Chapter 514 — The Rooster Talisman

What Zhang Xiaohua saw with his eyes was a resplendent, gold-and-jade hall, yet where his divine sense resided was a space shrouded in pitch-black vapor. The moment his divine sense touched that vapor, it was instantly defiled and obstructed, unable to extend even half an inch farther. Thus, he had no way of knowing whether he was still inside the original cave.

Most terrifying of all was that once the black vapor came into contact with his divine sense, it seemed almost alive. Not only did it corrupt the sense, but it also followed along it straight toward Zhang Xiaohua’s Niwan Palace, invading inward.

When had Zhang Xiaohua ever encountered such a situation? His face had already turned pale with fright, and he was filled with regret. Passing by should have been just passing by. Why had he let greed take over and tried to take someone else’s belongings? Now look at this, he had brought disaster upon himself.

In only a moment, the black vapor had already ridden along his withdrawn divine sense and charged into the Niwan Palace. Zhang Xiaohua did not dare delay. He immediately sat cross-legged and began circulating the second level of the Guiding the Spirit technique, hoping to resist the black qi. But Guiding the Spirit was merely a method for tempering and refining divine sense — it had no offensive power. How could it repel an external assault? Zhang Xiaohua had only just begun circulating the technique when the black qi that had entered the Niwan Palace spread throughout it at once. Then, baring its fangs and claws, it lunged toward the Pill Heart floating in the center of the Niwan Palace, beating slowly like a heart.

What was he to do now? For the moment, Zhang Xiaohua had no solution.

But at the very instant the black qi touched the Pill Heart, the restriction wrapped around its outer layer burst into shimmering golden light — brilliant as the sun. In an instant, it illuminated the entire Niwan Palace. The radiance shot into the invading black qi like golden needles, thinning and dispersing it considerably.

Then the three hundred and sixty-five talismanic sigils within the golden divine restriction emerged clearly, revolving like streams of light. One of them projected outward, forming a massive phantom image in the space — unmistakably the shape of a great rooster. The golden rooster raised its head as if crowing to the heavens, and though Zhang Xiaohua sat cross-legged, he truly heard a crisp, ringing cockcrow.

The black qi, already weakened by the golden light, churned violently under the sound, as though fearful. After crowing, the golden rooster opened its beak and inhaled toward the distant black qi. A tremendous suction force arose; the black qi coiled throughout the Niwan Palace immediately poured into the rooster’s mouth, swept clean in a single breath.

The rooster’s phantom flapped its wings once, seemingly not yet satisfied, then flashed and shrank back into the talisman. At that moment, the talisman that had devoured the black qi glimmered with flowing brilliance. Before long, it revealed its true form — a tiny rooster — quietly floating beside the rabbit talisman, motionless.

Zhang Xiaohua’s heart stirred. He immersed his divine sense into the rooster talisman and found that, unlike the last time he had probed one, it no longer consumed his divine sense so heavily. The three hundred and sixty-five incantatory patterns forming the rooster talisman were all clearly visible.

Overjoyed, Zhang Xiaohua reflected that although he had not yet fully comprehended the rabbit talisman, he had already grasped most of it and was only stalled at a bottleneck. By a twist of fortune born from disaster, not only had the invading black qi been eliminated, but another rooster talisman had been activated, unexpectedly providing him with great convenience in studying the Innate Divine Restriction.

Yet when he thought again of the danger just now, lingering fear filled him. He no longer dared to release his divine sense lightly. Indeed, though he did not know what harm the black qi might do to him, nor the consequences of it invading the Pill Heart, the mere fact that it could taint his divine sense and follow it inward proved it was certainly nothing benign.

Standing within the great hall, Zhang Xiaohua’s eyes darted constantly left and right as he pondered how to escape. His divine sense could not be extended outward, so he could rely only on his own sight. But he did not even know whether what lay before him was real or illusion — how was he to find an exit?

However, judging only from what his divine sense had detected earlier, Zhang Xiaohua faintly felt that he was still inside the same cave as before. It was merely that, after he had taken the two items from the skeleton’s hand, he had triggered a restriction that released this unknown black qi and wrapped him within it. Everything before his eyes was likely an illusion created by that restriction.

Under normal circumstances, Zhang Xiaohua might have ventured forward to explore what the hall within the illusion looked like. Perhaps he would have relied on his attainments in formations to dismantle the restriction through proper means. After all, restrictions were not so common in this world, and every bit of practical experience was valuable. But now, on the mountaintop, Kong Que was facing an ambush by three experts. If Zhang Xiaohua did not go to help, the caravan of the Incense Spreading Sect would surely be wiped out today. Their survival might have nothing to do with him — yet if that happened, his plan of staying half a year in Spring Rebirth Valley and then heading to the Incense Spreading Sect to inquire about Zhang Xiaohu would be completely ruined. That was something Zhang Xiaohua absolutely could not tolerate.

So Zhang Xiaohua reached out and took from his money pouch the Dream-Chasing Little Sword he had not used for a long time.

Holding the sword in his left hand and forming a hand seal with his right, he shook his body and tunneled straight downward. But just as his form vanished into the ground, he felt something beneath his feet as hard as an iron plate — he could advance no farther. At this moment, he dared not probe with his divine sense; instead, he swung the Dream-Chasing Sword in his left hand and thrust it straight ahead.

As the sword stabbed forward, the warm current from the nameless place in his left arm surged along it into the blade. He seemed to hear a soft snap, and a cool flow passed back through the sword. Had Zhang Xiaohua dared release his divine sense then, he would have seen that, with the sword’s thrust, the mass of enveloping black qi churned violently. Countless strands of dense black qi were drawn into the Dream-Chasing Sword, then flowed along the nameless meridian of his left arm into that mysterious place. Within moments, a sizable hole had been pierced through the black qi. Zhang Xiaohua’s body could move again, emerging through the darkness as he gradually tunneled downward.

After his form completely disappeared, the roiling black qi slowly filled the empty space he had created. Before long, it returned to a whole, spherical mass.

Having tunneled underground, Zhang Xiaohua was like a startled bird, not daring to linger in the slightest. Gripping the Dream-Chasing Sword, he burrowed another dozen zhang straight downward, then proceeded forward according to his own sense of direction. Only when he felt safe did he finally relax a little and cautiously release his divine sense. Fortunately, he had already escaped the region of the black qi.

By now, the cool flow in his left arm had completely receded into that nameless place, and nothing unusual remained. Zhang Xiaohua waved the Dream-Chasing Sword a few times through the air and, finding everything normal, finally set his mind at ease.

He then carefully extended his divine sense upward, wary of encountering the black qi again. But when he probed, he discovered he was in an unfamiliar location. Frowning, he dared not delay. He leapt upward, executing Earth Escape and breaking out of the ground. He had tunneled so deep that it took quite some time before his head emerged above the surface.

Breathing in the fresh air, Zhang Xiaohua did not pause to rest. He immediately spread his divine sense in all directions, searching for Kong Que. Before long, he found her behind and to his right — already wounded.

It turned out that, in his fear earlier, he had tunneled several li away.

Kong Que’s situation was now extremely dire. Blood poured from her left arm, staining most of the limb, clearly a serious injury. Her back had also been slashed by a blade, leaving it soaked with blood. Her hair was disheveled, sweat beaded on her brow, and the glow of sword radiance on her flexible sword in her right hand had diminished to a faint trace, as though it might vanish at any moment.

As for the three men in green, aside from one who still wielded twin sabers, Liang Cangxu and the other each now held only a single blade. That man’s steel saber had evidently been cut in two by Kong Que. Moreover, blood seeped from the fronts of both men’s garments — injuries likely inflicted by her flexible sword.

Even so, the saber aura on their weapons remained robust, indicating their internal energy had not been greatly depleted.

The three formed a triangular formation, pressing a fierce assault around Kong Que. Four blades hacked toward her like cleavers chopping minced meat. Surrounded in the center, she fought desperately to defend herself — guarding the front only to expose the rear, faltering on both flanks, struggling just to cope. It was clear that within the time it took to burn a stick of incense, she would be cut down beneath their blades.

Yet encircled as she was, escape was impossible; even attempting to swallow a healing pill was but a fantasy!

And still, despite such circumstances, her swordplay remained fierce, occasionally forcing one of them to withdraw and regroup.

Seeing this situation, Zhang Xiaohua was greatly alarmed. It had been only a short while that he’d been trapped, yet the battle had turned this brutal. These three clearly had no intention of leaving anyone alive.

So Zhang Xiaohua did not linger any longer. Gripping the Dream-Chasing Sword, he formed a hand seal, about to release it — but at that moment, his heart stirred. Of the four people here, one belonged to the Incense Spreading Sect with its Immortal Dao heritage, and the other three were of the Heavenly Dragon Sect — well, let that be assumed for now. If he were to expose his own Immortal Dao techniques, wouldn’t he be asking for trouble? Not to mention searching for his second brother, even he himself might not escape the clutches of both sects.

Yet Kong Que absolutely had to be saved. What should he do?

Suddenly, Zhang Xiaohua formed a plan. He tucked away the Dream-Chasing Sword and drew three small flags from his money pouch — the very ones he had repaired earlier in Spring Rebirth Valley. Twisting his body, he tunneled straight toward the battlefield.

His escape technique was swift, and before long, he had reached the vicinity of the fight. By now, Kong Que was faltering. Her right arm had been slashed, and the sword’s radiance on her flexible blade vanished at once. She no longer dared to clash directly with the saber aura of the three men, dodging instead and waiting for chances to strike.

Zhang Xiaohua did not reveal himself. Remaining hidden underground, he quietly planted the three small flags far apart around the battlefield. Then he cast streams of hand seals into them one by one. Within his divine sense, the flags emitted faint glimmers, and an invisible curtain of light rose from them — slowly yet swiftly forming a massive sphere that completely enveloped the four fighters within.

Kong Que and Liang Cangxu were locked in fierce combat — how could they notice Zhang Xiaohua’s subtle maneuvers from afar?

Liang Cangxu and his companions saw that only a few more exchanges would suffice to wound Kong Que gravely again. After that, whether they killed, maimed, or captured her alive would be entirely up to them. Meanwhile, Kong Que herself was expending the last of her internal energy.

But at that very moment, her strength gave out. She could no longer raise her flexible sword; her body swayed, and she collapsed to the ground. Terrified, she knew her end had come. No longer attempting to rise, she closed her eyes and waited for the steel blades to fall upon her.