Chapter 108: First Encounter with the Sea Clan, Grading the Heaven-Derivation Jade Talismans

Underwater mine cave.

Whoosh!

A black streak of light cut through the water, sweeping up Sanqian just in time to dodge the incoming ice arrows.

Another flash of earthy yellow light erupted as a pair of hands channeled spiritual energy, blasting it toward the area where runes were shimmering below. Meanwhile, the Water Spirit Puppet began scouting the surroundings. Finding no other traces within a two-thousand-foot radius, it was clear that this restrictive formation existed in isolation.

"Crack!"

A dazzling flash of spiritual light flared, and the long-active, dilapidated barrier flickered and died. The area protected by the light shield below crumbled apart.

A corpse appeared, its body shimmering with a silvery-white hue, covered in fine scales, with an additional scale embedded in the center of its forehead. The sea creature’s chest was swathed in black corpse aura, which had also spread to its face, confirming the cause of death.

"A Sea Clan member!"

"Hum—"

In an instant, a strange, black plume of air erupted from the corpse, smelling foul and pungent, like rotting flesh. Even underwater, the miasma spread rapidly. The Water Spirit Puppet snatched up Sanqian and bolted toward the surface.

Below, the mouth of the deceased Sea Clan cultivator gaped like a cavern, exhaling several times and staining the surrounding water black, which began to corrode the remains. Soon, the Water Spirit Puppet returned, stopped just outside the toxic black water, and activated a storage bracelet on its wrist. A common puppet appeared and leaped into the black water.

"Sizzle, sizzle—"

A piercing sound rang out as the puppet began to corrode upon contact. Moments later, it reached the withered remains and dragged the body out of the water.

In a section of the underground mine...

Shen Lian examined the remains. Unlike humans, the Sea Clan’s cultivation potential is judged by the color of the scales on their foreheads. One to three colors is equivalent to low-grade human spiritual roots, and so on, with seven to nine colors being top-grade. The deceased sea cultivator’s forehead scales were exposed, showing a faint six-colored luster, equivalent to a high-quality mid-grade spiritual root. The aura emanating from the body proved he had been a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The main reason Shen Lian had sacrificed a Foundation Establishment puppet to retrieve the remains was that he had sensed the black poison released by the corpse possessed the property of insulating against divine sense. On the creature’s wrist was a fish scale—its storage artifact. He had originally tried to use his divine sense to retrieve it, only to discover the poison’s dampening effect. This piqued his interest; if he could obtain the method to refine this toxin, destroying a few puppets would be a small price to pay.

Fortunately, he had acted in time, and the storage scale had not yet been fully corroded. Shen Lian probed it with his divine sense.

Clang.

A fist-sized piece of raw Profound Spiritual Jade Marrow tumbled out.

Clang!

Another piece fell out, this one the size of two adult fists.

Clang! Clang!

Second-tier Lanyan Stone, second-tier Water-Ink Crystal, second-tier Dragon Scale Stone...

From the storage scale, Shen Lian poured out over twenty pieces of second-tier ore. The Sea Clan cultivator was truly wealthy.

Shen Lian turned the Dragon Scale Stone over in his hand, admiring it. It was crystal clear with patterns resembling dragon scales inside. It could serve as an auxiliary material for third-tier spiritual treasures or as a primary material for second-tier magic weapons. The key was that this mineral contained all five elements.

Digging through the rest of the storage scale, Shen Lian also found a large stack of shells—the equivalent of human jade slips used to store information. While Sea Clan language differed from the human tongue, the cultivation world shared a common ancient language used by all races. Unfortunately, Shen Lian’s luck was poor; the shells contained only Sea Clan script, none of which he could read.

He had originally hoped to find the water-soluble poison, but though the poison remained elusive, he had found the Profound Spiritual Jade Marrow.

Sanqian had made a great contribution. Shen Lian tossed out a handful of spirit-feeding pills, which Sanqian leaped from the water to swallow in one gulp.

"Master, I’m still useful, right? Next time, could you not use the cauldron to stew me? I… I’m afraid of being cooked..."

*Pat.*

Shen Lian rubbed Sanqian’s head, then flicked his finger, sending a flame onto the remains of the Sea Clan cultivator, reducing them to ashes. He threw the storage scale into the fire as well.

With the Profound Spiritual Jade Marrow, Shen Lian felt at ease. The lack of Small Heaven-Deriving Jade Talismans had always been a thorn in his side. When he had previously destroyed the clone controlled by the old demon, that entity was a weakling among false-core cultivators, yet it had still cost him a regular jade talisman and two sets of Small Heaven-Deriving Jade Talisman formations.

Compared to true false-core or Golden Core cultivators, relying solely on talismans was too rigid. If he couldn't trap a false-core opponent, his own risks would multiply. The limitations of talismans were significant, and they needed further optimization. With the raw jade marrow, Shen Lian added cutting and talisman-making to his daily cultivation routine. These two raw stones from the Sea Clan cultivator were of much higher quality than those he had obtained at the auction. Having gained experience from cutting the previous small jade talismans, he was well-prepared this time.

After cutting the two pieces of Profound Spiritual Jade Marrow, Shen Lian produced two different sizes. One was an inch and a half long by an inch wide; the other was a large jade plaque four inches long and two and a half inches wide. Standard Profound Spiritual Jade Talismans were two and a half inches by an inch and a half. Since the power of the talisman was related to the size of the jade marrow, Shen Lian felt he needed a "big treasure." If nothing else, it was to ensure that if he ever faced real danger, he wouldn't let some gaudy, cheap villain touch his unremarkable body.

Not even in death would he give them the satisfaction.

He named the four-inch jade talisman "Jade No. 1." The standard two-and-a-half-inch ones were "No. 2," and the inch-and-a-half ones were "No. 3."

Jade No. 1 was for saving his life. Jade No. 2 needed its power strengthened, intended for early Golden Core level threats, covering most false-core cultivators. Jade No. 3 was for dealing with seventh, eighth, and ninth-level Foundation Establishment cultivators individually, or in formations to handle false-core cultivators. He planned for a Four-Pillar Thunder-Fire Array of twenty-four talismans, a Three-Fire Mountain Return Array of thirty-six, and a Heavenly Stars and Earthly Fiends Thunder-Fire Array of one hundred and eight. He could choose the appropriate level of formation based on the false-core cultivator’s aura.

After cutting, he ended up with one No. 1 jade marrow and two hundred and seventy-nine No. 3 jade marrows. He also had plenty of irregular jade fragments left over, which he polished for use as "Jade No. 4" talismans.

...

While cutting the jade, Shen Lian searched the dense mine tunnels on the island for suitable places to nurture the talismans. One month later, the first Heaven-Deriving Jade Talisman nurturing formation was complete. By the second month, the second was finished.

In his cave dwelling, Shen Lian sat down to rest and took out his "big treasure," Jade No. 1. It was not yet inscribed, primarily because the spiritual ink was still being nurtured. He looked at it with increasing delight. Had the raw jade marrow been larger, he could have made the treasure even bigger. This talisman would consume several times more spiritual ink than the No. 2 talismans. To ensure he could finish it in one go without the ink running out, Shen Lian was working overtime every day, converting the secondary spiritual energy released from the shells into five-element spiritual energy to nurture the ink.

[Calm mind, insight points +1]

...

Having run so far and hidden deep within a desolate mine island, Shen Lian’s mind had finally settled after this period of recovery. During his daytime cultivation, he had begun to accumulate insight points again.

...

"Disciple, ahead lies Haiyuan Island."

A hundred miles east of Haiyuan Island, a giant tusked fish cut through the water, carrying two Sea Clan cultivators on its back. The leader, an old man with long, white whiskers on his chin, clutched a fish-scale magic tool missing several corners. Behind him sat a young Sea Clan cultivator. The old man was at the sixth level of Qi Refining; the youngster was only at the third level.

"Back then, our Sea Clan fought the Human Race's Profound Corpse Sect for over a hundred years, battering them into a rout and eventually occupying this third-tier mine."

"Master, didn't they say it was a mutual defeat?"

"Nonsense! Mere humans are born with weak bodies. If not for the Profound Corpse Sect's reliance on corpse puppets, our Sea Clan would have driven them back to their ancestral homes long ago."

The old man scanned the island in the distance. "When we get on the island, stay close. A third-level Qi Refining brat like you won't last long in the toxic gas."

"But Master, didn't we buy detox pills at the bazaar?"

"A single detox pill costs several spirit stones! We aren't running a pharmacy, so we save where we can." The old man scolded him, then took a black shell from his storage scale and tossed it to the youth. "Absorb only the concentrated black toxic gas. Don't take the inferior stuff; it affects the refinement grade of the toxic bone needles." The old man sighed. "If we had spirit stones, why would we travel thousands of miles to harvest this gas ourselves?"

"I understand. Once your toxic bone needles are refined, they’ll be comparable to a seventh-level Qi Refining expert. Good days are ahead." The youth chuckled. "Master, are the legends about treasure on this island true?"

"Who knows? You'd have to ask the head of the Black Shark Tribe."

Sea Clan tribes were similar to human clans. Beyond the tribes, there were many rogue cultivators in the ocean, like this pair. Life for most rogue cultivators was difficult, regardless of the race.

"That's a Golden Core… I've never even seen one." The young Sea Clan cultivator stared at Haiyuan Island, lost in thought. "I wish I could find a treasure on the island."

*Thwack!*

The old man gave him a knock on the head. "You think this is a cornucopia? Even if there were treasures, the human Profound Corpse Sect and the Black Shark Tribe would have picked them clean long ago. However, during the war, it was said that several elders of the Black Shark Tribe went missing here. Who knows if they were buried in the mines? If you could find that, I might actually have a chance at Foundation Establishment."

The old man squinted, daydreaming. But he soon snapped back to reality. "Enough, keep your spirits up! Even if this place is rarely visited, it’s not without danger. We are here to harvest poison."

Soon, the pair leaped onto Haiyuan Island, holding the black shells to absorb the drifting toxic gas. Half a day later, the old man gasped in shock. He saw his disciple, who had been fine just a moment ago, suddenly collapse to the ground.

"Master, my head… it just hurt terribly..."

As the two were gripped by panic, a wisp of earthy-yellow light vanished into the ground.

...

In his cave, Shen Lian had received news of the two Sea Clan cultivators as soon as they arrived on the island, but he paid them no mind. Although Haiyuan Island was abandoned, it wasn't strange for cultivators to appear.

"The Sea Clan language isn't that hard to learn, after all."

Half a quarter of an hour later, Shen Lian flashed a light in his hand and took out the shell he had obtained from the Foundation Establishment Sea Clan cultivator.

"Sea Ray Poison."

Among the dozen shells, besides some Sea Clan spells, he had indeed found information on relevant spiritual toxins. This poison wasn't particularly difficult to refine—his own 'Hundred Spirit Poison' would suffice—but it relied on a specific sea beast called the Sea Spirit Demon.

The demon’s gallbladder was unique. If poison was placed inside to be nurtured, it would gain the ability to obstruct divine sense and spiritual energy. This was why the poison could be stored within the body; swallowing the gallbladder allowed it to be used as a 'mutual destruction' technique.

Putting aside the toxicity, if the gallbladder were filled with miasma, it could release a toxic fog spanning several miles upon activation—an excellent tool for hiding or escaping.

Shen Lian noted the name 'Sea Spirit Demon' and decided to prepare a few if he got the chance. He hadn't managed to collect the miasma of the Desolate Domain back when he was weak, but it wasn't too late; the toxic gas permeating the mine island was quite good.

Putting away the shell, Shen Lian took out his furnace, held it to his chest, and slowly channeled his spiritual energy into it. Inside, the fire burned bright, and the spiritual ink shimmered with a reddish-gold hue. The ink he had purchased was of poor quality; if he wanted high-grade ink, he would have to find a way to make it himself. The difference between the blood of a seventh-level Foundation Establishment beast and a ninth-level one was immense. When nurtured in the Heaven-Deriving Fire Domain, the fire-element spiritual energy it could carry was several times greater.

This made Shen Lian reluctant to use this ink to draw his "Life-Saving No. 1." But second-tier top-grade beasts with ninth-level Foundation Establishment strength were incredibly hard to find. Even if the Profound Corpse Sect hunted such creatures, they would keep them for internal use.

Looking at the ink, then at the large Jade No. 1 plaque, Shen Lian sighed. He couldn't hunt them, and who knew when 'Big Black' and 'Sanqian' would grow to the second-tier top grade. Forget it. He would just add a "Super-Grade" label to No. 1 later. He would use what he had; it was better than having nothing when danger struck.

...

One day, after circulating his Five Qi Morning Origin technique for several cycles to reach his peak state of spirit and energy, Shen Lian went to the table Big Black had gnawed out. He placed the No. 1 jade marrow on the table and used the furnace as an inkwell.

The talisman brush soaked up the ink. His divine sense and the brush became one, and he descended onto the jade. Red-gold light shimmered as each stroke carved runes that formed layers of combined restrictions within the jade.

For the large jade marrow, the runes not only had to be larger but also carried more weight. Shen Lian left only a sliver of divine sense to monitor the Five-Element Spirit Puppet guarding outside, focusing all his remaining attention on the brush, channeling the spiritual energy from his arm into it.

Divine sense, spiritual energy, and the brush reached a delicate balance, drawing the ink smoothly into the jade, layering it perfectly. Gradually, Shen Lian entered a mystical state, gaining a unique understanding of talisman arts. As each rune formed and overlapped within the jade, they reflected a dazzling, brilliant sun.

"Hum..."

A golden-red light erupted from the sun, forcing Shen Lian to squint.