Primordial World.
Towering mountains piercing the clouds, and an endless, surging ocean. Beneath a brilliant blue sky, a young man lay quietly on the beach, surrounded by a large crowd of onlookers.
At that moment, the young man's eyelids twitched, and he slowly opened his eyes.
When he saw a group of people dressed in animal skins staring down at him, he was so startled that he instantly sat up from the ground. Before he could even react, a flood of memories rushed into his mind like a tidal wave.
"Ah!"
Clutching his head in agony, the youth passed out shortly after.
When he regained consciousness once more, he found himself inside a small stone house.
"I never expected to transmigrate."
Ling Wudao was originally a model youth of the twenty-first century. Of course, by "model," he certainly didn't mean a model student; rather, he excelled at plotting, reading web novels, and flirting with girls.
He had been at home playing poker with a young lady when, waking up after a nap, he found himself transmigrated into the corpse of this youth.
To be fair, this youth had suffered a truly wretched fate. Simply wanting to fill his stomach, he had gone down to the sea to catch fish, only to be swallowed by a giant wave and killed.
Merging with the memories of the original body's life, he realized he had transmigrated into the Primordial World. In this world, Golden Immortals were as common as stray dogs, Taiyi Immortals were everywhere, and only DaLuo could claim even a shred of self-preservation.
Just as Ling Wudao was pondering how he would survive in the future, a middle-aged man slowly walked in.
"Kid, you're awake."
Ling Wudao looked at the disheveled, sturdy middle-aged man before him.
"Ancestor, thank you for saving me."
"It's nothing. Your parents died in the jaws of fierce beasts, and I've watched you grow up since you were little. I wasn't in the tribe earlier, so I couldn't save you in time, but thankfully you made it back alive."
"In the future, don't go out to sea to catch fish by yourself, or you could die at any moment."
Ling Wudao replied with a solemn expression, "Understood, Ancestor!"
"Then I'll head back."
Suirenshi smiled faintly. "Go on back."
Ling Wudao got down from the stone bed and walked out of the house. Once outside, he immediately followed his memories back to his own stone dwelling.
"Damn it, I was having a great time at home enjoying myself with my girl, and the moment I wake up I end up in this ghost place. Talk about rotten luck!"
"But since I'm already here, I have to find a way to survive."
The question was how he was going to make it now. According to the original owner's memories, the period of time when the Human Race was under Nuwa's protection had already passed. Trying to use his foreknowledge to farm some Merit probably wouldn't work; after all, the Monster Clan had already begun moving against the Human Race in secret.
If he farmed Merit now, he would easily become a target for the Monster Clan. This hellish difficulty setting for a starting point was truly troublesome.
Right, every transmigrator had their own exclusive system. He could only try to summon the system now; otherwise, survival was completely out of the question.
With that thought, Ling Wudao started shouting in his mind, *You damn system, get your ass out here right now! You dragged me into this place, and if you don't keep me alive, I'll curse you to never find a new master!*
*Damn system, you bastard, get out here...*
He called out in his mind for a long time, but never received the slightest response. Just as Ling Wudao was about to give up, a mechanical voice rang out in his head.
[Ding! Detected that the host desires to survive. The Mythic Talisman System is binding...]
[Ding! Binding complete!]
[Issuing the Novice Gift Pack to the host.]
[Would you like to open the Novice Gift Pack?]
Hearing the system's voice, Ling Wudao's face lit up with excitement.
"You damn system, you finally decided to show up! If you hadn't come out, I was about to go greet your system's ancestors down to the eighteenth generation."
"Tell me now, what kind of features do you have?"
[Host, this system is the Mythic Talisman System, and it issues one random talisman every day.]
[Talisman grades are Yellow, White, Black, Blue, Red, Silver, Purple, and Gold.]
[The first four colors are the lowest grades and can be used casually without consuming too much of the host's magic power. Red is for DaLuo Golden Immortals, Silver is for Quasi-Sages or Hunyuan Golden Immortals, and Purple and Gold are for Sages or Hunyuan Daluo Golden Immortals.]
[Of course, as this system upgrades, the grades of the talismans will also become higher and higher, so the host must strive to raise the system's level.]
Hearing the system's explanation, Ling Wudao gained a preliminary understanding of how it worked.
"System, so you're saying the first four types of talismans can only deal with cultivators below DaLuo, and are pretty much useless against DaLuo Golden Immortals, right?"
[Correct, but that is not absolute. If the host can fuse talismans, their power will naturally increase accordingly.]
"I see. So how do I level you up?"
[Upgrading this system is simple. The host just needs to acquire enough proficiency points.]
[Proficiency points can be obtained in the following ways:]
[First, the host crafts talismans personally.]
[Second, the host fuses talismans.]
[Third, the host creates new talismans.]
[Proficiency points can be obtained through any of the three methods above. A reminder: does the host wish to open the Novice Gift Pack?]
Hearing the system's prompt, Ling Wudao quickly said, "Open the Novice Gift Pack."
[Ding! The Novice Gift Pack is being issued...]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining: Mythic Talisman Crafting Record!]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining: Mythic Saint Talisman Body!]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining: Infinite Divine Talisman Space!]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining: Future Talisman, Spirit-Gathering Talisman, Burst Talisman, and Soulless Soul-Gathering Talisman!]
"Mythic Talisman Crafting Record? That couldn't be related to Mythic DaLuo, could it?"
[Correct. The opening chapter of the Mythic Talisman Crafting Record contains the Mythic DaLuo cultivation method, while the subsequent sections record supreme techniques for crafting and utilizing talismans.]
Once the system confirmed this, Ling Wudao instantly broke into an expression of wild joy.
That was the Mythic DaLuo cultivation method, not the fake kind of DaLuo found in the Primordial World. Mythic DaLuo transcended the long river of time, remaining eternal and indestructible; the three bodies of past, present, and future merged into one; transcending earth, water, fire, wind, and the five elements of yin and yang; commanding all myriad phenomena; creating something out of nothing; one's very existence serving as the origin and end of the Dao; thoughts stirring the heavens; a single thought giving birth to a universe; consciousness immortal, true spirit indestructible, containing billions upon billions of great chiliocosms in the palm of one's hand, eternally unfettered and at ease.
Thinking of how terrifying the Mythic DaLuo method was, Ling Wudao immediately began reading the opening chapter of the Mythic Talisman Crafting Record.
The Mythic DaLuo cultivation method was divided into four major realms: Refining Essence into Qi, Refining Qi into Spirit, Refining Spirit to Return to Void, and Refining Void to Integrate with Dao. Each of the four major realms had three minor stages: early, middle, and late.
Reaching the early stage of Refining Qi granted the realm of a DaLuo Golden Immortal; reaching the middle stage granted the realm of a Quasi-Sage or Hunyuan Golden Immortal; and reaching the late stage granted the strength of a Hunyuan Daluo Golden Immortal.
Stepping through the stages in order, one could only truly attain Mythic DaLuo upon reaching the late stage of Refining Void to Integrate with Dao.