Nightfall

Before she raised her head, Ye Hongyu looked at Ning Que with an emotionless gaze.

Ning Que was holding on to his long podao and waving it along to the sword marks on the bluestone ceiling and walls. His expression was one of stunned confusion. His strokes were stiff and clumsy and he looked like a confused idiot.

Ye Hongyu looked at him. He had been grievously injured by Divine Lord Lotus and should be lying on the ground limpidly. However, he was waving his sword around. She did not know what had happened to him but could guess that he had encountered an opportunity and was in an important process of enlightenment.

A small opening appeared in the situation that had seemed to be a dead-end with Ning Que’s encounter with this opportunity. She knew that Divine Lord Lotus would not give Ning Que any opportunities but she must grab hold of this last chance.

She started to cry out loud.

Her tattered red dress suddenly lost all its color together with her cries. It turned a pale white as if all signs of life and blood were sucked away.

Her pale face became abnormally red instead. The corner of her eyes and the tip of her nose were as red as flowers and looked very bewitching. There were two streams of red tears that looked like blood flowing from the corner of her eyes. Her hair flowed behind her, dancing in the air.

Her state that had been doubly suppressed by the Confinement Formation and Divine Lord Lotus had returned to her body due to an unknown cause. The dark room was filled with the aura that belonged to a Grand Cultivator in the Knowing Destiny State.

The Knowing Destiny State aura only flared for a short amount of time before dimming. It was like a wild grass that had been pressed beneath a stone. It had barely managed to push the stone off itself to take a glimpse of the skies before being pushed down again.

States would retract and disappear unexpectedly. However, this did not happen. The Knowing Destiny State within her did not collapse and fluctuate, not because it was suppressed but because it was traveling downwards. It broke the bottom threshold of states and all the states that she had cultivated returned to the Seethrough state!

She had already progressed to the Knowing Destiny State. How did she force herself to return to the Seethrough state? All cultivators in the world would only want to progress upwards. Who would turn their backs and walk downhill instead? Even if there was a lunatic who wanted to descend in states, how would they manage it? You were already taller than the willow tree by the Revelation Institute and skipped over the rocks by the lake. Would you allow yourself to become shorter than the willow and not be able to step on the rock before you?

This was something that had just happened and was puzzling. Why did Ye Hongyu do that? She had slogged and tolled before she had finally found a Lucky Chance and entered the Knowing Destiny State. Why did she use such an obviously dangerous mean to return to the Seethrough state? What was she trying to do?

Unimaginable things continued to happen.

Ye Hongyu lifted her head and stared at Divine Lord Lotus. Stubbornness and a will to live flowed from her eyes. Her red skirt had turned white and her state had plummeted to the Seethrough state. However, a strong aura gushed from within her, breaking the control of the palm on her head had on her and towards the old monk.

...

...

One’s state would never plummet automatically. It was rare to hear news about cultivators who were able to descend in states by themselves. However, Master Lotus had studied the ways of the devil and was well-versed in all laws of the world. He knew of Ye Hongyu’s intentions the moment her aura suddenly changed.

There was a strong Taoist Law in the West-Hill Divine Palace. This law allowed cultivators to lower their own state. Once they used such a Taoist Law, the aura that they had learned and collected in the upper levels of their state would gush out in a split second. The force behind this power was frightfully strong as it was the explosion of decades of cultivation and meditation.

It was just that the price to pay for this Taoist Law was too high. Which cultivator could bear to give up the states that they had spent much effort in cultivating and was more important than their lives and families to start all over again? Furthermore, it would be several times more difficult to break the realm if the cultivator wished to enter the state they were in if they were to try again after using this Taoist Law.

For all the cultivation powerhouses in the Divine Hall who had the right to understand and learn such Taoist Laws, there wasn’t anyone who was willing to use such Taoist Laws on the long road of cultivation. This was more painful and sadder than asking them to die. Powerhouses of the Divine Hall who used these Taoist Laws would have to be in a situation worse than death. It required a lot of courage and determination.

The Tao Addict, Ye Hongyu was a Grand Cultivator in the Knowing Destiny State and had the whole world in her hands. She was, without doubt, one of the most influential persons in her generation. However, at this moment, she did not hesitate to allow her Knowing Destiny State to plummet to the Seethrough state forcefully. She did not care about the price that she was to pay.

That was because she was in a situation that was even more frightening than death. As compared to the cold Underworld, she saw a shard of hope, which was why she did not hesitate to face death in exchange for this slight chance. What else could she do other than burning her own state in this cold room devoid of Qi of Heaven and Earth?

The aura that burst out of her body like a storm was the distance between the Knowing Destiny State and Seethrough state. This was half a foot of distance that the old monk’s palm was jarred back from her head.

The storm-like aura gathered near her body and the old monk’s body trembled slightly. The fingers that were pointing at Ning Que shook. His expression was calm and he looked at the girl with fierce hatred from above. There were no human emotions in his deep eyes.

He did not think that someone as young as Ye Hongyu would know such a high-level Taoist Law. He might not have been so surprised if he had known that this young Taoist lady was like him, who was well versed in all Laws and had the name Tao Addict.

His withered lips cursed and a single lotus print formed in his right hand. A sacred light glowed from his fingertips, as bright as candlelight. The aura that was between Tao and Devil took up the entire mountain of bones within seconds.

With the forceful suppression of Divine Skill, the old monk’s withered palm made a reach to press down on Ye Hongyu’s head slowly once more. Every inch downward looked slow, but could not be stopped.

Ye Hongyu did not lower her head but stared into the old monk’s eyes coldly without flinching. She bit her lips tightly and forced out the power she had from descending in states without holding back anything in an attempt to stop the withered hand from descending.

She pressed her hands to the ground. Several shards of bones had pierced deeply into her palms. The pain kept her conscious and stubborn. Her wrists trembled violently and looked like bamboo shoots which were about to break. However, they supported her body stubbornly. Her body was shaking violently too and looked like she might fall over any time. However, she stayed stubbornly upright as well.

The two paths of power within her body met and compressed. Blood flowed from the pores on her delicate face before congealing into tiny pearls of blood before landing on her now white skirt which had lost its colour previously.

However, that withered hand continued to fall mercilessly.

It fell inch by inch, even though she had already paid such a heavy price. She had even burned up her life power, but the distance between her state and Divine Lord Lotus’s was too wide and there was no way to stop him.

At the last moment, Ye Hongyu glanced at Ning Que expressionlessly.

Ning Que was still holding on to the podao and mimicking the marks of the Haoran Sword on the wall. He danced at times, and at others, he would descend into silent rumination while holding on to his sword. His mental state was separated from his body and he did not know what was happening at all.

"I have tried my best, if you don’t awake, there’s nothing else that I can do."

Ye Hongyu looked at Ning Que. A strong sense of hopelessness passed through her eyes which were made even more beautiful by the tendrils of blood within. She thought, "You idiot! When will you wake!"

And then, she shut her eyes.

The withered hand still landed on her head.

The old monk looked at the young girl beneath his palm with a heavy expression. His cheeks that have filled out slightly earlier had sunken in again and he was once again as withered as a ghost. He harrumphed and sent in all the power that he had gathered over the past decades!

A strong gush of aura burst out from his withered palm.

Ye Hongyu’s hair which had been dancing crazily in the air returned to her shoulders. She fell towards the ground slowly and two tracks of red tears flowed from her eyes. However, she still kept her cold gaze on the old monk’s face stubbornly.

The old monk was very pale and his body shook slightly. It was evident that he had paid a huge price to tame the power that Ye Hongyu had burned her life and state for.

The fight did not end here. What made the old monk uneasy and alert was not the girl beneath his palm, but Ning Que who was dancing with his sword. That was because Ning Que was dancing the strokes of the Haoran Sword.

He raised his withered palm once more. He pointed at Ning Que whose psyche had entered the sword style and was unaware of what was happening around him.

Lotus did not use up all his power even though Ye Hongyu had unleashed such a terrifying Taoist Law. That was because he had to keep a reserve to ensure that he could kill Ning Que before he learned the sword style.

He had to die and not leave any possibility of a future troublemaker. That was why he did not just simply glance at Ning Que, but waved his finger in the air with an intense expression on his face.

A strong power that was almost tangible grew from his fingers. It broke the silence of the room and tore apart the cold air, piercing at Ning Que’s back.

Ning Que was staring at the sword marks on the stone walls dazedly. His mental state was empty and dazed, just like a young child staring at ants moving houses, unaware of a flying rock coming at him from behind.

Ye Hongyu, the Tao Addict, had already fallen into a pool of blood and had no strength to continue. He was in a vulnerable state. There seemed to be nothing that could save his life from Master Lotus’ finger dripping with ill intent.

At this moment, a white shard of bone flew up before Master Lotus’ psyche.

In theory, not even the strong bones of powerhouses from the Devil’s Doctrine could withstand the power of Master Lotus’ psyche power. Was there any tangible object that could stop the intangible psyche power?

However, the dim light in the room refracted suddenly. The fire in the sword marks on the ceiling and walls grew as they were affected by an invisible object.

While one’s Psyche Power was intangible, it could still feel. Should light be affected and be forced to refract, what about one’s Psyche Power? There was a sudden puff and Master Lotus’ fingers missed. Ning Que continued standing with his knife, looking vacant.

Two white brows floated up. The old monk looked at the corner of the room in surprise.

It was a forgotten corner.

And in the forgotten corner, was a forgotten girl.

The girl had not displayed any amazing state or abilities since the beginning. She was really weak, which was why Master Lotus did not deign her important enough and forgot all about her in the corner.

But she was Mo Shanshan.

She was Mo Shanshan from Mogan Mountain.

She was the Calligraphy Addict of the same rank as the Tao Addict.

That was why, as long as she could move, she could still achieve things that ordinary people cannot even though she was weak.

...

...

The old monk looked at Mo Shanshan but did not bother with her. He pointed his fingers and unleashed his power at Ning Que.

Mo Shanshan was sitting on the ground with her knees crossed. Her head was lowered and she looked so weak that she might fall anytime. She reached for another rock with her right hand and tossed it at a distance. It might have looked like she was doing it at random, but it blocked the power from the finger once more.

The old monk frowned. He waved his withered finger and focused his psyche power, pushing it at her chest.

Mo Shanshan’s fingers loosened and a fistful of white bones flew before her.

Then, she lowered her head and coughed, blood dripping down the front of her robes.

The young Talisman Master had already used up most of her Psyche Power after days of counting by the Front Gate and leading Ning Que through the big tactical array of the Devil’s Doctrine’s Front Gate. Her sense of perception was also severely injured by Master Lotus earlier. However, she kept herself upright and used everything that she could touch beside her to form an array in an attempt to stop Master Lotus.

Those white bones were not talismans, but arrays.

Most tactical arrays in the world were just talismans in another form. It required a connection with heaven and earth and uses the aura of nature. One could not sense the Qi of Heaven and Earth in the dark room due to the Confinement Formation’s suppression.

That was why the array she had set up was different from the regular tactical array.

An impressive person had changed and made this tactical array possible a thousand years ago. The original intention of it was not to get closer to heaven and earth, but to fight with it. That was why this tactical array was not used to move the Qi of Heaven and Earth, but to break it, and even block it.

There was no Qi of Heaven and Earth in the room, so this tactical array could not break it. However, it could break and block all other intangible powers. For example, the power that Master Lotus had cultivated after eating two bites of flesh and decades of imprisonment.

This array was called the Stone Array Tactic.

The dozens of shards of bones between the old monk and Ning Que were what Mo Shanshan had studied and learned from the Great Blockage Formation outside the Front Gate of the Devil’s Doctrine. Even though it was not as good as an original Stone Array Tactic, it was sufficient.

Master Lotus’s expression grew grave. He could sense the thick uneasiness and shadows in the rotation of life. That young man had understood the Haoran Sword style left behind by Ke Haoran. The young Taoist girl had managed to accomplish an amazing feat of lowering her state and the girl who had looked weak and harmless was able to understand Stone Array Tactics!

The lotus flower in the old monk’s withered hand bloomed vigorously. Each petal was a strong Psyche Power attack.

The young girl picked up the broken shards of bones and the rocks that had fallen from the walls. She kept mending the tactical array that she had just learned.

Ning Que studied the sword strokes in silence within the simple tactical array formed by bones and rocks.

There were loud scraping sounds in the palace. The old monk was expressionless and his gaze was as deep as the netherworld.

Fresh blood dribbled like a clear stream from Mo Shanshan’s thin lips. It soaked through her thick white robes. Her long lush lashes fluttered on her pale face as if she might shut her eyes anytime.

Ye Hongyu stared at the old monk’s aged face amongst the blood and bones. A passionate excitement glowed in her eyes. She looked crazy with the blood on her beautiful face even though she was weak. She laughed loudly and oddly, "You old loony. Suck on! I want to see if you’re faster or if he is before you suck all my blood. I want to see who will live on!"