The Lofty Phoenix Inn was a large and famous inn in Maple Leaf City that was elegantly decorated. It was neighboring to a red maple forest, causing its environment to be rather quiet and beautiful, and its fine wine, Maple Dew Wine, was famous throughout the city, causing its business to be extremely good.
At this moment, it was just noon and the Lofty Phoenix Inn was already full, and the cultivators from all over had gathered here to chat and enjoy themselves while drinking wine, causing it to be extremely bustling.
"Haha, I participated in the Treasure Heaven Pavilion's auction yesterday as well, and it can really be said to be unprecedentedly grand and unusually brilliant. Not only did I witness a superb collection of rare treasures, I even witnessed some great events with my own two eyes. Do all of you want to hear about it?"
"Tch! What're you baiting my curiosity for? I fucking participated in the auction as well, so what wouldn't I know? But, anyway, the auction this time was indeed full of ups and down."
"Dammit! Stop beating around the bush, alright? Tell me quickly!"
"Alright, there's no harm in telling you. During the auction yesterday, it wasn't just the Sikong Clan's Eldest Young Master and Second Young Master that had participated, even the Earthly Heaven Sect's Core Disciple Lin Moxuan and Su Jiankong whose current reputation was like the sun in the midday sky had appeared as well. You ought to know how grand the scale of the auction was just from hearing their names."
"Indeed. The Sikong Clan's Eldest Young Master, Sikong Hen, is at the perfection-stage of the Golden Core Realm, and he cultivates in the Five-Toxin Bloodtransformation Technique and has comprehended Corrosion Dao Insight, causing him to be a formidable figure in the younger generation as well. On the other hand, it goes without saying that Lin Moxuan and Su Jiankong are the most dazzling experts of the younger generation in the Earthly Heaven Sect, and both of them had actually appeared in the auction in unison. It was unexpected indeed."
"If all of you think that they played the leading role in the auction, then all of you are gravely mistaken. The reason the auction this time was so sensational was because a dark horse that was afraid of nothing had appeared suddenly, and even a Magic Treasure that Sikong Hen took a fancy to had been seized by this dark horse. If it was only like this, then it wasn't much, but shockingly, during the competition for the Profound Dispersion Pill, the Sikong Clan's display was too overbearing, causing Su Jiankong to represent the Earthly Heaven Sect to warn the Sikong Clan slightly, yet it was only a warning and no conflict occurred." When he spoke up to here, the voice paused for a moment, and only when he drew the gazes of everyone onto himself did he continued. "Who would have thought the unfamiliar cultivator who was like a dark horse would actually make a move and brazenly drive the price up and force the Sikong Clan's Second Young Master to pay an extra 200,000 Nascent Condensation Pills. Not only that, he even mocked the Sikong Clan's Second Young Master in the end, and he seemed as if he'd simply come for the sake of slapping the Sikong Clan's face!"
"That's 200,000 Nascent Condensation Pills! That person is too ruthless. The Sikong Clan probably hates this person to the bone now."
"Of course. Everyone present was dumbstruck at that time. Even though the Sikong Clan is inferior to the Earthly Heaven Sect, yet it's an overlord of Maple Leaf City, and it was the first time the Sikong Clan's face was slapped by another, so of course it was sensational."
"Such arrogance. Who exactly is that person to dare behave atrociously towards the Sikong Clan?"
"I don't know. But, this person will probably be unable to live for long. Not everyone can afford to offend the Sikong Clan. Want to just walk away from it? Impossible! The Sikong Clan is probably plotting about how to annihilate this person right now."
……
Practically all the topics of discussions in the inn revolved around the Treasure Heaven Pavilion's auction yesterday, and the topic that interested people the most was that audacious unfamiliar cultivator that went against the Sikong Clan at every aspect.
Who was this person?
What was his name?
What's his cultivation?
What's his background?
All of this brought about the guesses of the cultivators present, and it was probably a common flaw of everyone. They possessed a curiosity that was beyond understanding towards the unknown.
Om!
Right at this moment, a strange energy surge blasted out towards the surroundings with the inn at its center. This energy surge was so strong and mysterious, and even though it appeared briefly before vanishing, it caused the entire inn to become perfectly silent and lose its earlier bustling scene.
What happened?
Everyone looked at each other. Because this surge vanished too quickly, they only knew that it occurred within the inn, yet clueless towards what emitted the surge nor were they able to find any traces of it.
On the second floor of the inn, within a superior room.
Chen Xi looked at the talisman that lay quietly on the table, and even though the exhaustion between his brows couldn't be concealed, his eyes were suffused with a trace of shock.
Just moments ago, when he drew the final stroke and finished the final talisman marking structure, a strange energy surge gushed out abruptly from the surface of this talisman, and it seemed as if it took a breath, appearing and disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Even though it only appeared for an instant, yet it caused a trace of palpitation to occur in his heart, and it felt as if he was glanced coldly at by a formidable enemy. Although it was soundless, yet it caused him to feel a deep sense of threat.
After he calmed down his feelings, Chen Xi quickly abandoned the distracting thoughts in his mind and picked up this talisman. No, he picked up this high-grade treasure talisman, Azurewood Vitality, and carefully sized it up.
It possessed a gentle and flexible texture, a surface that was covered in silver colored stripes, and a lifelike pattern was faintly visible on it. Luxuriant trees that were like a forest stood towering on it, weeds and vines covered the entire ground, and when looked at with a glance, the entire pattern seemed to be flowing with a green color that was surging about, causing it to be green and luxuriant and emit a wisp of strong Wood Dao Insight.
"Eh, it's actually perfect!" Chen Xi looked attentively at it for a long time before a trace of pleasant surprise suffused his eyes. He clearly sensed that the energy contained within this high-grade treasured talisman had already attained the most perfect state, and it couldn't be improved in the slightest.
It was common knowledge that a perfect high-grade treasured talisman must contain the energy of nine types of Dao Insights, and it was precisely because of this that a talisman formation master capable of crafting a perfect high-grade treasured talisman would absolutely not have comprehended less than nine types of Dao Insights.
The Azurewood Vitality talisman before him did indeed contain Dao Insight, yet it only contained the Wood Dao Insight, but it was able to attain a state of perfection, so how could it not cause Chen Xi to be pleasantly surprised?
In next to no time, he came to an understanding. The Wood Dao Insight was a Grand Dao and encompassed the countless Minor Daos of wood. With its presence within the talisman, so long as nothing unexpected happens, then it would indeed be able to make the high-grade treasured talisman attain the state of perfection.
"A perfect high-grade treasured talisman is even more formidable than an ordinary talisman of the same quality, and the strength contained within it is much higher as well. In this way, the might of this high-grade treasure talisman is comparable to the full forced strike of a cultivator at the perfection-stage of the Golden Core Realm!" A trace of a smile couldn't help but suffuse Chen Xi's face, and then exhaustion gushed into his mind. Crafting this treasured talisman had practically consumed half of his True Essence, and the consumption of the energy of his soul was enormous as well. This feeling was as if he'd just experienced a fierce battle, causing his entire body to be fatigued and wish for nothing more than to drop down and sleep.
But, Chen Xi didn't have the intention of resting. The ink within the bowl was still sufficient to craft another Azurewood Vitality talisman, so if he waited for the ink to dry up, it would be too much of a waste.
Chen Xi took a deep breath before sitting before the table once more, and he started crafting a talisman again.
Another day passed.
After exerting the last drop of True Essence within his body and squeezing out all the Divine Sense within his sea of consciousness, Chen Xi had finally crafted another Azurewood Vitality talisman.
But, regretfully, maybe it was because of his condition or something went wrong, this high-grade treasured talisman didn't attain a perfect state.
"My condition was unprecedentedly concentrated when I crafted the first talisman, and I was at my peak state, whereas, when I crafted the second talisman, even though my True Essence and Divine Sense were sufficient, but my mental strength was slightly unable to follow up to this. Perhaps this is the reason behind it?" Chen Xi pondered for a moment, and then stopped considering it anymore. Presently, he was exhausted to the extreme and has to swiftly recover the essence, energy, and spirit of his entire body. Immediately, he didn't hesitate to sit cross-legged on his bed before starting to regulate his breathing.
From this day onward, Chen Xi stayed within his room at all times without stepping out in the slightest, and he immersed himself in the crafting of talismans. He had to rest for a day every time he crafted two high-grade treasured talismans, and when averaged out, he crafted a single talisman every day, causing his output to be extremely small.
But, even though the number was small, yet their might was extremely terrifying. After all, a single high-grade treasured talisman was comparable to the full forced strike of an advanced-stage Golden Core Realm cultivator, and when sold on the market, it would absolutely be a precious treasure that everyone fought for madly.
If Chen Xi's success rate and speed of crafting a high-grade treasured talisman every day was publicized, it would surely shock everyone's jaws off.
The 15th day.
On this day, a rainstorm fell on Maple Leaf City, causing dark clouds to cover the sky while lightning flashed and thunder rumbled. The streaming rain poured down in sheets of water, causing the entire Maple Leaf City to seem to have fallen into the veil of night during the daytime.
During weather like this, even cultivators were unwilling to come out and move about, so besides some pedestrians that hurried back home in groups of two or three, the entire city seemed to be extremely deserted.
However, right amidst this adverse weather was three figures that appeared leisurely and carefreely under the curtain of rain. Even though the rainstorm was strong, yet not a single drop of rain had touched them, and every single stride they took crossed a distance of 300m, causing them to seem like spirits that walked within the rain.
In next to no time, the three people had arrived at Lofty Phoenix Inn.
The business of the Lofty Phoenix Inn was extremely bleak as well, not a single shadow of a customer could be seen, even the attendants and chefs weren't present any longer, and only the owner of the inn stood at the entrance.
A trace of terror flashed within the eyes of this white and stout owner when he noticed the arrival of these three people, and his bearing became even more humble and respectful as he sent a voice transmission with a low voice. "According to your instructions, everyone within the inn has left. Presently, only the two guests in the superior room on the second floor remain. May I ask if you have any other instructions?"
"You can leave. The Sikong Clan will send someone over to repay your losses today." The person in the lead nodded indifferently as he spoke. He wore a large bamboo hat and his entire body was enveloped in black robes, thus only the bottom half of his face was revealed, and his voice was hoarse and icy cold like a venomous snake that was flicking its tongue, causing one to feel a chill run down one's spine.
"Oh, oh." The inn owner's heart trembled, and he disregarded the heavy rain as he fled from the inn. Along with the arrival of these three people, this inn that he'd managed for a few decades had undoubtedly become a den of devils in his heart.
"It's only a little fellow at the Golden Hall Realm, yet the three of us were mobilized. Isn't the Eldest Young Master a bit too cautious?" On the other side, a stalwart middle aged man with a face covered in terrifying scars shook his head and sighed endlessly.
"Enough grumbling. The weather today is suitable for killing." The black robed man in the lead raised his head to look at the sky. Right at this moment, a brilliant bolt of lightning tore through the dark clouds, and it illuminated his face that was ghastly pale and his blood colored eyes that didn't seem human.