Chapter 12: 12 The Second Method of Talisman Refinement

Chapter 12: The Second Method of Refining Talismans

*Whoosh!*

Ning Xuan withdrew his blade.

The massive body of the black bear fell heavily to the ground.

*Whoosh!*

Ning Xuan struck again, stabbing the bear’s carcass once more.

*Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!*

With an expressionless face, he continued to deliver finishing blows until the bear was reduced to a completely mangled mess of flesh and blood, only then did he sheath his blade.

He recalled the words of Master Zhang.

Although Master Zhang was merely a man of the martial arts world, his words held truth.

Under equal circumstances, technique is of paramount importance.

When executed with a blade, the exquisite "Flying Swallow Collapses the Mountain" could unleash power far greater than the crude "Bear and Grizzly Collapse the Mountain."

He glanced at the bear’s body, which had nothing hidden on it other than fur, and ignored it, instead gazing toward the cave in the distance.

In front of that cave, the remaining bear demons were trembling in place.

Suddenly, many of the bears began to howl. Ning Xuan could not understand what they were saying.

He narrowed his eyes, observing for a moment. When he saw many of the smaller bear demons frantically fleeing toward the cave behind them, he suddenly arched his back, dragged his beast-slaying blade at an angle, and began to run, sprinting wildly through the rugged forest.

*Thump!*

*Thump!*

*Thump!*

He ran fast, his footsteps heavy.

But he did his best to avoid trees and rocks, preventing the bear demons from discovering that he knew "Bear and Grizzly Collapse the Mountain."

Techniques must be hidden; only a hidden technique is a true killing art.

Just now, when he fought that mountain-crashing bear demon, if the opponent had known he could use the blade to execute "Bear and Grizzly Collapse the Mountain," it surely would not have fought that way. Even if he had managed to win, he would never have been able to slay the enemy in a single exchange.

Now, although he hadn't used "Bear and Grizzly Collapse the Mountain," his momentum was still terrifying. Coupled with the murderous aura he carried from slaying the leader in one blow, many of the bear demons that had been standing their ground were suddenly struck with terror, wailing and shrieking as they retreated into the cave.

Seeing this, Ning Xuan immediately understood.

There was still a leader inside that cave.

Otherwise, these bear demon underlings wouldn't be running into the cave, but fleeing outward.

It was precisely because they still had a backbone that they ran back.

A little intimidation had yielded intelligence.

He stopped running to conserve his strength, twisted his neck, and sensed his own state.

Almost perfect.

He scanned his surroundings, relaxed his fingers slightly, gripped the hilt of his beast-slaying blade again, and began to approach the cave step by slow step.

When he reached a certain distance, he took a step forward, and the bold bear demons who dared to remain outside retreated a step.

He took another step.

The bear demons retreated another step.

When there was nowhere left to retreat, the bear demons were almost huddled together.

It was as if it wasn't a single man approaching, but an army of thousands, or a terrifying monster.

When he was still over ten yards from the cave entrance, Ning Xuan suddenly stopped and let out a thunderous shout. The bear demons huddled outside were so startled they began to howl, then all scrambled back into the cave.

Ning Xuan did not enter. He reached out, grabbed a tree in front of the cave, shook it, and then wrapped his arms around it, pulling with a sudden burst of force.

*Snap!* The tree was uprooted.

Ning Xuan broke the tree into pieces with his hands and took out a fire-starter from his waistband.

He had been in the forest for days; sometimes when he was hungry, he would fend for himself by roasting fish. Although his constitution could handle raw fish, cooked food always tasted better.

Over time, the fire-starter had become a permanent accessory.

His plan was simple.

Start a fire, create smoke, and force the bears out of the cave.

But...

He struck the fire-starter several times, but the flame went out each time.

A tiny fire-starter could not ignite a freshly broken tree.

Just then, he heard a slight movement coming from the direction of the cave. Something was emerging, moving faster and faster. By the time he noticed, a massive red shadow had already bolted out of the cave.

Ning Xuan tossed the fire-starter aside, gripped his blade with both hands, and used the practiced "Swallow Return Step." Retreating then advancing, he spun like a spiral around his beast-slaying blade, instantly accelerating. Then, shifting to a one-handed grip, he stretched his body and unleashed a "Clever Swallow Returns to Soar," secretly embedding "Flying Swallow Collapses the Mountain" into an upward diagonal strike. It shot out a cold light that was incredibly sharp and hidden with murderous intent.

The moment he struck, he saw the massive red shadow pouncing toward him.

He narrowed his eyes.

It was still a bear—a mountain-crashing bear. It was massive, and although it looked slightly smaller than the previous one, the difference was negligible.

The reason it was red was that this mountain-crashing bear was draped in a blood-red brocade kasaya.

It all happened in a flash.

Although Ning Xuan found it bizarre that the bear was wearing a kasaya—and it even triggered some distant associations like "a certain bear stealing a kasaya"—his beast-slaying blade did not slow down in the slightest.

He actually wanted to bypass the kasaya.

But in the blink of an eye, that was impossible. Besides, the kasaya was huge, and avoiding it wasn't easy.

The next instant...

The tip of the blade touched the blood-red kasaya-clad bear demon.

At the moment of contact, Ning Xuan channeled his strength and whispered in his heart: "Collapse!!"

*Whoosh!*

The blood-red kasaya suddenly billowed as if caught in a gale, flying wildly backward.

Ning Xuan felt his force sink into the sea, as if hitting nothingness.

*Bang!*

He was knocked backward, spinning twice before landing. He held his long blade to protect his body, ready to unleash another "Clever Swallow Returns to Soar" at any moment.

The blood-red kasaya bear demon also stumbled back several steps, its hind claws digging into a rock protruding from the soil before it finally stopped.

*Crack!*

The rock shattered under the residual force.

Ning Xuan narrowed his eyes, staring fixedly at the blood-red kasaya, observing every subtle movement of the bear demon.

His true nature was actually that of a playboy—a young master who loved to eat, drink, gamble, and womanize. But... that hellish nightmare of life-and-death reincarnation, along with some experiences before his transmigration, had given him a temporary persona.

A persona that existed solely to kill the opponent.

When this persona occupied his body, he became a killing machine.

He didn't actually like this persona.

But, there was no choice.

At this moment, Ning Xuan didn't bother thinking about where the blood-red kasaya came from or why it had such miraculous effects. He was only pondering the reason for his recent failure.

In an instant, he keenly realized that his previous strike had been directly distributed by the blood-red kasaya, spreading the force from a concentrated "point" to a "surface," naturally weakening it significantly.

His gaze slowly shifted upward again, locking onto the throat of the blood-red kasaya bear demon.

The latter also noticed his gaze.

He didn't ask questions.

The blood-red kasaya bear demon didn't ask questions either.

Who the hell would be distracted enough to ask questions in the middle of a life-or-death struggle?

The blood-red kasaya bear demon suddenly revealed a ferocious grin, waving its claws wildly, turning the kasaya into two blood-colored shields. Then, it transformed into a blood-red gale and charged at him, closing the distance to within seven steps in an instant.

Ning Xuan stepped into his "Swallow Return Step" and simultaneously struck with his blade.

Man and demon clashed.

For a moment, the blade was like a silver dragon emerging from the sea, and the robe was like waves in a sea of blood. You sought to soar and break through the sea, but the angry tide pressed down from the sky.

Between the clashes, shadows flickered. The sound of impact tore at the eardrums, and the force of the collision stirred up surging airwaves.

Ning Xuan’s techniques were a cut above, but unfortunately, the blood-colored brocade kasaya provided too much coverage, leaving him very little room to attack. Every time his blade landed on the kasaya, the force was evenly distributed and dissipated.

As for the kasaya, it was unclear what material it was made of; no matter how Ning Xuan slashed or stabbed, he couldn't damage it in the slightest.

*Bang!*

Another impact, and man and demon separated.

Ning Xuan stared at the bear demon, slowly assuming the starting stance of the "Three Swallows Return."

He had an idea.

He would try it.

If it didn't work this time, he would retreat.

The air was silent for a moment...

The blood-red kasaya bear demon’s eyes were eerie, and it was unclear what it was thinking. Suddenly, it erupted and lunged at Ning Xuan.

Ning Xuan’s body was like a swallow, his blade faster than his body. He struck with "Flying Swallow Chasing the Wind," hitting after the enemy had moved but arriving first.

The blood-red kasaya bear demon flipped its sleeve to block.

Ning Xuan pressed forward, switching from a one-handed grip to a two-handed one. He followed the light and swift "Flying Swallow Chasing the Wind" with the heavy and powerful "Swallow Pierces the Raging Waves."

*Swish!*

*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!*

The kasaya sank inward, but it quickly distributed his force once again.

Ning Xuan changed his slash into a spin, wanting to slide along the slippery kasaya and slit the bear demon's throat.

The blood-red kasaya bear demon reacted quickly. Its dark arm suddenly flipped, its elbow pressing down on Ning Xuan’s blade, and then it exerted force, smashing down heavily onto the blade.

It wanted to destroy its opponent's weapon.

*Crack!*

The blade broke.

But the blood-red kasaya bear demon’s force missed its mark.

Its heavy strike hit nothing.

Yet the blade was broken.

It wanted to break the blade.

It seized the opportunity and exerted force to break the blade.

And the blade broke.

But... the hell of it was, the blade wasn't broken by its pressure.

The powerful downward pressure caused its body to sink slightly.

Ning Xuan had broken his own blade, and then, holding the broken piece, his momentum undiminished, he stepped forward to accelerate and unleashed a "Flying Swallow Collapses the Mountain" directly at the bear's neck.

In this instant, there was truly a sense of mutual commitment.

The bear was going down, the blade was going up.

The bear’s eyes widened, but no matter how fast its reaction was, it could do nothing now.

*Swish!*

The broken blade slashed across the bear’s neck, cutting through half of it.

Ning Xuan reached out, patted the bear’s head, flipped over it, and turned the blade, pulling and tearing fiercely from behind.

*Bang!*

A massive bear head fell to the ground.

It rolled away into the dust.

Ning Xuan scanned his surroundings, then quickly bent down to pick up the blood-colored brocade kasaya.

Just then, in the air where he had clearly confirmed there was no one, a whistling sound suddenly came from right beside him.

The air seemed to boil, coming from behind him.

Ning Xuan’s entire body tensed. Unable to dodge, he stomped his feet wildly, his body not retreating but advancing, crashing toward the source of the whistling wind.

But because it happened so suddenly, he didn't use much force in this move.

*Bang!*

He only felt a searing, fiery pain in his lower back.

And the air, struck by him, revealed a strange white ape. This ape was entirely snow-white, with hair three inches long. Its eyes flickered with an indescribable evil and lechery, and it was clutching a long metal staff.

*Pfft!*

The white ape spat out a mouthful of blood. Its body was clearly not as strong as the bear's; even though Ning Xuan hadn't used his full strength to execute "Bear and Grizzly Collapse the Mountain," it was still in pain.

The strange white ape stared at Ning Xuan silently, then suddenly began to retreat.

Ning Xuan took this opportunity to quickly roll up the blood-colored brocade kasaya and drape it over himself.

In an instant, the blood-colored brocade kasaya dissipated into a mist smelling of incense.

Ning Xuan was stunned.

The white ape’s eyes lit up, and it let out a few "Heh-heh" mocking laughs, saying: "I thought you were a demon playing dirty, didn't expect you didn't even know this. Looks like you're just a local savage. Goodbye!!"

With that, its figure flickered in mid-air and vanished completely.

Ning Xuan walked forward two steps and looked at the pool of white ape blood on the ground.

Suddenly, a line of information appeared before his eyes

【Ghost Shadow Macaque】

【Heavenly Demon Life Attribute: Monkey Class, Common Branch, Ghost Shadow Species (Constitution): 3.5】

【Heavenly Demon Talisman: Perceive the arrival of the Heavenly Demon, follow its essence and blood, observe the root of its life, and forcibly refine the talisman. Failure results in death and dissipation; success allows one to make it their own.】

【Refine Talisman?】

'No.'

(End of chapter)