Chapter 398: The Six Arts of Immortal Cultivation

"You want the Complete Treatise on Talismans?"

The young disciple of the Transmission Hall stared at Li Rui in surprise.

"Mm."

Li Rui nodded.

Seeing Li Rui's determination, the young disciple asked no further questions and led him to a massive stone, taller than a man.

He then instructed Li Rui to take out his sect token and place it into the recess on the giant jade stone.

A flash of spiritual light.

Token verified.

The number "31" appeared on the jade stone; Li Rui's eyes widened in astonishment.

Cultivation combat power isn't necessarily stronger than martial arts, but when it comes to versatile techniques, it leaves martial ways far behind.

He already had the Five-Spirit Body Refinement Scripture and the Divine Perception Scripture.

He didn't lack immortal techniques.

What he lacked were other methods.

Learning some immortal sect techniques would greatly benefit him.

He had long visited the Elixir Hall and exchanged his elixirs for 100 merit points; now 69 were instantly deducted, and even his substantial wealth stung.

No wonder the young disciple had to confirm.

The young disciple saw the character "Yu" written on the token in Li Rui's hand—a token he had never seen before.

His eyes widened.

He recalled the rumors he had heard earlier.

"Are you… a noble from the Kingdom of Yu?"

Li Rui smiled faintly: "Young friend, you haven't given me my technique yet."

"Oh, oh."

The young disciple hurriedly nodded.

He ran off and returned with the Complete Treatise on Talismans.

His face wore a hint of flattery, utterly different from his earlier demeanor: "My lord, this is your item."

Li Rui took the Complete Treatise on Talismans.

He smiled warmly at the young disciple.

"I still prefer the way you were just now—defiant and unyielding."

With that, he turned and left.

Only the young disciple remained frozen in place, as if struck by lightning.

Back at Changqing Peak.

Li Rui immediately disappeared into his chamber.

The Complete Treatise on Talismans sounded ordinary, but in truth, it was a method many talisman masters dreamed of obtaining.

Because it originated from the immortal realm.

Far more complete than the talisman lineage of this world—otherwise, it wouldn't be worth 69 merit points.

Li Rui carefully flipped through it.

The talisman masters in the capital used their own true qi, but the Complete Treatise on Talismans used the spiritual energy of heaven and earth—a vast difference.

In the martial world,

talismans were considered heretical, but in the immortal realm, they were orthodox.

Powerful talisman cultivators were everywhere.

In comparison, body cultivators seemed weak.

Li Rui held no outdated bias favoring one path over another—if it was useful, he learned it.

Of course,

his method had extremely limited applicability.

There were few people in the world like him.

A genius in both martial and immortal arts.

With his ability, Great Dream Immortal Travel, to specialize in only one path would be a terrible waste.

That was why he had decided to cultivate the Six Arts.

Alchemy, Artifact Crafting, Talismans, Arrays, Beast Taming, Spirit Plant Cultivation.

He had the vast Spring Hall behind him and didn't lack money.

Of the Six Arts, talismans and arrays were most suitable.

Arrays required too long a foundation period and yielded slow results, so Li Rui chose talismans.

For Li Rui, already at Great Primordial, talismans wouldn't greatly enhance combat power—best they could do was offer auxiliary support.

But cultivation isn't just about fighting.

Combat is only a tiny part.

Talismans bring many conveniences—for instance, the Spirit-Infusing Talisman and the Thousand-Mile Voice Talisman recorded in the Complete Treatise on Talismans were highly useful to Li Rui now.

This time,

without realizing it, night fell.

In the blink of an eye, a year passed.

One day,

Li Rui sat cross-legged in his room, several sheets of yellow talisman paper before him, inscribed with bold, intricate, esoteric patterns in cinnabar.

"Rise."

A soft command.

One talisman stirred without wind, floating to Li Rui's Mianqian.

It ignited spontaneously in midair.

The ash drifted, then dissolved into dust, vanishing completely.

Instantly,

the spiritual energy concentration in the room rose noticeably.

Li Rui's lips curled slightly.

Spirit-Infusing Talisman—completed!

Considering he had zero talisman foundation, this speed was already fast.

The Spirit-Infusing Talisman was an extremely practical talisman.

Its sole effect was to increase the spiritual energy concentration nearby—though currently, it only worked within Qingwei Sect's boundaries; beyond them, its effect vanished almost entirely.

It was also the first talisman every talisman master learned.

Mastering the Spirit-Infusing Talisman meant one had entered the realm of talismans.

Li Rui felt joy in his heart.

He tucked the drawn Spirit-Infusing Talisman into his sleeve, then turned inward to examine himself.

He gazed at his dantian.

There, atop the Immortal Court, beneath the peach tree, the stone embryo's right hand had fully shed its stony shell, revealing infantile, tender skin, faintly shimmering with divine radiance.

Li Rui's lips curled slightly.

The Dao Embryo's transformation was progressing delightfully.

In another few years, the transformation would be complete.

Then he would truly reach the pinnacle of Primordial.

He stilled his mind.

Suddenly, he felt something.

He rose and walked down the mountain.

Li Rui traveled swiftly and soon reached the forest at Qingwei Sect's edge—outside the protective array.

The moment he appeared,

a small dragon, only one zhang long, appeared before him.

It was Little White Dragon, in altered form.

"Little White."

Li Rui smiled.

Little White Dragon had undergone two transformations and was now a fourth-rank Primordial-level beast.

Its power had increased immeasurably since before.

"Good. You've learned restraint."

Li Rui praised.

He wasn't praising its increased realm—he was praising that Little White Dragon had finally learned to be discreet.

In the past,

when wandering the Ten Thousand Mountains, Little White Dragon wouldn't shrink its body—instead, it might grow even larger to show off.

Little White Dragon snorted: "Big brother, you're too cautious."

Despite this, he had unknowingly been influenced by Li Rui and was no longer as arrogant as before.

Li Rui: "Xiao Bai, what's the situation in the Ten Thousand Mountains now?"

What is most abundant in the Ten Thousand Mountains?

Besides wild beasts, there are demonic beasts.

The Ten Thousand Mountains harbor too many dangers; he could not possibly ignore them entirely.

It wasn't about quelling chaos, but about sensing threats early, so he wouldn't fall into peril.

Xiao Bai Jiao had lived in the Ten Thousand Mountains for a hundred years.

Although the old dragon had moved away, Xiao Bai Jiao still possessed considerable demonic lineage.

That's why he had Xiao Bai Jiao command demonic beasts to gather intelligence for him.

Xiao Bai Jiao said: "It's a three-eyed ghost elephant. It seems the big toad's minions have arrived too."

Three-eyed ghost elephant?

Li Rui narrowed his eyes.

If his guess was correct, that three-eyed ghost elephant must be the great demon who escaped from the Purple Gold Palace that night—one of the Three Pillars of Purple Gold Palace.

As for the big toad Xiao Bai Jiao mentioned, it must be Tian Niu Zhu Ha, another of the Three Pillars.

The third of the Three Pillars, the divine phoenix Ling Feng, was said to have been captured by Gu Changsheng and turned into his mount.

"Alright, I understand."

Li Rui nodded.

Xiao Bai Jiao then looked curiously at Qingwei Sect: "Big Brother, what's it like to cultivate as a cultivator?"

Li Rui smiled: "It's all the same. Keep cultivating diligently. I'll see if I can find immortal techniques suitable for demonic cultivators."

Xiao Bai Jiao was overjoyed: "Big Brother is the best!"

It had heard rumors.

A new sect had recently risen in the Northern Plains, claiming to teach all without discrimination, with both human and demonic disciples.

It made Xiao Bai Jiao very eager.

Li Rui: "Don't worry, you won't be left out."

As they spoke,

Li Rui suddenly turned his head toward a nearby area.

A rapid pounding of footsteps.

Xiao Bai Jiao instantly transformed into a small snake and hid among the dry leaves.

Li Rui moved through layers of trees.

He saw a young Qingwei Sect disciple being chased by a demonic beast—the beast's claws were mere inches from the disciple.

Although they were nearing Qingwei Sect's great formation, unless something changed, the disciple was certain to die.

Li Rui raised an eyebrow.

He recognized the young disciple as the one who had helped him find martial arts techniques in the Transmission Hall that day.

In the blink of an eye,

Li Rui curled his thumb and middle finger, flicking the air.

The demonic beast's head was instantly pierced through by true qi.

It collapsed lifelessly to the ground.

The young disciple stared in shock at the beast's corpse, swallowed hard, and finally calmed down.

He instantly realized it must have been an elder of the sect who had intervened.

He quickly bowed and clasped his fists: "Thank you, Elder, for saving my life!"

But Li Rui had already vanished into the distance.

He disliked meddling in others' affairs—it was to avoid attracting trouble.

But if he could save a life with a simple gesture, he wouldn't hesitate.

Now that he was already nearing the Transcendent Realm, he should at least carry himself with the dignity of a true cultivator.

As for letting the young disciple know his savior was him,

There was no need at all.

He had always acted according to his own heart—why should others need to know?

(End of Chapter)