Chapter 1 Backlash

Ji Xiang returned to Longde Hall and began drawing talismans.

There weren't many yellow talismans left. Ji Xiang had used a large number of them against Song Wuji, burying him with the You Sheng Curse like spam advertisements. This meant that the few remaining talismans were not enough to suppress the remaining three fire gods.

"And it's not just the fire gods, there are also fire spirits here." Ji Xiang mused that he should be able to use the national authority to directly intimidate them, forcing them to reveal their true forms, and then making them stand at attention, allowing him to kill them with a single sword strike.

These spirits had obviously benefited from Emperor Wanli's consecration of the gods, and each had obtained a bit of residual national authority, allowing them to freely roam the palace. The Forbidden City, the most forbidden place in the world, was now occupied by a bunch of minor gods and monsters. It was utterly ridiculous.

"My cultivation is insufficient, so the power of the You Sheng Curse is also limited. The third realm is just a transition to the true path of cultivation. Before entering the fourth realm of fetal breathing, I dare not say that I have much magical power."

"There are nine yellow talismans that I found in the hall. Two will be inscribed with the You Sheng Curse, worth 400 portions of incense; two will be inscribed with the Zhi Yu Curse (Rain Summoning Curse), worth 400 portions of incense; and two will be inscribed with the Bo Nuo Fengyun Curse (Wind and Cloud Manipulation Curse), worth 400 portions of incense. This adds up to a very ordinary supernatural power, that of summoning wind and rain."

Ji Xiang was now rich. Song Wuji had left behind three thousand portions of incense, so even if his own strength was insufficient, he could still write more powerful talismans by piling up incense.

However, there was a limit to how much incense a talisman could bear. Two hundred portions of incense was the limit that a yellow talisman could bear. Any more, and the divine power would burst the talisman. If the spell wasn't even finished, and the talisman writer was burned first, then all would be lost.

The yellow talismans in Longde Hall were just ordinary yellow talismans, the kind that could be found everywhere in the streets and alleys. After all, the sacrificial yellow talismans here were not for the emperor's use.

It was already good enough that the officials of the Ministry of Revenue hadn't cut off Longde Hall's funding.

Anyway, these yellow talismans didn't cost much.

Of course, if one wanted to write a high-level talisman using cheap goods, there was still a good way, which was to stack the talismans. Write on two or three stacked together. As the saying goes, three cobblers are as good as Zhuge Liang.

"Cheap goods also have their advantages. There's a lot of them, don't underestimate cheap goods!"

Ji Xiang had already decided on six talismans. For the remaining three, Ji Xiang thought for a moment, his eyes fixed.

"I wonder if I can write the Dawei Shen Curse (Great威Spirit Curse)?"

Some spells are difficult to write when one's cultivation is low. Forcing oneself to write them will cause blood to flow from one's fingers, and the drawing of the talisman will not succeed. In short, it exceeds the scope of one's abilities, and the "difficulty" is greater than the "goal."

As for spells like the Four Saints Curse, such as the You Sheng Curse, which is one of the Four Saints Curses, these follow the cultivator's abilities. The power of the spell is low when one is weak, and the power of the spell is high when one is strong. It is a gradual process.

The Dawei Shen Curse is of a higher level. There is no version that can be used by the weak, because this divine curse borrows the power of the Taiwei Five Emperors to deter thousands of gods and ghosts. If a person who is hit by this divine curse head-on is not more than three realms higher than the caster, they will definitely die.

There is no escape. This talisman will chase after the person who is running away, and once the target is locked, it will not stop until the target is dead.

If the opponent is more than three realms higher, the higher the opponent's realm, the greater the power of this talisman, but it may not necessarily be able to kill them.

Of course, although this talisman is fierce, it only has one strike. If the other party has any special means of surviving death, or substitution, resurrection, or dissolving the curse... then there is no way to deal with it.

"The Dawei Shen Curse has extremely high requirements for the caster. Generally speaking, it is a talisman that can only be written by cultivators in the eighth realm, the Shenhuo realm, and no matter what realm writes this talisman, it will violently consume a large amount of the caster's vital energy. This consumption of essence, energy, and spirit increases with the caster's own strength..."

"Writing this curse too much will cause great consumption of essence, energy, and spirit... beware of sudden death."

"So this spell is generally sealed in a talisman for use, and is not recited orally, otherwise, when death is near, a large amount of vital energy will be drawn out, and the essence, energy, and spirit will suddenly decline sharply because of reciting this curse, which would really be digging one's own grave."

The reason why Ji Xiang thought of the Dawei Shen Curse was:

"One must always leave a backup plan when doing things. What if the opponent is stronger than these fire gods? What if I can't beat them?"

"It is still necessary to try the Dawei Shen Curse, but I am in the third realm writing a talisman for the eighth realm. I don't know what changes will occur. Maybe this talisman can't even be written on a single yellow talisman..."

"Write the others first!"

There were still a few Yuebo Curses on the Taiyi Sanyuan Sword that hadn't been used, so there was no need to write more now, wasting a yellow talisman. Moreover, the Yuebo Curse is good for one-on-one battles, but if you are being ganged up on, it is just a burden, and you will become more and more unlucky.

As long as the emperor is protected, and the news is sent out, people from the Northern Garrison Office will come to rescue them.

Ji Xiang began to mobilize his mana, stirring up the incense. A large amount of incense gathered on these yellow talismans and began to burn fiercely!

The burning speed was extremely fast, much faster than when Ji Xiang used incense to write yellow talismans before. This was mainly because the amount of incense was large, and the fire was fierce enough.

This time the quantity was small, and it was meticulous work... so after waiting for a quarter of an hour, two You Sheng talismans fell first, the talismanic characters dark and floating, with bursts of cold air.

Another quarter of an hour, the Bo Nuo Fengyun talisman fell; another quarter of an hour, the Zhi Yu talisman fell.

One hour has eight quarters, and nearly half an hour had passed.

It was already midnight.

Ji Xiang did not hesitate, putting the last two yellow talismans together, pressing them on the ground, taking several deep breaths, and then circulating all the mana in his body, while speaking, murmuring to himself:

"In the Dafuli, I seemed to have picked up the incense of the Taiwei Five Emperors. Everyone has been together for a hundred years, please give me some face."

Ji Xiang reached out and first took a yellow talisman, trying to write the characters.

Sure enough, he couldn't write on it.

So he increased it to three talismans in one breath.

Ji Xiang stacked the three yellow talismans together, and the moment his finger touched the yellow talismans, a large amount of vital energy was suddenly drawn out of his body, and poured into the yellow talismans!

Ji Xiang was shocked. He didn't expect that just starting to write this talisman, having only written one stroke, so much vital energy would be drawn out. This was not his active release, but passive extraction, so it would cause damage to the body. Fortunately, this damage could be compensated and restored, by eating more nourishing food...

"Fortunately, my body is a god of incense, and the physical body is just an instrument, otherwise now, the hand writing this talisman would have started to shake!"

Ji Xiang thought to himself that he could now exploit a bug, and if this great talisman was completed, it would definitely be of great use.

So he began to recite the characters in his mouth, writing a stroke for each character he recited.

The incense on the yellow talisman turned into characters, with awe-inspiring divine power, and in the darkness, communicating with the Dafuli soil. The vital energy that Ji Xiang had accumulated for half a day, relying on the blank divine tablet, was now being drawn out like water, all poured into the yellow talisman.

"Taiwei's ancestor, listed in the Shangqing. True energy guards, and travels around."

"Kill the evil domains, subdue the evil spirits. Destroy mountains and shake caves, break dreams and eliminate souls..."

Ji Xiang could feel that his body was beginning to strain, but the power of incense still drove his body to continue writing, and his movements were not slow at all.

A thick yellow color appeared on his fingers, all of which was incense gathering. Ji Xiang's breathing became heavy, and his body began to feel tired, but his incense body was still very energetic!

"...Those who resist will die, those who oppose will perish. Blessings will last, and divine grace will reach, penetrating and safe passage..."

"..."

"Hurry, hurry, as the law commands!"

When the last character of the command was recited, the last stroke also fell!

The essence, energy, and spirit of the physical body were depleted by more than half!

Ji Xiang shouted loudly, spitting out the oppressive feeling in his chest, and suddenly, in Longde Hall, the empty room became bright!

Between heaven and earth, the five directions vibrated with spiritual energy. Ji Xiang looked up, and through the Longde Hall, he seemed to be able to directly see the night sky! It was in the Taiwei Enclosure that the Five Emperors' thrones were shining brightly!

The three yellow talismans combined into one talisman. On this Dawei Shen talisman, golden divine light floated, overflowing with majestic vital energy!