Nightfall

The Qi of Heaven and Earth in Chang’an City was so powerful that it was impossible to calculate the quantity. The Qi flowed through the array eye pestle and into Ning Que’s left hand, pouring into his body incessantly.

The Qi of Heaven and Earth was not tangible and was clearer than the clearest water, lighter than the lightest air. But the quantity entering his body was way too much, bringing with it unbearable effects.

Had it been an ordinary person, or even a cultivator at the peak of the Knowing Destiny State, death would be certain when accepting so much Qi of Heaven and Earth into one’s body in such a short period of time.

But Ning Que cultivated in the Great Spirit and his body was as hard as steel. There was no other person stronger than him other than the Abbey Dean who cultivated in Taoism, Buddhism and Diabolism, and Third Sister Yu Lian, who was the Grandmaster of the Devil’s Doctrine.

His body was like a container of stainless steel casting, akin to the steel used to create the Primordial Thirteen Arrows. It bore the constant influx of Heaven and Earth’s Qi, then compressed the primordial Qi to an unimaginable degree.

Right now, hewas like a seashell in the depths of the sea. His body and soul were under terrifying pressure, but he did not know when he would be able to emerge as a precious pearl.

This was a very painful process, but his face remained expressionless, other than the fluttering of his eyelashes. The snow on his clothes melted as he kept his eyes on the Abbey Dean.

His wounds tore open once more and started bleeding. The blood was shiny, like red jade and was scattered by the wind, turning into the smallest particles.

These particles left the surface of his clothing and hung in the air around him. It looked like a flame, while also like mist. Ning Que seemed like he was burning up and freezing at the same time.

He continued to pull up his blade.

The sharp blade lifted slowly from the cracks in the green stone of the Vermilion Bird Avenue, bringing up black mud with it. While it looked as if it was about to leave the snowy ground, many things happened in Chang’an.

In the early morning, it snowed in Chang’an City. The Abbey Dean waved his arms and broke through the Stone Array Tactics, then entered the city. He defeated Eldest Brother and Third Sister of the Academy; right after, many talismans appeared before his eyes, telling him that his path was blocked.

From that moment on, until Ning Que saw the Abbey Dean in front of the Vermilion Bird Avenue in the snow, he went to many places in Chang’an. He thought of many things in the past that were related to Sangsang and wiped away the many traces Haotian had left on the God-stunning Array.

Even though he had not managed to repair the God-stunning Array completely, he had left behind enough Divine Talismans. Those talismans were made of two sword strokes and looked like the word “Yi”.

These talismans had embarrassed the Abbey Dean a little and had stopped him from entering the Imperial Palace to destroy the eye of the God-stunning Array. It had forced the Abbey Dean to enter the storm and snow on the Vermilion Bird Avenue, having to first kill Ning Que.

Ning Que had been seriously wounded by the seven Natural Stream Magical Fingers. He did not continue writing the Talisman of “Yi” because it was pointless. But the hundreds of “Yi” Talismans he had written did not dissipate. Instead, they floated on the streets of Chang’an, powered by the God-stunning Array and gradually disappearing into the storm and snow.

The hundreds “Yi” of Talismans appeared once more when he pulled up his blade.

They were on the streets and alleys.

On the well and before the Yamen.

Behind the walls, and in gardens.

Under the willow and by the plum blossom.

Hundreds of “Yi” Talismans appeared once more in Chang’an!

Incredibly, the Divine Talismans were still changing.

To be more precise, the “Yi” Talismans were being distorted.

The “Yi” Talismans consisted of two blade marks which were the strokes.

One to the left and one to the right.

As Ning Que pulled up his blade, the stroke to the left slowly rose as if to float away from the right.

The stroke was like an arrow being pulled back by an invisible bowstring. It moved further and further away from the bow, accumulating more power.

It was also like a blade that was lifting off the ground, about to unleash its sharpness.

Drawing a blade was a very simple action that Ning Que had repeated countless times. He was well-practiced in it and it was thus completed quickly.

The change in the streets and alleys of Chang’an happened quickly as well.

It was an abrupt change. The person to sense the change in Ning Que and Chang’an was not the Abbey Dean, Eldest Brother, nor the people on the snowy streets. It was the sky above them.

The water at the bottom of the well was already frozen. Two blade marks suddenly appeared on it, as well as over the snow-covered clock and on Yanming Lake.

The well water began to swirl again, the bells began to swing, and the willow branches on the shore of Yanming Lake began to sway in the cold wind. The thick snow on the pine trees in the Tantuo Temple fell, and a fat squirrel sat on his winter food, rubbing its paws, not understanding why he had felt frozen earlier.

The Quietus aura that had enveloped lakes, mountains and temples disappeared completely with the reappearance and change of hundreds of “Yi” Talismans. Even the falling snow stopped suddenly, and Chang’an, which had been frozen, came back to life.

The aura that had appeared out of nowhere continued to spread in all directions as Ning Que moved. It rushed up into the sky and dissipated the heavy snow clouds, causing the blue sky to appear once more.

After the Headmaster’s death, the Abbey Dean was now the strongest person on Earth.

The sky was the first to notice this change, and he was the second.

He could feel the danger.

His eyes were suddenly dulled, turning fainter than the color grey, looking almost transparent and crystal-like. Countless rays of light and shadows pulsed in them at high speed, as if there were many things happening on them at the moment.

He saw some images that he found hard to believe.

In Chang’an, the Abbey Dean could not see the future, just as he never saw what the Academy would become afterward. However, he had once seen images that he firmly believed in.

But those images had changed.

When Ning Que pulled out the blade.

The snow and wind stopped.

The Vermilion Bird Avenue was very quiet.

The Abbey Dean looked at Ning Que. His eyes had returned to normal, but there was still a trace of surprise within them.

He believed in Taoism and was ambivalent towards killing.

Today, the Abbey Dean had killed many. He had his own reasons and needs for doing so.

He had wanted to kill Ning Que earlier because he needed to.

But at this time, he wanted to kill Ning Que because of an inexplicable vigilance.

This unsettling feeling was strong and even made his Taoist Heart waver.

He wanted to kill Ning Que and this desire was about to become an instinct.

But he could sense that there was something hidden in the air between Ning Que and himself.

He could not enter the Limitless State, and was thus unable to kill Ning Que in the shortest time possible.

Being so, he at least could not let Ning Que raise his blade.

The Abbey Dean looked at Ning Que and said, “Those who believe…”

Ning Que did not know why he would speak at a time like this.

The Academy’s disciples in front of the Verdant Canyon heard his words and all thought of how the Great Divine Priest of Revelation had recited the West-Hill Scripture. It was the Haotian Taoism Skill that the Xuankong Temple’s Chief Preaching Monk used.

Ning Que did not die.

Because the Abbey Dean only managed to say those words.

Because Eldest Brother said at the same time, “Confucius did not speak.”

With that, his face suddenly paled and more blood appeared on his cotton jacket.

With that, Ning Que finally managed to withdraw his blade.

The blade left the snowy ground completely.

The Abbey Dean took a step back when he saw the blade in Ning Que’s hands.

Taking a step back meant he was leaving.

For a thousand years, he was the only person who had managed to barge into Chang’an.

He seemed to be about to destroy the God-stunning Array, the Tang Empire and the Academy, and with this he would accomplish a world-class feat.

As long as he could kill Ning Que, he would be able to accomplish all that.

To the Abbey Dean, this was something very simple and something that allured him greatly.

But he had to leave.

Without any hesitation, without any longing.

Only someone whose Taoist Heart was completely clear and free of filth could do that.

The street was devoid of wind and snow.

The Abbey Dean could not move forward, so he had to move backwards. His right foot lifted off the ground and the storm and snow appeared.

An invisible door appeared in the storm and snow.

Only those in the Limitless State could see it.

As soon as the Abbey Dean’s right foot stepped through the door, his black clothes turned transparent.

He was about to step into the void.

The Qi of Heaven and Earth in Chang’an might have been messed up by Ning Que, but it could not stop him from leaving.

Ning Que would not allow him to leave.

Because he had already pulled out his blade.

The blade left the snow and made a very slight sound, like an oily brush smearing on a hot piece of meat over the bonfire, orlike a brush loaded with ink sliding over a white piece of paper.

In the streets of Chang’an, under the willow and by the plum tree, hundreds of sounds rang out at the same time.

It was like the sound of the zither, likethe sound of a bowstring vibrating, like the sound of a blade being drawn from a sheath.

That was the sound of strokes rubbing together.

It was the sound made by hundreds of “Yi” Talismans.

Following that, came the sound of more blades leaving sheaths.

It was a true sound.

There were dozens of knives used to butcher pigs hanging on the wall of a pork stall in the Eastern City. They had been laying in their leather sheaths for an entire day and night. Suddenly, these butcher knives broke out of their sheaths.

Not far from the Vermilion Bird Avenue, was a knife placed in the chopping board in a house. The knife was stained with fresh blood. Not far away, there was a pot of steaming meat stew. Suddenly the chopper jumped out from the cutting board.

There were two teenagers lying in the pool of blood next to the Vermilion Bird Avenue. They were seriously injured and weakly leaned against a wall wet by the receding snow. Although they did not die, they could no longer hold the knife and pitch-fork next to them. Suddenly, the two choppers and kitchen knives jumped out of the snow and into their hands.

Ning Que pulled out his blade.

All the knives in Chang’an were pulled out.

Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of blades showed off their sharpness.

The winter willow swayed by Yanming Lake.

The winter pines in the Tantuo Temple bowed down.

The snow accumulated on the whetstone floated up.

One of the hundreds of lines making the Divine Talisman moved very slightly.

The snow on the long street blurred, countless rays of aura appearing suddenly.

The invisible door was instantly shattered to pieces.

Several tiny cuts appeared on the Abbey Dean’s dark clothes.

Several cracks appeared on his powerful body that he had acquired after reaching the Divine Demon Realm.

The Abbey Dean started bleeding profusely.

Ning Que raised his blade and said, “I want to kill you.”

An absolute condensation of Heaven and Earth’s Qi burst forth from his lips as he spoke. They turned into tendrils of white mist that were about half an inch long, and within the mist, were flashes of lightning and his extremely strong desire.