I'm in Yellow Maple Valley, and I have one equipment slot!

Chapter 345 The Warning from the Nascent Soul Old Monster! Zhou Yuan's Attitude!

"I would like to consult the talisman classics in your Tianfu Sect's collection. Young friend Wen, please lead the way."

Zhou Yuan didn't beat around the bush.

He spoke directly to Elder Wen, the Core Formation stage Grand Elder of the Heavenly Talisman Sect.

His main purpose in coming to Tianfu Sect, besides returning the spirit-summoning talisman he had received, was to take this opportunity to systematically review the classics and secret techniques treasured by this ancient sect that once established itself on the Dao of Talismans.

"Convenient! Convenient! Of course it's convenient! Senior Zhou, please follow me!"

Old Man Wen and Sect Leader Yue Zhen responded almost in unison, their faces filled with respect and enthusiasm, and they quickly led the way.

The two were filled with mixed feelings and countless thoughts.

On the one hand, they were hoping that this legendary evil star would stay at the Heavenly Talisman Sect for a few more days, and preferably show that he had some connection with the Heavenly Talisman Sect.

In this way, the aggressive Lingfeng Sect, and even the "Shayang Sect" behind Lingfeng Sect, which is said to have a Nascent Soul cultivator in charge, will be in trouble.

I'm afraid we all need to think this through carefully.

These two sects no longer dared to easily covet the Three Elements Market of the Heavenly Talisman Sect.

With this man's name in charge, Tianfu Sect might be able to get a much-needed respite.

On the other hand, Old Man Wen was also filled with deep worries.

He had heard that although this Senior Zhou was incredibly powerful, he also had many enemies.

Especially the Yinluo Sect, although its mountain gate was destroyed and its sect leader and grand elder died.

However, it is said that seven or eight Nascent Soul Elders who happened to be on missions elsewhere survived.

If those remnants of the Yinluo Sect learn that Zhou Yuan has a close relationship with the Tianfu Sect, and instead dare not seek revenge against Zhou Yuan, they take their anger out on the Tianfu Sect instead—that would be an absolute catastrophe for the already weakened Tianfu Sect!

With these conflicting feelings, Old Man Wen and Yue Zhen led Zhou Yuan to a rather old-looking three-story pavilion made of blue bricks behind the mountain gate.

The pavilion was shrouded in a pale blue light barrier, emanating faint magical fluctuations, clearly a protective barrier. This was the most important place in the Heavenly Talisman Sect: the Scripture Repository.

Old Man Wen took out a token, cast a spell, and the pale blue light barrier silently cracked open.

Zhou Yuan, accompanied by the puppet god, followed the two inside.

Upon entering the first floor of the Sutra Repository, Zhou Yuan saw an old man sitting cross-legged on a futon with his head bowed, holding a jade slip in his hand, as if he were looking up something.

The old man had a wrinkled face, small eyes, and a goatee on his chin, giving him a shrewd and worldly appearance.

As for his cultivation level, it was only at the eleventh level of the Qi Refining stage.

"Junior Nephew Li, come and greet Senior Zhou."

Upon seeing the old man, Sect Leader Yue Zhen immediately gave instructions without any politeness. At the same time, he turned around and respectfully explained to Zhou Yuan, "Senior Zhou, this Junior Nephew Li is specifically in charge of managing the Scripture Pavilion and knows all the books in the pavilion like the back of his hand."

"If you need anything, just ask him."

The old man, referred to as "Junior Nephew Li," seemed to be awakened by the sect leader's voice. He hurriedly put away the jade slip in his hand, jumped up nimbly, and ran over to the front.

He first bowed to the sect leader Yue Zhen with a fawning smile, then secretly glanced at Zhou Yuan out of the corner of his eye.

Upon seeing this, the smile on his face froze instantly, and his voice changed slightly.

"Junior Nephew Li, Senior Zhou wants to view the scriptures here, and no one is allowed to disturb him during this time. Please come with me."

""

Yue Zhen gave the order, intending to make room for Zhou Yuan to conduct his research in peace.

However, Zhou Yuan waved his hand, stopping him, saying, "No need. Since he's familiar with this place, let him stay here. I have some questions for him."

Upon hearing this, Yue Zhen and Old Man Wen dared not disobey and quickly nodded in agreement. They then instructed Old Man Li to serve them well before respectfully leaving and closing the door of the pavilion behind them.

Soon, only Zhou Yuan, the Puppet God, and the old man surnamed Li, who was in the Qi Refining stage, remained on the first floor of the spacious but slightly dimly lit Scripture Pavilion.

"Senior Zhou, may I ask which part of the text you wish to consult? Is it the basic talismans, or... or a more profound secret manual?" The old man surnamed Li asked cautiously, his voice tinged with a hint of flattery and nervousness.

Zhou Yuan did not answer immediately.

Instead, he calmly looked at the seemingly humble and harmless Qi Refining stage elder before him, then suddenly smiled slightly and said, "Fellow Daoist Xiang, there's no one else here, so you don't need to hide your identity anymore, do you?"

Upon hearing this, the obsequious smile on the old man surnamed Li's face instantly froze, and a sharp glint flashed deep in his eyes.

It was as if he had become a completely different person.

He slowly raised his head, and his small eyes, which had originally seemed shrewd and cunning, now became clear and deep, scrutinizing Zhou Yuan with a hint of examination and amusement.

A moment later, he suddenly laughed, his laughter tinged with a hint of感慨 and admiration: "Hehehe—interesting, truly interesting. I pride myself on my mastery of concealing my aura, yet you were able to see through it at a glance—"

"It seems that you are not only exceptionally skilled in magical powers, but your spiritual awareness is also far superior to that of Tongji University."

He paused, his tone tinged with reminiscence and amazement: "Back in the day, I saw you once in Huangfeng Valley of Yue Kingdom."

"Back then, you were just a Qi Refining stage kid. Although you performed quite well in the Blood Forbidden Land trial, I didn't pay too much attention to it."

"But I never imagined that in just over two hundred years, you would have grown from a minor Qi Refining cultivator into a powerful late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator who could shake the entire Great Jin Dynasty."

He was none other than Xiang Zhili, the old monster who played the field and liked to disguise himself as a low-level cultivator and mingle in various places during the Nascent Soul stage. In the original story, when Han Li came here, he also exposed Xiang Zhili's identity to his face. However, in the original story, Xiang Zhili did not admit his identity so readily!

Instead, it means that Han Li mistook someone for someone else.

Zhou Yuan's arrival this time was so simple that a single sentence was enough to make this old monster drop his disguise. The reason for this was, of course, his strength!

When Han Li arrived here in the original story, although he had some tricks up his sleeve, they were still nothing to Xiang Zhili.

At this moment, Zhou Yuan's strength had already earned the high recognition of this Nascent Soul stage monster.

Back then, Xiang Zhili also boasted of his unparalleled talent and spent nearly five hundred years cultivating before breaking through to the late Nascent Soul stage.

Zhou Yuan, who was standing before him, had probably been cultivating for less than three hundred years! This made even this self-important old monster, who was at the Nascent Soul stage, feel a sense of admiration and even a touch of jealousy.

"You flatter me, fellow Daoist."

Zhou Yuan remained calm, cupped his hands, and said, "My cultivation has only been successful due to a bit of luck."

"Fellow Daoist Xiang, after all these years, you still prefer to roam the world carefree and unrestrained. May I ask what brings you to such a remote and small sect as the Heavenly Talisman Sect?"

Xiang Zhili didn't hide anything, saying frankly, "I won't hide it from you either. Recently, I've been searching for clues about the Six Ding Heavenly Armor Talisman, one of the three great inherited talismans of the Heavenly Talisman Sect."

"This talisman is a top-tier life-saving talisman. It is said that once activated, it uses the power of the talisman to gather the surrounding spiritual energy of heaven and earth, forming a six-layered protective shield—a secret technique. As long as the spiritual energy of heaven and earth continues to exist, the six layers of shield can be continuously regenerated and restored. It is one of the few spells in the world that allows one to manipulate the spiritual energy of heaven and earth without needing to reach the Nascent Soul stage of cultivation!"

"I did this so that one day, when I ascend to the Spirit Realm, I would have an extra trump card to save my life."

He sighed, a hint of helplessness on his face: "Unfortunately, I've stayed at the Heavenly Talisman Sect for a long time, turning this Scripture Pavilion upside down, but I still haven't been able to find the complete crafting method for the Six Ding Heavenly Armor Talisman—"

"It seems that I am probably not destined to have that talisman."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuan's heart stirred.

He naturally wouldn't tell Xiang Zhili that the Six Ding Heavenly Armor Talisman was actually on his own person.

With the help of the talisman he equips, given time, he might even be able to decipher its crafting method.

Perhaps, a hundred years from now, he will gather all the necessary materials and be able to mass-produce this talisman.

His main purpose in coming to Tianfu Sect was indeed to systematically learn the sect's fundamental principles of talismanic arts and various secret techniques.

Especially obtaining the legendary "Spirit Transformation Talisman".

"I have come here purely to fulfill my promise and return the inheritance of the Spirit-Summoning Talisman. I also want to take this opportunity to learn about the various classics and experiences of the Heavenly Talisman Sect regarding the Way of Talismans, so as to verify what I have learned," Zhou Yuan said truthfully.

"Oh? What a coincidence. I happen to have some jade slips I haven't finished reading either. Please make yourself at home."

Xiang Zhili nodded, and without asking any more questions, he swayed and sat back down on the futon, picked up a jade slip, and continued to examine it as if no one else was around.

He seemed completely unconcerned that Zhou Yuan would harm him, and also seemed indifferent to Zhou Yuan's motives.

Seeing this, Zhou Yuan said no more.

He walked to the rows of dusty bookshelves and began to carefully browse the various talisman classics collected by the Heavenly Talisman Sect.

Although the Tianfu Sect has declined, it is still an ancient sect that once established itself on the Dao of Talismans and almost became one of the Ten Great Righteous Paths.

The richness and completeness of its book collection far exceeded Zhou Yuan's expectations.

From the most basic steps of preparing talisman ink, making talisman paper, and drawing talismans, to detailed explanations of various intermediate and advanced talismans, and even some long-lost unorthodox talisman techniques and methods for refining composite talismans, it has everything.

Zhou Yuan absorbed this valuable knowledge greedily, like a sponge soaking up water.

He himself had a strong interest and talent in the art of talismans, and had many years of experience in making talismans. Now, as he consulted these classic texts of the Heavenly Talisman Sect, many things that had puzzled him before suddenly became clear, and he was able to draw inferences from them.

When he encountered particularly useful or ingeniously designed talisman techniques, he would not hesitate to take the original jade slip directly.

I plan to take it back and study it slowly.

Because the older the original jade slip, the greater the boost to his comprehension of the relevant knowledge when placed in the "equipment slot".

A day and a night passed quickly in this quiet reading and study.

Zhou Yuan put down a jade slip containing the method for refining a lost "composite spirit talisman" and let out a long sigh of relief.

A satisfied look appeared on his face: "As expected of a sect that was founded on the Dao of Talismans and has been passed down for ten thousand years, the knowledge of the Dao of Talismans in this library is vast and profound. Just what I have read in this one day has deepened my understanding of the Dao of Talismans."

He glanced at Xiang Zhili, who was still immersed in the world of jade slips in a corner of the first floor.

This guy did nothing but meditate with his eyes closed, research or cultivate, and never stepped out of the attic.

Two more days passed.

Zhou Yuan went through almost everything to make sure nothing was missed.

He was preparing to leave this place.

However, at that moment, Xiang Zhili, who was sitting somewhere on the first floor, suddenly spoke up.

His expression turned serious.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, although you have not yet reached the Nascent Soul stage, I have heard about the commotion you have caused recently, especially the matter of you single-handedly destroying the Yinluo Sect. With the strength you have shown, being able to destroy a sect is probably far beyond what ordinary late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators can achieve. In fact, you could be considered half a Nascent Soul cultivator."

He looked intently at Zhou Yuan, his tone carrying a hint of warning: "However, precisely because of this, I must remind you that you should probably be more restrained in your actions in the Great Jin cultivation world from now on."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuan raised an eyebrow: "What do you mean by that, Fellow Daoist Xiang?"

Xiang Zhili sighed and explained, "You are unaware of this. In our Great Jin cultivation world, there is an unwritten rule among Nascent Soul cultivators: they must not act arbitrarily—"

"Just think about it. The power of a Nascent Soul cultivator has already transcended the boundaries of the mortal realm. If they could do whatever they wanted and destroy a top-tier sect with a ten-thousand-year history with a flick of their wrist, wouldn't the cultivation world be thrown into complete chaos? They might even face annihilation!"

"The strength you've displayed has surpassed the Nascent Soul stage and touched the threshold of the Divine Transformation stage. To use such strength to annihilate a top-tier sect of the Great Jin Dynasty is, in the eyes of other Divine Transformation cultivators, somewhat overstepping their bounds."

He paused, his gaze carrying a deeper meaning: "Especially the Yinluo Sect you destroyed this time. Although they didn't have a Nascent Soul cultivator in charge, as far as I know, one of them has a close relationship with Fellow Daoist Feng."

"You have likely angered Fellow Daoist Feng this time. If he takes action personally, you may—"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuan remained silent for a moment, digesting the information in Xiang Zhili's words.

He knew that Xiang Zhili meant well in reminding him.

He nodded and calmly replied, "Thank you for reminding me, Fellow Daoist."

"However, I, Zhou, am not a bloodthirsty person. It's just that some people are blind and have repeatedly provoked me, even gathering men to try and kill me. If I don't retaliate, wouldn't people think I'm easy to bully?"

"As for that old monster Feng coming to cause trouble—we'll just meet force with force and water with earth."

Seeing that Zhou Yuan was humble in attitude but exuded a strong sense of confidence and indomitable spirit in his words, Xiang Zhili nodded inwardly.

He knew that geniuses like Zhou Yuan all had their own pride and persistence.

It cannot be changed in just a few words.

>