Chapter 465 - 471: An Accidental Genius

The prouder a master, the higher their standards for an heir.

After all, they couldn’t afford to lose face. This was extremely important.

The talent of these two was far better than that man’s.

However, the two of them seemed to have no experience in the art of talismans. They were complete novices.

Wu Qingyi narrowed her eyes, deciding to observe them carefully.

"Who from the Wuji Sect is leading the expedition to the Heavenly Abyss this time?"

These past few days, she had been so busy with talisman making that she hadn’t had time to catch up on outside news.

"My Lady, the Wuji Sect is being led by Mo Yang Immortal Venerable."

"Mo Yang Immortal Venerable?"

Wu Qingyi’s eyes widened in surprise.

"Isn’t Mo Yang Immortal Venerable in seclusion? It seems the situation with this Heavenly Abyss expedition is grim."

Her expression grew somber.

Ever since an anomaly appeared in the Heavenly Abyss tens of thousands of years ago, Demons from the outside world have frequently invaded the Immortal Realm. Spirit Immortals and Demon Immortals have joined forces to clear them out several times.

But every thousand years, those Demons would return, impossible to ever fully eradicate.

"The Heavenly Abyss was originally a rift left behind after the great war between the Demon Gods and the Heavenly Gods. Now, it’s growing more and more unstable."

"I heard that this time, aside from the Demons, there’s something strange."

Recalling the rumors, the male attendant’s expression also darkened.

"This is just news from the front lines. As for the specifics, we’ll only know once the Sect gets there."

"But with Mo Yang Immortal Monarch leading the way this time, it doesn’t matter how powerful the evil creatures are. We have nothing to fear."

Whenever Mo Yang Immortal Monarch was mentioned, the first thing everyone thought of was his immense combat strength.

Even his rivals had to admit his power.

Hearing this, the furrow in Wu Qingyi’s brow gradually smoothed.

"You’re right."

She turned her gaze back to the Spirit Mirror, hoping to find a junior among these people whom she could deem worthy.

Within the Immortal Palace, Song Wanning was still immersed in drawing the symbols.

Although the symbols were unfamiliar, her spiritual power was extraordinary, so they posed no difficulty for her at all.

Furthermore, the more she drew, the smoother it became, until the process was utterly fluid.

Song Wanning’s interest was gradually piqued, and forgetting entirely about the trial, she became completely absorbed.

Time slipped by in a blur. Song Wanning had long lost track of how long she had been there. When she finally looked up, dazed, she discovered she had actually finished drawing all the symbols.

Her expression was one of stunned surprise. She was astonished that she had managed to draw every single one of the numerous symbols.

Looking up, her consciousness still lingering on the task, Song Wanning felt a sense of connection to the symbols.

’Since there’s still time, I might as well try drawing them for real.’

No sooner said than done. With no tools available, Song Wanning decided to simply simulate the process in her Sea of Consciousness.

This time, there were no templates for her to trace stroke by stroke. She had to sketch them from scratch, relying only on her memory of their forms.

Though they were the exact same symbols, the difficulty multiplied exponentially when she had to draw them entirely on her own.

On her first attempt, Song Wanning failed midway through.

The symbol dissipated, turning into specks of energy that scattered within her Sea of Consciousness.

Song Wanning’s brow tightened. ’Looks like I have to be slower. I absolutely can’t rush this.’

She calmed her mind, reviewed the drawing method once more, and then began to try again, stroke by stroke, in her Sea of Consciousness.

Fail, and try again.

Fail again, and try again!

Song Wanning persevered. After countless failures, she finally succeeded in drawing the first symbol in her Sea of Consciousness.

By now, she was covered in sweat, and her spiritual power was severely depleted, forcing her to stop.

When she opened her eyes, the symbols around her had long vanished, leaving only the meditation cushion beneath her.

She took an Elixir Pill, and a sharp gleam flashed in her eyes.

"This talisman drawing is really hard. Even harder than Alchemy!"

She let out a long breath and began to meditate to recover her spiritual power, completely unaware that in the Immortal Realm, Wu Qingyi had shot up from her bed in shock.

The male attendant’s eyes were wide as saucers. He pointed at her image, stammering for a long moment without managing to form a single word.

"She... she..."

’What kind of monster is she?’

Wu Qingyi snapped back to her senses and slammed her hand on the table, her eyes shining with excitement as she looked at Song Wanning.

"She just learned about talisman drawing, and she already managed to stumble her way into learning Void Talisman Painting??"

"What kind of monster is this??"

Wu Qingyi was filled with amazement. She recalled how she herself had started by learning to draw on talismans, then talisman treasures, then Immortal Talismans, only learning Void Talisman Painting much later.

This stage was clearly meant to be a test of spiritual power. Who would have thought this girl would be completely self-taught, immediately cranking the difficulty up to the maximum, and actually succeeding?

The more she thought about it, the more astounded she became. ’If I miss out on a talent like this, it’ll be my loss!’

The male attendant also slowly came to his senses and stared blankly at Wu Qingyi. "Could this be the legendary ’fool’s fortune’?"

The girl has never even encountered talisman drawing before, yet she managed to break into its highest realm in one fell swoop.

"She’s not a fool. If she were a fool, there’d be no smart people left in the world."

Wu Qingyi chuckled softly. "She has never studied talisman drawing, so she has no preconceived notions about it..."

Which led to this pleasant surprise.

Now, she had eyes for no one else and began to focus solely on Song Wanning’s progress.

Meanwhile, Huo Jinchuan had just completed the first stage of the trial. But he didn’t feel happy at all; instead, he felt a sense of panic.

It was as if the Heavenly Dao itself was warning him.

Huo Jinchuan felt uneasy, and his first thought was that Song Wanning must have arrived!

Because among all these people, Song Wanning’s destiny was his greatest threat.

His face darkened and he clenched his fists, his eyes filled with fighting spirit.

’My talent for talisman making isn’t something these people can compare to. After all, I’ve been secretly studying how to make talisman treasures for a long time. These people have probably barely even encountered a few talisman treasures—how could they possibly be my rivals?’

"Looks like I need to pick up the pace."

Huo Jinchuan glanced up, hoping his brilliant performance would win the admiration of the great master behind the trial.

As long as he obtained the inheritance, defeating Huo Yang would only be a matter of time.

Huo Jinchuan was full of fighting spirit, completely unaware that Wu Qingyi hadn’t even spared him a single glance.

...

After passing the first stage, Song Wanning arrived in a new room.

But strangely, the moment she appeared, the talisman pen and talisman paper in the room vanished.

She froze for a moment, a flicker of confusion in her eyes.

’The tools are gone. How am I supposed to draw talismans now?’

She looked around. There were only bare, white walls and nothing else.

’What is the test for this stage?’

Song Wanning began to wander around, exploring every corner, but she couldn’t figure out what was going on.

Just as she was puzzling over it, a fierce beast suddenly charged out.

It let out a furious roar, and endless flames erupted around it, instantly engulfing Song Wanning.

Song Wanning’s expression hardened, and she immediately launched an attack.

But her face quickly fell, because no matter what she tried, she was unable to launch any kind of attack.

Her usual sharp sword moves had all vanished without a trace.

Seeing the fierce beast pounce, she could only throw a hard punch, but she was sent flying by the impact and crashed heavily against the wall.