This celestial master cultivates both physical and magical arts; why did you provoke him?

The news of the discovery of the underground palace in the eastern suburbs spread throughout Jiangzhou overnight.

That photo was on the front page of every major media outlet.

A crystal coffin, a woman in white, and an eye mark on her forehead.

The archaeological experts spoke eloquently in front of the camera, saying what:

"A major discovery of Ming Dynasty tombs", "Unprecedented funeral customs", "Of extremely high research value".

But Xia En knew that it wasn't some ancient tomb.

That was an altar.

The woman in the coffin was not some ancient person.

She is Shen Yue's body.

"They treated her like a vessel."

Shen Ye stared at the photo on his phone screen, his voice eerily calm, "Those experts have no idea what they're doing. They think it's an artifact, but it's actually... a bomb."

Fang Zijian, listening nearby, felt a chill run down his spine: "A bomb? What bomb?"

"The core of the seal."

Xia En said, "That coffin is the core of the entire sealing formation. The person inside the coffin is the 'key' used to suppress the evil."

He looked at Shen Ye.

"The cult put your sister's body in a coffin to maintain the seal. This way, they can control the seal by controlling her."

Shen Ye clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

"That's why I'm going to rescue her," he said, "no matter the cost."

Xia En remained silent for a few seconds.

"If you rescue her, the seal will break, and what's below will come out."

Shen Ye raised his head, his silver-white eyes filled with pain.

"What can I do? Watch her lie in that coffin forever?"

Xia En didn't say anything.

Fang Zijian and Liu Ruyan didn't dare to speak either.

The room was so quiet that you could hear the rustling of the flowers.

Then Shane spoke up.

"Save them," he said, "but deal with what's below before the seal collapses."

Shen Ye was stunned.

"Deal with it? That's an ancient evil artifact?!"

"I know."

Xia En stood up. "So we need to be prepared."

He walked to the table and took out a stack of talismans from his bundle.

That stack of talismans was very thick, at least a hundred sheets.

Fang Zijian stared at the stack of talismans, his eyes wide with disbelief: "Holy crap, what are you going to do?"

Xia En didn't answer. He simply sat down at the table, picked up a brush, dipped it in cinnabar, and began to draw talismans.

His movements were so fast that they were dazzling.

Each stroke was fluid and graceful, without any hesitation.

The runes on each talisman are different; some are as complex as a tangled mess, while others are as simple as a few lines.

But each one exudes an indescribable power.

Fang Zijian was stunned.

He had seen Shane use talismans.

They would stick them on doors, bedside tables, and wellheads, always three or five at a time, and at most ten.

But this time, it was like Shane was being mass-produced.

One, two, three...

Ten minutes, twenty photos.

Fifty sheets in half an hour.

One hundred sheets in one hour.

The table was covered with talisman papers, some golden, some red, some blue, some purple...

The lights of various colors intertwined, illuminating the entire room in a dazzling array of colors.

Fang Zijian swallowed hard.

"You're giving away these talismans like they're free..."

Xia En didn't even look up:

"It was originally free. The talisman paper was brought from the mountain, and the cinnabar was given to me by my master."

"You can't use them like that! Over a hundred talismans, do you know how much effort that takes?"

Xia En finally raised her head and glanced at him.

"I forgot to mention."

His tone was as calm as if he were talking about what he had for breakfast that day. "Before I entered the Celestial Master's Mansion on Longhu Mountain, I was a master of drawing talismans."

Fang Zijian was stunned.

Liu Ruyan was also stunned.

Shen Ye's eyes narrowed slightly.

"You knew how to draw talismans before?"

Fang Zijian asked.

"Um."

Xia En lowered his head and continued drawing. "I've loved drawing these things since I was little. Before I even joined the Celestial Master's Mansion, I could already draw more than thirty kinds of talismans."

"More than thirty kinds?!" Fang Zijian's voice changed.

"After entering the Celestial Master's Mansion, I learned more than fifty other kinds of things."

Xia En said, "I can probably draw more than a hundred kinds now."

Fang Zijian opened his mouth, unable to speak for a long time.

More than a hundred kinds of symbols?!

He remembered that he had looked up some information before, and that it was considered good if a Taoist priest could draw more than ten kinds of talismans.

Those who can draw more than thirty different styles are all at the master level.

More than a hundred kinds? What does that even mean?

"Then why don't you use it normally?" Liu Ruyan couldn't help but ask.

Xia En didn't even look up:

"Using talismans is too troublesome. Drawing a talisman takes time, placing it in the right spot requires finding the right position, and activating it requires injecting magic power. It's not as convenient as the Palm Thunder, which can be used with just a wave of the hand."

Fang Zijian's mouth twitched.

Isn't the Palm Thunder more convenient?

The Palm Lightning Technique is lightning magic! Lightning magic is much more difficult than drawing talismans!

What's wrong with this person? He finds the simplest talismans troublesome, but the most difficult lightning spells convenient?

"Then why are you using it again now?" Shen Ye asked.

Xia En put down his pen and looked at the more than one hundred talismans in front of him.

"Because this time is different," he said. "An ancient evil spirit cannot be killed with a single punch."

He finished drawing the last talisman and put down his pen.

"So, we need to be prepared."

He divided the more than one hundred talismans into three piles, stuffing one pile into his own pocket, handing one pile to Shen Ye, and handing one pile to Fang Zijian.

Fang Zijian took the stack of talismans, his hands trembling. "What... what am I going to do with these?"

"For self-defense."

Xia En said, "This time it will be very dangerous. You guys just need to protect yourselves."

"I'm not responsible if anything goes wrong."

He then took out three golden talismans from his pocket.

Unlike other talismans, these three talismans emitted a faint golden light, and the runes on them were so intricate that they resembled a miniature map.

"What is this?"

Liu Ruyan asked.

"Earth Explosion Star," Shane said.

The room fell silent for a moment.

"Planetary Devastation?"

Fang Zijian repeated the name, feeling his understanding had been refreshed once again. "What is that?"

Xia En carefully put away the three golden talismans.

"A very ancient talisman."

He said, "It's very powerful."

How big?

Xia En thought for a moment and said, "The kind that can flatten a mountain."

Fang Zijian: "..."

Liu Ruyan: "..."

Shen Ye: "..."

Cuihua fell off the roof beam.

"W-What did you say?!"

Fang Zijian's voice was shrill, like a girl's, "You can blow up a mountain?! Where did you learn that kind of thing?!"

"The Sutra Repository of the Celestial Master's Mansion".

Xia En said, "There was a very old book that recorded how to draw these talismans. I asked my master if I could learn it, and he said yes, but told me not to use it lightly."

Why?

"Because it's too expensive."

Fang Zijian was taken aback:

"Expensive? What's expensive?"

"The materials are expensive."

Xia En said, "You can't use ordinary talisman paper and cinnabar to draw this kind of talisman. The talisman paper must be yellow paper that is over a hundred years old, and the cinnabar must be cinnabar that has been struck by lightning."

"The material cost alone is hundreds of thousands for a single sheet."

Fang Zijian almost fainted.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars per piece?!

Three of them would be worth over a million!

"Then why are you still drawing?!"

"Given by my master."

Shane said, "He said we'd need it someday."

He stood up and tidied up his things.

"Looks like today is the day."

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