175: Chapter 175 Taking Stock of the Loot, Mysterious Disappearance

More than a month later.

Xu Changsheng quietly returned to Yellow Ox Immortal City.

Although only two or three months had passed, he had seen many old friends and encountered many things.

Sitting cross-legged on a prayer mat, he took out the protective Talisman given to him by the Sophora Demon.

A large, leafy Sophora tree was engraved on the wooden Talisman, faintly revealing a verdant luster.

This was his greatest harvest from this trip.

He slightly injected Spiritual Qi.

The wooden board emitted a shimmering, ghostly light, and a peculiar, invisible force crawled up his arm and body along his palm.

"This..."

Xu Changsheng's expression froze, and he suddenly increased the intensity of the Spiritual Qi infusion.

The next moment.

His skin color changed from yellowish-black to dark green, his body hair lengthened and turned into twigs, and his hair grew vigorously, transforming into a lush tree canopy.

For a moment, Xu Changsheng really thought he had become a tree.

Roots spread beneath his feet, breaking the floor tiles and growing wantonly in the soil.

His eyes shook slightly; this protective Talisman given to him by the Sophora Senior was no ordinary object, but the Wood Core Origin nurtured by the old Sophora tree for a million years.

It had two effects.

Protection and healing.

The defensive power of the skin on his body's surface was astonishing; when the divine wood two principles sword was sacrificed and hacked down fiercely, it didn't leave even a trace on the rough bark.

He estimated it had reached at least the level of third-rank protection.

In addition, having turned into a Sophora tree, his Meridians and blood vessels were filled with a mellow Spiritual Qi Origin similar to hundred-year spiritual liquid.

Its recovery ability for Spiritual Qi far exceeded hundred-year spiritual liquid, and even the old wounds in his body showed a faint trend of completely healing.

The strength of the effect exceeded thousand-year spiritual liquid; it felt as if only the legendary fourth-rank ten-thousand-year spiritual liquid could compare to it.

Xu Changsheng's eyes brightened.

The activation speed of this protective Talisman was not slow, and it didn't require Divine Sense control, making it more agile compared to a Talisman.

It could be used as a killing move for a desperate counterattack, neutralizing a powerful enemy's trump card.

The only drawback was that he would become a tree, becoming a living meat target, which somewhat tested his timing in using this Talisman.

He stopped injecting Spiritual Qi into the protective Talisman.

The changes on his body quickly receded, and he soon returned to his original human form.

Brushing the wood chips off his body, he smiled bitterly: "Being a wooden man isn't easy."

He held the protective Talisman in his hand.

Fine, visible cracks had appeared on the originally intact wooden surface.

His brow furrowed slightly.

This strange treasure was somewhat similar to a talisman treasure, a consumable item that could be used multiple times.

He put the wooden Talisman into his Storage Pouch.

He took out a communication talisman.

His brow suddenly tightened.

The day after he returned, he had sent a message to Li Hongxuan.

This former neighbor of his had nowhere to go after the Three Realms Mountain Hundred Sects Trial began, so he set out on the journey back to Yellow Ox Immortal City alone.

Before leaving, he didn't forget to tell him to send a message after returning to the Immortal City to tell him about the process of the Hundred Sects Trial.

Xu Changsheng had also agreed at the time.

As a person of his word, he contacted Li Hongxuan in a timely manner.

But now three days had passed, and the communication talisman had not received any reply from Li Hongxuan.

This was too abnormal.

As a Cultivator who coveted the second-rank talismans on him, he should have responded to the message he sent in a timely manner.

He also hadn't received any news of him leaving the Immortal City.

A trace of unease rose in his heart.

He stood up.

He walked out of the Immortal Cave.

A quarter of an hour later, he arrived in front of Li Hongxuan's Immortal Cave.

He knocked on the main door of the Immortal Cave.

After a long time, no one opened the door.

The feeling of unease became increasingly solid.

He took out another jade pendant from his Storage Pouch; this was Chu Linger's communication token.

He sent a message: "Fairy Chu, please check the city entry and exit records for Li Hongxuan for me."

"Which Li Hongxuan? The neighbor I had when I first moved into Huangniu Mountain."

"Oh, and there's also one named Gu Fengping. Check her tracks for me and see if she's still in the Immortal City."

"Men, women, whatever, stop talking nonsense and go check!"

He put down the communication talisman, frowning as he looked at the sky.

A dark cloud swept across the sun at that moment, blocking the sunlight, and a chill rose from the soles of his feet.

"Could it be that the people from the Ghost Shadow Sect have already made their move?"

...

An hour later.

Xu Changsheng got the information he wanted.

One piece of good news, one piece of bad news.

The good news was that Gu Fengping had been in the Immortal City these past few days and even went to hear True Person Jin Niu's lecture a few days ago.

The bad news was naturally about Li Hongxuan. This person had bragged in a wine shop a month ago about discovering a secret cache and wanted to go out of the city with a friend to hunt for treasure.

He left the city half a month ago and then completely disappeared, but his friend returned.

Even if these two pieces of news didn't involve the Ghost Shadow Sect, Xu Changsheng's brow remained furrowed.

Just because it wasn't on the surface didn't mean it wasn't there in the shadows.

He asked Chu Linger again: "Where does that friend of Li Hongxuan live? I want to see him."

The latter had already found out: "Master, what a coincidence, he left the city again yesterday."

"From your tone, it seems you know where he went?"

"Heehee, Master and Linger really are of one mind. Li Hongxuan's friend is named Xu Mingxuan, and he went toward the northeast. According to the speculation of the Northern Guard Commander, he should have gone to the Suli River."

"Suli River? Why would he go to such a desolate place?"

"Linger doesn't know that. It's also possible he didn't go to the Suli River but to the Yuan State instead."

"Fine."

Just as he was about to dissipate his Spiritual Qi, the communication talisman's spiritual light flared up.

"Don't go yet, Master. Linger has some good news to tell you."

"Speak."

"Linger has been working hard these past few months and has finally made Spirit Talisman Workshop big and strong. Now, Spirit Talisman Workshop is the most prestigious Talisman shop in the entire Immortal City."

"Well done."

"Eh, Master really doesn't know how to give compliments, but that's enough. Linger has an idea, I wonder if Master will agree?"

"Tell me first."

"People from the Immortal City Talisman Association found me and said they want to cooperate with us, providing first-rank Talisman masters to refine Talismans for me, with profits shared with them proportionally."

"Talisman Association?"

"Yes, the Talisman Association is an Alliance of Loose Cultivator nature formed by some reputable Talisman masters in the Immortal City."

But most of them are first-rank Talisman masters, with very few second-rank ones, and I've never heard of a Pseudo-Third Rank Talisman master like Master being in it."

Chu Linger excitedly spoke about the benefits of cooperating with the Talisman Association:

"With the help of the Talisman Association, our Spirit Talisman Workshop will have more sources of goods. Otherwise, relying only on the two of us, we couldn't refine enough Talismans to sell even if we didn't eat, drink, or Cultivate."

"For example, the Pseudo-Third Rank Talismans you left before you departed, Master; even selling a few every half month wasn't enough to meet demand."

"As long as we have enough goods, Linger can open a few more branches. I'm confident I can make Spirit Talisman Workshop comparable in scale to the Immortal City Talisman Tower. By then, Master and Linger will have no shortage of cultivation resources and a steady stream of Spirit Stones."

Xu Changsheng nodded: "Mhm, just do as you think best."

Anyway, he was behind the scenes of the Spirit Talisman Workshop; ordinary people couldn't find him.

But now he had something more important to do, and that was to find Xu Mingxuan.