Chapter 44: Turning Stillness into Motion: The Rat Talisman—I Now Lack Nothing

“System, begin fishing.”

The instant Ye Xuan finished speaking, his vision plunged into darkness; after a brief void, he opened his eyes again to find himself suspended amid an endless sea of stars.

The familiar, glittering starry expanse stretched beneath him, countless stars floating like fireflies.

But having experienced this twice before, he did not pause to admire—he simply raised his hand.

A fishing rod wrapped in purple light slowly coalesced in his grasp, a golden thread descending from its tip, stretching straight into the brilliant river of stars.

In an instant, the rod shuddered violently, its force so great it nearly tore from his grip; Ye Xuan instinctively tightened his hold, then remembered this was the System’s fishing space—not a real fishing ground.

The catch could not possibly break free.

With a flick of thought, the thread retracted at astonishing speed, stirring ripples of starlight.

When the line was fully drawn back, a glowing sphere the size of a fist hovered before Ye Xuan, its surface swirling with contrasting black-and-white light, like a Taiji—neither side gaining dominance.

Without hesitation, Ye Xuan reached out and grasped it.

【Ding】

【Congratulations, Host! Item obtained—Rat Talisman (Optimized)】

The System’s voice echoed in Ye Xuan’s ear, accompanied by the item’s template.

【Item Name: Rat Talisman (Optimized)】

【World of Origin: Dragon Blade: The Legend of Roar】

【Item Info: Artifact of the Fire Demon “Holy Master,” and one of the Twelve Talismans’ powers within Holy Master; represents the power of life, granting motion and vitality to inanimate objects】

【Note: Effective only on inanimate, non-living matter; cannot revive the dead】

【Note: The original Rat Talisman granted self-awareness and thought to inanimate objects; this version has been optimized—host retains absolute control over anything granted life】

【Note: Due to world rules, the manifested object follows the power system of its origin world; host cannot cultivate it】

【Note: The manifested object’s power is capped by Holy Master’s maximum strength】

Ye Xuan stared at the eight-sided stone carved with a rat motif, falling silent for a moment.

Long after, a thought surfaced in his mind—one he himself barely dared to believe.

“I… seem to lack nothing now?”

How strong was Holy Master?

Though in Dragon Blade: The Legend of Roar, his destructive power never reached “building-busting” levels and he constantly lost to Long and his allies, remember—this world operates on yin-yang balance, with no absolute dominance of one side over another.

Long appears to be an ordinary man—but is he truly ordinary?

While a train hurtled at full speed and plummeted, Long not only ran as if stationary, but defied physics entirely, leaping midair straight to the edge of a broken bridge.

The Snake needed specialized gear to disable alarms to steal diamonds—but Long? He simply snatched the statue barehanded and swapped the talisman; in that instant, his speed exceeded that of light.

Tru could lift 150 tons of gold, yet could not resist Holy Master with even a single finger—yet Long, without the Ox Talisman, knocked Holy Master down with a single punch.

If you consider Long an ordinary human, then what are the rest of us? A new species beyond humanity?

You may say Holy Master is foolish, treacherous, and dishonorable—but you cannot say he is weak.

Perhaps his destructive output is inferior, but in terms of power tier, he is certainly no weaker than any city-destroying force.

Even a nation-destroying or planetary-level power cannot be ruled out.

Lan, the leader of the Eight Demons, controls gravity—capable of turning planets into dead worlds through gravitational shifts—how do you classify such power?

Nation-destroying? Or planetary-level?

Yet even Lan, so immensely powerful, is considered weaker than Holy Master in his Twelve Talismans state by many.

With the optimized Rat Talisman, Ye Xuan’s manifested entity will not surpass Holy Master’s power—but it will match him exactly.

This means Ye Xuan can manifest a being whose strength is at least city-destroying, likely nation-destroying, and utterly loyal to him.

Ye Xuan now even felt grateful that this world contained every anime, film, and novel from his past life—if this were a world lacking imagination, he wouldn’t have known whom to manifest with the Rat Talisman.

Now, he had too many choices—and no fear that any manifested being would betray him.

Bleach's Hollowed Aizen, Ultra Shadow, and even Six Paths Sasuke, the Ao Lai San Shao whose power might be suppressed—or restored to its peak—

Many figures flashed through Ye Xuan’s mind, some stronger than Holy Master himself.

After all, the Rat Talisman only caps the manifested entity’s power at Holy Master’s level—it does not prevent manifesting beings stronger than Holy Master.

It merely weakens them—it does not nullify their abilities.

“Though unexpected, it seems I truly have nothing left to fear.”

Unless Blue Star hides someone stronger than Holy Master.

But if such a person truly existed, why hide?

After all, the undisputed strongest human on record is only Zhong Lao.

Plan revised—ascend ahead of schedule.

Without hesitation, Ye Xuan exited the fishing space, pulled out his phone, dialed his driver, and headed straight for the nearest toy city.

Though Hangcheng had specialized figurine shops, they were too far—and the Rat Talisman’s manifestation required no concern for the object’s physical quality.

Two hours later, three delivery trucks halted before Ye Xuan’s villa.

“Sir, where should we place these boxes?”

The lead deliveryman wiped sweat from his brow; behind him stood over a dozen carts piled high with packaging boxes bearing the “Dimension Fantasy” logo.

Ye Xuan hadn’t expected that even this random mall had a dedicated section for anime merchandise.

Apparently, due to dimensional incursions, demand for such items had surged—leading to many new stores opening.

But for him, it was a blessing.

Ye Xuan opened the villa door and led them to a thirty-square-meter room on the east side of the first floor; though unused, it was spotless thanks to daily cleaning.

“Place them here.”

“Understood.”

At Ye Xuan’s words, they immediately began setting down the boxes.

Six life-sized special effects armor suits were arranged in the center: the Emperor Armor, holding the Aurora Sword, stood at the main position, surrounded by the Flame Dragon, Wind Eagle, Black Rhino, Snow Wolf, and Earth Tiger armors, their metallic surfaces gleaming under spotlights.

(End of Chapter)