Chapter 38: 38 A Skilled U-Turn on the Spot

Chapter 38: 38. A Skilled About-Face

Ning Xuan quickly scanned Fairy Yaozhen and said succinctly, "Scout the path."

He had to determine whether there were any skin-clad soldiers nearby.

Fairy Yaozhen explained earnestly, "This spell is called the Mountain Barrier. It uses dragon qi to form a mountain range. While you and I are within the mountains, any entity wishing to touch us must pass through this dragon qi. Every step will feel as if the soul is carrying a massive boulder; the closer they get, the greater the resistance. I have cast two consecutive barriers and have no strength left to cast the Earth-Sensing spell."

Ning Xuan glanced at the black mist outside and said, "Withdraw mine. Next time, don't say so much—just say you have no strength left."

Fairy Yaozhen felt a flicker of anger. She was explaining seriously; in the Imperial Capital, no one spoke to her in such a tone. She was clearly calm, serene, and self-sufficient, so why did this youth always use words that provoked her?

Ning Xuan looked at her strangely and said, "How about... I withdraw the second half of my sentence?"

Fairy Yaozhen's intentions were seen through, but Ning Xuan's words were still irritating. For a moment, she couldn't pinpoint exactly why they were so annoying, so she suppressed her temper and gave a brief reply: "Fine."

Immediately, the scale of the golden mountain shrank by half. Fairy Yaozhen remained within the mountain, but Ning Xuan was directly exposed.

Upon discovering the target was exposed, the black smoke acted like man-eating sharks smelling blood in the deep sea. Countless venomous human faces, dragging the long tails of wolf-smoke black mist, jerked to a sudden halt for a split second before rushing toward Ning Xuan like madmen.

However, it was like rain falling into a pond; they struck the surface of Ning Xuan's body, creating ripples, but they were utterly powerless.

The strength of these human faces was negligible. If they could not burrow through the acupoints into the human body to gnaw at flesh and blood, they were nothing but useless waste.

It might have been fine before, but they were now approaching the center of the demon calamity.

Seeing that Ning Xuan remained unchanged, Fairy Yaozhen showed a look of astonishment, thinking to herself, *'He seems quite capable.'*

She did not stop.

A First-Rank Celestial Master could only cast one spell at a time.

A Second-Rank, however, could cast two simultaneously.

She used [Mountain Barrier] for defense and [Earth-Sensing] for reconnaissance.

Her eyes instantly turned white—a blind, milky white—and her expression became indifferent.

She entered a mysterious state. Her vision could reach over ten miles away, allowing her to overlook the earth below from a perspective high in the clouds.

Ning Xuan's thoughts turned to the "flying dagger treasure" in his bosom. He moved to stand beside Fairy Yaozhen, dedicating his full strength to protecting her to prevent her from being ambushed while casting.

Fairy Yaozhen began her rapid observation.

She saw vast, sprawling forests.

She saw the official highway winding like a snake through the forests under the moonlight.

She saw skin-clad demons walking upon that highway.

She quickly shifted her gaze. She saw a place where black smoke rolled heavily, and a bonfire that was "burning."

But while a normal bonfire emits light and heat, this thing continuously ejected black smoke. After the smoke emerged from it, it flew outward rapidly, making strange sounds that were half-laughing and half-crying.

She tried to see the bonfire clearly, only to find it was nothing but a mass of "burning blackness."

That blackness even blocked the detection of the dragon qi.

Fairy Yaozhen was startled.

This situation was unprecedented.

The Celestial Master's [Earth-Sensing] spell relied on dragon qi, and every inch of this land was under the governance of dragon qi.

To put it simply, with her as the center, everything within a ten-mile radius should be unable to escape her eyes. If she wished, she could even see what every household was doing, even if they were hidden in secret chambers.

Yet, her eyes, which could see through walls, could not penetrate this mass of black bonfire.

As Fairy Yaozhen was pondering a solution, she suddenly caught sight of a massive black shadow moving through the black mist. That shadow was carrying a spiked blade, yet the "human-faced black smoke" did not attack it.

A moment later, Fairy Yaozhen saw clearly: the shadow was a sheep demon.

It had a sheep's body but a black mane that resembled steel spikes. It stood on two hooves, its steps light and agile.

A sheep demon!

The sheep demon moved faster and faster, accompanied by the "human-faced black smoke," looking like a general leading an army. One moment it was dozens of feet away, and the next, it had rapidly closed in, heading straight for the two of them.

Wherever the sheep demon went, figures darted out from the adjacent dense forests to walk alongside it, gradually forming a black tide.

Fairy Yaozhen identified these figures: some were demon-plague acolytes, some were elite warriors, and some were people from the martial world... but without a doubt, since they could walk alongside the "human-faced black smoke" without being attacked, they had clearly all become skin-clad demons.

Watching this scene, she felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

She had no time for deep thought. She withdrew [Earth-Sensing] and immediately looked at Ning Xuan, who was standing close by, and said, "A sheep demon is coming, leading many powerful skin-clad demons. Those skin-clad demons were likely our elites in their former lives."

Ning Xuan asked, "Did you see a thousand soldiers?"

Fairy Yaozhen replied, "Not quite."

Ning Xuan said, "I'll try a move. If it doesn't work, I'll charge toward you, and you must immediately grab me and use Earth-遁 (Earth-Escape) to flee."

A Second-Rank Celestial Master's "Earth-Escape" was instantaneous. Although the consumption was high, it could be used a few times, and for Ning Xuan, it was a life-saving divine skill.

He could fight if he wanted to, or run if he wanted to.

Fairy Yaozhen said, "Let's fight first."

Ning Xuan countered, "Let's test it first. If we can fight, we fight."

Fairy Yaozhen pondered and discussed seriously, "What if we were originally capable of winning, but because you wanted to 'test a move,' you fell into a disadvantage and got injured? Wouldn't that turn a victory into a defeat?"

Ning Xuan said irritably, "And what if we weren't capable of winning to begin with, but I tested a move and confirmed it, only for you to be unable to use Earth-Escape immediately because you were busy maintaining [Mountain Barrier] and casting other spells? Wouldn't we be wiped out entirely?"

Fairy Yaozhen said unpleasantly, "General Anyuan, why must you bolster the enemy's morale while undermining our own?"

Ning Xuan replied, "Say that again! Once we get back, I'll write a memorial to the Emperor, saying that as long as His Majesty issues an edict for me to sleep with you, I will remain eternally loyal to him!!"

Fairy Yaozhen's face flushed bright red. She stammered, then shouted angrily, "You... you... you rogue! Why do you always say such things!"

Ning Xuan exhaled a long breath of turbid air and said, "Listen to me. Get ready!"

This time, even though she was extremely unwilling, Fairy Yaozhen responded with great grievance, "Fine, I'll listen to you!"

She disliked this mindset of "thinking of retreat before thinking of progress."

She was starting to regret it now.

What had possessed her to choose this youth as her assistant and partner?

She maintained [Mountain Barrier] while preparing to cast [Earth-Escape].

Ning Xuan gripped his Beast-Slaying Blade.

He could not brazenly use the Bodhisattva Golden Body in front of Fairy Yaozhen, so his strongest strike would still be the Yan He technique.

To defend against these all-pervading "human-faced black smokes," he also could not summon any other physical-type Heavenly Demon Records.

Just as he was thinking...

*Whoosh!*

A wind rose in the distance.

The forest outside the relay station let out eerie laughter.

A massive, terrifying sheep head swept toward Ning Xuan amidst rolling black smoke.

Ning Xuan focused his gaze.

*Eh? A seasoned demon.*

*Isn't this the sheep demon that escaped from Manfeng Mountain?*

The sheep demon also saw the youth ahead.

Panic instantly seized its heart. It stopped laughing, and most of its ferocity vanished, but upon second thought, it felt there was no problem.

Because the "human-faced black smoke" was present, they could thoroughly entangle any warrior. At that point, no matter how strong a warrior was, they could not multitask—they could not deal with the dense "human-faced black smoke" while simultaneously defending against its attack.

But in the next instant, it saw clearly.

This youth wasn't being entangled by any "human-faced black smoke" at all.

The black smoke striking his body was like rain hitting a pond, creating mere ripples, unable to cause even a scratch, let alone serve any "binding" purpose.

Ning Xuan grinned widely, revealing a row of white teeth.

He had already pieced together a rough theory: the Fragrance-Stealing Rat had likely joined forces with the sheep demon and some local demons to come here; these "human-faced black smokes" were likely its doing.

Fairy Yaozhen looked at him strangely. Before she could ask, "What are you laughing at?", she witnessed a bizarre sight: the massive, terrifying sheep head, accompanied by rolling black smoke, suddenly performed an about-face on the spot and charged in the opposite direction with even greater speed than before.

Ning Xuan rushed toward Fairy Yaozhen and said quickly, "Get in front of it."

Fairy Yaozhen wasted no words. Golden light surged, and she instantly reappeared hundreds of feet away.

The moment she appeared, the sheep demon was charging.

Seeing Ning Xuan suddenly appear in front of it, the sheep demon's past memories were triggered. It was scared out of its wits and used a demon spell to dart sideways.

A faint blue glow suddenly flashed from Ning Xuan's bosom.

The flying dagger!

The flying dagger, etched with frost-thorn patterns, turned into a flash of blue light, slicing through the sheep demon's left leg. A double burst of force exploded.

A sheep leg flew through a mist of blood.

Ning Xuan's figure blurred as he caught the leg. With a drop of fresh blood, he instantly refined it, his gaze sweeping through the information.

[Ghost-Horned Goat] [Constitution: 3.0] [Void-Reality Escape: Transform into black wind, hide demon form, step through void and tread on reality, confuse eyes and乱 (disrupt) hearts.]

The sheep demon let out a miserable cry and continued to flee with a limp, but the massive loss of demon essence meant it could no longer perform [Void-Reality Escape].

It looked back in terror.

Those "human-faced black smokes" simply could not interfere with this youth.

Both fearful and enraged, it cried out, "We are all demons! What exactly do you want?"

Fairy Yaozhen looked at Ning Xuan in astonishment; she had checked, and Ning Xuan had no demonic aura on him.

Ning Xuan was not panicked at all, nor did he explain. He stared at it and spat out a single word

"Run."