Four Symbols Absolute Kill

The day passed without incident. Liao Xiaojin and Zhou Qing both did their utmost to preserve their vitality, essence, and spirit. The little Japanese devil made no move either, as if he had some important business to attend to and did not dare cause trouble. By the following evening, the plane finally arrived in Las Vegas. The instant they stepped off, a blast of scorching air rushed into their faces. "Las Vegas is merely an oasis in the desert. For it to have developed into what it is today is truly a miracle." Zhou Qing looked at the glittering neon lights and the distinctive enormous tourist hotels, filled with boundless emotion.

"Master, stop sighing. That little Japanese devil has already run off." "No hurry. How could the divine arts of Chinese Daoism possibly be compared to the half-baked sorcery those Japanese devils stole? Let's find a place to stay first. We'll act after dark."

Inside an old Las Vegas hotel, Zhou Qing and Liao Xiaojin looked over the room with its moldy stench, dim lighting, and faded carpet. Zhou Qing sighed. "I never thought lodging here would be so expensive. All my worldly possessions amount to barely over a hundred thousand US dollars. How long can that last? And you?" Zhou Qing pointed at Liao Xiaojin and began cursing. "You only have a few hundred yuan on you, and it's RMB at that. You're going to drive me mad!" Liao Xiaojin gave a dry laugh. "Master, I told you I was poor. Right! Once we take care of that little Japanese devil, those cases the four big men were carrying must contain good stuff!" "Do you need to tell me that?" Zhou Qing took out a jade plaque and casually tossed it out, shouting, "Every acupoint, Thus Come One! Every acupoint empties; ghosts and gods, guide north, south, east, and west! Swiftly, swiftly, by the law's decree!" The jade plaque spun once, then stood upright with its tip facing west. "West! Thirty miles from here!"

Inside an abandoned warehouse, Mitsui Taro anxiously checked his watch and asked the burly man beside him in Japanese, "Kameda, why hasn't the Grand Elder of the Shadow Stream Sect arrived yet? It's almost eight." The man called Kameda immediately bowed and scraped. "Young Master, there's no need to worry. Grand Elder has always been punctual." "Mm, but honestly, that Chinese woman is truly not bad-looking! If Grand Elder hadn't specifically named her, I would have had her long ago. My grandfather said that back when he was in Manchukuo, he fucked quite a few Chinese women. They had a particularly fine flavor! Hahaha! Hahaha!" Mitsui Taro laughed madly.

"Young Master Mitsui is in fine spirits." An aged, gloomy voice drifted over, speaking flawless standard Chinese. An elderly man dressed in black, with a sinister face and a small, thin frame, appeared in the warehouse. Behind him followed four people wrapped head to toe in black cloth, with only their eyes exposed, each carrying a combination case. At the sight of the old man in black, Mitsui Taro immediately stopped laughing and respectfully said, "Iga Grand Elder, you are truly punctual! But why do you use the language of those foolish Chinese?" "Baka! To conquer a people, one must first learn its culture. Chinese culture reaches back to unfathomable depths and flows on for ages; it is far beyond what us Yamato People can compare with. It is precisely because we absorbed the essence of other cultures that we Yamato People now have a place in this world. Is arrogance and self-importance the spirit of the Yamato People?" Mitsui Taro repeatedly nodded. "Grand Elder's lesson is right. My father sent me out to trade with you this time precisely so that I could learn something from you!"

"What, did you succeed?" Hearing Mitsui Taro's words, Iga Grand Elder's expression softened somewhat as he asked. "Yes, but succeeding this time was not easy. We planned for half a month and intercepted her near where she studied. Who would have expected so many experts to be protecting her? Of the twenty-eight experts I took to China, twenty-four died. Even Lord Yamamoto, an Elder of our Nine Chrysanthemum Sect, blew himself up to protect our escape. Fortunately, we bribed a local official and only then managed to board this flight!"

Grand Elder nodded. "Well done. China has too many experts, though fortunately they are not united. Even so, they are by no means something we can deal with. China has never lacked traitors; give them the slightest benefit and they will sell even their ancestors to you. It is precisely because of these traitors that we Yamato People can gradually infiltrate China and break them apart from within! How about it? Here are three hundred million US dollars. Hand the person over to me. The Shadow Stream Sect of our Iga Family and your Nine Chrysanthemum Sect were originally from the same school, but regrettably, you split off in your grandfather's generation. Ah! Otherwise, how could we be suppressed and beaten by the Black Dragon Society now?"

Mitsui nodded in agreement and waved a hand. The four burly men led by Kameda took the four combination cases from the black-clad figures. Just as they were about to hand the girl over to Grand Elder, a bat-like shadow snatched the person from Mitsui's grasp at a speed too fast for the naked eye to perceive. Grand Elder gave a sharp shout and flung out a mass of gray light toward the shadow. The shadow was Liao Xiaojin. Having launched a surprise attack, he had used the speed of a Vampire Earl to seize the girl from Mitsui's hands. Seeing the gray light fired at him by Iga Grand Elder, he was about to take it head-on when Zhou Qing's anxious voice rang beside his ear. "Idiot! That's the Stone Demon Curse Talisman Hand! Don't take it head-on!" Liao Xiaojin reacted with incredible speed. Even amid the chaos, he freed a hand and forcibly grabbed Kameda, dragging him in front of his chest as a shield. Although Kameda had practiced karate for decades and was considered an expert, how could he compare with a nonhuman like Liao Xiaojin? Without the slightest power to resist, he was struck by the gray light. Bang! Liao Xiaojin flung Kameda to the ground, and he shattered into pieces like stone.

Liao Xiaojin shuddered all over, finally understanding why Zhou Qing had told him not to take the attack head-on. Though his mind was in turmoil, his hands showed no mercy. Amid repeated cries of "Ah! Ah!", Mitsui Taro's remaining three subordinates were killed. Liao Xiaojin's speed was simply too fast. The speed of a Vampire Earl was already monstrous enough, and Zhou Qing had even placed several Swift Travel Talismans and Gale Talismans on his legs, arms, and body!

Only then did Grand Elder react, but Liao Xiaojin had already rushed out through the door with the girl in his arms. Mitsui Taro, Iga Grand Elder, and their four subordinates let out furious roars. They did not even spare a glance for the money in the cases as they chased after Liao Xiaojin. Not far outside the door, they saw Liao Xiaojin standing ten zhang away, two silver-gray wings each two zhang long continuously beating behind him as he watched the group of six with an eerie gaze. Mitsui Taro was about to step forward and attack, but Iga Grand Elder stopped him. "Honored Vampire Earl, the ninjas of our Shadow Stream Faction have always maintained good relations with Europe's Dark Association. Why are you making things difficult for us?"

"Hehehe!" Liao Xiaojin gave a crafty laugh but did not answer. With a flick of his hand, he sent out six yellow talismans that transformed into six masses of golden light and shot toward Mitsui Taro's group. Iga Grand Elder was experienced and knowledgeable. The moment he saw the golden light, he shouted, "Everyone, scatter! This is Chinese Daoist magic!" But it was too late. The Gold Spirit Talismans painstakingly crafted by Zhou Qing invoked the western Geng Metal Qi. The six streaks of golden light shifted rapidly in midair—one became two, two became three—and in the blink of an eye, turned into hundreds of incomparably sharp Sword Qi blades, each capable of carving away a massive chunk of even the hardest granite. They blanketed the sky and swept down upon the six men. "Ah!" Iga Grand Elder exhaled sharply and gave a cry. A sheet of phosphorescent light, faintly scattered with ghostly flames, shielded his entire body. Clang! Clang! A burst of chaotic noise rang out as the fierce golden light actually struck sparks against the phosphorescence. Mitsui was the same, and the two emerged entirely unscathed. But Grand Elder's subordinates did not possess such abilities. Amid endless screams, the four men fell to the ground as mangled masses of blood and flesh, taking breath in but unable to breathe out.

Before five minutes had even passed, Iga Grand Elder and Mitsui Taro had become commanders without troops; not one of their subordinates remained alive.

Iga Grand Elder was truly enraged. He let out a venomous roar, his sinister face twisted with savagery. "Good! So you are not a Vampire Clan member—you are Chinese! Hehehe, I will kill you! Tear you into pieces!" Strands of ghostly phosphorus flame rose from Iga Grand Elder's body, gradually converging into a humanoid shadow over a zhang tall, shrouded in black smoke and impossible to see clearly. The giant figure roared, "Iga, why have you awakened me?" Mitsui Taro suddenly cried out in shock, "Celestial Shikigami! Grand Elder has actually cultivated a Celestial Shikigami!" "Honored Lord Sasaki, kill this Vampire Clan member for me, and I will prepare one hundred human souls for your enjoyment!" Seeing the Vampire Earl's monstrous speed, Iga Grand Elder knew he would be exceptionally difficult to deal with. In his urgency, he even brought out the skill he had kept hidden at the bottom of his chest. The black shadow let out a shrill, chattering howl and called in a voice practically dripping with saliva, "Human souls! Iga, if you break your word, I will eat you first." With that, he pounced at Liao Xiaojin. Liao Xiaojin had no idea what a Celestial Shikigami was, but the sight of that strange thing filled him with unease. He hastily placed an Adamantine Talisman on himself and drove his Vampire Earl speed to its limit.

The two eerie black shadows collided in midair. Crack! Liao Xiaojin was hurled three zhang away, and an incomparably sinister force, seemingly carrying the howls of countless vengeful souls, surged into his body. How could his body move anymore? The black shadow called Sasaki was also stunned. "Kekeke! What kind of person are you? How are you harder than iron? But you have been struck by my Vengeful Soul Blood Curse. Can you still move? I'll eat you first." The black shadow transformed into a gigantic long blade and cleaved down toward Liao Xiaojin.

"A firefly's glow, yet you dare flaunt your radiance!" Boundless red light surged forth, engulfing Sasaki within it. Amid repeated screams, Sasaki had been smugly planning how to devour Liao Xiaojin when Zhou Qing used the Taiji Array to invoke Southern Bright Fire and trap him within it. Southern Bright Fire specialized in destroying evil and filth, inflicting immense harm upon vengeful souls and ghosts. Sasaki roared furiously, "Iga, take me back quickly! This fire is something I cannot resist at all. Ah! I'm about to be melted away!" Zhou Qing revealed himself. "Hmph! You are merely a yin soul with somewhat deeper cultivation. Trapped in my Fire Detachment Array, even a thousand-year-old vicious ghost would have to shed a layer of skin before leaving." He pointed a finger, and a ray of fire shot into Liao Xiaojin's body, burning the Vengeful Soul Blood Curse completely away.

Over there, Iga Grand Elder also spat out a mouthful of blood with a pfft. The shikigami had always been linked to his mind and spirit, and now that it was injured, how could he still stand by and watch? Hearing Sasaki's wails, Iga Grand Elder hurriedly formed a strange hand seal and muttered something under his breath, though no one knew what he was chanting. Then he spat out three successive mouthfuls of blood. As soon as the blood sprayed out, Sasaki seemed to have swallowed an aphrodisiac. Roar! The yin energy around his body surged wildly. Zhou Qing let his guard down for an instant, and the Fire Detachment Array was actually forced open through a tiny gap. Sasaki drilled madly into Iga Grand Elder's body, and there was no further sound.

Iga Grand Elder's face was extremely ugly as he stared fixedly at Zhou Qing. "I never expected a master of Daoist arts to be lying in ambush. It seems we have fallen today! Mitsui! Let's go."

"Want to leave? Leave your lives behind first!" Zhou Qing clasped his hands in front of his chest, extending the index and middle fingers of his right hand. He said coolly, "Four Symbols Demon Sealing, Heaven and Earth Strangling!" Four Yellow Curtains, each two zhang wide and four zhang long, covered in countless talismans painted in cinnabar, suddenly burst from the ground and surrounded Iga Grand Elder and Mitsui Taro!