The nine illusory fox tails fanned out behind Xu Qi’an like a peacock’s display, gently swaying.
These fox tails belonged to the Princess of the Wanyao Kingdom, the Nine-tailed Celestial Fox.
From the start, Dean Zhao Shou and the Wulin Alliance’s great ancestor were only Xu Qi’an’s overt cards.
He still had a hidden trump card that no one knew about: the Princess of the Wanyao Kingdom.
Xu Qi’an had no contact with the princess. In his eyes, that powerful fox spirit was nothing more than a name in the history books.
But Xu Qi’an knew that, if he encountered a great crisis, one he could not survive on his own, the Princess of the Wanyao Kingdom was definitely someone who would go all out to protect him.
The reason was simple. Back then, it was the Wanyao Kingdom’s hidden agent who secretly delivered Shenshu to his residence.
It was obvious that, without the Nine-tailed Fox’s permission, would the agent have dared do that?
The purpose of the Wanyao Kingdom’s survivors was to use the fortune within him to nourish Shenshu’s severed arm. He and Shenshu were bound together for good or ill.
The Nine-tailed Fox might not care about his life or death, but she would never stand by and let Shenshu be sealed or fall back under the Buddhist Sect’s control. Otherwise, what was the point of all the Wanyao Kingdom’s plotting in the Sangpo incident?
Of course, this only proved that their interests aligned. If it were just that, Xu Qi’an would never have staked his life on a Yao woman he had never met or contacted.
He was certain the princess would act because of two things.
First, Fuxiang’s little story.
It wasn’t that Xu Qi’an looked down on this sworn seafood client, but with Fuxiang’s status, could she really have known about the Jianzheng’s first disciple’s past?
It was clearly impossible.
So why did she write such an obvious hint in her letter to him?
The answer was simple. It was a hint from the Princess of the Wanyao Kingdom, on the one hand revealing who his true enemy was, and on the other, subtly expressing her intent to intervene.
Even so, Xu Qi’an still would not have counted on her as his ultimate trump card.
The real reason was that, when he awoke in the Sitianjian that day, before heading to Cloud Deer Academy to see Zhao Shou, the Jianzheng gave him a milky-white pill.
As he swallowed the pill, Xu Qi’an vaguely heard a soft, charming laugh, gone in a flash.
Xu Qi’an had no idea how the Jianzheng had made contact with the Nine-tailed Celestial Fox, but it did not matter. Between clever people, some things were best left unsaid.
She’s finally here… Noticing the strange sensation at his tailbone, Xu Qi’an felt a wave of relief.
He had cursed the Nine-tailed Fox as an old hag because he had sensed her nasty temperament.
She clearly could have acted sooner, but insisted on waiting for the critical moment, Xu Qi’an had nearly wet himself, thinking his trump card was useless.
If that were the case, all he could do was pray for a better next life, born into a rich family, with a proper father, and, ideally, a “whimpering” long-legged 36D big sister.
…
As soon as they appeared, the white-robed Arcanist seemed to be struck by a paralysis spell, freezing momentarily.
Taking advantage of this, the nine fox tails moved like tentacles, some coiled around the vast, formless fortune, stopping the Arcanist from extracting it.
Others lashed fiercely at the white robed Arcanist.
They gave off no terrifying aura, nor did they produce any spectacular phenomenon, but the white-robed Arcanist instinctively took half a step back, clearly wary.
“Hmph!”
He gave a cold snort, both surprised and unsurprised by the Nine-tailed Fox’s appearance.
Unsurprised, because he knew of the countless ties between the Nine-tailed Fox and Shenshu. Her intervention was expected.
Surprised, because he hadn’t thought she would act in this way.
After all, in front of a peak Arcanist adept in qi-watching, most concealment techniques were useless, there were very few that could fool a second-rank Arcanist’s eyes.
And as of these methods, the Arcanist knew inside out, but what the Nine-tailed Fox had used was something he’d never seen before.
The white-robed Arcanist did not panic. He stamped his foot, and the remaining formations erupted in dazzling light, raising a shield around him.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
Six fox tails struck the shield, making it tremble violently, shaking layer upon layer of qi, forcing the Arcanist back repeatedly, wild and unstoppable.
The other three fox tails coiled around the fortune and returned it to Xu Qi’an’s body.
The fortune finally returned to his body.
Phew… Xu Qi’an let out a sigh of relief. This fox spirit is amazing!
Seeing this, the Wulin Alliance’s great ancestor and Dean Zhao Shou seized the moment. More and more sabre intent erupted from the void, at a level just below second-rank, combining with the Confucian carving knife to smash the formation, breaking through like a thousand armies, targeting the enemy leader directly.
Facing their combined assault, the white-robed Arcanist was utterly unflustered. Seeing he could not extract the fortune for now, he decisively abandoned Xu Qi’an.
His sachet opened on its own, and magic artefacts flew out as if given life, not ballistae or cannons, but stranger tools.
Some were bronze mirrors, some sharp fangs, some small bronze seals, some intricate pagodas…
Their functions included sealing the spirit, piercing qi, restraining, refining…
Countless magic artefacts circled around. Xu Qi’an’s body remained unscathed, but his soul buzzed as if torn to pieces, and he briefly lost consciousness.
The tentacle-like fox tails lost all vitality under the artefacts’ influence, moving aimlessly and bewildered.
The white-robed Arcanist reached out and pressed atop Xu Qi’an’s head, once more pulling out that vast, refined fortune.
“Use of magical artefacts is forbidden here.”
Zhao Shou said gravely.
The Arcanist’s great formation, under the joint assault of a contemporary Confucian scholar and a half-step second-rank warrior, was mostly destroyed and could no longer resist the power of Confucian laws follow commandments.
Clang! Clang!
The flying artefacts all dropped to the ground.
The Lesser Sage’s Confucian cap and the carving knife also sealed themselves, their light withdrawn. Scholars followed the rules; they were not ruffians. The power of Laws follow Commandments affected allies as well.
Zhao Shou gave a muffled groan, his face deathly pale, this was the backlash of the “boasting method”.
Normally, facing enemies of equal rank, if the power of Laws follow Commandments was used to exert direct influence, it could only be used three times.
Any more, and the scholar’s righteous qi could not resist the backlash.
But if Laws follow Commandments was used to assist or buff oneself, there was no limit.
“Forbidding teleportation” and “forbidding artefacts” were both direct restrictions on the enemy. Even with the support of the Confucian sage’s carving knife and cap, facing a higher-ranked Arcanist, three times was the absolute limit for Zhao Shou at the peak of third rank.
With the artefact suppression gone, the nine fox tails went wild, flailing and lashing about.
The Arcanist was forced back again. Close combat was a weakness for Arcanists.
The illusory fox tails entwined the fortune and returned it once more to Xu Qi’an’s body.
“Slay eight hundred, lose one thousand.”1
The white-robed Arcanist sneered.
He was mocking Zhao Shou. With the Lesser Sage’s cap and the Confucian Sage’s carving knife now self-sealed, and the three uses of Laws follow Commandments exhausted, the great scholar’s strength in the coming fight would be negligible.
As for the Wulin Alliance great ancestor, although his attacks were strong, the Arcanist had plenty of ways to handle him. What’s more, that old man was not in good shape and could not personally fight to the death.
For an Arcanist, this was a huge, exploitable flaw.
The white-robed Arcanist formed a seal with one hand and said in a deep voice, “Rise!”
The stone disc rumbled and floated into the air. On its surface, the peerless formation, which had been smashed two-thirds through, began to contract and repair itself, forming a simplified “peerless formation”.
Though not as strong as before, it was like a martial artist’s second wind. Compared to its broken state, its aura was even stronger and more complete. All its lost abilities, like teleportation and sealing, were now restored.
For a high-ranked Arcanist, repairing a damaged formation was basic skill, just as meditation was for monks, or spirit travel for Daoists.
However, just then, the Arcanist saw Zhao Shou calmly reach out his hand, palm facing him, and say in a deep voice,
“In this world, the use of formations is forbidden.”
As he spoke, the floating stone disc rapidly cracked, one formation after another went dark, their power lost. With just this one sentence, the peerless mini-formation was instantly weakened by half.
The Arcanist could no longer control the stone disc, and with it, Xu Qi’an fell from the air.
At the same time, an unstoppable sabre intent appeared behind the Arcanist, cleaving down on his back.
The Arcanist grunted, the flesh on his back split open, blood gushing out.
For the first time since he appeared, he was finally, finally injured, and since this was a warrior’s sabre intent, its killing power was far greater and more terrifying than other systems of the same rank.
The Arcanist staggered back, putting distance between himself and Xu Qi’an. Now, he no longer dared to face the nine fox tails head-on.
Sabre intent after sabre intent appeared from the void; the Wulin Alliance great ancestor was ready to kick a man when he was down.
Seeing this, Zhao Shou grabbed Second Uncle’s shoulder, stopping him from rushing to check on his nephew, and quickly retreated with him.
“To be precise, it’s ‘kill a thousand, lose eight hundred’” Zhao Shou took the opportunity to retort.
Earlier, his method of breaking the formation was not actually Laws follow Commandments, but rather the resonance of Wei Yuan’s Hedao intent. The reason he spoke aloud and used the knife and cap to assist was to fake the effect of Laws follow Commandments.
Pure misdirection for the Arcanist.
This minor detail became the key move that decided victory.
Zhao Shou sighed inwardly, remembering how, before heading to war, Wei Yuan had visited Qingyun Mountain alone.
On that occasion, Wei Yuan saw the stele in the Lesser Sage’s Hall, left part of his blood elixir, and helped Zhao Shou record the “breaking formations” intent.
At the time, Wei Yuan had not fully seen through the Arcanist’s schemes, nor even known about Xu Dalang. The cause and effect between them was too faint; Wei Yuan could not see through the actions of someone hidden by the art of shielding Heaven’s secrets.
But he had reviewed Xu Qi’an’s many experiences and, with a strategist’s intuition, predicted that Xu Qi’an would face major trouble in the future.
“Let’s hope it helps him. I can’t protect him forever. Sooner or later, a fledgling eagle must fly on its own.”
It was as if Zhao Shou could hear Wei Yuan’s words at his ear.
For this child, Wei Yuan had indeed planned for every possibility.
In the distance, the Arcanist calmly took healing pills from his pouch as he strode through the waves of sabre intent, withdrawing from the sabre mountain’s encirclement.
The sabre intent from the Wulin Alliance great ancestor suddenly lost its target.
The Arcanist, Xu Dalang, had concealed himself, making the Wulin Alliance great ancestor forget him for a moment.
After swallowing the pill and feeling its power spread, driving out the scattered sabre intent, the Arcanist smiled at Xu Qi’an,
“I now understand the connection between Shenshu and the Wanyao Kingdom. Though the princess’s method surprised me, I was prepared for her as an enemy.
“A son is still a son, if you want to fight your old man, you’ve got a long way to go.”
As he spoke, the effect of the art shielding Heaven’s secrets faded.
Once this art was used, the user could not appear in front of outsiders, or the spell would break.
These “outsiders” could be enemies, crowds of onlookers, or more than three relatives or people with a deep karmic bond.
Here, everyone either had a deep karmic link to him or was an enemy.
So the art shielding Heaven’s secrets could only last for a short time, and could not be reused.
In the void, more sabre intents emerged, attacking the Arcanist.
But just then, the world lost its colour.
Truly lost its colour. All hues faded in an instant, turning black and white, Xu Qi’an, Zhao Shou, the Arcanist, everyone.
In this colourless world, only one person retained their own colour.
A woman bodhisattva in a white kasaya, her black hair cascading down.
“Colourless… Dharma… Aspect…”
Zhao Shou spoke these words extremely slowly.
One of the Nine Great Dharma Aspects of Buddhism, one of the nine bodhisattva fruits.
The Colourless Dharma Aspect!
I’ll… fuck… your… mother… Xu… Da… lang… one of the national curses of China slowly drifted through Xu Qi’an’s mind.
He felt his body and mind sink into a swamp, every thought taking an eternity to surface, his body unmoving.
The Buddhists had made their move… Of course they had. The Arcanist had borrowed the Demon Sealing Nails, so he must have told the Buddhists about Shenshu’s existence. Given their relationship, how could they not interfere…
These thoughts crawled slowly through Xu Qi’an’s mind.
Then, he heard an old, slow, voice in the Jianzhou dialect from the void, cursing up a storm.
Even the Wulin Alliance great ancestor was forced to swear.
Dean Zhao Shou must be cursing inside as well… Just as Xu Qi’an thought this, he heard Zhao Shou’s indignant, slow voice,
“Truly by that woman I am not pleased!”
What does that mean? Xu Qi’an didn’t understand for a moment.
“You didn’t lie to me, Shenshu really is inside him. Good, very good.”
The female bodhisattva’s voice was melodious and pleasant, but held no emotion, no fluctuation,
“You take back your fortune, I’ll take away Shenshu. But Xu Qi’an cannot die. He has deep karma with our Buddhist sect, and is key to resolving the current dispute between the Hinayana and Mahayana.”
She raised her hand and gently brushed down.
Colour returned to the white-robed Arcanist, along with his ability to speak freely. He said, “Once the fortune is extracted, he will die.”
The barefooted Bodhisattva, white as snow, replied calmly,
“So you cannot extract the fortune now. Come with me to the Buddhist Sect. When I have remoulded him a Buddhist body, then you may take the fortune.”
Hmm, it seems my ending isn’t quite as tragic as I thought… Xu Qi’an’s thoughts slowly ticked.
The Arcanist fell silent.
The Bodhisattva’s silvery voice rang out, “Once his Buddhist body is remade, he will abandon all worldly desires, let go of the mortal realm, and will not seek revenge against you.”
Truly by that woman I am not pleased!
Xu Qi’an was shocked, a sense of crisis rising again. He could tell that becoming a Buddhist’s disciple would be no better than dying.
To be without desire was worse than death.
The Arcanist nodded immediately. “Very well.”
The Bodhisattva turned to Xu Qi’an and flicked a beam of Buddhist light at him. The pale gold light crossed the black-and-white world and entered Xu Qi’an’s body.
The illusory fox tails sizzled and smoked, as if snow was melting in sunlight.
“Heh!”
A soft, charming voice echoed from the void, seemingly full of disdain.
“Jianzheng, the big fish has taken the bait, what are you waiting for?”
The seductive voice was calm.
As the words fell, a figure appeared in the distant sky.
Robe white as snow, white hair and beard.
He stood high in the air, like a god ruling over this world.
The Jianzheng has finally arrived… Xu Qi’an felt a wave of relief.
“Vaidurya!”2
The Jianzheng spoke calmly, but his voice boomed like thunder, “Entering the lands of my Great Feng without permission — warrants Death!”
At that moment, he seemed to connect with the laws of fate, gaining their approval.
The Jianzheng reached out and plucked a bronze disc from the void, with sun, moon and mountains engraved on the back, and the heavenly stems and earthly branches on the front. As it appeared, the world seethed.
The Colourless Domain shattered.
The Bodhisattva’s brow creased slightly, her white kasaya instantly stained with blood.
The Bodhisattva was now the Jianzheng’s problem, but the Arcanist still had the means to stop them. At best, things were back to how they were before.
He now faced Zhao Shou, who could no longer fight, the Wulin Alliance great ancestor in poor shape, and the Nine-tailed Fox, who had suffered the effects of the Buddhist light.
At this moment, with the Jianzheng’s intervention and the appearance of the Disc of Heaven’s Secrets, Zhao Shou’s rules were forcibly broken. Magic artefacts and formations could once again be used.
Formation runes flickered at the Arcanist’s feet as his form flashed, drawing close to Xu Qi’an.
Freed from the Colourless Domain, Xu Qi’an could move again. He looked at the Arcanist and said,
“Do you want to taste the backlash of fortune?”
The Arcanist froze, then his face changed dramatically. Formation runes spread under his feet, layer after layer enveloping Xu Qi’an.
He unleashed his magic artefacts: sealing, imprisonment, refining, layer upon layer.
All at once, all of it crashed down on Xu Qi’an.
But Xu Qi’an was faster. He spat out a piece of paper, folded into a small square, gripped it in his fingers, and stabbed it into his own abdomen, punching a bloody hole right through himself.
The Curse of Death!
Xu Qi’an’s vitality faded rapidly, on the brink of death.
There were two forms of death curse. The first required the target’s blood, hair, or personal belongings as a medium.
At third rank, it could be done at a distance with no medium, but the effect was much weaker.
The other used one’s own flesh and blood as the price, cursing the target.
The condition was that the enemy must have inflicted enough harm on you recently.
The Arcanist perfectly fit the latter condition.
Splurt!
The Arcanist spewed blood, great streams pouring from his mouth and nose, gravely wounded in an instant.
For the first time, shock and fury showed on his previously calm face.
Xu Qi’an rasped a laugh. “Originally, this move was to kill you. I’d been holding back all this time, waiting for the crucial moment. Who’d have thought you’d collude with a Buddhist Bodhisattva? What a pity.
“I summoned the Nine-tailed Fox for another reason too, so she could let me regain movement, and thus use the curse.”
Previously, his body had been under the Arcanist’s control, completely immobile.
“Taste the curse of one blessed by great fortune, taste the backlash of fortune, you heartless unfilial bastard.”
Xu Qi’an mocked him wildly.
Formation runes surged under the Arcanist’s feet as he teleported away again and again, escaping, giving the Nine-tailed Fox no chance to strike.
He fled without hesitation, as if he truly felt the threat of death.
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