Chapter 77

After passing through the world's gate, when Zhou Shuo sat back in his room, he still couldn't suppress the beating of his heart; he felt that his maneuvering this time could be called tiger‑like—alright! Actually it was still blind operation, just lucky hits, but he had ultimately gotten extremely lucky, the Heaven‑Piercing Talisman landing straight in his hands—truly incredibly exciting.

"Heaven‑Piercing Talisman." Zhou Shuo restrained his excitement, heart fluttering, he examined the small booklet in his hand; it was like the passport disc in the CCTV version of Journey to the West, with two black‑faced, gold‑edged covers whose inner pages were folded.

"The talisman art originated with the shamans, first appearing in the Eastern Han; Han's Fei Changfang learned from Master Hugu…… Using the essence of the Dao, laying it on bamboo slips, gathering things with vital energy, each school and sect has its secret techniques; yet myriad changes do not depart from its source, the talisman has no fixed form, with vital energy it becomes spiritual—I have received a great encounter, I write this Heaven‑Piercing Talisman, to show the heavenly deities' taboos, the book can carry the Dao, engraved to repel and slay ghosts and spirits and command them……"

Zhou Shuo read the Heaven‑Piercing Talisman very carefully; the full work begins with a preface written by its author, who is Zheng Zibu of the Supreme Clarity Sect among the Thirty‑Six Thieves, briefly introducing the origin and principles of talisman art, as well as the Heaven‑Piercing Talisman's composition history and purpose.

"Heaven‑Piercing Talisman," a talisman is a Daoist legendary scripture; according to legend it records the heavenly officials' officers, the names and affiliations of the immortals of the ten directions, summons divine clerks, and is a document for executing magical arts; Zheng Zibu named his own written scripture the Heaven‑Piercing Talisman, its meaning needs no explanation—those who obtain it can penetrate heaven, which also coincides with the origin of talisman art, for talisman art originates from shamanic culture; the shaman, serving both labor and person, reaches heaven and earth, and fulfills human will.

Zhou Shuo had drawn talismans before and had also exchanged ideas with Liu Yanran; the Liu family's corpse‑refining needs a corpse‑binding talisman, so he also knows some talisman knowledge—among immortals' talismans, efficacy and drawing method differ; complex ones require bathing and setting up an altar, while simple ones still need vital‑energy drawing of talismans, but the common point is that advance preparation is required.

One could say that talisman paper is something a talisman user must prepare in advance; however, Zheng Zibu, the author of the Heaven‑Piercing Talisman, who comes from the Supreme Clarity Sect specializing in talisman art, using his professional knowledge and a spark of spiritual inspiration, takes the talisman as the manifestation of the Dao's vital energy, with refined energy gathering as the foundation of vital energy, he proposes that vital energy can condense into a talisman without paper or ink, by taking all schools' talisman arts for his own use, thus eliminating the need to set up an altar and perform the cumbersome vital‑energy rituals.

"Awesome, truly worthy of the Eight Extraordinary Skills." Zhou Shuo, looking at the crucial cultivation method in the Heaven‑Piercing Talisman, couldn't help but exclaim in praise.

To be frank, Zhou Shuo found nothing surprising about Zheng Zibu's idea, because the Yang God World also has talisman‑drawing art, which is mainly used to gather thoughts; once the thought arrives, what you write doesn't matter—this idea is similar to that of the Heaven‑Piercing Talisman, but Zheng Zibu truly putting the idea into practice is completely different from the soul‑talisman spells, for one relies on vital energy and the other on thought, they are alike yet distinct.

In the Heaven‑Piercing Talisman, Zheng Zibu proposes an idea akin to particle theory, viewing vital energy as composed of talismans, while talismans are composed of spells; the spell is the tiniest origin, by mastering spells one controls talismans, drawing a talisman is condensing vital energy, requiring neither altar nor vital‑energy practice, and all schools' talisman arts employ this.

The cultivation method in the Heaven‑Piercing Talisman is a focus, but more important is the practitioner's mastery of various talisman arts; Zheng Zibu comes from the Supreme Clarity Sect, which together with the Celestial Master's Abbey and the Numinous Treasure Sect is known as the Three Talisman Mountains, specializing in talisman art, yet even that has its limits; he later joined the Thirty‑Six Thieves in sworn brotherhood, exchanging talismans with Feng Tianyang of Liangshan's great shaman, Zhang Huaiyi of the Celestial Master's Abbey, and others, summarizing and analyzing the methods, forms, and functions of the talisman arts of all schools, and only then did he truly produce the Heaven‑Piercing Talisman.

In the Heaven‑Piercing Talisman, the actual cultivation content occupies only a small part; the main emphasis is the analysis and summary of various talisman arts—such as the Five Strongmen Talisman, the Immortal‑Binding Talisman, the Northern Pole Four Saints' Disaster‑Resolving and Evil‑Dispelling True Talisman, Dean Dai's Charm, the Soul‑Bewildering Seal, the Five Thunder Talisman, and so on—covering prayers for deliverance from misfortune, suppression and summoning, healing and exorcism, leaving nothing out.

"I really want to know what the source of the Eight Extraordinary Skills is." After Zhou Shuo finished reading the Heaven‑Piercing Talisman carefully and committed it to memory, he couldn't help but find it fascinating; to be frank, this Heaven‑Piercing Talisman is of great use to him, yet also limited, and he is even more curious about what the source of the Eight Extraordinary Skills is—could it be the Celestial Master's Degree?

Each technique of the Eight Extraordinary Skills is the pinnacle of an ability, while the Heaven‑Piercing Talisman is the pinnacle of talisman art; talisman art has manifold uses, but because specializing in it to the extreme prevents achieving both life and destiny, if it were truly invincible, Zheng Zibu back then would not have suffered family ruin and death, and the Heaven‑Piercing Talisman would never have ended up in Lu Jin's hands.

Zhou Shuo's goal is to cultivate both life and destiny, though practicing the Heaven‑Piercing Talisman a bit is not ordinary; however, he is now studying more and more things, and some aspects are beginning to fall behind, just like martial arts—when he first started learning the martial art of He Wusheng, he had hardly used it a few times, yet his fist and sword techniques were used with soaring freedom, while his earlier Pine‑Crane Longevity Fist and Flying Spirit Supple Bone Technique were hardly employed anymore.

Zhou Shuo shook his head and set aside martial arts, feeling he didn't need to pursue perfection in everything, nor force every thing to be integrated; one must sometimes let go of some things, his goal being life and destiny—close‑quarters kicking and punching combat should be kept to a minimum, as it's too easy to get killed; he will specialize in elixir Dao and aperture‑refining to strengthen his physique, life and destiny, and human potential, supplementally study talisman art and thunder methods, and leave the rest to chance.

"If I don't master the Heaven‑Piercing Talisman, I can't go to the Other‑Person World for now." Zhou Shuo settled on his cultivation direction, took a slight breath; he can no longer go to the Other‑Person World, having slaughtered the companions of Quanxing and snatched the Heaven‑Piercing Talisman from Zhang Lingyu's hands—if he went there he would surely be besieged by all, but fortunately, besides the Other‑Person World, he still has other places to go.

"Let's think—aside from cultivation, what else do I have to do? Hmm, right, I still owe Wei Zhuang a promise to give Hong Lian's sister a cure for her poisoned body, and there are matters of the Yao Chi Sect; I fear that Master Yi Zi should also be making his mark by now!" Zhou Shuo began to reckon what he would have to face.

After spending nearly three months in the Other‑Person World, his gains far surpassed those of the previous two worlds, but Zhou Shuo absolutely would not favor the new over the old; he began to return to deal with the matters he left behind in the first two worlds, the first being his promise to Wei Zhuang—to lift the poisoned‑person condition of Hong Lian's sister.

While Zhou Shuo cultivated the Heaven‑Piercing Talisman, the key to its practice lay in a quiet skill: in seated meditation he would refine and subdivide the innate vital energy within his body, seeking the location of the spell; this step's threshold is high for others, but he had trained the Spirit Mountain apertures and, having successfully settled the five vital energies in his chest through inner elixir technique, his life‑and‑destiny cultivation was already up to standard, so entering the training came naturally.

While cultivating the Heaven‑Piercing Talisman, Zhou Shuo also bought ten volumes of the Yang God Set, read them carefully, seeking something that could solve his problem, and quickly found the relevant passage: Hong Lian's sister's constitution, having once fallen into a poison pool, was infiltrated by toxic yin energy into her blood; to cure her, he must cleanse the internal toxins.

To cleanse the internal toxins, Zhou Shuo first thought of the Earth Origin Elixir and Marrow‑Refining Method, but the marrow‑refining method would be too hard for Hong Lian to cultivate herself, and the Earth Origin Spirit Elixir is exceedingly rare; still, there are other ways to achieve this, such as the Divine Dawn Dao's Lightning‑Body Technique, which condenses lightning to stimulate the Grain Spirit aperture, thereby washing away bodily impurities.

"Silver Shark King!" Zhou Shuo closed his book, his gaze piercing the void; the Silver Shark King is one of the Eight Great Demonic Immortals of the Yang God World, a formidable figure not easy to deal with, and he hopes to obtain something from her smoothly.

After settling his affairs, Zhou Shuo passed through the gate and returned to the Divine Wind Kingdom of the Yang God World; standing within Lady Ting's Residence and gazing at the expansive peach grove, he couldn't help but feel a sense of sentiment—although he had no memories of this gate from last year today, reflecting on his life experience, he felt as if he were in a dream.

"All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows; like dew, so it should be viewed thus." Zhou Shuo closed his eyes to inhale the peach blossom fragrance, then opened them; whether or not it was a dream, he would simply be as he is—eat when he should eat, drink when he should drink, and when the day comes that he can no longer happily eat, drink, and play, he will speak of it then; may everything follow its course.

Feeling a bit sentimental, Zhou Shuo stepped out of his quarters, had the guests he met summon Fu Bo, the steward in charge of Ru Ting Residence, to ask him about the household's situation and whether there was any news from the Jade Pool Sect; this old steward was also perceptive, answering Zhou Shuo's every question.

"Young Master Shuo, I haven't heard any news from Yinzhou, and as a servant I shouldn't pry too much, but the two Hua misses of Flower Moon Hall are currently in Divine Wind State; you could perhaps go find them and ask!" Fu Bo bowed slightly, looking at Zhou Shuo, and answered carefully. Ru Ting Residence is fine, expenses are accounted for, but he doesn't know anything about the Jade Pool Sect, though someone does.

"The Hua misses? You mean Hua Nongying and Hua Nongyue?" Zhou Shuo raised his eyebrows slightly. Hua Nongying and Hua Nongyue are two minor lackeys under Hong Yi in the book, but they are now Daoist geniuses of the Jade Pool Sect, heading the Flower Moon Hall among the sect's four halls, responsible for the sect's maritime trade.

"Yes, the two Hua misses are currently handling business at Peishen Port; do you want to find them, or have them come over to ask?" Fu Bo nodded and bowed, seeking instruction.

"That won't be necessary; I was just asking." Zhou Shuo looked at the old steward bobbing and bowing, feeling a bit awkward; as a modern person, he was unaccustomed to this, but he couldn't forcefully change him.

"Then Young Master Shuo, how long do you plan to stay at home this time?" Fu Bo asked with slight hesitation; Yao Yue ru and Yao Yue ting had instructed him to treat Zhou Shuo as the master, so he dared not hesitate, for in this world strength speaks, and even if Zhou Shuo had been missing for months, he wouldn't dare ask more.

"Depending on the situation, I have something to attend to; uh, do you know how to contact Princess Chan Yinsha of Izumo State?" Zhou Shuo blinked; he had originally planned to go to Izumo State, but upon thinking, perhaps he could directly contact that Silver Shark King from Divine Wind State instead, though he wasn't sure.

"Princess Chan Yinsha?" Fu Bo opened his mouth slightly; a princess of Izumo State—how would he know how to contact someone like that?