11: A blind man sets up a stall, and thunder comes from the ground?

It was the Hour of the Rat, and all was silent.

Inside and outside the woodshed, a deathly silence was enveloped by an impenetrable ink-like darkness.

Zhang Xuanyi sat cross-legged before the pile of tattered rags, his eyes empty and vacant, his vision filled only with an eternal darkness.

However, his ears, like the most alert hunting dog, trembled slightly, capturing every subtle flow of air with a profound qi-sense.

The calamity of blindness brought by the system had deprived him of his sight, but it seemed to have honed his other senses to their extreme.

The cloth surface of the Myriad Laws Street Stall beneath him was continuously heating up; the temperature was not a lifeless scorching heat, but a vibrant rhythm, one beat after another, like the heartbeat of a sleeping giant, transmitting through the fabric to his skin.

He recalled his master's teachings.

The scruffy old Daoist priest once held a wine gourd and pointed at the fallen leaves in the wind, saying, "Xuanyi, close your eyes, and the wind will tell you where the leaves come from and where they are going." This was the method of "listening to the wind to discern position," the foundation for Daoist cultivators entering the gate.

But at this moment, what he felt was far more than just the wind.

A sentence from the "dragon and tiger records" quietly surfaced in his mind: "The Earth Veins have a sound, and the wind can carry talismans."

Earth Veins... have a sound?

Zhang Xuanyi's heart stirred, and he suddenly extended his right hand, fingers splayed, gently pressing them onto the ground in front of him.

Where his fingertips touched, it was cold, hard, and covered with gravel.

But beneath this deathly silence, an extremely faint yet highly rhythmic tremor, silently and imperceptibly, drilled into his perception along his finger bones!

It was here!

His heart pounded; this leveled ruin was precisely the former site of the once-flourishing Wanfa Pavilion from three hundred years ago!

And the source of this tremor must be the remnant of the talisman array set up by the patriarchs back then to suppress some monstrous demon!

Years had passed, and the world had changed; the talisman array had long since collapsed, but that wisp of undying array intent still lingered like a thread deep underground!

Just as his mind was immersed in the rhythm of the Earth Veins, an extreme sense of danger suddenly erupted from above his head!

The night wind was violently torn by an invisible wall of qi, and a figure, like a ghost, stepped through the air, silently, yet carrying a terrifying, world-dominating pressure.

The one who arrived was Li Wujiu!

He hovered in mid-air, the moonlight outlining his cold face, and in his palm, an ominous inverted Eight Trigrams pattern slowly rotated, devouring the surrounding light.

"Since you are blind, you need not see this turbid world anymore."

The cold voice carried no emotion, as if a deity was pronouncing the final judgment on a mortal.

Before he finished speaking, the inverted Eight Trigrams in his palm suddenly vibrated, and three pitch-black Law-Breaking Talisman Seals instantly formed, like three death arrows shot from a bow, trailing a shriek that tore through the night sky, descending from above, heading straight for Zhang Xuanyi's head!

Wherever these three talisman seals passed, the air itself twisted, and the power of law-breaking contained within them was enough to instantly annihilate all protective spells of an ordinary cultivator!

A moment of life and death!

However, facing this certain-kill strike, Zhang Xuanyi did not move an inch.

He seemed completely unaware of the death threat above his head, only moving with extreme speed, like lightning, to stick the last piece of photocopy yellow paper onto the base of the broken ancient bell beside him!

He roared in his heart: "Copy — Purifying and Calming Talisman!"

Buzz!

The yellow paper flickered with a faint light, and a complex rune was instantly branded upon it, merging with the subtle Zen essence of the ancient bell.

Almost at the same time, he flipped his left hand and slammed the second blank yellow paper, already prepared, onto the ground, precisely at the point where the Earth Vein tremor was most intense!

"Virtual and Real Dual Shadow Array, activate!"

A low roar, from the depths of his being!

The first Purifying and Calming Talisman stuck on the ancient bell suddenly erupted with a soft and bright light; the talisman light twisted, actually manifesting a light-shadow identical to Zhang Xuanyi's cross-legged posture!

This was a perfect visual bait!

And the second yellow paper, slammed onto the ground, became the switch to activate the Earth Qi!

Borrowing the resonance of the Earth Veins, it frantically extracted energy from the talisman light, transforming it into a pure talisman qi, which, like a loach, boldly drilled underground, precisely channeling into the three-hundred-year-old remnant of the talisman array!

"Petty tricks!"

Seeing this, Li Wujiu's lips curled into a disdainful sneer.

With his discerning eye, he immediately saw that the light-shadow was merely a feint.

But he had absolute confidence in the power of his talisman seals; whether real or illusory, he would break them all!

He dramatically waved his wide sleeves, and the three Law-Breaking Talisman Seals, with world-destroying momentum, slammed towards the light-shadow in front of the bell!

Boom—!!!

An earth-shattering roar, the ground shook violently!

The light-shadow was instantly torn to shreds, the broken ancient bell let out a mournful wail from the aftershock, and even the hard ground was blasted into a pit several feet deep, with smoke and dust rising into the sky!

The strike succeeded! Li Wujiu

But at this very moment, a sudden change occurred!

Deep underground, the remnant array's thunderous energy, activated by the talisman qi, finally found an outlet to vent!

A lightning serpent, thinner than a hair, silently shot out from beneath the ruins of Crippled Chen's house nearby, using the exposed rebar in the broken wall as a conductor, cutting a bizarre arc, and with lightning speed, struck Li Wujiu's sole!

This lightning energy was extremely weak, not even as strong as a common palm lightning, but it originated from the great suppression array of three hundred years ago, and the power of evil-breaking contained within it was astonishingly pure!

Li Wujiu was in a brief moment of relaxation after his successful strike, caught off guard, and only felt a numbness in his foot!

Sizzle!

With a soft sound, his luxurious robe corner instantly turned charred black, and a tingling sensation shot up his calf from his ankle, causing his body to experience an almost imperceptible momentary pause in mid-air!

In a contest between masters, victory and defeat are decided in mere inches!

Now!

Zhang Xuanyi had already rolled out just before the talisman seals landed, and now, seizing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, he suddenly rolled behind the woodpile.

He grabbed the worn-out stall cloth with his backhand and vigorously shook it!

Buzz!

The cloth surface actually lit up with a faint halo, and a blurry afterimage of a "temporary stall protection barrier" emerged, blocking all the aftershocks of the explosion.

This barrier was extremely fragile, only lasting for less than three breaths before shattering with a bang, but it bought Zhang Xuanyi precious breathing room!

Without hesitation, he bit his fingertip, and crimson blood dripped down.

Using the firelight from the explosion, he quickly wrote eight characters in blood on the rough cloth surface: "If you see me blind, then follow my heart."

The handwriting was messy, yet it exuded an unyielding will!

"Courting death!"

Li Wujiu laughed in extreme anger; a mere ant dared to provoke him again and again!

He was about to recklessly use his suppressed sealing power to completely obliterate this ruin, but he suddenly heard a faint whisper.

The voice did not come from Zhang Xuanyi, but rather... from the stall cloth!

"Seeing or not seeing, all is illusion."

The voice was not loud, like a gentle breeze brushing the ear, yet also like a morning and evening bell, directly resounding deep within his soul!

Li Wujiu's movements abruptly froze, and a trace of unbelievable wavering flashed in his eyes: "This stall... actually has sentience?"

As a top figure in the Dao of Talismans, he knew deeply that an artifact with sentience was already a supreme treasure.

And one that could speak of Daoist principles on its own, shaking people's hearts, was almost akin to "the Dao" itself!

It was this slight ripple in his mind!

Zhang Xuanyi seized the opportunity again!

He channeled all the remaining power from the shattered stall protection barrier into the ancient bell through his mind!

Buzz—!

The ancient bell suddenly emitted a distant and profound hum; this bell sound was no longer a physical vibration, but an interference with time!

Everything around, including the shock and anger on Li Wujiu's face, paused for a fleeting moment!

Time, as if a pause button had been pressed!

Although it was only for an instant, for Zhang Xuanyi, it was enough!

Though his eyes were blind, Li Wujiu's direction of arrival, his aura, and even the rhythm of his every breath had long been firmly imprinted in his mind!

Relying on his memory, like a hunting leopard, he suddenly pounced from behind the woodpile, striking out with a palm!

"Qi Guiding Hand!"

This palm strike was not meant to harm the enemy, but only to break the spell!

The direction of the palm wind was not Li Wujiu's physical body, but the faint illusory chains of the seal on his chest!

A muffled thud, as if striking tough cowhide.

Time resumed its flow.

Li Wujiu grunted, his body uncontrollably drifting back several feet, the illusory chains of the seal on his chest fluctuating violently, almost dissipating.

He looked down at his chest, then looked up at the blind young man staggering in the darkness, and the killing intent in his eyes slowly faded, replaced by a complex and inscrutable light.

"Good! What a Zhang Xuanyi!" He let out a cold snort, but his voice was no longer so condescending, "Though you are blind, you understand the true meaning of 'seeing' better than ninety-nine percent of the visually impaired in this world."

As his voice fell, his figure transformed into a wisp of green smoke, dissipating with the wind, as if he had never appeared.

Night finally returned to silence.

It wasn't until the sky began to lighten, and the first ray of dawn pierced the darkness, illuminating the chaotic ruins.

Zhang Xuanyi slumped to the ground, utterly exhausted, his clothes soaked with sweat.

He slowly opened his eyes, and before him was still that familiar, endless darkness.

The calamity of blindness had not eased in the slightest, despite his victory in this deadly battle.

He wearily closed his eyes, preparing to meditate and recover.

However, the moment he closed his eyes, a strange sight appeared in his "vision" without any warning!

He "saw" faint greenish spiritual energy flowing like streams on the tattered cloth stall beneath him, slowly repairing the damage caused by the recent fierce battle.

He "saw" a trace of golden Zen essence sleeping within the ancient bell.

He even "saw" how his true qi struggled to circulate through his dry meridians within his own body... This was not seeing with his eyes, but a higher-level, intuitive perception originating from his soul!

Zhang Xuanyi's heart trembled violently!

The blind calamity remained, yet after closing his eyes, he gained the ability to "see" the trajectories of qi 脈!

A line of cold system prompts quietly appeared in his mind:

"Ding! Host, at the brink of life and death, with a clear mind, passively awakened 'Proto-Spiritual Vision'."

"Unlocked new function: Spiritual Qi Perception (usable in closed-eye state, lasts 30 seconds, cooldown 10 minutes)."

He tremblingly reached out and gently stroked the tattered cloth stall, which had already returned to its original state; it felt warm and moist, as if containing life.

"Are you... an artifact, or the Dao?" he murmured softly, his voice filled with shock and confusion.

Behind the broken walls not far away, a slender figure quietly peeked out.

Su Qingzhu held a special camera, its lens tightly focused on the few still-lingering lightning scorch marks on the ground.

She replayed the astonishing lightning serpent that had shot out from underground, which she had just recorded, her beautiful eyes shimmering with unprecedented light, her red lips slightly parted as she whispered in a voice only she could hear:

"Activating the remnant Earth Vein array, using a talisman as a guide... This isn't just a talisman, this is a revolution."

Her gaze swept over the ruins, finally settling on the young man sitting cross-legged with closed eyes, his aura weak.

The tattered cloth beneath the young man appeared unremarkable in the morning light, but through her lens, it seemed like a bottomless vortex, full of unknowns and possibilities.

The sky was bright, and a new day had begun.

For Zhang Xuanyi, who had survived the ordeal, this blind calamity seemed to have opened a door to a whole new world.

Only, whether behind this door lay greater opportunities or a deeper abyss, no one knew.

He only knew that from now on, the way he saw the world would be completely changed.