1121: Three coincidental factors 1121: Three coincidental factors “Yes, luck,” said Shao An.
“There was luck involved, and by my guess, the manor are likely to be unaware of it..” “How so?” asked Ren Shu, his interest piqued just as Yang Qing’s was.
“From the account of that sixth stage palace realm expert, he and the ‘friend’ he murdered ventured into the battlefield, desperate for fortune since both were in the twilight of their years, with little signs of improvent.
So they decided to look for rare fortune and encounters to try and alter their fates and that led them to the Banyan Empire battlefield,” Shao An patiently explained.
“But as desperate as they were, and as appealing as the Banyan battlefield was, they had grossly underestimated how dangerous the place truly was.
They had barely covered a few ters in before they were in dire straits, their lives hanging in a balance, and out of desperation, they detonated a few talismans in a last-ditch effort to carve a pathway for their escape,” said Shao An, pausing briefly.
“It was that detonation, that led to the discovery,” Shao An added, a aningful look flashing in his eyes.
“As you well know the Ocean Vortex Shield Talisman Manor has made its bones in the talisman industry through the sale of defensive and restorative talismans, which in no small part is influenced by their legacy but also the material available to them..” he continued.
“The lapis lazuli of the Turtle Lapis Lazuli Empire?” Yang Qing asked, catching the subtle emphasis in Shao An’s tone.
“Precisely,” Shao An said with an appreciative nod before continuing.
“The two experts detonated three different talismans at once,” Shao An said, raising three fingers.
“One was the Golden Light of Restoration, the second was the Phoenix Feather Ward, and the last was the Falcon Thunderflash Dive Evasion.” As he nad each talisman, he gestured to a corresponding finger.
“Upon detonation, the three talismans produced a resonant-like effect, which—by sheer coincidence—ended up restraining the blood qi lingering in the area.
However, it had no effect whatsoever on other destructive energies, such as sword qi,” Shao An explained slowly.
“The blood qi is one of the biggest threats in that battlefield,” Ren Shu chid in, a faint glimr of fascination in his eyes.
“Even if it only worked on the blood qi, that’s still a major breakthrough—especially considering how much of the battlefield is saturated with it.” Yang Qing softly murmured the nas of the three talismans, mulling over how they could have interacted to create such an effect.
From the way Shao An described it, it sounded as if the talismans had inadvertently combined to form an entirely new spell—one capable of restraining the blood qi.
His thoughts were cut short when he noticed Shao An had more to say.
“At the ti, with their lives hanging by a thread, they didn’t notice much of those effects.
It was only later, when they were safely out and had the presence of mind to reflect, that they recalled what had happened.
That realization emboldened them to return—though not without apprehension.
Their initial hypothesis was that one of the talismans had been responsible for the effect, so they tested them one at a ti, detonating each separately at the outer fringes of the battlefield, where the blood qi was more prevalent of the destructive energies present.It didn’t work,” Shao An said, casually rolling a groundnut between his fingers before lobbing it into his mouth.
“When that failed, they moved on to detonating them in pairs.
When that, too, had no effect, they tried all three again—just as they had the first ti.
But things didn’t go as they had hoped.” Shao An paused briefly before continuing.
“They faced repeated failures, with no clear guiding reason why it had worked that one ti but failed every attempt since then—despite using the sa talismans in the exact sa way.
Eventually, they ran out of reasons till they were left with only one possibility: the location.” Despite his tone being even and taciturn, there was an almost ominous undertone lurking within it which thoroughly factored in Yang Qing’s attention being drawn in.
“Since they had been conducting all their experints near the battlefield’s boundary—unlike the first ti, when it had worked—they figured that might be the issue.
So, despite nearly dying there before, they decided to venture slightly deeper, back to the exact spot where it had worked.” Yang Qing couldn’t bla them for taking that risk.
If their guess was correct, they would have discovered a way to traverse the battlefield safely.
And with that, they could reach places that would have otherwise been impossible for them.
With such an opportunity, of course, they’d take the risk—especially if they were rogue cultivators with no backing, staring at the very bleak end of their dwindling lifespan, and given a chance to alter said fate.
“Once they reached that place, they tried to replicate what they had done the first ti,” Shao An said, his eyes narrowing slightly.
“They failed eleven tis before finally succeeding on the twelfth.”He paused for a mont before continuing.
“After investigating why it had worked the first ti and again on the twelfth attempt, they arrived to the realization that the success ca down to a combination of three factors: the spell, the talisman maker, and the lapis lazuli used.
If even one of those factors was missing, it wouldn’t work.” “Took them nearly 45 years to figure that out,” he added, pausing briefly.
Yang Qing, who looked like he had a hundred questions, was relieved when Shao An resud speaking.
“I won’t go too deeply into how they reached that conclusion, I’ll only touch on the pertinent details,” Shao An said, his gaze drifting aningfully toward Ren Shu.
Ren Shu chuckled dryly at the look.
“Fair enough.
I’ll just ask him myself later.” Yang Qing was just as curious and looked like he wanted to join in, but in the end, he could only let out a helpless sigh and hold himself back.
He still had too much left to do and little ti to go prison diving with Ren Shu to interrogate a prisoner about all the juicy details and discoveries they made before arriving at that particular conclusion.
For now, he would have to be satisfied with whatever shortened version Shao An chose to share—which, given how pressed for ti he was, suited him just fine.
“So, after countless experints, an untold number of spirit stones spent, and more talismans burned through than they could count, they arrived at these three key conditions to trigger the restraining effect: First, all three spells have to be detonated.
It doesn’t work with just one or two—it has to be exactly those three.
Second, even when all three spells are triggered, the effect will only activate if they are inscribed on the sa type of lapis lazuli.
With the vast number of mines available, only a specific variety seed to trigger the effect with those spells.
And third—this was the most puzzling of all—even after pinpointing the correct type of lapis lazuli, they found that so still failed to activate the effect.
After an exhaustive investigation, they finally narrowed down the reason the reason: it was the maker,” explained Shao An.
“As you all know, those three spells are fairly standard talismans.
You can buy them from almost any talisman master in the markets of the Ocean Vortex Shield Talisman Manor,” he continued, glancing at Yang Qing, who nodded in agreent.
The three spells in question weren’t anything special.
They were standard talismans—so common, in fact, that they were often used as foundational training exercises for aspiring talisman makers.
Continuing, Shao An said, “Because of how common they are, they had to go through countless talismans before realizing that only those from a particular store were capable of producing the blood qi restraining effect.
And since I know you’re going to ask—the owner of that store, who is also the maker of those talismans, is a top-tier orange-grade talisman master.
A ninth-tier Core Formation expert who has been crafting talismans for nearly 900 years.” He paused briefly before adding, “He’s not so hidden expert, yet for so reason, he is an essential part of the three-factor system required to replicate the blood qi restraining effect.” Shao An’s gaze sharpened slightly as he continued.
“Given those conditions, it’s no surprise that so few have discovered this effect.
It was the result of sheer coincidence, luck, and decades of experintation—sothing that took two Palace Realm experts nearly 45 years to uncover.” He then narrowed his eyes at Yang Qing.
“That being said, as improbable as it is, it’s not impossible for others to have discovered it and kept it to themselves… just as that sixth-stage Palace Realm expert did.” After a mont’s pause, he continued, “The Banyan battlefield is vast and treacherous, making encounters rare thereby ensuring a lack of witnesses brewing the perfect conditions for things remaining secret…Perhaps Zhu Fa and Ming Wa are privy to that particular secret too, which would explain their destination being the Turtle Lapis Lazuli Empire.
After all, there’s no better place to hide—or vanish completely—than the Banyan battlefield as long as you have the know-how to survive there…It might be worth considering.”
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