txolops Chapter 26 Golden Wind Cone
Chapter 26 Golden Wind Cone
Luo Ming quickly went over to check. He had just scanned the area with his divine sense but hadn't found anything unusual. He looked at the other person with a puzzled expression, his eyes full of questions, as if he was curious about how the other person had noticed.
"Ahem, I have some knowledge of formations. Alas, my cultivation has not improved at all over the years, so I can only put more effort into these unorthodox methods." Xiang Zhili raised his hand to stroke his beard.
The art of formations requires special talent to comprehend, making it the most difficult of all the arts of cultivation. If the art of talismans is easy to learn but difficult to master, then the art of formations is so difficult that even getting started is extremely challenging.
"So Senior Brother Xiang is actually a formation master?" Luo Ming immediately put on an extremely shocked expression, his admiration perfectly timed, and even he himself felt that his acting skills were becoming more and more proficient.
So the two of them simultaneously manipulated their magical artifacts to attack the stone wall, but when the artifacts landed on the barrier, they only created shallow ripples, like trying to pierce a city wall with a toothpick, which had no effect whatsoever.
The two exchanged a glance, understanding each other's meaning: an attack of this magnitude could not possibly break the barrier; if you have any powerful trump cards up your sleeve, bring them out quickly.
The two stared at each other for a moment, then Xiang Zhili suddenly spoke, his tone somewhat uncertain: "I have an ancestral talisman here. Although it's not specifically designed to break restrictions, it does have some restraint over restrictions. However, activating it consumes too much magical power."
"Really? Senior Brother, quickly take it out so I can try it out!" Luo Ming immediately showed a look of surprise and looked at the other party with eager eyes, but in his heart he thought to himself: You old devil, you've finally decided to take out something real.
A flash of light appeared in Xiang Zhili's hand, and a golden-blue talisman emerged. The talisman was decorated with a golden cone pattern, but the color was rather dull, and it looked like it could only be used one or two more times.
"This is a talisman—the Golden Wind Cone!" Xiang Zhili slowly introduced.
Luo Ming reached out and took the talisman, jokingly saying with a smile, "Senior Brother Xiang trusts me so much, aren't you afraid I'll take the talisman and run away?"
Xiang Zhili chuckled and waved his hand, "I see that Fellow Daoist Luo is upright and honest, and is definitely not the kind of person who would be greedy for petty gains. Besides, this talisman only has residual power left, and after this use, it may just turn to ashes."
Luo Ming, however, had already set his sights on the talisman. He knew that anything a Nascent Soul cultivator could produce, even a flawed one, was far from ordinary and shouldn't be wasted here. However, he had already pretended to have no other means of dealing with it; if he were to produce another talisman now, it would inevitably arouse suspicion, which would be counterproductive.
After much thought, Luo Ming finally came up with an idea: if he could break the restriction later, he would immediately stop, trying to preserve as much of the talisman's power as possible. Then he would find a way to buy it back from Xiang Zhili and refill it with spiritual energy using his own Spirit Gathering Cauldron. After all, most talismans would spontaneously combust and destroy themselves after their power was exhausted, so Xiang Zhili would most likely not care about this broken talisman.
"Senior Brother Xiang, how about we discuss something?" Luo Ming looked up at the other person.
"Oh? What is it?" Xiang Zhili asked with a puzzled look.
"Junior brother, I happen to be lacking a talisman of this type. If the power of this talisman hasn't been exhausted after the restriction is broken, I wonder if senior brother could sell it to me? Don't worry, junior brother will never let senior brother suffer a loss, and will definitely offer the full amount of spirit stones," Luo Ming said sincerely.
"That... is feasible." Xiang Zhili agreed after a moment's thought. "I can hardly control this talisman, so it would be more practical to exchange it for some spirit stones."
The two exchanged a knowing smile, each putting on an act as if they had gotten the better deal, and continued their charade without tacitly understanding each other.
Before using the talisman, Luo Ming first restored his mana to its peak. He knew that the power difference between talismans was enormous; some could only threaten Foundation Establishment cultivators, while others could make even Nascent Soul cultivators envious.
This has a lot to do with the magic weapon used to refine the talisman. After all, a magic weapon that a Nascent Soul cultivator has nurtured for hundreds of years with Nascent Soul Fire is naturally incomparable to an ordinary magic weapon refined by a Golden Core cultivator.
Luo Ming slowly channeled his magic power into the Golden Wind Cone talisman. Gradually, golden patterns lit up on the talisman's surface, with wisps of azure energy swirling between them. As more magic power was poured in, the golden cone patterns on the talisman seemed to come alive, emanating a sharp and piercing aura. Luo Ming felt as if his skin was being pricked by needles, and quickly activated his magic power to condense a layer of spiritual energy shield around his body, which provided some relief.
But gradually, Luo Ming realized something was wrong. He had already used up 70% of his magic power, but the phantom of the Golden Wind Cone was still not fully formed.
"Brother Xiang, don't trick me! How much mana does this talisman actually consume?" Luo Ming's expression changed slightly, and he couldn't help but ask.
"Almost there, Junior Brother Luo, just hang in there a little longer!" Xiang Zhili was even more anxious than him at this moment. This Golden Wind Cone was the weakest talisman he could muster. The other talismans were too powerful, and a Qi Refining stage cultivator's mana was simply not enough to activate them. He had no other choice but to take out this one.
Seeing that his mana was about to reach nine-tenths depletion, Luo Ming dared not delay. He quickly took out several pills to restore his mana and swallowed them, barely managing to prevent the talisman from draining his mana completely. At this moment, his face was already somewhat pale. A cultivator's mana must never be excessively depleted. If it were completely exhausted, not only would he be powerless to fight back in dangerous situations, but he might even drop in cultivation level. If he hadn't known that his opponent was a Nascent Soul cultivator, and that even with abundant mana, he would be no match for him, he would never have wasted his mana like this in front of others.
Finally, under Luo Ming's full power, a golden-blue cone-shaped phantom several meters long appeared above his head. Wisps of blue energy surrounded the surface of the cone, and its tip emitted a chillingly sharp light. With a thought, Luo Ming controlled the golden wind cone phantom and instantly crashed into the restriction.
Contrary to expectations, the Golden Wind Cone pierced the barrier effortlessly, like a sturdy steel needle piercing through thin paper. It even pierced a large hole in the passage behind it, shocking Luo Ming. He hadn't expected the talisman to be so powerful, not only easily breaking the barrier but also destroying the foundation of the array behind it.
Upon seeing this, Xiang Zhili immediately flashed through the hole in the barrier, not forgetting to turn back and call out, "Junior Brother Luo, come in quickly!"
Luo Ming didn't dare to delay and quickly put away the talisman. A pale gold-blue talisman with dim spiritual power fell into his hand. "Thank goodness, at least it didn't run out of power." He breathed a sigh of relief and carefully put the talisman into his storage bag. Then, he used his Wind Control Technique to follow Xiang Zhili into the bag.
After passing through a not-too-long passage, Luo Ming arrived at a stone chamber that was much smaller than the previous one. At this moment, Xiang Zhili was opening a treasure chest in the center of the stone chamber with a look of surprise, and took out a golden jade slip to examine it carefully.