Immortal of the Nine Realms

In the Three Thousand Dao Realm, Fang Chen planned to craft some Five Elements Armored Talismans, and they needed to be of at least the top-grade, profound-rank.

To craft such talismans, there were strict requirements for the talisman crafting tools. If the grade of the tools did not meet the standard, it would be impossible to draw the talisman no matter how skilled the talisman master was.

The tools Hua Miaoqing had given him—whether the brush, cinnabar, or paper—were of too low a grade to meet the requirements. He could only craft talismans of the Yellow Rank and below.

Fortunately, he had another method.

As long as he could extract the essence from the discarded pills and refine it into True Dragon Bone Powder, he would have created a natural crafting tool known as True Dragon Jade. This material was somewhere between the top-grade, earth-rank to the supreme-grade, earth-rank.

However, with his current cultivation, extracting True Dragon Bone Powder from three discarded pills was almost impossible.

”Little Black, Little White, do you remember the technique I taught you?” Fang Chen asked with a light smile.

The black and white paper figures slowly opened their eyes and raised their palms. The next moment, a ball of porcelain-white flame appeared in each of their palms.

That was the White Dragon Spirit Flame, one of the techniques from the Heavenly Supreme Pill Technique, the Forty-Ninth Pill Fire from the Profound Grade Chapter.

The White Dragon Spirit Flame was a type of Dragon Flame, which is why it can easily extract True Dragon Bone Powder from discarded pills.

Under Fang Chen’s guidance and control, the black and white paper figures spent the next several months refining the three waste pills.

Once the pills were completely refined, Fang Chen held a small portion of True Dragon Bone Powder in his hands.

”Lord, this technique can even extract essence from the refined waste pills. It seems the White Dragon Spirit Flame is no ordinary fire,” the black paper figure said curiously.

Fang Chen smiled. ”That’s right; it belongs to a type of pill fires. Nowadays, there are probably very few people who know this technique.”

The black and white paper figures nodded lightly. Even before they became paper figures, they had been exceptional figures of that era. Yet, they had never heard of the White Dragon Spirit Flame.

”I hope it goes smoothly...” Fang Chen murmured.

With that, he began preparing to craft the talisman.

Although the talisman brush and talisman paper did not meet the required standards, the True Dragon Bone Powder exceeded the necessary quality. It could make up for the deficiencies, giving him a chance to craft a Five Elements Armored Talisman of the profound rank, or even the

Two years passed unknowingly.

Over these two years, Fang Chen had exhausted his spiritual energy countless times, and the talisman paper before him was now nearly finished. The closer it got to the end, the harder it was to control. It seemed more and more on the verge of exploding by the second. Without his extraordinarily divine soul, the crafting process would have failed from the get-go.

The crafting progress was currently at a crucial stage. Not a single mistake could be made. Fang Chen poured nearly all his attention into the task, not daring to lose focus for even a moment.

The black and white paper figures stood nearby, observing.

Three more years passed in the blink of an eye.

As Fang Chen made the final stroke, boundless spiritual energy surged from the void, sweeping in like a tidal wave, madly pouring into the talisman paper before Fang Chen.

The invisible force tousled his robes and black hair.

The entire process lasted for about half a day, with the talisman paper slowly floating in mid-air. Every line etched by the True Dragon Bone Powder glowed with a dazzling radiance.

Gradually, the divine light faded, and the talisman landed in Fang Chen’s hand. On the surface, it seemed ordinary, but it contained immense power within.

The white paper figure walked up and took a look. It confidently said, ”My lord, the aura of this talisman is at least of the profound rank top-grade.”

The black paper figure nodded. ”We’ve come across many top-grade, profound-rank talismans before, and this talisman’s aura is similar to those.”

Fang Chen smiled and nodded. ”Top-grade, profound-rank, not bad.”

Strictly speaking, if Fang Chen tried to sell this top-grade, profound-rank Five Elements Armored Talisman, it might not even sell for 50 mid-grade spirit stones. It could be said that he had netted a significant loss, even. After all, he had spent 500 mid-grade spirit stones to enter the Three Thousand Dao Realm, used the True Dragon Powder, and used up most of his time in the realm crafting the talisman.

However, for a cultivator who happened to need such a talisman for protection, it was a deal that would yield more than it cost.

Nothing was more important than the task at hand.

Now that he had experience crafting the talisman, he found his second attempt somewhat easier.

As the time limit for his stay in the Realm of Three Thousand Dao was drawing to a close, Fang Chen completed another top-grade, profound-rank Five Elements Armored Talisman.

Thinking of the cost of this attempt—500 mid-grade spirit stones, 10 years of lifespan, and 5 ounces of True Dragon Bone Powder—Fang Chen couldn’t help but feel a slight tinge of regret.

In those ten years, Fang Chen’s appearance had aged slightly.

The lifespan of a Golden Core Realm sword cultivator was typically 200 years, and now his true lifespan had decreased to about 101, making him about the same age as a mortal in their thirties or forties.

Fortunately, the creation of these two Five Elements Armored Talismans went smoothly. They were equivalent to two cultivators in the Dao Union Realm. Though they were consumables, they would greatly aid in this trip to the Pitu Ruins.

Knock, knock, knock.

Just as Fang Chen stepped out of the Three Thousand Dao Realm, he heard a knock at the door. When he opened it, he saw the inn’s servant and a middle-aged man with a slight hunchback standing at the entrance.

The servant forced a smile. ”This person insists on meeting you. I couldn’t refuse, so I brought him here. I hope I didn’t disturb your meditation.”

Fang Chen glanced at the hunchbacked middle-aged man indifferently. ”Who are you?”

A flash of contempt crossed the middle-aged man’s eyes. ”A blind man?”

He was certain his mission would succeed.

He smiled faintly and said, ”My young master wishes to enter the Pitu Ruins to seek some immortal opportunities. Therefore, we hope you can give up your spot and wait for the next opportunity.”

”Your young master?” Fang Chen chuckled. ”If he wants to enter the Pitu Ruins, then let him. It has nothing to do with me. Why should I give up my spot?”

The middle-aged man’s brows furrowed slightly. ”Do you truly not understand, or are you pretending not to? We arrived too late, and now all the spots are filled. If you do not give up your spot, my young master will have to wait longer.”

”Then let him wait.” Fang Chen smiled lightly. ”After all, it was you who arrived late.”

He added, ”Perhaps you can ask some of the other fellow cultivators. Maybe someone would be willing to give your young master some face.”

The hunchbacked middle-aged man said casually, ”You refusing us?”

Fang Chen smiled, then with a loud bang, he slammed the door of his quiet room shut, leaving the hunchbacked middle-aged man standing at the door in quiet contemplation.

The man suddenly sneered, then turned and left.

Not long later, in another room in the inn, the hunchbacked middle-aged man approached a young man in brocade clothes and whispered, ”Young master, that rogue cultivator didn’t give us face and refused to give up his spot.”

”Among these people, he’s the only one without a background. Does he not fear that if he doesn’t give up his chance, he’ll end up dying in the Pitu Ruins?” The young man in brocade snorted coldly. ”Go ask the others. I don’t want to waste time here waiting.”

”Understood.”

The hunchbacked middle-aged man respectfully nodded and left.

Fang Chen, seeing this, was sure that the other party wasn’t deliberately targeting him, so he returned his focus.

Several days later.

At the teahouse, Fang Chen arrived to find that the others had already gathered. Counting them, there were exactly 20 people, and the brocade-clad young man was among them. This indicated that someone had indeed given him face and allowed him to take the spot.

The brocade-clad young man was chatting and laughing with the others, clearly familiar with them. However, when he noticed Fang Chen, his smile immediately turned cold.

”Brother Miao, do you find this funny?” The young man turned to the only Nascent Soul cultivator present and asked with a sneer, ”Now even rogue cultivators can scrape together 200 mid-grade spirit stones to venture into the Pitu Ruins. Has the world really changed so much that mid-grade spirit stones are no longer valuable?”