novelraw Chapter 113 : The Ancient Talisman Strikes
Chapter 113 : The Ancient Talisman Strikes
Chapter 113: The Ancient Talisman Strikes! Earth-Shaking Reversal
"Calculating backwards... Fair enough."
Hearing this poem, ripples stirred in Wu Sangui's dragon-like, scattered pupils.
Jiang Yan did not respond, merely reciting the poem from feeling. As for Wu Sangui’s merits and faults, history and the people had long given their answer.
There was no need for him to judge.
Just as he was about to finish off Wu Sangui and collect materials, the entire Diseased Domain suddenly dimmed.
"What is that in the sky!?"
Zhou Xiaoxiao’s trembling voice rang out, filled with indescribable terror.
Jiang Yan and the others looked up. A colossal skeletal hand, several kilometers in size, appeared beyond the heavens.
Endless corpse aura coiled, formed from tens of thousands of skeletal beings, roaring as if to slaughter all things in existence.
The master of the bone hand was an enormous shadow, cloaked in the corpse-dissolution court's python robe, slowly reaching toward the Diseased Domain!
Just its approach stirred ghostly winds that swept against the Diseased Domain's barrier, beginning to corrode it, making it gradually transparent. Faintly, the dust of the Historical Long River could be seen churning.
Though separated by over ten li, it would take only a few breaths for the bone hand to descend.
"That’s... a prince of the Corpse-Dissolution Court!" Liang Yao was dumbfounded.
A mere congested-level Diseased Domain had actually drawn the intervention of an Ancient Talisman.
And it didn’t look like an ordinary one.
How could they possibly deal with this?
"It’s over."
Su Baitao was rather helpless. In games, for the sake of player experience, wild monsters of different levels were placed in separate zones.
But in reality, someone might just flip the table over disagreement.
You disrupt the layout?
They come down themselves and beat you up.
Can’t enter the Diseased Domain?
Then crush everything!
Even if prepared to die, it was hard not to feel stifled.
Though the Historical Long River would drag the strong to deeper layers, the depth at which a congested-level Diseased Domain resided was not far from a dike-break level that could accommodate an Ancient Talisman.
They couldn’t stay long, but surfacing briefly wasn’t difficult.
Wu Sangui’s dragon eyes stared at Jiang Yan’s back, a teasing expression appearing as he used his last bit of strength to say:
"The Heavenly Treasure Tree concerns the Court’s ruler’s plan. I was but a pawn, the real mastermind is a peak prince of the Ancient Talisman!"
"You eliminated the reinforcements and sealed the news, very clever. It’s just a pity that upon my death, my soul tablet will shatter and summon him. Originally, this could be avoided by altering the path, but now..."
"Come die with me!"
As his words fell, the Chains of All Dragons devoured his heart, cutting off his life.
As for the three faces, though they could split evenly, they began arguing. Each wanted the youthful Wu Sangui; the elder was second choice; no one wanted the middle-aged one.
But crisis loomed, so they’d swallow first and divide later.
"A centipede dies but never stiffens. Yet you used it to yap—how laughable."
Jiang Yan’s expression remained calm, unflustered.
Hearing this, Wu Sangui suddenly realized something and looked at the ever-present Underworld, his expression turning to shock.
Could it be...
Yet this time, he no longer had the chance to speak and died filled with regret.
The Ash Lamp harvested Wu Sangui’s soul.
The massive three-faced black dragon body, including its Foundation and Law Seed, was devoured entirely by the Dark God Embryo, converted into material.
At that moment, Su Baitao stepped closer and said, "Boss, 【Mission One】 can’t be completed in time. Should we proactively shatter the Diseased Domain and sink into the historical tributary? There might still be a sliver of hope."
【Mission One】 required the History Walkers to establish a base and protect the Dog-Folk for sixty days.
Only about thirty days had passed. That Ancient Talisman definitely wouldn’t be kind enough to wait another month.
So, Su Baitao thought of the last resort—
Escaping into the Historical Long River.
Though outside, facing an Ancient Talisman True Person meant a near-certain death—
It was still better than waiting for death inside the Diseased Domain!
"Let’s go!"
Liang Yao and the others were also ready to be lost in history. They only awaited Jiang Yan’s command to enter the Historical Long River.
A decision had to be made quickly. Otherwise, the Corpse-Dissolution Court’s Ancient Talisman prince would arrive.
"Why panic?"
Jiang Yan shook his head and said calmly, "If Mission One is too late, then we just complete Mission Two instead."
Su Baitao and the others froze, their expressions odd.
Wasn’t 【Mission Two】 even harder?
The requirement was to find a major figure of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and resolve the problem blocking the tributary.
Even though they knew the identity of the Young Heavenly King—Hong Tiangui Fu...
Where was the corpse, for starters?
Even if they found it, or even if it was the Heavenly Treasure Tree itself, how would they resolve the blocked tributary problem?
Boom—!
At that moment, the skeletal hand had already touched the Diseased Domain. The entire domain quaked incessantly, the world darkened, ghost winds swept the land, and the aura of death spread—like the end of days.
The Great World’s rules were stable, and its structure tough, able to contain infinite laws.
But placed within a small world or minor dimension where the myriad laws were unclear, an Ancient Talisman True Person was as mighty as a native deity. Every action could destroy the heavens and the earth.
It was a dimensionality-reducing strike.
"It’s too late!"
Liang Yao sighed, writing his last words on a slip of paper and placing it into Li Hong’s storage pouch, hoping that one day a History Walker would find it.
Maybe it would even return to his family.
Su Baitao chose to trust the boss, but her body quietly moved closer to Jiang Yan, thinking that even in death, being near him was a small comfort.
However, just as she closed the distance to one meter, she saw the Little Celestial Ghost perched on Jiang Yan’s shoulder, tilting its head and staring at her.
"Hello..."
Su Baitao had just wanted to greet it, but then saw the soul fire in its eye sockets flickering coldly, staring at her with indifference.
Cold, indifferent.
Like a tiger cub guarding its food, baring its fangs.
Frightened, she gave an awkward laugh and dared not move closer.
This little fellow was way too petty!
The Ancient Talisman prince of the Corpse-Dissolution Court peered into the Diseased Domain and witnessed Wu Sangui’s death. His laugh was scornful, showing no intention of interacting with these ants.
But just as he was about to forcefully break open the Diseased Domain and seize the Heavenly Treasure Tree, a sudden mutation occurred.
Countless mysterious patterns emerged on the once-fragile Diseased Domain, strokes like dragons and serpents—surprisingly forming a transparent...
Talisman?
"Under Heaven... Taiping!"
With a sigh, the Diseased Domain’s barrier erupted in dusk-colored brilliance that rapidly spread along the skeletal hand.
The countless bones forming the arm were illuminated by the twilight light, instantly losing all resentment, killing intent, and other negative emotions—leaving behind only...
Peace.
They began to devour and merge with one another. As long as all were fused into one, consciousness unified, with no other selves remaining, then conflict would cease, and eternal peace would be achieved.
This mysterious spiritual wave spread like a virus.
"What the hell is this?!"
The prince was stunned. To avoid being entirely contaminated, he had no choice but to sever his right arm.
Boom—!
The enormous skeletal hand fell into the Diseased Domain with a thunderous crash, transforming into a mountain of white bones. Its aura spread, producing numerous supernatural materials: white bone crystals, bone marrow spirits, bone flames, and more.
High-level cultivators—their very flesh and blood could affect the environment and generate extraordinary materials.
"This is—?!"
Su Baitao was stunned by the sight. Suddenly, she thought of something and turned toward Jiang Yan.
"Finally figured it out?"
Jiang Yan smiled and said, "The Young Heavenly King's remains—the Historical Long River already told us their location through the mission hints. After all, only one thing could block a tributary of the Historical Long River."
Su Baitao let out a breath and came to a realization:
"The Diseased Domain."
Only the Diseased Domain could block a tributary.
"Gulp!"
The Little Celestial Ghost on Jiang Yan’s shoulder raised a card reading 【Correct】, lifting its chin with a hint of pride.
Because from the very beginning, it had noticed that this Diseased Domain’s spatial integrity was particularly weak—even less than a Turbid Stream-level domain.
Something so abnormal had to be fishy!
After receiving this information, Jiang Yan had begun to suspect and asked the Yellow Talisman Dog-Folk about certain details. At last, from their method of reproduction, he found the answer.
In other words, the Diseased Domain beneath their feet—was the Young Heavenly King’s corpse!
"I can’t believe I didn’t think of that—it was right under our noses." Liang Yao was shocked.
No wonder they could never find where the Young Heavenly King was buried—because they’d been standing on his corpse all along.
Who would have thought...
That the corpse would give rise to a Diseased Domain and use a tributary of the Historical Long River as its burial ground!
"The corpse? Then to resolve the blockage of the tributary... surely you’re not thinking—"
Su Baitao gulped and looked toward the ever-present Underworld phantom, beside which stood the Eight-Headed Treasure Elephant Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva Wonder.
Now, it was disintegrating alongside many lifeless bodies of the Corpse-Dissolution Court’s dead, scattering massive amounts of Corpse-Dissolution Immortal Dust into the ground.
Or rather—
Into the Young Heavenly King’s corpse!
Jiang Yan, with a "what a teachable child" look, said: "It died and blocked the tributary. If it comes back to life, wouldn’t that solve the problem?"
His construction of the Eight-Headed Treasure Elephant Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva Wonder was never meant to summon an undead catastrophe, but to extract enough Corpse-Dissolution Immortal Dust from death, soothe grievances, summon the soul, and then enable the Corpse-Dissolution Rebirth of the Young Heavenly King.
As long as it lived again, it would naturally leave the tributary, and the blockage problem would be resolved.
As for whether it would cause an even greater catastrophe?
The Historical Long River hadn’t forbidden it—so that had nothing to do with Jiang Yan.
In any case, he had completed his mission!
As for the strength of a Corpse-Dissolution Rebirth—aside from its own realm—the main factor was its accomplishments and identity prior to the historical mutation.
The stronger the being, the stronger the rebirth!
As the last emperor of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, grandson of God, and son of the Heavenly King, the Young Heavenly King Hong Tiangui Fu—once reborn—would stand naturally atop the pyramid.
Boom!
Its aura soared, rapidly rising to the peak of the Ancient Talisman level. In a blink, the Diseased Domain advanced from congested-level to 【Dike-Break Level】.
Buzz!
As massive amounts of Corpse-Dissolution Immortal Dust surged in, the Diseased Domain rapidly transformed into a humanoid form. The original barrier shattered, becoming an exquisitely ornate dragon robe, with twilight radiance swirling like a great sun across the sky.
"Under Heaven... Taiping..."
He repeated these four words over and over, slowly rising, an overwhelming terrifying aura spreading in all directions, illuminating the dim tributary of the Historical Long River.
The Young Heavenly King—had revived!
……
……