Chapter 441: Frantic Listening

A Sound-Pointing Talisman?

Li Yuan's heart stirred slightly, and he focused his mind to sense carefully.

In the center of the grey Dingxin Dingxin Shitai, beside the Listening Wood Platform, another stele had appeared—four wooden slabs tall as a man, a hazy grey, seeming both illusory and real.

A Sound-Pointing Talisman—can it designate what one listens to?

Li Yuan was somewhat pleasantly surprised.

If the Sound Master Platform could designate what one listens to, its usefulness would be far greater. Without ever leaving home, one could know everything under heaven—more formidable than any intelligence organization.

He tried to touch it, but the activated Sound-Pointing Talisman was like a phantom—untouchable, and he could sense no information from it.

Two hundred listens of the fifth rank.

Li Yuan looked at the incense burner where he stored his incense offerings; the offerings intertwined like clouds and mist, a jumble of various colors.

These offerings—few came from his own guidance over these past days; most came from Brother Brother Sikong's Yun Xiang Ding; the seventh and eighth rank offerings came from that Thousand Spirits Salvation Stele.

The most numerous, naturally, were the unranked and first through third rank, accounting for as much as ninety percent.

Among them, the fewest were the eighth rank offerings—three; seventh rank, seven; sixth rank, still ninety-six; fifth rank a bit more, but only one hundred and forty-three in total.

If one could designate what one listens to… no, calm down, calm down.

Li Yuan's heart stirred with some excitement.

If one could designate what one listens to, not to mention other things—just being able to find that middle-aged great fellow carrying the Yun Xiang Ding would be worth a thousand times over.

But if his estimate was off…

In the storeroom, Li Yuan opened his eyes, his sleepiness completely gone.

The appearance of this Sound-Pointing Talisman disrupted his plans. Normally, before finding a stable or large supply of fourth or fifth rank incense offerings, he had no intention of advancing the Sound Master Platform.

After all, the Weapon Master Platform would enhance him far more.

Intelligence of this sort is important, sure, but one often has to sift sand for gold—the uncertainty is too great.

But if one could designate what one listens to, then the meaning would be entirely different…

If my estimate is off…

Li Yuan paced back and forth, brow tightly furrowed: Can't gamble, can't gamble!

He was somewhat itching to act, yet still forcibly pressed down his thoughts to weigh the pros and cons. Not considering what would happen if it succeeded, he first mulled over whether, if the Sound-Pointing Talisman were not what he expected—designating what one listens to—he could accept it.

If it fails, forty-three fifth-rank incense offerings would only support me in forging four seventh-rank weapons or boots!"

Thinking this way, Li Yuan suddenly felt it wasn't unacceptable.

In any case, he had no weapons to forge right now. Even if things went smoothly afterward, gathering the base materials to forge four seventh-rank weapons wouldn't be something achievable in a short time.

Done!

After pacing back and forth deliberating for a long time, Li Yuan clenched his teeth, hardened his heart:

Keeping the incense offerings won't make them multiply—use them early and gain early. This Daoist isn't gambling; it's an investment!

This, of course, was just an excuse.

Li Yuan knew very well in his heart: he was purely interested in this Sound-Pointing Talisman, nothing more.

Listen!

Having made his decision, Li Yuan no longer dragged his feet. In any case, a hundred fifth-rank incense offerings—he would earn them back eventually.

Immediately, wisps of fifth-rank incense offerings rose from the incense burner, and under his guidance, sank into the Listening Wood Seal. Then, dark light flared, and all manner of text and sounds emerged at once.

Li Yuan switched to the Sound Master combination that bolstered his spirit, and focused his mind to listen intently.

After the Sound Master Platform advanced, the value of what one listened to had already risen. Combined with using fifth-rank incense offerings, what he gained was bound to be far higher than before.

"Blood Replacement determines the Dao—hard to regret upon entry! A martial artist's potential is fixed at this step. This concerns the potential of entering the Dao, the potential of the Spirit Form. If the blood replacement is not pure enough, there is no hope of Unity. You possess the Sun Form; your blood replacement must be Pure Yang."

"What is True Qi? It is the medium, the means by which will interferes with reality. It contends with heaven and earth, transforming into True Gang. What is True Gang? It is the hand, the foot, the eye, the heart! It is your sole means of plucking the wondrous scenes of heaven and earth and forging the Divine Realm! Heaven and earth are the great body; the human body is the small heaven and earth. Pluck from the great heaven and earth to complete my small heaven and earth."

"What are the wondrous scenes of heaven and earth? They are naturally born places containing the laws of heaven and earth. Use True Gang to Ta Yin them, combine them,

temper them!"

The fifth-rank listen was more complex than Li Yuan had anticipated—

far more. Just the first one, the information it contained made his heart jolt. This voice—he had heard it before.

The Dragon Demon Daoist teaching his disciple—no, it was Pang Pang Wenlong's voice!

Li Yuan's heart jolted, and that voice continued to echo. In a daze, he seemed to see that refined elder he had seen when listening to the Heavenly Sound before.

He stood with his hands behind his back, instructing his disciple:

"Yi Bai Xing, your talent is peerless, rare through the ages. A thousand forms is insufficient; ten thousand forms, ten thousand forms bearing the Sun—only then does your talent have the possibility of surpassing the world, stepping into Zhao Zhao Tianxing, and even the Divine Demon level—only then will you have a chance to enter!"

The voice stopped here.

Yet Li Yuan felt quite a sense of being struck deaf and awakened.

Zhao Zhao Tianxing, Divine Demon!

Li Yuan keenly caught the key points in this supreme grand master's words. His thoughts scattered, and he recalled the scene from his previous listen.

The Dragon Demon Daoist dripped blood to create a person—first pointing out a dragon among men, then creating an absolute posture, a talent through the ages, unmatched under heaven. After four failed attempts, he himself walked toward that ancient scroll.

And he, very likely, would also enter the Eight Directions Temple…

Above the unparalleled talent is Zhao Zhao Tianxing—is this the Dragon Demon Daoist's talent? … And only a Divine Demon has the possibility of entering—Eight Directions Temple? Or, You Jing—Li Yuan's thoughts collided, summarizing and analyzing. At the same time, he didn't delay continuing to listen.

Afterward, many of the listens seemed unremarkable. Although some involved grand masters, even Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing, compared to the Dragon Demon Daoist's words, they seemed far less captivating.

Zhao Zhao Tianxing—does it correspond to Spirit Beast Power, Star level?

Li Yuan's thoughts scattered, uncertain. Apart from this listen, he had never heard of any talent higher than the Unparalleled level anywhere.

Sun Form, talent Sun Form—only Pang Pang Wenlong had it. The Dragon Demon Daoist wanted him to have ten thousand forms. Was it this ten thousand forms that caused him to only emerge from the mountain in his seventies?

Did Pang Pang Wenlong truly alter himself to ten thousand forms?

Ten thousand forms bearing the Sun.

Li Yuan thought about it for a long time, mainly because he vaguely felt that what he had gained from this Listening was extremely important.

The Dragon Demon Daoist rarely had any deeds passed down, but the Dragon Demon Heart Scripture he created had once surpassed the Bai Shen Fa, ranking first among the Shi Da Mo Gong.

The man himself was even called one of the supreme Grand Masters of all ages.

The words spoken by such a figure, the things he pursued.

When Li Yuan came back to his senses, the Listening Talisman had already flickered over a hundred times in succession, and various sounds were churning in his sea of consciousness.

There is always someone greater, there is always a heaven beyond the heavens, and wondrous sights also have their high and low distinctions; some have witnessed thunder racing and lightning streaking, some have sensed the rise and fall of ocean tides, some have gazed directly at the great sun, some have delved deep into mountain forests, some have sat quietly amidst clouds and mist.

It is said that when a Grand Master strikes, a Divine Realm follows — sometimes like a mountain rising from the earth, sometimes like a bright moon born in the sea, or like the great sun shining overhead.

It is said that in the universe there are also wondrous sights passed down; when the Eight Directions Temple appears in the world, heaven and earth tremble, and wondrous sights will be born as humans, endowed with great fortune; some have been secretly pursuing this for over a thousand years…

The value of fifth-tier Listening had risen by a large margin, and it was much more complex; many of them left Li Yuan utterly baffled, but upon careful pondering, he also savored some flavor from them.

After entering the Dao, the picking of wondrous sights also has its high and low, but how is this high and low divided? Is the sea greater than the mountain, the moon greater than the sea, the sun greater than the moon?

In the warehouse, Li Yuan opened his eyes; he kneaded his brow, having listened to too many different sounds at once, leaving him mentally exhausted, even somewhat dry-heaving.

Listening also consumes my spirit; it's just that before, I had never listened this many times in one go…

Li Yuan forced himself to stay alert, sat quietly regulating his breath for a long time, still felt his temples throbbing, yet had no choice but to temporarily stop — still sixty-three fifth-tier Listenings short.

Digesting the various Listenings, Li Yuan was very weary; he forced himself out of the warehouse, the sun had already set in the west, he had stayed in the warehouse for Shi Shi Zuzu more than half a day.

In the room, two food boxes were placed, clearly Liu Zheng had come by.

Li Yuan's mental dry-heaving truly left him with no appetite; he closed the door, took out the Dragon Tiger Health-Preserving Furnace and placed it by the bed, lay down, and went straight into deep sleep.

Normally, sleeping two or three hours would fully restore Li Yuan's spirit, but this one sleep, he stubbornly slept until the sun was three poles high the next day.

Listening also

cannot be overdone.

Rubbing his brow, Li Yuan's spirit recovered, and he even felt it had somewhat grown.

He got up, swept clean the already cold food, then struck a stance and pushed through several sets of stake-stances, re-mastered the Dragon Tiger Health-Preserving Furnace, and only then did Li Yuan's state return to its peak.

While regulating his breath, he was also pondering and digesting yesterday's gains.

Over a hundred fifth-tier Listenings contained all sorts of intelligence that could be said to be extremely complex; he spent quite a while digesting them.

Continue Listening!

Li Li Daoye also has resilience; the moment he recovered, without even going out, he lay on the bed, eyes slightly closed, and sounds were already echoing by his ears!

The so-called Heaven Beyond Heavens is nothing mysterious, merely different Great Fortune Dynasties one after another — under a great tree, beneath a propped-up black umbrella, an old man said thus.

The Heaven Beyond Heavens has even popped out!

Li Yuan's heart jolted, and he immediately felt the Palm Sound Seal's advancement had not been in vain; the value of this intelligence had greatly increased.

But he didn't ponder it in detail either, committing each Listening to memory, preparing to digest them slowly later; he sped up the Listening, and by the time night fell, he had already met the conditions for the Palm Sound Seal's advancement.

Li Yuan flipped over and sat up, gently rubbing his temples:

Over two hundred Listenings in total and not one related to that middle-aged man carrying the cauldron — this randomness is too great; the Finger Sound Talisman is very necessary to activate.

Li Li Daoye utterly detested this hit-or-miss method; a great deal of incense had been wasted just like that.

Hope it won't disappoint me.

Whether the Finger Sound Talisman was as he had guessed, Li Yuan had no certainty in his heart either, but before advancing, he still adjusted his state.

At the same time, he could not waste the number of times for Listening to Heavenly Sound.

Compared to ordinary Listening, the benefits of Listening to Heavenly Sound were much greater — not just the intelligence value, each round trip also greatly tempered his spirit soul and mental energy.

Mm, if the Palm Sound Seal advances to sixth tier, the interval for Listening to Heavenly Sound must also be halved… mm, not a loss, not a loss.

Li Yuan muttered to himself, activated the Palm Sound Seal, and Listened to Heavenly Sound.