Chapter 695: Casually Painting Mountains and Rivers

Angry Squid

“With this, we can at least somewhat recover our losses.” Huangfu Song breathed a slight sigh of relief, putting away one of the exemption talismans. The other two were distributed to Li Fan and Dongfang Yao.

“Just this worthless thing?” Dongfang Yao held the colorful talisman up to his eyes, examining it closely, a hint of disbelief on his face.

“I have heard of this item before,” Li Fan’s eyes narrowed slightly as he recalled, saying, “It seems that when the Immortal Alliance issues compulsory tasks, cultivators can use this exemption talisman to directly disregard the task requirements.”

“Exactly!” Huangfu Song nodded contentedly, all the gloom in his heart instantly vanishing.

“What’s the use of this?” Dongfang Yao muttered softly, still somewhat puzzled.

Huangfu Song shot him a look: “It’s not very useful in normal times, but in critical moments, it can save lives! For instance, if a major war with the Council of Five Elders breaks out and cultivators are conscripted to the battlefield, others would either have to beg everyone they know to pull strings, or dutifully head to the front lines. But with this, we can calmly avoid disaster.”

“In a sense, this is a literal ‘death-exemption gold medal’!” Dongfang Yao instantly understood, realizing the item’s true value, and carefully put it away.

“Exactly. What’s more important is that this exemption talisman is unregistered. Any cultivator holding it is considered its owner. If someone offers a high enough price, we can also trade it away,” Huangfu Song added. “To prevent avaricious individuals from coveting it, you two shouldn’t carry this item with you normally. Just keep it in the Heavenly Profound Mirror space.”

Dongfang Yao nodded repeatedly in agreement.

Li Fan, meanwhile, began examining the map within the Sky-Measuring Mirror: “Although we have the exemption talismans as compensation, our Azure Profound Points have been reset to zero, effectively making all our hard work pointless. What are your plans next, both of you? Will you venture back into the white mist, or will you give up now?”

“The grand curtain has only just been drawn; how can we give up so easily? We now have a surveyed map in hand, allowing us to head directly towards unexplored areas. Our exploration efficiency will increase manyfold.” Huangfu Song’s choice was obvious, his eyes seemingly glinting with endless greed.

Dongfang Yao naturally agreed with Huangfu Song.

Li Fan clapped his hands in approval and declared: “True heroes grow stronger with every setback! In that case, once I’ve replenished our supplies, we’ll set off immediately.”

“However…” Li Fan’s face showed a troubled expression. “I’m afraid it will be difficult to find such cost-effective life-extending items like the Longevity Pills again.”

Huangfu Song and Dongfang Yao nodded immediately, indicating their understanding.

“We can’t always let you bear the brunt of the losses, brother; I also need to find a solution.” Dongfang Yao even proactively offered to share the burden with Li Fan.

The three agreed to meet two days later and then departed separately.

***

Beast Seed Realm.

Xu Bai’s eyes were tightly shut, as if asleep, as he floated horizontally in the sky.

A seventeen-petaled Heavenly Spirit Flower hovered quietly above his forehead, emitting a faint milky-white glow.

Around Xu Bai, a mysterious power seemed to be brewing, causing the air to warp. Layer upon layer of colorful halos expanded outwards, with him at the center.

From the ground of the Beast Seed Realm, it looked as if a colorful sun had appeared in the sky.

Facing this extraordinary sight, countless exotic beasts knelt in awe and worship.

The disciples of the Medicine King Sect, however, looked surprised and began discussing amongst themselves.

Of course, with Liu San protecting Xu Bai, they dared not utter any disrespectful words.

Over a dozen days ago, Liu San had already found Jiao Xiuyuan.

Jiao Xiuyuan was very interested in the deal Li Fan had mentioned.

However, he proposed that he wanted to personally see if the Heavenly Spirit Flower in Li Fan’s possession was as miraculous as rumored.

Li Fan’s main body was not present and had been unreachable. So, after hastily returning with Jiao Xiuyuan’s communication talisman, Liu San intended to report the matter directly to the clone.

However, upon arriving in the Beast Seed Realm, Liu San discovered that Xu Bai was in a state of enlightenment.

Fearing to disturb him, he instead took up a protective stance.

“Old Liu, what the Sect Master is comprehending this time seems quite formidable.” Fang Zaiji’s voice rang in Liu San’s ear.

Fang Zaiji himself did not appear; the voice emanated from a golden eyeball.

This was his experimental creation after gaining insights from studying the True Medicine King Cauldron. Inspired by the “First Dream of Autumn Array” within the Medicine King Cauldron, which connected everyone’s consciousness, he created a set of eighty-one “Eyes of Shared Sight.” Holders of these items could not only communicate with each other, but also synchronize and share what they saw and heard, and even experience and perceive changes in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth as if they were there themselves.

“You could have communicated directly within my sea of consciousness, yet you insisted on speaking right into my ear.” Liu San’s expression was somewhat displeased.

“What do you know? This is called a sense of ritual,” Fang Zaiji scoffed and immediately retorted.

Liu San turned his head and glanced at the golden eyeball.

The golden eyeball promptly darted aside: “Old Liu, let’s talk this out nicely. This item wasn’t easy to refine…”

Liu San, not one to humor him, was about to make a move, but suddenly felt an intuition and looked up at the sky.

He saw Xu Bai, still seemingly asleep, suddenly raise his right hand. Using his finger as a brush, he swiftly sketched in the air.

Countless points of light converged in the air, and moments later, a lifelike painting of a roaring, rushing river appeared in the sky.

“Go!”

Xu Bai pointed downwards.

The painting transformed into a streak of light and plummeted towards the Beast Seed Realm.

And then…

“Boom!”

A vast, surging river, appearing out of nowhere, descended from the sky and crashed onto the earth.

Xu Bai’s hand moved continuously.

Majestic peaks, ancient green pines, rending gorges…

One after another, beautiful landscape paintings appeared, and then, like shooting stars falling from the heavens, they flew to various parts of the Beast Seed Realm.

Thus, the earth rumbled incessantly.

Ancient trees burst from the ground, mountains rose from the earth, and plains roared as they split apart.

Like a creation deity, Xu Bai conjured things out of thin air in the sky, reshaping the Beast Seed Realm according to his will.

Liu San and Fang Zaiji watched this scene, dumbfounded.

“This…” Fang Zaiji seemed uncertain.

“It’s not a change achieved by aligning with the Heavenly Dao of this minor world, but rather a forceful distortion and rewriting using some miraculous external power.” Liu San, however, understood clearly.

“To achieve this so effortlessly, it’s certainly partly because the Young Master’s clone is operating on home ground here. But that only boosts the power the Young Master can command.”

“It doesn’t change the essence of this divine ability.”

A glint flashed in Fang Zaiji’s eyes: “So, if this move were used in the outside world, in the Profound Yellow Realm, and one’s power was strong enough, could they also modify mountains and rivers at will, as if painting them?”

Liu San’s expression was grave as he slowly nodded.

“Issue a gag order to the sect disciples. This matter must be kept strictly confidential,” Liu San said in a deep voice.

With their knowledge, even in the ancient cultivation world, this would be an extraordinarily formidable divine ability.