Chapter 41: Talisman Legacy

Having lived in this cultivation world for sixty-eight years, Li Ji'an had constantly tried to analyze its past history and understand its worldview based on the limited information available from the Cangyun Prefecture.

Drawing from his knowledge and experiences before transmigration, combined with what he had seen and heard in this realm, his primary hypothesis was that this world had once been a sacred ground for cultivation, only for the Heavenly Dao to collapse and the ancient era to shatter.

Everything from the past had been buried in the dust.

Then, more than six thousand years ago, the world was restarted.

This conjecture of his stemmed from the Cretaceous period theory on Earth, combined with records of certain archaeological ruins in this realm, leading him to believe it had a higher probability of being true.

However, the records regarding the ancient era remained somewhat incomplete, filled with numerous falsehoods, rumors, and forged information, leaving him unable to be certain.

Especially the claim made last month by Zhao Shuyao in the Myriad Commerce Domain regarding the Heavenly Abandoned Desolation being a graveyard of immortals.

With truth and falsehood intertwined, reality and illusion blurred, it was difficult to make a definitive judgment.

Yet, one point remained: he always held onto hope.

A world possessing such spiritual Qi, capable of absorbing it to refine magical power and transform oneself, must inherently possess the possibility of attaining immortality.

This was precisely his ultimate goal all along.

Yet, this ancient person from at least seven or eight thousand years ago stated that "Immortals" were already non-existent back then?

He continued reading further down.

"I am Shen Yuan. After five hundred years of practicing the Dao, when my cultivation could advance no further, I regretted my inability to follow the Heavenly Lord in slaying the human demons. Thus, I meticulously studied the art of talismans, hoping to contribute my strength through talisman making. Alas, time is ruthless; before my mastery of talismans could reach perfection, my lifespan was exhausted. I can only leave this for future generations. Should someone one day master the art of talismans to its depths, perhaps they might assist the Heavenly Lord in cleansing the universe and eradicating the demonic hordes..."

After finishing the prologue, Li Ji'an's brows furrowed even deeper.

"Five hundred years... does that not make him a Core Formation True Person?"

"The Heavenly Lord slaying demons?"

"It is obvious that when this person passed away, the world had not yet been restarted; they were simply living through the tumultuous era of human demons."

"The restart of more than six thousand years ago was not a natural disaster, but a man-made calamity?"

...

Furthermore, from these words, Li Ji'an sensed that cultivators back then did not place much value on the art of talismans, and there were perhaps not even any who specialized deeply in it.

This reminded Li Ji'an of certain records he had seen in the Golden Glow Immortal City, which suggested that the post-ancient era, beginning six thousand years later, was the true golden age for the development of the Hundred Arts of Immortal Cultivation.

Before that, it seemed that everyone focused almost exclusively on cultivation realms.

After all, cultivation resources were abundant at the time, and one's strength and lifespan relied primarily on cultivation realms and spells. Other skills, especially those of little utility to one's realm, were all dismissed as minor paths.

Only when one's cultivation realm could advance no further would they dabble in these arts, mostly as a pastime.

Li Ji'an somewhat agreed with this perspective.

If he were being honest with himself, had he not lacked resources in this lifetime and needed to rely on various arts to sustain his basic cultivation and livelihood, he would certainly have devoted all his efforts solely to advancing his realm.

Even someone like him, who could reverse his aging and theoretically had abundant time, thought this way.

Let alone other cultivators who could not reverse their aging and had only this single lifetime!

After pondering for a moment, Li Ji'an收回思绪 withdrew his thoughts and continued reading.

Following the prologue was the Tier 2 talisman inheritance that seamlessly connected with the Tier 1 inheritance Yan Kongyi had previously passed on to him.

"Hmm?"

However, after a casual skim, right at the very end, another sentence appeared that made Li Ji'an raise an eyebrow slightly.

"Senior Shen, are you playing nesting dolls with me?"

At the very end of this inheritance jade talisman, a special late-stage Tier 2 talisman technique appeared once more, with the note stating that only by using this specific talisman could the third hidden compartment be unlocked.

There was actually a hidden compartment.

This piece of information exceeded Li Ji'an's expectations, coming as a pleasant surprise.

He had originally thought he would be satisfied just obtaining the Tier 2 talisman inheritance.

Never had he imagined there might even be a Tier 3 talisman inheritance waiting for him.

At the same time, this gave him even greater motivation and urgency to thoroughly study the Tier 2 inheritance.

Properly storing away the inheritance jade talisman, Li Ji'an had no immediate thoughts of exploring further down. The arrangements left behind by an ancient Core Formation senior were not something his current self could forcefully break through.

This trip had already been a complete success. Li Ji'an recalled Gua Gua, glanced distantly toward the Stormy Desert in the west, and ultimately decided to play it safe—waiting at least until he had mastered late-stage Tier 2 talismans to protect himself before heading over there.

After all, those ruins held no attraction for someone who had already reached Foundation Establishment, aside from perhaps offering a few faint clues.

Yet, having just broken through to Foundation Establishment, he had barely managed to secure a foothold in this cultivation world; knowing those clues was presently meaningless.

He glanced once more at the communication talisman used to contact Chen Qingling, but there was still no reply, forcing him to temporarily abandon his plan to befriend the Rogue cultivator Crimson Stone.

Three months ago, when he decided to make a trip back to the wasteland, he had sent a message to Chen Qingling informing her of his return and desire to meet, but she had yet to reply.

"She has likely followed Crimson Stone deeper into the region."

Such situations had occurred frequently in the past. Communication talismans had distance limitations and required spiritual Qi and divine sense as carriers. If the distance was too great, or in places devoid of spiritual Qi and sealed by divine sense, it was difficult to receive or reply to messages in a timely manner.

Knowing that Crimson Stone often ventured deep into the Fallen Dragon Ridge for half a year at a time, this was hardly surprising.

This time, relying on his breakthrough to Foundation Establishment, Li Ji'an had felt there might be an opportunity to befriend Crimson Stone directly, which would be far more precise than passing messages through Chen Qingling.

Aside from the manual titled *Mystic Origin Chaos Scripture* that Crimson Stone had obtained thirty-three years ago from a tomb near the Soul-Sending Ants, Li Ji'an also suspected that due to his years of dragon-spotting and gold-locating, Crimson Stone likely possessed quite a few scarce Tier 2 and even Tier 3 materials.

However, Li Ji'an was not desperate. With plenty of time in this lifetime, he could completely wait until the chaotic situation in the wasteland subsided before creating another opportunity to befriend Crimson Stone.

With this in mind, he lingered no longer, summoned his flying boat, and headed straight north back to the Golden Glow Immortal City.

This location had already deviated from the core of the wasteland and was closer to the Stormy Desert in the west. Traveling north along this route meant he did not even need to pass through the wasteland.

Three months later, he returned to the immortal city uneventfully.

Along the way, he had diligently studied the Tier 2 talisman inheritance. Because it shared a continuous foundation with the talisman knowledge he had already acquired in this world, his research proceeded very smoothly, with many concepts falling into place naturally.

This gave him considerable confidence in his means of self-preservation in this lifetime.

Having been away for half a year, returning from the wasteland to his Tier 2 spiritual vein estate in the immortal city made him appreciate all the more how difficult it was for a rogue cultivator to secure such a stable cultivation sanctuary.

"Uncle Li!" Just as he activated the protective array of the residence, Xiao Qiao hurried over from a distance.

Having not seen her for half a year, Li Ji'an finally sensed that her cultivation had advanced by another level, reaching the second layer of Qi Refining.

This cultivation efficiency genuinely left Li Ji'an somewhat baffled.

With nine wisps of spiritual essence in all five elements, such an excellent cultivation environment, and her consistent hard work, her speed of advancement was nonetheless astonishingly slow.

The first layer of Qi Refining had taken a year, and the second layer had taken two years. This was even worse than Li Ji'an's spiritual root aptitude in his previous life, which had possessed only two wisps of spiritual essence.

However, where abnormal things happened, demons were bound to exist; Li Ji'an realized there might still be secrets regarding Xiao Qiao that he remained unaware of.

Or perhaps it was related to her ability to sense the spiritual aura of the earth.

He even wondered if she might be one of those God-favored beings mentioned by Yan Qingwan back then, whose divine blessing had an adverse effect on cultivation.

Offering words of encouragement, he released Gua Gua and the Fire Spirit to play with Xiao Qiao.

As for Li Ji'an himself, he began preparing for the small celebration of his Foundation Establishment breakthrough that he had previously promised.

This action was not for the sake of ceremony, but for the sake of interpersonal networking.

Looking across the entire Cangyun Prefecture, rogue cultivators capable of reaching Foundation Establishment were one in ten thousand.

The very reason rogue cultivators were called such was because they lacked roots, heritage, and backing.

Everything depended solely on oneself.

Upon advancing to Foundation Establishment, especially past its middle stage, the resources needed to aid one's cultivation became exceedingly difficult to find in the immortal city's markets, and information at that level was impossible for the general public to know.

Therefore, he needed to befriend other Foundation Establishment fellow Daoists to exchange needed resources and share intelligence.