Chapter 73: Talismans

“Xiao Chen, you actually dare to kill the elder of my Zhang Clan,” the Zhang Clan Head said angrily after he got over his astonishment. The group of Zhang Clan members rushed forward, as though they intended to start a fight.

The First Elder Xiao Qiang quickly rushed forward. The group of Xiao Clan cultivators also fearlessly rushed forward. Xiao Chen smiled coldly, “They wanted to kill me, why should I not kill them? The thing I hate the most is backstabbers like you, bullying the weak with your strength. If you do not wish for your son to be murdered when he goes out, then you should stop doing things like this.”

“And as for the Tang Clan,” Xiao Chen shifted his gaze to Tang Tian, “Stop playing such tricks. If you are not afraid that I will end your family line, I would not mind giving you a helping hand.”

“How intolerable! Xiao Chen, are you intending to start a war between our clans before the Promise of Ten Years? To think that you are considering ending my family line!” Tang Tian’s face turned purple, and the people behind him also surrounded them, glaring like a tiger watching its prey.

[TL notes: glaring like a tiger watching its prey is a chinese idiom meaning eyeing covetously]

The silent Xiao Qiang suddenly opened his mouth to speak, “If it’s a war you want, then war it is. My Xiao Clan is just afraid that you are not up to par. Give it your all and use whatever moves you have. My Xiao Clan will take you head on. Although my Xiao Clan is not strong, we would not be like some people who formed an alliance behind other’s backs and play tricks.”

“Even before the Trial started, you sent two elders from your own families to ambush us at the Xiao Clan campsite. It’s a pity that the Will of Heaven transcends those of man, causing your people to be killed instead.”

Dugu Feng’s expressions changed, “There is such a thing going on?”

Tang Tian thought very quickly, this matter was not a glorious one and had resulted in him going against the agreement with the City Lord. Thus, he could not admit to it, “Xiao Qiang, don’t accuse someone else blindly. If you want to accuse someone, you have to bring out evidence first.”

“Evidence? The bodies of the elders from your two clans were already buried by us long ago. If you want evidence, I can go and dig them up now. I would like for you to explain what the elders of your two clans are doing at the Xiao Clan campsite before the Trial started.”

Tang Tian and the Zhang Clan head were shocked; they did not expect that these four people were dead already, and that their bodies were found by the Xiao Clan’s people. This was making it difficult for them to explain themselves.

Dugu Feng spoke up in an attempt to resolve the situation, “Elder Xiao, since no one from the Xiao Clan got injured, how about we temporarily let this go? The Xiao Clan obtained a great harvest this Trial. I will definitely report this to the higher ups when I get back.”

As the City Lord of Mohe City, the thing that Dugu Feng did not want to see most was a war between the three clans. That would cause a great deal of death and damage. When his superior investigated it, it would not be easy for him to stay out of trouble.

Xiao Qiang also did not wish to break out in war now. The situation now was clear; the Zhang Clan and Tang Clan had formed an alliance, and there was a strong power behind them backing them up. The current situation was not good for the Xiao Clan.

If a war broke out, the Xiao Clan would definitely suffer great losses. All they could do now was stake everything on the duels of the Promise of Ten Years.

Dugu Feng already guessed what Xiao Qiang was thinking of when he saw that Xiao Qiang did not say anything. He cast his gaze on the clan heads of the other two clans, “I do not wish to see such things happen again in the future. It is fine to have some competition but do not raise it to the level of life and death.”

Despite Tang Tian and the Zhang Clan Head being in the wrong, the City Lord was willing to give them a way out of this embarrassing situation. He had also conveniently said some things out of formality.

“The Trial has ended, everyone need not be concerned with the matters that occurred here. You may all return,” Dugu Feng said finally.

…

The results of the Trial was spread to the entire Mohe City the next day, that the Xiao Clan obtained first place again. However, it was unknown how, and that the process of the Trial was spread by someone.

The matter of Xiao Chen abruptly taking out 20-odd Rank 3 Demonic Core in front of the Zhang Clan and Tang Clan was spread everywhere; it became the talk of town.

Xiao Chen’s victory over Zhang He also became the topic of discussion amongst all the people. Everyone believed that with Xiao Chen, the Xiao Clan would not have to worry about the Promise of Ten Years occurring about a month later.

Mohe City, Xiao Clan:

After the trial ended, the First Elder strictly ordered for Xiao Chen and the other cultivators preparing for the Promise of Ten Years to stay at home and not go out. At such a critical moment, if the candidates were injured it would be a bad thing for the Promise of Ten Years.

Although the Zhang Clan and Tang Clan had promised not to play anymore tricks, they still could not let their guard down. If anything happened, as long as there was no proof, nothing could be done.

Xiao Chen stood in the yard holding a small knife; he was not in a hurry to cultivate. He was carving something on the Spiritual Wood he had obtained from that Tree Spirit.

The stone table was filled with some small sculptures that Xiao Chen carved. There were many different types: birds, beasts, humans; there were all sorts of sculptures. However, their quality varied; there were good ones and bad ones. For most of them, their form could not be made out.

In the few days after he returned from Gloomy Forest, Xiao Chen felt that he had touched the boundaries of Martial Master. As long as he encountered an opportune moment, he could break through immediately.

Thus, he did not focus all his time on cultivating. After all, those participating in the Promise of Ten Years were early Martial Masters, at best.

Thus, it was not worthwhile for him to cultivate. He might as well use this time to look through the spells and talismans in the Compendium of Cultivation. After he came back, he purchased a large amount of wood and started to train his carving skills.

After spending a week of time on this, he carved more than a thousand sculptures using these ordinary woods. Now, Xiao Chen finally began to attempt carving on the piece of Spiritual Wood. However, he only used a small segment of it.

“Hu!”

Xiao Chen gently placed this sculpture, that was about the size of his finger, on his hand. It was a swallow, a creature from his previous life. At this moment, although he had completed carving it and it looked very similar, Xiao Chen felt that it was missing a certain grace.

“Second Young Master, are you carving again? You sure are very idle. I just saw Miss Yulan and Xiao Jian dueling each other in the practice grounds. They are very anxious, and working very hard,” Bao`er was carrying a large bag as she walked over.

Xiao Chen smiled softly when he heard this. He picked up one of the sculptures on the stone table and said to Bao`er, “This is for you, does it look good?”

Bao`er received it and took a look. She discovered that this sculpture was created in her image. Blushing a little, she felt some joy in her heart, “Second Young Master, how could you... you actually made a sculpture of me.”

She placed the things she brought aside after she said that, picked up the sculpture, and ran off shyly. Xiao Chen watched the image of Bao`er’s back disappear. Smiling gently, he looked at the things she brought, feeling very grateful in his heart.

During these few days, Xiao Chen could not go out. Thus, whatever he wanted to buy, Bao`er had to go get them for him. Furthermore, he used a large amount of this stuff, so it was tough for the girl.

Carrying the things Bao`er bought, Xiao Chen slowly headed towards his room. After he entered his room, Xiao Chen had a very carefree expression on his face.

He picked up the swallow carved from the Spiritual Wood and held it in his hands. Concentrating very hard, he tapped it lightly, and the Spiritual Energy in the swallow’s body suddenly became incredibly dense, giving off the radiance of life.

“Puda! Puda!”

The swallow grew larger, to about the size of a regular bird, and flapped its wings. It actually came to life; there was a melodious cry, it was very refreshing.

Success!

Xiao Chen thought joyfully in his heart. This was a spell in the Compendium of Cultivation to turn objects into an army, the Life Bestowal Spell; it could turn lifeless objects into high grade creatures.

However, as Xiao Chen’s cultivation was currently low, he was not able to create an army just by scattering some beans. He had to first carve out the creature that he wanted to create. Furthermore, the material had to contain Spiritual Energy.

[TL notes: 撒豆成兵, cast beans on grounds which are transformed by magic into soldiers; work miracles]

In the past few days, he had attempted to do so many times using the sculptures he carved from ordinary wood, but it had never succeeded. It was only until today, when he used the sculpture made of Spiritual Wood, that he was able to succeed in using this spell.

Xiao Chen stretched his hands into the air, and the swallow felt the intentions of Xiao Chen. It flapped its wings and flew onto his hand. Xiao Chen smiled softly, and carefully caressed the creature he had created.

Xiao Chen retrieved his gaze, and turned his attention to the things that Bao`er bought. He took them out, one by one, and placed them on the table; a brush, a large bottle of Spirit Beast Blood, and a stack of yellow paper.

The yellow paper was not ordinary paper; it was made from the skin and bones of Spirit Beasts, and they were very expensive. When Xiao Chen found out that such paper was available for sale in this world, he was was very excited for the entire day.

This paper was very suitable for making talismans. However, the people of this world only knew of its property for not rotting and only used it for writing important documents or books. It was a waste of such good material.

Talismans were an important method of attacking amongst the immortal spells. In the past, Xiao Chen’s cultivation was insufficient and he did not have time to work on it, so he had not researched it.

Before the great battle occurred, Xiao Chen actually had a lot of free time. Thus, if he did not spend some time researching this, it would be a pity.

Xiao Chen poured the Spirit Beast Blood into the ink bottle, then he took out a Rank 3 Demonic Core and crushed it into powder before placing it in the ink bottle.

The Spirit Beast Blood in the bottle immediately boiled over, and there was a grey color Qi on its surface. The red blood turned into a deep purple.

Xiao Chen felt some satisfaction when he saw that the Spiritual Energy in the blood increased many times over when he added the Demonic Core.

Picking up the brush, he dabbed it into the purple fluid. Xiao Chen began to draw talismans. With just a thought, the surrounding Spiritual Energy started to slowly head towards the tip of the brush.

With every movement Xiao Chen made, talisman scripts appeared on the yellow paper. The places where the purple liquid passed gave off a faint glow.

When Xiao Chen finished the final stroke, the glow on the paper erupted out. Streams of radiance followed the strange talisman scripts and created a small formation.

Xiao Chen put aside the brush and quickly formed a seal with both of his hands. The glow on the yellow paper died down. After Xiao Chen made the hand seal, the paper rapidly folded itself, turning into a triangular shape as Xiao Chen grasped it in his hands.

Xiao Chen breathed out in relief. This talisman could be said to be made in one breath, without any mistakes. Although it was only the most elementary attacking type talisman, Xiao Chen was already satisfied with being able to succeed on the first attempt.

“Puchi!”

Xiao Chen tossed out the talisman in his hand; the triangular talisman opened up in midair, then exploded with a ‘bang’, creating a palm sized fireball.

The swallow happily flying in the air was startled, and it dropped down with a ‘pu tong’ sound. It turned back into a wooden sculpture, and there was no more Spiritual Energy in the Spiritual Wood.

Seeing all these things, Xiao Chen could not help but smile bitterly. He had used good materials and a high grade method, but because the talisman’s grade was too low, with it’s small might, it would even be difficult to kill a mosquito.

What caused him to be completely speechless was what happened to the swallow that he created, despite the easily ignorable nature of such an attack.

I have to continue to work hard, make higher grade talismans, and stronger sculptures, Xiao Chen encouraged himself in his heart.