Nightfall

He entered the Initial Awareness State at four, reached the Perception State at six, knew the No Doubts State at eleven, entered the Seethrough State at sixteen, and after ten more years leaped from the bottom set of the Seethrough State to the top set. With consecutive victory, he conquered all the cultivators below the Knowing Destiny State. There was no doubt that Wang Jinglue from Xuan state in Tang Empire was a genius at cultivation.

But Wang Jinglue knew clearly that more young people were coming out from the Unknown Place, who were talented and powerful. He was not as brilliant as what people thought before a contest with them.

So, he hoped that people would call him a calm and experienced cultivator, rather than a young genius. He wanted to have the calm personality which was in line with powerful ability, therefore, despite that he was young and healthy, he always coughed. This was his way of pretending that he was calm and experienced.

But at this moment, he was sitting in the rain coughing, scared and disconcerted. He looked at the figure at the corner of the alley, a tall and thin Taoist, and shivered even more than before.

The old man was wearing a piece of dirty Taoist robe, on which there were lots of stains. His eyes were in the shape of triangles, his beard long and sparse. He looked very evil, like a pervert, nothing like a supermundane expert.

“It took me half of a day to draw this talisman. What do you think of it?”

The old Taoist was staring at Wang Jinglue in the rain. At his feet, the middle-aged man from the palace of the prince was already a dead body. With clothes and skin like paint peels, the dead looked horrible.

Wang Jinglue smiled bitterly, and he said to the Taoist, “In this country, there are only 10 talisman taoism masters, and among them those who want to wear a Taoist’s robe are the four divine talisman masters from South School of Haotian Taoism.

“This talisman is certainly scary because it needs a Divine Talisman Master to spend half a day drawing it. This street was used as paper and the rain was used as ink. I just don’t understand, why don’t you just kill me?”

The Divine Talisman Master frowned and waved his arm to draw a character in the air, which protected him from the rain, and he shook his head. “There are some people who I don’t care about their lives at all, for example, the sadhu from the Yuelun Kingdom, the swordsman from the South Jin Kingdom, and the old man from the Military Ministry, but you’re not the same. I’ve ordered to keep you away from this, and that’s to protect you.

“Wang Jinglue, you’re still so young, but you already broke all the barriers before the Knowing Destiny State. This is impressive and rare. I’ve heard of news from the academy and comments from the Master of Nation and the younger brother of the emperor, and they all think you’re possible to break the last barrier and reach a state that’s even higher than the Five States. Our country hasn’t had a young genius for a long time, so I hope you can live for another 40 years.”

Wang Jinglue’s facial expression kept fluctuating.

“Don’t go back to work for the prince anymore. Serve in the army and fight at the front for 3 years to atone for your crime.”

After saying that, the Divine Talisman Master turned around, walked towards the dark alley, and mumbled, “Old Chao from Spring Breeze Pavilion isn’t a cat or a dog. If he was that easy to kill, why didn’t I kill him 10 years ago?”

…

…

Chao Xiaoshu waved his arm and the cyan-steel sword flew back to his hand.

He turned around and looked at Ning Que to make sure that this lad was not seriously injured. He nodded at Ning Que, sheathed his sword, and walked ahead along the alley.

He stopped at the top of Spring Breeze Pavilion street, looking forward. Ning Que raised his arm to wipe the rain on his forehead and looked at the same direction. He was silent for a long time and then asked, “Are you still waiting for someone?”

“Yes,” said Chao Xiaoshu, with his right hand on the sword hilt, “I’m waiting for someone who’s called Wang Jinglue, but it seems that he isn’t going to come anymore.”

Ning Que frowned, moving his podao from right hand to left hand. “Why?”

Chao Xiaoshu turned around, looking at Ning Que’s black mask and smiled. “It isn’t easy for this country to have a genius in practicing, maybe someone doesn’t want him to die.”

“I’m not as confident as you.” Ning Que recollected the previous fight, thinking about those powerful cultivators. He knew that if Chao Xiaoshu were not in front of him, he would have been dead now. He said, “If it was the person behind you who saved us, why didn’t he save us earlier? Why did he want you to fight so hard?”

“I’ve explained to you at Lin 47th Street. Once that person is known, no one in Chang’an will dare to continue this. Then it would be impossible to know how much power the noble truly have and what they want.”

Chao Xiaoshu asked suddenly, “Would you like to have a walk with me?”

Ning Que lifted his right arm, using his sleeve to wipe the blood and rain on the blade. He sheathed his knife and nodded.

The rain was lighter now, and it drizzled over the streets and alleys around Spring Breeze Pavilion.

Chao Xiaoshu’s hands moved from the sword hilt to his back. He was walking on the quiet street. His indigo robe was still tidy and neat, and his face expression still calm. Everything seemed the same, except that his face looked paler than before.

Ning Que followed him, and while walking, he tore his clothes off to bandage his wounds. Although those wounds were not serious, he, who lived in Min Mountain for a long time, still used to save every drop of blood and every ounce of energy.

They walked on the wet street in the rain around Spring Breeze Pavilion, as if they were tigers or lions that just had a bloody fight and started to patrol their own territory.

When they returned to the gate of Chao mansion, Chao Xiaoshu seemed tired. He kneaded the skin between his eyebrows, raised his robe and sat on the wet stair.

Several remnants of the Tang force shouted and darted at him.

Ning Que drew his podao out and hacked forwards. Whenever the podao dropped, an enemy would fall. Soldiers were like trees being chopped down. Ning Que was mumbling to himself at the same time, “No swordsman could avoid injury. I’ll kill you with a chop or two…”

Exhausted, Chao Xiaoshu was still sitting on the stair, supporting himself with his sheath. He was watching what was happening and knew that Ning Que not only learned how to kill people in the army, but also in lots of bloody battles.

Sometimes, Ning Que moved his podao slowly and steadily, but sometimes his attack was quick and random like raindrops. His only tactic was to save his energy and attack the weakest part of the enemy’s body.

“This is the fastest way to kill.”

Chao Xiaoshu was watching the fight. He thought about the great determination and discretion of Ning Que, as well as his young age and sighed. “It’s such a pity that this lad can’t pursue cultivation, if he could, he would become an important asset for Tang Empire.”

Looking at the ugly dead bodies in the rain and that lad panting with his podao in his hand, Chao Xiaoshu smiled. “Can’t you kill people less brutally? It’s as if you’re hoeing.”

Ning Que turned around, his podao stirring up some blood. He looked at the man sitting on the stair, and then pointing to the sky, he panted. “It’s so wet, and hoeing is far less tiring than killing!”