Chapter Nine, The Realm of the Dual Heavens

It is essential to find a better cultivation method; otherwise, even possessing such a miraculous artifact as the ancient book, Chu Yunsheng realizes that he may be in imminent danger to his life at any moment

Due to the absence of the sun, people's perception of time has also become chaotic. Although there are clocks that can display the exact date and time, can you say that it is now daytime rather than nighttime? Every minute and every second now is night!

The transition from the First Yuan Heaven to the Second Yuan Heaven is not overly complex. According to ancient texts, one simply needs to thoroughly release the vital energy within the body and then refill it, a total of eighty-one times, ensuring that each part of the body receives ample refinement of vital energy. After the eighty-first time, one reaches the realm of the Second Yuan Heaven.

The main entrance of Building 8 has been damaged by the red beetles, and there are no materials left for repairs. One after another, people have been moving out from other buildings to take refuge in Building 8. By 8 PM, Chu Yunsheng discovered through the peephole that his doorstep was filled with a crowd attempting to seek shelter.

The third-order elemental talisman is the truly reusable talisman, unlike the disposable one currently in Chu Yunsheng's hand, which requires a quick replacement with a new elemental talisman whenever the energy of the current one is insufficient

Because the Yuan Symbol is a one-time use item, regardless of how much vital energy was absorbed previously, once all the absorbed vital energy is completely released, the Yuan Symbol will shatter

Similarly, this type of disposable talisman, once it has absorbed sufficient vitality, regardless of how much vitality is subsequently released, the vacated talisman body cannot be infused again

Thus, after freezing six red beetles and using the Yuanfu talisman to absorb the essence of the insects, my internal energy has nearly dried up. I can immediately perform the first replenishment. Once filled, I will promptly create a new Yuanfu talisman. Consequently, my internal energy will be depleted again, followed by the second replenishment. The old talisman shatters, but after being filled with energy, I can shoot down six more. Using the new talisman to absorb the energy, this cycle continues.

Two years? If it were a peaceful and sunny era, he could take his time to cultivate. However, now is a dark age fraught with crises, and that is certainly not possible! Currently, just dealing with three red beetles is already quite challenging. If he were to encounter a swarm of fifty such insects outside a few hours ago, wouldn't he have no chance to escape at all?

Those with innate talent for self-awakening, although possessing a singular attribute—be it fire, ice, or other types—are described in ancient texts as having many varieties. However, once they awaken, they can directly harness the power of physical energy, as if their bodies instinctively seal a certain rule with a talisman.

Two years is more than enough time for the bugs to kill him countless times

A cultivation plan immediately emerged in his mind, precisely what he had been desperately searching for in recent days

He took out the ancient books once again, tirelessly flipping through them for research. He believed there must be a solution within, but his recognition of characters was too limited. Otherwise, if he could read the ancient texts fluently, there would surely be things he could not have imagined within them

This talisman belongs to the second order of spells and requires the full essence of its creator to be made. I just spent nearly half of its essence experimenting with other methods, making it impossible to create the talisman now. I will have to wait about four more days for the necessary materials.

At this speed, it will take Chu Yunsheng eight to nine days to fully recover his vitality. Even without considering the time spent releasing his vitality, he will still need nearly two years to reach the realm of the Second Yuan Tian

Chu Yunsheng did not concern himself with them; it was already commendable that he could manage himself. Through the life-and-death struggle a few hours ago, he clearly understood that to survive in this world where insects could appear at any moment, he must diligently cultivate his vital energy.

In theory, he only needs to shoot down two hundred and forty-three red beetles to break through the realm of the First Heaven and enter the Second Heaven. Upon reaching the Second Heaven, he can create reusable third-level elemental talismans, no longer needing to painstakingly calculate the number of times the talismans can be used

The entire process was twice as slow compared to the intake, taking almost twenty seconds. As the flame pattern of the elemental talisman faded, the talisman itself sizzled and shattered, indicating that the second-tier talisman was only a one-time use.

He can now barely create second-order talismans. If he wishes to produce third-order talismans, he must quickly cultivate himself to the realm of dual-element heaven.

After much effort, Chu Yunsheng had a sudden inspiration. Since this Yuanfu could not absorb the primordial energy of heaven and earth, did it mean that it could absorb and store the modified energy from the human body?

Chu Yunsheng looked at the name of this talisman with uncertainty. Although he could recognize these three characters, he did not understand more than two-thirds of the functional description behind the talisman. However, he was fortunate that he could recognize the method of crafting the talisman.

This is a level that he could only possibly reach after nearly three days of arduous training

Since the appearance of the red beetle, people have gradually begun to tell time according to the 24-hour system, without distinguishing between morning and evening, day and night

He immediately thought of the red beetle, whose pale red protective shell was undoubtedly activated by the primordial energy of heaven and earth, indicating that there should be primordial energy present within them

How can he remain calm? The energy within a single red beetle, when converted through a talisman, may experience significant loss, yet it can still replenish nearly one-third of his vital energy

Before this, he must rely on the release of the elemental talismans to unleash his power. Naturally, what sets him apart is the diversity of the elemental talismans, which enables him to perform various attribute skills. Moreover, with the assistance of the elemental talismans, his power is by no means inferior to that of a self-awakened individual.

It seems that one can only find a sense of security by staying in Building 8, as more and more people gather. After 2 hours, someone finally began to knock on Chu Yunsheng's door

Therefore, in order to make the most of the Yuan Symbol, one must first fully absorb the Yuan Qi, and then infuse it into oneself in two separate instances, each time ensuring that it is filled with Yuan Qi. Naturally, after the final release of Yuan Qi from the Yuan Symbol, it will shatter on its own

Talismans are the means by which he currently survives, and his situation is different from that of a self-aware master.

Upon this realization, he immediately prepared to take action, but was disheartened to find that the vital energy within him had become exceedingly thin, rendering any experimentation impossible

After a thorough search, he managed to find a few relevant items. After testing them one by one, most of them failed, leaving only a talisman called "She Yuan Yuan Fu".

Over the past four days, he became fatigued from practice, so he took out his crossbow and diligently practiced shooting accuracy according to the shooting tutorial he had downloaded in the evening previously. Given his current energy level, which only allowed him to shoot a few arrows, shooting proficiency became exceedingly important. If he missed, the loss of energy would be quite substantial.

In the past two days, he has pondered the meanings of several symbols from ancient texts and realized that he is currently only at the level of the first stage of Qi cultivation, which is too low! Not only is the amount of Qi that can be absorbed limited by his physical strength, but the level of talisman crafting is also greatly restricted.

However, his cultivation speed is simply too slow, as slow as a snail! Although, apart from eating and sleeping, Chu Yunsheng is basically working hard to cultivate his vital energy, the thickness of the vital energy is still increasing at an extremely slow pace, showing no influence from his urgent feelings!

First, he will create a Yuan Talisman, and then spend eight days to fully cultivate his Yuan Qi. His current full Yuan Qi can shoot six ice arrows. In an ideal scenario where the arrows hit their targets, he can freeze six targets. In the frozen state, the Red Armored Insect does not have an energy shield for protection, allowing it to be killed by other means. The Yuan Talisman can then absorb the Yuan Qi from the six Red Armored Insects.

However, just as he was about to retract the Yuan Symbol into the material Yuan Symbol, he was pleasantly surprised to discover that a thread of his own Qi had inadvertently communicated with the Qi of the Yuan Symbol, which immediately resulted in the backflow of the Yuan Symbol's Qi into Chu Yunsheng's body

Chu Yunsheng immediately took out the preserved corpse of the red armored beetle. Manipulating the talisman, indeed! The talisman, which had previously shown no response, immediately emitted a beam of white light that illuminated the corpse of the red armored beetle. Subsequently, a series of milky white halos were absorbed into the talisman. In about ten seconds, the talisman retracted the white light. When Chu Yunsheng examined the talisman, he noticed that nearly one-sixth of the previously blank area was now filled with flame pattern symbols.

Just like that Ice Fist Man, who can unleash icy energy with a punch, Chu Yunsheng is unable to do so. He adheres to the orthodox cultivation methods as described in ancient texts, where physical strength and vital energy cultivation can only reach the realm of the Three Yuan Heaven. It is only at that stage that one can practice those innate combat techniques without relying on the power of talismans. Of course, if one were to combine the Yuan Talismans at that time, the power would be even more formidable.

Four days later, he finally completed the refinement of the Yuan Symbol, but encountered a minor issue during its use. No matter how Chu Yunsheng attempted to activate it, the Yuan Symbol did not automatically absorb the natural energy of heaven and earth.

Of course he can prevent such backflow, but he did not; he wants to see what will happen

Thus, he only needs three red beetles to fully replenish his vitality to perfection, rather than enduring the arduous practice for eight to nine days

The Chu Yunsheng Conjecture suggests that the energy within the red-armored insect is of the fire attribute

However, Chu Yunsheng was not at all saddened by the shattering of the Yuanfu; on the contrary, he was so excited that he almost wanted to shout. He could clearly feel that his physical strength and energy had been replenished by nearly one-third

After four days of practice, combined with the enhancement of his physical potential through the Six Jia Yuan Fu, he gained the confidence to accurately hit a stationary red beetle within thirty meters. After all, the ability to shoot moving targets is not something that can be developed overnight; experience is even more crucial.