Taking several deep breaths after closing her door, Fairy Xu calmed herself and replayed the events of the black market in her head. Her body was shaking, but even she was not sure why. The market was larger than she expected, and she even found a few useful things, but the Talismancer’s booth drew the most attention in the entire event.
Almost everyone in the market surrounded him, including the other booth attendants making it difficult to purchase anything, and unfortunately, Huang Yun decided to intervene making things even more complicated. However, she did enjoy watching him tumble along the ground after the little girl punched him.
The entire night went outside of her expectations. The Talismancer was able to freeze everyone in the crowd, including Huang Yun’s guards, and for some reason, Huang Yun stole from the talismancer’s booth. It’s true that space distortion was incredibly valuable, but she did not think he was the type to resort to theft. A potential heir to a large clan should have been easily able to purchase the talisman.
After pouring herself a cup of tea with shaky hands, she removed the package the Talismancer’s disciple gave her and opened it. She did not know either of them, so when the young girl tapped her shoulder, she thought they would ask her to pay for the stolen property, which in no way she would be able to afford.
Inside was a small bundle, a rolled letter, and a map, which she assumed was from the Talismancer. “Little girl, in four days the tournament will end, and you’ll need to make your decision. Follow me, or join a sect. Use the talisman south then follow the map. If you’re not there in 5 days, we won’t wait.” After reading the letter aloud, the words struck her.
There was only one person that called her little girl, and only one person who knew her plans to join a sect, which could only mean one thing… Opening the bundle, she saw a card with familiar symbols and a short note, “Visualize where you want to go then activate the distortion talisman.”
The Talismancer was the old man. He must have somehow changed his appearance. ‘Did that mean the girl was actually the boy with him? Or did he have more disciples?’ She did not know, but it was clearly a message from the old man. The talisman had a familiar style, and a few of the symbols matched the language in the manual.
It meant the old man understood the language. Chuckling to herself, she wondered what kind of a person would dress up and sell talismans in a market when they could change the way the world saw alchemy. It seemed everywhere she met him something odd happened. The old man was interesting, at least interesting enough to learn from.
In five days, she would need to meet them in the spot on the map. It was risky, but would the old man send her to a trap, she didn’t think so. If the space talisman worked as he said, then it became easier to escape the city, but the note said its range was 30 Li. Thirty Li was not very far – from the arena to the city walls – maybe slightly further. She would need to get closer to the southern part of the city before using it, and if she did, she would need to conceal herself immediately.
It was a path forward though. One she would likely take.
***
The old man stuffed steamed buns into his mouth quicker than he could chew them, making Liang think he would choke, but so far he was able to manage with his new technique. It was the last day of the second round and there were only three groups left, with 21 already having moved on. None of the remaining fighters caught the old man’s eyes, but Liang sensed there were a few who were similar in strength to Huang Yun.
The boy with the large hammer advanced into the final round as well, but the girl did not, which meant, including himself, only two of the 40 who entered by free for all made it. The old man said the fact that any made it was already surprising, but agreed that the boy with the hammer had a good chance at earning one of the awards.
Even if he didn’t, he felt someone would be interested in having him join their sect, as long as he had no background problems. “The city lord doesn’t look to interested in any of the one’s here boy.” The old man was looking for any hints on who the setup was, but he didn’t see anything. “Either he’s a better actor than anyone I know, or the person he’s setting up is already in the finals.”
If the person the city lord was pinning his daughter on was Huang Yun then their plans would match, but if not, they would need to work against him. They already ruined Huang Yun’s reputation, with people gossiping throughout the entire arena about him, but the old man wanted to land a finishing blow. Liang could only think of one reason why the old man was adamant about tricking him.
When he asked why he gave the talisman to Fairy Xu after telling her she needed to find a way by herself, he told Liang, “The girl was buying materials for the second experiment, which means in one night she was able to follow the first instructions. She’s a talent boy, one that can help you grow.”
“The talisman I gave her can only be used once, so she’ll still need to struggle a bit, but if she can at least make pills and I can convert one alchemist, it will all be worth it boy, it will all be worth it. Damn alchemists, if it takes a thousand more years, or even 10,000 more years, I’ll get rid of those damn alchemists.”
While the old man ranted about alchemists, Liang turned his attention back to the stage and moments later, a loud screech filled the arena bringing everyone’s attention to the large bird circling above. The old man’s jaw dropped at the sight and Liang couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The rules stated no spirit beasts were allowed, but it was clearly a giant hawk circling the stage with a young man controlling it.
The bird flew around several dozen times creating a powerful whirlwind, and then dove straight down towards its opponent. Almost instantly, a bright red flash erupted from the stage, and a dark black circle full of fire appeared on the ground that looked like it could melt anything.
The announcer rushed to the stage and put the flames out, but it was already too late. The young man caught in the ring of fire was burnt beyond recognition, and it was hard to tell if he was still alive. It clearly did not matter though, even if he was, there was probably little chance of him ever cultivating again, a death sentence to cultivators.
The elders immediately disqualified the boy controlling the beast, and guards from the city lord captured him when he tried to flee yelling, “I didn’t know he would be so weak! It’s not my fault!” It was a brutal attack, and Liang wondered whether he would survive that if it wasn’t for the shield the old man gave him.
“Those bastards! Where did they find a Spotted Hawk?” The old man was irate, but for the wrong reasons. Anything savage beast related had to do with food for the old man, and Liang knew he was still upset over the Gold-Tailed Eagle incident, but something did not make sense.
“Master, why’d they allow a spirit beast, I thought they were banned,” Liang asked. The elders disqualified the boy, and most likely he would have his cultivation crippled and placed into forced labor, but in his opinion, he should have never had the chance to use the beast. If it wasn’t for the Spotted Hawk, his opponent would not be in that state.
“That wasn’t a spirit beast boy,” said the old man while stuffing another steam bun into his mouth. “That’s an apparition. He used a Spotted Hawk core to create an apparition of that delicious and used its ability to control fire. Sadly, I don’t think you creating an eagle apparition will help in the tournament.”
“It’s difficult to control too. Takes a long time to control something you’ve never used, and you can’t fly. But we might be able to make the Ape useful. I was gonna train you on this later, but it’s not a bad time to practice if other’s can do it too. But damn them, I bet they didn’t even bother with the meat properly. Remember that boy’s robes, I might find his elders and teach them a lesson.”
After leaving the stage area, the old man went to place a large bet on Huang Yun; confident they would be able to make him the winner, and then went to an herb shop. While they were there, the old man picked over a dozen expensive herbs, and told Liang they were for a more powerful healing pill he would need, but did not elaborate further. Instead, they raced to the canyon to begin training once again.
“Alright boy, we’re gonna keep building your body up for the rest of the day. But tomorrow we’ll practice making some apparitions as well. I’d show you mine, but I think they might cause some problems here, so I’ll need to force yours out.”
The old man took out his rings again, creating a barrier, but unlike before, an enormous pressure pushed Liang down to his knees. It was similar to the pressure he felt at the market, but far more intense to the point where it was difficult to breathe.
Struggling to raise his head, he saw the old man was quite proud, “Oh, looks like I activated the wrong array. Ah… well since it’s already active, guess we should make use of it.”
