Immortal of the Nine Realms

The Fang Manor had a total of sixty guards. They were divided into two groups, the day shift and the night shift. Their ages ranged from the thirties to the fifties, making them, on average, older than most soldiers, but it would be foolish to make light of them.

Most of them were veteran soldiers who had fought alongside the Fang Clan on many battlefields. They practiced the Fang Clan’s Profound Heaven Formula, and on average, their martial cultivation was at early Ki Explosion.

All of them, be it from the day shift or the night shift, stood at attention with their chests puffed out. Their eyes were filled with fighting spirit.

“Do you know what the outcome will be if you fight the Nightmare Knights?” Fang Chen asked.

One of the older guards calmly replied, “The worst that can happen to us is death, but worry not, young master. We’ll drag some of them down with us even at the cost of our lives.”

“Heh! We should have died on the battlefield long ago. It’ll be worth it if we can bring down some of the Nightmare Knights with us!”

“The arrogant Chillwater wants to manipulate our young master; how can we let them do as they please? We need to teach them a lesson!”

The guards spoke with a light-hearted tone, as if they were up against a couple of hoodlums instead of Chillwater’s Nightmare Knights.

“They are all iron-willed veterans!” Li Daoye murmured. These people will be a dangerous bunch to offend if they become cultivators. It’s rare to see cultivators with such a temperament.

“I don’t plan on letting you die yet.” Fang Chen chuckled. He turned to Xu Ge and said, “Distribute the Protection Talismans, Flitting Talismans, Strength Talismans, and Purple Lightning Talismans.”

“Yes, young master.” Xu Ge took out stack after stack of talismans and handed each of the guards ten of each talismans.

Li Daoye’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. He stared at those talismans in disbelief before turning to Fang Chen. “Young master Fang, do you know how much these talismans are worth in the world of cultivation?”

“They are only talismans if used. Otherwise, they are just a bunch of scrap paper,” Fang Chen calmly replied.

“ Scrap paper!” Li Daoye’s heart clenched up. “These aren’t scrap papers!. Do you know how much ki stones they are worth?! You don’t need to pay such a heavy price just to deal with a grade-8 state! Why don’t I suppress them in Infernoblaze’s name? In return, you can just give me half of the talismans here…”

Fang Chen ignored his offer and instead asked, “How strong do you think these sixty veterans would be, if they used the Protection Talismans, Flitting Talismans, and Strength Talismans, while having the Purple Lightning Talismans for emergencies?”

“…”

Li Daoye thought hard before replying, “An eighth stage Ki Refinement cultivator will be completely suppressed. He won’t be able withstand the onslaught of sixty Purple Lightning Talismans, unless he has a protection artifact.

“If the opponent is at ninth stage Ki Refinement, you would be able to push him back while the talismans are still active, but the tables will be turned as soon as the effects of the talismans run out.

“That bunch of Nightmare Knights is just a platoon of pinnacle Ki Control martial artists. Even their combined prowess is no more than a fifth stage Ki Refinement cultivator…”

At this point, Li Daoye suddenly looked at the guards in this courtyard with a serious expression. These mortals before me, armed with talismans, have the means to take down an eighth rank Ki Refinement cultivator, and even fight off a ninth stage Ki Refinement cultivator for a while!

He hadn’t even considered this possibility as he didn’t think anyone would be so wasteful as to provide so many talismans to mere mortals.

In any case, this meant that Fang Chen’s army could subdue Ki Refinement cultivators. If he continued drawing more talismans and expanded his army…

The heck! He might just be able to take down a twelfth stage Ki Refinement cultivator with just mere talismans!!!

Li Daoye gasped. This made him see Fang Chen in a different light.

He was still unaware of the existence of the Great Xia Shadow Guards. If those Shadow Guards worked with Fang Chen, they could confront a twelfth stage Ki Refinement cultivator head on!

The Purple Lightning Talismans were basically a means of bombardment. A powerful cultivator might survive 30 lightning bolts, but what about 50? What about 100?

It wouldn’t be easy to survive the accumulated damage. Even Fang Chen had no confidence that he could survive such a bombardment.

“Young master, these are…” The guards stared at the talismans with doubtful eyes.

“You have met this person in the Palace of Great Peace.” Fang Chen gestured to Li Daoye. “These talismans contain a cultivator’s powers. The Flitting Talisman makes you as light as a swallow. The Protection Talisman makes you invulnerable to swords and spears. The Strength Talisman makes you as strong as an ox. As for the Purple Lightning Talismans… that’s your main means of dealing with the Nightmare Knights.

“I have given you ten of each talismans, and I expect you to take down at least two Nightmare Knights with your ten Purple Lightning Talismans. Don’t miss your aim.”

The power of a cultivator!

The guards felt a huge boost in morale upon hearing those words. No wonder the young master wanted us to clash with the Nightmare Knights. It turns out that he has prepared a hand!

“We’ll practice using the talismans in the next few days, lest you’re unaccustomed to it,” Xu Ge said.

“Practice? That’s such a huge waste of talismans…” Li Daoye’s heart clenched up once more. These wastrels!

“You have to give up something to receive something.” Fang Chen patted Li Daoye’s shoulders. “I’d like to study the Fireball Art and Ice Arrow Art. You’ll be my sparring partner. Show me what other means the Eight Trigrams Sect have other than omen reading.”

For the next few days, the sparring fields were completely closed off.

The Fang Manor’s servants and maids would occasionally hear rumbles. Fang Cangyou had once dropped by to take a peek out of curiosity, only to walk away with a perplexed frown.

The massive sparring field was charred, as if it had been struck by lightning for days on end.

The Fang Manor’s guards had gained a better idea of how to use the talismans.

Fang Chen had also gotten adept at the Fireball Spell and Ice Arrow Spell too, such that he could instantaneously release them with just a thought.

“Young master Fang, just how much spirit ki do you have? Are you secretly a twelfth stage Ki Refinement cultivator?!” Li Daoye exclaimed as he touched his charred brows. “I refuse to be your sparring partner anymore. All of my hair will be burned off at this rate!”

He was shocked.

The Fireball Art might be a fundamental skill in the world of cultivation, but it consumed a significant amount of spirit ki for Ki Refinement cultivators. Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been such a huge market for talismans.

“Even a twelfth stage Ki Refinement cultivator can’t continuously unleash fireballs. Their spirit ki would run out by the hundredth one!” Li Daoye complained.

He had seen Fang Chen simultaneously manifesting a fireball in his left hand and an ice arrow in his right hand, and consecutively releasing them dozens of times. Yet, he showed no signs of fatigue as if his spirit ki couldn’t run out.

Fang Chen chuckled. He told Li Daoye to head back and rest. After a few days of practice, he had grasped the crux of the two mystic arts.

He had expended his spirit ki many times over the past few days, so his cultivation had been steadily growing. He wasn’t far from manifesting his sixth immortal vein.