A young talisman master with pale skin, looking weak and frail. That was all the bandits saw when they looked at Li Xin.

  However, Li Xin possessed the rare ability to internalize the power of talismans, and he had trained a body-refining art—the Demon Blood Tempering Steel Art.

  On top of that, he was wielding the Shattering Mountain Fist, a high-level fist technique capable of shattering boulders in a single blow, making him nothing short of a calamity from the perspective of ordinary mountain cultivators.

  When the enemies turned their heads toward the opposite side where the sound had come from, they spotted Li Xin suddenly bursting out—but it was already too late.

  Li Xin’s Shattering Mountain Fist, reinforced by explosive strength, aimed squarely at their hearts. With an unpleasant sound, the enemies’ hearts burst in an instant, and they collapsed, vomiting blood, unable to even steady their bodies. It was a clean and decisive death.

  The battle ended in a blink. Li Xin swiftly swept over the corpses and collected the spoils. True to their nature as bandits, they seemed to have poured everything they had into their equipment. The first thing that caught his eye was a flying sword magical implement. It was a sword that could be remotely controlled with qi without being held. Its condition was good, and once he grew accustomed to using it, it would be a considerable asset.

  Next was a set of light armor made from demonic beast hide. Though lightweight, it was imbued with dense spiritual energy, giving it superior defensive power compared to ordinary iron armor. There were also red ointments and several unidentified pills. But the moment Li Xin caught a whiff of the pills, he shook his head. A musty smell and a murky color with impurities floating within—at a glance, they were low-grade goods commonly circulating in the market.

  “Amateurs.”

  If they had been proper bandits, the fight would not have ended so easily.nHe dug a shallow pit and tossed the corpses in one by one. After covering them with soil and disguising the spot with branches and leaves, all traces were neatly erased.

  Once everything was dealt with, Li Xin let out a quiet sigh. It had been his first kill, but his heart did not waver. They had come to kill him, and he had merely protected himself. There was also a clear reason he had not used the sword Xu Yul gave him in this fight. The sword was not yet familiar in his hands. Swinging it recklessly would make it difficult to fully draw out his true ability, and attacks infused with the Heart of Flame Blaze were too powerful, making them hard to control. At present, the most familiar and intuitive weapon for Li Xin was the Shattering Mountain Fist.

  When he finished burying the bodies and cleaning up, Xu Yul approached with a satisfied expression.

  “Being a talisman master doesn’t just mean being good at drawing talismans.”

  There was a hint of acknowledgment in his voice.

  “You need the strength to match it to earn recognition from others. In the end, techniques are just techniques—what matters most to a cultivator is strength.”

  Xu Yul continued, looking straight into Li Xin’s eyes.

  “But if you fight like this every time, you’ll be drained dry before long.”

  His advice was extremely realistic. Just now, Li Xin had used four talismans in total—the Lightness Talisman, Resonance Talisman, Strength Talisman, and Diffusion Talisman.

  Considering the enemies’ level, it was an excessive investment.

  “If you rely too much on talismans, it’ll hinder the growth of your own strength. Rather than preparing talismans for every possible situation, it’s more important to build the strength to overcome any situation.”

  Xu Yul wasn’t wrong. Yet Li Xin’s expression did not waver in the slightest.

  “I prefer battles that minimize variables. Talismans can be redrawn, and cultivation can be done alone. But if you die, that’s the end.”

  Xu Yul burst into laughter at that reply.

  “Haha—what a bold little brat. As the saying goes, ten thousand people have ten thousand paths. Everyone pursues different things, so I won’t force my way of thinking on you.”

  For ten thousand people, there were ten thousand ways. It was a difference in values. Xu Yul valued experience and practicality, while Li Xin placed survival and certainty above all else. To Li Xin, protecting his own life was more important than anything. As long as he lived, he could draw talismans, and as long as he could draw talismans, he could continue growing stronger.

  After hearing Li Xin’s answer, Xu Yul said nothing more. It wasn’t a matter of right or wrong—just a difference in perspective.

  “So, are you ready now?”

  Li Xin hesitated briefly. There were still two days left until the promised time, but after putting on such a lively fireworks show in broad daylight, other visitors besides these fellows might come knocking. It might be wiser to leave with Xu Yul before things escalated further.

  “Let’s go. Outside.”

  In truth, Li Xin was also curious about the world beyond Qingshan Valley. He had only heard that the Daejin Domain had fallen into the hands of demonic beasts, and he could not even begin to imagine what reality outside the valley was like.

  “Good. Stay close behind me.”

  Xu Yul smiled lightly and immediately set off. Li Xin naturally assumed they were heading outside. However, the direction Xu Yul took was not toward the outside of Qingshan Valley, but deeper inside.

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  Li Xin tilted his head in confusion but silently followed. The first place they passed through was the market. Located on the outskirts of Qingshan Valley, it was bustling with people as always. Various goods were displayed along the market alleys, and merchants’ cries added to the liveliness.

  Leaving the familiar noise behind, Li Xin soon entered the commercial district. This area, known as the inner district, was lined with shops of all sizes, and cultivators with decent training moved busily about.

  After passing through the commercial district, the core area where the Talisman Union was located came into view. Cooling Jade Stone paved the ground, and with every step, a refreshing current brushed past his feet. Yet even this was merely a path they passed through. Their destination lay in the deepest part of Qingshan Valley—the heartland where the Qingshan Sect resided. It was a forbidden area that Li Xin had never been permitted to enter.

  Once they passed the core area, the road led back into the forest. Lush green trees rose thick enough to blot out the sky, and the air within the forest was clear and cool. But something felt off. There were no signs of life. No birdsong, no wind, not even the sound of footsteps.

  Li Xin instinctively tensed. At that moment, Xu Yul, walking ahead, spoke in a low voice.

  “There’s a Concealment Array laid out around here.”

  “…A Concealment Array?”

  “Qingshan Valley was chosen as a refuge because of the terrain. It’s a canyon—block the entrance, and the inside becomes hard to see. In reality, arrays were only installed at the entrance of the valley and part of the sky.”

  Xu Yul pointed upward.

  “The sky you’re seeing right now isn’t real either. It’s an illusion created by the array.”

  Li Xin was left speechless. The fact that the sky he had seen all this time was false was shocking in itself.

  “Then, can the talisman arrays you mentioned before exert power like this as well?”

  Li Xin seized the moment to ask. The most important goal of this outing was to obtain information about talisman arrays. Not disappointing him, Xu Yul added a detailed explanation.

  “To answer that, you first need to understand the difference between talismans and arrays.”

  Li Xin naturally pricked up his ears.

  “Talismans are one-time tools drawn by embedding qi. They inscribe power into a fixed structure and activate it at the desired moment.”

  Xu Yul picked up a fallen branch and spoke while drawing the shape of a talisman in the air.

  “Arrays, on the other hand, inscribe the flow of qi into a specific space. They’re designed so qi flows using factors like terrain, wind, water veins, and air currents.”

  Li Xin unconsciously glanced around. Being a complete novice in arrays, he could not immediately perceive these so-called flows.

  “If talismans are techniques that create instantaneous ‘phenomena,’ then arrays are techniques that design space to create an ‘environment.’”

  “…Phenomena and environment.”

  Li Xin murmured softly.

  “Arrays can handle far greater power than talismans. But they’re difficult to set up and require a constant supply of qi to maintain. Still, once properly established, they wield power greater than any weapon.”

  From the explanation alone, it sounded as though array masters surpassed talisman masters. However, Xu Yul was not finished.

  “But there is a way for talisman masters to utilize arrays as well. That’s what we call talisman arrays.”

  “…Talisman arrays.”

  “A talisman array uses the phenomena generated by talismans to create flows, and those flows in turn create an environment. Simply put, it’s using talismans to imitate part of an array.”

  Xu Yul connected the lines he had drawn in the air and dotted small points to indicate the direction of flow. Li Xin etched the scene into his memory.

  “While they can’t compare to full arrays, talisman arrays can produce localized effects for a short time.”

  “Then, if I grasp the principles of talisman arrays—”

  “Enough. We’ve arrived.”

  Li Xin was about to continue his question, but before he could finish, Xu Yul stopped walking. Just as a hint of regret began to surface—

  Wait…

  A doubt arose in Li Xin’s mind. Arrived at the destination? The destination he was heading toward was supposed to be ‘outside’ Qingshan Valley. But wasn’t this still inside the valley? Li Xin stopped belatedly and lifted his head.

  “Just where is this—”

  In the next instant, Li Xin’s eyes widened. The scene before him was completely different from anything he had imagined.

  ***

  Li Xin suddenly recalled a past conversation with Xu Hui.

  —The Daejin Immortal City has fallen, but the Daejin Sect still remains. They’re gathering the survivors and heading toward the Xuanjiang Domain. It’s their final attempt to break through the demonic beasts’ encirclement and move elsewhere. Most merchant guilds and sects are in the process of preparing for this. Qingshan Valley is nothing more than a temporary stop before heading to the Xuanjiang Domain.

  Xu Hui had said Qingshan Valley was chosen as a foothold. Yet Li Xin had never seen outsiders in Qingshan Valley. Things he had once taken for granted now felt strangely off. Why had he never seen members of the Talisman Union in the Archive Pavilion? And why had he never once seen disciples of the Qingshan Sect leave Qingshan Valley?

  All the answers were here.

  A blood-red cliff rose like a massive wound, tearing through the green forest. Upon it, hundreds of blue pillars and pavilions were stacked layer upon layer, like stairs reaching toward the heavens. Dozens of faintly floating array gates surrounded the area like a colossal barrier, and beyond them, endless tents and wooden buildings stretched out, resembling a tattered patchwork riddled with scars.

  Red cloth, blue cloth, yellow cloth. Multicolored tents billowed like massive waves, filling the entire canyon. Buildings clung precariously to the canyon’s terrain, and in many places, unextinguishable smoke continued to rise.

  Just from what he could see, there were thousands—no, perhaps tens of thousands—of people. And beyond them, a gate leading to the ‘outside.’ Beside the stunned Li Xin, Xu Yul spoke calmly.

  “This is the new stronghold of the Daejin Domain. Qingshan Immortal City.”

  “Qingshan Immortal City…”

  “There’s only one entrance to Qingshan Valley. That’s why this place was chosen as the stronghold.”

  Li Xin understood Xu Yul’s words. He had thought the place he lived was the ‘outer edge’ of Qingshan Valley, but in reality, it was a dead end at the deepest part of the valley. This place—Qingshan Immortal City—was the true outer boundary of Qingshan Valley, and the only passage leading outside.

  “…Is this also the effect of an array?”

  “That’s right.”

  He could now guess the purpose of the massive array that enveloped the entire valley. An array not meant for demonic beasts, but for humans. When the people gathered here fled, that enormous array would have served as bait, trapping the demonic beasts and buying time by restraining them.

  In simpler terms, it was a gigantic prison that confined humans. And the most efficient way to make use of otherwise useless mountain cultivators.

  Li Xin let out a hollow laugh. He felt as though he had glimpsed what the ‘immortal cultivation world’ truly was. How cruel it could become when one’s own survival was at stake. If he had not chosen to assist the Xu family, he too would have faced the demonic beasts in ignorance, knowing nothing.

  The truth was always granted only to those with the qualification to receive it. And that qualification, he realized painfully, stemmed from ‘strength.’