Chapter 80: New Professions
Xiang Yu watched the incoming fist with widening eyes.
[Enemy]
He really had let his guard down this time. But his battle instinct didn’t let him stay in the trance for long as he instantly recovered, entering combat-ready status. He moved his hand, placing the talisman he’d just finished making on the opponent’s fist before retreating back a few steps.
[Talisman]
In the next second, an explosion erupted, the shockwave pushing Xiang Yu—who was already several steps away—even further back.
"So powerful?" he gasped, surprised by the effect.
He hadn’t expected a ninth-grade talisman to be so potent. No wonder a Foundation Establishment cultivator kept it as a trump card. It made sense since even the lowest grade talisman could only be made by a Golden Core cultivator.
He was really grateful that he had killed Wang Wei and the other assassin before they could employ this trump card, otherwise, he would’ve been the one to die. The only problem was that his newly built house had also been caught in the blast.
When the explosion dust finally settled, he could finally see the opponent clearly.
[Enemy] * 3
To his surprise, there were actually three of them, and they didn’t seem to be harmed at all, except for the one in the front who appeared to have taken on the full blast. He was a huge man with a muscular stature. His right hand had been blown right off, but he still remained calm. Xiang Yu used his qi sense and was shocked—the two others were actually middle-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators, while the huge man was an early-stage Core Formation cultivator.
Xiang Yu now understood why the others were unharmed—the man had blocked the explosion for them. Xiang Yu felt truly nervous. Not to mention the Core Formation cultivator, he didn’t even know if he could win against the middle-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators. Had the heavens really decided to kill him today?
Though anxiety churned inside him, he maintained an outwardly calm facade. He needed to come up with a plan.
The huge man held his remaining arm, using qi to stabilize the blood flow.
"I thought that it was a killing formation or a hidden expert," the man spoke, his voice steady despite his injury. "Who would’ve thought that it was just a kid playing around with talismans."
As he spoke, he used voice transmission to communicate with the others. "~Don’t let your guard down. I used almost half my strength to take on that attack." He thought to himself that he had been caught off guard since the disciple didn’t seem to have any cultivation. To think that the boy would use a talisman at such close proximity—he could only take it head-on.
"Demonic cultivators, you think I don’t know your scheme?" Xiang Yu shouted, causing the man to be startled. Could it be that their plan had already been exposed? How could he know that they were demonic cultivators?
"Today, this elder will teach you a lesson," Xiang Yu declared confidently. In the next second, talismans appeared in his hands—there were almost a dozen of them. When the big man saw this, he panicked. How could this youth have so many talismans? Xiang Yu then threw all of them towards the intruders.
"Not good! Run!" the Core Formation cultivator shouted, and the three scattered in different directions. The big man perched atop a tree, a few meters away from where he was before. "Hmm, why isn’t the explosion happening?" he wondered. He then looked toward where the talismans had been thrown, only to see pieces of paper scattered on the ground. And Xiang Yu—he was gone.
"That brat!" the man shouted. They had been tricked—there weren’t any talismans at all. The man dropped from his hiding location, and the others, having also realized the deception, came down as well.
"Quickly, go capture him," the man commanded. "He’s just a mortal. There is no way he could’ve gotten far." In his mind, he thought that he had assumed the disciple seemed to know about their plan, but as it appeared now, the boy was probably just spouting nonsense. Still, they needed to catch him just in case.
The Foundation Establishment subordinates bowed and scattered in different directions. The injured man then got into a meditative posture. He thought to himself that he should recover his energy first. Those two should have no trouble capturing a mortal. Even though Xiang Yu might have a few more talismans, as long as they stayed vigilant, they should be able to avoid being harmed.
...
In the forest, Xiang Yu ran, employing his movement technique to move even faster. He had used his remaining two talismans, holding them together with blank papers to give the illusion of having many talismans. He had learned this trick from a street magician he had seen doing card tricks once.
He thought to himself that at his current state, there was no way he could contend against the Core Formation realm cultivator, even an injured one. Escape was his only option.
[Tree] * 12
Since his system could conceal his cultivation, as long as he hid well, he would be able to avoid detection. Unless the Core Formation cultivator had a qi sense as strong as his that could cover the entire pavilion, there was no way that he could find him.
[Cave]
As he was running, he noticed a cave entrance partially hidden by foliage. He thought to himself that this cave was concealed well enough to serve as a hiding place.
He quickly gathered a handful of fallen leaves and branches, slipping inside the small opening and carefully arranging the foliage to make it appear as though it was just a normal bush. Once inside, he pressed himself against the cool stone wall and forced his breathing to slow, calming himself down.
[Stone]
When his heartbeat finally steadied, he could properly assess his situation. He could also finally address the random texts that kept appearing before him, he thought he was losing his mind for a moment.
With his mind clear, Xiang Yu summoned his system interface and was instantly surprised by what he saw:
[Professions: Cook: 4th Grade (20/600), Talisman Maker: 9th Grade (10/100), Appraiser: 9th Grade (2/100)]
...
Author’s Corner:
I read your comments about the appraisal function and they seemed to be quite split. This is what I came up with.
After analyzing the pill and the talismans so deeply, he gained the profession, what do you guys think?