Slaying Demons: Starting with Upgrading my Calligraphy

"This is..."

Staring at the Cang Fa Fei Cui in his hand, glowing with cyan and yellow light, Bai Zhiyuan's eyes trembled. He felt the aura his Bai Family had pursued for countless years emanating from this Jade...

"Patriarch Bai, returning this item to your Bai Family was entrusted to me by Brother Bai, and I have accomplished it. However, as an outsider, it is not my place to speak too extensively. I just want to remind you of one thing: some people in your esteemed house are not worthy of this."

Although he looked down on the Bai Family's deceitful behavior, out of respect for Bai Qingfeng's trust, Qi Xiu did not make things difficult for Bai Zhiyuan. He gave him the Cang Fa Fei Cui that recorded the Taoist Methods of Talisman Array Tao. After all, this was the Bai Family's property. He was merely a delivery man. As for how this item would be handled, that was for the Bai Family to decide.

After returning the item related to the Talisman Array Tao, Qi Xiu stood up and left.

As he approached the door, Bai Zhiyuan's voice came from behind, "Daoist friend, please wait a moment. May I ask how my child Qingfeng is now..."

Pausing his footsteps slightly, Qi Xiu did not turn around but softly spoke, "Brother Bai is in seclusion, comprehending the Dao. I'm afraid he won't return home for a while. I will convey Patriarch Bai's concerns to Brother Bai."

As his voice fell, Qi Xiu's figure slowly turned into mist and vanished without a trace.

Clenching the Cang Fa Fei Cui in his hand, Bai Zhiyuan gazed at the mysterious, departing figure of the young Daoist with a complex look in his eyes. After a long while, he slowly sat down, leaning on the chair's armrests.

"Shenxiao Sect... Qi Xiu..."

...

Having completed Bai Qingfeng's entrusted task, Qi Xiu did not linger and left Yun Pu directly.

He found a secluded and verdant mountain range deep within an uninhabited area.

Inside a spacious cave, Qi Xiu swept his sleeves lightly. A gust of wind swept across, instantly smoothing the uneven, rugged ground.

With a light flick of his fingertips, a Dust-Free Medicinal Talisman transformed into specks of spiritual light and dispersed. In a flash, a breeze surged and mist rippled. The musty and foul-smelling cave instantly transformed into a clean, orderly, and refreshing place suitable for quiet cultivation.

After reaching the Sixth Realm of calligraphy, Qi Xiu's manipulation of various Cloud Seal Talismans had become even more fluent and smooth. His Essence, Qi, and Spirit converged harmoniously in his palm, further supported by the Medicine Talisman and Drawing Talismans. Today, if he did not reveal his origins, nine out of ten people would mistake him for a high disciple of the Lingguang Baozong.

With a shake of his sleeves, hundreds of lifelike birds flew out. These creatures, evolved from Talisman Scripts and made from artifice into reality, possessed an essence identical to ordinary things. Even a Dao Expert would find it hard to distinguish them. By dispersing these birds over a radius of a thousand li, he had the perfect early warning system. Any slight disturbance would be promptly perceived.

After the birds had flown far away, a Golden Cry Jade Bead on Qi Xiu's wrist slowly lit up. Hundreds of golden, light-shimmering Suppressing Talismans flew out, gradually disappearing into the surrounding void. The Suppressing Talisman had three Divine Marvels: suppression, annihilation, and guarding. It could attack when advancing and defend when retreating! A Guarding Domain formed by hundreds of Suppressing Talismans was comparable to the Buddha Sect's Vajra Invulnerability Skill, incredibly firm and solid.

This should be about right, Qi Xiu muttered, nodding approvingly at the numerous setups around him.

Outside the Mountain Gate, danger lurked everywhere, demanding caution and care. The recent attack by 'Woman's Heart' had served as a stark reminder. The Blood-Stained Realm was not the ultimate state in this world. Even with the Immortal Blood Body, which could resurrect him after death, it was difficult to withstand methods targeting the vital essence of the soul. Prudence was the strategy for longevity.

After arranging everything, Qi Xiu slowly settled his mind. Now, he was about to delve into an ancient technique he had long fixated on—one that had been elusive and untraceable, yet fortuitously obtained from a great battle: Talisman Array Tao!

The so-called Talisman Array Tao involved breaking free from the cumbersome and bloated Formation setup methods, the strict requirements for the layout area, and the costly creation of Array Plates, among other factors. It meant using the methods of talisman arrays to interweave, reshape, recreate, and evolve talismans into regional forces, elevating the individual effects of talismans to the area-of-effect power of Rune Arrays. That was the core principle of Talisman Array Tao.

The reason Talisman Array Tao had been lost for so many years was that the cultivators attempting to revive it all mistakenly believed it was simply a matter of stacking talismans. They thought it was about expanding the talismans' influence or using the principles of mutual generation and inhibition to make the talismans complement each other's Divine Marvels, as if one plus one equaled two. If it had been that simple, Talisman Array Tao would not have been lost for so long.

Talisman Array, Talisman Array... one only sees the talisman but forgets the array. How then can it be called a Talisman Array?

Shaking his head slightly, Qi Xiu loosely cupped his hands and lowered them to his abdomen.

The next instant!

A rapidly expanding array pattern suddenly unfolded below him: the Talisman Array Imprinting Heart Method! This Array Plate was an empty void, crisscrossed with countless cells, its range limited to a hundred meters around Qi Xiu.

As he slowly opened his eyes, Qi Xiu's pupils were filled with blue and white light, exuding a sense of vast depth and a steady command of everything. Looking thoughtfully at the array pattern spread out under his feet, a flicker of realization appeared in his blue and white eyes. Qi Xiu waved his sleeve. Countless Cloud Seal Talismans surged out like a flock of swallows returning to their nest, settling into the cells of the Array Plate.

The moment the empty cells of the Array Plate were filled, the vast Array Plate suddenly trembled. A gentle absorbing force extended from the Array Plate's patterns beneath Qi Xiu, like a request.

So that's how it is!

With a slight upturn of his lips, the Hunyuan Apertures within Qi Xiu's body abruptly stirred. Surging and torrential like the fierce tides of the Nu River, True Essence roared out from within him, ceaselessly pouring into the Array Plate's patterns beneath him.

Once True Essence was infused, the static and obstructed Array Plate gradually began to revolve. The Cloud Seal Talismans embedded in the cells completely merged into the Array Plate. Streamers of light coursed and roamed, continuously evolving and melding, like a spiritual embryo nurturing a power of rebirth.

"With my body as the Array Plate, true techniques are revealed; I am aligned with Heaven and in harmony with Earth!"

With a soft shout, Qi Xiu's eyes shone with resolute brilliance. A gentle breeze surged up from beneath him. The streamers of light, which evolved the Dao Charm within the Array Plate's patterns, suddenly vibrated. The revolving Array Plate abruptly ascended, transforming into a purple-black divine light that instantaneously fell into Qi Xiu's palm.

Slowly, he spread his right hand. Dark clouds billowed, and strands of lightning descended. Vague silhouettes of five figures paced within—the Rune Array resting in his palm.

This is the true Five Thunder Demonic Subjugation Great Formation!

Gazing at the Rune Array in his palm, Qi Xiu's expression was solemn, his eyes flickering with sharpness. Using Talisman Scripts as a guide, integrated into the Talisman Array Plate, and True Essence as fuel to turn the Array Plate, one could evolve Talisman Scripts into the Talisman Array Tao. However, Bai Qingfeng's Talisman Array Imprinting Heart Method was incomplete; it must have been only a fragment. At best, it could be considered the basic introductory level of Talisman Array Tao. The range of the Talisman Array Plate could only extend about a hundred meters around the body, beyond which it could not proceed. Therefore, the range of the Rune Array evolved from Talisman Scripts was also, at most, roughly a hundred meters.

After refining the first Rune Array, Qi Xiu was not eager to test its power. Instead, he began to assess some of the deficiencies of the Talisman Array Tao. Talisman Array Tao, as a fervently pursued and formidable art in the lineage of talismanic techniques, could not possibly be limited to a mere hundred-meter range. After all, even a Dao-Entering Realm cultivator's full-strength strike could affect a range far exceeding one hundred meters. If this ancient technique, lost for two eras, had only this much to offer, then the hope that talisman cultivators had pursued for tens of thousands of years would truly be a joke.

However, now that I've entered the threshold, whether it's a fragment or not isn't important.

Grasping the Divine Marvel of proficiency, Qi Xiu was unconcerned that the Talisman Array Tao he possessed was only at the basic introductory level. After all, Talisman Array Tao had already appeared on his proficiency panel. As its level increased, the incomplete parts would naturally be filled in, and even the most complete original version might be reverse-engineered.

Rising to his feet, Qi Xiu swept his sleeve to remove the layers of Suppressing Talismans arranged around him. The distant birds, returning from all directions, flew back and surged into his sleeves.

"Let this Qi witness for himself what power this ancient technique, worshiped like a sacred altar by talisman cultivators, truly possesses."

Leaping up, Qi Xiu transformed into a ray of lightning and flew far away, tightly clutching the newly refined Five Thunder Demonic Subjugation Great Formation in his hand!

...

"Senior brother, we can't hold them off any longer, let's get out of here!"

In the pouring rain, several figures wielding Longswords fought as they retreated. The muddy mountain road was slippery and difficult to navigate. Rainwater mixed with blood continuously seeped into their eyes, causing an unbearable stinging. In front of them, dozens of grotesque, mutated figures with savage smiles and ragged clothes—creatures that seemed neither human nor demon—pressed forward relentlessly. The unbearably foul odor emanating from them could not be washed away even by the torrential rain and was nauseating.

"You go back to the village first, I'll hold them here!"

With determined resolve, Miao Zhong, wielding a dark iron Longsword, stepped forward, raindrops pattering against him.

"But…"

"Go!"

With a low shout, Miao Zhong braced his nearly exhausted body, propping up his Body-Protecting True Gang, which was precariously close to shattering!

"Come, you wretches!"

Holding his sword with fury in his eyes, Miao Zhong roared, stomped his foot splashing muddy water, and his fierce Sword Intent erupted as he charged forward.

"A half-crippled Initiate Realm cultivator, hehehe, such delicious prey delivered right to our doorstep."

Licking its dark lips, the leading reversed-being demon spat out a large blob of sticky, dense black fog. The fog morphed into countless writhing tentacles, tightly entangling the charging Miao Zhong.

CLANG!

The sword tip clashed with the tentacles, sending sparks flying. In that instant, the torrential rain pouring down from the heavens suddenly stilled. All sound seemed to vanish in an instant. Only a voice, steady and profound as a gently flowing stream, suddenly echoed within a hundred-meter radius.

"Five Thunder Demonic Subjugation Great Formation! Arise!"

BOOM——

Thunder vibrated, and heaven and earth roared! The world within a hundred meters suddenly darkened. Countless bolts of thunder and lightning struck down. Towering figures, over a hundred meters tall, flashed and vanished within the darkness.

"What's hap—"

Before a startled reversed-being demon could finish its words, a massive hand suddenly reached out. Its skin was like limestone, inscribed with thunderous divine runes; it was powerful and sinewy. The hand dragged the demon into the darkness.

"Ah!"

Screams arose one after another as the reversed-being demons were snatched away, disappearing completely into the darkness.

In almost an instant, only Miao Zhong and the Dao-Entering Realm reversed-being demon remained in this thunderous, oppressive domain of darkness.

Frozen in place, a drop of liquid—whether rain or sweat—trickled down the reversed-being demon's cheek.

PLIP!

As the droplet hit the ground—

BOOM!

Thunder roared across the sky. Under the intensely dazzling light, five towering giants, wreathed in dark golden thunder patterns, stood majestic and fierce. Their eyes, filled with unstoppable power and majesty, looked down upon him. These were the Five Thunder Demon-Subduing Grand Deities!

...