Chapter 422: Talismanic Arts Duel, The Battle of Advancement!

The forest was dense and damp, and the faint starlight could barely pierce the canopy.

Xiaomiao's eyes showed a trace of helplessness, but not much surprise or shock. Shi Qianzhang had always been like this; he could never keep anything to himself.

Because Shi Qianzhang had grabbed Liu Yunzhi by the collar, the two young talisman sect elites were now almost pressed together. Shi Qianzhang's gaze was filled with dissatisfaction, anger, and a hint of regret.

Realization had already dawned on him. The strange things that Liu Yunzhi had said before now made sense. Moreover, he recalled the time he and Huai Jing brought Liu Yunzhi to the villa. That had to have been when Liu Yunzhi provided the ancient cultivator with information about Xi Lian.

Liu Yunzhi calmly met Shi Qianzhang's stare, his eyes showing faint confusion. "Qianzhang."

Shi Qianzhang momentarily hesitated.

Did I really conclude Little Liu is a traitor just because of what Xiaomiao said?

Bzz!

Lightning flared before his eyes. Shi Qianzhang looked down in shock, finding a yellow talisman stuck to his chest. Crimson cinnabar lines formed the shape of a flaming divine bird and fell from the sky.

Right after, lightning flashed, hitting the ground right in front of Shi Qianzhang. The attack blasted him backward into the gap between two trees.

Liu Yunzhi sighed quietly as he looked at where Shi Qianzhang had been thrown. "The fox fiend's Gu poison has deceived you as well, Qianzhang. I'll bring Xiaomiao to the forefather so he can save her."

With a gentle expression, Liu Yunzhi walked toward Xiaomiao.

The young girl just watched him closely, noticing a faint ring of silvery light in his eyes. Though he was only five meters away now, she still looked calm.

A sharp hiss tore through the air, and two black talismans that were as sharp as blades cut past Liu Yunzhi. One left a bloody line on his cheek, while the other sliced open the shoulder part of his Daoist robe.

Liu Yunzhi shook his head slightly, turned his back to Xiaomiao, and flicked his sleeve. Several talismans flew out and hovered before him.

Each talisman released strands of lightning as fine as hair. Liu Yunzhi clearly didn't make them; only those at the Nascent Soul Realm or higher could create such lightning talismans.

Rustles echoed from deep in the forest. Shi Qianzhang darted between the trees, searching for an opening in Liu Yunzhi's defenses.

"Little Liu! Snap out of it!" Shi Qianzhang burst from the shadows on the left, black talismans swirling before him. They turned into beams of dark light, shooting straight toward Liu Yunzhi.

The attack looked fierce, but none of the black talismans aimed for Liu Yunzhi's vital points.

"Snap out of it? I don't understand what you're saying." Liu Yunzhi chuckled lightly. With a flick of his fingers, he activated the lightning talismans before him. Seven to eight lightning bolts instantly incinerated the black talismans and hit Shi Qianzhang in the chest, sending him tumbling into the forest shadows.

"I'm following the forefather's command. What's wrong with that?"

"Fuck!"

Shi Qianzhang leaped up again. His jacket and shirt were charred, revealing more than ten talismans with an earthen yellow glow all over his torso.

Indestructible Vajra Talisman, Earth Guardian Talisman, Divine Radiance Talisman...

Liu Yunzhi shook his head again. The lightning talismans flared and unleashed another wave of lightning that swallowed Shi Qianzhang.

Through the flashes, Shi Qianzhang roared, "Are you trying to kill me, Little Liu?!"

"You stand in the way of my duty to the forefather, Shi Qianzhang."

Liu Yunzhi extended his right hand, and more talismans flew from his sleeve. Forty-nine lightning talismans swiftly surrounded Shi Qianzhang.

"The only reason we can cultivate now is that the forefather preserved the ancient legacy for us. Why must you defy him? Can you not feel his boundless compassion because you're a disciple of the Longhu Mountains?"

Clutching his chest, Shi Qianzhang sprang up again. "Fuck! You've really been corrupted! Now I understand. Although Big Sister Xi Lian lost to her emotions, your forefather manipulates minds and calls himself divine. He is the real devil! I'll drag you back to your senses, Little Liu!"

Bzz...

From the forty-nine lightning talismans surrounding Liu Yanzhi, arcs of electricity sparked and crackled through the forest.

Gritting his teeth, Shi Qianzhang reached for the four talisman pouches strapped to his arms and legs.

It was as though they were reenacting their sparring match at the Mount Mao exchange meeting years ago. One commanded lightning with talismans, while the other wielded talismans through endless ingenuity.

Liu Yunzhi's expression turned cold. "What nonsense are you talking about?"

As his eyes blazed with anger, he formed a sword finger and pointed it straight at Shi Qianzhang.

"The forefather is always right. We and this absurd cultivation world that we live in are the ones who are wrong. How dare you call the forefather a devil?"

Tiny sparks flickered at his fingertips, their glow casting sharp shadows across his emotionless face.

"Die."

A thread-thin bolt burst from Liu Yunzhi's finger and struck a talisman floating before him. All forty-nine talismans were simultaneously activated, covering the air with lightning.

Bolts of searing light sliced and cleaved through the air from every direction, completely trapping Shi Qianzhang.

His face twisted from strain, the veins on his temples bulging. Enchanted power surged around him as he leaped with all his might. His four talisman pouches burst open at once, yet before he could ignite the talismans, lightning tore through the dense forest from every direction, engulfing him.

Blinding light raged. Primal qi surged. For half a minute, the world was nothing but crackling lightning. The forest then quieted down once more.

A charred cinder, collapsed and motionless, was all that remained of Shi Qianzhang.

Xiaomiao watched it all calmly from beginning to end. Instead of glancing again at Shi Qianzhang, she observed Liu Yunzhi's shifting expression.

Before long, she sighed.

"Should I call you Xiaomiao or Senior Xi Lian? Forget it," Liu Yunzhi said softly. His eyes regained their usual gentle warmth. "Come with me to the forefather master. He will surely save you."

"Don't you find any of this strange, Yunzhi?" Xiaomiao asked.

Liu Yunzhi frowned but kept walking forward.

Xiaomiao just stood still, as though she had given up resisting. Calmly, she added, "Brother Yunzhi, wasn't the person you just killed with those lightning talismans your dearest friend?"

Liu Yunzhi froze mid-step, as though someone had struck his vital points. The silver light in his eyes flickered faintly. "Dearest friend... Qianzhang..."

Xiaomiao's tone softened. "Tell me, do you believe only your forefather's orders are right? What if he told you to kill your own parents for no reason?"

Liu Yunzhi frowned slightly. "He would never—"

"If he is truly perfect and all-powerful, then why is he still just a cultivator in the Mortal Realm, not one of those immortals who live forever?"

"Forefather Master..."

"Have you forgotten? When primal qi was sealed a thousand years ago, he broke into the Small Nether Realm just to survive. He entered the Eighteen Levels of Hell and greedily seized the faint traces of primal qi leaking from the Earth Qi Seal. Without primal qi, how is he any different from a mortal? How is he any different from us?"

Liu Yunzhi trembled and took a step back. For an instant, the silver ring in his eyes faded, leaving him confused. His breathing quickened. "Forefather Master... is just a mortal... like us..."

Xiaomiao stopped talking. She lowered her gaze toward the withered grass under her feet, as if checking something.

"Fiend! Stop spreading lies!" Liu Yunzhi roared. His eyes snapped wide and blazed with fury as their silver light returned even brighter than before. Lightning surged across him, and his long hair whipped wildly in the rising wind. His handsome face now brimmed with savagery and madness.

He thrust his left hand forward and strode toward Xiaomiao, trying to seize her by the shoulder. "You're coming back with me!"

Xiaomiao only shrugged as he lunged. When his hand was less than half a meter from her, the ground under her burst with an earthy yellow light.

A massive shield of compacted soil rose before her. When Liu Yunzhi's palm hit it, the shield flared and sent him stumbling backward.

A spell? A formation?

Liu Yunzhi narrowed his eyes. Within the shield's glow, he saw a yellow paper talisman shining.

Within a five-hundred-meter radius, the trunks of countless trees began to faintly glow cyan. The lights linked together, weaving into a vast net that enclosed the entire forest.

A talisman array had been formed!

Unlike the talisman arrays that talisman masters normally used, this arrangement resembled a full formation constructed from talismans. Now, it had been successfully unleashed.

Liu Yunzhi squinted, his eyes now filled with caution. He grabbed a talisman and, with a flash of lightning, turned it into a mahogany-wood sword.

High above the forest, a man standing on a paper crane slowly descended. Swirling around him were countless colorful talismans. With a furious expression, he glared down at Liu Yunzhi.

Below, the charred corpse slowly crumbled away, leaving behind only a half-burnt yellow talisman.

"I underestimated you," Liu Yunzhi said coldly.

"Underestimated? No, you didn't," Shi Qianzhang replied while forming hand signs. "After spending a few years in seclusion with the Celestial Master, I finally understood what it means for an elder to be utterly shameless—

Ahem,

I mean, what true talisman mastery means.

"I didn't want to use the life-preserving talisman he gave me, but to make sure you'd stay here long enough for me to finish this restricting array, I had no choice but to let your lightning hit me a few times.

"Little Liu, once you come to your senses, I'll make sure you're bedridden for a hundred days!"

Liu Yunzhi snorted coldly. "

Hmph!

"

He shot skyward as the mahogany wood sword in his hand drew forth dozens of lightning talismans that orbited him.

"By the Shanqing Secret Scroll, Swift Lightning! Descend!"

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Shi Qianzhang's hands blurred as he formed hand seals faster than the eye could follow. Around him, light erupted from countless talismans as vast streams of enchanted power and spiritual perception were drawn in.

"Highest Deities of the Five Regions, grant me your protection! Make haste, as the decree commands! Ten Thousand Talismans Annihilation Art!"