Chapter 60 + 61: Talismans and Books

On the road.

Bai Zhenzhen nudged Zhang Yu with her shoulder from time to time, her face filled with flattery, "Yu-zi, you've been playing for so long."

"Let me have a go."

"This is worth a hundred thousand! A hundred thousand!" Zhang Yu quickly clutched the talisman book, "You're so strong, what if you break it by accident? I couldn't even afford to pay for it."

"And wipe your drool, it's getting on my talisman book."

Bai Zhenzhen stared longingly as Zhang Yu huffed and wiped the talisman book, saying ingratiatingly, "Then let's trade, you let me play with the talisman book, and anything you fancy of mine, I'll let you play with it."

Seeing that Zhang Yu was still engrossed in playing with the talisman book, Bai Zhenzhen angrily grabbed Zhang Yu's hand, then put on a sweet smile, shaking Zhang Yu's arm and saying, "Brother Zhang Yu~ Let me play, please."

Zhang Yu quickly covered his eyes, feeling as if he had just stared directly at an ancient god, "Stop it quickly, don't disgust me."

"Hmph! Your weakness is exposed." Bai Zhenzhen quickly snatched the talisman book from Zhang Yu's loosened hand.

Zhang Yu rolled his eyes and said, "Sigh, I'll let you play for a while, return it to me when we get to the station."

Bai Zhenzhen shook her head and sighed, "Those with roots have weaknesses."

"Look how invulnerable that wooden plank man is today."

"Yu-zi, I advise you to get a vasectomy as soon as possible, to erase your weakness..."

Zhang Yu snorted coldly, "Do you still want to borrow my talisman book?"

They arrived at the station, and Zhang Yu, amidst Bai Zhenzhen's reluctant gaze, parted ways with her and embarked on his journey home.

At this very moment, somewhere in the city.

A figure answered a call from Su Haifeng.

Su Haifeng: "...The specific situation is like this, he has become the favored divine assistant protected by Zhang Pianpian, and regular methods at the school can't be used on him for now."

"Also, he has a talisman book, and a temporary worker of the Inspection Team has at least one free talisman to use per day..."

Zhou Tianyi nodded slightly and said faintly, "Understood, the action must be taken before he is familiar with the talisman book and talismans. Today, he happened to have used the free talisman... so today is the best opportunity for me to act, right?"

Su Haifeng: "If you want to act, do it quickly, it's best to go and find him immediately."

Zhou Tianyi nodded, "I understand, I will go find Zhang Yu after I finish what I have at hand."

Su Haifeng asked in confusion, "Is there anything important that can't be done later?"

Zhou Tianyi shook his head, "Some things can't be delayed for even a second."

"Don't worry, it won't be long, it won't affect my dealing with Zhang Yu."

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Tianyi moved, and a gust of wind seemed to rise under his feet, darting towards the street ahead.

Tightening the delivery bag on his back, the cement road under Zhou Tianyi's feet let out a bang, and his whole person accelerated again.

Although dealing with Zhang Yu was important, his customer had paid for express delivery, so he had to finish delivering the orders on hand before he could go and find Zhang Yu.

Ever since Zhou Tianyi's potential was stimulated by the evil god, as long as his pace became faster, his magic power became faster, his physical body became stronger, and even the speed of his leg technique cultivation would increase as a result.

Therefore, in order to earn money while cultivating, he finally chose to conceal his identity and take on the job of delivering food.

He still remembered when he delivered food for the first time, the soup and water in the delivery bag spilled everywhere, he was not only scolded bloody by the customer, but also had hundreds of fines deducted by the platform.

After returning to the delivery station, the station manager poured him a glass of water and told him to hold this glass of water in his hand when delivering food, as long as the water didn't spill, the delivery would be fine.

From then on, he delivered more and more orders every day, and his platform level also became higher and higher.

And he didn't know when, Zhou Tianyi found that things on the road were getting slower and slower, later he asked the station manager, and he learned that it wasn't that things on the road were getting slower, but that he was getting faster and faster.

If it wasn't for hiding his strength, he was confident that he could get the first place in the grade every month.

After finishing the last order in hand, looking at the money credited to his account, Zhou Tianyi let out a sigh of relief.

"Then... I can go find Zhang Yu now."

Not long after, Zhou Tianyi arrived at the building of Zhang Yu's rental apartment.

He thought to himself, "According to Zhang Yu, there's no way to cultivate in the rental house, he has to go to the nearby unfinished building to practice his skills every day."

"Then I just need to wait for him to go to the unfinished building before taking action."

...

As soon as he returned to the rental house.

Zhang Yu washed his face and began to play with the talisman book in his hand, intending to study its functions properly.

After all, although he had cast a confinement talisman today, the whole process was too hasty, and he was busy with this and that, so he didn't have time to study this talisman book alone.

He placed his palm on the talisman book, and as the magic power in his palm was released, his fingerprints, palm prints, and magic power had passed the identification.

The talisman book flashed with golden light, and a yellow background appeared, like a talisman paper. As long as Zhang Yu's fingertips moved lightly on it, he could draw talismans.

Then Zhang Yu gently raised his palm, and the talisman book floated up, stopping in front of his palm.

Zhang Yu waved his hand left and right, and the talisman book floated back and forth with his hand, closely following in front of his hand.

"This follow mode is quite useful, you don't need to hold it, just draw talismans."

He tapped the bottom of the talisman book with his fingertip, and then gently dragged it upward, and the background of the talisman paper changed again, revealing lines of information.

Believer's Name: Zhang Yu

Realm: Qi Refining Realm

Comprehensive Faith Level: 1

Zhang Yu looked down, and there were the names and symbols of the Eight Great Divine Departments, and the faith level was marked behind them.

Because Zhang Yu had never increased the faith level, his faith levels in the Eight Great Divine Departments were only level 1, which came with the talisman book.

He casually clicked into the Department of All People, which was ranked at the top, and the screen on the talisman book changed, revealing the divine palace of the Spirit Realm.

Behind layers of red walls and golden tiles, heavenly dragons danced, and phoenixes soared. A great god, shining with five-colored light, stood majestically in the palace, his hands forming a Daoist seal. An aura of compassion poured out, and his slightly closed eyes seemed to be unable to bear to see the suffering of the world.

This was the first righteous god of the Department of All People, the Great God of Innate Beings.

And three options also appeared on the talisman book.

1. Worship God

2. Offerings to God

3. Ask God

Below the option to ask God, there was also a gray mist, seemingly because Zhang Yu's faith level was insufficient, so more options were hidden.

Looking at these three options, Zhang Yu thought, "What does it mean to worship God?"

He clicked on it curiously, and then he saw a line of text appear on the talisman book: The Great God of Innate Beings has felt your reverence.

"Huh?" Zhang Yu thought to himself, watching the scene, "Is this some kind of remote worship over the internet?"

Just then, his phone vibrated.

*Department of the Myriad Peoples - Innate Great Deity of All Beings*

*Payment: 1000*

"Holy crap!"

Zhang Yu was stunned. He hadn't expected a single click to kowtow would cost him 1000.

But what he found even more unacceptable was... he hadn't even activated the payment account on his Talisman Codex! It just directly deducted the money from his bank card?

Before, when he used the Imprisonment Talisman at Songyang High School, Zhang Yu had used the temporary patrol team's once-daily free allowance.

He tried to find a place for refunds or customer service, but he couldn't find anything.

Worried about accidentally making another payment, he simply contacted Zhang Pianpian to ask.

Hearing what Zhang Yu said, Zhang Pianpian replied, "That's how worshipping deities works. One click, one bow, one thousand each. Long-pressing allows for continuous bowing."

Zhang Yu said, "No... I know I have to pay now. The problem is, I didn't activate the payment account! How can it just take money from my bank card without even asking me?"

Zhang Pianpian said matter-of-factly, "That's the divine power of the deities. They can mobilize funds from billions of accounts every second."

"If they couldn't even directly draw money from your account, what right would they have to be called gods?"

She reminded him, "So, no matter who you owe money to, never owe money to the gods."

"What the heck..." Zhang Yu was speechless upon hearing this and could only mutter, "The Eight Divine Sovereigns are really powerful."

Zhang Pianpian said, "But you don't need to be afraid. The Eight Divine Sovereigns have their own rules and won't act recklessly."

"This time, it was because you wanted to worship a deity yourself that you were charged 1000."

Zhang Yu sighed inwardly and asked, "Sis, can you just tell me about the functions of the Talisman Codex? I'm afraid I'll accidentally get charged again."

Zhang Pianpian said, "Daily kowtowing to deities is the most basic way to increase your faith level. The longer you kowtow continuously, the greater the increase in faith level with each kowtow."

"But if you miss a single day, you have to start over."

"For those with high faith levels or powerful talisman experts, daily kowtowing to deities is a mandatory practice."

Zhang Yu understood. This was basically checking in, except each daily check-in cost at least 1000.

Zhang Pianpian continued, "Offering sacrifices to deities includes various methods such as lighting incense, virtue banners, ancestral tablets, and more. The more expensive it is, the better the effect on increasing faith level, and it can also enhance the power of talismans, increase talisman privileges, and have other miraculous effects."

"You can click on the 'Offer Sacrifices to Deities' option and take a look. You still need to select an item after clicking in, but it won't cost money."

Zhang Yu was really scared by that sudden 1000 charge, so he carefully clicked on the "Offer Sacrifices to Deities" option upon hearing this.

He saw a price list for various items such as lighting incense, hanging virtue banners, setting up ancestral tablets, chanting scriptures, and more, with prices ranging from hundreds to tens of thousands.

After reading the descriptions for a while, he suddenly realized... these were all remote offerings, and after spending money, they would affect the deities' temples in the spirit world.

Could these all be virtual items!?

Zhang Yu finally understood why the Eight Divine Sovereigns were so rich. These deities were basically making money while lying down!

Zhang Pianpian continued to introduce, "Seeking Guidance from Deities, as the name suggests, is to seek guidance on the Dao of Talismans from the deities. The cost here is very high, and your faith level is too low, so you don't need to spend money here right now."

"As for the options below that are shrouded in mist, you won't be able to see them until you have a higher faith level, so don't think too much about them now..."

After ending the call with Zhang Pianpian, Zhang Yu helplessly looked at the Talisman Codex in front of him, his heart filled with bitterness.

"This Talisman Dao... is really too difficult."

"How much money would it cost to get first place in the high school Daoist Arts competition?"

Just as Zhang Yu was lost in thought for a moment, the ritual countdown in his mind started blaring again, reminding him not to space out and to hurry up and cultivate diligently.

Zhang Yu had no choice but to temporarily put aside his thoughts on this matter. He first poured out some beast meat powder to make himself a cup to drink, and then headed to the unfinished building, planning to start today's practice.

No matter what, the Daoist Arts competition was still a few months away, and the nearest competition was the Martial Arts competition.

Thinking of martial arts, Zhang Yu suddenly became confident again.

"I am currently at Level 5 in Freehand Combat, Level 10 in Limitless Cloud Hand, and Level 6 in Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Art. If I go all out in the practical combat competition, my advantage will be extremely great. But the problem is..."

Zhang Yu thought to himself, "I have to hide these trump cards."

Especially the Level 10 Limitless Cloud Hand, which he had obtained in the Dharma competition.

If he were to use Level 10 Limitless Cloud Hand in the Martial Arts competition, which was more than a month away, he was really afraid of attracting too much attention. Even Zhang Pianpian wouldn't be able to protect him then.

"In the Martial Arts competition, I have to hide my high-level techniques, so I still need to improve my basic qualities now."

Arriving at the unfinished building, Zhang Yu once again began to practice the Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Art.

As the martial arts will in his mind suddenly erupted, he simultaneously began to execute the nine sets of martial arts of the Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Art, both internally and externally.

Under the effect of the Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Art, Zhang Yu felt his whole body surge with hot blood, full of motivation. A will to fight the heavens and earth urged him to train like mad.

Just as Zhang Yu was fully immersed in his cultivation, constantly training the Heavenly Martial Heart Refining Art,

In the shadows of the staircase in the unfinished building, a figure was silently observing Zhang Yu's hard training.

Zhou Tianyi thought to himself, "I can't let Zhang Yu have time to use the Talisman Codex."

"I have to wait until he is at his weakest, most vulnerable, and then succeed in one sneak attack..."

After waiting for about two hours,

Zhou Tianyi watched Zhang Yu's movements gradually slow down, held his breath, and gradually raised the magical power in his Dantian... he was preparing to make his move.

Whoosh!

Just as Zhang Yu turned his back, Zhou Tianyi rushed out like a gust of wind. The Level 5 Gale Leg Technique was used to its limit, kicking towards Zhang Yu's back.

Seeing that he was already within three meters of Zhang Yu, and the other party had not yet completely turned around, a glint flashed in Zhou Tianyi's eyes.

He believed that with the power of his kick, as long as he hit Zhang Yu, it would be enough to knock him down.

Zhou Tianyi had already thought about which moves he would follow up with after Zhang Yu was knocked down, so as to completely knock the other party unconscious.

However, in the next moment, a white mist-like astral energy suddenly surged out from Zhang Yu's back.

Bang!

Zhou Tianyi was shocked, feeling as if his kick had landed on cotton, light and weightless.

However, in the next moment, a surge of powerful force rebounded violently with the white astral energy, heavily hitting the bottom of his foot.