Nightfall

This was a very powerful talisman. In an instant, the temperature inside the house had dropped drastically.

Xia Hou’s eyebrows were dyed with frost. The surface of the armor inside his coat had also begun to freeze. For such a strong leader at the Peak state of Martial Arts, it was difficult to cause him direct harm in spite of the strong cold talisman.

He frowned slightly, and the frost on his eyebrows broke. Then he took a step forward and the thin ice on his armor also broke and fell to the ground.

At the very least, Xia Hou, in that instant, needed to condense the Psyche Power of the Qi of Heaven and Earth in his body. He could no longer rely on his powerful body and fists as he had before.

The battle at the lakeside house had not yet come to an end. In the next moment, countless yellow Fu papers were sent out from the common corners of the house.

Thick yellow fu papers were fluttering and dancing. They were as dense as snowflakes falling from the roof opening, swirling around Xia Hou’s body.

As the fluctuating waves of Psyche Power came from somewhere unknown, the yellow Fu papers that fluttered like snowflakes were triggered one by one, turning them into imaginary ones or talismanic streaks of smoke.

Then, the very first symbol that had triggered the talismanic effects drove the unmarked Fu papers to flutter. The yellow paper streamed into the lakeside house, sprinkling like a waterfall, as if every unrestrained spurt was illuminating the night sky.

This picture was very beautiful and shocking. The Fu paper was so precious. Who had seen such a large number of Fu papers at the same time in the entire wartime history of cultivation?

Immediately afterward, more Fu papers were stimulated and countless talismanic paths were entangled together, tearing the Qi of Heaven and Earth around them and turning them into countless turbulence.

The turbulent primordial Qi was terrible and the faint talisman that was mixed in the turbulence of the cutting space seemed to have some special power.

Xia Hou stood in the midst of this talismanic ocean storm, standing in the swirling whirlpool of the Qi of Heaven and Earth. The emotions on his face were complicated, both somewhat sad and angry.

As he clearly remembered that this was the secret method of his most loyal subordinate, Guxi, he did not anticipate that Ning Que would use this skill in tonight’s battle.

The cold snowy wind, violent night wind, burning flames, suffocating wetness, and various completely different talismanic effects were kneaded into one place by an invisible hand. There was no reason but, nevertheless, it was that terrible.

Xia Hou defiantly clenched his fists, and the already ripped coat on his body shredded and flew away, exposing a new armor inside. It was followed by an extremely forceful Psyche Power that was willing to extract what he needed from the torrent of the Qi of Heaven and Earth and condense it into his body, forming an extremely sturdy invisible suit of armor.

The invisible armor of the Qi of Heaven and Earth, together with his visible metal armor, protected him from the talismanic ocean windstorms and turbulent primordial Qi.

Xia Hou took a step and walked between the yellow Fu papers that filled the sky. The violent talismanic power kept hitting his body, giving a squeaky muttering or a sharp cutting sound.

Under the talismanic attack, the armor on his body was sometimes covered with a thick layer of cold ice, and sometimes it was dazzling as if it had been burning for seven days and seven nights.

In order to resist this talismanic ocean, his Psyche Power was slowly and irreversibly consumed, but the expression on his face was still unchanged and his footsteps remained stable.

Xia Hou was very clear that Ning Que was the successor of Master Yan Se and was seen as the future Divine Talisman Master by the common people, so he was sure of what he would face in tonight’s battle.

But the number of Fu papers that Ning Que had prepared was far greater than what he had calculated beforehand. Even more unexpected was that he had used all of the Talisman Taoism tactics at the start of the battle. A Talisman Master needed to touch the Psyche Power and the distance that the Psyche Power could communicate was congenitally limited. At this time, the lakeside house was filled with fluttering Fu paper, which could only mean that Ning Que was inside the house.

Xia Hou thought that this sort of action by Ning Que was rather confident, very proud, arrogant, and idiotic. Any cultivator who engaged with a mighty leader at the Peak state of Martial Arts but did not try to pull away was an idiot.

Since Ning Que was on the lakeshore, he was not in a hurry to break away from these talismanic sea storms, and he allowed these storms to constantly consume his Psyche Power. He also wanted to find Ning Que and kill him in one fell swoop.

He continued to walk forward and did not see any movement. An ash-colored wall collapsed in front of him with a loud crash. He looked into the darkness of the night and at the faintly visible lake willows in the south and deridingly said, “It’s not a Divine Talisman, so how did you hurt me? Since you are eager to die, you will die.”

…

…

Yanming Lake was irregular, and the west coast of the lake was relatively narrow and far away. It was a shallow lake and some people had built a wooden bridge over it to admire the waterweeds.

When it was cold in winter, the wooden bridge was full of accumulated snow. The water under the bridge condensed into solid thick ice and the green, silk-like waterweeds were no longer visible. Only a few thickets of yellow and white reeds danced in the wind.

In such cold weather, the imperial court sealed off the Yanming Lake area. So, naturally, there were few tourists. However, several people divided by the two ends of the bridge gazed at the west of the lake with varying expressions.

Some of cyan taoist robes were loose and made whizzing sounds in the blizzard. Ye Hongyu looked at the rich display of light from the lakeside house in the distance and was affected by the talismanic storms there. His eyes revealed a slightly different color.

She had lived in the house for a long time, but it was only at that time she learned what devious tricks Ning Que had played in the house and how many horrible Fu papers he had hidden there.

Tao Addict was an extremely confident person, but she also had to admit at this time that if Ning Que used these talismanic sea storms to deal with her, she would inevitably be embarrassed to the utmost degree.

At the end of the wooden bridge, Chen Pipi held an oilpaper umbrella in one hand and Tang Xiaotang’s little hand in the other. He looked at the distant light shining from the west, and the countless yellow papers that kept dancing like waterfalls. He was shaken as he said, “Everyone knows that Youngest Brother is stingy, so nobody could have thought that he would show such extravagant largesse tonight.”

Tang Xiaotang’s hand was a little cold. She was worried about the current situation of her friend Sangsang and was shocked at the impact of those Fu papers on the lake shore. She murmured, “Formal talisman is such a terrifying thing.”

…

…

On the edge of the cliff of Yanming Lake’s north shore, Ning Que opened his eyes and looked at the silver-colored Fire Fu paper storm on the house across the lake, listening to the faint sounds of collapsing walls and flying tiles.

“I asked Seventh Sister to design the tactical array, adding a big black umbrella for Xia Hou to make an error in judgment and let him think that I am in the house. Xia Hou is actually very cautious, overanxious, and oversuspicious. On this basis, it is a lopsided self-confidence. Since he judges me to be there, he will definitely believe that I am there.”

He said sarcastically, “Perhaps he is still mocking me at this moment, telling me to come out and fight.”

Sangsang looked at the opposite shore and frowned, “But his strength is too formidable. The talisman ocean seems unable to deal with him.”

“I never expected this talismanic storm to directly defeat Xia Hou. After all, I am not a Divine Talisman Master. The Fu papers that I sprinkled on the flowerpots may only be like moths darting into a flame and turn into useless smoke, but there may be a talismanic break in his eyelashes.”

He went on to say, “A falling eyelash does not count as something, and even he himself may not have noticed that if he accumulates a greater amount, it can be deadly. Just like walking, as long as you go step by step, one day you will eventually arrive at where you wanted to go.”

“Xia Hou is an indestructible mountain peak, and my means are an insignificant ladle. But if I keep knocking it down and endure to keep knocking it down forever, this peak will allow me to beat it loose, beat the flexible surface, and powder the rocks. After it falls down, the hill will eventually shake.”

After finishing that sentence, Ning Que gave the big black umbrella in his hand to Sangsang.

Sangsang took the big black umbrella and looked at him, saying, “Yes, young master, you will certainly win.”

Across the lake, Ning Que’s Psyche Power was rapidly consumed by triggering hundreds of Fu papers at the same time. His face was pale, but his vision was still calm as he looked at the other side of the lake and slowly lifted his right arm.

His fingers trembled and it seemed as if the space between his fingers were using invisible lines to hang a heavy mountain peak.

He slowly moved his right arm and drew two horizontal and two vertical lines in the snowstorm in front of him. The invisible and, yet imposing, lines pointed to the house on the other side of Yanming Lake.

Inside the house.

The yellow papers dancing all over the sky vanished into nothingness. Dazzling rays of light gradually converged and the horrible violent talisman continued to tear away the Qi of Heaven and Earth— tranquil but containing dangerous.

Elsewhere in Chang’an City, on this relatively sparse snowy evening, four lines appeared faintly. And those lines were not colored. They should have been transparent and invisible as per natural law, but these lines could be seen by others.

The reason why the four lines could be seen was that the snowflakes fluttering in the night sky abruptly fled in all directions and some of the snowflakes that failed to escape silently vanished into nothingness.

The four lines in the night sky were vestiges of the snowflakes that fled.

The four lines were two horizontal and two vertical lines, and together, they formed the shape of the “井” (well) character.

The violent talismans in the night sky were all condensing into this shape.

…

…

The shape with two vertical and horizontal lines explained the cutting.

The Jing Fu was the most horrible state and the deeply wonderful talismanic meaning of Master Yan Se’s life before his death. Before he perished together with the Great Divine Priest of Light on an unknown hilltop, the well character that was sent out could even be cut open. The Haotian Divine Light obtained by the Great Divine Priest of Light in Tianqi could be cut off in space!

Ning Que inherited all of Master Yan Se’s possessions. Studying the Jing Fu was naturally his most painstaking intention.

Although at his state, he could not fully exploit the power of the Jing Fu, the Jing Fu that he wrote was already strong enough and it was the most powerful talisman that he could perform. It was unclear when he could actually start to use the infinitive talisman. This skill was already close to the level of the bookworm, Mo Shanshan, living in the Wilderness. In other words, this Jing Fu was his Half Divine Talisman!

…

…

The well character had descended from the night sky, covering the whole courtyard on the lakeside, as if concealing countless more fine wells within it. Nothing could escape from it.

The plum blossom was chopped, the well was cut off, and the wall was cut open. The well character was falling, and everything was cut open.

The Jing Fu, which was extremely swift and fierce, landed on Xia Hou’s body.

There were four distinctly clear traces on the surface of his body where the Qi of Heaven and Earth had condensed. They were slightly subsiding and the brand-new suit of armor had four rusty marks inside of it.

Xia Hou’s iron-like dark face suddenly turned white and then red, followed by snowy white. It was immediately followed by flushing, quickly resulting in a Psyche Power sickness!

The layer of Qi of Heaven and Earth that condensed on the surface of his body had been restlessly oscillating. It had finally slackened off cutting the well character, but it had become much thinner, like a thin piece of paper.

Immediately afterward, a quiet coughing sound came from him, and armor with four rusty lines smashed into countless metal pieces, like breaking copper or crappy iron underfoot.

Xia Hou gazed at the opposite shore of Yanming Lake and looked at the pitch-black night.

He then understood that, actually, he himself had been waiting to be inside of the well.

Ning Que had always been outside of the well.

…