Chapter 1198: Nine Heavens Escape Spirit Talisman

A young woman in a luxurious white dress walked in, her eyes somber.

“Friends Wang, Qin, and Sun, the three of you must immediately accompany me on a trip to Yunlan State. According to our intelligence, a group of evil cultivators has deliberately set a trap there, intending to commit a major crime. We must hurry; hopefully, we’ll make it in time.” The young woman in the white dress instructed, her expression grave.

Wang Tianwen’s heart tightened. Was the Demonic Path planning trouble in Yunlan State? He could only hope that Wang Qingshan wasn’t there.

“Set a trap? Senior Liu, what kind of trap?” Qin Qian asked, slightly startled and curious.

“It’s not something I can explain quickly. We’ll talk on the way!” The young woman in the white dress raised her hand and summoned a pristine white, jade-like flying boat. The boat’s hull was engraved with a lifelike white crane pattern, and its bow was shaped like a white crane’s head.

Wang Tianwen and the other two followed the young woman in the white dress onto the white flying boat. As she performed a hand seal, the white flying boat immediately glowed brightly, shot through the air towards the sky, and disappeared into the horizon.

Yunlan State was largely characterized by tall mountains and steep ridges, where the spiritual energy was particularly abundant, attracting many cultivation families to settle there.

The Miao Family was one of the four great cultivation families in Yunlan State. The Miao family’s ancestor had once served as a maternal uncle to the emperor. Over five or six millennia, the Miao family’s ties with the imperial family had long since faded. Without consulting the family genealogy, even current Miao family members wouldn’t know that an ancestor had once married into the Great Yan imperial family.

The Miao family was prosperous and populous, with tens of thousands of members. Their influence extended throughout Yunlan State and several surrounding prefectures, boasting countless masters. Frankly speaking, if the Miao family’s patriarch were to stamp his foot, the cultivation world of Yunlan State would tremble three times over.

Every hundred years, the Miao family would host an Immortal Ascent Gathering. Initially, the Miao family organized it simply to sell their produced cultivation resources. However, as the number of participants grew, and with an increasing presence of high-level cultivators, the Immortal Ascent Gathering gradually evolved into a grand event for high-level cultivators to exchange insights on Dao practices and a bustling trade fair.

The White Birch Mountain Range, stretching for 100,000 li, was located in the northwestern part of Yunlan State. It was abundant with birch trees, an excellent material for crafting talismans. This range served as the Miao family’s main stronghold.

On the outskirts of the White Birch Mountain Range stood White Birch Mountain, named for its peak’s striking resemblance to a birch tree. The Immortal Ascent Gathering was held here. White Birch Mountain stood a thousand zhang tall, with steep slopes. Buildings of various sizes dotted the landscape from its foot to its summit. Numerous cultivators moved about on the mountain, their lively shouts echoing constantly.

At the summit was a thousand-mu bluestone plaza, where thousands of cultivators had gathered. In the center of the bluestone plaza was a hundred-mu circular arena. A yellowish-brown light barrier enveloped the entire arena, and its surface bore a lifelike turtle pattern. Thousands of cultivators gathered in the plaza, their gazes fixed on the circular arena.

In the arena, Wang Qingshan stood with the Azure Glaze Sword in hand, his expression calm. Opposite him was a refined young man in a blue robe, holding a pale blue jade brush. A towering great sword, over a hundred zhang long, hovered above the blue-robed youth’s head, ready to strike at any moment.

The Central Plains cultivation world had a relatively high number of high-level cultivators, and various Dao exchange gatherings were plentiful. Wang Qingshan would attend whenever he encountered one, exchanging cultivation insights and engaging in combat with other cultivators, which helped loosen his bottleneck.

“Haha, Fellow Daoist Wang, your swordsmanship is truly exceptional! I, Miao, am impressed. You are indeed worthy of being the nephew of the Azure Lotus Immortal Couple. No wonder you could draw with Fellow Daoist Dugu, one of the Eighteen Prodigies of Great Yan. This match, I concede.” The blue-robed youth chuckled heartily and said magnanimously.

The blue-robed youth was named Miao Jiale, a core disciple of the Miao family, at the seventh stage of Core Formation. The Immortal Ascent Gathering was divided into “Literary Contests” and “Martial Contests.” The Literary Contests involved exchanging cultivation insights, covering alchemy, artifact refining, talisman crafting, formation arrays, beast mastery, and even winemaking. The Martial Contests, on the other hand, were for sparring.

The Miao family intended to use this opportunity to make a name for Miao Jiale, letting other forces know that the Miao family had worthy successors. Miao Jiale was proficient in talisman arts. He had defeated seven Core Formation cultivators, drawn with two others, and finally lost to Wang Qingshan.

“Fellow Daoist Miao, you are too humble. If your cultivation level weren’t slightly lower than mine, the outcome would still be hard to say.” Wang Qingshan replied modestly. He spoke the truth; Miao Jiale was skilled in talisman arts, capable of even crafting Core Formation-level talisman soldiers. Wang Qingshan had almost suffered a minor disadvantage.

Thinking about it, Wang Qingshan didn’t know many talisman crafters. Besides Wang Ruyan, Miao Jiale was the only other one. Most talismans were single-use items. Before the Core Formation stage, cultivators could gain an advantage in combat by relying on a large quantity of talismans. However, after reaching the Core Formation stage, the difficulty of crafting Tier 3 talismans increased significantly, making it impossible to use them in large numbers. One or two Tier 3 talismans had limited impact, and some were even less powerful than spirit spells. This led to very few high-level cultivators studying talisman arts. Alchemists were the most numerous in the cultivation world, followed by artifact refiners and formation masters. Talisman crafters ranked last. While talisman crafting was easy to learn, most talisman crafters didn’t progress far, resulting in a relatively small number of high-level talisman crafters.

“Hehe, I’ve just advanced to the seventh stage of Core Formation. If we have the chance in the future, let’s have another good spar.” Miao Jiale chuckled, his eyes gleaming with eagerness as he spoke. Wang Qingshan’s draw with Dugu Yunfei established him as a true young prodigy. Miao Jiale felt deeply honored to have competed against Wang Qingshan.

“Good, I also hope to spar with Fellow Daoist Miao again in the future.” Wang Qingshan smiled and agreed, and the towering great sword hovering above Miao Jiale’s head dissolved into specks of azure light and vanished.

“Hehe, I knew it! Fellow Daoist Wang wouldn’t lose that easily.”

“Exactly. Even Fellow Daoist Dugu couldn’t defeat Fellow Daoist Wang, so Fellow Daoist Miao was still a bit short.”

“And look at who Fellow Daoist Wang is! The disciple of the Carefree Sword Venerable, the nephew of the Azure Lotus Immortal Couple. If you ask me, perhaps only Princess Yongle is a match for him. Princess Yongle is the top of the Eighteen Prodigies of Great Yan; she might have even reached the Nascent Soul stage already.”

The surrounding cultivators chattered excitedly, their words full of praise for Wang Qingshan, comparing him to Princess Yongle, the foremost of the Eighteen Prodigies of Great Yan.

A tall, slender middle-aged man flew down beside Wang Qingshan, took out a foot-long green jade box, and handed it to him. “Fellow Daoist Wang,” he said, “you defeated Jiale. According to the rules, the Nine Heavens Spirit Evasion Talisman is yours.”

The Nine Heavens Spirit Evasion Talisman was a unique secret talisman of the Miao family. It could conceal one’s aura, making it undetectable even to ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators. At auctions, it could fetch a high price of several hundred thousand. The Miao family had specially offered a Nine Heavens Spirit Evasion Talisman as a reward for the Immortal Ascent Gathering, originally hoping to use it to attract numerous high-level cultivators. The plan was then for Miao Jiale to compete and retain this secret talisman, but to their surprise, it ultimately fell into Wang Qingshan’s hands.

Wang Qingshan took the green jade box and opened it. Inside lay a pale silver talisman, its surface covered in profound runes that seemed alive, constantly twisting and shifting.