A new Golden Core Cultivator has arrived at the Tianxing Trade Association?

With the Tianxing Sect changing hands, the handover of the Xuanming Stone Mine and its inspection work were certain to follow. Following this person should lead to the Xuanming Stone Mine.

The Insect External Incarnation used the Xuan Guang Water Mirror to secretly monitor this person's every move.

A Golden Core Cultivator's intuition and insight are far superior to those of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, and several close calls nearly led to discovery.

The Insect External Incarnation didn't dare to watch too closely, fearing its whereabouts might be exposed.

His true self was fully immersed in crafting the Bizarre Sound Talisman.

With a crafting direction in mind, he continuously adjusted the Spirit Ink and the Talisman patterns' structural framework. A month passed unwittingly.

A new Talisman was completed. Following his usual habit, he checked the Proficiency Panel.

Another failure!

Since starting experiments with the Bizarre Sound Talisman, he had made no fewer than a thousand attempts.

Success was an accident; failure was the norm.

Jia Ren had recorded over a thousand conjectures, attempting to craft ninety-nine percent of them, yet none were successful.

Jia Ren had already stripped the Parasitic Trickster Blossom bare, leaving only its rhizomes, devoid of any flowers.

To ensure a continuous supply of the Parasitic Trickster Blossom and prevent its extinction, he chose a small island. There, he set up a Seal-Demon Formation. This prevented overly zealous reaping and stopped the Parasitic Trickster Blossom from controlling corpses to escape under the cover of night.

He occasionally threw in a few Magical Beast corpses to help the Parasitic Trickster Blossom proliferate new offshoots and grow more flowers.

Bizarre Objects possess extremely strong growth and reproductive capabilities; what is cut today can regrow by the next.

As long as there was a steady supply of Magical Beast corpses, the Parasitic Trickster Blossom would be inexhaustible.

I must say, this is truly an excellent crop; give it some nutrients, and it thrives...

Spiritual Medicines in the Cultivation World usually require at least ten years to mature, often taking hundreds of years before becoming usable. In contrast, the Parasitic Trickster Blossom was truly much better.

With the main material so readily available, he didn't need to worry about material shortages interrupting his experiments.

Once more!

Creating a new Talisman from scratch is no easy feat.

If crafting Talismans were simple, why would all the legacies in the Cultivation World be things passed down from a thousand years ago?

It wasn't that Cultivators lacked effort, but creating an entirely new Talisman was simply too difficult.

The initial creation is hard, giving it form is harder, and optimizing and perfecting it are harder still.

When a Talisman is first created, its power is often unsatisfactory. It takes unknown generations of Cultivators' optimizations for such Talismans to reach their current levels of power.

Furthermore, supporting innovation requires vast financial resources.

It wasn't that no one wanted to innovate. Rather, creating a new Talisman consumed a great amount of time and energy, which could delay one's cultivation.

In the Cultivation World, strength is revered and cultivation realm is paramount; cultivation techniques are considered secondary.

Abandoning one's own cultivation to focus on enhancing such techniques often only results in paving the way for others.

If Jia Ren hadn't possessed the Proficiency Panel, his era-surpassing standards in the Path of Charms, and if his Talisman creations hadn't rapidly reached astonishing heights, he wouldn't have bothered with such painstaking innovative efforts.

Jia Ren skillfully produced a conceptualized Talisman, then glanced at the Proficiency Panel. Hm? Finally, there was a change in the Proficiency Panel.

[Unnamed Bizarre Talisman: Beginner (1/100)]

Did it succeed?

Ecstatic joy lit up Jia Ren's face; his persistent effort had finally paid off with the initial successful creation of the Bizarre Sound Talisman.

Bizarre Sound Talisman!

In the next instant, the Unnamed Bizarre Talisman had become the Bizarre Sound Talisman.

I wonder what the effects of the Bizarre Sound Talisman are?

He took the newly crafted Talisman, eager to conduct an experiment.

The Qunxing Archipelago never lacked Magical Beasts. The Insect External Incarnation flew out a hundred li, confirming there were no Cultivators nearby.

Once activated, the Demon-Spotting Talisman ensured that no Magical Beast within a hundred li could escape his detection.

Before long, a school of swimming Arrow Shuttle Fish caught his attention.

Arrow Shuttle Fish are First Order lower-grade Magical Beasts, not very strong, and prefer to move in groups.

I'll use you as my test subjects!

"Swift!"

As the Bizarre Sound Talisman burned, piercing soundwaves vibrated through the void, forming ripples barely visible to the naked eye.

In the distance, on the river's surface, the Arrow Shuttle Fish flipped belly-up and floated.

Dead? No, they were just knocked unconscious.

The Insect External Incarnation inevitably felt the effects; its head grew dizzy, and a heavy drowsiness overwhelmed it.

This thing is a bit of a trap... The Bizarre Sound affects friend and foe alike!

He didn't dare let himself fall asleep; the Bizarre Cultivators previously felled by the Bizarre Sound Talisman had still not regained consciousness.

Anyone caught by the Bizarre Sound became like those pulled into a dream by Dream Bizarre: completely asleep and impossible to awaken.

This couldn't help but make him suspect that those affected might be pulled into… Dream Bizarre's own dream world.

The initially created Bizarre Sound Talisman was far weaker than the true bizarre sound. Jia Ren dared not be careless and promptly activated the Thousand Threads of Myriad Souls Technique to expel the discomfort.

It took an entire day before he finally recovered.

This thing must be used carefully!

An object that didn't discriminate between ally and enemy posed a large risk, harmful to both others and oneself.

If he used the Bizarre Sound Talisman extensively, his enemies would fall, but he himself could hardly escape unscathed.

Jia Ren had no wish to 'perish together' with his enemies. Was there a solution?

The first solution was to craft a Magic Artifact to block the Bizarre Sound, lessening the impact of using the Talisman. The second was to refine the Bizarre Sound Talisman, striving to create a version that harmed enemies but not the user. The final solution was to stay out of the Bizarre Sound Talisman's effective range, solving the problem at its root. The third method is the best.

Jia Ren hadn't forgotten that Second-Order Talisman Pills also had another trigger mechanism: the Life-Seizing Rouge.

It could remotely deploy Second-Order Talisman Pills. From a safe distance, he wouldn't be affected.

First, raise the Proficiency Level of the Bizarre Sound Talisman!

Jia Ren headed straight for the deserted island's Talisman Crafting Room to gather materials and craft Talismans.

The core material for the Bizarre Sound Talisman was the Parasitic Trickster Blossom; the other auxiliary materials were inexpensive.

Once the initial creation difficulty was overcome, raising its Proficiency Level became easy.

For seven consecutive days, he did nothing but cultivate and craft Bizarre Sound Talismans.

The Golden Core Cultivator from the Tianxing Trade Association has made a move!

The Insect External Incarnation had been covertly monitoring the Golden Core Cultivator from the Tianxing Trade Association. Today, this person finally left the association and flew towards the sea.

Not daring to follow too closely, the incarnation used the Xuan Guang Water Mirror from a distance to observe stealthily.

The Golden Core Cultivator left the Qunxing Archipelago. After flying for three days, with the endless sea all around, he plunged into the water and vanished.

The Insect External Incarnation didn't approach. It was unclear whether it was a trap or if formations were in place.

Monitoring from a distance using the Xuan Guang Water Mirror was one thing, but getting into close contact with a Golden Core Cultivator? Did he really think the other party was blind? He wouldn't even know how he died.

The Insect External Incarnation waited quietly. After half a day, the Golden Core Cultivator emerged from the sea and returned to the Qunxing Archipelago.

More than an hour after the Golden Core Cultivator departed, the Insect External Incarnation appeared in the area where he had lingered.

Activating its Spirit Eye Technique, the incarnation saw the pathways of the formation.

There must be many cultivators hidden inside; I must be careful.

The ore vein's situation was unknown, making a rash intrusion unwise.

The Insect External Incarnation used an Invisibility Talisman and the Converging Breath Technique to approach. It captured a wisp of the formation's aura and placed it into the Life-Seizing Rouge Sachet.

Then, it fled ten li in one go.

Soon, ten black orbs flickering with faint red light flew towards the formation.

An invisible formation rose from the sea, completely blocking them.

"Explode!"

Ten Fu Wan detonated, and the sound of one hundred and twenty Bizarre Sound Talismans activating echoed through the heavens like a bizarre cacophony.

The formation was designed to repel cultivators and Magical Beasts, not Bizarre Demons. How could it possibly withstand the incoming Bizarre Sound?

Busy with mining and supervision, they had no chance to react and were all felled by the Bizarre Sound.

Jia Ren was fully confident in the Bizarre Sound Talisman. With over a hundred of them detonating, even a hidden Golden Core Cultivator would be incapacitated.

The incarnation approached the sea surface above the suspected ore vein, observing the formation's outer perimeter.

Maze Formations, Concealment Formations... It was a compound formation composed of multiple layers, not easy to break.

The Insect External Incarnation mastered the Ban-breaking Finger. Unless it was a Third Rank formation or restriction, causing a momentary malfunction posed no issue.

"Break!"

It jabbed out dozens of times with its Ban-breaking Finger. Several formation nodes dimmed, and the formation's operation faltered, no longer able to block its intrusion.

As the formation ceased to operate, the surrounding scenery changed dramatically, revealing an isolated island in the middle of the sea.

The island wasn't large, smaller than Qingzhu Island, yet it was very conspicuous in the vast, empty sea.

Guards and supervisors were stationed everywhere on the island. They were ready to notify the Tianxing Sect's Golden Core Cultivator at a moment's notice if anyone approached.

Jia Ren was relieved he had used the Bizarre Sound Talismans in advance to incapacitate them.

Otherwise, the trouble would have been significant.

In the center of the small island, the ground was littered with Ore Stones and unconscious miners.

Behind them was a winding mine passage. Formations to isolate water sources were arranged around it, yet the strong smell of the sea was still detectable.

As he followed the mine passage downwards, small Yunmo Stones gleamed sporadically on the walls. The deeper he went, the more miners he encountered.

At least a hundred people lay collapsed on the ground, unconscious, their mining picks beside them.

The ore vein wasn't large. Only a few Yunmo Stones were found deep in the mine, and the associated Xuanming Stones were even fewer.

No wonder the Tianxing Trade Association hadn't paid it much attention; the output was simply too low.

Such a small-scale ore vein could be depleted in a few years; it wasn't worth investing too much time and effort.

The Tianxing Trade Association on the Qunxing Archipelago served as a transfer station. Periodically, the mined Ore Stones were transported back to the Tianxing Sect by them.

After a careful check, Jia Ren found five pieces of Xuanming Stone. The largest was no bigger than a fist—far too few. Still, having some is better than none...

How about using the Golden Armor King Worms for mining? Their efficiency would be far superior to ordinary miners.

Powerful cultivators with specialized skills would never stoop to being miners.

The miners recruited by the Tianxing Trade Association were mostly dregs; the strongest among them was only at the Fourth Layer of Qi Refinement, the majority being at the Early Stage of Qi Refinement.

The incarnation took out the River Mountain Bag, from which emerged numerous gigantic Golden Armor King Worms.

These were Jia Ren's top miners. After prolonged feeding with the Worm Saint Pill, many had already reached the Second Order.

Even sects with Divinity Transformation Stage masters wouldn't be so extravagant as to use Foundation Establishment Cultivators as miners.

Moreover, ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivators probably couldn't even compare to the Golden Armor King Worms in this task.

"Go!"

"Be careful to distinguish the ores; don't destroy any treasures!" the Insect External Incarnation commanded.

At the Insect External Incarnation's command, over a hundred Golden Armor King Worms sprang into action, gnawing at the rock walls.

These rock walls, nourished by Spiritual Energy and dense with ores, were so hard that ordinary cultivators using mining picks could only chip out pits half a finger deep.

But the Golden Armor King Worms gnawed through them as if they were paper, breaking through effortlessly.

Their mining efficiency was over a hundred times that of human cultivators.

Given the ore vein's small scale, they could tunnel through it in less than half a month.

By the time the Tianxing Sect realized what had happened, only an empty shell would remain.

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