NOVEL ONLINE FREE Ch. 33
“Ten!”
“Nine!”
“Eight!”
“Seven!”
“F*ck! I’ve counted to four already and you still won’t open the array?! I’ll kill you! Today I’m chopping you up and feeding you to the dogs!”
Outside the Market District, Horse-Face of Death had only counted down to seven before he suddenly erupted in fury. He raised the white bone banner in his hand and struck at the Market District’s Grand Protective Array.
An immense surge of Demonic Qi turned into a massive ghostly face, crashing toward the barrier.
“How dare you!”
Yu Xiong remained fully focused, commanding the array, directly withstanding the attack.
Boom!
The Demonic Qi slammed into the array, and waves of impact rippled outward. Thunder-like vibrations shook the entire Market District; the sound of battle was deafening, and buildings trembled on their foundations.
Many cultivators watched the battle anxiously. If the array were broken by the Demonic Cultivators, they would all be doomed!
…
Talisman Shop.
“Hey hey hey, what do you think you're doing?! Can’t you see we’re closing?”
Wang Yun, pushed aside, shouted angrily.
But the middle-aged man casually patted his shoulder. Wang Yun immediately felt a surge of blood, with blood flowing from his eyes and nose. He collapsed stiffly to the ground—his condition unknown.
The opponent had attacked too suddenly. Li An had no time to stop it.
“Good sir! Let’s talk! Everything can be talked through!”
Li An feigned terror.
“Damn this black-hearted shop. Hand over all your Spirit Stones!”
The middle-aged man sneered coldly.
Li An immediately handed over all his Storage Pouches.
The man was surprised—this little Talisman Master gave in so easily? No resistance at all?
But when he looked into the pouch, he exploded in rage:
“Only this f*cking few Spirit Stones? You think you can fool me?! Trying to get yourself killed?!”
“There should be at least eight hundred!”
The pouch only had a little over six hundred Spirit Stones. Just the two hundred Breaking Seal Talismans he had bought were worth that much—not to mention the four hundred Spirit Stones he’d paid as deposit, and the nearly one hundred he bought afterward at four per piece.
He had already calculated it clearly. This little Talisman Master was a fat lamb to be slaughtered.
That’s why he came here first.
Li An’s face changed:
“I really have nothing left…”
“Want to live or die?!”
The man’s face turned cold. A thin stream of black Demonic Qi oozed out.
“A Demonic Cultivator?!”
Li An shivered in fear, barely able to speak.
“Live! I want to live! The rest is in my secret stash… upstairs in my room. Give me a moment and I’ll bring it down.”
He turned to go.
“Don’t play games with me. I’m coming with you.”
The Demonic Cultivator followed closely.
Li An’s steps were shaky and unsteady as he walked, trembling with panic. At last, he reached the door to his room, pulled out the key, and his hands shook terribly as he unlocked it.
The Demonic Cultivator chuckled darkly. This Talisman Master really was a coward—scared to death already…
Once he got the Spirit Stones, he’d chop him up and make minced meat out of him.
That would pay back the debt of being overcharged.
Selling Talismans at four Spirit Stones apiece? What a black-hearted guy! How could someone like this be allowed to live?
Finally, Li An opened the door and cried,
“The stash is over there… This batch was supposed to be sent to the sect. It’s not even mine…”
The Demonic Cultivator stepped inside. His eyes locked on a large iron box in the corner. He stepped forward and kicked it open. Sure enough—piles of Spirit Stones packed inside.
He was overjoyed!
He opened his Storage Pouch to sweep them all in—
But just then—
BOOM!
The sharp sound of Talismans exploding ripped through the air.
He whipped around, only to see three Binding Talismans detonating around him, locking his body in place. At the same time, two Mind-Shock Talismans exploded before his eyes, making his vision go black.
Then—three Mountain Talismans dropped from above, smashing down with immense force. His head spun, his consciousness dazed.
The Talisman attacks weren’t fatal—his Defensive Artifact still glowed, absorbing the blows.
But the truly terrifying part was—
In that very moment, a destructive aura erupted inside the room. Before he could even react—
Boom!
He was struck dead-on!
Cracks spread across his entire body, blood gushing out. Even his Defensive Artifact was instantly destroyed.
“You…”
The Demonic Cultivator’s eyes widened.
How… how was this possible?
As if the barrage of High-Grade First Rank Talismans wasn’t enough—there was a Foundation Establishment Grade Array hidden in this room???
What kind of monster sets up a Foundation-grade array… in their bedroom???
As he felt life slipping away, he tried to raise a hand.
But before he could even lift it—
A flash of light pierced his heart.
His Thorn Armor had already been damaged beyond repair by the array. Now, it was fully pierced by the Star Glow Dagger, laced with an Armor-Piercing Talisman. The dagger plunged deep into his heart. His chest contracted violently, his body froze, and his face turned purple!
“You… poisoned the dagger too…”
His eyes were full of resentment, as if he had been deeply betrayed by the world itself. He couldn’t say another word—collapsed with a thud.
Dead.
Li An stood in the doorway, soaked in sweat, every limb shaking with exhaustion.
In that one instant, he had simultaneously used three Binding Talismans, three Mountain Talismans, and two Mind-Shock Talismans—all controlled with his Spiritual Power to attack the Demonic Cultivator.
Even though the attack was strong, Li An hadn’t expected it to kill the man outright.
The Talismans were meant to distract, to pin him down.
As expected, once they all exploded together, the Demonic Cultivator was immobilized, relying solely on his Defensive Artifact for protection.
Then—
Li An triggered the array to strike.
One decisive blow!
And for good measure—he used the poisoned Star Glow Dagger to finish the job.
Completely destroyed!
Even after the Demonic Cultivator had fallen, Li An remained at the doorway. He unleashed his Water Arrow Technique, firing over a hundred arrows into the corpse—
Turning it into a sieve, not even twitching.
Only then did he walk in and quickly retrieve his own Storage Pouch, then strip the Storage Ring and Storage Pouch from the corpse.
“What a pity… that Thorn Armor…”
Li An looked down at the Thorn Armor on the corpse, sighing in regret.
It had been completely destroyed—worthless now.
He dropped a Flame Talisman, and the corpse ignited instantly, quickly reduced to ashes.
“During the fight just now, the entire Market District’s Grand Array was violently shaking, clashing with Horse-Face of Death outside... No one should’ve noticed the noise here.”
Li An analyzed swiftly.
With the whole Market District rumbling from the array’s clash, his little corner was just a drop in the ocean.
Especially since everyone was focused on Horse-Face of Death—
No one would care about his side.
Li An quickly cleaned up all signs of battle in the room, swept up every bit of the ashes, mopped the floor, and finally stuffed the ashes into a sack and carried it outside.
He dumped it all into a drainage ditch.
Washed away.
He returned to the front of the shop, glanced outside, confirmed that no one had noticed anything at the Talisman Shop, and closed the door.
Then, he went to check on Wang Yun.
“Severely injured. Blood surging into the brain—life hanging by a thread.”
Li An sighed. With injuries like that, unless an Alchemist crafted a specialized combination of Healing Pills, recovery was unlikely.
He took out a Mixed-Spirit Healing Pill and fed it to Wang Yun.
It would at least keep him alive.
But with his condition, even survival would likely mean brain damage.
This was all Li An could do.
Then he carried Wang Yun to his room and laid him gently on the bed.
Only then did he quietly leave the residence—
To observe the battle still raging in the sky!
A full-scale war was underway!
…
(End of Chapter)