The Tiger Talisman, Balancing Yin and Yang

Chapter 16: The Tiger Talisman, Balancing Yin and Yang

An ancient dragon-head sculpture.

The Demon had originally planned to create a hidden family so that his Sacred Dragon Carving could make its debut. He never expected to get his hands on the other one directly, and was greatly surprised.

"Kid, you're the one who found the Sacred Dragon Carving?"

The Demon looked coldly down at Dai Mubai—or rather, Dai Mubai's Evil Clone. He hadn't expected this guy to be the one who found the Talisman.

Dai Xieyue swallowed, then stood up and forced himself to hold back his fear. "Yes!"

He stared at the sculpture on the wall, trembling. A mere sculpture could actually talk, and its voice was so terrifying, like that of a murderer who'd been locked up in a prison for sixty years. A deep terror welled up inside him.

And yet he knew that without the voice in front of him, Bibi Dong would have killed him long ago.

If he wanted to survive, this voice was his only hope.

"Hmph! Not only did you take my Sacred Dragon Carving, you took my Talisman, too. You're one lucky fellow!"

"Talisman? You know what this thing is?"

Dai Xieyue raised his head in surprise, briefly forgetting his fear. Beside him, Bibi Dong pricked up her ears as well, curious to hear what would happen next.

This young man actually had a Talisman! And judging by the Demon's reaction, it seemed to be the real thing! What a pity she couldn't take it for herself!

The thought flickered through her mind and passed. She neither pursued it nor left behind the slightest trace.

Whenever she now considered anything that might displease the Demon, she erased the memory from her mind to keep him from reading it.

Of course, she had a way to unlock those memories herself.

"It was mine to begin with. Hand it over!"

The Demon bellowed, and a mass of black light burst out of Dai Xieyue's body, lifting him into the air.

"Ah!"

As Dai Xieyue screamed in terror, a black orb of light shot out of his body and flew straight into the Demon's sculpted form.

Of the twelve Talisman slots on the Demon, the one for the white tiger now held half a Talisman.

"It's a tiger. Why is it only half?" Bibi Dong asked, puzzled.

"Hmph! You'll have to ask him. This fellow is the thing that split off from the Tiger Talisman!" the Demon said with a cold snort, a hint of regret in his voice.

He'd found the Talisman, but unfortunately, it was only half.

"M-Milord!" Dai Xieyue clutched his chest and begged for mercy. "Please don't kill me!"

With the power inside him taken away, he finally understood that it had never belonged to him. It had always had an owner.

He'd carried someone else's property around, swaggering across the owner's own territory and practically delivering himself into their hands. No wonder he'd ended up in this state.

But he wasn't willing to die just like that.

"Milord, I'm a prince of the Star Luo Empire. I can help you take control of the Star Luo Empire and make the entire empire pledge its allegiance to you."

But his pitiful pleas didn't catch the Demon's attention in the slightest.

The Demon turned his icy gaze to Bibi Dong and said coldly, "Bibi Dong, go get the other half of the Talisman."

"The other half..."

"Take this fellow with you. He'll tell you. The Tiger Talisman can balance yin and yang; he must know where the other half is."

"Yes!"

Bibi Dong still had plenty of questions, but since the Demon had said so, she had no choice but to go find the other half for him first.

Fortunately, she was just as curious about that other half.

"You. Come with me."

Bibi Dong glared coldly at Dai Xieyue, then grabbed him and walked out of the secret chamber.

The secret chamber fell silent.

The Demon was barely able to contain his anticipation. With half the Talisman embedded in him, he could feel his divine position changing.

The first divine trial was to restore his original strength, including recovering the Twelve Talismans. Just now, the divine trial had seemed on the verge of granting him a reward, but then it hesitated, apparently because he had only half a Talisman.

He estimated that the reward would come once the entire Tiger Talisman was embedded in his body.

He wondered what the World God's reward would be.

The Demon waited eagerly in secret, red light glowing in the sculpture's eyes.

Meanwhile, at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, in the meeting room,

Ning Fengzhi sat with Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo. The atmosphere was heavy.

After a long silence, Bone Douluo Gu Rong finally couldn't hold back any longer. "Fengzhi, do you really believe what you read?"

He was still skeptical about what the ancient books said. Even though everything seemed obvious by now, the things written in them were simply too far-fetched.

He would sooner believe that Qian Daoliu of Spirit Hall had learned about the Demon by finding Ning Xiaoyao's Travel Diary.

"Ah!" Ning Fengzhi let out a long sigh and said helplessly, "Uncle Gu, Uncle Jian, I know you don't believe it. If I hadn't found irrefutable proof, I probably wouldn't believe it so readily either, but..."

He paused, fear showing in his eyes.

"But what, Fengzhi? Out with it!" Gu Rong gripped his chair and urged him anxiously.

Sword Douluo furrowed his brows, his expression turning grave. He could sense Ning Fengzhi's fear.

"But I found that stone man!"

Ning Fengzhi summoned all his strength to finally say the words, leaving the two Titled Douluo utterly shocked.

"Fengzhi, are you sure? Is it the stone man described in the records?"

"Didn't our ancestor say he'd thrown it away? Where did you find it?"

The two asked in disbelief.

"I traced the paths our ancestor Ning Xiaoyao had walked during his life and sent disciples out to search. In the end, we found the stone man. Our ancestor once secluded himself there for three years. This must be the one."

Ning Fengzhi looked toward the screen. Following his gaze, the two Douluo finally noticed that a stone man had appeared in the room—and neither of them had noticed it at all!

The rough stone man was pitted all over, and even had moss covering its face. Even Chen Xin felt he could have carved it himself.

But when they looked more closely, it seemed so lifelike, as if it were a real person turned to stone. Its stone eyes seemed to be staring right at them, sending a chill down their spines.

"This stone man... why does it feel so creepy?" Gu Rong swallowed and said uneasily.

A chill ran down his back!

In Spirit Hall's secret chamber, the Demon felt his divine power increase by a few more strands. He raised his head and carefully sensed where it had come from.

"So it was you. You found the stone man already? That was fast!"

He'd casually made the stone man earlier. It was completely ordinary, with nothing special about it. Ning Fengzhi and the others were simply frightening themselves.

But if he was really going to make an appearance, he couldn't use this ordinary stone. He'd need a living, breathing person instead.

But how could he create Valmont?

The Demon pondered.

The most important thing about writing in the Chronicle of Ages was that everything had to make sense. Anything that appeared out of nowhere would create a serious historical bug, and might even cause the entire world to collapse.

Compared to creating a Valmont, pretending to be Valmont seemed much easier.

Valmont was just a tool he'd use to deceive the world. It didn't matter whether he was the real Valmont. If someone could pretend to be Valmont...

The Demon's eyes suddenly lit up. He had it: Dai Mubai's Evil Clone!

That fellow would be perfect for playing Valmont. All he had to do now was figure out how to rewrite history!

He thought it over as he waited for Dai Mubai to return.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

"If the Demon is real, doesn't that mean even Qian Daoliu himself isn't a match for him?" Sword Douluo suddenly said.

"Damn it! He must be planning to use the other Soul Masters on the continent as cannon fodder, then swoop in and reap the benefits himself!" Bone Douluo slammed the table and said angrily.

"We can't let his plan succeed. We have to expose this!"

"Right. Uncle Jian, Uncle Gu, sorry to trouble you."

"Don't worry!" The two stood and left.

The meeting room fell silent once more.

Ning Fengzhi tapped his fingers on the table, thinking about the increasingly chaotic continent, his mind a tangled mess.