Nightfall

The winter lake in the snowing night should have been peaceful and dark. However, there were heavy winds tonight, coupled with the occasional terrifying explosion and flash of flames.

The iron lotus flowers in the frozen lotus land bloomed. The thick layer of snow on the lake surface was tossed into the dark night sky by invisible forces. The thick ice layer collapsed and split open. Lake water that was as dark as ink spurted out of the hole, forming waves that smashed up into the air like snow before receding into the actual snow.

Among the withered remnants of lotus flowers, Xia Hou was tossed up into the air again by the air streams. His sturdy body looked as if it was about to be tossed to the clouds together with the sharp iron shards.

On the cliff at the southern shore of Yanming Lake, Sangsang held the big black umbrella tightly with one hand and clutched Ning Que’s shirt tightly in another. She lowered her head and closed her eyes, unable to bring herself to watch the chaos happening on the lake. However, she seemed to be able to locate the positions of every object on the lake. She then reported two numbers softly.

Ning Que did not hesitate and set up his arrow on the bow after hearing the two numbers. He shot the arrow to the horizons into the night sky. It was completely dark and he could not see anything, but he knew that Xia Hou was there.

The snow was storming down now and it was completely dark. One could not see the arrow’s trajectory, but could only hear the sharp whistling of the Primordial Thirteen Arrow. However, it was already too late when one could hear the arrow.

The clouds in the night sky above the Yanming Lake suddenly shuddered. The Qi of Heaven and Earth was thrown into chaos. The clouds scattered into all directions as if a sudden roar of thunder had exploded from between them.

The clouds scattered. Blood sprayed.

Xia Hou fell from above. He could not keep his balance this time and fell on the ice heavily. Several cracks appeared on the surface of the ice.

A cold dark iron arrow had pierced into his left arm deeply.

Xia Hou’s eyes burned with anger and pain like an injured beast. He held the tail of the iron arrow and wrenched it from his arm before resuming his run towards the southern shore.

He only managed to step forward thrice.

A powerful explosion happened once again from the deep muddy lotus land.

The layer of ice beneath his feet split open, and he almost fell into the dark cold lake. Following the explosion came the whirl of flames and the terrifying sharp iron shards.

As the water in the lake rolled and lapped through the ice surface and at his military boots, Xia Hou reacted promptly with the strength of a powerhouse at the Peak state of Martial Arts.

He stepped down heavily with his military boots and leaped into the air. Then, he raised his fists up before him at a lightning speed.

Xia Hou hummed, and flew backwards by about ten feet, landing outside of the lotus land.

His arms and many parts of his body that could not be shielded by his arms were torn by the iron shards. Blood seeped from the wound, looking like the grass on the Wilderness in autumn.

Xia Hou might be a powerhouse at the Peak state of Martial Arts, but the continuous explosions and Ning Que’s numerous Primordial Thirteen Arrows had tired him out both mentally and physically.

The Qi of Heaven and Earth that had been gathered on his body’s surface had collapsed and could no longer protect his body. Numerous cuts appeared on his skin which was as hard as rock due to the influence of the Devil’s Doctrine’s arts. While he did not have any fatal injuries, he covered in blood looked extremely pathetic.

Then, another of the Primordial Thirteen Arrows pierced through the blazing lotus and snow. It appeared before Xia Hou silently, not giving him any opportunity to catch his breath.

Xia Hou placed his palms together, capturing the iron arrow between them. He skidded back another ten feet, snow flying up from beneath his feet. His face was pale, and more blood streamed from the corners of his lips.

Ning Que stood beneath the cliff at the southern banks of Yanming Lake and watched everything happening on the lake silently. When Xia Hou was once again forced backwards by an explosion, he took the opportunity to confirm Xia Hou’s position. He flicked his bowstring gently when he heard Sangsang report Xia Hou’s position.

Archery was the strongest skill of woodcutters of Shubi lake. However, ordinary bows and arrows were practically meaningless to martial cultivators. However, with a weapon like the Primordial Thirteen Arrows, Ning Que became a nightmare to every cultivator.

Ning Que’s shooting action was not fast but pulsed with an amazing rhythm. When Sangsang reported Xia Hou’s position, the iron arrow left the bowstring rhythmically, like the flowing of water without any disruptions.

With the help of Sangsang paired with Ning Que’s amazing archery skills, Xia Hou could not avoid the powerful iron arrows which came without warning no matter how powerful he was.

He could only resist, struggle bitterly and continue to bleed. It was a game of waiting. Would he bleed out before reaching Ning Que or would Ning Que use up all 13 of those iron arrows first?

The speed of the Primordial Thirteen Arrows was startling. It was faster than the speed of sound. The whistling of the arrows could only be heard after it had hit its target.

The reeds by the wooden bridge on the west of Yanming Lake began to shake suddenly. Ye Hongyu’s blue taoist robes fluttered in the wind. Then, she heard the whistle of the arrows.

“The Primordial Thirteen Arrows?”

Ye Hongyu said with a stern expression.

She had seen the Primordial Thirteen Arrows at the snow cliff in the Wilderness and by the Daming Lake. She knew how powerful this culmination of wits on the Second floor of the Academy was.

However, she had only discovered in the wild winds, shaking reeds, whistling arrows and the fluttering of her blue taoist robes that Ning Que’s Primordial Thirteen Arrows had become even more terrifying compared to a year ago.

Following that, the sound of explosions at the lotus land in Yanming Lake could be heard on the bridge.

She frowned and said, “What is this?”

There were several explosions, one after another and the sky lightened with flashes of flames. The sharp iron shards in the air and the terrifying arrow aura in the air caused her face to increasingly pale.

She looked towards the east of the lake and suddenly said something baffling, “I’m dead.”

Chen Pipi and Tang Xiaotang were standing at the end of the bridge.

They watched the battle above the lake and worried for Ning Que and Sangsang silently.

Ye Hongyu did not know what had caused the explosion. Chen Pipi had seen the iron kettle experiment, but he did not explain.

Chen Pipi looked at the direction of the loud whistling from the arrows and the flames just as Ye Hongyu said those three words. He said, with complicated expression, “So am I.”

They were standing on the bridge and were of course, not dead.

But they both said the same thing when they heard the explosions and sharp whistling from the arrows on Yanming Lake.

“I’m dead.”

Ye Hongyu was the Tao Addict from the West-Hill Divine Palace. Chen Pipi was the youngest Grand Cultivator in the world who had entered the Knowing Destiny State. They were both powerful geniouses from the Haotian Taoism Sect.

They had said that they were dead while watching the battle. It was because that they knew that they would have died at that moment from Ning Que’s careful planning over the past 15 years, and his battle preparations from summer to winter.

On the city walls in the snow.

Ye Su said, “I have never once thought that a cultivator from Seethrough realm could cause such big waves. It seems that I have underestimated Ning Que. But what is it with the explosion in the lotus land?”

Eldest Brother did not say anything.

As the Eldest Brother in the Academy, he knew what had caused the explosion. But like Chen Pipi, he would not reveal his Youngest Brother’s trump card to others.

Ye Su looked at the direction of Yanming Lake and kept silent for a long while. Then, he shook his head and said, “Ning Que’s methods is bound to kill other cultivators, but those talismans, arrows and weird explosions still aren’t enough to kill Xia Hou.”

The snow over Yanming Lake had gradually tapered off while it continued snowing at the palace.

The main hall was brightly lit. It was completely silent.

Everyone knew what was happening in Chang’an City. That was why everyone in the hall all had weird expressions. The bodyguards held the hilt of their cold swords as they stood guard vigilantly outside the hall. The eunuchs and palace maids lowered their heads as they walked slowly, ensuring that they would not make a sound when their soles touched the ground.

The Tang Emperor was not wearing his regular clothing, but had donned bright yellow dragon robes instead. He leaned against the soft couch and held a book. However, no one could know if he had read something.

The Empress sat on a seat beside the couch. Her gentle and elegant face was devoid of any expression, but one could vaguely see the worry and anger in her eyes.

The Nation Master of the Tang Empire Li Qingshan and the younger brother of the Emperor, Master Huang Yang sat across the couch. Powerhouses have crowded into Chang’an today, that was why the two most powerful and trustworthy sublime in the imperial court had to be in the palace.

The Emperor slowly set down the book in his hands. He looked towards the fluttering snowflakes outside the hall and towards the south in the direction of Yanming Lake. He frowned slightly, thinking about something.

Even though Xia Hou was the Empress’ brother, the Emperor hoped that Ning Que would emerge victorious from the battle, because the Emperor had always considered himself as a student of the Headmaster and Ning Que as his Younger Brother.

“What a magnificent aura.” Li Qingshan felt the fluctuation in the Qi of Heaven and Earth at Yanming Lake and said, “Ning Que’s Talisman Arrows are indeed scary.”

The empress lifted her head and said to the emperor in a tremoring voice, “How is this fair when this is the Talisman arrows were produced by the collective intelligence of the back of the mountain of the Academy and efforts of the Tang empire?”

The Emperor did not speak. He did not wish to upset his wife any further.

Master Huang Yang who had remained silent all the time suddenly said calmly, “It is fair. It is just because Ning Que had prepared for this for a long time, 15 years in total.”

With that, he and Li Qing Shan left their seats and walked out of the hall, leaving the awkward silence in the hall to the Emperor and Empress.

There was a pavilion behind the hall to the side. An ancient bell hung in it.

There was a thick layer of snow on the roof of the pavilion and a light dusting of snow on the bell.

Li Qingshan and Huang Yang walked to the pavilion and stood beside the bell.

Li Qingshan looked to the south and said with a deep frown, “It’s not enough.”

Monk Huang Yang said, “I didn’t expect you to be rooting for Ning Que too.”

Li Qingshan said, “It is hard to control human emotions. Even though Xia Hou is an elder in our sect, Ning Que is the only successor of Senior Brother.”

Then, he said with slight sorrow, “He had prepared it for 15 years, but it still won’t work.”

Monk Huang Yang brushed the snow off the bell and said, “When Ning Que entered Talisman Taoism, he once came to the Wanyan Tower to consult me. I hope that he will succeed too. But even so, things do not go the way as we want. If a longer preparation time guarantees victory, then what is the point of cultivation?”

The snowstorm ended abruptly and the rolling heat waves generated by the explosion gradually calmed. The night breeze grew gentle and Yanming Lake fell silent. A gap appeared in the clouds above the lake and a few stars appeared, watching the ground curiously trying to find out what was happening.

Most of the night sky was covered by thick black clouds and the stars that appeared disappeared almost immediately. However, they shone on the ground and one could see that the lake surface had been ravaged and the frozen lotus flowers had been crushed into dust. One would shudder when they saw several black holes that had appeared in the lotus land.

A large man knelt on the ice before the black holes. His shirt was torn into pieces and his body was embedded with hundreds of metal shards. Blood flowed from his body and onto the snow amassed on the lake surface. The snow around his knees was stained with red.

The snow on the lake was red, but looked black.

The place where the large man knelt was just a few hundred feet away from the southern bank of Yanming Lake.

Ning Que stood on the cliff watching the lake.

He had donned the Academy uniform for the battle and for shooting arrows with sleeves and trousers tied by Sangsang with a cloth rope. His entire body, especially his right arm, trembled vigorously and his black uniform flapped loudly in the wind.

He had expended a huge amount of strength and Psyche Power to use the Primordial Thirteen Arrows. Ning Que could only shoot a few arrows in the beginning. Now since he had successfully cultivated in the Great Spirit, he could shoot all 13 of the arrows in the box. However, it was still very difficult for him. Furthermore, there were hundreds of Talismans in the houses by the lake and countless of iron kettles buried in the lake. He had activated all his tricks, so the Psyche Power in his sense of perception was close to being used up completely.

His eyes were exceptionally bright and his face exceptionally pale and haggard. His right arm was tired to the extreme and his right shoulders were hurt terribly as if it was about to split apart. He was so weak he could fall anytime.

But he did not fall.

He had to wait for Xia Hou to fall first.

Xia Hou knelt on the lake surface with a single knee. He had not managed to block Ning Que’s final Primordial Thirteen Arrow. The cold dark iron arrow pierced through his calf.

If the iron arrow had struck an ordinary cultivator, his leg would have been broken.

But Xia Hou was not an ordinary cultivator. His leg did not break and the iron arrow did not pierce through his leg completely. However, it still caused him significant damage and pain.

Xia Hou used his right hand to hold the arrow sticking out of his calf. He wanted to pull the arrow out. However, his hands were trembling too much and he did not succeed.

He added his left hand without any expression.

With his two strong hands pulling, he broke the tough iron arrow apart!

This would definitely cause much pain.

Xia Hou’s brows twitched up forcefully. A shrill whistle emerged from his lips, which looked as if they had been caked in rogue.

The shrill and terrifying sound reverberated around the quiet lake, causing the snowflakes to fly about madly. Even the willow trees by the shore of the lake began to fly.

Xia Hou straightened his knee and stood up.

His body was soaked in blood, making him look rather pitiful. However, as he stood on the lake, he looked strong and impenetrable like a mountain.

He looked like the blood flag hanging outside the estate door by the north bank of Yanming Lake.

That blood flag danced in the wind, but it seemed to never fall down.

Xia Hou looked toward the cliff in the south.

There was not any emotion on his pale face, but the pain was evident in his tremoring voice. Even so, an aura of strength and power emanated from him.

“Ning Que, is that all?”