51: Chapter 51 Talisman Treasure?

Stone Room No. 97 of the Ding Section.

Gu Shen sat cross-legged on the stone bed, waving his hand to set up a simple sound-dampening Restriction behind the stone door.

With a movement of his Divine Sense, several items appeared on the bluestone slab in front of him.

A bottle of potent purifying water brought from the Spiritless Ruins, three rolls of white silk bandages, and two lumps of top-quality healing material, red blood essence glue.

Most of the Loose Cultivators who escaped from the White Bone Forest blood formation were contaminated with the extremely vicious rotting blood Evil Qi of the Blood Fiend Sect. Ordinary Low Grade or Medium Grade Medicinal Pills applied to the wounds not only failed to heal them but instead caused Spiritual Qi conflicts, causing the wounds to fester faster.

Only this potent purifying water from the Spiritless Ruins, which had no Spiritual Qi fluctuations, could use its extremely overbearing mundane medicinal properties to forcibly cleanse the rotting flesh and external evils from the wounds.

"Cleanse the external evils, then supplement with the massive vitality of the essence glue to stop bleeding and regenerate flesh. This is the best first-aid medicine."

Gu Shen pulled out the glazed bottle stopper.

He used the tip of his thunder pattern gold-slaying blade to precisely cut the two lumps of red blood essence glue into dozens of tiny fragments, dropping them into the potent purifying water.

He shook it gently.

The originally transparent purifying water quickly turned into a highly viscous, pale red medicinal liquid, emitting a pungent yet vitality-filled, strange odor.

Subsequently, Gu Shen cut the three rolls of white silk bandages into thirty strips of equal length and soaked them all in the glazed bottle, allowing them to fully absorb the medicinal liquid.

After finishing this, Gu Shen packed the thirty sodden, pale red strips into a wide-mouthed coarse ceramic jar and sealed it tightly.

He changed into a tattered gray robe, slightly adjusted his Thousand Faces features to appear older and more weathered, and suppressed his cultivation to Level 5 Qi Refining.

He pushed open the stone door.

On the trading boardwalk of Qingmu Cliff, it was still bustling with noise and constant wailing.

Gu Shen found a corner near the middle level of the boardwalk and sat down cross-legged. Without shouting, he simply spread a piece of tattered cloth in front of him, on which a line of words was crookedly written in charcoal:

"Unique Evil-Cleansing Cloth. Specializes in curing demonic Evil Qi rot, stops bleeding instantly. No pay if ineffective. Five Low-Grade Spirit Stones per strip."

This price was set extremely high. The entire net worth of an ordinary Early or Middle Stage Qi Refining Loose Cultivator was only a dozen or so Spirit Stones.

But at Qingmu Cliff, the one thing not lacking was people struggling on the verge of death.

Before long, a middle-aged Loose Cultivator with his left arm severed at the root, black Qi continuously rising from the wound, stumbled over. His face was ashen; evidently, he had been struck by a Blood Fiend Sect Spell, and the Evil Qi had begun to attack his heart.

"Five Spirit Stones... Can it really wash away the Evil Qi?" The middle-aged Loose Cultivator stared fixedly at Gu Shen, his eyes full of madness. "If you are lying to me, I will detonate my Dantian and drag you down with me!"

Gu Shen remained expressionless, opened the ceramic jar, and used a wooden stick to pick out a pale red, damp strip.

"Extend your hand."

The moment the strip touched the severed arm.

"Ah—!"

The middle-aged Loose Cultivator let out a scream like a slaughtered pig. The potent purifying water stung his nerves, and a foul-smelling black smoke rose from the severed arm—the reaction of rotting flesh and Evil Qi being forcibly eradicated by the mundane potent alcohol.

But only three breaths later.

The screaming stopped abruptly. The middle-aged Loose Cultivator looked at his severed arm in shock.

The black Qi had dissipated completely, and the overbearing vitality of the red blood essence glue began to take effect. At the bone-deep wound, granulation tissue squirmed rapidly, and in the blink of an eye, a thick scab had formed!

"Miracle medicine! This is a miracle medicine! My life has been saved!"

The middle-aged Loose Cultivator was overjoyed, did not hesitate to pour five Low-Grade Spirit Stones from his Storage Pouch, threw them onto the tattered cloth, and turned to squeeze into the crowd.

This scene fell into the eyes of countless injured Loose Cultivators nearby.

Like hungry wolves seeing blood.

"Give me one! I'll pay five Spirit Stones!"

"Get out of the way! I'll pay six! My brother is about to die!"

The originally quiet corner was instantly surrounded by crazy Loose Cultivators.

Gu Shen's eyes were cold and sharp, steady as a rock. One hand exchanged Spirit Stones, the other exchanged medicinal cloth, never haggling.

In less than the time it takes to burn an incense stick.

The ceramic jar hit the bottom, and the thirty pieces of Evil-Cleansing Cloth were sold out.

Profiteering!

Two lumps of essence glue and a bit of mundane material, turned around and exchanged for one hundred and fifty Low-Grade Spirit Stones! This astonishing wealth was enough to make a Late-Stage Qi Refining Cultivator envious and crazy.

Gu Shen keenly sensed that outside the crowd, several greedy gazes were already fixed on him.

He did not hesitate, put away the tattered cloth and ceramic jar, activated his shadow shoes under his feet, and the whole person, like a slippery loach, instantly burrowed into the intricate cliff passage.

After circling several big loops and confirming he had shaken off the tail, Gu Shen reappeared in the high-level trading area at the top of the cliff.

There were significantly fewer Loose Cultivators here; those setting up stalls were all Late-Stage Qi Refining experts, and there were even personal soldiers of the Foundation Establishment Cliff Master patrolling.

Gu Shen carried a huge sum of money in his pocket, his gaze sweeping rapidly over various stalls.

He already had the thunder pattern gold-slaying blade for ordinary top-quality Magical Artifacts, and ordinary Medium Grade Talismans could not solve the dead end of being surrounded by the Sect. He needed an ultimate trump card that could decide the outcome in a desperate situation.

Suddenly, he stopped in front of a stall belonging to a black-robed, masked person.

Only one thing was placed on the stall.

It was a tattered, yellowish Talisman. The surface of the Talisman was not outlined with cinnabar runes, but instead sealed with an extremely tiny, golden, illusory small sword.

Even just lying there quietly, this tattered Talisman still emitted a terrifying pressure that made one's mind tremble.

"Talisman Treasure?!"

Gu Shen's pupils shrank.

In the Great Yu Cultivation World, Magic Treasures could only be refined and driven by great Cultivators above the Core Formation stage. And a Talisman Treasure was a great killing weapon left for juniors by a Core Formation Old Ancestor who extracted the Origin power of their own Magic Treasure and sealed it into a top-quality Talisman paper.

Even if this Talisman Treasure could at most exert one-tenth of the power of the Magic Treasure itself, and would completely shatter once the energy was exhausted, it was absolutely not something a Qi Refining Stage Cultivator could resist.

It was an existence capable of instantly killing a Foundation Establishment Initial Stage Cultivator!

"Your Excellency has a good eye." The black-robed person's voice was hoarse and airy, as if suffering from extremely serious internal injuries. "Golden Light Sword Talisman Treasure. It Seals the one-strike power of a Core Formation great Cultivator's Lifebound Treasure. Unfortunately, most of the energy has already leaked away, and it can only be activated at most twice."

"How many Spirit Stones?" Gu Shen suppressed the shock in his heart and asked coldly.

"No Spirit Stones. Only exchange for top-quality healing Medicinal Pills, or top-quality antidote pills that can cure the Blood Fiend Sect's bone-eroding poison." The black-robed person shook his head.

Gu Shen frowned slightly.

His red blood essence glue had miraculous effects on external injuries, but it was powerless against toxins that reached the bone marrow.

"I don't have the Medicinal Pills you want." Gu Shen flipped his wrist, and a heavy cloth bag fell onto the stall. "One hundred and thirty Low-Grade Spirit Stones. This amount of Spirit Stones is enough for you to go to the Cliff Master's Treasure Pavilion and buy an authentic top-quality antidote pill."

The black-robed person looked at the full bag of Spirit Stones and fell silent.

After a long while, he sighed and grabbed the Spirit Stone bag: "Deal."

Gu Shen reached out and took the heavy Talisman Treasure, carefully keeping it close to his body.

The transaction was completed, and the black-robed person was about to get up and leave.

Gu Shen suddenly said in a low voice: "Fellow Daoist, this Talisman Treasure has immense power, why are you willing to sell it at this time?"

The black-robed person paused, his eyes under the mask revealing a deep despair and numbness.

"What's the use of holding onto it? Three hundred miles outside Qingmu Cliff has already been tightly sealed by the Danding Sect's Law Enforcement Squad. Not even a fly can fly out..."

The black-robed person laughed at himself, his voice extremely low. "Just wait for death. In at most three days, everyone in this Qingmu Cliff, along with this mountain, will be crushed to flat ground by the two major Sects."

After saying this, the black-robed person disappeared into the darkness without looking back.

Gu Shen stood in place, his hands and feet cold.

A three-hundred-mile blockade!

His greatest concern had happened early. The reaction speed of the two major Sects far exceeded his estimation. The big net had already been closed, and even if he left the city to flee now, he would absolutely be unable to pass through those layers of blockade silently.

"Three days."

Gu Shen gripped the Talisman Treasure in his arms tightly.

In a desperate situation, one must kill a bloody path out. He could not avoid this great storm.