Chapter 109: Chapter 108: Tier Two Talisman

The figure of the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer Tribulation Cultivator vanished in a flash, as if he had never been there at all. However, only a moment later, he reappeared as if teleporting, landing abruptly in an open space just over a hundred feet from Old Wu. The low-lying plants at the edge of the clearing were instantly bent low by the formless pressure wave of his arrival.

When Old Wu saw the figure appear, his heart sank. His nerves, which had just begun to settle as he approached the ambush point, were instantly stretched to their breaking point!

He instinctively reached into his robes, tightly clutching a smooth, slightly cool object—a palm-sized, pitch-black Turtle Shell Shield with a few simple defensive Runes carved on its surface. This was his life-saving treasure of last resort, a substandard Defensive Spiritual Artifact. Now, it had become the only lifeline he could cling to. It seemed that only the faint Spirit Light glowing from it could offer him a sliver of illusory security.

After appearing, the Tribulation Cultivator wasted no words, his eyes glinting with beast-like ferocity and greed. With a flip of his right hand, a shuttle-shaped Magical Artifact appeared in his palm. It was about a foot long, dark red, and shaped like a scorpion’s stinger.

Its icy killing intent was almost palpable. A cold glint flickered from the shuttle’s tip, radiating a heart-stopping aura of Sharpness. It was a Tier One Middle-Grade Magical Artifact!

"Go!"

The Tribulation Cultivator barked, and the Magical Power in his body surged into the blood-red shuttle. The body of the shuttle HUMMED and vibrated, instantly transforming into a blinding, blood-red streak of light. It tore through the air with a sharp, piercing shriek, aimed straight for Old Wu’s heart! It moved so fast that Old Wu had no time to react.

Old Wu’s pupils shrank as the shadow of death instantly enveloped him. The shriek of the blood shuttle seemed to be the only sound in the small clearing. He knew with absolute certainty that his substandard Turtle Shell Shield wouldn’t be able to block the blood shuttle for even a single moment. ’If I try to block, I’m dead for sure!’

In a split second, a look of grim determination flashed in Old Wu’s eyes. He abruptly withdrew the Magical Power he was pouring into the Turtle Shell Shield, frantically channeling all of it to cast a Magic spell instead!

"Wind Manipulation Technique!"

Old Wu scrambled backward and to the side in a clumsy retreat, even toppling the bushes behind him. He was taking a gamble! He was betting that the meager speed from his all-out Wind Manipulation Technique would be just enough to dodge the fatal blow. He was betting the Tribulation Cultivator would be momentarily rooted in place while controlling the artifact. And most of all, he was betting that Steward Lu would arrive before he was cut down!

Carrying a bloody Evil Qi, the blood-red shuttle grazed past Old Wu’s ribs. RIP! His already tattered robes were easily torn apart, and a gash deep enough to reveal bone instantly appeared on his midsection. Blood gushed out like a fountain, staining the front of his robe red and dripping onto the damp humus at his feet.

A wave of intense pain hit him. Old Wu let out a muffled groan, his face turning deathly pale. He used the force of the impact to stagger back several more steps, crashing into a dead branch and snapping it. The attack had narrowly missed his heart.

At that very moment—the instant the Tribulation Cultivator appeared and unleashed the blood shuttle—Lu Zhao shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow! A cold glint flashed in his eyes as he pushed his Wind Manipulation Technique to its absolute limit. The pale green, wind attribute magical power surrounding him was so dense it almost seemed solid. His robes whipped about him, and he moved so fast he left a faint afterimage in his wake, streaking like a bolt of lightning through the forest shadows as he lunged toward the Tribulation Cultivator!

At his full speed, Lu Zhao crossed the distance of several hundred yards in just a few moments! The low bushes in his path parted as if sliced by an invisible blade, kicking up a storm of dead leaves and blades of grass.

By the time Lu Zhao was less than four hundred yards away and his form came into clear view, the Tribulation Cultivator was still feeling a flicker of astonishment at Old Wu’s clumsy dodge. His first strike with the blood shuttle had missed, and he was just about to recall it for another attack.

The Tribulation Cultivator suddenly sensed something and whipped his head around. His eyes fell upon Lu Zhao’s standard-issue black Magic Robe, the uniform of an Outer Sect Steward of the Bixia Sect. When he felt Lu Zhao’s Spiritual Pressure—that of the Qi Cultivation Eighth Layer, far surpassing his own—the ferocity on his face was instantly replaced by immense terror!

His pupils contracted violently. He subconsciously took half a step back, his foot making a soft CRUNCH on the moss and fallen leaves. The hand gripping the blood-red shuttle, still reeking of a nauseating bloody Evil Qi, trembled slightly. It was an instinctive fear—fear of the Sect’s authority and the absolute disparity in their strength!

However, this fear lasted for only an instant!

The very next moment, the Tribulation Cultivator’s eyes, wide with terror, visibly began to flood with a deep, crimson hue that would not fade. The whites of his eyes vanished completely, leaving only two pupils as scarlet as blood diamonds, locked tightly onto Lu Zhao!

"HGH... HEH HEH..." A beast-like growl rumbled in the Tribulation Cultivator’s throat. He abruptly abandoned Old Wu, who was an easy kill right in front of him, and activated the powerful blood-red shuttle. His entire body flashed with a bloody light as, like a madman, he lunged recklessly toward Lu Zhao! He was even faster than before!

Lu Zhao’s brow furrowed, his mind filled with suspicion. ’Has this man gone insane? My Cultivation is far higher than his. Last time he ran into other Outer Sect Stewards, he fled immediately. Why would he dare to attack me now? Could he have suffered a cultivation deviation and completely lost his mind?’

But despite his doubts, Lu Zhao’s hands moved like lightning, without a hint of hesitation. He knew well the principle of a lion using its full strength even to hunt a rabbit, especially when his opponent was acting so strangely.

"Hundred Waters Magic Disc!"

With a low shout from Lu Zhao, a palm-sized, black Jade Disc covered in arcane water patterns flew from his sleeve and hovered before him. It was the very same Water-Element Spiritual Artifact that had been upgraded to Tier One High-Grade!

Lu Zhao’s hands formed a seal, and the Magical Power from his Little Spirit Rain Technique surged into the Magic Disc like a bursting dam! On the surface of the disc, eight deep blue Water Spirit Ripples instantly lit up, rapidly swirling and converging. In a flash, the eight ripples merged into one, forming a deep blue Water Blade about the size of a forearm, yet so condensed it was almost solid.

"Thousand Overlapping Waves Skill, go!"

Lu Zhao formed a sword-finger and pointed forward. The deep blue Water Blade emitted a low HUM like a distant tsunami and instantly tore through the air. It moved at extreme speed, leaving only a ghostly blue afterimage in its wake. Like a turbulent sea wave compressed to its very limit, it shot toward the lunging, madman-like Tribulation Cultivator!

In the instant before this spell, which contained the ultimate power of the Qi Cultivation realm, was about to strike him, the madness in the Tribulation Cultivator’s blood-red eyes seemed to falter. Pierced by the sense of mortal danger, a fleeting moment of clarity flashed through them. It was as if the profound terror of a life-or-death crisis had temporarily suppressed the insanity raging within him!

He slapped his Storage Bag at his waist and snatched a Talisman into his hand with lightning speed!

The Talisman was not made from ordinary talisman paper and Cinnabar. It was a palm-sized piece of some ghastly white beast hide, covered in a fine, scale-like texture. On its surface, a dark red, almost black pigment outlined the totem of a ferocious, roaring beast. It looked like a jackal but had a single horn, and it exuded a brutal, primitive aura of the Wilderness. The moment the Talisman appeared, the very air seemed to grow heavy.

The bloody light in the Tribulation Cultivator’s eyes flared once more as he unhesitatingly poured all his Magical Power into the bone-white beast-hide Talisman!

VMMMM—!

The instant the Talisman was activated, it didn’t erupt in a world-shaking flash of light. Instead, it emitted a deep growl, like an Ancient Fierce Beast stirring from its slumber. The dark-red beast totem on the Talisman’s surface seemed to come to life, tearing itself free from the hide. It swelled instantly, transforming into a phantom image of a single-horned beast that stood over ten feet tall. The phantom, composed of dark-red, bloody light, looked almost solid. As its four limbs touched the soft earth, the ground actually sank slightly, and the formless pressure flattened and withered the wild grass beneath its feet!

The phantom was incredibly solid, its Fangs bared and its Blood Eyes glowing like lanterns. It radiated a heart-stopping Tier Two Spiritual Pressure! The moment it appeared, it threw its head back and let out a silent roar. A formless, vicious Evil Qi swept out, making Old Wu, who was not far off, feel as if he’d been plunged into an icy abyss. His body went rigid. The leaves on any tree glanced by the beast’s Blood Eyes instantly yellowed and curled.

The next instant, Lu Zhao’s deep blue Water Blade, which concentrated the full power of his Hundred Waters Magic Disc, slammed viciously into the chest of the beast phantom!

BOOM!!!

A deafening explosion erupted!

There was no dazzling display of light, only the collision and annihilation of pure energy. The deep blue Water Element Spiritual Power and the dark, vicious blood-light were like two rabid dragons, madly tearing at, devouring, and destroying one another!

A visible, ring-shaped shockwave erupted from the point of impact, sweeping outward like a giant, invisible scythe! Within a radius of a hundred feet, trees were snapped and instantly turned to dust. The ground itself was scoured away, exposing the damp earth and shattered rock below. A violent torrent of air whipped up dust and splinters, forming a column of yellow-gray smoke that shot into the sky!

Lu Zhao’s pupils shrank. The powerful shockwave shoved him backward, forcing him to slide dozens of feet before he could regain his footing. He stared intently at the center of the collision. He saw that his Thousand Overlapping Waves Skill—an attack powerful enough to kill a Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer Cultivator—had merely caused the beast phantom to flicker violently upon impact. Its dark red light had dimmed considerably, and a noticeable crater had formed in its chest, but it was not yet destroyed!

’A Tier Two Talisman!’ Lu Zhao was inwardly stunned, instantly recognizing the grade of the Talisman.

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