Chapter 95

Celestial Spirit Root!

Upon hearing this, Chen Mobai pondered for a moment. He recalled the Wood Spirit Talisman he had put aside, unused, and an idea sparked in his mind. However, he immediately scoffed at himself, finding his thoughts far too fanciful.

“Fellow Daoist Qi,” Chen Mobai began, “I wonder when this island defense battle will end. Although I’m at the seventh level of Qi Condensation, my combat techniques are still lacking. Do you happen to have any extra Scarlet Flame Sword Talismans you could sell me?”

After some further conversation, Chen Mobai steered the topic back to their initial discussion. The Scarlet Flame Sword Talisman was powerful; Qi Rui had used one during the recent battle to slay a Black Plague Great Bird. It even directly pierced through its Black Feather Shield. Compared to Chen Mobai’s strenuous efforts—employing all his talismans and artifacts, bolstered by his diligently practiced Ice Art, just to barely manage a kill—Qi Rui appeared much more at ease.

“You’ve certainly asked the right person,” Qi Rui replied, his eyes brightening. “Within the sect, apart from missions, I usually earn spirit stones by crafting talismans.” He immediately retrieved three Scarlet Flame Sword Talismans from his storage bag. “This is a One-Sword Talisman. The internal sect price is 8 spirit stones, while shops in the market sell it for 10. I’ll give you the internal price. How many do you want?”

“I can only afford one,” Chen Mobai said, touching his satchel and wryly producing eight spirit stones. Qi Rui smiled as he accepted the payment, then pulled out one Scarlet Flame Sword Talisman for him and meticulously explained the essentials and tricks for using it.

“I heard there are also Two-Sword Talismans and Three-Sword Talismans. What are their prices?” After buying one, Chen Mobai began to ask the questions he genuinely cared about. Upon hearing him, Qi Rui, however, began to earnestly dissuade him.

“A One-Sword Talisman only costs 8 spirit stones, but a Two-Sword Talisman costs 20, and a Three-Sword Talisman goes for a whopping 80 spirit stones each. It’s simply not worth it for us Qi Condensation cultivators to invest that much.” Qi Rui continued, “A Two-Sword Talisman essentially seals two Scarlet Flame Sword Lights, but the complexity and difficulty of crafting it are several times greater than a One-Sword Talisman. Generally, even if we had the ability, we wouldn’t bother making Two-Sword Talismans. They’re hard to sell, have a high chance of failure, and the investment in a single talisman can easily go to waste.”

“Furthermore, the Two-Sword Talisman doesn’t offer a qualitative leap in power; it merely seals one more sword light. Using two One-Sword Talismans yields the exact same result as a Two-Sword Talisman, and it’s even cheaper. As for the Three-Sword Talisman, it can form a small sword array, so if one can successfully craft it, it is indeed worthwhile. However, while the Three-Sword Talisman is classified as a first-tier high-grade item, it actually requires a second-tier talisman crafter to truly master its creation. I don’t have the ability to craft it.”

After listening to Qi Rui’s explanation, Chen Mobai finally understood why only One-Sword Talismans were sold in the market. Two-Sword Talismans had too low a cost-performance ratio. Three-Sword Talismans, on the other hand, had extremely high crafting requirements; although they were first-tier high-grade, they were typically displayed in second-tier counters and usually only purchased by Foundation Establishment cultivators.

“That’s truly a shame,” Chen Mobai said, feigning regret. “I was originally hoping to buy a Three-Sword Talisman to study it.”

“Oh, Fellow Daoist Chen, you’re also a talisman crafter?” Qi Rui exclaimed. “No wonder you carry so many talismans on you!” Qi Rui, Shi Pengyi, and Luo Lin all showed expressions of sudden understanding. However, Chen Mobai immediately waved his hand modestly, indicating that he was still at the introductory stage. “Isn’t it because I want to join the Divine Wood Sect?” Chen Mobai replied. “I’m just learning talisman crafting techniques in advance, so I don’t get rejected next year during the initiation process.”

“Haha, rest assured, Fellow Daoist Chen. Given your age and cultivation level, as long as you can master any one of the five basic talismans, any Martial Uncle will accept you into the sect.” Qi Rui was pleased by Chen Mobai’s expressed yearning for the Divine Wood Sect. He then shared some common knowledge about sect recruitment, causing the other three members of the team to nod repeatedly, clearly benefiting greatly.

“If you truly want a Three-Sword Talisman, I know Senior Brother Wang happens to have one. I’m just not sure if he’d be willing to part with it and sell it to you.” Hearing this, Chen Mobai showed surprise, but then, remembering Wang Yuanwu’s red flying sword, which clearly indicated he also practiced the Scarlet Flame Sword Art, he experienced a slight realization.

“Isn’t the Divine Wood Sect’s ultimate art the ‘Everlasting Life Scripture’?” Chen Mobai asked, puzzled. “How is it that Fellow Daoist Qi, Steward Wang, and Fellow Daoist Qi Hou all cultivate fire-attribute techniques?” Chen Mobai found this a bit confusing. Shouldn’t Divine Wood Sect disciples cultivate wood-attribute techniques?

“Although our Divine Wood Sect branched off from the Wood Vein of the Five Elements Sect, over thousands of years of inheritance, the five veins of the Five Elements Sect have long exchanged knowledge. Essentially, each vein has copied a fundamental great art from the others. It is precisely for this reason that our Divine Wood Sect and Golden Light Cliff dared to separate from the Five Elements Sect. The inheritances of both our factions were copied from the same scripture repository, containing cultivation methods for all five elements.

“However, it’s said that the Five Elements Sect’s supreme divine ability, the orthodox cultivation method for the ‘Primordial Dao Fruit’, has always remained exclusively with the Earth Vein. But the ‘Primordial Dao Fruit’ can only be comprehended at the perfected Golden Core stage, and only by those with a Celestial Spirit Root. So, whether our Divine Wood Sect and Golden Light Cliff have this technique or not is irrelevant. Moreover, in my opinion, the simplified version of the Primordial Dao Fruit, the ‘Dual Aspect Technique’, is actually more suitable for ordinary cultivators like us. It offers a glimmer of hope for us, who have ordinary spirit root aptitudes, to form a Golden Core.”

Chen Mobai found Qi Rui’s words a bit difficult to follow, as many of the terms he was hearing for the first time. What was the ‘Primordial Dao Fruit’? What was the ‘Dual Aspect Technique’? On the other hand, Shi Pengyi and Luo Lin, the senior and junior disciples, displayed expressions of awe, as if these names were long-famous and highly respected. Chen Mobai had no choice but to pretend he was a cultivator from the countryside and humbly ask for clarification.

“The ‘Primordial Dao Fruit’ is the foremost divine ability in the Eastern Barrens. In ancient times, the Five Elements Sect’s Primordial Ancestor used this very technique to sweep across the Eastern Barrens, even making a formidable name for himself in the Central Continent, earning the title of the Eastern Extremity’s Foremost Nascent Soul cultivator. Unfortunately, since the Primordial Ancestor’s passing, no one has managed to master this divine ability again.”

“The ‘Dual Aspect Technique’ is a simplified version of the Primordial Dao Fruit, requiring one to cultivate two different elemental attribute cultivation methods simultaneously from the five elements. For instance, disciples of our Divine Wood Sect typically choose to cultivate both the wood-attribute ‘Everlasting Life Scripture’ and the fire-attribute ‘Scarlet Flame Sword Art’. This approach might be a bit slower in the early stages, but upon reaching perfected Foundation Establishment, the spiritual energy cultivated from the Scarlet Flame Sword Art will serve as nourishment for the wood-attribute Everlasting Life Scripture energy, increasing the chances of forming a Golden Core by thirty percent. It is said that the ‘Primordial Dao Fruit’ involves cycling through and cultivating all five elemental attribute techniques using the ‘Dual Aspect Technique’ approach, ultimately unifying the five elements to form a ‘Primordial True Qi’, which can overcome all five-element cultivation methods under heaven.”