Chapter 424: Peachwood Talisman! Primordial Yang Fruit! Party Invitation!

The faceless woman was forced back by the scorching surge of martial blood and qi radiating from Li Yanchu.

“So... she can absolutely suppress someone who she’s already struck once?” Li Yanchu narrowed his eyes.

His earlier attack hadn’t even been that heavy. And that brash young man who liked stealing kills wasn’t weak either, so there shouldn’t have been such a vast difference in outcome.

He’d already seen the youth attack the faceless woman with two yellow talismans earlier; both were quite powerful. Yet, they’d had no effect whatsoever.

Zhang Wei was panting heavily, face pale. This time, he immediately retrieved his Taiji diagram and turned tail. Without saying a word, he ran. He just wanted to get away from that faceless woman! After retreating about three hundred meters, he felt the strange agitation inside his body gradually subside.

This time, the faceless woman made no move to chase him. That detail only made Li Yanchu even more curious.

“So... she only attacks those who step within a certain range? Just what kind of thing

is

this?”

Why did such a bizarre being exist here?

Indeed, this time, the faceless woman stood perfectly still. She didn’t attack Zhang Wei, who was three hundred meters away, nor did she react to Li Yanchu, who was standing less than a dozen meters from her.

“Huh?” Zhang Wei, having narrowly escaped, looked on in confusion. “Why doesn’t it attack that young Daoist? Why only me?”

Li Yanchu, however, was starting to understand. It seemed the faceless woman’s attack was triggered by proximity and perhaps something else. His curiosity toward this mysterious Blissful Land deepened further. Had this place ever been invaded by demonic entities like the others before it? Was this faceless woman a native creation of the Blissful Land itself, or some twisted remnant like the humanoid demons in the Mount Jinting Blissful Land?

Most people, after encountering something this terrifying, would never go near it again, but Li Yanchu walked straight toward her.

“Daoist Master! Careful!” Zhang Wei shouted in alarm. “If you get too close, that weird power will invade your body!”

After his initial panic, Zhang Wei had quickly figured out why the faceless woman attacked him earlier, it must’ve been because of proximity. He didn’t want this young Daoist to go through the same horror, that crushing suppression of his magic powers, that unbearable sensation of his face being torn off... he wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Li Yanchu thought for a moment, then slashed out from a distance.

A brilliant arc of saber light cleaved across the air, splitting the faceless woman clean in two. Not just her head, but her entire body was bisected. Yet still, the faceless woman did not die. Instead, she became even stranger.

Her body and her severed head, both now divided, twitched and twisted on the ground, unable to merge again.

Immediately, Li Yanchu drew out his Heaven-Illuminating Seal. Terrifying divine fire burst forth, consuming the faceless woman in an inferno. The surrounding temperature soared in an instant, as if a blazing sun had descended to burn the world itself.

Even from far away, Zhang Wei shuddered. “What a domineering fire-element artifact!”

But after about three seconds, the faceless woman began to re-form again, her appearance still wretched and miserable. Her head had been split in half, her body cleaved down the middle, and yet she still couldn’t fuse back together.

“Even fire techniques don’t work?” Li Yanchu frowned slightly.

Zhang Wei, though too scared to approach, shouted from a distance, “Daoist Master! That woman’s too strange, she can’t be killed! Don’t get close to her!”

“Can’t be killed?” Li Yanchu thought for a moment.

In truth, he still had several options, such as the Five-Lightning Talismans, the Lord of Mount Tai's Seal, or even the Judge’s Brush.

The last time, in the mysterious cavern beneath the Chu River Dragon Palace, he’d encountered a strange creature known as the

Earth Yin Fetus

; it too couldn’t be slain, yet he’d managed to forcibly suppress it. His eyes narrowed slightly, a spark of curiosity glinting in them.

“Could it be... that the spirit bodies in this Blissful Land are of the same strange nature?” He glanced briefly at Zhang Wei, then turned away, choosing not to continue attacking the faceless spirit.

Better to explore the rest of this Blissful Land first; he could always return later to test whether the creature could truly be destroyed.

Zhang Wei let out a long breath of relief. “This young Daoist... he’s got guts! But at least he knows when to stop.”

Then, Li Yanchu carried his Jiaoslayer to a nearby massive tree. The tree held no spiritual energy; though it grew within a Blissful Land, it was merely an ordinary tree.

He chopped it down with one swing, carved out a wooden plank, and etched a brief warning describing the faceless woman upon it.

Zhang Wei’s eyes went wide.

This Daoist... he’s different.

Most cultivators who entered such Blissful Lands either stood by idly, or killed and plundered treasures. Even if they escaped from an unkillable horror, none would bother to leave a warning for others.

Tch... this is someone worth befriending.

The thought sprang unbidden into Zhang Wei’s mind.

From their vantage point, they could see a Daoist temple far away on a mountain peak, not a grand palace sprawling over mu, but a modest, ordinary temple.

Li Yanchu decided to head there next to investigate.

“Hey, Daoist Master, wait a moment!” Zhang Wei called out. “You saved my life just now. I haven’t even learned your honored name!”

“My name is Cao Cao,” Li Yanchu replied.

“Ah, Daoist Master Cao!” Zhang Wei said quickly. “I am Zhang Wei, a cultivator from Yunzhou Prefecture. Thank you for saving my life earlier. Here, take this jade. It can nourish the spirit and absorb moonlight for cultivation. Please accept it as a token of gratitude.”

“Good,” Li Yanchu said simply and accepted it without hesitation.

The jade felt cool to the touch, yet carried a pure and tranquil energy that gently nourished the soul, clearing the mind and refreshing the spirit.

“Hey, this is actually pretty good,” Li Yanchu remarked casually.

Zhang Wei smiled. “There’s a Daoist temple on that mountain ahead. I’d like to invite you, Daoist Master, to explore it together, what do you think?”

“No thanks,” Li Yanchu replied evenly. “I’m used to traveling alone.”

Zhang Wei persisted, “Daoist Master, my family has extensive records about this Mount Taoyuan Blissful Land. You could say I’m very familiar with it. If you team up with me, you definitely won’t suffer any loss.”

“Oh?” Li Yanchu raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

Seeing that he’d piqued the Daoist’s interest, Zhang Wei hurried to explain, “According to what I know, the most precious treasure in that temple is a Peach Talisman. It bears the image of the Southern Three Qi Fire Virtue True Lord and holds immense power, but it’s also extremely dangerous. If we go together, we’ll have a better chance.”

Li Yanchu’s eyes lit up slightly. This little fellow seemed to know a thing or two.

Heh, this feels like when a friend sends you a party invite in a game,

he thought.

“If there’s only one Peach Talisman,” Li Yanchu asked calmly, “how do we split it?”

After all, teaming up meant sharing the spoils. You couldn’t just form a team and still keep everything for yourself, but at the same time, he had no intention of easily giving up what was his.

Zhang Wei chuckled. “To tell the truth, I came to this Blissful Land in search of a pure yang treasure mentioned in ancient texts, the Primordial Yang Fruit. It can cure congenital cold ailments. That’s the only thing I’m after.”

“Primordial Yang Fruit?” Li Yanchu frowned slightly. He’d never heard of such a thing.

“Primordial Yang Fruits rarely grow alone,” Zhang Wei explained quickly.“There should be more than one. I only need a single fruit, the rest, along with any other treasures we find, will all belong to you, Daoist Master.”

Zhang Wei’s origins were somewhat mysterious, but he could see clearly that this young Daoist was decisive and formidable; he was definitely no ordinary person.

If I can win him over, this Blissful Land expedition is as good as done,

he thought.

As for magical artifacts and treasures? If he couldn’t find the Primordial Yang Fruit, he wouldn’t live more than three years anyway, so what use were magic artifacts or treasures to a dead man?