The Third Refinement of Talismans

Chapter 41: The Third Refinement of Talismans

Since obtaining Yaozhen Immortal Aunt, Ning Xuan no longer needed a horse.

The qualitative difference between a First-Rank Celestial Master and an ordinary Alchemist lay in the "greatly reduced consumption and instant casting of mountain-moving spells." Previously, Ning Xuan had seen an Alchemist exhaust all their strength to bind the Third Prince, who lacked any magical treasures, using the Earth Well Golden Snake spell to barely restrain him. However, with Ugly Slave or Yaozhen Immortal Aunt, it would be as simple as grabbing the Celestial Master Seal and smashing it around violently. If it couldn't be smashed, they could even transform the Celestial Master Seal into a golden mountain and smash it again.

As for a Second-Rank Celestial Master compared to a First-Rank, the qualitative difference was "greatly reduced consumption and instant casting of low-level earth-遁 spells." This was evident in how Yaozhen Immortal Aunt floated when she walked, as it cost her no effort. Of course, it was unrealistic to expect her to continuously use earth-遁 spells without interruption or to use them many times a day.

However, for patrolling an entire prefecture, a Second-Rank Celestial Master was still capable.

Since the types of Yao and Mo within had been roughly identified, and the truth about the black smoke uncovered, the two began to address the problem.

Yaozhen Immortal Aunt first took Ning Xuan to collect the flesh and blood of the Stealing Incense Rats from the original location, placing it in a special jade bottle for later use in alchemy.

Afterward, she swiftly took Ning Xuan and fled, covering several miles in an instant. She sensed the earth veins within a radius of over ten miles, pinpointing the location and general distribution of the "human-headed black smoke" and "Human Skin Mo," and then had Ning Xuan go and slay them.

The two thousand prefecture soldiers and over a hundred martial artists brought earlier now served their purpose.

Taboo tokens were erected one by one.

By the time dawn broke, the two also began encountering scattered soldiers and martial artists from Ping'an Prefecture.

Although those individuals were not qualified to recognize Ning Xuan's identity, they knew of "True Persons." Upon witnessing the divine methods of the pair, they naturally assumed these two were "powerful True Persons" sent from above and chose to cooperate.

Three days later.

Ning Xuan finally met Tang Chuan.

Tang Chuan was, of course, not dead; the "Human Skin Mo" at the post station had lied.

Upon seeing Ning Xuan's General Anyuan tiger tally and Yaozhen Immortal Aunt beside him, Tang Chuan, without a word, chose to obey.

He was a man of the Son of Heaven and had some understanding of the reforms. His daughter was still in the Divine Weapon Camp in the Imperial Capital. Seeing the Emperor's decree, he naturally understood that the Emperor still recognized him as one of his own and therefore had no intention of causing trouble.

After a brief exchange, Tang Chuan understood the characteristics of the "Human Skin Mo." This realization truly doused him with cold water, chilling him to the bone. He had already dispatched many people to suppress the demon disaster.

Now, it seemed, the more people he sent, the more Human Skin Mo they provided.

Thinking that the "Human Skin Mo" could also seize the power of the deceased, Tang Chuan wished he could slap himself.

He had sent almost half of the prefecture's strong individuals.

Upon learning of Ning Xuan's "containment plan," Tang Chuan cooperated with all his might.

He was the true Prefect of Ping'an Prefecture, and with his coordination, Ning Xuan didn't have to worry about many things.

However, experts were still lacking.

At this moment, a purple-robed Celestial Master leading thirty Demon-Plague Warriors appeared before Ning Xuan.

That Celestial Master was sent by First Madam Qin. Upon his arrival, he discovered that there was no need for a desperate fight, only defensive cooperation, so he decisively appeared with everyone.

"General Anyuan, patrolling the surroundings of Hanzhou and even the entire Jiuzhou Dao is the responsibility of Great General Qin. Moreover, our two families will soon be even closer," the Celestial Master said with a smile, showing considerable courtesy to the young general.

After the Celestial Master from Great General Qin's mansion departed, Tang Chuan's gaze deepened. Stroking his beard, he said in a low voice, "General Ning, you must handle the Qin family's daughter with great care."

Ning Xuan's head began to ache upon hearing this.

He knew this even without Tang Chuan saying it: the Emperor's "Divine General Plan" clearly conflicted with the "old guard generals."

Now that he was participating in the "Divine General Plan" and had been enfeoffed by His Majesty, he had to avoid further entanglement with the "old guard general faction" to maintain his path as a pure minister, which was the only way to last.

Looking deeper, how long would the Emperor live? As a young general, he should be conserving his strength and clearly defining his allegiances. If he truly wanted to stir up trouble, he should wait for the next emperor, or the one after that.

Tang Chuan's words, while seemingly mature and considering the nation's well-being for his sake, were in fact pushing him onto the front lines of conflict.

If he were to proactively seek a marriage and be rejected, it would be one thing. But if the Qin family made the offer and he rejected them, slapping their faces, the consequences could be imagined with their feet.

Unexpectedly gaining a powerful enemy would put himself and everyone around him in danger.

Yaozhen Immortal Aunt had clearly thought of this as well.

But her thoughts might have differed slightly from Ning Xuan's.

Yaozhen Immortal Aunt said, "The old faction generals obey orders but not decrees. They are deeply entrenched and have long been the nation's..."

Ning Xuan covered her mouth.

Tang Chuan chuckled, "Nation's parasites, a state within a state, right?"

Ning Xuan said, "Uncle Tang, if you stir up more trouble, I'll marry Bingbing and then tell the Qin family I rejected them because of Bingbing."

Tang Chuan burst into laughter, looking at Ning Xuan and nodding, "Nephew, you can see through things clearly and are neither arrogant nor impatient. Truly excellent."

Hearing others praise Ning Xuan, Yaozhen Immortal Aunt became even more certain she had chosen correctly. She was happy, and although her face remained cold and stern, like frost-kissed peach blossoms, a hint of a smile appeared in her eyes.

"The Qin family's daughter is not easy to deal with, nephew. You must play this move well," Tang Chuan said, giving him a deep look. Then he added, "I must go mobilize troops and seal the borders. This support from Great General Qin is not to be refused, especially since General Anyuan tacitly agrees, hehe..."

With that, the old fox scurried out of the hall.

Ning Xuan didn't want to think about anything.

He just wanted to return to Chenxiang Pavilion and ask the madam if she had taken in any more unfortunate beauties recently, given the influx of refugees.

Then, he would listen to music, drink and enjoy himself, and listen to the beauties tell stories. When a particularly good part came, he would toss a silver ingot and exclaim, "Well deserved."

After a night of revelry and waking up, he would go looking for dogs and horses.

Never mind, dogs and horses were no longer interesting.

Ning Xuan let out a soft sigh.

Loneliness.

After becoming stronger, all those old tricks he used to play were no longer possible.

He really missed the days of "a yellow dog in his left hand, a hawk in his right, with friends gathered around."

Seeing him sigh, Yaozhen Immortal Aunt mistook it for him being troubled by the current situation and comforted him, "General, there's no need to worry. No matter what, this humble Taoist will always stand with you."

Ning Xuan looked at her in surprise, taking a moment to process her words.

Yaozhen Immortal Aunt said with a determined expression, "When we return this time, I will immediately start refining pills for you, General. I will do my utmost to assist you."

Ning Xuan sighed, "The one who knows me best is Yaozhen."

Another ten-plus days passed.

The work of defining and sealing the borders was more or less complete.

Ning Xuan and Yaozhen Immortal Aunt were walking through the very last section.

Even though it was already summer, the area exuded a chilling cold.

In the distance, snow was still falling.

Ghastly white snow.

The towering ice mountains were also ghastly white.

This was the northernmost border of Ping'an Prefecture, so they could already see the ice mountain that hadn't existed before.

"I've already reported it. The Purple Cloud Temple in the Imperial Capital has given this ice mountain a name for intelligence gathering."

"What name?"

"Hell of Cold Ice."

"It's quite fitting. Those Frozen Corpses look like frozen ghosts too."

"Indeed. The Purple Cloud Temple has already dispatched more personnel to investigate and resolve it. They told us not to interfere for now, saying this matter is beyond our capabilities."

Ning Xuan nodded in agreement, "Well said."

He rather liked that statement from above.

It meant he didn't have to deal with this ice mountain.

However, Ning Xuan suddenly felt Yaozhen Immortal Aunt's small fist clench beside him. Then, she tightly closed her eyes and murmured, "I'm not reconciled. I will definitely break through to the third rank as soon as possible."

Ning Xuan felt amused inwardly but maintained a stern face, clenching his fist and saying, "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west."

He believed this saying would provide emotional value to the woman beside him, thus extending the period of "no more arguing."

However, after the word "west" fell, he waited for several breaths but received no response.

He glanced sideways.

Yaozhen Immortal Aunt had vanished.

He scanned again. The soldiers who had accompanied them to seal the border had also disappeared.

He tilted his head back.

A pitch-black bright moon hung high in the sky, casting its pure light down, illuminating the eerie Hell of Cold Ice in the distance.

Slap!

Ning Xuan gave himself a hard slap.