Chapter 22: Quotas Must Be Earned
The talisman given by the system was said to be drawn by Talisman Saint Wei Shuo tens of thousands of years ago, and the runes on it were far more complex than those sketched by the Peak Master of Hua Tian Peak.
Especially the two characters “Wei Shuo” on it, even Ming Zhaoshuang thought it was difficult to imitate.
I have to say, it’s quite a good anti-theft measure.
Ming Zhaoshuang picked up the brush and paper again and, with a few strokes, began to draw on the talisman paper made by Wei Shuo.
As soon as she finished drawing, she impatiently slapped it onto the dragon.
Almost instantly, the dragon shrunk by more than half. Although it wasn’t as effective as Wei Shuo’s talisman paper, it had shrunk by half.
Ming Zhaoshuang was overjoyed and took out paper and brush again, drawing ten talismans in a row and sticking them all onto the dragon. Before long, the dragon was only the size of her palm and as long as her arm.
The moment her past life’s painting skills overlapped with the talisman patterns, Ming Zhaoshuang felt a deep resonance with this strange world, and it was as if she knew why she had been so infatuated with mountains, rivers, lakes, seas, and the mortal world of ink and brush in her past life.
This feeling was wonderful and indescribable, but Ming Zhaoshuang felt very happy because of it.
However, the talismans of the Peak Master of Hua Tianfeng did not malfunction. Ming Zhaoshuang tried a few more times and found that as long as these talismans were not used on living creatures, they could exert their intended effects.
Ming Zhaoshuang sighed and put it into her storage bag, it seemed these shrink talismans would have to be put away for later use.
She glanced at the little white dragon buried among more than a dozen shrink talismans and sighed.
She was certain that there were no problems with her talisman-drawing skills, so she could only improve her spiritual power cultivation and soul power cultivation.
Of course, first, she needed to find a suitable brush.
Just then, Ming Chenxing knocked on her door:
“Eldest Young Lady, Bixia Sect and Lingxiao Sect are causing trouble for Ao Tian Sect. The Sect Master wants you to go over and take a look.”
Ming Zhaoshuang looked up from the talismans and smiled, her lips curling up.
Just when she was dozing off, someone sent her a pillow.
“Old Qin, I’m not saying that your Ao Tian Sect’s disciples can’t enter the Talisman Saint’s Secret Realm, but your Ao Tian Sect really has one more quota than our two sects.”
“Sect Master Qin, in the past, as the foremost great sect of the First Heaven, it was permissible for you to have an extra quota. However, now, not only has your strength declined, but you have also fallen out with the Ming Family. Why not give us some face? When the Ming Family causes trouble, we can also help you.”
“Old Qin, I’m not here to force you, it’s just that our Bixia Sect has a lot of talented disciples in this generation and we desperately need this opportunity for tempering.”
“Sect Master Qin, anyway, your Ao Tian Sect hasn’t produced any talented individuals in the past decade, and especially since you’re holding onto a quota without good reason, isn’t there any necessity for it?”
At the mountain gate of Ao Tian Sect, the Sect Master of Bixia Sect and the Sect Master of Lingxiao Sect played good cop, bad cop, making Qin Du’s face grow darker and darker. He wanted to refute them several times but hesitated to speak.
The Talisman Saint’s Secret Realm has always randomly opened in the lower cultivation world once every twenty years, and each time, only twenty youths under the age of twenty are allowed to enter.
This time, the Talisman Saint’s Secret Realm happened to open in the First Heaven. According to the old rules, the three great sects and the six great noble families each get ten slots, and they can divide them internally.
It’s very simple. The three great sects are led by Ao Tian Sect, so Ao Tian Sect always takes four slots, while Bixia Sect and Lingxiao Sect each take three. But this time, Bixia Sect and Lingxiao Sect are not satisfied, thinking Ao Tian Sect is incompetent and wanting to snatch this quota from them.
Ming Zhaoshuang arrived on her sword and asked:
“Then how are our six great families divided? Don’t we also have two fewer quotas?”
Ming Chenxing said: “Unlike the three great sects, the six great families, with the Ming Family as their representative, have always automatically withdrawn from the competition for quotas. So, it is just enough to give the other five great families two slots each.”
Ming Zhaoshuang: “……”
No, she was wondering why Ming Zhaoshuang was not in the original book’s depiction of the Talisman Saint’s Secret Realm. It turned out that the Ming Family had no intention of competing at all.
Then she wanted to enter the secret realm earlier and compete with Qin Feilong for the Primordial Brush left by the Talisman Saint tens of thousands of years ago, but the Ming Family didn’t have a quota at all.
Ming Chenxing asked: “Does Eldest Young Lady want to go?”
Ming Zhaoshuang said: “Naturally.”
Ming Chenxing thought for a moment and said: “Actually, the Talisman Saint’s Secret Realm has existed for tens of thousands of years. It was originally a secret realm of the upper cultivation world, but because people entered it every twenty years and brought out fewer and fewer things, the upper cultivation world later simply relegated it to the lower cultivation world.”
“But in recent years, let alone Talisman Saint Talismans, even very few Spirit Stones can be brought out. Otherwise, Godfather wouldn’t have given up the opportunity. Moreover, since the Talisman Saint is the Talisman Saint, her secret realm is not very useful to us Sword Cultivators, so Eldest Young Lady doesn’t need to feel regretful about it.”
Ming Zhaoshuang remained noncommittal.
Indeed, the Talisman Saint’s Secret Realm had been opened too many times, so many that the things inside had been plundered by the people who entered.
However, no one had considered that the reason this secret realm could exist for tens of thousands of years was because its core was not taken away, and it was this item that supported the existence of the secret realm.
And this item was precisely what Ming Zhaoshuang was after—the brush left by Talisman Saint Wei Shuo tens of thousands of years ago.
It seemed that this time, she would have to earn the quota herself.
Ming Zhaoshuang thought as she flew on her sword towards the mountain gate of Ao Tian Sect: “Who said Ao Tian Sect had fallen out with our Ming Family? Come out and be beaten!”
As soon as these words were spoken, not only the sect masters of the three great sects standing on the high platform, but even the disciples of the three great sects turned their heads and looked at Ming Zhaoshuang—the young girl was spirited and radiant, her black hair like clouds, her eyes as clear as frost, as she flew towards them on her sword.
Fei Changxiu saw Ming Zhaoshuang approaching and quickly shouted:
“Eldest Young Lady is here, everyone make way!”
No one knew what the entire Ao Tian Sect was thinking, but they also shouted with him:
“Eldest Young Lady is here, everyone make way! Eldest Young Lady is here, everyone make way! Eldest Young Lady is here, everyone make way!”
The voices were so loud that people from ten miles around could probably hear them.
Ming Zhaoshuang’s steps faltered, and she almost fell off her sword.
She glared fiercely at Fei Changxiu: Why was he shouting nonsense.
Fei Changxiu provocatively raised his chin at her. It was a joke; as the Senior Brother of Xiu Tian Peak, he naturally had his subordinates spread throughout Ao Tian Sect, so providing a bit of fanfare for their Eldest Young Lady was certainly not a problem.
Ming Zhaoshuang landed in front of the three sect masters and said, “Ming Zhaoshuang of the Ming Family, greetings to the three Sect Masters.”
Qin Du was about to speak when the Sect Master of Lingxiao Sect cut him off, saying:
“Ming Zhaoshuang, what is the meaning of this!”
The Sect Master of Bixia Sect smiled and asked:
“Niece Shuang, did this old scoundrel detain you and not let you return to the Ming Family? Just tell Uncle, Uncle will uphold justice for you.”
Qin Du sighed: “Shuang’er, Uncle called you here because he wanted you to explain that the relationship between Ao Tian Sect and the Ming Family is still the same as before, unchanged.”
He really didn’t want to argue with these people.
Ming Zhaoshuang said, “Uncle Qin, you are old. Leave this kind of ‘shutting the door and beating the dog’ matter to us.”
