Chapter 139: Helping the Emperor Use Cheats

Of course, some necessary preparations were still in order. After all, the opponent was an emperor, and as for the horse's intelligence... even if one were to threaten it, it wouldn't dare disobey, or it would be slaughtered for its meat. However, it was entirely possible that it might throw a tantrum during the race.

"Young master, I am ready." For the emperor's safety, Shen Shi asked for Zhao Zhen's jade pendant, and it had been handed over to him.

Naturally, Zhao Zhen was also curious about what Shen Shi intended to do. Dismounting from his horse, he handed over the pendant and watched intently.

Shen Shi nodded. The jade pendant indeed carried imperial dragon Qi. With a wave of his hand, the air before him rippled like water, and a transparent piece of paper was drawn forth from the pendant—a Daoist technique: Qi-manifested Paper.

Shen Shi smoothed the paper flat with his left hand and formed a hand seal—Daoist technique: Fingers as Brush. The posture of his fingers resembled a writing brush fully saturated with black ink.

His arm moved gracefully, fluid and natural.

Transparent characters seemed to materialize beneath his brush, only to vanish almost instantly.

Shen Shi continued without pause, seemingly devoting his entire being to that floating, transparent sheet of paper, completely absorbed in his creation.

Chen Lin and the others were genuinely astonished. Especially Zhao Zhen, who had initially thought Shen Shi only wanted his personal jade pendant to extort some benefit. But now, it was clear this was truly a master of the Dao.

For the House of Zhao, Daoist arts were met with profound trust.

As an emperor, Zhao Zhen possessed immense self-confidence, but he also knew he rarely rode horses. Should he lose due to falling from the saddle, he would certainly be filled with resentment. Now, someone was casting a spell to ensure he would not fall off.

Well, this was acceptable. It was certainly more reliable than being tied to the horse's back. As a grand emperor, he would never allow himself to be bound to a horse's back in such a humiliating manner.

Daoist technique--Talismanic Arts.

Laozi's Dao emphasized that the Boundless gives birth to the Polarity, One begets Two, Two begets Three, and Three begets all things.

Was it due to his previous experience of drawing talismans in mid-air? Or perhaps sheer innate talent?

In any case, the cultivation technique revealed the second level of talismanic mastery: utilizing all creation as ink and brush, treating all things as paper.

This ought to be an extension of foundational talismanic skills.

Naturally, given Shen Shi's current abilities, he could not yet use all creation as brush, ink, and paper; he could only rely on Qi, which was why he had requested Zhao Zhen's personal jade pendant.

The Qi Shen Shi used to manifest the paper and ink was, in reality, Zhao Zhen's own imperial dragon Qi.

In truth, what Shen Shi favored even more was not talismanic arts, but the sword-flying technique practiced by Laozi before he achieved sainthood.

Regrettably, however, Shen Shi had yet to find refined gold—a metal capable of receiving true essence. Without refined gold, a flying sword could not be forged. And without a flying sword, attempting sword-flying with ordinary iron...

Given Shen Shi's current level of cultivation, it would only reach a distance of a hundred paces, and even then, it could only be used once.

Such a sword-flying technique was better left unused.

Of course, this was Shen Shi's perspective before he touched upon the laws of nature. Once he did, he realized his understanding had been flawed. The knowledge and techniques of talismanic arts were by no means inferior to sword-flying.

Because the core power of all Daoist arts came from the same source and the same entity—the Dao. The only difference between talismans and sword-flying lay in the manner of utilization and convenience, or simply put, the obviousness of their lethal force.

Laozi's talismanic arts functioned primarily to apply buffs, unlike flying swords which could launch independent attacks with exceptionally obvious utility.

Yet, even with such visibly useful sword-flying arts, didn't Laozi eventually abandon them? To use a cliché: there are no strongest Daoist techniques, only strongest practitioners.

Although Shen Shi could not yet achieve it, he had constantly strived in the direction of power manipulation.

The power of transforming all things into talismans lay on the spiritual and fundamental planes of the laws.

By touching and understanding the laws, one could invoke their unique powers through methods of one's own understanding, such as characters, the Eight Trigrams, or the Yin-Yang fish.

The extent to which one could invoke these powers depended entirely on individual cultivation.

For instance, the Eight Trigrams possessed eight systems of power, and even primeval ancient deities resided within them. Provided one had the capability, one could summon them just the same.

This was a formidable power indeed. Although it carried various harsh limitations and inconveniences, along with the flaw of lacking direct frontal combat utility, there was no doubt it was far from useless. Its application depended entirely on one's presence of mind, relying purely on personal knowledge and imagination.

Just like now, the spell Shen Shi was drawing was the Wind Curse—Wind Binding. Its purpose was to firmly anchor Zhao Zhen to the horse's back.

This required a certain amount of time, and gauging the appropriate force was crucial. If the binding force was too weak, it would fail to hold, and the rider would fall.

If the binding force was too strong...

Well, he was the emperor, so that hardly needed elaboration. Shen Shi's greater concern was whether he might accidentally strangle Zhao Zhen to death.

Crude application of force was simple, but exercising precision was not easy. Ever since touching the laws last time, this was Shen Shi's first attempt to use them to bind a person.

His experience was simply too scarce.

His finger pointed toward the jade pendant. The talisman moved in tandem with his finger.

As the talisman touched the jade pendant, a flash of light burst forth before everything returned to tranquility.

Those surrounding them had not even reacted before it was all over.

"Is that it?" Chen Lin asked in a low voice, not daring to speak too loudly for fear of disturbing Shen Shi.

Shen Shi stood in place, relaxing slightly as he quietly gazed ahead.

Wind Binding!

An echo seemed to reverberate within the air, and wind manifested out of thin air within the jade pendant. The wind swirled, generating a centripetal force.

This was Shen Shi's talismanic art. He did not conjure ropes from the jade pendant to tie the person down; instead, he utilized the principle of a tornado.

This also showed consideration for Zhao Zhen's status. If he had conjured ropes to bind him, it would have been no different from tying him up from the very start. After all, given Zhao Zhen's horsemanship, even if the heavenly steed did not throw a tantrum, the probability of him falling off was still as high as eighty percent.

The tornado rose in an instant. Shen Shi tested the binding force... It was acceptable, quite manageable.

He shifted his body slightly... Ah, there was no need to worry about him falling off.

The only issue was that the wind would ruffle his clothes, but that was a minor flaw compared to the overall benefit.

It was usable.

"It is done. Once the master puts it on, he will be able to sit securely upon the horse," Shen Shi said, returning the pendant.

"Really? Is it truly so miraculous?"

Chen Lin had intended to take it first and try it out, but Zhao Zhen snatched it away a step ahead of him.

Had his own jade pendant been transformed into a magical treasure?

"Your Majesty may put it to the test," Shen Shi said, making an inviting gesture.

True or false, a single trial would reveal all.

"Very well, someone assist me onto the horse." Zhao Zhen could no longer suppress his eagerness.

While the imperial guards and Chen Lin helped Zhao Zhen remount, not far away, Shen Yuejiao giggled merrily. "Brother Renxian, look at him. He can't even mount a horse properly, yet he dares to race you. Tee hee..."

She laughed again. In her view, this was an immensely comical affair. When someone needed assistance just to get on a horse, where on earth did they find the confidence to race?

Tang Renxian and his companions were standing somewhat farther away and had not seen what Shen Shi had done. Seeing Zhao Zhen's awkward posture as he mounted, he too broke into a smile.