Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Humans were really stupid. They were still about the same even after learning how to draw Qi into their bodies.
Li crouched under the edge of the window and laughed silently when she heard the movements and noises coming from overhead.
She finally moved her tail, got up, and left when there was no longer any sound near the window.
It wasn’t long after midnight, and it was a good time to dream. The candidates who had no choice but to sleep at the dilapidated thatched huts at the outskirts of town were especially vulnerable to nightmares.
However, for some reason, Li suddenly lost her interest.
Even the braised beef in her arms seemed to have lost its usual aroma.
It was ridiculous enough to have one mystic. Moreover, he thought that prejudice could be eliminated through understanding and spreading of knowledge. How was this different from seeking a death route?
Of course, one couldn’t blame him. Based on his poor knowledge, he was definitely unable to understand what the Privy Council represented.
It took hundreds of years of blood accumulation to result in the present day order and the Privy Council’s position on earth. Any act that crossed the line would be considered an unforgivable challenge. Even the person who guided her would have no power to resist the gigantic creature, let alone a mystic.
It was alright even if he failed. He would only become a topic of gossip after he returned to his hometown. However, if he passed and became an official mystic, he would definitely end up dead if he still didn’t know how to restrain himself.
In theory, she should be happy.
After all, there would be one less mystic in the world, and she didn’t have to do it herself. It was undoubtedly an ideal outcome. However, surprisingly, she realized that she couldn’t feel happy.
Why… did that happen?
Li couldn’t figure it out.
She had only known the man for two days, and she didn’t even know his name.
She had seen many people, heard people say many things. Fear, begging, threats, anger, killing intent… Only some vague emotions were left in her mind. She had almost no impression of what was said exactly. However, she could remember every single detail the young mystic said. It was as though their conversation was much more than all the conversations she had in the past few years.
“Are you… Are you also a picnic lover?”
The first conversation began there.
It was a completely baffling sentence. However, it sounded familiar and nostalgic.
Li walked to the borders of the town and took out the cloth bag with braised beef. She hesitated for a moment before throwing it down the cliff.
She wanted to become enemies with the Privy Council, so she had to become enemies with all the mystics. She better not see such exceptions again.
“I was wondering what was happening, so it’s a fox demon.”
At this moment, a hoarse sound was suddenly heard.
Li’s tail instantly shot up, and she turned around immediately. A figure appeared about ten feet away from her.
It was a tall man nearly six feet tall. His shoulder was about twice as broad as an ordinary person. Moreover, with the black high-collared robe he was wearing, he looked like a small mountain under the dim moonlight.
How did a person of such a build get near her without making any sound?
She instantly became cautious!
Moreover, there were three red embroideries on the other party’s shoulder… Although she didn’t know the specific ranking of the Privy Council, it was the first time she saw a mystic with three red horizontal lines.
“I’m Ba Xingtian, the Southern guide of the Qi Country.” His voice was heard again beneath the silver mask. “Your name is?”
“… You don’t have to know.” Li bowed down slightly and showed her sharp fangs.
“Relax, this is only the first question,” said Ba Xingtian unhurriedly. “The second question is, what’s your purpose in coming to Qing Shan Town and disrupting the mystic examination of the Qi Country?
“And the last question…” he paused and said, “Who instructed you to come?”
Li sneered. “Why can’t I come on my own if I want to?”
“Demons hardly ever venture into human territory. You guys should be living like beasts in the forest. Besides that, the location of the Privy Council is a secret. If no one instructed you, how would you be able to find this place?”
Ba Xingtian stretched out his flat and big palm and made a gripping gesture. “You can choose to not answer now, I can give you time to think. When I catch you, I will slowly break your joints and twist off your fingers. You will answer all the questions at one go, then.”
The fox demon glared at Ba Xingtian as he looked at her.
The first day, nine were eliminated, and the next day, the number skyrocketed to 74. Although anything could happen in the mystic examination, the panic on the candidates’ faces who left attracted his attention.
Ba Xingtian vaguely remembered that a similar problem happened in the Hidden Island mystic examination three years ago. However, the content of that examination was related to stress. Moreover, he couldn’t go beyond the invigilator to directly intervene in the examination, so he ended up with nothing. It wasn’t until this round of the Qing Shan Town’s mystic examination that he suddenly remembered the connection between the two.
To his surprise, the culprit was a fox.
The fox demon was good at charm and illusion, which could reasonably explain why the candidates were distracted. But Ba Xingtian couldn’t figure out why the other party only threatened, but not directly intervened. It was only natural for a demon to hate a Buddhist monk, especially one who came to the door, and should be killed when he found the opportunity.
The only thing he could think of was that the other party had a deeper purpose.
And such a purpose wasn’t something that the average demon could think of.
In addition, the demon was able to sneak into one of the examination venues for both mystic examinations. This caused Ba Xingtian to believe so.
The fox demon didn’t look old. That meant that she had limited power. It would be best if they caught her alive and used cruel torture methods to get the information on the individual behind her. That would be a safe move.
“Let me ask you, have you killed a demon before?” asked Li after a long silence.
“Of course,” Ba Xingtian said without thinking twice. “Quite a lot.”
“What about the demons who had nothing to do with humans and lived alone?”
“What’s the difference? When I crush them, I’m not interested to ask them about their lives.”
“Then… You can’t be considered as an innocent person.” Li took a deep breath and leaped at Ba Xingtian like an arrow.
She attacked!
Since she was going to be an enemy of the Privy Council, it was inevitable that she would have to fight with a high-ranking mystic, and the man in front of her was one of them. If she could kill him here, she would be able to effectively weaken the Privy Council’s strength.
At that instant, Ba Xingtian felt a wave of monstrous killing intent surge towards him!
The land beneath his feet seemed to have turned into a sea of blood, the pungent smell rushing straight to his throat. It was sticky and almost stopped him from breathing. The flowers and trees around him disappeared and were replaced by broken limbs and internal organs, scattered all over the floor.
For an ordinary individual, in this situation, standing wasn’t an easy task, not to mention fighting.
Attacking and launching illusions at the same time, was she trying to increase her chances of winning? Ba Xingtian couldn’t help but praise her for this tactic! Unfortunately, others might be shocked by the mountain of corpses and the sea of blood, but he only felt more invigorated!
He stood firm on the floor and slanted his body slightly. He pulled his right arm back as much as possible and swung it out with all his might, charging straight at the fox demon!
With a loud sound of a collision, the illusion immediately disappeared!
The blood in the sky disintegrated and shattered apart like glass shards and the fox demon flew backward, rolling several times before stopping. Meanwhile, he only took two steps backward.
When Li stood up again, the five fingers on her right hand were significantly deformed.
“I have served in the military for a long time and I have long been used to seeing an immense amount of blood. Your tactic will only invigorate me.” He raised his hands; they were devoid of blood but looked like stones, with a translucent texture and pattern. “I can simply use my hands to defeat you.”
“Gen Technique?” Li frowned.
“Oh? You know that too?” Ba Xingtian’s voice sank. “The spell must not be easily spread to the public, including the wealthy families. This rule cannot be violated, but a demon was taught this… I’m more interested to find out about the identity of the person behind you.”
“You can try for all you want!” She charged forward again, but instead of attacking from the front, she zig-zagged.
“Hmph!” Ba Xingtian roared and positioned himself to receive the attack. Responding to all changes with no change was his most familiar battle tactic! In the face of overwhelming power, any trickery wouldn’t worry him!
As she ran, the fox demon fished out a talisman.
What a rebel! Ba Xingtian was infuriated!
He wasn’t annoyed because of the demon, but the person who passed the spell to the demon! Demons were born with the ability to sense Qi and could perform the spells without the need for guidance. In terms of natural talent, demons were much more advantaged. Their greatest disadvantage was that they couldn’t ensure their skills were fixed. For example, a fox demon was very easily distracted mentally. As long as this was taken care of, they wouldn’t be able to do anything.
Because of this, it was absolutely prohibited to teach the spells to the demons. This was an agreement by the mystics. However, someone dared to violate the Privy Council’s regulations?
This person deserved to die!
Despite that, Ba Xingtian didn’t have any intention to retreat. Nature was nature, and because of the demon’s natural skills, the effects of other spells would be greatly diminished. He also clearly saw that the talisman was a “Qian”. Even if the strokes were unclear, a fox demon was a “Kan” and differed from “Qian” by a “Xun” position [1. symbols used in the Eight Trigrams or “Bagua”]. Even if it was successfully activated, the effects were limited.
Moreover, she had only one hand left. She couldn’t depend solely on the tactic with the talisman!
However, as she passed a patch of grass, Li swept her tail and flung a large piece of debris at him.
What kind of trick was that?
Only a child would use such ridiculous tactics.
Even if dozens of daggers were thrown at him, Ba Xingtian, who was possessed by the Gen Technique did not need to dodge.
Ba Xingtian opened his arms and attacked Li. This time, he wanted to break her other hand.
As the stones and grass flew, he saw Li’s closely shut eyes.
As well as several fireflies sweeping over together.
“Heaven Technique, Tiger form! Moonlight beams!”
At that instant, a beam of bright light exploded between the two and filled Ba Xingtian’s entire field of vision!