The Third Time Refining Talismans

The Third Time Refining Talismans

Ever since he'd gained Immortal Aunt Yaozhen, Ning Xuan no longer needed a horse.

The qualitative leap from an ordinary Daoist to a First-Rank Celestial Master lay in this: "the cost of mountain-moving spells is greatly reduced, and they can be cast instantly." Earlier, Ning Xuan had watched that Daoist. To restrain one of the three kings among the Mountain Crashing Bear Demons, who had no magic treasure, the Daoist had poured all his strength into using Golden Serpents Bursting from the Earth to barely coil around the king. But if it were Ugly Slave or Immortal Aunt Yaozhen, they would simply grab the Celestial Master Seal and smash it around with brute force. If they couldn't smash their target with that, they could turn the seal into a golden mountain and smash it down again.

Compared to a First-Rank Celestial Master, the qualitative leap of a Second-Rank Celestial Master lay in this: "the cost of low-level earth-escaping spells is greatly reduced, and they can be cast instantly." That was why Immortal Aunt Yaozhen floated as she walked—because it took no effort at all. Of course, it wasn't realistic to expect her to use earth-escaping spells continuously without a break, or many times a day.

But a Second-Rank Celestial Master could still patrol an entire prefecture.

Now that they had roughly determined what kinds of demons were inside, as well as the truth behind the black smoke, the two began working on a solution.

Immortal Aunt Yaozhen first took Ning Xuan to collect the remains of the Stealing Incense Rats from where they had been. She stored them in a special jade bottle for later alchemy.

After that, she led Ning Xuan swiftly away, covering several miles in a single leap. She sensed the ley lines over more than ten miles around them, identified where the "human-head black smoke" and "human-skin demons" were and roughly how they were spread out, then sent Ning Xuan to slay them.

The two thousand prefectural soldiers and over a hundred members of the martial world they had brought with them finally came in handy.

One after another, prohibition plaques were set up.

By dawn, the two had also begun encountering scattered soldiers and warriors from Ping'an Prefecture.

Those people weren't qualified to recognize Ning Xuan, but they knew what a "True Person" was. After witnessing the pair's miraculous methods, they naturally assumed the two were powerful True Persons sent by their superiors, and chose to cooperate.

Three days later.

Ning Xuan finally met up with Tang Chuan.

Tang Chuan was, of course, still alive. The "human-skin demon" at the relay station had been lying.

Tang Chuan saw the Tiger Tally of General Anyuan in Ning Xuan's hands, then saw Immortal Aunt Yaozhen beside him. Without a word, he immediately chose to obey.

He was a man of the Son of Heaven, and knew a thing or two about the reforms. His daughter was still in the Divine Weapon Camp in the Imperial Capital. Now that he had seen the emperor's decree, he understood that the emperor still considered him one of his own. Naturally, he had no intention of causing trouble.

After exchanging a few words, Tang Chuan also understood the nature of the "human-skin demons." It was like having a bucket of cold water dumped over his head, chilling him to the bone. He had sent quite a few people to suppress the demon disaster.

As things stood, the more people he sent, the more human skins he was delivering to the enemy.

When he realized that those "human-skin demons" could even seize the strength their victims had possessed in life, Tang Chuan wanted to slap himself.

He'd sent over nearly half the strongest people in the prefecture.

After hearing about Ning Xuan's "blockade plan," Tang Chuan threw himself into helping with everything he had.

He was the true Prefect of Ping'an Prefecture, so with him handling the deployments, Ning Xuan no longer needed to worry about many things.

But they were still short on experts.

Just then, a purple-robed Celestial Master leading thirty Demon-Plague Warriors appeared before Ning Xuan.

The Celestial Master had, of course, been sent by First Madam Qin. After arriving and discovering that he wouldn't need to fight to the death, but merely help with the defense, he decisively brought everyone out into the open.

"General Anyuan, patrolling Vast Province and even the entire Nine Provinces Circuit is the duty of Great General Qin. Besides, our two families will soon be even closer." The Celestial Master smiled, treating the Young General with considerable courtesy.

After the Celestial Master from the Great General Qin's residence left, Tang Chuan's gaze turned deep. Stroking his beard, he said gravely, "General Ning, you'll need to handle the Qin family's daughter with care."

At his words, Ning Xuan felt a headache coming on.

He knew it even without Tang Chuan saying so: the emperor's "Divine General Plan" was clearly at odds with the "old guard of generals."

Now that he was involved in the "Divine General Plan" and had received his title from His Majesty, he needed to avoid getting entangled with the "old guard faction" and remain a loyal subject. Only then could he last.

To put it more bluntly, how long could the emperor live? A young general like him ought to conserve his strength and make his loyalties clear. If he wanted to make a move, he should wait for the next emperor—or the one after that.

Tang Chuan's words seemed like the wise counsel of an old statesman looking out for him. But wasn't he also pushing Ning Xuan to the front line of a conflict?

If Ning Xuan had actively sought a marriage and been rejected, that would be one thing. But if the Qin family made the first move and he rejected them, humiliating them in the process, then the consequences were obvious even to a fool.

He'd gain a powerful enemy out of nowhere, and everyone around him would be put in danger.

Immortal Aunt Yaozhen had clearly thought of that too.

But she might have been thinking something a little different from Ning Xuan.

Immortal Aunt Yaozhen said, "The old guard generals obey orders but ignore proclamations. Their roots run deep in the ranks, and they have long since become a parasite on the nation—"

Ning Xuan covered her mouth.

Tang Chuan chuckled. "A parasite on the nation, a state within a state, is that it?"

Ning Xuan said, "Uncle Tang, keep stirring the pot and I'll marry Bingbing, then tell the Qin family I rejected them for her."

Tang Chuan burst out laughing. He looked at Ning Xuan and nodded. "Nephew, you see things clearly and remain calm and unshaken. Very impressive."

Hearing someone praise Ning Xuan only made Immortal Aunt Yaozhen more certain that she hadn't misjudged him. She was happy too. Her face remained stiff and frosty, like a peach blossom frozen in frost, but a hint of laughter had appeared in her eyes.

"The Qin family's daughter won't be easy to deal with, nephew. You'll need to make this move carefully." Tang Chuan gave him a long look, then said, "I need to go deploy the troops and seal the border. We might as well take this support from Great General Qin—especially since General Anyuan has given his tacit approval. Heh heh."

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

Ning Xuan didn't want to think about any of it.

Right now, he only wanted to return to Chenxiang Pavilion and ask the madam whether, with so many refugees lately, she had taken in a few more unfortunate beauties.

Then he could listen to music, drink and make merry, and hear the beauties tell stories. When he heard a particularly delightful part, he'd toss down a silver ingot and say, "That deserves a reward."

After spending the night in a whirlwind of passion and waking up refreshed, he'd go seek out hounds and fine horses.

Forget it. Hounds and horses had lost their appeal.

Ning Xuan let out a soft sigh.

Loneliness.

After growing stronger, he couldn't enjoy any of his old diversions anymore.

He rather missed the days of "a yellow hound on the left, a goshawk on the right, calling friends and companions to join him."

Seeing him sigh, Immortal Aunt Yaozhen thought he was fretting over the situation, and comforted him. "General, there's no need to worry. No matter what happens, I'll stand by your side."

Ning Xuan stared at her blankly. It took him a moment to realize what she meant.

Immortal Aunt Yaozhen's expression was resolute. "Once we return, I'll begin refining pills for you. I'll do everything in my power to assist you, General."

Ning Xuan sighed. "You understand me, Yaozhen."

More than ten days passed.

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

Ning Xuan and Immortal Aunt Yaozhen were walking along the final stretch.

Summer had already arrived, yet this place was bitterly cold.

Snow still drifted in the distance.

The towering Ice Mountain was also a deathly 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 the mountain a name so it can be included in the intelligence records."

"What name?"

"Hell of Cold Ice."

"That's fitting enough. Those Frozen Corpses look like frozen ghosts too."

"Indeed. The Purple Cloud Temple has already sent more people to investigate and deal with it. The higher-ups told us not to worry about it for now, saying it's beyond our capabilities."

Ning Xuan nodded in agreement. "That makes sense."

He liked what the higher-ups had said.

It meant he didn't need to deal with the Ice Mountain.

But then Ning Xuan suddenly felt Immortal Aunt Yaozhen's little fist clench beside him. She shut her eyes tightly and murmured, "I'm not reconciled. I'll break through to the Third Rank as soon as I can."

Ning Xuan was grinning inwardly, but still clenched his own fist and kept a straight face. "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river."

He believed those words could give the stubborn woman beside him some emotional comfort, and maybe extend the period in which she "didn't talk back."

But after the word "west" left his lips, he waited several breaths and got no response.

He glanced to the side.

Immortal Aunt Yaozhen had vanished.

He looked again. The soldiers accompanying them to seal the border had vanished too.

He looked up.

A pitch-black moon hung high in the sky, shedding its bright light over the distant, dreadful Hell of Cold Ice.

Smack!

Ning Xuan slapped himself hard.