Chapter 28: The Battle of Manfeng Mountain

Chapter 28: The Battle of Manfeng Mountain

*Clack.*

Inside the carriage, a black stone fell; the sound was not loud.

The scholar opposite him, identified as the Top Scholar, glanced at the black stone, picked up a white stone with a sharp gaze, and placed it down aggressively.

Ning Taiyi watched the piece—a move heavy with killing intent that sought to destroy his entire dragon formation—in silence. He did not speak, merely taking a black stone from the jar and rubbing it slowly between his fingertips.

He was looking at the board.

The scholar was looking at him.

He raised his head and met the scholar's eyes.

In this gaze, Ning Taiyi frowned, while the scholar was brimming with spirit, projecting an uplifting sense of coercion.

Just then, the voice of a child drifted in from outside the carriage.

"Grandpa, Great Grandpa~~"

Ning Taiyi's expression shifted slightly.

These were children of the Ning household, but they did not bear the Ning surname.

He had gradually brought these children into the Ning residence; some had arrived with women and servants.

The Matriarch of the Ning household had asked where these people came from.

Ning Taiyi said they were the descendants of friends he had made in his youth. They had been suffering outside, some even on the brink of starvation; moved by pity, he had taken them in after finding them.

The Matriarch asked what kind of friends they were.

Ning Taiyi said they were brothers-in-arms who had faced death together.

The Matriarch then asked, "If they were your friends, why were they unable to survive?"

Ning Taiyi replied that those friends had died for him, many, many years ago.

The Matriarch was a devout Buddhist and kind-hearted, so she allowed them to stay.

And Ning Taiyi had not lied. Having traveled this long path, how could there not be a few friends who had died for him along the way? After a hurried parting back then, when they met again, there were only ruins and broken walls, and the descendants struggled to survive.

He had brought back the descendants of these former comrades, and these people had since branched out, together forming a vast Ning family. Naturally, these children were very grateful to him and close to him; thus, when they knew he had returned, they would often come to find him happily. In the past, he would also play with these children.

"Great Grandpa!"

The child stopped outside the carriage.

Soon, a woman hurried over, pulling the child away while apologizing profusely to the soldiers outside, repeatedly saying, "The child is being naughty."

The scholar glanced at Ning Taiyi, his gaze falling on the black stone held in Ning Taiyi's fingers, then sweeping down to the great dragon formation below. Suddenly, he remarked indifferently, "Master Taiyi is old after all. Within three moves, this dragon will be mine."

Ning Taiyi remained silent.

He could tell that the Top Scholar's skill at Go was exceptionally high.

Though he appeared calm now, his mind was in turmoil; he was indeed no match.

The scholar said, "Actually, there is another way to prevent the loss of the dragon."

Ning Taiyi's brow twitched, and he immediately closed his eyes, his entire nervous system tensing up.

He knew exactly what the scholar meant.

The scholar was saying that as long as the person outside the game conceded defeat, the pieces within the game would remain preserved.

The scholar was demanding that he cease all superfluous actions and immediately withdraw the Ugly Slave.

The tides of fortune were turning; the Ning family had reached its end.

If he continued to play, the scholar would show no mercy.

For Ning Taiyi, whether to place this stone or not had become the most difficult choice of his life.

However, he thought of something even more terrifying.

This Top Scholar was meticulous and decisive. Because he had made a slight extra move, the Top Scholar had already acted with lightning speed to summon people from General Qin's manor.

That meant... the Top Scholar already knew the problem lay at Manfeng Mountain.

Regarding Manfeng Mountain, could he possibly have no arrangements in place?

His handover with the Top Scholar had been settled half a year ago. In these six months... for a man destined to become a Prefect, would there not be cultivators seeking his patronage?

'This is bad!!'

Ning Taiyi was suddenly struck with alarm.

He had miscalculated; he had underestimated the Top Scholar!

Or rather, he had never imagined the Top Scholar would be so decisive!

Who suppresses a threat with such overwhelming force the moment a sign appears? Should they not test the waters first?

Suddenly...

He let out a bitter smile. He realized it wasn't that he had underestimated the Top Scholar, but that he had grown old.

In this world, who is not calculating every possible outcome?

These were matters of life and death, of power and glory; who would dare not calculate?

The scholar smiled. "Well, Master Taiyi, do we continue? How about this: I will tap my white stone against the edge ten times. After ten taps, you may make your decision."

As he spoke, he picked up a white stone and lightly tapped it against the edge of the board.

***

**[Yin Wind Ox]** *Attribute: Life, Common Grade, Constitution 3.5.* *Yin Wind Malice: Blows yin winds, rolls up baleful qi, dissolves bone and erodes flesh.*

Ning Xuan quickly scanned the core keywords on the Heavenly Demon Register, then without hesitation, swapped [Mountain-Crashing Bear] for [Yin Wind Ox].

His constitution changed from 4.7 to 5.0.

As soon as this change occurred, his vision was filled with golden light.

A glance from the corner of his eye revealed that the Ugly Slave had, at some unknown point, sat cross-legged, appearing to be in a trance.

And the large golden seal appearing above his head began to... smash.

It smashed in large swathes.

Ning Xuan tested himself; even when charging with his blade, he could at most strike two or three enemies at once.

But this seal smashed in massive areas, each strike covering a range as large as the drawing room of a wealthy household.

*Boom!!*

In an instant, over twenty densely packed small demons were knocked to the ground.

These fallen demons were not dead; their eyes were even still open.

But even with eyes open, they were motionless, completely drained of strength, left entirely at the mercy of others.

Fortunately, the speed of the seal's smashing was not very fast; it had a slow, rhythmic quality, like a blacksmith swinging a hammer.

In the intervals between each swing, there was enough time for faster demons to flee or... launch a sneak attack.

After all, any observant person could see that the Celestial Master controlling the seal was not particularly strong himself.

*Boom!*

Another strike, and another patch of small demons fell.

The survivors finally reacted.

First, the Great King had been killed in one blow, followed by this overwhelming, crushing attack.

The small demons were like monkeys seeing a falling tree, beginning to scramble and flee in panic.

The great seal chased them, smashing down.

Ning Xuan was in no hurry to chase and kill the fallen demons; instead, he stayed by the Ugly Slave's side, never moving an inch away.

The small demons ran, fleeing rapidly.

Suddenly, a wind rose in the distance.

A gust of black wind blurred the vision. Suddenly, a massive, terrifying sheep's head emerged from the black wind. The head hovered in mid-air, flickering and elusive, eerie and unpredictable. As soon as it appeared, it suddenly flashed forward like a teleportation, closing the distance by dozens of feet.

However, Ning Xuan's constitution was now extremely strong, and his perception of blood qi was equally potent. His constitution clearly overwhelmed the sheep demon in the black wind, so... he was not deceived by the black wind.

He clearly perceived that the sheep demon head that had instantly moved dozens of feet forward was merely an illusion; the real sheep demon was still dozens of feet away.

Celestial Masters feared such ghostly things most of all.

Because of the confusing demonic qi, a Celestial Master could not distinguish between true and false demonic arts.

But he had no time to speak; he moved.

The Beast-Slaying Blade, still stained with the blood of the ox demon, traced a wide arc, delivering a massive, straight-line strike toward the air behind the Ugly Slave.

There was clearly nothing in that air, yet his blade slashed through it with extreme speed.

Just as the blade struck.

A piercing, metallic hum rang out.

*Clang!!!*

In the air behind the Ugly Slave, a transparent silhouette manifested.

It was a strange white ape, tall and snow-white with five-inch long fur. Its face was deathly pale, its eyes filled with evil and lewdness. The metal staff in its hands was currently parrying Ning Xuan's blade.

The sheep demon distracted, while the monkey demon ambushed.

The monkey demon twisted its neck, staring straight at Ning Xuan with evil eyes, and let out a clicking sound: "How curious."

As soon as the words fell, the Ugly Slave was not slow.

The golden seal in the sky immediately shifted, smashing down violently toward the monkey demon.

The monkey demon let out a cry, its tail whipping the ground like a long lash with a loud *crack*. Simultaneously, it pressed down hard with its staff; the combined force sent it rushing backward. Its form flickered as it attempted to vanish into the air.

The cross-legged Ugly Slave wore a grim, ghostly mask. He pressed his two fingers together and said coldly, "Suppress!"

The great seal instantly expanded, growing larger and larger until it became a massive golden mountain.

The golden mountain pressed down toward the monkey demon.

The monkey demon had nowhere to hide. Its eyes filled with horror as it shrieked repeatedly: "Still not attacking?! Still not attacking!!!"

Ning Xuan's gaze shifted slightly; the massive sheep head in the black wind had teleported forward once again.

*Fake.*

He made his judgment.

It arrived again.

*Still fake.*

He made his judgment again.

However, the third time, he moved.

Because within that rolling black wind, the sheep demon had truly arrived.

He took a step, ignoring the monkey demon.

His elder brother's strength far exceeded his imagination. In today's battle, it was as if his brother was pinning all the demons to the ground, allowing him to hack away at them at will.

This made him increasingly certain of the unfathomable depth of this Imperial Dynasty.

Demons were indeed terrifying, but the Dynasty was even more terrifying.

A demonic forbidden zone like Manfeng Mountain was, in reality... merely a game played at the Prefectural level. It wasn't that they couldn't move, but that the time to move had not yet come.

If the time came, they could annihilate it with such overwhelming force.

Today, his brother had only hurriedly brought him along to witness the scene. If things had been properly arranged, there would have been very little suspense.

Ordinary people feared, soldiers were nervous, and sorcerers were worried... but the Celestial Masters and the true high officials knew perfectly well: everything remained as steady as Mount Tai, fundamentally undisturbed.

As many thoughts flashed through his mind, Ning Xuan's blade was already meeting the oncoming sheep demon.

But just then...

Precisely at that moment, he caught the scent of humans.

Not his brother, but two additional ones!

Those two were downstream of the wind. If they weren't, he would have smelled them long ago. Smelling them now meant those two were already very close.

Just as doubt arose in his heart, golden light appeared before his eyes.

Golden light rose in the distance, transforming into a great seal, descending straight and fast toward his position to suppress him.

The sheep demon shrieked, leaving afterimages in the black wind as it fled in panic.

You've got to be kidding; he could barely fight off one seal, and now another was coming?

Ning Xuan's blade slashed through empty air.

In the next instant, the seal fell—but not on the sheep demon; it fell on Ning Xuan!

*Boom!*

With a single blow, Ning Xuan was struck senseless. Golden light flashed before his eyes; he felt as if his very soul had been knocked out, and his entire body went limp as he began to collapse.

The seal pressed down on him.

On the other side, the Ugly Slave's seal also pinned down the monkey demon.

Though unexpected, the sheep demon was too terrified to linger and fled for its life.

In the distance, two figures appeared.

One wore purple robes, and the other was a burly man with a crazed expression, his eyes bloodshot and bulging.

The purple-robed Celestial Master sighed softly, "I intended only to suppress him and let the demons kill him. Boy, you do it."

The burly man did not hesitate. He flipped his hand and, with incredible speed and proficiency, pulled a man-sized heavy crossbow from his back. He drew the string and pulled the trigger against his stunned colleague.

An arrow as thick as an arm exploded outward!

The Ugly Slave had just suppressed the monkey demon and had no time to attack the burly man.

Furthermore, the man had already fired.

Unable to continue controlling the Celestial Seal, the Ugly Slave suddenly snapped his eyes open and roared, "No!!"

Ning Xuan was the hope of the Ning family.

The eyes behind the ghostly mask instantly turned red. The Earth-遁 (Escape) technique required at least three breaths to activate; during a battle, there was simply no time.

He rushed toward Ning Xuan, wanting to block the arrow for him.

Once it was confirmed that Ning Xuan possessed the qualifications to become a General, Ning Xuan's importance ranked above his own.

He could die, but Ning Xuan could not!

Ning Xuan was continuously swapping his Heavenly Demon Register.

After switching to the [Fragrance-Stealing Rat] register, his "Spirit" instantly jumped from "1" to "5.5."

The moment his Spirit reached "5.5," he felt his soul instantly snap back into his body.

As expected, the Celestial Master's attack was a type of attack meant to suppress the soul.

He stood up.

He stood up amidst the horrified gazes of the burly man and the purple-robed figure. He reached out and grabbed the exploding crossbow bolt that had reached his face, then gripped the tail of the arrow and drove it violently into his own chest.

*Boom!!*

A violent crack rang out as the bolt shattered.

Ning Xuan tilted his head back and let out a crazed, "Hahahaha!" In the next instant, he channeled his strength through his palm. With a frantic, high-pitched whistle, he hurled the Beast-Slaying Blade with all his might.

The blade's shadow was like a long rainbow.

It arrived in an instant.

One strike, two targets.

The purple-robed figure and the burly man in the distance were pierced together and sent flying high into the air.

(End of Chapter)