Chapter 33: The Six Ding Mysterious Armor Talisman

Under Chen Lin's gaze, Xu Ruolan took out a jade slip with a look of heartache.

"This is a sword mantra, an heirloom of my family. Take it, Fellow Daoist Chen!"

After speaking, she handed the jade slip to Chen Lin, her thin hands trembling slightly as if she were extremely reluctant to part with it.

This made Chen Lin feel somewhat embarrassed, as if he were a bandit taking advantage of a crisis.

Embarrassed as he was, he still had to take the item.

A sword mantra was a precious thing; he had wanted to acquire one for a long time, but unfortunately, none were for sale in the market.

He unceremoniously took the jade slip and held it to his forehead to examine it.

A moment later, a look of surprise flashed in his eyes.

"Good. Although it is somewhat unique, it is indeed a sword mantra. This pill belongs to you, Fellow Daoist Xu."

Chen Lin produced a Primordial Essence Pill and handed it to her, nodding with satisfaction.

Xu Ruolan looked at the pill bottle in Chen Lin's hand, her eyes filled with resentment, but she said nothing more and turned to leave in a huff.

Chen Lin did not care.

The road ahead was long, and they might never meet again in the martial world.

If she truly had no ulterior motives, she would inevitably die at the hands of something strange; any more good items would simply be a waste.

Once she had walked far away, he stowed the jade slip into his storage bag and quickly departed.

As Xu Ruolan was turning corners and proceeding cautiously, a masked woman appeared before her without warning.

"Greetings, Senior. I have already given the item to him."

Seeing this person, Xu Ruolan hurriedly bowed and reported.

"Mhm, well done. This is a token. Take it and seek refuge with the Han family; they will give you a slot to leave."

The masked woman produced a red token and tossed it to Xu Ruolan.

"Thank you, Senior! Great kindness cannot be expressed in words. If we should meet again in the future, I shall surely repay you handsomely!"

Xu Ruolan treated the token as if it were a priceless treasure, her body trembling with excitement as she bowed deeply to the woman.

However, when she raised her head, the woman had already vanished.

She felt a momentary disappointment, but she immediately gripped the red token tightly. Glancing at the jade talisman on her chest, which had already begun to crack, she headed straight toward the direction of the Han family.

When he returned to his courtyard, Chen Lin knocked on Zhao Zhengyuan's door, but the other man had not yet returned.

He had originally intended to check on the room of the sallow-faced female cultivator, but he did not follow through.

The mere thought of her being slaughtered made his heart ache.

It was this incident that constantly reminded him that no matter how kind Yu Yuehai appeared, it could not mask his essence as a murderous demon.

To believe in him would be like negotiating with a tiger.

This was also why he sought to please Ye Jingyun; compared to Yu Yuehai, this woman was relatively kind.

Returning to his room, Chen Lin carefully recalled the changes in Ye Jingyun's expression while she spoke to him. He felt as though she was trying to convey something, but her words were shrouded in mist, making them impossible to understand.

Ultimately, he could only temporarily set this doubt aside and begin refining the Thunderbolt Beads.

In a flash, three days passed.

Chen Lin had been in seclusion in his room the entire time. During this period, Yu Yuehai visited once, saying nothing, but giving him three talismans and a storage bag.

The three talismans were a message talisman, an earth-遁 (escape) talisman, and a defensive talisman called the Six Ding Mysterious Armor Talisman.

All of them were meant for survival.

The message and earth-遁 talismans were acceptable; although expensive, they fell within the scope of First-Order talismans.

However, that Six Ding Mysterious Armor Talisman was actually a Second-Order talisman. Even if he had the method and sufficient materials, he would not be able to produce it.

Logically, he wouldn't even be able to use it.

Second-Order talismans typically required a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator to activate them.

But this talisman was a passive type; it would automatically trigger upon encountering intense danger, forming an armor of energy that covered the entire body, thus removing the usage restrictions.

According to Yu Yuehai, the defense formed by this talisman could withstand a casual strike from a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The value of such a talisman was immense; the man had truly invested heavily in him.

He had likely scavenged many good items these past few days; otherwise, he wouldn't have been so generous.

Of course, it also indicated that the man truly did not want him to die, as he still had use for him.

Chen Lin put away the message and earth-遁 talismans, while he found something to secure the Six Ding Mysterious Armor Talisman and hung it around his chest with a rope to ensure it could be triggered at any time.

After handling that, he picked up the storage bag Yu Yuehai had given him.

In the past, he wouldn't have dared to dream of even one, but now he suddenly had two. He couldn't help but marvel at the advantage of having a powerful patron.

He finally experienced the wealth of a descendant of a great clan; no wonder that Lu Li was willing to offer a reward of fifty mid-grade spirit stones to refine a Soul-Seizing Talisman.

However, this solved one of his problems.

Previously, he had not dared to reveal the storage bag Ye Jingyun had given him, because he didn't know if she had mentioned it to Yu Yuehai, which forced him to use it surreptitiously.

Now, he could finally use it normally.

He kept both storage bags tucked inside his robes, one on each side.

He placed all his items in the one given by Yu Yuehai, while the other was used to hold the Thunderbolt Beads to avoid having to use his spiritual sense to distinguish them during use.

Once finished, he picked up the Six Ding Mysterious Armor Talisman hanging from his chest again, carefully studying the differences between Second-Order and First-Order talisman runes.

Unfortunately, after looking for a long time, he couldn't discern any specific clues, other than the fact that the runes were more profound.

In fact, the talisman Ye Jingyun had previously asked him to make was even higher in grade. Chen Lin strongly suspected that it was also a Second-Order talisman, perhaps even more advanced than this Six Ding Mysterious Armor Talisman.

Logically, even with his talent, he should never have been able to refine it. After all, insufficient cultivation was considered "not using the correct method," which did not meet the requirements of his talent.

Yet, he had succeeded.

Reflecting on it afterward, it must have been because of that Cold Nether Flame.

This exotic flame could not only substitute for the True Fire of a Foundation Establishment cultivator because of its own sentience, but it could also lower the requirements for the intensity and purity of spiritual power needed during talisman making.

It was likely that Ye Jingyun had specifically modified the production method for him, lowering a Second-Order talisman—which normally required the Foundation Establishment stage—to a level that could be refined during the middle stage of Qi Refinement.

Otherwise, in normal talisman refining, he had never heard of needing an exotic flame to assist.

Although he had never heard of exotic flames before, they were certainly extremely high-level items; using one for talisman making was a complete waste of talent.

After thinking for a while, Chen Lin gathered his thoughts and picked up the *Detailed Manual of Spells* to study.

He had basically finished everything he could do. Since he couldn't go out, he could only study spells while waiting for news from Yu Yuehai.

Currently, only three spells remained unlearned in this manual: the Cleansing Spell, the Fireball Spell, and the Deterrence Spell.

Previously, he had focused all his energy and resources on the most urgent spells for cultivation. Now that he had nothing else to do, it was the perfect time to learn them all.

Another day passed.

With the assistance of two Enlightenment Pills, he successfully mastered all three spells.

He was now a seasoned middle-stage Qi Refinement cultivator proficient in six spells.

He went into the courtyard to practice the spells until they were proficient. Just as he felt quite satisfied, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his dantian, and his body began to convulse.

Chen Lin was startled at first, but then, as if realizing something, he hurriedly took a small bottle from his storage bag, opened the stopper, and swallowed a reddish-brown pill.

It was the Blood Qi Pill.