Chapter 269: Second Talisman

All set!

Looking at the Offering on the table, Li Yuan let out a long sigh, feeling both excited and apprehensive.

He was very familiar with the ritual of Heaven's Bestowal of the Talisman, but after all, this Offering was truly rather meager; he didn't know if it could satisfy the Ancestral Master.

"The blood of the Five Spiritual Beasts before already had some effect, but this time the cost is far greater than last time."

Li Yuan murmured in his heart; although he had no certainty, he felt he could give it a try.

After all, the amount of blood Zhang Ada gave was considerable; even if half was lost, he would still have one chance left, and the only true loss would be that Angry Sunny Chicken Egg.

"Will this egg work?"

Li Yuan lifted the Angry Sunny Chicken Egg; this was no ordinary egg. It was entirely brilliant gold, a full size larger than the ostrich eggs he had seen in his past life, and when gently shaken, one could feel the egg liquid within emitting a faint red glow.

Although it was not blood, the value of this egg was even more precious than the blood of a Spiritual Beast King; if he hadn't cultivated the Dragon-Tiger Hun Tian Hammer to the Minor Success stage, Old Dragon Head might not have lent it to him.

"Hoo!"

Li Yuan pondered for quite a while, then checked the Offerings one by one again; only then did he wash his hands and face, recite the Daoist scriptures in his heart, and solemnly begin the ritual.

He distributed half of the four jars of blood, and with the remainder, he sprinkled it in all directions with himself as the center, then crushed that Angry Sunny Chicken Egg.

The scarlet egg liquid splattered onto the ground like blood, instantly filling the entire room with various bloody odors.

"If I were to follow Old Han's reasoning, wouldn't this count as a blood sacrifice?"

With everything prepared, such a thought popped into Li Yuan's mind, but he immediately laughed at himself.

The Xieshen Sect's ritual sacrifices to an Evil God, whereas he was sacrificing to the Ancestral Master; the two were not the same thing...

Hoo!

After expelling a mouthful of turbid air that had been churning in his throat for a long time, Li Yuan paced in the four directions, murmuring softly:

"Disciple Li Yuan, having read the hundred scriptures and gained wisdom... not greedy, not angry, not killing, not hating, having broken no precepts, with a mind clear and bright..."

This ritual scripture is truly...

As he recited, Daoist Li felt somewhat insecure; the first time he performed the ritual, he felt these words were fine, but now...

"Disciple Li Yuan, humbly begs Heaven to bestow the Talisman!"

Buzz!

Li Yuan bowed deeply, and the instant his sleeves touched the ground, he heard that familiar tremendous roar, deafening and enlightening, like a sudden awakening.

Boom!

Li Yuan's body shuddered, but he was no longer the same as before; although this booming sound was still immense, causing him to stagger, he managed to steady himself.

But immediately, that booming sound suddenly grew several times larger; caught off guard, he felt his vision go black, as if someone had struck him hard with a hammer, leaving him dazed for an instant.

"Roar!"

"Moo!"

In that instant, Li Yuan seemed to see the blood spilled on the ground vaporize, with wisps of blood smoke drifting upward.

In his daze, they seemed to transform into the shadows of giant beasts, rushing toward a dark and silent place.

Li Yuan recognized those giant beasts as Bai Tan, the Spiritual Goat King, the Spiritual Fire Ling Ox King, the Cloud Sea Deer King, the Spiritual Desolation Wolf King, and the Golden-Eyed Angry Sunny Chicken.

Under Li Yuan's gaze, the blood shadows of the five Spiritual Beast Kings walked further and further, rising higher and higher...

Wait, where is the roof?

Li Yuan felt his thoughts turning very slowly; before that thought could even flash through his mind, he was already drowned in a tremendous roar.

This sound came from who knows where, yet was unimaginably loud.

Counting both his past and present lives, he had never heard such a tremendous sound, as if a star that had existed for countless ages, at the very end of its life, erupted with a sound that shook heaven and earth.

"Damn!"

Daoist Li couldn't hold on; he only cried out in his heart, then lost all perception of the outside world, with only the terror and horror of falling into a deep abyss lingering in his mind,

making him feel so stifled that he wanted to go mad.

"Is this the sound heard during the first Bestowal of the Talisman? It's countless times louder, but... I still can't make it out..."

He didn't know how long passed before that tremendous sound finally dissipated; Li Yuan's state was no better than during the first time, and when he forced his eyes open, he felt all the colors in the world shifting and surging before him.

"Ugh!"

Who could stand this? Daoist Li opened his mouth, and he almost vomited up everything he had eaten yesterday.

"Huff, huff~"

Li Yuan gasped for air; he felt as if he had almost drowned in a non-existent deep abyss, his body covered in cold sweat, his strength drained, and his spirit exhausted.

Compared to when he performed the ritual for the first time, he was stronger by countless degrees, but judging by the result, it seemed nothing had changed?

"Fortunately, it succeeded!"

After catching his breath, the immense fatigue and exhaustion could not suppress the joy in Li Yuan's heart; if not for his restraint, he would have likely thrown his head back and let out a long, triumphant cry.

Suppressing the joy in his heart, Li Yuan closed his eyes and felt the second Talisman bestowed by Heaven.

Wooo!

Within the calm space of Commanding the Army, there seemed to be some unusual fluctuations; the deep, lightless darkness appeared to be writhing and surging.

Li Yuan stood on the Dingxin Dingxin Shitai, the star map formed by the Commanding Talisman enveloping this void, with seven great stars shining brilliantly.

The new Talisman was not so conspicuous; it stood upon the Dingxin Dingxin Shitai.

About a person's height, pale yellow, covered in patterns; at first glance, it looked very much like the texture of sheepskin parchment that had been stored for many years, full of the weight of time and desolation.

Merely seeing it, Li Yuan 'heard' a faint, desolate, and ancient song; abundant emotions surged in, causing him to feel depressed.

"..."

Inside the room, Li Yuan's face was streaked with black lines; he wiped the corner of his eye and sensed this new Talisman once more:

"All things in heaven and earth have their own rhythms; transmitted outward, they become sound!"

"Sound is everywhere, reaching everywhere..."

"Listen to the sounds of all things, and you may attain the ultimate mystery."

"All that is called sound can be mastered!"

The Sound-Mastering Talisman!

When Li Yuan touched that wooden talisman, various pieces of information flooded into his mind.

【Second Talisman Bestowal: Sound-Mastering Talisman】

【Li Yuan: Seventh-Rank Weapon Master, First-Rank Sound Master】

【Seventh-Rank Weapon Talisman】

【Controllable Weapons: 7】

【Unlocked: Divine Fire Weapon-Forging Furnace (Seventh-Rank), Divine Fire Weapon-Forging Platform (Seventh-Rank)】

【First-Rank Sound Talisman】

【Heavenly Sounds Audible: Once every ten years (Available)】

【Unlocked: Sound-Listening Talisman (First-Rank)】

"The language of all things, the sounds of heaven and earth... The Sound-Listening Talisman, relying on rare treasures, can hear the sounds of heaven and earth... Listen to the sound, listen to the sound... This talisman."

Li Yuan digested the information for quite a while:

"As for the Heavenly Sound... what is this thing? The voice of heaven and earth?"

He glanced around the stone platform, took a couple of taels of broken silver, and offered it to the Sound-Listening Talisman. A faint light flashed on the wooden talisman, but it rejected the silver.

"Rare treasures... it doesn't recognize gold and silver?"

Li Yuan frowned in his heart. On the gray stone platform lay many iron materials, some of which were worth more than red gold, but one by one he tried them, and all were rejected.

Until...

A wisp of white incense smoke entered the wooden talisman, and then, a faint Bai Guang rose upon the Sound-Listening Talisman.

"It actually requires incense?"

Li Yuan immediately felt a sharp pang in his heart; his incense was already severely insufficient, and now another one demanded incense?

He focused his spirit, and saw a line of text slowly appear on the wooden talisman. At the same time, he heard a dull and stiff voice:

"The half-treasure-hunting rat kept by the Sound Master's family has been quietly hiding some things in its nest these past days..."

What things?

Inside the room, Li Yuan opened his eyes, his face showing some astonishment. He chewed over the information obtained from the Sound-Listening Talisman, while his gaze turned toward the rat hole in the corner of the wall.

"Listen to the sound, this works too?"

Li Yuan stood up and walked to the corner. He extended a hand, and pale yellow internal energy flowed like water into the rat hole. Not long after, it hooked out a pile of messy things.

There were broken silver pieces, medicinal herbs, and even some fur, bones, and teeth from an unknown wild beast.

"... Good heavens, this works too?"

He stuffed the pile of messy things back into the rat hole to prevent the little fellow from making a fuss upon his return. Li Yuan then sat on the bed and entered the Weapon-Mastering Space again.

Just like the Weapon-Mastering Talisman, the function of this Sound-Mastering Talisman must be explored by himself. Moreover, compared to the former, this second talisman appears even more complex.

"Incense, incense..."

On the gray stone platform, Li Yuan tried again and again. He valued incense of the Third-Rank and above, but he still had plenty of First-Rank and Second-Rank incense, so he was not reluctant to try them.

"The half-treasure-hunting rat kept by the Sound Master's family went to the Hundred Beasts Mountain a few days ago and is suspected to have eaten some unknown wild fruit..."

"In the southeast corner of the bamboo forest outside the Sound Master's residence, someone dropped a few taels of broken silver..."

"Lin Pingping, a menial disciple of the Longhu Longhu Dandan Temple, admires a senior brother of the same sect... After dressing up, she arranged to meet him in the small grove..."

The light on the Sound-Listening Talisman flashed repeatedly, and various voices echoed in Li Yuan's ears. After several dozen times, he felt his ears ringing.

"This talisman..."

Inside the room, Li Yuan gently rubbed his brow, his expression somewhat strange.

Although the information from this Sound-Listening Talisman was not detailed, chaotic, and even repetitive, in a certain sense, it was a channel for him to obtain intelligence, and the information was certainly true.

"The information obtained by the First-Rank Sound-Listening Talisman seems to involve people or things of very low Wu Gong status, and the distance does not seem very far..."

Li Yuan pondered: "As for the Heavenly Sound that can only be heard once every ten years..."

This Sound-Mastering Talisman was even harder to figure out than the Weapon-Mastering Talisman. Except for the materials required for its promotion to the Second-Rank, which could be determined, all other uses had to be explored by himself.

Let alone understanding it, he hadn't even figured out the rules of this thing.

"Hmm, try again."

Li Yuan closed his eyes and continued to try. This time, he used Second-Rank incense.

Buzz~

The wooden talisman trembled slightly, absorbed the Second-Rank incense, and a pale blue light flashed.

"Second-Rank works too?"

Li Yuan felt a slight stir in his heart. Just like the Weapon-Mastering Talisman, the rank of this Sound-Mastering Talisman only concerned the 'quantity of Heavenly Sounds audible' and did not restrict the use of higher-rank incense.

A voice sounded in his ears at the right moment:

"In a shrub forest northwest of the Hundred Beasts Mountain, a Spirit-Containing Grass is about to mature..."

"The value of Second-Rank information is significantly higher than that of First-Rank. This is quite interesting."

Li Yuan became interested and continued to try. He used quite a bit of First-Rank, Second-Rank, and Third-Rank incense before gaining some understanding of this new talisman.

In short, the better the rare treasure used, the higher the information obtained. The information obtained from a single Third-Rank incense actually involved the Dragon King of the Hundred Beasts Mountain...

"The value of this intelligence is worth the incense... As for this Seventh-Rank incense, forget it, this one cannot be used."

On the gray stone platform, Li Yuan was quite excited. After trying for a long time, he finally stopped and looked at the wooden talisman:

"As for this Heavenly Sound, it can be heard only once every ten years..."