Volume One: Kingdom of the Long Night Chapter Seventy-Two: I Have a Blade

Golden-shining talismans manifested on the second floor of the Chunyi Pavilion. Raging, turbulent Qi shattered the surrounding tables and chairs into dust. Shirakawa Aya was suppressed upon the high platform; no matter how fiercely her demonic aura surged, the moment it came into contact with the golden light, it instantly disintegrated and rebounded upon Shirakawa Aya herself, plunging her into agonizing torment.

Master Fan, gripping a divine talisman, was wreathed in golden light from head to toe, looking down upon Shirakawa Aya much like a deity.

Yet, in truth, his expression was grave indeed.

Because Shirakawa Aya possessed immensely deep cultivation, it had required three divine talismans just to suppress her. At present, only two divine talismans remained within his sleeves.

Drawing a brush from his bosom, Master Fan once again channeled the divine talisman, intending to seal Shirakawa Aya away within the brush.

"Blackened coal! Let go of that young lady at once!"

Emboldened by having someone to back him up, Zhao Si puffed out his chest and threw back his head, striding forward with long, confident strides. He even attempted to mimic his past exploits, making a grand gesture to snatch the divine talisman from Master Fan's hand, only to be kicked flying by the latter.

Watching Zhao Si curl up in a corner, shedding silent tears, Jiang Wang could not help it and let out a sudden burst of laughter.

"You man surnamed Fan! You are utterly incorrigible, actually pointing at someone in broad daylight and calling them a demon!" Master Tao was extremely indignant, immediately launching into a verbal onslaught with spittle flying in all directions.

Master Fan raised an eyebrow and said, "Are you blind? That is clearly a demon."

Master Tao looked toward Shirakawa Aya. Suppressed by the divine talisman, her demonic aura had completely dissipated; she lay there all weak and delicate, presenting a picture of pear blossoms drenched in rain.

At this sight, the corner of Master Fan's mouth twitched, and he said, "I can't be bothered to explain things to you."

Talismans could also affect ordinary people. Master Tao firmly believed that this man surnamed Fan was utterly devoid of human feeling and practiced his arts using such dark methods. Since Master Fan had business dealings with the proprietor of the Chunyi Pavilion, if there really were a demon here, how could he possibly not have known?

Master Tao wasted no words and immediately produced a Wall-Breaking Divine Talisman, instantly initiating a talisman duel between the two masters.

The divine talismans used to suppress Shirakawa Aya were quickly exhausted.

Master Fan was deeply shocked, for Master Tao's divine talisman still contained an overwhelmingly massive amount of Qi.

Talismans were naturally consumable items, and such a scenario completely shattered his understanding.

Jiang Wang, however, fell into deep thought.

Having witnessed the scene of Xiao Shinian arranging a talisman array, he knew the divine talisman in Master Tao's possession must have come from Xiao Shinian; it was evidently far more powerful than ordinary talismans.

The aura of the colliding divine talismans possessed power comparable to that of a cultivator at the peak of the Cave-Nether Realm.

As he had learned from the Night Wandering Deity, because the Ghouls and Goblins were initially nothing more than the lingering souls of great demons, even when Meili reshaped her physical body, her demonic soul remained incomplete. Talismans were their nemesis.

No matter how powerful they grew, they would always be suppressed by talismans. The degree of restraint simply depended on the grade and quantity of the talismans required.

However, for a talisman like the one in Master Tao's possession, a single sheet was enough.

If the Grand Masters of the Sui State were all capable of drawing such talismans, they would inevitably secure a tremendously prominent position in the mortal world.

Yet currently, aside from Grand Master Zhang, all the other masters were barely presentable, even falling to the point of setting up stalls for fortune-telling and engaging in swindling and deception.

Crafting divine talismans was exceedingly difficult. Even for the simplest divine talismans, the masters in the Sui State capable of drawing them could be counted on one hand, and moreover, they could not suppress every single kind of demon. Consequently, the status a master could attain was limited.

After all, not every master was surnamed Zhang.

This time, Master Fan did not hesitate. He produced another divine talisman, accompanied by dozens of minor talismans. With the divine talisman taking the lead, it surged into the clouds like a golden dragon, baring its claws and brandishing its fangs within the second floor of the Chunyi Pavilion.

If he failed to defeat Master Tao, his Dao-heart regarding talismans would inevitably suffer a severe blow, and he would find it hard ever again in this lifetime to match his rival.

This was something Master Fan absolutely could not allow.

Though he did not truly possess any profound Dao-heart of talismans, he possessed a formidable sense of pride.

The Wall-Breaking Divine Talisman given to Master Tao by Xiao Shinian was not of flawless grade and still possessed hidden flaws.

Moreover, Master Tao had wasted some of the Wall-Breaking Divine Talisman's power while studying the *Compendium of Array-Talismans*, and had used it once again when he slapped Master Fan's face in West City Alley.

Therefore, under Master Fan's fierce assault, the array patterns on the Wall-Breaking Divine Talisman gradually grew faint and were nearing exhaustion.

The auras of the talismans collided, condensing an immense force at a single point.

Seizing the opportune moment, Jiang Wang stepped directly into the middle, causing both forces to land squarely upon his own body.

Master Fan harbored the intent to kill Master Tao, which Jiang Wang conveniently utilized.

According to the Night Wandering Deity's observations, during the process of the two masters pitting talisman against talisman, the Divine Kingdom exhibited a slight reaction. This made Jiang Wang realize that the target's murderous intent did not have to be directed solely at him; as long as he placed himself within the sphere enveloped by that murderous intent, it would suffice.

To compel the power of the Divine Kingdom to emerge, one had to plunge into mortal peril.

Clearly, the higher the degree to which the Divine Kingdom was nourished, the less rigid these conditions became.

Of course, Jiang Wang was taking a gamble to some extent.

Fortunately, with the Night Wandering Deity as his backing, the power of the talismans was still insufficient to cost him his life.

He could afford to act with complete recklessness.

Jiang Wang's action startled Master Tao, causing him to instinctively want to recall the Wall-Breaking Divine Talisman.

Master Fan, however, did otherwise. He was waiting precisely to capture Shirakawa Aya, use her soul to draw talismans, draw forth a massive amount of Qi to overcome his current plight, and flatten any person or object that dared to block his path.

He threw all his minor talismans into the mix in one go, attempting a double kill.

Two divine talismans and a hundred minor talismans were truly capable of severely injuring or even killing a cultivator at the peak of the Cave-Nether Realm.

Of course, that was on the condition that the peak Cave-Nether Realm cultivator simply stood still and took the blow head-on without knowing how to fly away.

At this moment, Jiang Wang was taking it head-on.

It hurt terribly!

The burning sensation on his skin was excruciatingly intense.

Though Jiang Wang's body was frail, his perseverance was astonishing.

Within the Divine Kingdom, things were boiling over.

Fierce winds howled.

Stream waters rushed turbulently.

The entire mountain trembled.

This was the precursor to the impending eruption of power.

Jiang Wang's handsome face had already been mangled.

Yet, the instant the aura of the Divine Kingdom manifested, the injuries he had suffered were instantly neutralized, and his appearance was restored to its original pristine state.

He raised the saber in his hand high.

The golden dragon transformed from the divine talisman was directly decapitated.

Master Fan's face turned ashen white, then rapidly shifted to a deep liver-red. With a sudden gasp, he spewed a large mouthful of fresh blood, and his entire body was instantly blasted backward by the powerful force.

Because Jiang Wang had intentionally exercised control, Master Tao on the other side, though also sent stumbling backward repeatedly, was not heavily impacted; he merely tumbled directly onto Zhao Si, who was curled up in the corner.

Zhao Si: Damn it!

Jiang Wang tilted his head back slightly, wearing a refreshed and invigorated expression.

He turned his gaze toward Master Fan, tilting his head sideways, grinning broadly as the bones throughout his body popped and cracked. "I have a saber capable of subduing demons and vanquishing devils."

The blood Qi on Master Fan's body was exceptionally vibrant.

Once the power of the Divine Kingdom manifested, Jiang Wang could see it clearly.

This proved that Master Fan's hands were stained with countless human lives.

Jiang Wang turned around, swinging his arms as he strode forward.

"Who on earth are you?!"

Master Fan's back was pressed against the wall, fresh blood staining his chin and neck, his face filled with terror.

"Jiang Wang of the Xunyang Marquis Manor."

Master Fan's pupils constricted violently. He once again recalled the humiliating scene from the past when he had been treated with cold indifference by the Xunyang Marquis and beaten away with cudgels.

"You man surnamed Tao, you actually consort with people from the Marquis Manor! Have you forgotten the humiliation the Xunyang Marquis inflicted upon us back then?"

Master Tao said righteously, "Do not lump yourself together with me. Back then, Lord Xunyang indeed looked down upon me, but he never subjected me to humiliation. It was you who were utterly shameless, pestering the Marquis, and bringing those lessons upon yourself deservedly."

Jiang Wang was slightly bewildered, not expecting that the Master Fan before him also shared a past connection with his old man.

And it was clearly tinged with deep resentment.

Yet Master Fan was hardly qualified to be regarded as an enemy by his father; he was merely an insignificant, dispensable nobody.

Jiang Wang looked toward Shirakawa Aya, whose face was pale and aura weak, as if her foundation had been damaged by Master Fan. He said in a deep voice, "Master Tao, please find a way to preserve Miss Shirakawa's life."

For the sake of Zhao Si's romance, he naturally had to keep Shirakawa Aya alive if at all possible.

He certainly had no intention of witnessing the thrilling spectacle of a human marrying a demon.

"Master Fan, is it?" Jiang Wang held his saber and smiled. "Use whatever abilities you have left. I'll give you a chance to retaliate, and I guarantee I won't fight back."

Master Fan's eyes lit up, thinking that this fellow must be an idiot, but then he suddenly wondered: could there be some kind of conspiracy?

Some arrogant individuals truly did perform utterly foolish actions. Yet Master Fan considered himself intelligent and extremely cautious; the scene from just moments ago was still vivid in his mind.

The opponent was a cultivator capable of shattering a divine talisman with a single saber strike, which proved he was at least a powerful expert of the peak Cave-Nether Realm.

Because the aura of the divine talisman had already been largely depleted and was not at its peak, Master Fan, having traveled through various realms and even visited the Divine Capital, knew all too well how rare great cultivators of the Bathing Snow Realm were in the outside world.

Still, it was better to believe it existed than to doubt it entirely.

Wandering the pugilistic world, caution came first.

If Jiang Wang was thoroughly confident he could block any offensive maneuver, then his own counterattack would merely be inviting humiliation.

Therefore, Master Fan wore a troubled expression.

He clenched the final divine talisman hidden within his sleeve.

It seemed he truly had no way out left.

Either wait for death, or make a desperate, all-or-nothing gamble.

He had no other choice.

Presumably, using this divine talisman to severely injure a peak Cave-Nether Realm cultivator should be more than sufficient.

Even if Jiang Wang truly were a great cultivator of the Bathing Snow Realm, he would surely have to block it for a moment—even if it were merely for a few breaths of time, that would still give him a chance to escape.

Because of his caution, no matter what happened, he had to preserve his trump cards.

The God-Traveling Talisman was merely an ordinary talisman, simple to craft, but it was the absolute best choice for preserving one's life.

Without hesitation, he crushed the divine talisman inside his sleeve while simultaneously reaching around his waist to grip the God-Traveling Talisman concealed there.

An extremely formidable aura surged forth from Master Fan's sleeve.

Jiang Wang, however, revealed a look of delight, thinking that this fellow indeed still possessed a hidden card.

He swung his saber at the very first instant.

Master Fan instantly felt as uncomfortable as if he had swallowed a dead fly.

What happened to giving me a chance to retaliate and guaranteeing you wouldn't fight back?

You utter liar!

Fortunately, he had another trump card.

Jiang Wang had no inclination toward being a masochist. His initial purpose had been to draw out the power of the Divine Kingdom, and then to bleed Master Fan dry; taking a beating wouldn't actually make him stronger.

He directly unleashed the full power of the Divine Kingdom to its absolute limit of consumption. The aura of the divine talisman was devoured as easily as rotting wood being smashed.

In extreme panic, Master Fan crushed the God-Traveling Talisman.

His figure instantly vanished from the spot.

Immediately afterward, the wall of the second floor of the Chunyi Pavilion was blasted open by a single saber strike from Jiang Wang. A scorching torrent of air swept across half of Hun City. Had the Chunyi Pavilion not been surrounded by low-lying houses, allowing the scorching torrent to streak across the upper air, this single strike would have leveled half of Hun City to the ground.

Even so, witnessing this spectacle scared Master Tao out of his wits.

The young marquis was simply not human!

...

Witnessing Master Fan's disappearance, Jiang Wang raised an eyebrow slightly. Utilizing the eyes of the Wandering Night Deity to lock onto the coordinate, he leaped out from the second floor of the Chunyi Pavilion. His figure paused momentarily before shooting forth like a shooting star, accompanied by a sonic boom that abruptly tore through the night sky.

In Qixia Street.

Master Fan suddenly materialized.

He was panting slightly.

Although the God-Traveling Talisman was simple to craft, the distance it spanned was also limited.

It was just that he frequently utilized God-Traveling Talismans to escape with his life, and his consumption had been too great; he hadn't yet had time to craft more. Otherwise, with multiple God-Traveling Talismans stacking their effects, he could have fled straight out of Hun City or even run a hundred miles away.

Just as he had taken two breaths, Master Fan raised his eyes, and his entire body stiffened.

What on earth was going on?!

Jiang Wang smiled and waved in greeting, "We meet again."