Starting as a Talisman Master

Chapter 276 Purple Clouds Soar Through the Heavens, Transforming into Mortals and Entering the World (6.1k)

Lu Chi rode the escape light and landed back in his cave on Qingxu Peak.

After activating the restriction, he sat cross-legged on the stone bed.

Recalling the earnest advice Master Xuanchen and Qin Zheng had given each other in the main hall, he couldn't help but find it somewhat amusing.

It wasn't that he intentionally hid his abilities from the two of them. As cultivators roam the world, it's perfectly acceptable to reveal some of their sharpest skills when necessary.

If a stranger of unknown origin possesses unfathomable strength, anyone would instinctively feel a sense of unease.

"The current distance is just right, which allows me to demonstrate my value while remaining content and unassuming, thus ensuring a long-term peaceful life."

Lu Chi closed his eyes, letting his magical power flow smoothly through his meridians.

A moment later, he opened his eyes and slightly raised one hand. A faint glint of light flew out from his sleeve and hovered silently in front of him.

It was the Mysterious Soul Gilded Needle.

As he thought about it, the slender flying needle shimmered with spiritual light in mid-air, instantly lengthening into a three-foot-long flying sword.

Then the sword trembled slightly, and as the eerie light flowed, it transformed into a long spear.

The gathering and scattering of this needle are determined by the mind, changing as desired.

The method of its refining originated from the Qinglian Temple in Jingzhao Kingdom, but it is unknown where Old Man Gu obtained it.

Throughout his cultivation journey, Lu Chi has amassed a vast number of dead souls, yet he has never encountered such a wondrous object in the storage bags he has plundered.

Looking at the objects in front of him that were constantly changing shape, his thoughts stirred slightly as he recalled the conversation he had just had in the main hall.

Before leaving, he took the opportunity to inquire about the method of crafting magical artifacts from Xuan Chen and the other person.

Back when he was in the Taiqing Palace of Jingzhao Kingdom, he had no access to the methods of directly refining magical artifacts.

According to fellow disciples of Fire Spirit Peak, only by finding a top-grade spiritual artifact, storing it in one's Qi Sea, and nurturing it day and night with one's own magical power can a Golden Core cultivator achieve this.

After decades of refinement, and as its internal restrictions transform and a trace of spirituality develops, it can be upgraded to a magical artifact.

However, in the cultivation world of the Great Li Kingdom in Qingming Continent, the story is quite different.

According to Master Xuanchen, magical treasures can not only be transformed through the nurturing and tempering of spiritual artifacts, but can also be directly forged in a furnace.

The Hundred Crafts Academy of the Seven Schools of Dali is dedicated to the art of weapon crafting.

Since they both belong to the righteous path, Xuan Chen and his companion can prepare generous gifts and invite the experts in the academy to come out of seclusion and help them.

When the two first entered the sect, they promised to help Lu Chi refine magical artifacts, and now they are fulfilling that promise. This time, they not only acted as intermediaries, but also searched for spiritual materials for Lu Chi, and were even willing to expend their magical power to work together to forge the artifact blank for him.

Lu Chi neither agreed nor disagreed, but simply went along with it and asked the two to search for some rare and precious materials.

As for the matter of using the Hundred Crafts Institute to refine treasures, he actually had no such intention.

This Xuanpo gilded needle was a protective weapon he kept to nurture his natal magic treasure.

If the crafting is entrusted to the cultivators of the Hundred Crafts Pavilion, the secrets and wonders of the flying needles will surely be revealed to outsiders. Once the trump card is exposed, it will be difficult to achieve its unexpected effect.

It should be noted that even Li Qianyou, who is right here at this moment, has no idea that he still holds such a sinister weapon in his hand.

"It's better to rely on yourself than on others. With my skills, I can refine this rough draft of the magic weapon myself."

"As for the method of refining treasures—since Qingming Continent has such a method, we can kill local Golden Core cultivators in the future, seize their magic treasures, and obtain them through the [Weapon Tomb]."

Lu Chi then began to consider advanced body cultivation techniques and talismans.

He had just made an excuse to mention it to Xuan Chen and the other two, taking the opportunity to cover it up and avoid revealing anything.

Although the two promised to use the Luoxia Sect's connections to search for him, what he sought were rare items and profound inheritances, which would certainly not be something that could be accomplished overnight.

Suppressing his distracting thoughts, Lu Chi took out the jade bottle with a pale gold talisman attached to it from his storage bag.

It was the essence blood of the Purple-Eyed Devouring Cloud Beast.

Remove the talisman and pull out the stopper.

Lu Chi did not rush to absorb it, but instead closed his eyes and concentrated, sending a powerful wisp of divine sense into the bottle.

His divine sense, like a fine mesh, searched the few drops of crimson blood at the bottom of the bottle repeatedly, inside and out.

After confirming that there were no hidden alien energy or divine soul marks left by high-level cultivators inside the essence blood, he slightly moved his palm, forcing out a wisp of Xuan Shui magic power, wrapped with a trace of imperceptible Xuan fire, and tentatively touched one of the drops of essence blood.

With the convergence of magical powers, only pure, violent demonic energy and a trace of the essence of dawn overflowed from the essence blood, without producing any abnormal phenomenon of poison encountering fire.

Only then did Lu Chi finally feel completely relieved.

He placed the jade bottle in front of him, sat cross-legged, and regulated his breathing and focused his mind. Once the magical power within his body had stabilized, he mentally rehearsed the flow of magical power in the "Purple Cloud Imperial Light" technique once more.

After confirming that there were no flaws, Lu Chi raised his hand and lightly flicked the bottle. A drop of essence blood, glowing with a purple light, flew out from the bottle's mouth and hovered in mid-air.

The essence blood broke free from its seal, and a violent demonic aura immediately filled the cave. Lu Chi remained calm, opened his mouth, and swallowed it directly.

The essence blood entered the body, instantly transforming into a scorching, chaotic current of energy, carrying the remaining ferocity of the Purple-Eyed Devouring Beast, and surged through the meridians.

Rushing headlong into things.

Lu Chi remained unmoved as the vast Xuan Shui power within his Qi Sea surged forth, enveloping the turbulent energy like overlapping waves.

The Xuan Shui magic power was balanced and enduring, suppressing the demonic energy no matter how violent it was, preventing it from causing even the slightest disturbance.

Subsequently, the incantation of "Purple Cloud Imperial Light" was activated at full power.

The power of the Xuan Shui magic transformed into an invisible millstone, slowly grinding through the meridians, peeling away and refining the turbulent impurities and ferocious energy within the demon blood bit by bit.

It took several days for the raging demonic energy to finally dissipate, leaving only a trace of the pure and pristine Purple Cloud Essence.

Guided by Lu Chi's thoughts, this wisp of origin slowly circulated along the specific major vein recorded in the divine power.

Wherever it passed, the meridians that were originally sluggish received this source of nourishment and suddenly felt clear and open. The magical power felt relieved and, without any further obstruction, smoothly completed a major cycle within the body.

A solidified purple glow emerged from Lu Chi's body, its light restrained, supple, and dense, exuding an aura of invulnerability to all magic.

Lu Chi opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of stale air.

With the first drop of essence blood completely refined, this Nascent Soul Divine Power has finally been truly mastered.

In the coming days, simply refine the remaining essence and blood in the bottle one by one, and the power of this method will begin to show its effects.

"It is also of great importance to improve the 'Water Mirror Reflecting the Nerves' to the third level."

This "Water Mirror Reflecting the Nerve" is a secret technique attached to the main cultivation method "Taiyuan Xuanshui Jing", which is specifically for tempering the divine sense.

Such cultivation methods that directly target the soul are extremely rare in the cultivation world, and Lu Chi has benefited greatly from them in his cultivation so far.

The strength of one's spiritual consciousness is truly the foundation upon which a cultivator's life hinges. Defending against enemies, maintaining one's integrity, and mastering various arts all depend on it.

"If I can break through to the third level of the Water Mirror Reflection Technique, my spiritual strength will be roughly comparable to that of a late-stage Golden Core cultivator."

"The stronger one's spiritual sense, the greater the chance of success in dealing with the inner demon tribulation that will inevitably descend upon the Nascent Soul stage."

This "Water Mirror Reflecting the Nerves" is divided into three layers.

The first level is called "Baptism of the Spirit." It requires drawing upon the power of the Mysterious Water to transform into an invisible stream of water that washes over the soul day and night. By utilizing the suppleness of water, the cultivator's originally scattered consciousness is continuously compressed and condensed, removing distracting thoughts and making the consciousness extremely resilient and pure.

The second layer is called "Illumination of the Gods". Once one's divine consciousness is refined to the extreme, a ethereal water mirror can be condensed in the center of the sea of ​​consciousness.

Lu Chi had been cultivating on the second level for a very long time. The water mirror in his sea of ​​consciousness had long since solidified, and his divine sense could see the smallest details when he released it, but he had never been able to reach the threshold of the third level.

The first two levels, "Cleansing the Spirit" and "Illuminating the Spirit," follow clear paths, both being methods for systematically refining the sea of ​​consciousness and condensing the illusory mirror. However, this third level has not even left a clear name.

The opening lines are only a few ancient seal script characters: "To illuminate heaven and earth, one must first reflect all living beings. One enters the cage of consciousness, accepting all kinds of delusions and attachments into the sea of ​​consciousness."

Let the dust and grime obscure your mind; only by remaining true to yourself amidst countless threads of confusion can you achieve great clarity from profound bewilderment, transforming the mire into a clear and formless mirror.

Lu Chi pondered these few lines of incantation repeatedly, whispering, "Does it mean to transform into a mortal and enter the world, experiencing the mortal realm?"

Such actions have long been recorded in ancient books.

Legend has it that when ancient cultivators encountered bottlenecks in their spiritual consciousness or mental state, they would seal their magical powers and hide in the marketplace. They would use their mortal bodies to experience birth, aging, sickness, and death, encounters with those they hated, and separations from those they loved, using the myriad obsessions of the mortal world to hone their spiritual essence.

However, these records are ultimately just fragments.

Whether such attempts to transform oneself into an ordinary person will be effective, or merely a waste of time, remains to be seen.

"Whether it succeeds or not, we'll know once we try."

Lu Chi cleared his mind of distractions, his gaze gradually hardening as he made his decision.

Several months passed quickly.

During this period, Lu Chi kept a low profile. He waited until he had refined the last drop of Purple-Eyed Devouring Beast's essence blood from the jade bottle before attempting to master the "Purple..." technique.

He eventually mastered the basics of "Radiant Clouds Over Heaven" and transformed into a continuous, resilient purple cloud, hidden within his meridians and acupoints.

On this day, Lu Chi went to the main hall of the main peak as usual to heal the injuries of True Person Xuan Chen.

After his injuries were healed, Master Xuanchen meditated for a moment, and his complexion softened considerably. He opened his eyes, looked at Lu Chi, and suddenly said, "Junior Brother Lu, the thing you wanted to inquire about earlier has now been resolved."

Lu Chi withdrew his magical power, understanding dawning on him. What he sought was naturally the profound body cultivation techniques and talisman arts.

He sat down to the side, and asked with a calm expression, "Oh? May I ask what connections you have?"

Master Xuanchen nodded slightly and said slowly, "Junior brother, you may not know this, but in the cultivation world of our Great Li Kingdom, there is a very famous rogue cultivator known as 'The Lone Cloud Hermit.'"

"This person's cultivation is profound, and his whereabouts are unpredictable. He loves to travel around the world and has collected countless rare treasures and unique manuals. Although the seven sects of Dali are large and powerful, when it comes to some rare and unorthodox inheritances, they probably don't even have as many as he has."

"Every hundred years, this old man would secretly organize a secret trading meeting that only invited fellow Golden Core cultivators to participate in."

"According to my latest information, the next trade fair hosted by the Hermit of Lone Cloud is scheduled for twenty years from now. At that time, not only cultivators from the seven sects of the Great Li Dynasty, but also rogue cultivators from several surrounding countries will go there incognito. You will definitely be able to find what you need there, Junior Brother."

Twenty years later —

Lu Chi nodded slightly and noted down the name of this Lonely Cloud Hermit.

He pondered for a moment, then looked at Master Xuanchen and said, "Sect Leader, I have something else to discuss today. I would like to temporarily leave the sect and travel outside for a while."

Master Xuanchen's expression changed slightly, surprise flashed in his eyes, and he hesitated.

Seeing this, Lu Chi smiled slightly and dispelled his doubts: "Senior brother, don't worry, I'm not just leaving. I've just encountered some key points in my cultivation and need to go outside to verify them. I will make time to return to Qingxu Peak every month to heal you with my magic power, and I will not delay this matter."

Upon hearing this promise, Master Xuanchen's expression softened slightly, but he did not reply immediately.

The hall was quiet for a moment.

After a long pause, Master Xuanchen sighed softly and voiced his concerns: "Junior Brother Lu, has the sect neglected anything?"

Lu Chi knew the other party had misunderstood. He shook his head, his tone calm: "Senior brother, you are overthinking it. The Luoxia Sect has treated me very well, and I will always remember it. This trip was indeed to seek an opportunity to break through my cultivation technique. Since I promised to return to the sect every month, I will never break my promise."

Seeing his calm and composed expression, which was not feigned, Master Xuanchen's tense face finally relaxed.

"Since it is a matter of cultivation, I will not interfere. The outside world is dangerous and unpredictable, so you must be careful when you are out there."

"Thank you for your guidance, senior brother."

Lu Chi bowed in thanks. Afterwards, he bid farewell to True Person Xuan Chen, turned and left the main hall, then rode his escape light and flew straight away from the Luo Xia Sect.

Silence returned to the main hall. A short while later, True Person Xuanchen summoned Qin Zheng into the hall via telepathy and informed her of Lu Chi's departure from the sect.

Upon hearing this, Qin Zheng frowned slightly, a look of hesitation on her face: "Sect Leader, what if Junior Brother Lu takes all the benefits we've given him and leaves without ever returning?"

Master Xuanchen shook his head slightly and said slowly, "Let him be. Junior Brother Qin is overthinking it. Junior Brother Lu has been doing his best to expel the poison and heal my wounds these past few days, and he has also contributed a lot to the sect. He is by no means a treacherous person."

"What I'm really worried about is that many of the other six factions in Dali are quite interested in our Junior Brother Lu."

I hope he doesn't encounter any danger while he's away—"

"To reflect the lives of all beings, one must become one with them."

After leaving the mountain gate, Lu Chi flew all the way away from the territory of the Luoxia Sect before pressing his escape light in a desolate mountain forest.

This cultivation is about the transformation of his divine consciousness. He only seeks absolute tranquility to avoid being disturbed by the struggles of the cultivation world or by acquaintances during his enlightenment, which would add unnecessary variables.

Lu Chi dispersed the spiritual light around him and stood in the forest, pondering to himself.

"Since I have decided to enter the world, I can no longer easily use my divine sense and magical power."

If one still habitually uses divine sense to perceive the surroundings and magical power to suppress changes when encountering problems, then one will forever remain a lofty immortal cultivator, unable to touch the true nature of the mortal world.

With this thought in mind, he focused his mind on his dantian, sealing all the pressure and immense power of his Golden Core stage cultivation deep within his dantian, leaving not a trace.

Then, Lu Chi walked to a stream, looked at his reflection in the water, and shook his head slightly.

If one were to simply walk into the ordinary marketplace, it would surely attract a lot of attention, making it difficult to conceal one's presence.

His ten fingers moved in a whirlwind, secretly circulating the Withered Wood Formless Technique.

With a series of soft, cracking sounds of bones shifting, his once-tall figure shrunk, his back becoming slightly hunched. His fair face aged and became rough, deep furrows appeared at the corners of his eyes and on his forehead, and his once black hair turned gray.

Lu Chi then took out a set of ordinary coarse cloth clothes from his storage bag and changed into them.

In the blink of an eye, he transformed into an ordinary old man, completely devoid of any air of otherworldly grace. From then on, he would observe the world and discern things solely through his mortal eyes.

"Let's proceed and observe as we go, and hope that this experience will not be in vain."

It was early autumn. A dirt road wound its way forward. People came and went along the road: merchants driving mules and horses, porters carrying heavy loads, and refugees with weathered faces.

Lu Chi mingled with the crowd, walking slowly along the official road.

A carriage drove past, its wheels kicking up clouds of dust as they rolled over the dry pavement.

Dust settled on Lu Chi's hair and hemp clothes. He did not use his magic to ward off the dust, letting the dirt stain his clothes.

His feet trod across the gravel and yellow earth, yet he felt no roughness whatsoever. The robust foundation of a second-tier body cultivator remained, making it difficult to completely conceal his extraordinary physical body.

As the sun began to set, Lu Chi noticed that the pedestrians around him had chapped lips and were walking heavily. So he deliberately slowed down, pretended to be tired and thirsty, and blended into the crowd without making a sound.

A man pushing a cart stopped beside him and handed him half a coarse flatbread and a bamboo tube of water: "Old sir, the sun is scorching, have some dry food before you go."

Lu Chi took the cake; it was dry and hard. He took a bite, swallowed it with water, and thanked the man.

The man pushed the wheelbarrow with both hands, the axle making a dull thud on the dirt road. He turned his head and looked at Lu Chi's weathered appearance, casually asking, "Old sir, are you traveling so fast to visit relatives in Yuanhua City ahead? If you go another thirty li, you'll arrive before dark."

Lu Chi remained calm and replied in the same tone, "I make my home wherever I go, and I have no relatives or friends here."

The man paused slightly as he pushed the cart, and his gaze toward Lu Chi was filled with sympathy. He assumed that the man before him was a lonely old man who had suffered natural disasters and man-made calamities, resulting in the destruction of his family and the loss of his loved ones.

He sighed softly, deliberately slowing his pace slightly, and said in a gentle tone, "Please don't mind me speaking out of turn, sir. Yuanhua City is divided into inner and outer cities. The inner city is inhabited by nobles and the rules are extremely strict. The outer city, on the other hand, is quite spacious, and people from all walks of life can do business here."

"If you have nowhere to go, it's cheaper to settle down and make a living in the outer city once you reach this area. As long as you can still move your hands and feet, you can find some odd jobs to do and make a living so you won't go hungry."

Lu Chi had never heard of Yuanhua before. He thought to himself, "Since I have become a mortal, I might as well enter the city instead of wandering in the wilderness."

He nodded slightly and said, "Thank you for your guidance. I will stay in Yuanhua City from now on."

The two traveled together for the rest of the journey. The man was a talkative fellow, and he kept talking about the trivial matters of Yuanhua City along the way, such as the price of rice and noodles in the west of the city and the rules of the porters in the south of the city.

Lu Chi walked slowly and listened silently, relying solely on his ears to hear these mundane family matters.

As the sun set, a majestic city finally appeared in the distance.

Following the flow of people into the outer city of Yuanhua, the scene before my eyes suddenly changed.

In the crisscrossing streets and alleys, vendors packing up their stalls and porters heading home mingle together. The smoke from kitchens mingles with the sweat of passersby, and the surrounding area is bustling with noise and chatter.

When they reached the fork in the road ahead, the man stopped his wooden cart, cupped his hands in farewell, and said goodbye.

Lu Chi reached into his sleeve, pulled out a piece of silver, and handed it over, saying calmly, "Thank you for your help along the way."

The man instinctively took it, only to find it quite heavy in his hand.

By the light of the lanterns on the street, he looked closely and saw that it was a piece of silver of excellent quality, worth more than a month's worth of grain for a laborer like him in the city.

He looked surprised and quickly looked up to decline, but the figure of the old man in gray had already disappeared into the bustling crowd.

The man clutched the silver coins, secretly amazed. He had never expected that this seemingly poor and destitute old man would be so generous.

At this moment, Lu Chi was hidden in the crowd, his brows slightly furrowed, and a sense of self-reflection arose in his heart.

For cultivators, gold, silver, and worldly possessions are nothing but useless mortal objects, but in this mortal world, they are the foundation for ordinary people to make a living.

His actions just now were too casual; the amount he gave was far too much for an ordinary porter. This defied common sense and ultimately carried the inertia of a cultivator's superiority.

"Since I am going to live a mortal life, I must completely sever all reliance on the past. Starting tomorrow, I must no longer use the gold and silver in my storage bag at will. I need to find a legitimate job in this city and make a living solely with this mortal body."

Composing himself, Lu Chi strolled slowly along the outer city's main street.

Along the way, the houses with blue bricks are scattered, and shops are connected on both sides. From time to time, the noisy sounds of drinking games and hawking can be heard from the taverns and teahouses.

The scenery here is naturally far less grand than the Jiuhua Immortal City I once saw, but in the secular world, it can be considered a first-class prosperous city.

As dusk deepened, occasionally a faint streak of light would flash across the sky, leaving traces of passing cultivators flying away on their magical artifacts.

At this time of day, street vendors and laborers would stop what they were doing, stand still, and look up at the night sky with eyes full of awe and envy.

Lu Chi, mingling in the crowded throng, glanced at the person next to him, following their gaze.

Judging from this situation, it was clear that the inner city of Yuanhua was probably a place where cultivators lived. Mortals revered immortals, while cultivators hid in the bustling city, which was in line with the consistent customs of Qingming Continent.

As dusk settles, lanterns gradually illuminate the long street.

Lu Chi found a dilapidated inn on a street corner, paid the innkeeper a few coins, and asked for a secluded lower room. The room was cramped, the wooden bed was hard, and the bedding smelled musty.

He blew out the oil lamp and lay down on the couch fully clothed.

In the dead of night, a cold wind howled in through the cracks in the old window.

Lu Chi's physical body had already reached the second-tier level of body cultivation. Even though his Qi Sea and magical power were completely sealed, this mortal night chill could not penetrate his muscles at all.

But since he was determined to enter the mortal world, he had to go all out.

He shivered slightly in the cold wind, curling his hands and feet together, letting the false chill spread, pretending to be tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

When he got up in the morning, he imitated the manner of an ordinary old man, slowly getting up while holding onto the edge of the bed, and gently patting his back, which was not sore at all.

As I pushed open the door to leave the store, I saw vendors already hawking breakfast in the early morning streets and alleys.

Having practiced abstinence from grains for many years, Lu Chi should not need to eat, but he still walked up to the stall and spent a few copper coins to buy a dry, hard, coarse cake.

He stood by the street, swallowed it with cold water, and savored the sluggish, heavy feeling of ordinary grains digesting in his stomach.

After swallowing the last bite of the coarse bread, he walked slowly down the long street, beginning his search for a job to make a living.

"Now that I am so old and frail, I can no longer do manual labor like being a porter. I can only find writing jobs and bookkeeping to make a living," he thought to himself.

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