Above the Great Dao
Chapter 489 - 232: Family’s Secret Technique_2

Chapter 489: Chapter 232: Family’s Secret Technique_2

Baili Mu bowed and said, "Saintess, wait for my message."

Two days passed without news from Baili Mu, and Saintess Xuan couldn’t help feeling anxious, but fortunately the swelling and pain on her face had subsided, and her appearance had returned to normal, except for some lingering dark marks where the hits had been heavier.

That day, Baili Mu hurried over and asked, "Has the villain Chen Shi left the city? Can the Saintess take action?"

Saintess Xuan replied, "The clotted blood on my head has yet to completely dissipate, and Soul Emergence is somewhat difficult. He injured my Heavenly Gate, so I cannot take action myself."

Baili Mu smiled and said, "After Chen Shi is captured, I will leave him with a breath of life so the Saintess can vent her anger."

Saintess Xuan shook her head and said, "As a member of the clergy, I do not kill."

She paused briefly before adding, "It would be best for you to take action."

She followed the crowd from the Banshan Sect as they walked out of the city. The Banshan Sect had many members and plenty of skilled individuals, and they were joined by people from the Hundred Refinement Hall.

At that moment, Baili Mu’s voice reached her, "Saintess Xuan, we need to travel a hundred miles out of the imperial carriage’s city, and the journey is rather long. Please, enter the carriage."

Saintess Xuan looked and saw a carriage draped with a Hua Gai, drawn by two spotted deer, arriving and stopping beside her.

The Hua Gai was square, hanging down to cover an area about a zhang in radius. Around the canopy hung strings of pearls, and inside the carriage was soft lambswool.

Although everything inside the carriage was easily visible from the outside, once she stepped in, she realized the space was slightly larger than it appeared from outside, probably due to enchantments with gluttonous or pixiu beast runes.

The craftsmanship of the imperial carriages was indeed exceptional.

Upon entering the carriage, Saintess Xuan noticed that the two spotted deer pulling it were of an unusual breed. When they started running, clouds would form under their hooves, lifting their bodies. Once the hooves were raised, the clouds drifted backward, causing the carriage’s four wheels to rise above the ground as well.

The carriage moved silently, and behind it, clouds several feet in size continuously floated upwards, creating a stunning sight.

Baili Mu and Saintess Xuan rode in the carriage unhurriedly out of the city, heading toward the Great South Lake on the eastern side.

Informants kept arriving to report to Baili Mu, "Chen Shi has reached the south of the city."

"Chen Shi has come to the Mandarin Duck Bridge!"

"Chen Shi has gone fifteen miles from the city!"

"Chen Shi is hurrying toward the Great South Lake!"

...

Following the carriage, many skilled individuals from the Banshan Sect kept arriving. Among them, a woman took out a round copper mirror from the Hundred Treasure Box, its back adorned with four sea beast reliefs around a sea god standing on two dragons.

The woman raised the object, and the copper mirror grew larger, until it was over one person tall, reflecting Chen Shi’s figure inside it.

Saintess Xuan looked and saw Chen Shi holding a Hua Gai taller than him, like a large, folded umbrella he used as a walking stick.

"His Hua Gai was originally blank, but now there is something drawn on it!"

Saintess Xuan focused on Chen Shi in the reflection and made a discovery, immediately saying, "I bought that Hua Gai with him, and it originally didn’t have any marks! And the pole also had no marks, but now it has! Baili Sect Master, you need to notify the people ahead immediately to be cautious!"

A beaming Candle Lighter from the Banshan Sect said nearby, "Saintess needn’t worry. We have been monitoring him for the past few days, and we saw him buy some Black Dog Blood and cinnabar for his own talisman painting. True, the Hua Gai has many talisman inscriptions, but due to limited time, they haven’t been consecrated thoroughly—they’re not anything remarkable."

Crafting a talismanic weapon is no simple matter. After the talismans are drawn, they require day after day of tracing to remain permanent.

Chen Shi completed these talisman inscriptions in just two days, clearly inadequate time for such detailed work.

Another Candle Lighter from the Hundred Refinement Hall commented, "His umbrella has many talismans, but the excessive number only creates chaos. Crafting talismanic weapons isn’t about having more talismans; rather, it requires measured placement and selective choice. Piling up talismans mindlessly will only limit the power of the talismanic weapon."

Baili Mu chuckled, "Professions differ, as do talents. Chen Shi is indeed a master of talisman painting, but crafting talismanic weapons is another skill altogether. This Hua Gai of his turned out to be a dud."

Carefully considering it, Saintess Xuan thought about the umbrella Chen Shi had bought with 108 folds—small enough for each fold to hold a talisman if drawn finely. Additionally, several talismans could be drawn on the wooden pole.

Over a hundred talismans, if arranged properly, could hold astonishing power, representing a top-tier talismanic weapon!

But knowing how to combine and arrange them is complex, not something to be understood in a day or two.

Even the masters of the Hundred Refinement Hall might have to study hard for several days, and they would also need to gather fellow disciples to research together, often arguing to the point of exhaustion. If there was a slight error in the arrangement and combination, at the time of operating the refinement, not only could the talismanic weapons be scrapped, but it often resulted in many people being killed or injured.

Saintess Xuan looked closely at the Hua Gai in the mirror, the one propped by Chen Shi. The pleats of the Hua Gai had been folded up, but from the edge, one could still see bits of the talismans.

She couldn’t help but be suspicious, "On each pleat, he seems to have painted more than one talisman. From the edges, each pleat seems to have at least nine kinds of talismans, or even more!"

The umbrella pleats of the Hua Gai were extremely fine, composed of individual wooden slats, and painting talismans on them was a true test of one’s brush control.

To paint nine or ten talismans on a single pleat was considered a sign of a skilled artifact refiner in the Hundred Refinement Hall!

"One hundred and eight pleats, that’s a thousand talismans! Plus the pole of the Hua Gai, the number of talismans on it must also be immense!"

Saintess Xuan’s eyes flickered as she stared at Chen Shi in the mirror, "What exactly is the talismanic weapon he has refined?"

Chen Shi, leaning on the Hua Gai, made his way unhurried towards South Lake.

He was now nearly a hundred miles from the imperial capital.

Along the road, weird and strange figures began to appear, all dressed in gray, standing on both sides of the postal road, by the side of tomb mounds, with coffins next to them, staring straight at him.

Chen Shi swept his gaze over them, and these figures did not avoid his look, meeting his eyes.

He continued along the postal road, the sky gradually darkening, a chilly wind rising, and there was no sign of other travelers on the road, leaving him alone walking on the path.

Ahead, someone was burning paper money, the paper climbing in the fire basin, tumbling in the flames, rising with the fire.

Surrounding the fire basin were some miserable figures squatting on the ground, with the chilly wind swirling around them, eagerly jumping to catch the paper money flying out of the flames, their faces showing delight.

"Men light candles, ghosts blow them out. No gold-touching when the candle is extinguished."

The one burning the paper money muttered to himself, "Tomb Raider Ghost God Shock."

Around the road, rows of candles had been inserted, already lit, the flames a ghastly green hue.

Next to each candle squatted a little ghost, wearing red bibs, shiny white, staring at the candles, as if wanting to blow them out.

Chen Shi, leaning on the Hua Gai, passed by the fire basin, avoiding those ghosts waiting to snatch the paper money.

"Little brother, you have already stepped into the gates of the underworld, yet you are unaware."

From behind Chen Shi, the voice of the paper-burning man came, saying, "The moment you stepped by the fire basin, you entered my burial ground."

Chen Shi stopped, turned around, and asked, "Who might you be?"

The paper-burning man lifted his head, revealing a ghastly pale face with a ghostly aspect, smiling, "I am the Candle Lighter from the Banshan Sect. Chen Shi, you’ve taken the Youquan Wandering Dragon Sword, a Magical Treasure belonging to our young master. Return the treasure, and I might leave your body intact!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than the surrounding landscape vanished, leaving only a long postal road lined with coffins and ghosts!

After the Banshan Sect opened a large tomb, they could not rush into the tomb to search for treasure. They needed the Candle Lighter to enter the tomb first to light candles and ensure there were no ghosts or ghouls. Therefore, every Candle Lighter must master unique skills, contain ghosts and bind demons, which are necessary spells, and raising ghosts and ghouls is the Candle Lighter’s specialty.

Chen Shi surveyed his surroundings and praised, "To command ghosts in the mortal world, truly an impressive spell. You yourself are a walking underworld."

He opened the Hua Gai, and as the umbrella unfolded, a dazzling brightness illuminated everything around!

On each of the one hundred and eight umbrella pleats, there were ten distinct talismans, adding up to a thousand and eighty talismans!

And on the umbrella pole, as thick as an arm, were densely packed talismans, totaling one hundred and twenty.

In total, one thousand two hundred talismans corresponded to one thousand two hundred Divine Positions of China.

These one thousand two hundred deities, known in the Huaxia Divine Continent, are called the Luotian Gods.

Chen Shi propped up the Hua Gai, and the Luotian Dajiao ritual slowly commenced, as he said with a smile, "I am quite eager to see which is superior, the Banshan Sect’s spells or the inherited Skill of my family."

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