Chapter 8: Life and Death Stage

Two weeks later.

"Clap, clap, clap..."

Within Qingfeng Valley, a young man dressed in a green robe stood on a massive rock. He held a slender twig, about a meter long and the size of a finger, continuously thrusting, skewing, chopping, and slashing on the surface of the rock. With each swing of the twig, a faint sound of breaking wind could be heard. As the young man's speed increased, the faint sound of breaking wind echoed on the surface of the rock like firecrackers.

At a certain moment, the young man's gaze focused, and he flicked the twig towards a large tree in the distance. The twig moved with incredible speed, leaving behind a trail of faint breaking wind sounds. Within a dozen meters, the twig reached the large tree in almost the blink of an eye.

"Bang!"

The twig pierced through the base of a tree that required three people to embrace. Then it pierced through the second tree. It wasn't until it penetrated the fifth tree that it finally stopped on the sixth tree.

Observing the small holes in the trees, the young man muttered, "With the energy stones and pulse-protecting pills given by Elder Qian, along with the continuous tempering of my faint golden Qi, my physical strength has become much stronger than before. It's just a pity that I've used up all ten energy stones and pulse-protecting pills."

Naturally, the young man was Yang Ye. In the past two weeks, he had been practicing for twelve hours a day, with almost every session dedicated to cultivation. As a result of his hard work, not only had he reached the sixth rank of the Profound Realm, but he had also mastered the fundamental sword techniques of the Sword Sect to perfection.

The basic sword techniques of the Sword Sect were nothing rare. Every Outer Sect disciple possessed a copy. Apart from Yang Ye, hardly any Outer Sect disciples bothered to practice them. After all, no matter how powerful the basic sword techniques were, they couldn't compare to the graded sword techniques.

Yang Ye used to think the same way, but after being demoted to a menial disciple, he had no other choice but to practice the basic sword techniques. After two years of practice, as his realm and physical strength continued to improve and he became more proficient in the basic sword techniques, Yang Ye felt that these techniques were not as mediocre as others believed.

This set of sword techniques consisted of simple moves: cleave, thrust, lift, sweep, slash, and stab. However, with two years of continuous practice, these seemingly simple moves had become more refined. Like just now, each swing of his sword produced a faint sound of breaking wind, an effect that even some Yellow-ranked sword techniques of the Sword Sect couldn't achieve.

Therefore, Yang Ye decided to continue his arduous training. He wanted to see the limits of these basic sword techniques!

Looking up at the sky, he realized it was already noon. Yang Ye clapped his hands together and whispered, "Today, I must create a powerful talisman!"

In the "Five Elements Rune Art" gifted to him by Bao'er, the method of creating a powerful talisman was not overly complicated since it was a basic talisman. However, for Yang Ye, a novice with no guidance, it was still quite challenging. In the past two weeks, he had failed every time, mainly due to his initial impatience.

With the experience of the previous half month's failures, Yang Ye became wiser this time. In the previous week, instead of attempting to draw the powerful talisman right away, he studied it for a week, memorizing all the routes and paying attention to crucial details

After recalling all the details of the powerful talisman, Yang Ye sat cross-legged on the giant rock. He took out the rune paper and rune pen that Bao'er had given him from his pocket, along with the essence of spirit grass and the blood of a mystical beast. With everything prepared, Yang Ye shifted from a sitting position to a crawling one, focusing his mind and spirit.

Moments later, he infused his pale golden Qi into the rune pen, allowing the wisps of Qi to flow onto the rune paper. Each thread-like strand of pale golden Qi entered the paper, wriggling like tiny worms. Observing this, Yang Ye used the rune pen to guide and shape them into various intricate patterns along the route of the flame.

During this process, Yang Ye dared not let out a breath, fully concentrating as he carefully maneuvered the rune pen on the paper. After about a quarter of an hour, a faint golden flame began to take shape on the rune paper. Another quarter of an hour passed, and Yang Ye put down the pen, revealing a faint golden flame on the paper.

Seeing the formation of the flame, Yang Ye took a deep breath, a relaxed expression appearing on his face. However, the task was not yet complete. He had only finished the first step, and the next step was equally crucial—imbuing the talisman with spiritual essence.

Imbuing the talisman involved infusing it with the essence of spirit grass and the blood of a mystical beast, along with the ambient energy of the heavens and earth. This step was the most challenging; he had failed at it in the first half of the month. To accomplish it, he had to simultaneously blend the mystical beast blood, spirit grass essence, and his own pale golden energy, redrawing the flame on the talisman.

During this process, if he failed, the entire talisman would fail.

Taking another deep breath, Yang Ye exerted great effort to maintain his composure. After a short moment, he picked up a small jade bottle and poured a drop of essence onto the talisman. Then, he swiftly grabbed another bottle containing the mystical beast blood, pouring a drop onto the talisman. The two liquids merged on the talisman under Yang Ye's control, and he immediately began guiding them along the path of the flame.

The reason this step was difficult was that Yang Ye had to envelop the two liquids with his pale golden energy. The control of his spiritual strength and Qi had to be extremely precise. If he made the slightest mistake or failed to complete the process in one breath, the talisman would fail.

Beads of cold sweat formed on his forehead as Yang Ye dared not even blink, fearing that the path of the flame would deviate.

Like this, after being cautious for about two quarters of an hour, a smile gradually appeared on Yang Ye's face, and his eyes couldn't hide the excitement. Another quarter of an hour passed, and Yang Ye suddenly stopped using the pen. Just as the pen lifted off the rune paper, the flame on the paper erupted as if ignited, emitting a faint golden glow. The flame on the paper appeared vivid and lifelike, almost like a living creature.

"I finally succeeded, I finally succeeded! I, Yang Ye, am now a first-grade runemaster! Haha..." Seeing the flame on the rune paper, Yang Ye couldn't help but burst into excited laughter.

From the Basic Rune Decision that Bao'er had given him, Yang Ye learned some basic information about runemasters. Similar to Xuan Masters, runemasters are also divided into different realms. The first to fifth grades are Inscription Masters, responsible for creating basic talismans. Beyond the fifth grade, there are Spirit Talisman Masters, Earth Talisman Masters, Heaven Talisman Masters, Immortal Talisman Masters, and Divine Talisman Masters.

The first to fifth grades are Inscription Masters, and successfully creating one type of talisman qualifies as a first-grade runemaster. If one can create all five basic talismans and fully comprehend their attributes, they would reach the fifth grade. Yang Ye had now successfully created a powerful talisman, making him a first-grade runemaster!

Suppressing his excitement, Yang Ye picked up the powerful talisman from the rock and examined it. A hint of surprise appeared in his eyes as he whispered, "Talismans are categorized into Ordinary, Inferior, Intermediate, Superior, and Peak grades. This powerful talisman, with its flame appearing so lifelike, should be considered Superior. But doesn't the scroll say that Superior-grade talismans have a very low success rate? Could it be because of my pale golden Qi?"

From the description in the Basic Rune Decision, Yang Ye learned that talismans also have different qualities, and the effects vary accordingly. An Inferior-grade powerful talisman can enhance the user's strength by up to 50%, while an Intermediate-grade can double it. A Superior-grade talisman can provide a threefold increase, and as for Peak-grade, it can increase it by six or seven times or more.

Although the effects of Superior and Peak-grade talismans were astonishing, their difficulty was also extremely high. The success rate for Superior-grade talismans was very, very low. Yang Ye didn't expect his talisman to be of Superior-grade. Could it be that he was truly remarkable? Yang Ye felt a bit puzzled.

"I guess I'll have to ask Bao'er about this later!" Yang Ye stopped pondering the question and looked at the powerful talisman in his hand. A sly smile appeared on his lips. Thinking about how he could surprise his opponents by activating the talisman during a fight when their strengths were evenly matched, he couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction.

With this thought, Yang Ye's smile widened, and after a moment, he carefully stored the powerful talisman away before briskly walking towards the exit of Qingfeng Valley.

Once out of Qingfeng Valley, Yang Ye arrived at the training ground. However, he was intercepted by a disciple in a green robe as soon as he arrived. The disciple appeared to be around seventeen or eighteen years old and had a small character "Outer" engraved on his left shoulder—a symbol of an Outer Sect disciple.

Seeing Yang Ye being blocked by Du Xiu and the others, some miscellaneous disciples sighed and shook their heads. Thanks to Yang Ye, the miscellaneous disciples of Zayi Peak were no longer bullied by

Du Xiu and his group. Therefore, these miscellaneous disciples had a favorable impression of Yang Ye.

Now that Du Xiu's cousin had returned from the secular world, they could easily predict Yang Ye's fate.

The disciple who intercepted Yang Ye was none other than Duan Jun, a formidable eighth-grade Xuan Master.

As Yang Ye saw himself being cornered by Du Xiu and the others, his expression turned solemn. With a low shout, he clenched his fist and fiercely clashed with Duan Jun's outstretched palm.

"Bang!"

Their fists collided, causing Yang Ye to retreat three steps while Duan Jun also staggered back.

In their first encounter, the two ended up in a draw.

As Duan Jun saw himself being pushed back by Yang Ye, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes. He observed Yang Ye for a moment and said, "So you're already a Xuan Master? But so what? I only used ten percent of my strength just now. Now, prepare to die!"

As Duan Jun prepared to attack again, Yang Ye took a step forward, locking eyes with him and emanating a murderous intent. Yang Ye knew that Duan Jun was aware that Du Xiu and the others had been demoted by Elder Qian. However, Duan Jun didn't dare to confront Elder Qian and instead came to pick a fight with Yang Ye. Moreover, he immediately resorted to lethal force. This time, Yang Ye was truly angered.

"What's the matter? Do you want to beg for mercy?" Duan Jun sneered. "If only you had realized it earlier, why bother now? Although my cousin is just a lowly miscellaneous disciple, he's not someone a useless person like you can bully. Now, kneel down, kowtow a thousand times, admit your mistake, and get out of the Sword Sect. Then, I might spare your life!"

"I challenge you to a life-and-death duel on the Life and Death Stage!" Yang Ye stared directly at Duan Jun, his voice resolute.

Silence fell—deathly silence. The miscellaneous disciples nearby, as well as Duan Jun himself, were dumbfounded.

A miscellaneous disciple challenging an Outer Sect disciple? And on the Life and Death Stage at that?