Chapter 590 - 70: Taiyan Talisman, Volume 4 (Part 2)

「Mountain Peak Dojo.」

Wang Ping sat by the stone table in the small courtyard, sipping tea while thinking about his recent conversation with Zi Luan and the others. He had, of course, not refused their proposal.

For one, as an ally, he couldn’t refuse. For another, he was genuinely interested in the matter himself.

"It seems now that if you’re going to plan for the Fourth Realm, you’ll need a truly quiet and trustworthy place," Yu Lian said after finishing her cup of tea.

Wang Ping nodded in agreement. The cultivators of the Five Profound Sects had a love-hate relationship. When he was ascending to the Third Realm, the glowing screen panel had warned him not to attempt advancement if he was among the top forty.

He hadn’t understood why at the time, but he gradually learned it was because without enough other cultivators to share the burden of the Wood Spirit’s influence on one’s Primordial Spirit, even a successful advancement would result in becoming a True Spirit.

The Fourth and Fifth Realms similarly required a sufficient number of Third Realm Cultivators. This meant that simply eliminating other Third Realm Cultivators was not a viable strategy. Even with the glowing screen panel’s guidance, Wang Ping couldn’t defy this fundamental logic. Besides, doing so would attract the attention of the Fourth Realm Taiyan Cultivators; after all, they needed those cultivators to diffuse the Wood Spirit’s influence.

Therefore, to prevent any accidents, he really did need to find a safe and quiet place for his advancement. The seclusion spot in the underground cavern was just one option, and the area where the communication device was placed was another. Beyond that, he couldn’t think of anywhere else.

According to intelligence he’d gathered on Xiu Yu, Xiu Yu had chosen the depths of some hidden ruins for his own advancement. Qingjiang probably knew the locations of all these ruins, but based on current information, this was likely a smokescreen put up by Xiu Yu. Besides, he couldn’t fully trust Qingjiang anyway.

’Enough of that for now. First, I’ll see which of the memories Xiao Shan Lord left for me have been unsealed.’

Wang Ping reached out and with a light tap, constructed an isolation Array around himself. He then separated a part of his main consciousness and summoned the Heaven-Reaching Talisman. Next, Yu Lian rose up on a cloud and settled over him, just in case anything went wrong.

Only then did Wang Ping sink his mind into reading the portion of memories he had been suppressing deep within his Spirit Sea.

The next moment, streams of unfamiliar knowledge began to merge with his consciousness. Nothing extraordinary happened; the fusion of this memory fragment was as simple as drinking water.

The memory primarily mentioned three things.

The first was an instruction for Wang Ping: if he was determined to advance to the Fourth Realm, he must first find Wan Zhi Daoist to explain the situation. He was not, under any circumstances, to advance alone.

The second was the Secret Technique from the latter half of the fourth volume of the *Taiyan Talisman*. The third was the cultivation method for the Incarnation Technique, which Zi Luan had just mentioned.

"How is it?"

As Yu Lian asked, a new glowing screen panel appeared before Wang Ping:

[Taiyan Talisman Volume 4 (Part 2): One of the Five Great Mystic Sect Orthodox Techniques. Cultivate Wood Spirit Qi, one of the Five Major Origin Energies of the Cultivation World, to perfect the Spirit Vein. Use a powerful Primordial Spirit to draw the Heaven-Covering Talisman, hiding your existence from the workings of heaven.]

[1. Cultivate the Primordial Spirit to Great Perfection, allowing it to roam freely between heaven and earth, reaching a level where the Primordial Spirit alone can slay the evil spirits of the Inspiration Realm and extra-dimensional consciousnesses. Absorb Wood Spirit by performing ten Grand Circulations of Qi Cultivation daily. Can be completed within sixty years. (Progress: 41/100. Today’s Progress: 0/10 sessions).]

[2. When the Primordial Spirit reaches Great Perfection, use it to refine the physical body, hiding the Spiritual Body within the Wood Spirit. Construct a Gathering Spirit Array within the Spiritual Body’s Spirit Vein to absorb Wood Spirit, activating the Spirit Vein for continued growth. Assimilate the head of the physical body into Wood Spirit. The Array Runes for this Array must be drawn using the energy source from the Primordial Spirit’s Sea of Qi. Array stability must be (90/100) or higher. Current Stability: No reference.]

[3.1. Enslave a Third Realm Primordial Spirit and assimilate it into a puppet using Wood Spirit. Use this puppet to attempt advancement to the Fourth Realm. Upon failure, use a fixed Refining Array to refine it into Spiritual Material that can be absorbed by your Primordial Spirit, increasing your Primordial Spirit’s affinity with the Heaven-Covering Talisman. Advancement can be attempted when affinity reaches (95/100) or higher. Current Affinity: (0/100).]

[3.2. Using heaven and earth as a foundation, construct a massive Qi Fortune Array to calculate the single, illusory opportunity within the world. Sufficient calculation data is required to pinpoint this fleeting chance. A maximum of 9 calculations can be performed daily within the Heaven and Earth Array. (Calculation Progress: (1/100). Today’s Progress: (0/9 calculations)).]

[3.3. Worship a True Monarch and pay a certain price to obtain a strand of consciousness condensed by the True Monarch’s Supreme Magical Power. Fuse this consciousness with your own Primordial Spirit and use the True Monarch’s will within it to forcibly draw the Heaven-Covering Talisman. The success rate of this method is incalculable, and you will be reduced to a puppet of the True Monarch you worshiped.]

[4. Ensure there are still slots available for the Fourth Realm and that the Wood Spirit is stable. Once the optimal moment has been calculated, you may draw the Heaven-Covering Talisman. Upon successful completion, you must immediately suppress the Heaven-Covering Talisman with your Primordial Spirit, or you will be instinctively devoured by the surging Wood Spirit.]

[Note 1: Wood Spirit is an energy that exists in real space. Before your Primordial Spirit Cultivation reaches Great Perfection, it is not advisable to absorb too much while separated from your physical body. 10 sessions per day is the limit; otherwise, the foundation of your Primordial Spirit will be damaged.]

[Note 2: The energy used to construct the Array must have a consistent stability level to ensure high stability for the resulting Array. The Array Rune map is as follows...]

[Note 3.1: Assimilating an enslaved Primordial Spirit takes a great deal of time. Therefore, it is faster and more stable to split your own Primordial Spirit with great magical power for the attempt. The map for the fixed Refining Array is as follows...]

[Note 3.2: Placing a Corpse Soul as the Magic Array Core of the Qi Fortune Array can increase the accuracy of the calculations. The Array Map is as follows...]

[Note 3.3: No one can escape the fate of becoming a puppet. Do not attempt this unless it is an absolute last resort.]

[Note 4: You need to be acknowledged. Otherwise, you will fail the advancement even if all other conditions are met.]

After reading the contents of the glowing screen panel, Wang Ping’s mind instantly raced with thoughts. For instance, in the memories he had just unsealed, Xiao Shan Lord had reminded him that he must report to Wan Zhi Daoist before attempting his advancement.

Combining this with the glowing screen panel’s reminders told him at least two things.

First, advancing to the Fourth Realm wasn’t like advancing to the Third Realm, where having an open slot was enough; it also required acknowledgment. Second, Xiao Shan Lord had known in advance that Wan Zhi Daoist would take control of the Southern Cultivation Realm, which surely implied there was more to the story.

Furthermore, Wang Ping took out the crystal that sealed the Corpse Soul. At this moment, he truly felt as if someone was manipulating his destiny. But on second thought, this crystal was probably what Xiao Shan Lord had intended to leave for Xiu Yu, whereas what he himself had received was Xiao Shan Lord’s Incarnation Technique.

"How is it?"

Yu Lian asked again.

Wang Ping looked up at Yu Lian, his mind starting to whirl. If he didn’t have the Corpse Soul or the Incarnation Technique, then with the help of the glowing screen panel, he would most likely have chosen to build a Heaven and Earth Array to calculate that sliver of heavenly opportunity.

But based on Wang Ping’s performance during his advancements to the First, Second, and Third Realms, Xiao Shan Lord must have believed him to be a cultivator blessed with great fortune. Yet, Xiao Shan Lord had given the Incarnation Technique to Wang Ping, which was undoubtedly a hint that he should choose to separate his Primordial Spirit to advance to the Fourth Realm.