207: Chapter 207 Moon Essence Spiritual Marrow, a High-Grade Heavenly Spiritual Material

For low-level Cultivators, the three words "life-substitution talisman" might just be legendary items, but for those powers standing in the middle and upper echelons of this world, no one was unaware of what it signified.

Under the Heavenly Tribulation, having one more life-substitution talisman meant having one more life.

There had been no news of a life-substitution talisman appearing in the entire Xuanhuang World for tens of thousands of years; the last definitively recorded transaction of a life-substitution talisman was forty thousand years ago.

The news first reached the City Lord's Mansion of Huaiyang City.

City Lord Zhao Guangbi was reviewing official documents in his study. When he heard his subordinate's report, the vermilion brush in his hand paused, and the ink spread into a small blot on the paper.

He set down the brush, looked up at the scout kneeling on one knee, and said with a hint of disbelief in his voice: "life-substitution talisman? Are you sure?"

"This subordinate would not dare to speak falsely. On the third floor of Bafang Pavilion, the news has already spread throughout the main street. It is said that the one who produced the life-substitution talisman is a young man in white, and the one gambling on stones with him is a Grey-robed Elder. Pavilion Master Guo Peng of Bafang Pavilion has already personally come out to receive them."

Zhao Guangbi was silent for a moment, then stood up.

He was the City Lord of Huaiyang City, with a cultivation base at the Peak of Integration Stage, and could be considered a top-tier figure in this city.

But something like a life-substitution talisman was already beyond his scope of understanding.

Someone who could casually take out a life-substitution talisman as a wager was definitely not someone he could afford to provoke, but precisely because of that, he had to go and see.

Even if it was just to take a look from afar to confirm the authenticity of this news, it would be enough for him to report to his superiors.

"Prepare the carriage, we are going to Bafang Pavilion." He paused, then added: "Do not make a scene."

Meanwhile, the news also reached the ears of several major powers in the city.

At the Zheng Family, Zheng Lingfeng had just returned to the residence with a livid face. Before he could report the tragic news of losing the fire phoenix pendant to his father, he heard the butler rushing in to report—someone at Bafang Pavilion was using a life-substitution talisman as a wager.

His footsteps came to a sudden halt, and his expression became extremely complex in an instant. A life-substitution talisman, that young man in white, that Grey-robed Elder.

He suddenly realized that the people he had just seen on the third floor of Bafang Pavilion were likely far more terrifying than he had imagined.

At the Sun Family, Clan Head Sun Henian was in the pill room checking the quality of a new batch of Medicinal Pills. Upon hearing the news, the jade bottle in his hand nearly slipped.

His son was at Bafang Pavilion. He immediately set down the jade bottle, not even bothering to change his outer robe, and hurried out with several Elders.

Outside Hanyang City, a stream of light was shooting rapidly toward Huaiyang City.

At the end of the stream of light was a small spirit boat, and at the bow stood an old man with white hair and beard, with the aura of the Mahayana Early Stage swirling around his body.

His name was Han Tiexin, and he was the Grand Elder of the Hanyang Han Family.

The Han Family was one of the top three major families in Hanyang City. Although there was no Tribulation Transcender in the clan to hold down the fort, they did have one Mahayana Early Stage expert and several at the Peak of Integration Stage.

Han Tiexin had originally been in seclusion, but was awakened by an urgent message from the clan: a life-substitution talisman had appeared.

Without the slightest hesitation, he directly summoned his spirit boat and rushed over at full speed.

On the third floor of Bafang Pavilion, after Pavilion Master Guo Peng lined up the three raw stones, he retreated to the side and stood with his hands down.

He could feel more and more powerful auras gathering toward Bafang Pavilion, and a few of them made even him feel a bit of pressure.

But he was not panicked; Bafang Pavilion had been able to stand in the Xuanhuang World for thousands of years, and it had never relied on the strength of any single person.

He only needed to do his own duty; as for the rest, the two Seniors would naturally decide.

Jiang Changge seemed unaware of the commotion outside the window. His gaze swept over the three raw stones one by one, and the faint light deep within his pupils swirled slightly, as Star Web Myriad Phenomena quietly operated.

A moment later, he turned to look at the Grey-robed Elder and raised his hand in a gesture of invitation: "Senior, please go first."

The Grey-robed Elder did not decline. He walked slowly to the counter, his gaze lingering on the three raw stones one by one for a moment.

His movements remained unhurried. He gently traced his finger through the Void Realm, and a faint fluctuation of Qi swept across the surface of the three raw stones like a gentle breeze.

The fluctuation was extremely subtle, so subtle that no one on the third floor besides Jiang Changge could detect it.

A moment later, the Grey-robed Elder reached out and pointed at the moon-white moonlight spirit jade in the second jade box: "This one."

As the Grey-robed Elder's voice fell, everyone's gaze on the third floor focused on that moon-white raw stone.

The moonlight spirit jade lay quietly in the jade box, its surface layer of pale silver halo slowly swirling like a living thing. Even from a distance of several feet, one could feel that refreshing coolness that seeped into the heart.

Pavilion Master Guo Peng personally stepped forward, took the moonlight spirit jade out of the jade box, and carried it with both hands to the stone-cutting table.

As the Pavilion Master of the Bafang Pavilion Huaiyang Branch, he had long ceased to personally wield the blade, but the weight of today's gambling match forced him to make an exception.

His Peak of Integration Stage cultivation base flowed slowly within him. Those well-maintained hands were as steady as a rock, his fingertips holding a stone-cutting blade as thin as a cicada's wing, the edge gleaming with a pale golden luster under the spiritual light.

He did not rush to cut, but instead held the moonlight spirit jade in his palm, using his Divine Sense to probe inch by inch beneath the stone skin.

A moment later, he selected an angle and the blade descended.

The stone skin was peeled away layer by layer. His movements were extremely light and steady, each cut precise to the millimeter, several times faster than the old craftsman from before, yet not appearing hurried in the slightest.

His Peak of Integration Stage Divine Sense and Qi were fully utilized during the stone-cutting process. Wherever the blade passed, the stone skin fell away like petals scattered by the wind, while the spiritual material inside remained completely undamaged.

When the fifth cut was made, a silver-white beam of light burst out from the cut, striking directly onto the ceiling of the third floor.

The entire floor was shrouded in a cold and soft moonlight, and a crisp, cold aura permeated the air, like the bone-chilling coolness of standing on a high mountain peak on an autumn night, looking up at the full moon.

Pavilion Master Guo Peng raised an eyebrow slightly, but his hand movements did not pause. As the blade turned, the stone skin peeled away layer by layer, and the spiritual material hidden inside the raw stone was finally fully revealed before everyone.

It was a piece of jade about the size of a fist, silver-white all over, with a surface as smooth as a mirror, and liquid faintly flowing inside.

Those liquids emitted a soft light, sometimes condensing into the shape of a perfect full moon, and sometimes scattering into countless tiny points of light, like an entire starry sky frozen within the jade.

"Moonlight Spirit Essence, Heaven Rank High Grade spiritual material." Pavilion Master Guo Peng set down the stone-cutting blade, his voice carrying a hint of self-restrained satisfaction.

This result was within his expectations; with his discernment, he had roughly determined the grade of the internal spiritual material as soon as the Grey-robed Elder had selected this raw stone.

If it were taken to auction, and they encountered people from the East Sea's Moon Flower Island or the North Region's Cold Moon Palace, it would fetch an extremely high price.