True Pills. By contrast, the ingredients for crafting third-tier Talisman Scripts are relatively simple.

The limitation of Talisman Scripts lies not in the materials but in the Symbol Master's skill!

Xiao Zhangqing's own Talisman Script proficiency has already reached third-tier; if the Demon-breaking and Soul Stabilizing Talismans are effective, when he returns to Character: Liyang Immortal City, he can gradually amass enough Talisman Scripts to eradicate the white‑clothed female evil spirit.

But soon an unexpected scene unfolded for Xiao Zhangqing.

The Demon-breaking Talisman can indeed inflict tremendous lethal force on the white‑clothed female demon, but the power of the Stabilizing Talisman cannot suppress it.

Squeak! As the white‑clothed female demon let out a sharp, mournful shriek, at the instant the Talisman Paper was about to fall, her figure, together with the black mist, suddenly vanished from the altar.

When the Talisman Script's ripple passed, the special power of the Demon-breaking Talisman dissipated, the black mist reappeared, and the white‑clothed female demon slowly reconstituted.

It seemed.

This white‑clothed female demon actually wielded some incomprehensible life‑saving technique that could completely conceal herself!

"What... is this? What method?" Gu Zongyuan asked, eyes wide in shock, a hint of desperation.

Originally, this white‑clothed female demon was hard to kill; conventional methods had no effect on it, leaving no consumption.

After much effort, Xiao Zhangqing brought so many Talisman Scripts over, which seemed to have a restraining effect on it, and the result was quite good.

Who would have thought it could dodge perfectly? In that case, how can we kill it?

It's simply unsolvable!

Xiao Zhangqing also inhaled a gasp of cold air; he had guessed that the Demon-breaking Talisman had a restraining effect on the demon, but he hadn't expected the demon to have a countermeasure! "Back when we were at Nanshan Fang, we thought Mu Renjie was already a prototype of a demon, almost possessing a demon's nature... Now it seems Mu Renjie wasn't truly a demon at all!"

"If Mu Renjie had possessed such means back then, I would have died on the spot and never lived to see today."

Xiao Zhangqing thought silently to himself.

Su Wushuang suddenly exclaimed in shock, "This demon... seems to understand how to wield spatial power? The way it evaded the Demon-breaking Talisman just now was as if it hid itself in another space!"

Gu Zongyuan and Xiao Zhangqing were both stunned by the words and hurriedly asked what spatial power was and what it meant to be hidden in another space...

Su Wushuang immediately explained, "I also happened to learn this from the scriptures of Baihua Valley. After a cultivator becomes a Nascent Soul True Lord, they no longer merely refine the power of heaven and earth to strengthen their own magic; they begin to gradually comprehend and command the power of heaven and earth. This is the biggest difference between a Nascent Soul True Lord and a Core Formation cultivator. Mid Core Formation cultivators, if numerous enough, can defeat late Core Formation cultivators through a joint assault. However, even a large number of late Core Formation cultivators, when attacking together, can hardly overcome a Nascent Soul cultivator, and the reason lies here."

"However, rumors say that in the early and middle Nascent Soul stages, one's control over the power of heaven and earth is quite limited, not very strong, and mostly just ordinary heaven‑and‑earth power. Spatial power, on the other hand, belongs to a more advanced realm; even many late‑stage Nascent Soul True Lords may not be able to wield even a trace of it..."

"Mastering spatial power has many wonderful uses; besides employing it in duels against foes, it can also be used for evasion, teleportation, defense..."

"For example, the storage bag that cultivators almost always carry is perhaps the simplest application of spatial power. Another example is the legendary teleportation array, which can easily span numerous cultivation realms; in less than the time an incense stick burns, it can transport one tens of thousands of li away, also a use of spatial power..."

"From my observation of this demon, it suddenly vanished just now, evading the expelling‑evil force released by the Demon-breaking Talisman, as if it employed spatial power to temporarily disappear from our space."

"The only uncertainty is whether this spatial‑controlling power belongs to the demon itself, or if the altar and stone coffin are strange, perhaps containing a special spatial teleportation formation on them."

Xiao Zhangqing and Gu Zongyuan were both enlightened by what they heard.

Xiao Zhangqing, needless to say, has risen from a Scattered Cultivator to his current level; although he carries an inventory, his insight is far behind that of top sect disciples, and he knows even less about the traits and secrets of Nascent Soul True Lords.

Besides his current cultivation being far from the Nascent Soul realm, the main reason is that in the Da Yu Cultivation World, there is virtually no information describing the Nascent Soul realm.

Because the Nascent Soul realm is not something ordinary cultivators in the Da Yu Cultivation World can aspire to.

As for Gu Zongyuan, the situation is the same; although he apprenticed under the immortal Character: Liyang, he also knows little about Nascent Soul True Lords.

While Su Wushuang was clarifying matters for the two, the white‑clothed female demon, though it had avoided most of the Demon-breaking Talisman's power, was now calm, yet its hunger and desire had not abated, becoming even more frantic.

Even so, under its control, the black mist began to breach the altar's boundaries, spreading toward the three of them!

"What's happening?"

"According to Third Young Master Yin's testimony, this demon cannot breach the altar's limits before it fully revives..."

"Could the Demon-breaking Talisman just now have completely enraged it? Such a volatile temperament?" (End of chapter)