At this moment, Liu Jing had completely recovered his calmness as if he were in complete control. When the surrounding disciples saw this, they glanced at each other and felt slightly more confident as they followed after him.
A reluctant look covered Liu Jing's face as he stared at the jade box in his hand. But soon after, his expression became resolved and he placed his hands on the box.
In an instant, the jade box shattered apart into miniscule pieces, revealing a peculiar talisman covered in red light.
A fire-red flame bird was inscribed on the talisman; it incessantly flapped its wings as though it was flying freely like a real bird. The bird’s glowing blue eyes even occasionally shifted.
The most astonishing fact was the scorching Qi the talisman emitted; it caused the temperature within thirty meters to abruptly rise, leaving his allies parched from the scorching heat.
Song Meng and the others approached and saw the astonishing scene of the talisman unfold.
“Treasure talisman!” Song Meng exclaimed upon seeing the talisman.
“No, this isn’t a common treasure talisman. This is.... a Treasure Seal!” After seeing the talisman’s strange appearance, Senior Martial Brother Wang cried out as if he had just seen a ghost.
Those who knew of this “Treasure Seal” were dumbstruck.
While this so-called “Treasure Seal” was considered a treasure talisman, it was completely different from common treasure talismans.
First of all, common treasure talismans only contained a tenth of the original magic treasure’s might at most. However, a Treasure Seal defied this convention, allowing it to contain a third of a magic treasure’s might!
Secondly, treasure seals could only be refined with the bloodline of the magic treasure’s master. As a result, only descendants of this specific bloodline would be able to activate and make use of this talisman. If someone else were to attempt to use it, the talisman would destroy itself.
With such great benefits, there naturally had to be some significant disadvantages; otherwise, all the elders would leave their later generations with only treasure seals.
While treasure seals contained several times more power than a ordinary treasure talismans, its greatest flaw was that it could only be used once. This single use would display the entirety of its might without restraint and leave no second use. As a result, it was far less practical than common treasure talismans.
Additionally, there was another reason as to why so few treasure seals were passed down.
After a magic treasure went through the process of bloodline refinement in order to produce a treasure seal, the magic treasure would suffer permanent and irrecoverable loss in strength. After knowing these restrictions, elder cultivators felt it would be far better to leave behind several ordinary treasure talismans for their descendants rather than ruining their own magic treasures which were as precious to them as their own lives.
Thus, many cultivators joked that there were several times more magic treasures in the cultivation world than treasure seals. Although these words were slightly exaggerated, they weren’t far from the truth!
Chapter 323: Demon Execution
Treasure seals were several times more difficult to activate compared to common treasure talismans. As a result of this, Liu Jing asked his fellow sect members to protect him as he did not wish to meet the same tragic end as his Junior Martial Sister. Finishing his instructions, Liu Jing protected himself using his yellow ring magic tool before he sat down cross-legged on his flying magic tool. With a calm heart, Liu Jing began to pour magic power into the fire-bird treasure seal.
As the fire-red talisman’s glow gradually intensified in Liu Jing’s hand, the inscribed fire-bird’s wings became increasingly nimble and lively. It seemed as though the fire-bird would suddenly materialize and fly out from the talisman at any moment.
Although Han Li was engaged in battle with the Ice Demon on land, he felt at ease knowing that his fellow sect disciples were taking action. He had feared that his fellow sect disciples would cower and run away in defeat. If he were left alone, Han Li would be unable to obtain the item he desired from the Black Fiend School Master.
No longer worried about being deserted, Han Li wholeheartedly focused on the enemy before him. Even as a mid Foundation Establishment cultivator, the Shifting Smoke Steps still placed a significant burden on his body. Thus, he couldn’t let this battle of extreme speed drag on; he had to risk an all out assault.
With that in mind, Han Li incessantly flickered about while brandishing a silver sword in one hand, suppressing the Ice Demon and leaving him winded. With Han Li’s other hand, he silently summoned an item from his storage pouch and wound it around his ring finger.
Killing intent flashed through his eyes; Han Li charged forward at a fearsome speed, sword grasped in both hands. He suddenly made a vicious attack, inspiring fear in the ice demon. The Ice Demon hastily fell back and raised his sharp crystal claws in defense.
Dāng. The ice demon coldly laughed. Taking advantage of the strike’s momentum, the Ice Demon flew backwards and increased the distance between him and Han Li. At that moment, a slight sneer appeared on Han Li’s face.
When the Ice Demon saw this, he felt extremely uneasy. Han Li let go of his sword with one hand and pulled.
In turn, the Ice Demon felt an indescribable force halt his retreat and could no longer avoid Han Li’s fierce strike. At that moment, Han Li grasped the sword in both hands once more and expressionlessly moved to strike.
When the Ice Demon saw this, he turned pale and hastily started struggling with all his might. Unfortunately, it was already too late. In the blink of an eye, Han Li had already appeared before him. Han Li’s sword blurred momentarily and countless silver streaks assaulted the Ice Demon as they flashed past each other. At the following instant, two figures appeared beneath the moonlight: Han Li standing with a sword in his grasp and the Ice Demon falling to the ground.
Having clearly seen this, Song Meng and the others couldn’t help but feel extremely nervous.
The Ice Demon staggered to his feet and looked at Han Li’s back with an evil grin. As he thought to say something, his expression suddenly froze.
The sound of a series of sharp ruptures could be heard, revealing countless fine cracks on the Ice Demon’s transparent body. As the sounds continued, the cracks grew larger, eventually turning the Ice Demon’s body into a pile of broken, translucent ice.
As the translucent crystals broke down, a complete undamaged claw weakly reached out with its sharp tips still emitting dense cold Qi. This was the only thing to survive Han Li’s rapid cuts; it was also left completely unharmed.
Han Li dispassionately looked at the Ice Demon’s remains. Then he turned his gaze toward the dazzling three light cocoons, wrinkling his brow.
He silently pulled his hand, causing the ice claw to fly toward him.
From the reflection of the moonlight, a thin transparent thread could be faintly seen between the sharp claw and Han Li. This was precisely the Ice Demon’s cause of death.
Taking advantage of their close distance during the previous strike, Han Li had controlled the transparent thread on his ring finger to stealthily wind around his claw. Unfortunately, while the demon transformation left the Ice Demon’s body transparent and strong, it had also dulled his senses, allowing Han Li to succeed in taking his life.
Han Li lowered his head to look at the ice claw, and after a moment of hesitation, he threw it away.
Since the ice claw was able to withstand his silver sword without harm, he understood it was certain to be exceptionally good material for refining magic tools. But with the knowledge that it was originally a person’s hand, his heart shivered and he was unable to overcome his disgust.
He walked to the side of the Ice Demon’s remains and casually slashed at the ice pile a few times with a silver sword, fishing out a storage pouch from within. After taking a quick look at it, he carefully put it away. He then silently
flew to the sky, wanting to see how his fellow sect members would deal with the three transformed blood servants.
Han Li didn’t know that during the moment that the Ice Demon had lost his life, a middle aged man in meditation suddenly opened his blood-red eyes and muttered to himself, “Ice Demon has already died? That’s fine. It’ll save me the effort of dealing with him in the future.”
With that said, he calmly closed his eyes as if nothing had happened.
A shriveled corpse laid before him. From the clear outlines of the bone, it appeared that there was no flesh underneath the skin. The corpse was wearing the clothes of a Yellow Maple Valley cultivator.
……
Han Li flew to the sky and before he opened his mouth, Song Meng and the others had surrounded him. With expressions of admiration and shock, they all showered him with praise. Their words even held a trace of reverence. Senior Martial Sister Xue Hong’s pair cultivation partner was flushed with thankfulness toward Han Li.
Han Li said a few humbling words. He then noticed the blinding red talisman in Liu Jing’s hand and curiously asked about it.
Someone immediately gave Han Li an explanation about “Treasure Seals”, causing Han Li to feel overjoyed and relieved.
Naturally, Han Li had heard of treasure seals before. However, he hadn’t expected that Senior Martial Brother Liu would have such a treasure and would be willing to use such a critical life-saving measure.
Han Li hadn’t known Liu Jing for long and had no way of knowing about Liu Jing’s complicated dilemma over paying such a heavy cost to preserve his reputation.
In Han Li’s case, he basically didn’t care how others looked at him. So long as his own reputation didn’t get in his way of his rewards, he didn’t care.
Naturally, if Han Li had the opportunity to leave a good impression without expending much effort, he would be quite willing to do it. But to use something as precious as a “Treasure Seal” in order to maintain his reputation, Han Li wouldn’t be willing to do such a foolish thing even if he would be killed.
Even so, Liu Jing’s action had truly left an impression on Han Li. He even doubted the validity of his long held belief. If there were those in this world that truly acted to exterminate evil, then what would that make him? Could he be considered a “good person”?
Just as Han Li was feeling slightly ashamed, he suddenly heard a ferocious roar filled with the desire of blood and massacre from below.
Han Li and company hastily looked down in alarm.
One of the three light cocoons had undergone a huge change, appearing as if the Blood Servant within was about to emerge.
Han Li’s heart trembled. It seemed he would have to fight another Blood Servant in order to buy time for Senior Martial Brother Liu to finish!
With that in mind, Han Li started to take action but was interrupted by a tranquil voice from behind him.
“Everyone, step aside. Allow me to eliminate those three demons.”
Upon hearing this, everyone revealed joy.
Han Li hastily turned around and saw Liu Jing looking at them with a smile. He had a small, exquisite red bird in his hand. It fluttered about and appeared extremely adorable. Additionally, the scorching Qi in the vicinity had disappeared without a trace at an unknown time.
‘That is the appearance of the treasure seal?’ Han Li looked at the small red bird with astonishment.
“Thank you very much for protecting me, everyone!”
Liu Jing flew to the front of the group in a relaxed manner. Under the gaze of the others’ amazement, he acted without the slightest hesitation and lightly blew at the small bird in his hand. With a clear chirp, the small fire-bird quickly flew forward from Liu Jing’s hand.
At that moment, a light cocoon beneath them had finished its transformation. Puchi. A demon wrapped in azure light emerged from its cocoon. Its shape was quite similar to the half-transformed Ice Demon however, its appearance was a deep azure.
From the demon’s appearance, once could clearly tell that it was Daoist Priest Qing Wen. But at this moment, he appeared completely crazed as if he didn’t possess the ability to think.
He let out two mad roars and raised his head to look at the small fluttering fire-bird. His body immediately grew still and the insanity displayed on his face was restrained, revealing an expression of great fear.
He then lost himself to panic and looked around him. He suddenly flew to the skies covered in azure light; it seemed he wished to escape.
But at that moment, a fierce explosion erupted from the small red bird, changing it into a large blazing bird about three meters wide. It spread its wings and traveled over thirty meters in an instant, appearing before the demon-transformed Qing Wen. With its sharp red beak, it lightly pecked at him.
Chapter 324: The Black Fiend School Master
The blazing fire-bird flew over twenty meters into the air and pecked at Qing Wen with its huge beak, turning him into a huge, plummeting fireball. When he landed on the ground, he only managed to wretchedly scream twice before turning into a pile of ash without the slightest resistance.
As Han Li watched on in complete astonishment, the huge fire-bird sharply cried out. Turning its head toward the two remaining light cocoons, it fiercely charged toward them. As a result, a huge pillar of fire erupted into the sky from the location of the cocoons. The two nearly-transformed Blood Servants were instantly engulfed in an ocean of fire.
The light cocoons were only able to bitterly resist the raging flames for a short moment before completely disappearing. The defenseless Blood Servants then silently swayed for several steps before completely turning to ash.
The blazing flame appeared extraordinary. Its unexpected ferociousness greatly shocked Han Li, leaving him with another memory of a Core Formation cultivator’s magic treasure’s might.
Apart from Han Li, his fellow cultivators all had expressions of pleasant surprise.
“That treasure seal was incredibly powerful!”
“We were able to eradicate this evil school all because of Liu Jing!”
……
The others excitedly spoke to each other in great excitement.
From their point of view, with the Blood Servants eliminated, all they had left to deal with was the Black Fiend School Master. As a group of many Foundation Establishment cultivators, there was no reason to believe that they wouldn’t be able deal with a lone evil schoolmaster.
As Liu Jing saw the fire-bird’s raging flames gradually disappear, he greatly lamented; but after hearing the other’s praises, his spirits were raised!
“We’ve wasted quite a bit of time. Let’s enter and exterminate the Black Fiend School Master!” Liu Jing waved his arm with a mighty, heroic air.
The others nodded in agreement and followed after him.
Han Li faintly smiled but as he was about to follow after them, he spotted Senior Martial Brother Wang blankly staring in some direction with a strange expression.
This somewhat surprised Han Li and he couldn’t help but follow Wang’s gaze. Aside from the white ash of the transformed Blood Servants and the pitifully arranged remains of Xue Hong, what else could he be looking at?
“Senior Martial Brother Wang, did you discover something?” Han Li couldn’t help but doubtfully ask.
“No, no I didn’t discover anything. Junior Martial Brother Han, you are being overly suspicious!” When Senior Martial Brother Wang heard Han Li’s question, he immediately shifted his gaze before answering.
When Han Li saw this, how couldn’t he tell that something was strange? This person had certainly discovered something important but didn’t want to tell the others. Why else would he act like this?
Han Li became somewhat depressed but with a slight smile, he said, “Since it is nothing, let’s quickly descend. Everyone wishes to go in!” Pointing in the direction of the cold palace, Han Li wordlessly descended, leaving Senior Martial Brother Wang to be the last one remaining in the sky. Uncertainty and doubt f
luctuating on his face, he eventually stomped his foot and helplessly followed after them.
As Han Li landed on the ground, he heard a lovely voice from the sky.
“Senior Martial Brother Liu, Junior Martial Brother Han, wait for us!”
After a moment of surprise, Han Li slowly turned his head toward the sky. When the others heard this, they stopped and looked in the direction of the voice with happy expressions.
Underneath the soft moonlight, Zhong Weiniang and Chen Qiaoqian were slowly descending from the sky with an extremely pale middle aged man in tow, suspended by his collar on the flying magic tool.
The middle aged man wore golden clothes and had a deathly pale complexion. When he saw Han Li and the others, he appeared to become even more panicked.
When Liu Jing saw them, he welcomed them with a slight smile.
“It seems that you two were able to smoothly succeed! So this is the Emperor of Yue!” After the two female cultivators landed, Liu Jing turned his gaze to the middle aged man and asked without paying much mind.
“That’s right! This guy was in meeting with a few officials in some hall. After Senior Martial Sister and I knocked out the officials and grabbed the Emperor, two Qi Condensation disciples rushed out in an attempt to stop us, but we were able to easily dispatch them. Senior Martial Brother Liu, it seems you haven’t encountered any problems either. That’s great!”
When Zhong Weiniang saw Liu Jing was completely unharmed, she incessantly chattered, expressing unmistakable concern for him. This caused Liu Jing to appear embarrassed, much to the entertainment of Han Li.
“Junior Martial Sister Chen, are you also alright?” Two of Chen Qiaoqian's Senior Martial Brothers asked cordially.
With an indifferent expression, Chen Qiaoqian confirmed this and swept her gaze past the group. When she saw Han Li, she stared at him for a moment before turning away with a complicated expression.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 176