Chapter 82

In the dead of night, Zhao Yun locked his door, took out the Qiankun Bag, and examined it carefully before glancing at the Moon Goddess, "Xiu'er, how do I break the seal?"

"Infuse a drop of blood and use heavenly thunder to refine it," the Moon Goddess said. "The seal has a flaw; with your cultivation and the heavenly thunder, it should take no more than two days to break."

"Got it."

Zhao Yun responded, immediately slicing his finger to let the blood drip in, and then used heavenly thunder to envelop the Qiankun Bag.

The bag seemed to have a spirit; when enveloped by the thunder, it trembled slightly, and the patterns on it became more vivid, especially the Yin-Yang Bagua, which even shimmered with light.

"Internal space."

Zhao Yun murmured, glancing at the small gourd, which also seemed to have an internal space. However, in his view, the gourd was of a much higher level than the Qiankun Bag. Since obtaining it, he had almost used thunder to refine it every day, but the seal had yet to be broken.

After a moment, he continued to refine the Qiankun Bag.

The bag trembled more intensely, and the patterns on it became even more vivid.

The night quietly passed.

In the morning, warm sunlight bathed the Canglang City.

Looking at Zhao Yun, his eyes were already bloodshot.

He had not stopped for a whole night, which was quite draining. After drinking a sip of spiritual liquid, he instantly felt refreshed. The liquid not only contained longevity pills but also celestial dew, which had a miraculous effect, replenishing both his spirit and true essence.

By the time night fell again, he stopped. The Qiankun Bag had been refined, faster than expected. Now, when he looked inside, there was a thin mist swirling, and the space was indeed much larger, easily able to fit a cow. If it were complete, it might even fit two cows.

"Good."

Zhao Yun chuckled, opened the Qiankun Bag, and stuffed silver bills, pills, and talismans into it, hanging it on his waist with no noticeable weight.

Clang!

With a sword cry, he held his sword and stepped out, dancing under the moonlight. The sword techniques were still exquisite, but with only one arm, they were far from what they used to be, and his own strength was greatly diminished.

He didn't know when he finally sheathed his sword.

Then, he attached a speed talisman to his leg, breaking the seal and infusing a thread of true essence. Instantly, a strange force surged through his entire body.

Whoosh!

He was like the wind, disappearing in a flash.

"Fast."

Zhao Yun whistled, only by experiencing it himself did he realize how incredibly fast the talisman was, at least faster than the Wind God Step. It felt as if he himself were a gust of wind.

In a few moments, he was already at the wall.

Seeing he was about to collide, Zhao Yun gritted his teeth and forcibly changed direction, narrowly avoiding it.

"Good boy."

The Moon Goddess sighed, surprised that he didn't hit the wall on his first use of the speed talisman.

Thinking back to her own first use of the divine speed talisman, she had no idea how many mountains she had crashed into.

Just this point alone made her inferior to Zhao Yun. In terms of talent, she could hardly think of anyone in her memory who could match Zhao Yun. If he were to become a deity, he would surely be a formidable one.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

While the Moon Goddess sighed, Zhao Yun did not stop. He was like a black shadow darting around. There were trees, flower beds, and stone tables in the courtyard, but he didn't hit any of them, skillfully avoiding them thanks to his quick reflexes.

Even so, he could still multitask, chatting with the Moon Goddess about his missing arm, which he was not used to.

The Moon Goddess's response was only three words: "Fifth level." As previously mentioned, she would help Zhao Yun reconstruct his arm, and it would be a very powerful one.

The more so, the more curious Zhao Yun became.

In the courtyard, the whooshing wind continued. Zhao Yun adapted to the speed of the talisman. Since it was a one-time use talisman, its power would eventually dissipate. The speed talisman he had drawn was of a low level, and after just one hour, it became a piece of scrap paper, with even the patterns on it disappearing.

Therefore, it was best to stock up on such talismans. If he encountered a crisis or was pursued by a powerful enemy, he couldn't afford to run out of talismans and needed to use a second one immediately.

Under the moonlight, he set up a table in the courtyard, with all the tools needed to draw talismans.

This time, he was drawing speed talismans.

He needed to stock up, as they would be crucial for future escapes. If he couldn't fight, he would explode, and if he couldn't explode, he would run. Survival techniques were never too many.

For a moment, he looked up at the sky and saw a white cloud passing through the stars. To be precise, it was a large white bird, a flying mount. Despite the distance, he could still see an old man sitting on the bird's back, meditating with his eyes closed.

"Having a flying mount is really great." Zhao Yun had muttered this countless times, wishing he could fly.

Buzz!

Just as he was looking, he suddenly felt a tremor in his consciousness.

When Zhao Yun looked, the Moon Goddess had already waved her sleeve, scattering a golden light, which formed a set of golden characters in the air, converging into a secret technique.

"Communication Technique."

Zhao Yun read it out, his eyes brightening. He had seen a few words about this technique in the Heavenly Book of the Mystic Gate, a mysterious technique involving the spirit realm. Using this technique, one could summon spirit beasts from the spirit realm and form a contract with them. The type of beast summoned depended on the user's ability, and even if a beast could be summoned, it might not agree to a contract. Beasts also had their strengths and weaknesses, and some were quite arrogant, not even bothering to acknowledge those they didn't like.

Such a technique was also a lost art, and even if the royal family knew it, it might not be complete.

"Whether you can summon one depends on your ability," the Moon Goddess said casually, then fell into a light sleep, thinking Zhao Yun would not be able to summon anything.

The Communication Technique was not something anyone could use; there were many restrictions. Cultivation level was one aspect, and Zhao Yun did not meet the requirement, at least not until the True Spirit Fourth Level. Another aspect was bloodline. There were special bloodlines in the world that had a natural ability to communicate with the spirit realm, and Zhao Yun was clearly not one of them. Since he wasn't, communicating with the spirit realm would be extremely difficult. The reason she taught him this technique was to give him something to do and to stop him from complaining all the time.

"Summon a flying one."

Zhao Yun put down the talisman brush and sat cross-legged on the ground, studying the Communication Technique.

After reading it, he couldn't help but cough.

The Communication Technique had conditions, and it seemed he didn't meet any of them, whether in terms of bloodline or cultivation.

There was also the hand seal.

The Communication Technique required a hand seal with both hands, which was awkward for him with only one arm. How could he communicate with the spirit realm?

"Xiu'er, is there a simpler one?"

Zhao Yun laughed dryly and looked at the Moon Goddess.

"This is the simplest one," the Moon Goddess shrugged, clearly meaning: just read it, don't think too much, and do what you need to do.

Zhao Yun took a deep breath, his face a bit dark. Was she playing with him in the middle of the night?

No, I have to try.

Zhao Yun lowered his head, a man who didn't believe in fate. He could do the hand seal with one hand, it would just take more time. As for cultivation, he would force it. His own foundation was not weak, and he was close to the True Spirit Fourth Level. As for the bloodline issue, the secret technique mentioned that ordinary bloodlines could also communicate with the spirit realm, though it was very difficult.

He sat cross-legged and closed his eyes, focusing his mind.

The Moon Goddess glanced at him and continued to sleep.

The night was quiet.

Under the moonlight, Zhao Yun muttered to himself, silently reciting the Communication Technique's incantation. His single hand was not idle, repeatedly practicing the hand seal, trying to adapt it for one hand.

These were things he could overcome. The difficult part was the spirit, as he needed to communicate with the spirit realm, which was not easy.

If this was a path, then ahead was darkness, and he needed to feel his way forward.

His mind was clear, like a monk in meditation, free from external distractions. He silently recited the incantation, felt the spirit, and tried to communicate with the spirit realm.

Bathed in starlight, his body was radiant, sometimes even dreamlike.

If someone were there, they would be surprised, as it seemed there was another shadow behind him, though it was only a fleeting glimpse.

The Moon Goddess was unaware.

The beautiful goddess was in a state of deep contemplation, possibly pondering the great Dao.

Zhao Yun continued to mutter.

The Communication Technique's incantation was profound.

As he recited it, a second shadow appeared behind him, making his consciousness blank and his mind dark.

When he regained clarity, he seemed to see a vast world, like a mystical realm, where he could vaguely see flying creatures and beasts, and faintly hear the roars of dragons and tigers, which shook his soul. For a moment, he almost collapsed.

"The spirit realm?"

He muttered, glancing at the Moon Goddess, who seemed to be truly asleep, with no reaction.

After that, he saw the vast world more than once, and each time it became clearer.

"Of course!"

Zhao Yun chuckled, opened his eyes, bit his finger, and formed the hand seal, silently reciting the incantation.

"Communication."

After completing the sequence, he placed his palm on the ground, a posture that exuded dominance.

Buzz!

The ground trembled, and from his palm, strange patterns spread out, emitting a force that did not belong to this world.

Ugh!

Zhao Yun groaned and collapsed to the ground.

Communication was a drain on true essence, and he was prepared for it, but he didn't expect it to be so terrifying. In an instant, all his true essence was drained, and even his blood and qi were at their lowest.

Fortunately, his foundation was strong, or he might have been reduced to a dried corpse.

"Damn."

In the distance, it seemed someone cursed.

Whoosh!

At the same moment, in the Communication Technique's pattern array, a strange beast appeared. It was a bird, about two zhang in size, completely black, like a large crow, with rough feathers and, strangely, blood on its body.

"Success."

Zhao Yun's eyes were full of surprise and curiosity. He had seen many demonic and spirit beasts, but this was the first time he had seen a spirit realm beast.

"You damn."

Another curse, which puzzled Zhao Yun. He didn't know who was cursing and looked around, his gaze finally landing on the black bird.

When he looked, the bird's eyes seemed to have flames burning in them, and its temper seemed to be very bad, expressing extreme anger. If he didn't know better, he would think it had a deep grudge.

"Xiu'er, is it cursing me?"

Zhao Yun coughed and called out.

The Moon Goddess opened her eyes and glanced at him.

That glance made her, who was lying on the moon, sit up abruptly.