The Lord of Void and Real

Chapter 73: Chapter 72: First Acquiring the Talismanic Instruments

“Haha! Fantastic, Daoist friend, you really are a straightforward person.” Lu Huaming clapped his hands and laughed heartily, causing numerous leaves on the nearby trees to fall.

Next, Shen Luo shared all the key points of the Water-walking Decision technique with the other.

“Good! A truly exquisite technique… Haha, this Talisman Fork is now yours, Brother Shen.” After a brief contemplation, Lu Huaming’s face lit up with a smile, and he started addressing Shen Luo as “Brother Shen”.

“How should I use this Talismanic Instrument? I request Brother Lu to enlighten me.” Shen Luo, too, changed his form of address for Lu Huaming, and inquired.

“Talismanic Instruments draw their power from talismans, so when you use them, you simply have to activate the talisman with mana. However, the usage differs from other talismans in the sense that you can’t simply ignite the talisman core, but you need to continuously guide it with your mana to control the attack of the Talismanic Instrument.”

After rattling off a long speech, Lu Huaming saw that Shen Luo still looked puzzled. He waved his hand magnanimously and said, “Let me demonstrate, so you can see for yourself.”

Saying this, he immediately formed a magic spell with one hand, and a green light promptly appeared in his palm, which flowed like water into the talisman embedded in the handle of the gray-white little fork he was holding.

Immediately, there was a flash of light on the talisman, and a white glow spread forth, enveloping the entire fork.

Lu Huaming immediately lifted his hand and tossed the fork. The surface of the little fork started to blaze with a gray-white light, and it grew three or four times in size. It whirled and danced in the night sky, leaving circles of white light marks, then, suddenly transformed into a white light and shot towards a robust willow tree a dozen yards away.

With a flash, the white light disappeared into the tree, and a loud thud echoed through the area. The robust willow tree began to shake furiously, the hanging willow branches danced, and the willow leaves whirled about incessantly.

Shen Luo watched this display with his heart burning with excitement.

Lu Huaming, excited by his own display, suddenly formed a sword technique with one hand, pointed towards the sky, and thundered:

“Rise!”

With a resonant clang, a sword light rose from behind him, soaring into the night sky like a roaming dragon, transforming into a long green rainbow that danced across the sky.

Immediately after, Lu Huaming made a leap, his form rising a dozen meters in the air, landing perfectly on the green rainbow above.

The green rainbow gradually collapsed to reveal the true form of an ancient sword. Standing on top of it, Lu Huaming, with his robe dancing in the night wind, was truly the image of a noble swordsman. Watching this, Shen Luo could not help but sincerely praise “What a spectacle.”

“Shen Brother, our meeting tonight must be fate. If one day you come to Chang’an, feel free to look for me at Cheng Manor.” With these words echoing in the air, Lu Huaming’s form melded with the sword into a green rainbow and vanished into the distance.

For a while, Shen Luo stared at the green rainbow gradually disappearing into the night, and after some time, he released a long breath, laughing to himself, “Find Lu Huaming at Cheng Manor, in the vast Chang’an City, how many Cheng Manors could there possibly be? Where to search? How to find?”

He took these as words of courtesy and did not really consider them. He now had a certain understanding of Lu Huaming’s power, and in his estimation, Lu Huaming seemed to be even stronger than Immortal Masters like Yu Yan whom he encountered in his dreams.

Collecting his gaze, Shen Luo suddenly gave his head a whack, then turned and sprinted towards the robust willow tree a dozen yards away. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The little fork had not been picked up yet!

Approaching the tree, he saw a bowl-sized hole in the robust willow tree, and there seemed to be something on the edge of the hole reflecting a translucent gloss in the moonlight.

Upon closer inspection, Shen Luo gasped in surprise.

A ring of light black ice crystals had formed around the edge of the hole in the tree.

“Even this kind of effect? Isn’t this more formidable than Bai Xiaotian’s Bronze Money Sword?” Shen Luo was filled with elation.

The portion of the spell for a basic technique from the Nameless Cultivation Technique, the “Water-walking Decision,” had been exchanged for a Talismanic Instrument with considerable power. Wouldn’t the ones behind it that were even more profound be even more valuable?

While pondering this, Shen Luo fumbled amidst the woodchips and debris behind the tree, and eventually joyfully picked up the Talisman Fork, which had returned to its original size.

He weighed the little fork in his hand, and found it to be significantly heavier than he had imagined. The feel was also quite peculiar, neither metal, nor wood, and certainly not made from stone.

He couldn’t discern its nature just yet. Considering it was unsuitable for him to stay at this location for long, he focused his gaze on the talisman attached to the fork handle. He found the charm patterns on it to be unfamiliar. They were far more complicated than the exorcism charm and the Thunder talisman that he was familiar with. He couldn’t even understand where to start the strokes or where to move the brush.

After a bit of hesitation, Shen Luo could not resist his excitement, he wanted to try out the Talismanic Instrument he had just acquired.

He held out one hand flat, placed the talisman fork in his palm, and with his other hand formed a spell, began to operate the skill. A thread of mana rose from his Dantian, passing through his arm and pouring out of his palm into the talisman on the fork handle.

There was a flash of light on the talisman, and a layer of white halo radiated, enveloping the entire fork.

Shen Luo immediately felt a special pull of mana between him and the talisman fork. He moved his thoughts slightly, and the talisman fork began to tremble slightly, floating about a finger’s width above his palm.

Seeing this, Shen Luo’s eyes lit up. But the moment his concentration faltered, the talisman fork fell back into his palm.

He steadied his mind and once again infused mana into the talisman.

This time he kept his mind focused, not allowing his attention to wander, while doing his utmost to control the talisman fork.

However, either due to unstable control of mana or some other reason, the talisman fork exploded uncontrollably into the night sky, breaking his connection with it and plunging straight down from the sky.

Had it not been for his quick reaction, he would have been pierced through from above, it was a close shave!

After a few attempts by Shen Luo, none of them went smoothly. He failed to successfully fly the talisman fork even once, exhausting his mana, which was not much to begin with.

Knowing that further attempts would not yield any results and feeling mentally exhausted, he had to give up for the time being. His plan was to return to the Spring and Autumn Pavilion as quickly as possible and get a good chance to study it.

“Aiyah, I was so engrossed in the conversation that I forgot to ask Daoist Lu where this place is…” Only then did Shen Luo come back to his senses, grinning, realizing that he was stranded in this desolate wilderness, with no village in sight and probably had to spend the night out in the open.