No hope for eternal life

Chapter 422: The Charm of the Way of Talisman

"You have really grown up, matured, and become more charming." Taoist Master said jokingly to Mu Changsheng with a smile in her eyes.

The next day, the ferry that Mu Changsheng was on arrived safely at Lingshan Sect. Mu Changsheng went to find Old Man Shengu as soon as possible. He really wanted to see what was so advanced about Old Man Shengu's art of talismans.

Seeing Mu Changsheng's real body, Elder Shen Gu looked him up and down and said with satisfaction: "Not bad, not bad, it's definitely me."

"Senior, can you distinguish between the true body and the clone of a cultivator?" Mu Changsheng asked in great surprise. This is a very practical skill. When fighting with others, one can distinguish between the true body and the clone in advance, which can also help in formulating tactics.

"Hey, that's nothing. Do you think I've been wasting my time all these years?" Elder Shen Gu said proudly, "Although I promise to teach you the way of talismans in its entirety, the method of distinguishing the original body from the clone is not included. Of course, if your performance satisfies me, I can still consider teaching you."

Old Man Shengu obviously wanted to use this to seduce Mu Changsheng.

Although Mu Changsheng knew this, he was still quite interested. Another key point was that since Old Man Shengu knew how to distinguish between the original body and the clone, it was possible for others to master this method.

"I have to be more careful when I go out in the future." Mu Changsheng thought to himself. If his true identity happened to be discovered by someone with ulterior motives, he would be in danger.

Then, Mu Changsheng returned to the topic: "I actually don't quite understand how a mere monk who is transcending tribulation can help you, senior?"

"Your physical body and your experience in the art of talismans." replied old man Shengu.

At the same time, old man Shengu took off his shirt, revealing his tattered upper body, which shocked Mu Changsheng.

Elder Shen Gu explained, "This is my original body. In fact, I don't have any clones at all, because my clones died a long time ago during my experiments. I have refined the clones several times, but due to the difference between the clones and the original body, the clones can't help me make any breakthroughs. Those new clones died soon. I had no choice but to experiment on my original body. As you can see, because of many experiments, my original body is only one step away from death, so I had to stop the experiments on my original body and look for new test subjects."

"You don't want to make me like this, do you?" Mu Changsheng asked with a tingling scalp. He absolutely did not want to become like old man Shengu.

"Don't worry." Elder Shen Gu comforted Mu Changsheng and said, "After so many years of research, I have already achieved initial results. Practice makes perfect, don't you understand? I promise that you will not become like me."

Then, Elder Shen Gu instructed: "No matter how much you say, it's all empty talk. Stretch out your hand and I will let you feel the charm of the way of talismans."

After a slight hesitation, Mu Changsheng decided to trust Old Man Shengu for the time being and stretched out his left hand.

Old man Shengu drew a line in the air with his finger, and a complex pattern instantly took shape on the palm of Mu Changsheng's hand, and then sank into his palm.

Mu Changsheng instantly sensed an external force in his left hand. This force was like a mark, condensed on the palm of his left hand and did not dissipate for a long time.

"This is a heart-protecting talisman that I created. You can try activating it yourself, just like activating an ordinary talisman. Inject a trace of spiritual power into the talisman." Old Man Shengu instructed.

Mu Changsheng activated the talisman in his hand as he was told. After the talisman was activated, a layer of powerful force instantly protected Mu Changsheng's left hand.

"It's a defensive talisman." Mu Changsheng understood, and then hit his left hand with his right fist, trying to test the defensive power of the talisman.

After the punch, my left hand felt nothing at all, as all the attack power was removed by the seal.

"Awesome, this random talisman has a defensive power comparable to a top-grade sixth-grade defensive talisman." Mu Changsheng exclaimed.

"Try to extract the spiritual power you just injected." Old Man Shen Gu instructed again.

Mu Changsheng did the same thing, and a magical scene happened. All the power of the talisman that wrapped around his left hand was retracted into the palm of his hand and condensed into a talisman again.

"It can release and take back." Mu Changsheng exclaimed in amazement. Most talismans can only be released and not taken back. Only the array plate can release and take back everything. That's why Mu Changsheng practiced the art of arrays in addition to the art of talismans to make up for the shortcomings of talismans.

"Are only a few talismans able to achieve this, or can all of them?" Mu Changsheng asked. This point seemed very important to Mu Changsheng.

"Of course we can do it." Old man Shen Gu said proudly.

"Junior admires me." Mu Changsheng said with full conviction. This is indeed no longer a talisman. It would be more appropriate to call it a seal as old man Shengu called it. This is a completely new way of cultivation!

Mu Changsheng also realized that if he could master this art, he would not have to bother studying talismans and formations anymore; the talisman would be enough.

"How should the junior cooperate with the senior?" Mu Changsheng asked actively. He was a little resistant at first, but now he has begun to look forward to it.

Mu Changsheng's performance was exactly what Elder Shen Gu wanted to see, so he explained, "Just like talismans, the higher the level of the talisman, the harder it is to form. Even I can only guarantee that talismans below the eighth grade are foolproof, so I will first teach you the basics of talismans below the eighth grade. After you are thoroughly proficient, you and I can work together to try out eighth-grade or even ninth-grade talismans. This way, you will have a better chance of success. During this process, I hope you can keep practicing your physical body, because according to my experience, the stronger the physical body, not only will it be more resistant to the backlash of the talisman, but it will also be of great help in fusing the talisman with the physical body."

"No problem. I will definitely do my best to cooperate with you, senior." Mu Changsheng said readily. He could see that old man Shengu was training him completely as his successor. The other party probably also wanted to pass on the art of talismans that he had studied for his entire life.

"It's useless to say more. You should learn it first." Old man Shen Gu said nonchalantly. There was only the way of talismans in his eyes.

Afterwards, Elder Shengu started teaching from the lowest level, the first-grade talismans. Since the ways of talismans are similar to those of talismans and formations, and even the talismans developed by Elder Shengu are mostly derived from talismans of the same level, Mu Changsheng learned it quickly.

So in just a few days, Mu Changsheng had already mastered the fourth-grade level of talismans.

At the same time, Yang Wuque finally rushed back to Lingshan Sect. Since Mu Changsheng did not explain the specific reason, Yang Wuque thought that Mu Changsheng had encountered some difficulties, and rushed to Duzhao Peak where Mu Changsheng was.

Mu Changsheng's black-clad clone had been waiting for Yang Wuque at Duzhao Peak. When he saw Yang Wuque appear, Mu Changsheng immediately clasped his fists and congratulated him, saying, "It's a great day today. Congratulations, sir."

Yang Wuque was confused by Mu Changsheng's sudden congratulations and asked in a daze: "What do you mean?"

Mu Changsheng took out the Heavenly Soul Ginseng and asked with a smile: "Sir, do you recognize this thing?"

"This is..." Yang Wuque stared at the Heavenly Soul Ginseng, trying to recall his memories of various spiritual objects. Suddenly, his eyes widened and he said excitedly: "This is Heavenly Soul Ginseng!"

When Yang Wuque was browsing ancient books, he had seen records about Heavenly Soul Ginseng, and he also knew that Mu Changsheng had issued a mission to find Heavenly Soul Ginseng, but he always felt that there was little hope. Even if he had news about Heavenly Soul Ginseng, he couldn't afford such a rare thing!

After the excitement, Yang Wuque immediately calmly asked Mu Changsheng: "How did you get this Heavenly Soul Ginseng?"