Chapter 189: 169: The Way of the Talisman_1
Chapter 189: Chapter 169: The Way of the Talisman_1
“`
Disaster struck the Thousand States!
And the incidents they encountered were all incredibly bizarre!
In the over seven hundred states of the Southwest Domain of the Heavenly Realm, all living beings were as if someone had drained their blood, turning them into dried corpses!
And in the over four hundred states of the Northeast Domain of the Heavenly Realm, all the women… turned into faceless female corpses, wandering about like zombies, heading towards areas where living people were gathered!
“Retreat, we must retreat at once, we cannot stay here any longer!”
In the Southwest Domain of the Heavenly Realm, that day, several hundred grand sects were collectively retreating, fleeing for their lives!
It is said that the disaster in the Southwest Domain was the work of devils, who would dare to seek death now?
“My daughter, your father is doing this for your own good. Any female who is seen by those things loses her face immediately and becomes one of them… Flee, flee towards the center of the Heavenly Realm, there might be someone there who can withstand this great abomination!”
In the Northeast Domain of the Heavenly Realm, a Taiyi Golden Immortal-level Sect Master, at this moment, was anxiously sending his daughter away. He was truly frightened, as those female corpses had become a force, extremely sinister, and no one could match them!
…
The Heavenly Realm is in turmoil!
Especially the cultivators from the Northeast and Southwest Domains, all fleeing for their lives!
…
Taiyan Holy Land.
“Both Alliance Hierarchs, after investigation, it has been found that in the over seven hundred states of the Southwest Domain were wiped out, all living beings had their blood drained.”
“Moreover, the mastermind behind the scenes is becoming stronger, and the speed of destroying states is increasingly fast!”
“In the Northeast Domain, there are hundreds of millions of faceless female corpses chasing after the living, and any woman who lays eyes on them will lose their face and become one of them, which is also very terrifying!”
The Golden Immortals who went to investigate have now returned.
Their words were heavy.
In the great hall, Yuanyang Holy Lord, Dugu Chenlu, and others all had very grave expressions.
“It is now wildly rumored in the Heavenly Realm that evil spirits have appeared in both the Northeast and Southwest Domains…”
Saint Lord Lingchao spoke.
“Whether they are evil spirits or not, there is no doubt that the entity behind is becoming more and more formidable, and the disaster is likely only to worsen!”
Yuanyang Holy Lord was full of worry!
“Among the thousand states struck by the disaster, there were no lack of experts like Taiyi Golden Immortals, yet not even a splash was made…”
Dugu Chenlu then looked to Fire Spirit:
“Alliance Hierarch, I fear that this matter has already exceeded our abilities!”
It was too eerie.
Hearing this, Fire Spirit’s brow also furrowed slightly.
What can be done about this…
“Sister, perhaps we have to consult Senior Li again.”
Mu Qianning spoke.
Fire Spirit could only nod helplessly in agreement.
…
The small mountain village.
In the courtyard.
Nan Feng was playing the zither, Zi Ling was painting, Lu Rang was engrossed in planting, Dugu Yuqing was holding the Broken Sword, obsessed with calligraphy, Qing Chen was sweeping every day, and Long Zixuan was watching fish daily.
And the newly arrived Wu Dade has been feeding chickens these past few days.
Indeed, although his task was to feed dogs, he had been taking the Little Black Dog to chicken flocks every day and feeding them corn, scaring the Little Black Dog into shivers.
Now, the Little Black Dog no longer dared to be fierce towards Wu Dade.
And Li Fan, while casually playing chess with Jiang Li, was teaching Xinning to read.
Gong Ya was serving behind him.
Everything was orderly.
Li Fan picked up his teacup and took a leisurely sip.
Actually, in this world of cultivators, to be able to live so peacefully and leisurely, Li Fan was quite satisfied.
With a thought, he checked the progress of his system tasks.
“Apprenticeship Task: Take on 10 apprentices, impart ten types of skills. Current completed tasks: 8. Remaining tasks: 2.”
“Tip: Completion reward ‘The Path of Cultivation Unfolds’.”
Seeing the prompt, Li Fan became instantly excited.
To recruit two more apprentices would mean the Path of Cultivation could unfold?
Currently, he had already taken on eight disciples!
The eldest disciple Nan Feng, taught the musical arts.
The second disciple Zi Ling, taught painting skills.
The third disciple Lu Rang, taught the ways of farming and cultivation.
The fourth disciple Long Zixuan taught how to feed fish!
The fifth disciple Dugu Yuqing, learning calligraphy.
The sixth disciple Qing Chen, learning the art of sweeping.
Along with teaching the ways of chess to the seventh disciple Jiang Li and teaching the eighth Wu Dade how to run a farm.
A total of eight disciples, each imparted with a different skill!
Only two more to go.
He was suddenly quite expectant.
He hoped that Fire Spirit and Mu Qianning would be efficient and find him apprentices soon!
But, such things can’t be rushed.
Because only those with special inclinations were suitable for Li Fan to teach different arts, otherwise, for example, taking another disciple who studies the musical arts would yield no effect.
After all, the system requires each disciple to learn a different skill!
“Qianning requests an audience with Senior Li!”
Just then, Mu Qianning’s voice could be heard.
“Come in.”
The group immediately pushed the door and entered.
“How has the development been going lately?”
Li Fan asked with a smile.
He wondered if Fire Spirit and the others had managed to open up a bigger market.
Upon hearing this, Fire Spirit said gratefully:
“`
“Thank you, Senior, for intervening. Indeed, the support comes from all directions now!”
No one in the Heavenly Realm dares to disrespect.
Li Fan also smiled and nodded. It seemed their business prospects were becoming more and more promising.
“By the way, Senior.”
At this moment, Fire Spirit continued:
“Recently in the Heavenly Realm… there may have appeared two… ‘dirty things’!”
Dirty things?
“Dirty things?”
As soon as Li Fan heard this, he was immediately surprised.
Could there be ghosts in this world?
But then again, this is the world of cultivators.
It seems… pretty normal!
“Yes, more than seven hundred states in the Southwest Domain of the Heavenly Realm have had everyone’s life claimed and their blood drained!”
“In the Northeast Domain of the Heavenly Realm, the ‘Faceless Female Corpse Tide’ appeared, countless women without faces turning into zombies, advancing towards other states, and any woman who sees one of their faces, even for a moment, will also become faceless…”
Fire Spirit continued to report.
Upon hearing this, Nan Feng and Zi Ling were both startled.
They were girls, and upon hearing such things, they subconsciously felt afraid.
Long Zixuan and the others were equally shocked. Had such a grave incident really occurred in the outside world?
Li Fan also felt a chill in his heart.
Damn, this stuff sounded terrifying.
It was like the template for a horror novel.
Could it be that he had transversed to the wrong world? Was this not a world of cultivation, but rather a world of horror?
“Is this… a Yin Ghost??”
Gong Ya spoke out in shock.
Having come from the Demon Domain, she knew more!
Upon hearing these words, everyone looked toward Gong Ya.
Li Fan also said:
“You know about this?”
Seeing Li Fan asking her, Gong Ya immediately felt nervous and said:
“Master, actually, Yin Ghosts… are more common in the Demon Domain, and some even categorize Yin Ghosts as a type of demon.”
“But in reality, Yin Ghosts are more bizarre, they have truly died once, and they are very difficult to kill…”
“Each Yin Ghost has its own desires, some crave slaughter, some enjoy violating female cultivators, some delight in eating humans…”
“But what they have in common is that they all grow very quickly!”
She dared not hide anything.
A supreme power like Senior Li, how could he not know about Yin Ghosts? Surely, he was testing to see if she was being truthful!
“Gong Ya… has encountered some Yin Ghosts before!”
Upon hearing this, the others were immensely shocked as they stared at Gong Ya!
“The Demon Domain… she mentioned the Demon Domain… that’s something that exists only in ancient legends…”
Yuanyang Holy Lord murmured, knowing very little about the Demon Domain in the Lower World, having only scraps of rumors about it.
“So… it turns out she is someone from the Demon Domain, isn’t she? Senior Li’s plans involve not only the Immortal Domain but the Demon Domain as well!”
Dugu Chenlu spoke dreamily, having thought Senior Li’s reclusive arrangement was targeted at the bigwigs of the Immortal Domain.
But now, it seemed to span across both the realms of Immortals and Demons!
That was too frightening.
Li Fan had no concept of the Demon Domain, but he was also very curious about Yin Ghosts, and asked:
“Yin Ghosts, how should they be dealt with?”
Gong Ya said:
“Reporting to Senior, within the Demon Domain, powerful demon cultivators… can devour Yin Ghosts!”
“In the Immortal Domain and the Lower World under its jurisdiction, there are supposed to be Heavenly Masters who specialize in dealing with Yin Ghosts that can draw talismans to suppress them, relying on the passage of time to eradicate the Yin Ghosts!”
“Besides that, Yin Ghosts are almost impossible to kill!”
She left nothing unsaid.
Li Fan generally understood now.
In that place called the Demon Domain, basically, demons devour ghosts, and that’s that.
But in the Immortal Domain and the Lower World, there are no demons.
So there are Heavenly Masters?
Li Fan hadn’t seen a Heavenly Master, but talismans…
He damn well learned about them! The System taught him too many things, including talismans!
He used to complain that the System was teaching him to draw useless talismans…
Could it be that now, they might actually come in handy?
“Um… in the Heavenly Realm, have you possibly found a Heavenly Master?”
But he still asked first.
Fire Spirit, Yuanyang Holy Lord, and the others shook their heads in confusion.
Yin Ghosts, Heavenly Masters… these concepts, they had even heard of for the first time today!
Seeing this, Li Fan had no choice but to grit his teeth and say:
“If that’s the case… I might as well try my hand at drawing a couple of talismans…”
“Zi Ling, go to the study and bring me my cinnabar.”
Whether it works or not, he thought, let’s try first.
After all, in Li Fan’s view, Fire Spirit and the others were most likely seeking psychological comfort, since those two Yin Ghosts were still tens of thousands of miles away from Xuan Tianzhou.
Whether it works or not, it seemed to have little impact.
But upon hearing this, Nan Feng, Zi Ling, and the other disciples were extremely surprised.
Their Master, he knew how to draw talismans? To capture ghosts??