Chapter 33: Don’t Move Now
Chapter 33: Don’t Move Now
“Successfully comprehending the [True Guide to Talisman Drawing], your mastery of talisman arts has reached the Grandmaster level.”
“Friendly reminder: Since the author of the [True Guide to Talisman Drawing] is still alive, five portions of Gray Fortune were given to him as gratitude. This also counts as the blessed fortune he gains through disseminating his teachings.”
When all thirty portions of Gray Fortune were consumed, Li Si awakened from an immense memory illusion. For a moment, he almost believed he was Ji Chang himself.
Yes, comprehending this [True Guide to Talisman Drawing] had thrust him into the memories of Ji Chang’s entire life. Starting from Ji Chang’s initial entry into the Floating Cloud Sect, up to the present moment, he had lived as Ji Chang, perfectly mastering Ji Chang’s talisman-drawing techniques.
However, this VIP treatment came at an extremely high price, costing Li Si five portions of Gray Fortune.
As a result, his understanding of Fortune deepened. This force seemed remarkably fair, and beyond the control of anyone’s will.
After all, based on Senior Sister Jiang Ying’s past comments, Ji Chang had been deeply obsessed with talisman arts back then, to the extent that it delayed his final push to the Golden Core Realm.
Centuries of dedicated effort and experience, exchanged for five portions of Fortune, complete with an immersive VIP experience – what more could one ask for?
Thinking this way soothed Li Si’s mind. Hmm, fortunately, the creators of the other dao techniques he learned were all dead. Otherwise, how much subscription fee would he have to pay?
Next, Li Si refined another five portions of Gray Fortune to replenish his “capital reserve.” Then, he took out ten blank Talisman Papers, gifts previously given to him by Ji Chang and Xu Shen.
Focusing his mind, he formed the hand seal and cast the Spirit Gathering Spell.
A ripple of thought rose from his heart; a single breath brought forth a hundred breaths of Qi.
In an instant, dazzling light flickered. Li Si drew out 300 points of his own Magic Power, coalescing it into a Spirit Gathering Aura held firmly within his palm. It resembled a miniature galaxy, incredibly stable.
Then, with his intent as the brush and his Magic Power as the ink, he sealed this Spirit Gathering Aura onto the Talisman Paper.
In less than a minute, one Advanced Spirit Gathering Talisman holding 300 points of Magic Power was successfully created.
“This is literally a magical rechargeable battery!”
Li Si marveled. The reason he’d valued Ji Chang’s [True Guide to Talisman Drawing] so highly was precisely for this Spirit Gathering Talisman. Once the core concept was grasped, this thing had the potential to trigger a small-scale industrial revolution. Even if it didn’t achieve that, it could significantly improve the Flying Cloud Sect’s current dire state.
Seriously! Such a powerful Thunderlight Five-Calamity Slaughter Array couldn’t unleash its full power? It couldn’t operate constantly? They had to hide it at the bottom of a chest like it was for breeding future arrays?
With such a formidable weapon, why fear the Evil God Cultists or Golden Core Devils?
Just kill them all!
A surge of exhilaration filled Li Si. He directly exchanged three portions of Gray Fortune for 3000 points of Magic Power and began mass-producing Advanced Spirit Gathering Talismans.
He had long since mastered the operation of the Thunderlight Five-Calamity Array. The reason he couldn’t use it freely these past days was entirely due to the bottleneck imposed by the Spirit Gathering Talismans. And that miser, Xu Shen, only gave him three per day – a mere 150 points of Magic Power combined.
However, for the Thunderlight Five-Calamity Array to unleash its full power required at least five Spirit Gathering Talismans outputting Magic Power simultaneously.
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”
Ten Advanced Spirit Gathering Talismans were completed in one go. Li Si waved his hand, casting the Artifact-Control Incantation. Talismans, shimmering with continuous spiritual light and clearly extraordinary, automatically rose into the air. They flew towards the key formation points of the Thunderlight Five-Calamity Array.
Immediately, three crumpled, blackened Spirit Gathering Talismans with only faint, dull flickers flew back. The five just installed would need replacing again tomorrow morning.
“This boulder-solid sense of security! Awesome!”
Li Si sighed contentedly. Finally, he no longer needed to keep a sliver of his mind alert every night. The security those three old talismans provided wasn’t even comparable to tofu dregs.
Wasting no time, Li Si quickly settled his state and began his cultivation practice. Tonight’s goal: achieve at least 2% progress!
However, he had barely entered his state and hadn’t even completed one full cycle of the [Heaven-Turning Scripture]’s second layer when, without any warning, his Steadfast Mountain Seal shattered.
Faster than a spark could fly, Li Si had no time to process what was happening. Instinctively, his hands formed the seal, and another Mind-cleansing Aura unfurled around him.
Only then did he have a moment to look up.
Above the Deserted Village, a tornado formed of Dark Mist had violently broken through the outer defensive array and was now spiraling downward with terrifying speed, aiming straight for the top of his head.
“Dammit, Xu Shen!”
Li Si only had time to curse once, for this was undoubtedly Xu Shen’s fault!
The Deserted Village currently had three protective arrays. First was the Three Talents Demon-Purging Array, meant to block that eerie Dark Mist. Second was the Five Directions Mind-Befuddling Reversal Array, which acted as a maze. Third was the Thunderlight Five-Calamity Slaughter Array.
The first two arrays could operate automatically, without needing an Array Control Disk. Therefore, Xu Shen, that fool, had set both to run on their absolute minimum power mode, consuming only one Spirit Gathering Talisman per day to technically be “active”.
Now, the consequence struck. The Three Talents Demon-Purging Array, unable to run at full power, was maliciously breached.
In this brief time, vast amounts of eerie Dark Mist poured in from all sides. Most of it surged directly towards Li Si, primarily because he was the sole person positioned right in the village center.
Under such concentrated assault, even with Li Si having pre-deployed three layers of Demon Sealing Aura as buffers, his defenses immediately gave way to the initial malicious impact.
If he hadn’t possessed the Mind-cleansing Aura and the Steadfast Mountain Seal, the enemy would have won already.
Even then, his second layer of Mind-cleansing Aura and the Steadfast Mountain Seal lasted less than three seconds. The Steadfast Mountain Seal exploded again!
Li Si’s reflexes were quicker. Instantly, he recast the Mind-cleansing Aura. Simultaneously, he unleashed five Devil-Sealing Curses back-to-back, finally steadying the first wave.
Yet, the very next second, he heard a faint roar. The Thunderlight Five-Calamity Array’s Array Control Disk beside him glimmered faintly. The automatic activation protocol for the first calamity of the Slaughter Array had triggered.
Seriously? A pincer attack?
Panic flickered within Li Si, but it quickly dissipated. His preparations had been thorough. Whomever was coming to court death was welcome.
He struck out with the Artifact-Control Incantation.
The palm-sized thunderlight Array Disk instantly shot skyward. Wherever Li Si’s will directed, the disk suddenly erupted with blinding radiance. This light swept outwards instantly, engulfing the entire Deserted Village.
Immediately, the disk fully disassembled, transforming into three hundred and sixty miniature thunderlight swords that rocketed into the night sky.
Wherever the thunderlight touched, the Dark Mist tornado directly above the village was shredded into countless fragments. A faint scream seemed to echo amidst the destruction.
Li Si remained impassive. His Artifact-Control Incantation had now been enhanced seven times. Controlling these thunderlight swords was effortless. Most crucially, he had ample Magic Power – no chance of him faltering.
After resolving the Dark Mist tornado, Li Si swept his right hand forward. A phantom projection materialized, displaying the area surrounding the Deserted Village with crystal clarity, leaving no blind spots.
This was another function of the Thunderlight Five-Calamity Array. Naturally, it remained useless without sufficient stored Magic Power to power it.
Within this thunderlight phantom, Li Si saw more than thirty monsters encircling the village, savagely attacking the defenses without regard for their own safety.
As for the Five Directions Mind-Befuddling Reversal Array? It seemed utterly ineffective against them, or perhaps had been forcibly destroyed already.
“Unbelievable!”
With just one glance, Li Si grasped the enemy’s insidious strategy: to overwhelm him, forcing him into a state of distraction where he could only defend blindly.
Furthermore, the sheer number of monsters was ridiculously high.
However, one thing struck him as odd: Where were the promised Evil God Cultists?
Despite the chaotic turn of events crossing his mind, Li Si maintained composure. He didn’t cry out or scream for help. Zhuwazi’s fate served as a stark warning not far away.
Calmly but swiftly, he manipulated the three hundred and sixty thunderlight swords. He layered them, reassembled them, channeling their power for targeted elimination.
Yes, he deliberately avoided the large-scale group attack mode of the Thunderlight Five-Calamity Slaughter Array. While that would unleash all three hundred and sixty thunderlight bolts simultaneously, instantly consuming the Magic Power stored within five Advanced Spirit Gathering Talismans.
Even with his seven-time enhanced Artifact-Control Incantation, swapping depleted talismans for fresh ones would take precious seconds. And if a greater threat lurked after wiping out these monsters…
He suddenly wished fervently that he had two Thunderlight Five-Calamity Arrays.
“Boom!”
A thunderbolt fell. One bloated, round-bellied monster was instantly incinerated to ashes. This single strike extinguished twenty thunderlight swords.
Without pause, Li Si targeted the next. Instantly, a second rotund belly-monster met its end.
These became his priority targets. He noticed they stayed farther back but continuously spewed large amounts of filthy liquid.
Four such creatures existed. In under three seconds, Li Si methodically eliminated them, causing minimal collateral damage.
Next, he began targeting the other monsters. He allocated twenty thunderlight swords per target. While this consumption seemed similar to a group attack in total expenditure, there was a key difference.
It allowed Li Si the spare mental capacity to continuously cast the Iron Prison Discipline.
Over five critical seconds, he eliminated six monsters through concentrated strikes and simultaneously wove three layers of the Iron Prison Discipline, firmly restraining three other attackers.
Out of an initial wave of over thirty monsters, roughly a third were now neutralized.
Given five more seconds, he could almost certainly secure victory.
Thus, the unseen enemy pulling the strings behind the Dark Mist would undoubtedly be growing more desperate than he was.
Yet, Li Si seemed mistaken. No hidden adversary revealed themselves. This appeared to be just a random group of demon-corpses that had wandered into the area.
“Crack!”
A supporting node of the Thunderlight Five-Calamity Array was destroyed.
“No more waiting.”
Li Si focused his will, seamlessly changing the incantation gesture. All remaining thunderlight swords simultaneously descended!
Around the village perimeter, dense thunderbolts rained down, unleashing a storm of obliterating power. Every remaining demonic corpse within its range was annihilated.
Simultaneously, a gale force wind, thick with churning Dark Mist, surged inward from outside the village! A single, brutal impact destroyed another node of the Thunderlight Five-Calamity Array!
Disaster struck. Out of five vital nodes supporting the array formation, two were now destroyed. The formation was crippled beyond immediate remedy.
Li Si appeared to concede defeat. He stopped channeling power into the weakened array. Instead, he frantically replenished his own Magic Power and even more frantically layered Demon Sealing Aura around himself.
He stacked them incessantly – ten layers deep – until the overlapping auras coalesced into a tangible zone of suppression: the Demon Sealing Domain!
“Whoosh!”
The gale-force wind slammed headlong into the Demon Sealing Domain. Like ocean waves crashing against unyielding rock, the Dark Mist carried by the tempest instantly dissipated into nothingness upon impact. The obliterated haze revealed a single humanoid figure within.
But before this figure could even attempt to close the distance, Li Si flung a Heart Cleansing Curse directly at it.
Counter-Control!
The figure remained unaffected by the sealing power of the Domain itself, but the invasive Heart Cleansing Curse made it hesitate for a mere fraction of a second.
Li Si exploited that fractional delay.
His hands blurred through another incantation. The Iron Prison Discipline descended upon the figure!
Instantly, cascading layers of judgmental information flooded Li Si’s senses through the disciplinary binding…
Imprisonment: 3 seconds…
It could only restrain this figure for a maximum of three seconds?
That was utterly unbearable! Intolerable!
Acting decisively, Li Si triggered the Iron Prison Discipline’s inherent special effect: Hellfire. He channeled its judgmental power.
Utter incineration (“Reduce to ashes”)? Impossible. Inflicting severe wounds (“Grievous Injury”)? Also impossible. The sole effect that took hold was… Seal target’s most potent ability…
Duration: 3 seconds…
What kind of monstrosity WAS this thing?! Who in the name of…
Despite the shock reverberating within him, Li Si clung to fundamental composure. He didn’t launch an immediate counter-offensive. Instead, he immediately layered another Heart Cleansing Curse upon it and simultaneously activated the Steadfast Mountain Seal.
When applied to himself, the Steadfast Mountain Seal granted control immunity and possession resistance. But cast upon an enemy? It locked them down and amplified any damage they suffered by +500%.
Li Si erupted!
Dao Technique: Demon Slaying Thorn! Base Demonic Damage amplified by +600%! Plus 3 seconds of Purging Thunderlight! Add another layer of +500% amplified damage on top! The potential destructive force stacking up was utterly insane.
“BOOM!”
A sphere of explosive flame burst forth! Within the heart of the blaze, dozens of intricate mystical runes flared brilliantly – the true core essence of the Demon Slaying Thorn’s destructive power.
There was a horrifying sizzle!
The pungent stench of scorched flesh filled the air. One-tenth of the figure’s substance instantly melted away!
Li Si felt disbelief. Only one-tenth?!
No time to argue. Again!
Iron Prison Discipline – cast! Mind-cleansing Aura – blanket it! Demon Slaying Thorn – unleash!
The techniques compounded and interacted. Each full cycle of casting incinerated another tenth of the figure away.
He granted no opening for it to move, counter-attack, or even attempt escape.
After all, his Magic Power? Overflowing. His spells? Spammable constantly.
So…
Don’t move now. I’ll go buy some oranges…