Chapter 358 - Mysterious Runes
It was no wonder she was one of the two most outstanding disciples of the Heavenly Demon Palace. She was on a completely different level than Yang Jun. Yang Jun had not even received the Traceless Demon Shadow yet, but Murong Yu had already received the first stage of the Demon Seed Planting Technique.
“You have a good chance. Now that you have Traceless Demon Shadow, if you score first place among the disciples under the Seventh River Stage at the Pyro Passageways, you’ll receive the first stage of the Demon Seed Planting Technique,” Murong Yu said.
“The Seventh River Stage? How is that counted?” Long Chen asked.
“Yang Danfeng and I have received the first stage of the Demon Seed Planting Technique, so we will be competing for the second stage this time. Whoever wins will get it, while you, Yang Jun, and the rest are competing for the first stage,” she explained.
Yang Danfeng was the other young Eighth River Stage cultivator.
“Long Chen, you’ve been a little too bold. I came here today mainly to ask you about how you’re progressing with Traceless Demon Shadow.” News of his declaration to cultivate the technique in twenty days had spread like wildfire, so she obviously knew about it too.
“I’ve only scratched the surface,” he said honestly.
“When I was cultivating Traceless Demon Shadow, I couldn’t understand anything for a long time. After that, I had the idea to cultivate it in water. Water offers greater resistance and helps with controlling your speed since it slows you down. Once you have a feel of the technique, you can speed it up. You understand what I mean, right?”
Not only did he understand, he was fully enlightened by it.
“Thank you so much! If you need help in the future, just tell me!” Long Chen was genuinely grateful for her. His journey would be much smoother with her suggestion.
“You don’t have to thank me. I’m leaving.” Murong Yu left without dragging the conversation. After she left, Ling Xi emerged from the sword, cheeks puffed up, and stared at him.
“What is it?” Long Chen did not know whether to laugh or cry.
“Tell me, why is she so good to you?” She was a little jealous.
“It’s very simple ...” Long Chen chuckled and patted his chest. “It’s because I’m handsome!”
***
Long Chen found a deep lake on Demon Emperor Mountain. It was about thirty meters deep, quite a bit deeper than the common lake. The lake water was dark green and slightly cloudy, but it did not affect Long Chen’s vision.
Although Murong Yu’s method is a little strange, it is undeniably effective.
After three days of practice, Long Chen realized that he had finally grasped the Traceless Demon Shadow technique and had solidified his base. He had already planted the seeds, so he only had to water and nourish them, and they would grow into tall trees soon.
There are twelve days left. If this continues, I’ll be able to utilize Traceless Demon Shadow very soon. Of course, I will need more time to truly master it, Long Chen thought to himself. He continued to practice night and day, using Traceless Demon Shadow at extremely slow speeds because he discovered it was much easier to control that way.
He took half a day to complete the footwork, and it would only get easier from here. Based on the speed of his progress, he needed about ten more days to complete the Traceless Demon Shadow footwork in one second. It was a repetitive practice, but Long Chen did not feel bored, because Ling Xi remained by his side and helped him improve. Xiaolang was also not far away. With two of them by his side, he felt very motivated. The worry he initially had was completely gone.
He did not need ten days. About nine days later, Long Chen could perform a more complete version of Traceless Demon Shadow. It was a Heaven-tier combat technique, but Long Chen had figured it out in less than twenty days.
I wonder how interesting their expressions will be when they discover that I have truly succeeded in cultivating Traceless Demon Shadow. Long Chen smirked to himself.
There are three days left. Let me familiarize myself with it in the water first. Long Chen slithered through the deep lake using Traceless Demon Shadow. Although it was deep and vast, Long Chen had already been to most of the lake. Traceless Demon Shadow specialized in speed, allowing the user to move so quickly that they became a demon shadow.
While practicing Traceless Demon Shadow, Long Chen suddenly sensed that whenever he approached a specific spot, the mysterious dragon jade in his mind vibrated once! Is something happening with the dragon jade? Long Chen was pleasantly surprised because the dragon jade only stirred when it encountered items of a certain standard. What would it be this time?
Long Chen observed his surroundings carefully. This area was narrower; therefore, he usually did not come here to practice. Yet was there a piece of treasure here? This was a surprise to him. He quickly searched across the whole area, having to rely on himself seeing as the dragon jade did not stir again after it stirred once.
“Brother Chen, what are you doing?” Ling Xi emerged from the sword, looking around. She watched him in confusion.
“There must be something here ...” Long Chen said with his brows furrowed.
They were at the bottom of the deep lake, which was covered in cloudy, black mud. It was disgusting just to look at, and it would be even worse if they tried to dig. However, Long Chen had already checked the area and found only water. If there was something here, then it had to be in the mud.
Is it possible that I made a mistake? That nothing actually happened with the dragon jade? he thought to himself, dejected.
“Something? Let me look for it too.” After Long Chen searched for a while, Ling Xi helped him. Her soul power had far greater scanning abilities than Long Chen. She scanned the area slowly, but after about seven minutes, she pursed her lips. “The deeper you go through this mud, the harder the ground is. There’s a lot of rock, but nothing else. The only thing that might be a little special is a talisman shell. This talisman is probably considered one of the higher-level types. However, it seems to be ineffective because it has lost its talisman spirit.”
“A talisman shell?” Long Chen’s eyes brightened. A bit of hope was better than nothing. He asked her impatiently, “Xiao Xi, what is the approximate location of the talisman shell?”
Ling Xi flew to a spot and pointed downwards. “Here, about fifteen meters below. It’s trapped under a rock. Are you going to retrieve it?”
“Of course.” Long Chen nodded.
If it really was some precious treasure, he could not care less about the mess and dirt. Under her guidance, he started to dig downwards. He had activated his Dragon Soul Transformation, so it was very easy to dig through soil with his tough claws and spines.
Very soon, he reached a huge rock. Ling Xi had said that the talisman shell was underneath it. There was a feeling in his heart that grew stronger as he grew nearer to the talisman, as if his bloodline was being connected in a metaphorical sense. Long Chen was emotional; he guessed that the talisman was related to the dragons.
He gently flipped the rock over and started to feel around with his fingers according to her guidance. Very soon, he found a flat stone slab the size of his palm. It was a very thin slab at about five millimeters thick; it was very smooth on one side, but the other was covered in runes, so it had a jagged texture. The slab was cold to the touch. Long Chen felt a vibration in his chest and a familiar feeling flowed through his body. He did not stay there for long and hurried out of the hole. Then, bringing Ling Xi with him, he rushed out of the lake and sat on a large boulder.
As he sat there, he studied the stone slab carefully. More specifically, it was a stone talisman. The talisman was light gray all over, just like normal stone. The only difference was that there was a black dragon etched on its surface, which looked similar to the dragon in his sea of consciousness. There were also many runes etched on it. As he read them, he subtly felt his gaze being pulled in, and that it was a little difficult to pull himself away from it.
“Xiao Xi, what do you think this is?” Long Chen held up the stone talisman.
“Like I said, this should be a piece of high-level talisman-type treasure. However, the strange thing is, why does it have a dragon etched on it? Usually, if you add images to runes, like a dragon image, the runes don’t work. I don’t know why it’s like this either.” Ling Xi fluttered around on the surface of the stone talisman, frowning, but she could not figure it out.
“How do you think it could benefit me?” Long Chen asked expectantly. He knew that this item was what had caused the mysterious dragon jade to vibrate.
“It’s useless. Like I said, perhaps this used to be a talisman with powerful runes that could unleash destructive attacks. However, it lost its talisman spirit, its soul, and its power. It’s just like a human without a soul and power. Dead. This is just the body; it’s useless,” said Ling Xi.
“Useless?” Long Chen was disappointed. He studied it again and again. There was no way it was useless if it could make the dragon jade vibrate!
Since he was almost done with Traceless Demon Shadow, he decided to spend some time studying the runes.
“Brother Chen, are you not giving up yet?” Ling Xi asked. She was speechless.
“No, I’m just really bored. I’ve been cultivating too much, so I want to take a rest and fiddle with this.”
I wonder what will happen if I inject my Qi into it? he thought excitedly.
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