Wild Records

In just an instant, he immediately stopped his train of thought, not daring to delve any deeper.

Regardless, his subconscious told him that he couldn't let Lin Xiao be exposed to the Tianxuan Sect. Thus, he said to Pan Han:

"I understand. I will have to trouble you and the other senior brothers with this matter..."

Pausing, he took a soft, deep breath as if making a firm decision. He then looked up, his eyes turning profound as he gazed at Pan Han, and smiled faintly.

"Back then, you and the other senior brothers were in a daze and knew nothing, right?"

Pan Han subconsciously stared into his eyes. A momentary daze washed over his expression, but in the next second, as if nothing had happened, he nodded.

"That's right, we didn't see anything back then. I'll go back and tell the other senior brothers."

Yuan Qing then bid him farewell:

"I leave these two matters in your hands, senior brother. It is not safe to stay here for long, so I will take my leave first."

With that, he turned and left.

Pan Han also said his goodbyes and departed in another direction.

After walking a distance, Yuan Qing looked back at Pan Han's retreating figure and lowered his eyes apologetically.

"I'm sorry, senior brothers... but this is the only way to ensure Daoist Lin's absolute safety..."

Ever since he was born, he had harbored a secret.

Besides his parents and himself, no one else knew of it.

When others were off guard, he could alter their memories simply by looking directly into their eyes.

But it was only a slight alteration, creating minor deviations or blurring specific points in their memory.

His parents had only warned him never to reveal this secret, saying it would bring fatal disaster or even the annihilation of their entire family, but he never understood why.

That was until he joined the Tianxuan Sect and read a passage in an obscure, forgotten chronicle tossed in the corner of the sect's library pavilion.

[Ten thousand years ago, Succubi ran rampant in the Ascending Immortal Domain. These demons were formless and possessed heaven-defying magic. They often used their Eyes of Charm to alter human memories. Fortunately, the Ten Great Immortal Venerables joined forces to eradicate them, restoring peace to the pure lands.]

Yuan Qing didn't know if his ability was related to those Succubi.

Perhaps his parents knew back then, but they never told him, and later on, he had no one left to ask.

Therefore, he never used this ability on others.

On one hand, it was to protect himself and the Yuan family; on the other, it was to avoid harming others.

But now...

He hoped to do everything in his power to spare Daoist Lin and the others from trouble.

By the time Pan Han returned, the sky had turned completely dark.

The fellow Tianxuan Sect disciples who were on duty today had also returned to the sect's stationed quarters.

Pan Han gathered the other disciples who had come out of the Green Field Secret Realm with him back then. Looking at them earnestly, he repeated Yuan Qing's words.

Then, inside this moderately sized room, the dozen or so slender Tianxuan Sect cultivators all simultaneously showed a momentary daze. Afterward, as if nothing had happened, they voiced their agreement and began chatting casually with Pan Han.

Outside, the night grew deeper.

No one noticed this tiny interlude occurring on the vast land shrouded in darkness.

Early the next morning.

The Talisman Master Assembly continued.

Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu arrived to wait at the break of dawn.

If they didn't come early, they wouldn't be able to grab a good spot.

Today, the names of the twenty-five thousand talisman masters who passed the first round would be announced before the second round began.

Before long, the big shots who attended the previous day had all taken their seats; not a single one was missing.

The area surrounding the venue was already a sea of people.

There were people everywhere, both in the sky and on the ground.

With a loud Clang from a gong, the crowd saw golden light suddenly ripple through the sky.

Upon closer inspection, they realized that the golden lights were actually densely packed names.

Over twenty thousand names blanketed the sky above the venue.

Lin Xiao looked up at the golden lights, constantly thinking of Liu Chun's name in his heart.

Suddenly, he noticed a name flashing among the densely packed sea of names, standing out conspicuously. He fixed his gaze on it—who else could it be but Liu Chun?

In contrast, the other surrounding names seemed to lose their luster at that very moment, fading from their previously identical golden glow.

Lin Xiao was somewhat surprised.

Could it be that Liu Chun's results were exceptionally outstanding, earning his name a special close-up treatment?

Beside him, Jiang Youfu also let out a Whoa and looked as if he was about to marvel at it.

However, in the next moment, the two of them heard someone nearby cheer first:

"Ah! I see my friend's name! His name is glowing! None of the other names are doing that, this is too amazing!"

Then, someone next to him sneered:

"Look at you acting like a country bumpkin. While it's great that your friend made the top twenty-five thousand, you're overthinking it. This golden list is a special feature of the Talisman Master Assembly. It uses a unique array designed to help people quickly find the name they are looking for among the masses. As long as you keep thinking of the name you want to find, that name will become conspicuous only to you."

"Ah... so that's how it is. Thank you for clearing that up, Senior."

The ridiculed person didn't get angry. Instead, he politely cupped his hands in a bow to the speaker, then turned his head to look at the stage with high spirits.

Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu, who had overheard the conversation, silently swallowed the words they hadn't had the chance to say. They turned their heads and stared intently at the venue, as if trying to bore a hole through it with their eyes.

Today was the second round of the competition.

The content of this round was still to craft ten talismans.

However, unlike the most basic first round, they couldn't just choose whatever they wanted to make.

Instead, they had to craft ten identical attack talismans. Afterward, representatives from the Talisman Master Assembly would take identical talismans made by two different talisman masters and test their power levels on the talisman-testing platforms set up in the venue.

Comparing the two, whoever's talisman produced a higher damage output would advance.

Although this rule seemed somewhat unfair on the surface.

Because these talisman masters had already gone through layers of screening, unless someone was exceptionally gifted, the gap in skill levels among them wouldn't be too vast.

Therefore, it wasn't truly unfair. If you couldn't survive this round, you wouldn't survive the later ones either.

Moreover, it was far from the time to start ranking; there were still several rounds of competition to come.

This method also allowed for a faster elimination process.

Most people had no objections to this rule, nor did they dare to.

The Talisman Master Assembly was hosted by several giant factions of the Northern and Southern Spiritual Domains. Who would have the guts to question the rules they set?

Furthermore, the first round only involved watching the talisman masters craft talismans on the field. Now, being able to witness head-to-head talisman comparisons and see their actual effects made it much more entertaining to watch.

Therefore, the difference between today's second round and the first was that after the first batch of talisman masters finished crafting and left the field, the second batch would come up to craft. At the same time, the newly established talisman-testing platforms at the very front of the venue would simultaneously begin conducting the head-to-head talisman tests.