Chapter 51 – The Art of Talismans, Buffing Before the Boss

Inside the Sword Pavilion’s second floor, facing Lu Chen’s inquiry, Fang Heng pondered for a moment before finally retrieving memories related to the Purple Haze Nourishing Art from his mind.

“Fellow Daoist Lu, if I recall correctly, the one who promoted this cultivation manual throughout the entire sect back then was Spirit Fire Daoist Jing Gong of Danyang Peak.”

“Because this manual was simple to begin with and had the effect of improving one’s aptitude, it has been passed down ever since.”

“But soon, many discovered that the effects of Purple Haze Body Tempering varied from person to person. Only a very few could achieve minor success in a short time, while most barely managed to grasp the basics even after a lifetime of effort, finding it difficult to make any significant progress.”

“Therefore, in the following years, the sixth-generation Sect Leader, Perfected Jian Daoqi, no longer insisted that disciples practice it, leaving it to their discretion.”

“Because I lost my virginity early on, I never practiced this manual.”

“Might I ask why Fellow Daoist Lu is inquiring about this?”

“Just a random thought, Fellow Daoist Fang. Pay it no mind.”

“Does Fellow Daoist have any other questions then?”

Lu Chen thought for a moment and asked, “Fellow Daoist Fang, do you know where the descendants of Spirit Fire Daoist’s lineage went in the past?”

“After all, from what I know, Perfected Ji wasn’t particularly outstanding among Spirit Fire Daoist’s disciples in his early years. So why was he the one who ultimately inherited the position of Peak Lord?”

After recalling for a long time, Fang Heng replied, “It seems it was because something major happened to Spirit Fire Daoist’s lineage in the early years, causing disciples of this lineage to either die or leave. Only Perfected Ji remained and eventually became the seventh-generation Peak Lord of Danyang Peak.”

“But as for the specifics of what happened, I can’t recall.”

“So that’s how it is…”

Hearing this, most of the doubts in Lu Chen’s heart were resolved.

It now appeared that the game world of True Immortal Cultivation truly existed.

The reason Fang Heng had never heard of his name was because he was one of the disciples from Spirit Fire’s lineage who had either died or left the Azure Cloud Sect.

Death or leaving the Azure Cloud Sect…

At this thought, Lu Chen’s mind gradually calmed.

Given his inherently cautious nature, he would certainly not recklessly engage in overly dangerous activities in the future.

Thus, the reason Fang Heng was unaware of his affairs was likely because he had left the Azure Cloud Sect early on back then.

Although he couldn’t yet figure out what might have caused him to leave, he felt this inference was the most reasonable.

Not bad, not bad. As long as he wasn’t dead, it was fine.

Just as Lu Chen was about to ask Fang Heng about other secrets of the Azure Cloud Sect, he noticed Fang Heng’s condition beginning to turn strange.

His originally calm face gradually contorted.

His body trembled uncontrollably.

The lower half of his body, the Heretical Demonic Body, also began to shake incessantly, as if struggling to break free from Fang Heng’s control.

“Fellow Daoist Fang, what’s wrong with you?”

Watching Fang Heng’s increasingly ferocious expression, Lu Chen silently touched the black ring on his right hand.

Fang Heng struggled to control himself and spoke with difficulty, “N-nothing, Fellow Daoist Lu… Might I… ask you a question?”

“Please go ahead, Fellow Daoist.”

“Is the Azure Cloud Sect… still around now…”

Lu Chen thought for a moment and replied seriously, “Aside from myself, I have yet to encounter any other sect disciples at present.”

“I see…”Fang Heng lowered his head and remained silent for a long time.

Seeing him like this, Lu Chen stood up completely and activated his Azure Lotus Eye.

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

At this moment, Lu Chen instinctively sensed danger.

With the help of the Azure Lotus Eye, Lu Chen clearly saw the Qi around Fang Heng beginning to distort.

A power entirely different from Spiritual Power was gradually taking over his entire body, devouring his remaining rationality.

“Fellow Daoist Fang?”

Fang Heng seemed utterly exhausted, so it took him a long time after hearing Lu Chen’s words to respond in a weary tone: “Fellow Daoist Lu… you should leave first…”

“I… feel a bit sleepy…”

As he spoke, Fang Heng’s head completely drooped down.

But just as Lu Chen was about to do something, a black shadow flashed past at an astonishing speed.

Feeling the intense pain spreading through his body, Lu Chen looked down in shock.

A Blood Sword emitting a crimson aura had, at some unknown moment, pierced through his chest.

The speed was so fast that even his Azure Lotus Eye couldn’t capture the movement.

And this Blood Sword was precisely the bizarre Heretical Demonic Body that constituted Fang Heng’s lower half.

“Hahaha, this fool is finally dead, I’m free!!!”

After saying this, Fang Heng immediately withdrew the Blood Sword that had pierced Lu Chen’s body and laughed wildly toward the sky.

Lu Chen collapsed in a pool of blood, and in his final moments, what he saw was Fang Heng’s twisted, insane face.

At this moment, Lu Chen didn’t ponder why Fang Heng had changed so drastically.

He had only one thought: why was Fang Heng’s sword… so fast?

【You have died】

Before the gate of the Sword Pavilion Second Floor.

After reviving, just like every previous time he explored the instance, Lu Chen began summarizing the cause of this death.

“Fellow Daoist Fang has a half-demon, half-human body. His earlier rationality seemed to be entirely sustained by his own willpower.”

“The one that attacked me in the end must have been the Heretical Demonic Body that seized control of Fellow Daoist Fang’s form.”

“Attacking without warning at the slightest disagreement – this truly matches the style of the Demonic Heresy…”

Lu Chen reviewed the details of his recent death, contemplating how to defend against that Heretical Sword Fiend’s elusive sword strike when he entered again.

As the saying goes, in all martial arts under heaven, nothing is indestructible except speed itself.

Lu Chen had to admit that Fang Heng’s final sword strike… was simply too fast.

So fast that even though he had been prepared and had activated his Azure Lotus Eye early, he still couldn’t react in time and was killed by a single sword stroke.

This was undoubtedly bad news for him.

Because if he couldn’t even see when Fang Heng was drawing his sword, how could he possibly fight against him?

“I must find a way to restrict its fast sword, or enable myself to match its speed…”

How to accomplish either of these two points gave Lu Chen quite a headache.

Given the methods he currently mastered, he truly didn’t have any good solutions.

“Let me organize my previous gains again, see if I can find a way to break through this situation.”

Lu Chen opened his Storage Bag, attempting to find something that could help him turn the tables.

And in this search, he actually found something useful.

【Myriad Talisman True Explanation Fragment (1/3)】

【Entry Requirements: Basic Talismans mastered, 500 experience points】

【Effect: Can master the Air-Drawing Talisman technique, as well as partial talisman creation methods】Myriad Talisman True Explanation Fragment, this was the special skill Lu Chen obtained when he defeated Ye Chenglin earlier.

However, since he had devoted all his energy to the Purple Haze Nourishing Art at that time, he temporarily stored this secret manual in his storage bag.

If he hadn’t just rummaged through his storage bag, he might have completely forgotten about acquiring this talisman manual.

The reason Lu Chen believed the ‘Myriad Talisman True Explanation Fragment’ could be the key to defeating Ye Chenglin lay in the unique nature of talismans.

After all, compared to ordinary cultivators, the greatest advantage of talisman cultivators… was their ability to prepare in advance!

Although Lu Chen currently couldn’t find talisman paper in the instance to prepare talismans, after learning the Myriad Talisman True Explanation Fragment, he could perform Air-Drawing Talisman.

Therefore, he could completely stack himself with various auxiliary talismans at the entrance before entering the second floor, temporarily boosting all his attributes.

This way, he might be able to keep up with Fang Heng’s astonishing swordsmanship.

Having formulated a plan, Lu Chen immediately took action.

[Immortal Alliance Five Elements Basic Talismans: (Beginner 50/200)]

[You consumed 150 experience points, Immortal Alliance Five Elements Basic Talismans upgraded to ‘Proficient’…]

[Immortal Alliance Five Elements Basic Talismans (Proficient 1/500)]

[You consumed 500 experience points, Immortal Alliance Five Elements Basic Talismans upgraded to ‘Mastery’…]

[Immortal Alliance Five Elements Basic Talismans (Mastery 1/1000)]

[Current Experience Points: 2292]

“Now that the basic talismans have reached mastery level, it’s about time to learn the Myriad Talisman True Explanation…”

(End of Chapter)