Squinting against the scorching desert sunlight, Shi Yu heard Ji Yu sigh in relief beside her. “We’re finally out! And it’s still daytime! Excellent, no annoying ghost shadows haunting us now.”
Behind the two of them, Qingzhou and Mo Tong emerged as well.
When entering the secret realm, they had gone in from above the lake at the Cave of Ten Thousand Ghosts. Emerging now, they found themselves in an unfamiliar area, though the swirling yellow sand left no doubt that they were still within the Wangliang Ancient Desert.
Shi Yu looked around. Apart from a few desert creatures rustling about, there was no sign of anyone else. “It’s just the four of us. It seems that leaving was like entering—everyone was randomly scattered and teleported.”
Ji Yu grinned. “Sister was foresighted as always.”
Ignoring his flattery, Shi Yu glanced up at the blazing sun, which was beginning its westward tilt, and knit her brows slightly. “Let’s hurry and figure out our bearings first. We need to find a temple for shelter before sunset.”
In the ancient desert, days were short and nights were long; darkness would fall in just a few hours. Stranded in an unknown location, if they failed to find a temple before dusk, dealing with the empty spirits that emerged at night would be no easy feat. Even with the clay Buddha statues for protection, surviving a whole night out in the open would be tough.
At her words, Ji Yu realized they were not entirely out of danger yet, and his face immediately fell.
Shi Yu patted his head. “Are you tired? We can rest for a moment if you need to.”
Ji Yu rubbed his cheeks and perked up. “I’m not tired! Sister, let’s hurry.”
“Don’t force yourself. Tell me if you get exhausted.” With that, Shi Yu leaped up onto a nearby hundred-meter-tall desert poplar, scanning the four directions to see if any small temple or merchant caravan was within sight.
Qingzhou and the other two also scaled nearby tall trees or sand dunes to look around.
Unfortunately, as far as the eye could see, there was only an endless expanse of swirling yellow sand, dotted sparsely with isolated trees and bushes, and the occasional half-person-sized sand worm. Not a single temple was in sight. Furthermore, with such fierce wind and sand, any footsteps or wheel ruts on the ground were instantly erased, leaving no trace of passing caravans or cultivators.
Having spotted nothing, the four gathered together once more.
Mo Tong frowned slightly. “In that case, we can probably only pick a single direction and keep walking, hoping luck is on our side to find a temple.”
In such a vast ancient desert, if they could neither find shelter nor someone to guide their path, things would indeed be tricky.
Shi Yu searched her memory and pondered for a moment. “We came from Yellow Sand Town and entered the desert heading west. Naturally, heading back east should lead us out of the desert so we can continue our journey.”
With that thought, an idea quickly formed in her mind.
In the ancient desert, the Earth-element spiritual Qi was out of balance, making movement techniques difficult to execute and cloud boats or flying swords hard to keep airborne, severely restricting travel.
Space laws, however, were not bound by this restriction.
Previously, the only teleportation talisman she possessed was the Spirit Wandering Talisman. Using a random-teleportation talisman recklessly in this desert was no different from seeking death. But now...
All the materials for crafting the Tier-4 Flying Star Dragon-Wandering Talisman had been collected. Using it now was perfect.
The Flying Star Dragon-Wandering Talisman allowed a cultivator to transform into a shooting star, swiftly traversing heaven and earth according to their will. A single talisman could cross thousands of miles in an instant in a designated direction. As long as they determined the general direction, using this talisman would carry them straight out of the desert. If one was not enough, a few more would surely bridge the entire width of the ancient desert.
After sharing her plan with the three, Shi Yu retrieved the various materials required for crafting the talisman from the Fate-Tapping Bell.
This was her first time crafting a Tier-4 spirit talisman, and given the high cost of the materials, she naturally exercised extra caution.
First was the Five-Elements Sand and spirit jade dust. Shi Yu brought out items like the Xuanpin Pearl she had purchased previously and assigned tasks to Qingzhou and the others to help finely grind them.
For the spirit beast blood, she used that of the Moon-Embracing Kite-Falcon. Although blood from a spirit beast with space-attribute affinity would be ideal for crafting talismans containing spatial laws, such beasts were exceptionally rare, forcing her to substitute another. Fortunately, the Moon-Embracing Kite-Falcon was a mutated wind-attribute spirit beast; while not perfect, it shared a degree of compatibility. Moreover, with its formidable power, its spirit blood was inherently more potent.
Aside from these, there was the Phantom Spectral-Jade Butterfly phosphor powder and Jade-Blood Cold Gold, which she had gone to great lengths to acquire.
...
Once they ground all the required spiritual materials into fine powder, Shi Yu took them, added the spirit beast blood, and mixed them with care. Her technique for blending the talisman ink was quite unique; every turn of her wrist seemed to follow a wondrous rhythm. Spiritual energy flowed through the unfinished ink, shimmering like water in a captivating display. As she sprinkled in the phosphor powder, it radiated even more brilliant, radiant colors.
At a specific instant during the mixing, all the shimmering light suddenly retracted, leaving behind a deep, dark ink. Shi Yu stopped right on cue, silently noting its completion. She then retrieved several pieces of silk woven from Celestial Silkworm Silk to serve as talisman paper and began drawing the talisman.
The three standing nearby held their breath, not daring to disturb her. Qingzhou cast the Water Curtain Celestial Canopy to block out external noise, using its calming, mind-soothing effect to assist her.
Dipping her talisman pen into the ink, pure spiritual energy gathered into a fine line at its tip. Shi Yu brought the pen down smoothly, tracing the first source rune upon the silk. As she focused on her brushwork, the Void Fissure Spiritual Flame hovered around her fingertips. Its flickering, dazzling golden light produced a faint tearing sensation in the surrounding space, causing hairline spatial fissures to continually open and collapse around her.
With the aid of the Void Fissure Spiritual Flame, despite crafting the Flying Star Dragon-Wandering Talisman for the first time, she felt little unfamiliarity or resistance. The first source rune was quickly completed, flowing naturally and glowing with a soft, lustrous light.
She proceeded to draw the second and third source runes.
Qingzhou and the others watched as Shi Yu moved her brush. She was exceptionally cautious at first, her strokes deliberate and forceful. But as she drew more source runes, her brushwork grew fluid and ethereal, while the surrounding spatial fissures opened and vanished with increasing frequency.
Interweaving source runes emitted a faint blue glow. Gradually, the runes on the silk seemed to spring to life, pulsing gently and emanating a profound power.
Finally, as the last source rune was completed, a brilliant flash burst from the silk talisman paper before quietly fading, signaling the completion of a Flying Star Dragon-Wandering Talisman.
Shi Yu set down her talisman pen, wiped away the thin sheen of sweat on her forehead, and let out a soft sigh.
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