CHAPTER 53: CHAPTER 53: STONE TALISMAN

Shen Wang thought, he didn’t have a Qi Cultivation Cultivator by his side, so this thing couldn’t be given to anyone.

However, he hadn’t been lacking Spirit Stones lately, so keeping it a while wasn’t a problem. When the Paper Kite breaks through, he could give the Short Blade Magical Artifact to it.

As long as a Martial Artist reaches the Innate stage, they can also use a Magical Artifact, but it’s still not as handy as a Qi Cultivation Cultivator using it.

The other things were miscellaneous, like maps, a strange piece of Stone Talisman, and some clothes and shoes.

He opened a map and found that the three people had identical maps, which he assumed to be the area they planned to rob, and he didn’t think much of it.

The Stone Talisman was a bit strange, looking somewhat ancient. Because recent Cultivators wouldn’t use this kind of stone to make this thing, from the Runes it seemed quite ancient, like some kind of archaic script he couldn’t recognize.

He focused on the Stone Talisman because this thing could absorb Spiritual Qi, like a key, and it was a key to enter a certain Array, much like the Main Banner of the Yin Yang Inversion Array he had set up.

"How could such an ancient thing exist, was it discovered or left behind after a murder and robbery?"

Shen Wang flipped it over a few times, not finding anything valuable, and put it aside to study later.

He organized all the things in the Storage Pouch, and besides the Magical Artifacts and Spirit Stones, the Elixirs were the most useful to him; he estimated he wouldn’t need to buy Elixirs for a short time.

After that, he continued his daily life, adding two things: brewing medicine and nurturing his meridians.

The next night, the Zombie came again, not stopping like before.

Shen Wang guarded the broken wall with a blank expression. He would farm experience if possible and use the Array to resist the Zombies to recover when there wasn’t an opportunity.

Doing so definitely affected his Cultivation somewhat, but the cultivation progress lost due to the Zombie disturbances was supplemented during the nourishing of Jia’Er’s and his daughter’s meridians, even surpassing the normal speed.

He thought he could return to the Sixth-Layer Qi Cultivation in about ten days, but at noon on the third day, an unexpected guest appeared outside.

The visitor was a woman, about thirty years old, wearing a red woven skirt, fairly attractive, with a Jade-embedded Rapier at her waist, exuding a martial aura, like someone from the Martial Arts world.

She didn’t find the manor the villagers mentioned, but according to the Stone Talisman’s sensing, it was right here.

She wanted to approach the ancestral home but was affected by the Array, had to retreat, knew she was in the right place, and regardless of whether the owner here saw her, politely clasped her fists, "Ning Xia from Jinshui Lake comes to visit, I request an audience."

The voice driven by True Qi was very loud, and the woman’s voice also had a penetrating quality. Liu Shan, who usually kept watch at the gate, was startled, glanced at the person outside, and didn’t recognize them.

He hesitated, speculating that it was someone the master knew outside, turned around to report, and saw Shen Wang coming out halfway.

"You don’t need to bother."

Shen Wang gestured to stop Liu Shan from speaking, stepped to the doorway, and in another step was outside the manor, not leaving the Array area, but controlling the Array so the person outside couldn’t see him.

"Who are you, we don’t know each other."

At that time, in a hurry to escape, he hadn’t observed the pursuers carefully, only remembering a few who chased ahead, not knowing if this woman was one of the seven.

Seeing Shen Wang appear, Ning Xia smiled, "I’m here to invite you to cooperate. Three days ago, you killed the Black Water Three Evils at Black Water Stream. They were originally our collaborators, but now it’s you."

Hearing this, Shen Wang’s face darkened, "So it was you who chased me back then!"

He glanced into the distance and didn’t need to think much; the others were nearby.

"There’s no need for you to be nervous, we weren’t with the Black Water Three Evils. When we chased you, it was also to discuss with you. Unfortunately, you ran too fast, and we couldn’t explain in time."

Ning Xia helplessly admitted, she was also a Martial Artist, belonging to the Innate Grandmaster, but compared to Shen Wang’s speed, she was not on the same level at all.

"Why do I feel like you wanted to ambush me?"

Shen Wang sneered, not believing at all.

"If we wanted to kill you, we would have chased desperately, not stopped after a while, wouldn’t we?"

Ning Xia smiled, as friendly as possible, "And finding this place wasn’t just achieved by inquiring and tracking."

Shen Wang’s face darkened, "What do you mean by that?"

"Did you discover an ancient Stone Talisman among the spoils? We determined your location based on that, otherwise, with your speed, it would have been difficult to find you again shortly after parting ways."

Ning Xia spoke solemnly.

Shen Wang frowned, quite surprised, "Stone Talisman? This thing in my Storage Pouch could sense my location?"

"It couldn’t. We only detected it when you were examining the spoils,"

At this point, she smiled wryly, "You have quite the patience. You only took it out to look a day later, and only once."

Shen Wang felt a chill in his heart and took note of this, being cautious.

If these people were here for revenge, his actions accidentally exposed the location of his base, which was too dangerous.

It seems, in the future when dealing with these things, it’s better to handle them outside, and there’s a need to set up a secret stronghold.

Shen Wang thought of many things in an instant, keeping his face unchanged, he said, "That Stone Talisman isn’t simple if it can allow you to lock onto my location. What exactly is it?"

"It’s a key to an Ancient Cultivator’s Cave Mansion, different keys have mutual sensing, and that’s how we confirmed your location,"

Ning Xia didn’t hide things. They needed this key and explaining directly was good to avoid possible misunderstandings.

Shen Wang was thoughtful; he hadn’t had time to study that thing recently as he was busy, and he had no reserves in the Path of Artifact Refining. It was normal not to find the Stone Talisman’s specific function and be reverse-tracked.

He looked at Ning Xia, "Since it’s an Ancient Cultivator’s Cave Mansion, there must be dangers involved. I’m not interested."

He genuinely wasn’t lying. He could earn Spirit Stones by Talisman Making, and there was no need to take risks, especially going on an exploration with seven people he didn’t know where being ambushed was entirely possible.

"Then please sell the Stone Talisman to us, and swear not to reveal this to others." Ning Xia had prepared in advance; they just needed this key to enter, and whether Shen Wang went or not was irrelevant.

"There’s no need to swear, I don’t even know where the Cave Mansion is."

Shen Wang shook his head. Swearing for a Cultivator was a serious matter that could easily be fulfilled without hesitation.

"The Black Water Three Evils definitely have things related to the Cave Mansion. You would only need to take a look to determine the location, how can we be at ease?"

Ning Xia smiled, "If we go exploring the Cave Mansion, and you ambush us outside, wouldn’t we be in danger? So if you don’t want to swear, I can only suggest you come along with us, and we can swear not to attack you."

Shen Wang squinted his eyes, seeing that the other party was determined to restrict him somehow. He would either have to go or swear an oath. After pondering for a moment, he asked, "What’s the situation with the Cave Mansion?"