Daoist Competition

Zhang Yan smiled faintly, flicked his sleeve, and turned back to the Dharma Platform, settling down as he said, "The token talisman is already in my possession, what need is there to duel further with you?"

Xie Ke Ming was momentarily taken aback, calming down slightly, but his gaze remained fixed on Zhang Yan. He took out his own token talisman from his sleeve bag, tossed it to the ground, and pointed, saying, "Here lies a token talisman, are you willing to duel with me? If you win, feel free to take it. If you lose, I demand that you and my senior sister pay with your lives!"

His last words were filled with hatred, as if squeezed out through clenched teeth.

Zhang Yan chuckled lightly and shook his head.

Xie Ke Ming shouted angrily, "Are you perhaps afraid?"

Zhang Yan’s gaze shifted, he raised his eyebrows and said, "It is not that I look down on Master Zhou, can you decide the fate of this token talisman?"

Xie Ke Ming was momentarily stumped; technically, the token talisman already belonged to the Yuxiao Sect, and as a disciple, he naturally couldn’t make the decision arbitrarily. But at this moment, he was simply finding an excuse to fight, so he flicked his sleeve and shouted loudly, "You want the token talisman? The token talisman is here, today you must duel with me!"

Zhang Yan ignored him, closed his eyes, as Zhang Boyant and Xu Daoist came up from the left and right, expressionless.

Xie Ke Ming sneered coldly, he was not afraid of the two, but just as he was about to make a move, a bright light swept across the sky, dazzlingly arriving.

Zhou Huang emerged from the light, shouted, "Junior Brother Xie, stop immediately!"

Xie Ke Ming halted his steps, looked up with a sorrowful voice, "Brother, you came just in time, senior sister she..."

Zhou Huang waved his hand, cutting off his words, looking down with his eyes, he rolled up his sleeve, first capturing the token talisman underfoot, then looked at Zhang Yan with a sinister face and said, "Is my junior sister’s body and primordial spirit there?"

Zhang Yan met his gaze and gave him four words, "Body and soul annihilated."

Zhou Huang’s brows twitched, his face flushed with anger, his eyes suddenly overflowed with boundless killing intent.

At that moment, a mass of light resembling a blazing sun suddenly flew over, lingering above the peak, then the light divided, and Huo Xuan emerged, smiling at Zhang Yan, "Junior Brother, I have something for you."

He glanced sideways, seemed surprised, "So Daoist Zhou is here too, are you also here to see Junior Brother Zhang?"

Zhou Huang took a deep breath, calm his demeanor, grabbed Xie Ke Ming by the shoulder and said in a deep voice, "Let’s go."

Despite his reluctance, Xie Ke Ming dared not defy Zhou Huang, glared at Zhang Yan with full of resentment, then left with tunneling light.

In the clouds, Xie Ke Ming said with grief and indignation, "Brother, why did you stop me?"

Zhou Huang shouted, "Are you out of your mind? What excuse do you have for dueling him? Just now Qingyun went to compete with Zhang Yan for the token, on the surface adhering strictly to the rules of swordfight, if you act now, you’re not only without a shred of reason but will also make our Yuxiao Sect the laughingstock of fellow practitioners!"

Xie Ke Ming said with grief and indignation, "Senior sister met such a tragic end, is it just let go like this?"

Zhou Huang’s gaze turned cold and said, "Zhang Yan killed a disciple of our Zhou Clan, how could it end peacefully with him? I have my own plan for this, you must not act recklessly."

Zhang Yan watched the two leave, stood up, and cupped hands towards Huo Xuan above, saying with a smile, "Brother Huo, may I know what brings you here?"

Huo Xuan descended from the heights to the Dharma Platform and said, "I am here regarding that demon who forcibly snatched the token talisman earlier, I need your assistance, Junior Brother."

Zhang Yan was surprised, "With the strength of you three, are you still unable to handle this person?"

Huo Xuan shook his head, "This demon is currently trapped by me and my two junior brothers, but he has used the Four Symbols Sky Shuttle of the Mingcang Sect to set up a mysterious array here. To break it, we must borrow the Five Spirits White Carp Shuttle in your possession, Junior Brother."

Zhang Yan replied gladly, "This is my duty, we shouldn’t delay, I’ll follow you right away."

Huo Xuan held no animosity towards him within the Mountain Gate, in fact had helped him several times. Though this swordfight he didn’t stand on his side, Zhang Yan understood that Huo Xuan’s current position required consideration of many matters beyond his control, he had anticipated this, so he didn’t mind.

The two exchanged a few words on the peak, then each summoned their tunneling light, descending from the peak.

Throughout, Huo Xuan never mentioned anything about Zhou Qingyun, as if the matter had never happened.

The two proceeded along the river to the mouth of the canyon, where they saw a cloud light about an acre in size blocking the path, resembling a cocoon, inside were four streaks of light in azure, white, red, and black interweaving and reflecting.

Zhong Muqing and Luo Qingyu were guarding that place, seeing the two approach, they cupped their hands.

Beside them stood an old Daoist holding a horsetail whisk, who stood there silently without moving.

Zhang Yan recognized this person as the Chen Clan Elder, who he had seen from afar when Huo Xuan and others were sent out.

When the tunneling light beneath settled above the river, Huo Xuan said, "Junior Brother Zhang, to break this array, we need four people to guard the four corners. I, Elder Chen, Junior Brother Zhong, and Junior Brother Luo each occupy one position, then we attack together, once those four Heavenly Shuttles are held by us, please use your Five Spirits White Carp Shuttle to specifically target the weak spots of the Qi Mechanism, and success should follow."

Zhang Yan examined it, seeing that the array was not particularly mysterious, relying purely on the power of those four Heavenly Shuttles. Huo Xuan’s method, though somewhat brute force, could break the array in the shortest time, akin to treating the symptom effectively, so he nodded, "This is very good."

Huo Xuan gave a few more instructions, then jumped up and went to the South Position.

Zhong and Luo took the North and East positions respectively, while the Chen Clan Elder flicked his horsetail whisk and moved lightly to stand in the West Position.

...

...(To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation and monthly tickets, your support is my greatest motivation.)