Chapter 433: The Fire Virtue True Lord Command Talisman! The Severed Hand!

The area where he and Zhang Wei stood was utterly calm. There were no flames, nor searing waves of heat, yet everything around them had been burned into nothingness by the power of those pseudo-mythical fire artifacts.

Zhang Wei was left awestruck by such overwhelming methods.

This Daoist Master Cao Cao may be strong

, he thought,

but he’s far too impatient. He should’ve taken time to explore carefully. The evil spirits are already gone, how will he find any hidden treasures if he just burns everything to ash?

Zhang Wei could only shake his head slightly. He prided himself on being a treasure-hunting expert, but this Daoist’s strikes were too decisive and too clean that he hadn’t even had the chance to put his skills to use.

When the sea of fire finally faded, all was spotless and silent again. Li Yanchu withdrew the three divine artifacts, and in the air, a single yellowed Peach Talisman floated quietly.

Seeing this, Zhang Wei was dumbfounded.

What the hell?!

Li Yanchu extended his hand, his qi surging as he pulled the talisman toward him. Peachwood, the quintessence of the five woods[1], had been used since ancient times to ward off evil and calamity. This talisman, carved with the image of a three-headed, six-armed deity, radiated a heavy, awe-inspiring aura.

It was the Fire Virtue True Lord Command Talisman! It exuded a primeval and mighty energy that made one’s heart tremble.

As Li Yanchu poured a trace of his divine sense into it, he felt an overbearing flame sealed within, a flame brimming with terrifying divine power.

“Well, looks like we found it,” he said with a faint smile toward Zhang Wei.

At that moment, Li Yanchu’s figure seemed to tower before Zhang Wei, his aura so fierce and commanding it made him seem larger than life.

Was I wrong all along?

Zhang Wei wondered.

So this is the right way to find treasure?

With that dawning realization, the two of them departed from the site together.

“Wait a moment,” Li Yanchu called out to Zhang Wei.

“What is it, Daoist Master Cao Cao?”

“This Peach Talisman has been here inside the temple all along. If it carries such immense power, why has its aura never leaked out before?” Li Yanchu’s tone was calm but grave.

Zhang Wei froze. “Daoist Master, you mean...?”

“It’s very likely this talisman wasn’t just sitting here as decoration. It was

suppressing

something, something terrifying. This was a sealing artifact.”

Zhang Wei’s expression changed instantly. “Then doesn’t that mean... when you took it, we

released

whatever was being sealed!?”

As if to confirm his words, the ground suddenly split open with a deafening crack. A colossal, severed hand burst out of the earth, exuding an ancient, crushing pressure that made the very air tremble.

Centered around that hand, a wave of raw power exploded outward, almost knocking them off their feet.

“Oh, come on...” Zhang Wei was completely numb with shock.

That level of pressure, couldn’t it only come from a third realm cultivator?! As he thought of this, his face drained of color.

This is ridiculous!

Everyone knew the Mount Taoyuan Blissful Land was sealed by ancient restrictions, preventing any third realm powerhouses from entering. Otherwise, beings of their level would have already seized every treasure the moment the realm opened, no juniors like them would even get the chance.

True Yang Spirit cultivators were exceedingly rare, but they did exist in the world. Still, none could step into a Blissful Land, and such was the ancient law. Even Zhang Wei’s elders had spoken of it, saying these realms were bound by heavenly shackles connected to primordial secrets of the world itself.

And now, those within the Blissful Land, cultivators, swordsmen, and eccentrics all felt that terrifying aura shake heaven and earth.

The ground quaked, the sky darkened, and winds howled. It was as if some ancient being was awakening.

“Damn it! Who the hell disturbed something like

that

!?”

“My heavens... there’s a monster of

this

level in Mount Taoyuan?!”

“Such overwhelming, ancient power... what kind of existence is this!?”

“Hell no, this is insane! I just got here to hunt treasure, not to die in some prehistoric resurrection!”

Across the realm, panic and curses erupted one after another.

Meanwhile, a young nobleman who had just discovered an old seal exchanged a wary look with the hulking giant beside him.

“This must be one of the ancient taboos reawakening... but how could it happen so quickly?” the young man murmured.

The giant’s deep voice rumbled, “Madam warned us that this Taoyuan expedition would be perilous beyond words, that unspeakable events would occur. Rest assured, young master, I will die before you do.”

“Pah! Don’t say such nonsense, you brute! Talking about death, what ill omen is that?!” The red-lipped young lord with pearly whites was none other than the youth who had once forced back the Heavenly King Sudu.

At this moment, his face still carried that carefree, high-spirited air only the young possessed.

“You think we’ll actually find the Apricot-Yellow Banner?” he asked.

“Wouldn’t it be something if we ended up dead at the hands of that ancient taboo instead?” the burly giant asked bluntly.

The young man shot him a glare. “Don’t jinx it! Maybe we’ll be fine, but if you keep talking like that, something’s bound to happen.”

“The Apricot-Yellow Banner is a proper celestial artifact. Generations have searched without finding it. It’s perfectly normal if we can’t either,” the youth continued. “In my opinion, just getting our hands on a Primordial Yang Fruit to boost our chance of entering the Yang Spirit realm is already a stroke of immense luck.”

The giant chuckled, his voice booming. “I have faith in you, young master. Madam always says you are the treasured tree of our household. If Heaven hadn’t birthed you, the Kingdom of Qian would have remained in endless night.”

“Old Zhao, if you say one more sickly-sweet thing like that, I really

will

hit you.” The youth’s skin crawled with goosebumps.

Old Zhao grinned wide enough to show all his teeth. “I never lie, young master. Every word I say is true.”

The young man nodded slightly, then suddenly threw a punch, which struck the giant square on the knee. It wasn’t that he couldn’t reach higher; rather, the giant’s body was unexpectedly agile, like an old ape leaping through the mountains.

He flipped backward, and the punch still caught his leg, but it only made his stance tremble slightly, not even budging him.

“Heh, I knew you’d strike, young master. You always keep your word,” Old Zhao said cheerfully.

The young man fell silent. His personal guard possessed monstrous strength and a body like tempered steel, but his

head

? Truly, beyond saving.

The youth decided to leave this place quickly. If that ancient taboo truly had awakened, then there was no being within this Blissful Land who could oppose it.

According to his mother, there were three ancient taboos within the Mount Taoyuan Blissful Land. Once triggered, each one became an unsolvable death trap, something to

avoid

, never to confront. Even a third realm powerhouse couldn’t directly face it head-on.

And so, with Old Zhao lumbering after him, the young lord departed with elegant haste.

If you can’t win, then just don’t fight.

Meanwhile, Zhang Wei, who was standing face-to-face with that terrifying severed hand, felt there was truly nowhere to run. It was the crushing insignificance one felt when confronting a higher form of life, a suffocating sense of powerlessness and dread.

Earlier, within the Daoist temple, they had been trapped in a sealed space, a deadly environment with no apparent escape. That kind of inescapable killing power was enough to shatter anyone’s mind. Even so, there had still been ways to dodge or delay death, meaning that although survival was nearly impossible, there was at least a sliver of hope.

But now, as Zhang Wei faced that terrifying severed hand, he felt a crushing sense of helplessness, as if the heavens and earth themselves had closed in, leaving him nowhere to run.

Before his eyes, the world had turned to darkness. All scenery and light were gone, and only that dreadful, ancient hand remained, stretching across the heavens, emanating the majesty of something primordial and savage.

1. One theory holds that peach wood contains the essence of five types of trees—mulberry, elm, peach, pagoda tree, and willow—and is therefore called “the quintessence of the five woods.” ☜