On this day, Shi Mu was concentrating on drawing talismans in the stone room of the stronghold, when a knock on the door came.
He raised his eyebrows, stood up and opened the door, with a look of surprise on his face.
I thought it was the disciple who came to the door again to ask for a talisman, but it turned out that the burly figure of Jin Chen was standing outside the door.
"Why did Senior Brother Jin come to my younger brother's place when he was free?" Shi Mu asked suspiciously after letting Jin Chen into the room.
Jin Chen glanced around the stone animal husbandry room and landed on the stone table. On it was a stack of talisman papers, as well as talisman ink, magic brushes and other items, which were a little messy, as well as several completed drawings.
Talisman.
"Junior brother Shi is really diligent and doesn't take any rest while recovering from his injuries." Jin Chen laughed and did not immediately explain his purpose.
"Senior brother, you are joking. I am just recovering from my injuries and refining some talismans for backup." Shi Mu smiled slightly.
Jin Chen took some of the talismans that Shi Mu had just refined and looked at them carefully.
"The talismans refined by Junior Brother Shi are smooth in writing, full of spiritual power, and have a very high success rate. Even some spiritual level talisman masters may not be able to do it. It's a pity that people in this stronghold can no longer enjoy it." Jin Chen sighed, a little bit.
Said regretfully.
"What does Senior Brother Jin mean by this?" Shi Mu's expression changed.
"Haha, I just received a transfer order from the alliance, which is to transfer Junior Brother Shi to a stronghold in the northeast. I happened to have nothing to do, so I sent it over in person." Jin Chen laughed and took out a jade from his arms.
Jane handed it to Shi Mu.
Shi Mu was startled, then took the jade slip and explored it with his spiritual consciousness.
As expected, there was a transfer order signed by the alliance, which required him to report to a secret stronghold in Xuanling Mountain within ten days. There was also a map at the back, indicating the location of the stronghold.
Shi Mu felt happy after reading it.
Judging from the map, that stronghold is located quite far back, far away from the current battlefield ahead, and is relatively safe.
Although the jade slip did not explain the reason for transferring him, it is probably not a bad thing if he can be transferred to the rear.
"Senior Brother Laojin is here. I will follow the alliance's instructions and set off in the next two days." Shi Mu put the jade slip away and said with his hand.
"Before this, Jin hoped that Junior Brother Shi could do a small favor." Jin Chen looked embarrassed, hesitated for a moment, and said.
"Senior Brother Jin has something to say, but it's okay to say it. If it's something within my ability, I will definitely do it." Shi Mu replied without thinking.
"Okay! Jin would like to thank Junior Brother on behalf of the rest of the stronghold. Junior Brother Shi also knows that the battle situation on the front line is tense now, and the requirements for talismans are quite high. Jin hopes that Junior Brother Shi will refine another batch of Talismans. Originally, I planned to
I will talk about this after my junior brother is healed, but now it seems that if I don't mention it, it will be too late... I have brought the list of talismans and materials. As for the merits, it will be 50% more than before.
"Jin Chen cupped his hands, and then took out a jade slip, a stack of talismans, and several colorful spiritual stones from his arms, and placed them on the stone table.
"If this is the case, senior brother, don't worry, Shi Mu will definitely fulfill his mission." Shi Mu smiled and said in agreement.
He had quite a favorable impression of the leader of the stronghold in front of him, who usually acted calmly and justly. In addition, he was offered additional meritorious service rewards and the ability to make talismans, so naturally he would not refuse.
When Jin Chen heard this, he was naturally overjoyed and thanked him profusely, and he immediately left knowingly.
…
Ten days later, deep in the Xuanling Mountains.
At the foot of a steep mountain thousands of feet high, a tall young man wearing a black short shirt was standing on a large rock, looking around and frowning slightly.
This person is none other than Shi Mu.
He found this place based on the map in the jade slip, but after wandering around for a while, no one came out to greet him.
"The entrance to the stronghold here should also be covered by the formation. Could it be that you want me to find it myself..." Shi Mu was speechless.
His current cultivation of formations is still shallow, and it is not easy to see through an illusion formation.
But he was not completely helpless.
Shi Mu jumped down from the boulder, narrowed his eyes slightly, his pupils turned golden in a flash, and looked at the surrounding ground.
After a while, he squatted down on a dead branch of grass. A vague footprint could be seen on the ground. It must have been washed away by rain a long time ago or it was almost invisible.
Shi Mu smiled.
Although the footprints were shallow, they could not escape his spiritual eyes. To him at this moment, the footprints were as if a giant elephant had stepped hard on the ground, appearing huge and clear.
Shi Mu stood up and groped forward along the direction of the footprints. There were scattered traces of people walking in front of him.
Although the traces left on some rocks or hard ground were very shallow and sometimes impossible to identify, I still quickly found the direction of travel and followed it all the way.
The further he went, the more obvious the remaining traces were, and they all led to the same direction. Shi Mu's heart suddenly became calm.
A moment later, he stood in front of a mountain wall, and all traces disappeared once he reached this point.
He dispersed the golden light in his eyes, carefully looked at the stone wall in front of him, lightly touched it with his hand, and suddenly fell into it.
"Sure enough..." Shi Mu nodded and retracted his arm.
At this moment, a white light flashed on the stone wall, and a hole opened. A man in green robe was standing in front of the entrance.
"You are Shi Mu from the Black Demon Sect, right? Welcome to the Rat's Nest, Qingfeng of the Miaoyin Sect." The man in green robe smiled and looked at Shi Mu and said.
"I am Shi Mu, and I have Senior Brother Lao Qing here with me." Shi Mu took out his alliance identity token and the jade slip from his arms.
"Come in!" Qingfeng did not reach out to take it, but instead stepped aside and motioned for Shi Mu to come in.
Seeing this, Shi Mu calmly put the token and jade slip away and took a step forward.
The next moment, he felt a flash of light before his eyes, and he was already standing in a spacious corridor leading underground, with the man in green robe standing side by side.
Shi Mu's eyes were focused, but he could only feel that there was a black hole in front of him, and he didn't know how far it extended.
"Junior Brother Shi was able to find this place on his own. It's really extraordinary. He deserves to be highly recommended by Elder Jin." Qingfeng said with a smile.
"Recommended? Elder Jin?" Shi Mu was startled and paused.
Seeing Shi Mu's expression, Qingfeng also stopped and asked with a puzzled expression:
"What? Doesn't Junior Brother Shi still know where this place is?"
"Yes, I just received an order from the alliance to come to this stronghold. As for other things, I still don't know what to do here." Shi Mu said honestly.
"It seems that Junior Brother Shi really doesn't know. Well, let me give you a general explanation. In fact, this is not an ordinary stronghold, but a talisman-making stronghold for the alliance." Qingfeng looked at Shi Mu in surprise.
, after a long while, he said slowly.
"A Talisman Making Point?"
Shi Mu was stunned when he heard this.
"Now that the war situation is tightening, in order to cope with the large demand for low-level talismans on the front line, the alliance has gathered elite talisman masters from various factions together to temporarily form this talisman-making base. Junior Brother Shi's talisman-making talent has been known to some senior officials.
, coupled with the strong recommendation of Elder Jin Xiaochai of your noble sect, that’s why you were recruited here." Qingfeng said while leading the way.
When Shi Mu heard this, he frowned.
He and Jin Xiaochai only met once when they were just starting out, and they have never seen each other again since then. It is not clear whether it is a curse or a blessing that such an innate elder pays so much attention to him.
Thoughts swirled in his mind, and he silently followed Qingfeng.
The two walked for almost half a quarter of an hour and arrived at the end of the passage. A stone door appeared in front of them.
Qingfeng turned over his hand and took out a piece of white jade the size of a palm, with some runes engraved on it. With a slight shake, a white light flew out and disappeared into the stone door.
Kaka!
The stone door slowly opened to both sides, revealing the scene inside.
A huge hall with a radius of more than a hundred feet appeared in front of Shi Mu. Hundreds of people were walking around inside, and from time to time, spiritual energy and precious light shot into the sky.
The giant hall space is made up of pill furnace-like things, with blazing flames burning underneath. There are two or three people waiting beside each pill furnace, putting various ores, materials, and even animal skins and bones into the furnace from time to time.
Shi Mu recognized that these furnaces were not alchemy furnaces, but talisman furnaces for making talisman paper.
A big man guarding the fu stove poured out some viscous cyan liquid from the stove and carefully poured it into the square molds next to it.
The liquid cooled quickly, and after a while it condensed into a brand new piece of cyan talisman paper, which was carefully picked up by the person next to it.
There are forty or fifty talisman furnaces in the hall, constantly producing talisman papers of various colors.
"Let's go." The man in green robe waited for Shi Mu to look at him for a moment, then walked towards the other side of the hall.
The servants in the hall who were guarding the furnace and making talismans were in awe of Qingfeng and saluted him one after another. They cast curious glances at Shi Mu who was walking behind.
Qingfeng ignored these people and quickly led Shi Mu out of the hall and through a long passage.
From time to time, you can see some closed stone chambers beside the passage, and I don't know what they are used for.
After a while, the two came to a large stone door again.
"The hall just now was just a place where some workers made talisman paper. This is the talisman-making hall where the elite talisman masters of various sects are located. You are a newcomer. You can ask other people for advice." Qingfeng said, turning his hands.
Taking out the white jade, a white light penetrated into the stone door, and the stone door slowly opened.
Inside the door is a rather open hall with an arc-shaped ceiling. A white chandelier hangs down every few feet, emitting a milky white light and illuminating the entire hall.
There are large stone tables placed in the hall, which are filled with various talisman papers, magic brushes, magic ink and other objects.
There are twenty or thirty stone tables like this, and almost every one of them has someone sitting at it. Some are busy drawing symbols, while others gather in groups of three or two, discussing something in low voices.
There are several separate rooms around, and except for the one closest to the exit, the doors are all closed.
At one end of the hall, a huge white jade wall was erected, with lines of fonts floating on it, which seemed to be the task of making talismans one by one.
Most people saw the two coming in and just glanced at them. Occasionally, one or two people nodded to Qingfeng and continued busy with their own affairs. (To be continued.)