Chapter 78: High-Grade Runes – As You Wish

“Is there a new development on your side?”

Beneath the forest canopy, the Azure Profound Sect’s chief team was resting in place. Everyone was silent—only Jiang Yuechen was in contact with the second-seat team.

Under the shade of a tree, Gu Qingyu sat beside Ying You, staring at him. After a long while, he finally couldn’t help but ask, “Captain, did we take the wrong path?”

Leaning against the trunk with his sword in his arms, Ying You furrowed his brows slightly. “Maybe.”

Just as the words left his mouth, a message arrived through the jade tokens at their waists. Everyone received it at once.

“The Crimson Sky Sect’s chief body cultivator… is out?” Feng Yunyi suddenly frowned. “Did he run into the Clear Thought Sect?”

“Probably the Returning Immortal Sect,” said Ying You. “Only one person’s out, so looks like both sides were alone.”

Feng Yunyi added, “Right now only the Clear Thought Sect hasn’t shown up. Don’t tell me they finally got lucky this round…”

“No, the Clear Thought Sect’s chief team is following us.” Jiang Yuechen extinguished the talisman in her hand. “Clearly, they don’t have a clue either.”

No one was surprised the Clear Thought Sect was tailing them—it was a move they often used. Whenever they couldn’t find the right path, they’d follow traces left by other sects.

To the Azure Profound Sect, the Clear Thought Sect posed no threat. Especially now, when even they themselves were lost.

“This is all your fault, Feng Yunyi. You picked a terrible route and got us off course.” Gu Qingyu’s face was pale—his body still hadn’t fully purged the snake venom, and his lips trembled as he spoke.

Feng Yunyi: “…”

Ying You said, “Enough arguing. Stay calm. The top priority is finding the right path.”

Feng Yunyi paused, then said, “But the spiritual energy traces I gathered did point in this direction.”

And yet, for some reason, the farther they walked, the fewer traces there were—until there were none at all.

Ying You turned to Jiang Yuechen. “What’s the situation with the second-seat team?”

“The main group lost contact. But I did reach the second-seat talisman cultivator just now—he barely escaped a magical beast horde and is heading our way,” she replied. “He said he ran into the Returning Immortal Sect’s second-seat sword cultivator and… got robbed.”

Gu Qingyu scoffed, “The Returning Immortal Sect’s getting bolder, daring to lay hands on even our people now.”

Ying You closed his eyes, lashes trembling slightly—he looked tired. “As long as he’s alive.”

Seeing him like this, Feng Yunyi asked with concern, “Captain, why don’t we rest for a day and continue tomorrow?”

“There’s no time left,” Ying You replied. “By the schedule, the Wood-Core Flower is about to bloom, and we’ve made no progress. We can’t afford delays.”

Just as Feng Yunyi was about to argue again, uneven footsteps approached from a distance. The entire Azure Profound Sect chief team turned to look—it was their second-seat talisman cultivator.

Feng Yunyi rushed over to help him and began treating his injuries.

“Captain, I…”

The second-seat talisman cultivator opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say. He was filthy, clothes disheveled like they’d been forcibly stripped, body covered in wounds, and clutched a torn talisman paper in one hand.

Jiang Yuechen frowned. “Who did this? Someone from the Returning Immortal Sect?”

He nodded vigorously. “It was their second-seat sword cultivator. She pulled me out of the magical beast swarm, but then robbed me of my talisman paper.”

Feng Yunyi had just finished applying medicine when he suddenly twitched his fingers. “Wait. There’s Wood-Core Flower spiritual energy on you.”

The second-seat talisman cultivator froze. “What?”

Feng Yunyi immediately asked, “Where did you encounter the magical beast horde?”

The talisman cultivator described the terrain and general location. Feng Yunyi turned to Ying You. “Captain, we’ve got a lead. Should we check it out?”

Ying You nodded. “Pack up. We move immediately.”

The Azure Profound Sect’s chief team and support unit snapped out of rest mode, awaiting further orders.

Gu Qingyu stood up as well—his leg was still injured and he walked with a limp, oddly in sync with the second-seat talisman cultivator.

He patted the talisman cultivator on the shoulder. “One leg each. Let’s hobble along together.”

Second-seat talisman cultivator: “…”

Gu Qingyu asked, “So, how’d that sword cultivator rob you?”

“She tricked me,” he said instinctively, then hesitated. “Well, maybe not exactly tricked… but she definitely robbed me. I remember her. She even scammed the Clear Thought Sect in the last round.”

“That Lian Mu—absolutely shameless.”

Just then, Ying You, walking ahead, suddenly stopped. Feng Yunyi nearly bumped into him.

He halted abruptly, spun slightly on his toe, stumbled a little, then awkwardly steadied himself against a nearby tree.

Trying to play it off, he stood straight and asked, “What is it, Captain?”

Jiang Yuechen, nearly tripped by him: “…”

Ying You turned and stared directly at the second-seat talisman cultivator. “What did you just say?”

He froze. “Huh?”

Gu Qingyu answered for him. “He said the Returning Immortal Sect’s second-seat sword cultivator—that’s the one who tricked the Clear Thought Sect in round one.”

“What’s her name?” Ying You’s voice was low, emotionless.

“Lian… Lian Mu? They have two second-seat sword cultivators, but I only remember her.”

Feng Yunyi didn’t understand. “What about her?”

He’d never heard the name before. Usually, the chief teams didn’t bother remembering second-seat members of other sects. Even during lodging assignments, only numbers were read—not names.

Everyone stared at Ying You, waiting for an explanation, but he was silent for a moment and finally said, “…It’s nothing.”

“Let’s go.”

—

—

Lian Mu found Qu Ruotian lying on a patch of grass, barely breathing, unable to get up.

She rushed over to lift him and fed him two pills she’d stolen. Qu Ruotian coughed up a few mouthfuls of dark blood.

“Sorry… You came all this way just for me,” he said flatly, using all his strength to struggle upright.

Seeing his condition improve, Lian Mu grabbed the fluttering paper sprite beside her and asked, “How far is the chief team from us?”

“They’re close now,” Qu Ruotian said weakly. “They were to the north at first, but after contacting Qianxue, they started heading this way. Qianxue’s probably already met up with them.”

He had originally been traveling with Luo Qianxue, but on the first night, when the toxic miasma was about to set in, they had to split up to find higher ground. Qu Ruotian had run into a migrating magical beast horde, whose high-grade strength had left him badly injured.

He’d been lucky they weren’t interested in eating him, or he’d have been eliminated already.

“It’s getting dark. The miasma’s coming again,” Qu Ruotian noted, glancing at the dimming sky. A faint rotten stench was already wafting through the air.

He took off his spatial pouch and handed it to her. “Junior sister, take this and go. I’ve used up all my barrier talismans—I won’t last long when the miasma comes.”

“If they’re used up, just draw more,” Lian Mu said. “Now that I’ve found you, I’m not leaving you behind.”

Qu Ruotian spat more blood. “What I meant was… I’m out of talisman paper.”

Lian Mu immediately pulled out a handful of blank talisman sheets. “I’ve got some—enough?”

Qu Ruotian stared at her, stunned. “Where’d you get talisman paper?”

She admitted bluntly, “Stole it.”

He looked closely—there were enough sheets to last several days. “…”

Did she just rob an entire talisman cultivator squad?

“…Plenty.”

On the surface, Qu Ruotian appeared calm, but inwardly he was full of admiration: As expected of a sword cultivator—so straightforward, so brutal, and so effective.

Seeing that he was too weak to walk, Lian Mu thought for a moment and said, “Senior Brother Qu, if you keep using your spiritual energy, your body won’t be able to handle it. Teach me how to draw a barrier talisman—I’ll set up the formation.”

“You?” Qu Ruotian was a little surprised.

He had never seen a sword cultivator voluntarily learn how to draw talismans. Besides, sword cultivators and talisman cultivators were worlds apart. If the drawing went wrong, it’d just waste materials for nothing.

But given the current situation, they had no other choice.

Qu Ruotian pulled a sheet of blank talisman paper from the stack and demonstrated with a single drawing. Just from that, he coughed up three more mouthfuls of blood.

Lian Mu noticed that the pattern he drew wasn’t very different from the communication talisman—only a few details had changed.

It seemed basic talismans all shared a core structure, with certain segments modified depending on their function.

Baili Que had also drawn barrier talismans in front of her before—back when their group ganged up on the elders of Clear Thought Sect. The one Baili Que drew was slightly different from Qu Ruotian’s.

Lian Mu observed some of the patterns, tried copying the version Qu Ruotian gave her, then pulled out another blank sheet and modified it based on what she remembered.

Qu Ruotian had finally run out of blood to vomit. He wiped the corner of his mouth and looked up at the darkening sky with a twinge of guilt in his heart.

Now not only was he trapped—Lian Mu was stuck with him too.

He didn’t have much hope for the talisman she drew. She was a sword cultivator, after all. Some sword cultivators couldn’t even trace the runes properly, let alone succeed on their first try.

“Junior Sister…” Qu Ruotian had just opened his mouth to apologize when he glanced over—and saw her holding a talisman that was already igniting.

The next moment, a barrier sprang up around them, sealing off the faint stench of rot in the air.

Seeing the azure-grey flame flickering on the talisman in her hand, Qu Ruotian was stunned.

“You’re a sword cultivator. Did you switch to another path before?”

“Nope. First time learning.”

Qu Ruotian: “???”

Lian Mu tossed aside the burnt talisman, compared it with the one Qu Ruotian drew, and commented, “Senior Brother Qu, your barrier talisman isn’t as effective as this one.”

She waved her own talisman a little.

Qu Ruotian: “…”

Of course high-grade talismans worked better than low-grade ones.

He took a deep breath and suddenly didn’t feel his injuries hurt as much: “Junior Sister, who taught you high-grade talismans?”

Lian Mu casually replied, “Saw Baili Que draw one once. I remembered a bit.”

Qu Ruotian was completely speechless. After a long while, he finally came back to his senses, still a bit dazed: “Are all sword cultivators these days… Your Cold Arrival Peak really does produce some prodigies.”

Lian Mu took it as a compliment: “It’s okay. Sword cultivators like me—who have both virtue and talent—aren’t that common.”

After speaking, she looked around. In this illusion realm, the nights always turned cold. The barrier could block the poisonous miasma, but not the chill.

She’d burned quite a bit of spiritual energy drawing talismans—time to replenish it.

Qu Ruotian rubbed his arms. He felt cold too. Unlike the dry chill of the Black Tortoise North, the Vermilion Bird South was cold and damp at night, which made him deeply uncomfortable.

He looked up at Lian Mu and saw her rummaging through her spatial pouch—then suddenly pulling out a wok.

Qu Ruotian: “?”

“I’m a little hungry. Gonna stir-fry something. You don’t mind, do you, Senior Brother?”

Qu Ruotian: “…Be my guest.”