Chapter 147: Bloodborne Talismans

Zheng Fa was not some blood-crazed lunatic.

At least, he believed he wasn't.

His interest in this man's blood stemmed from a discovery—the man's blood contained spiritual talismans!

When the disciples of Master Pang's lineage captured him, the man was barely alive; had his chest not still radiated warmth, he would have been buried already.

When Zheng Fa saw him, the man's limbs were cold and stiff, his breath faint to the point of near-inaudibility, and black-red blood trickled from his lips.

Zheng Fa had once hesitated over whether to save this man.

Although the shopkeeper had described him as somewhat foolish.

But this was a disciple of the Great Freedom Demon Sect—whether his words were truthful or merely a deception of the shopkeeper,

even if he were foolish enough to harbor loyalty toward the Nine Mountains Sect,

Zheng Fa could never fully trust him, given the Demon Ancestor's control over these descendants.

The senior disciples brought him back merely to extract information—any notion of goodwill toward a demon sect member was something even Zheng Fa, educated in the modern world, dared not entertain.

The man had been confined to a small hut far from the core of the Nine Mountains Sect, with numerous spiritual talismans pasted on his body and in the room.

Until two days ago.

At that time, the man was still unconscious.

Zheng Fa was practicing the "Dong Xu Ling Yan" technique according to Master Pang's secret method when, by accident, he glanced at the blood at the man's lips—and discovered something astonishing.

The man's blood contained strange, half-formed spiritual talismans!

All cultivators carry spiritual power within them.

But for cultivators of the Nine Mountains Sect like Zheng Fa, their internal spiritual power is chaotic, revealing order only when deliberately channeled.

Yet the spiritual power in this man's blood seemed to flow spontaneously along the paths of talismans—

No.

These were not spiritual talismans.

After observing for several days, Zheng Fa confirmed: the patterns in the man's blood differed from those in the void.

If analyzed by the Three-Component Talisman Law—

The five-element component symbols were identical in both sets.

But the distinctions in the other two unknown component symbols were significant.

The main differences lay in quantity and type.

If we label these two unclear component symbols as Type A and Type B—

The man's blood contained far fewer varieties of Type A symbols.

Type B was even rarer—only two kinds!

And every talisman pattern in his blood necessarily contained both of these two symbols.

This discovery ignited Zheng Fa's intense interest in the man's blood.

He suspected it might relate to the fundamental nature of demon sect cultivation methods.

What frustrated Zheng Fa was that once removed from the body, these talismans in the blood dissipated within half an hour—forcing him to draw a little blood every day.

To sustain the blood supply, he had pasted several healing talismans on the man.

He didn't know whether it was due to the exceptional efficacy of his talismans or the man's fierce will to live.

The man had awakened!

…

When the young man came to again, he saw Zheng Fa and Sister Yuan staring at him.

"What's your name?"

Zheng Fa asked.

The young man remained motionless, seemingly unwilling to answer; after a long silence, he spoke: "Lin Bu Fan."

"Your surname's fine, but your given name's problematic," Zheng Fa paused, then said: "Drop the 'Bu.' I think you'll amount to something."

"?"

A flicker of confusion crossed Lin Bu Fan's lifeless face.

"Since you're awake, you know you've been captured by the Nine Mountains Sect," Zheng Fa, accompanied by Sister Yuan, sought information: "What was your purpose in coming here with another man?"

"What about the other man? How is he?" Lin Bu Fan's expression suddenly grew agitated.

"Dead."

Zheng Fa and Sister Yuan exchanged glances—they knew Lin Bu Fan had some connection to the dead man.

"Dead…" Lin Bu Fan's gaze darkened, yet showed no grief—he must have already suspected this answer: "Then he…"

"Cremated and buried."

Zheng Fa spoke frankly.

He had pushed for it himself—keeping the corpse unsettled him.

"Buried right beside the riverbank where he died."

"Cremated…" Lin Bu Fan fell silent for a long while, then sighed: "Good… at least he wasn't left to rot in the wild."

"What do you want to ask?" Lin Bu Fan looked up at Zheng Fa, as if willing to cooperate.

"Why are you watching me?"

"Not just you—the prodigies of the Hundred Immortal Alliance are targets whenever we get the chance," Lin Bu Fan paused, then said: "Including Zhang Wu Yi."

"Sister Zhang?"

Zheng Fa was startled—these people had infiltrated the Nine Mountains Sect the moment Sister Zhang left.

It wasn't impulsive; they had planned this.

"So your target is Sister Zhang?"

He stood abruptly, voice tense.

"I don't know," Lin Bu Fan said directly: "I hold low rank in the Holy… Demon Sect. I have no insight into matters concerning Zhang Wu Yi."

"All I can say is, someone is watching Zhang Wu Yi," Lin Bu Fan's voice suddenly carried a hint of hatred: "One of them is the person who sent me and my uncle to the Nine Mountains Sect—and that same person wants to kill you!"

"... ncle?"

"The Great Freedom Demon Sect reveres the Lin surname as kin," Lin Bu Fan gazed at the ceiling: "But over the centuries, how many tens of thousands have borne the Lin name? I lost my parents young; my uncle raised me."

After saying this, he refused to reveal anything further.

No matter what Zheng Fa and Sister Yuan asked, he either remained silent or plainly stated he didn't know.

"You're now a prisoner of the Nine Mountains Sect. See the talismans on your body? Use spiritual power or step out of this room, and you'll die." Seeing his silence, Zheng Fa paused, then stood: "If you remember anything else, tell me."

Zheng Fa and Sister Yuan hurried out of the room.

Lin Bu Fan watched their retreating backs, his eyes gleaming.

…

"Younger brother, can we trust him?"

"His motives aren't pure, but he's told some truths," Zheng Fa said as he walked: "He likely wants to avenge his uncle and lure us against the one who killed him."

"... rue."

His behavior didn't conceal his intent—but on the other hand, the Nine Mountains Sect couldn't afford to be careless.

"Sister, I must send word to Sister Zhang and inform her of this," Zheng Fa thought for a moment: "And I need to consult Master."

Sister Yuan nodded, clearly deferring to Zheng Fa's judgment.

"Also, Sister, you must keep a close watch on him," Zheng Fa glanced back at the room where Lin Bu Fan lay: "We know too little about the demon sects. I'm in the light, the enemy in the shadows. He's been abandoned—perhaps he truly has second thoughts—and might yet yield other insights."

"Leave it to me!"

Sister Yuan nodded.

…

Zheng Fa pondered the talisman patterns drawn from Lin Bu Fan's blood, comparing them with those he had studied before.

The Three-Component Talisman Law was incomplete.

Of the three component types, the five-element symbols were clearest and easiest to classify.

The other two component types—regarding quantity, variety, and function—remained extremely vague.

But the talismans in Lin Bu Fan's blood opened a small window in Zheng Fa's thinking—especially since the man's blood contained only two Type B symbols.

And they always appeared together.

Comparing them with the talismans Zheng Fa had previously studied—

He made another crucial discovery: one of the two Type B symbols in the man's blood was common in earlier talismans.

But the other… had never appeared before!

He couldn't help but think—this symbol might be one of the core secrets of demon sect cultivation methods.

And if he pushed further—

Could this symbol itself correspond to the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor?

Thinking of this, Zheng Fa recalled Tang Lingwumin's mention of "interactive" component symbols—was this symbol the invisible, intimate link between demon sect disciples and the Demon Ancestor?

In that light, Tang's Second Law of Talismans seemed to hold some truth.

Yet Zheng Fa dared not study it freely, nor even sketch this symbol.

Who knew what might emerge…

…

"Younger brother!" Li Nuo rushed over, shouting at Zheng Fa: "I succeeded! I succeeded!"

"... hat became?"

Looking at Li Nuo's ecstatic expression, Zheng Fa asked:

"I made a talisman seal!" Li Nuo shouted loudly: "The Spirit-Nourishing Talisman seal!"

"... eally?"

Zheng Fa was also surprised—he hadn't expected much. Li Nuo's father had blown himself up and barely managed one talisman seal.

And now, after less than a month of research, they had results?

"What's the cost?"

Zheng Fa asked.

"... o cost at all."

"?"

"Didn't you draw that man's blood before? I took some from you and tried it with his blood."

"..."

"That actually works!"

Zheng Fa stared at the room where the man lay, lost in thought: "Will only his blood work?"

"Our Jiushan Sect's blood definitely won't," Li Nuo said firmly.

"You tried that too?" Zheng Fa couldn't help but widen his eyes.

"When we couldn't afford spirit beast blood, my father and I used our own."

Zheng Fa fell silent, a theory forming in his mind.

If there was any difference between the blood of these demonic sect members and Jiushan Sect cultivators—it was the spiritual talismans within their blood.

"Brother, demonic cultists are enemies of all! They deserve to be exterminated!" Li Nuo's voice brimmed with excitement: "Their blood is worthless!"

"..."

Of course.

Compared to spirit beasts, using demonic sect disciples' blood to forge talisman seals had far too many advantages.

Spirit beasts require careful breeding—they're delicate. Some sects in the Xuanwei Realm are even famed for breeding them.

Demonic sect disciples, by contrast, are quite cooperative: they eat, sleep on their own, and even cultivate voluntarily.

In the past, when immortal sects clashed with demonic sects, demonic disciples were simply killed outright—high risk, low reward.

Now... well, it certainly promotes the righteous spirit of slaying demons and eradicating evil!

With this thought, Zheng Fa understood Li Nuo's excitement.

There was just one problem...

"Master, if we cut down someone's spirit plants they've nurtured for years, won't they retaliate?"

In the sect master's thatched hut, Zheng Fa asked his own master.

"... ho?" The sect master thought a moment, then suddenly said: "Did you ruin your Pang Shu's thousand-year purple bamboo? That wouldn't be wise—he treasures that thing dearly. If the spirit bamboo isn't dead yet, return it to your master."

"... o, I mean demonic sect members."

"Demonic sect? Why be polite to them? They're still trying to infiltrate our Jiushan Sect and cause chaos!" The sect master slapped his chest and shouted loudly: "Immortals and demons cannot coexist—no need for righteousness. If trouble arises, you've got me as your master—I've killed demonic sect members before!"

"Then it's settled..."

Feeling his master's fierce protection, Zheng Fa's expression brightened.

"So tell me—who's spirit plant are you planning to cut?"

"No one's. Just the demonic ancestor of the Great Freedom Demon Cult."

The sect master fell silent for a moment, then said: "How about I pull up your Pang Shu's thousand-year purple bamboo for you instead?"

"..."

"I always said disciples are debts! One worse than the next at causing trouble!"