Dragon-Tiger Aura

The night moon hung like a hook, its fair white light piercing the black clouds overhead and falling upon Fengxi County.

Zhang Family Alley. The Zhang family's grand residence sat quietly at the entrance to the alley. The vast courtyard was deathly still, with two fortune-bestowing lanterns hanging high before the gates.

The Zhang family was a great clan and particularly particular about such things.

As the saying went: no lights at the front gate, no brightness in the rear courtyard.

Brightness also signified prosperity. Many wealthy households would even spend silver to keep their candles burning until dawn.

The entrance was silent at this moment when a strange chill wind suddenly swept down the long street. The two lanterns swayed, their faint glow flickering uncertainly. The night watchman shuddered as the wind blew over him.

The watchman found it strange. It was high summer, and though the scorching heat of day had faded by midnight, it should not have been so bone-chillingly cold.

Frightened, he hurried away.

Yet in the darkness, strange shadows twisted into view one after another. Looking closely, they were snow-white paper figures.

Only, their pupils were crimson, as though dripping blood. Like skilled assassins, they hid in the shadows. The moment these paper figures appeared, the open and hidden sentries surrounding the Zhang residence all collapsed unconscious at once.

They had only just approached the Zhang residence.

Yet at that very moment, an invisible violet radiance suddenly blossomed above the Zhang residence, and an intangible, majestic aura drifted outward.

Sacred. Dignified.

The aura trembled slightly. At once, the paper figures shuddered all over, thick smoke rising from their bodies as they hastily retreated.

Humanlike fear appeared on their faces.

"Dragon-Tiger Aura!"

In the rear courtyard of Zhang's Paper Effigy Shop, Paper Figure Zhang, who had been sitting beneath a shrine, opened his eyes. His expression changed slightly.

On the table, the oil lamp swayed unsteadily as if buffeted by a gale.

An invisible tidal wave seemed to be sweeping toward it from within.

Behind Paper Figure Zhang stood Wang Yuanlang and Ji Ming. Wang Yuanlang could not discern the mystery in this scene, but Ji Ming understood it only too well.

The Zhang family had received an imperial plaque reading "A House of Accumulated Virtue," and thus possessed some protection from Dragon-Tiger Aura. External evils found it difficult to invade.

But that was no problem.

Before the Zhang residence, a group of people soon appeared and used a huge basin of filthy blood to cover the golden plaque.

The moment the filthy blood was splashed over it, the grand, intangible pale-violet aura circling above the Zhang residence slowly dissipated.

Paper Figure Zhang and Ji Ming both sensed this.

Paper Figure Zhang's expression remained unchanged, while a faint smile rose at the corners of Ji Ming's lips.

"It's done. Without the Dragon-Tiger Aura, things will be much easier!"

"The Zhang family is only a local noble clan after all. They lack foundations, yet possess a great treasure without knowing how to cherish it!"

The root of Dragon-Tiger Aura lay in the imperial court.

It suppressed the four directions, ensuring that the court's orthodoxy would not be affected by myriad evils.

This strand of aura was vast and mighty!

Ji Ming had also heard several accounts concerning the source of this Dragon-Tiger Aura. One said it was the power of legitimate statehood born when the imperial court stood atop the Divine Province.

Another said it came from an unimaginable existence known as the God of State and Soil.

Others claimed it came from the unseen Heavenly Dao—that imperial rule was bestowed by Heaven, which was why such miraculous power descended to protect all living people. Or perhaps it was simply the power of all living people themselves.

Ji Ming could not determine which legend was true, but practitioners of unorthodox arts like them would all deliberately avoid such power.

Before the court's orthodoxy was overthrown, those beyond the secular world would not choose to resist it head-on.

At that moment, two others sensed the Zhang family's Dragon-Tiger Aura dissipating.

Both were within the Zhang residence.

Inside the Zhang family ancestral hall, Zhang Jian had remained there these past days, using the family's solemn treasured ground to study the Nine Chapters of Paulownia Mountain Purity together with Zhang Yi.

Two heads were better than one. Each had gained greatly from their joint study, and both had begun stepping through the gate of the Great Dao.

Zhang Jian cultivated the Nine Chapters of Paulownia Mountain Purity somewhat faster. In almost a single day, he had transformed the inner breath within his body into a layer of power with an exceedingly special nature.

He called it spiritual power.

Perhaps it was connected to his cultivation of the Heavenly Dipper Boy Skill, or perhaps because he himself was pure yang, but the spiritual power he cultivated was incomparably firm and yang.

Yet this differed from mana.

Only after completely merging with one's own origin could one produce mana cultivated jointly through life and destiny. Mana was a power condensed from one's essence, qi, spirit, lifespan, and fortune. Its mysteries were extraordinary, and it was not something ordinary practitioners beyond the secular world could form.

It required an orthodox lineage of the Great Dao, exceptional aptitude, along with a measure of opportunity and perseverance to cultivate.

Spiritual power, meanwhile, was somewhat similar to the innate inner breath condensed during the Innate stage, though more wondrous. It was merely a force of qi condensed from part of the power of the Three Treasures.

Zhang Yi was slightly slower, taking nearly a week before he gradually transformed his own spiritual power.

Being able to transform spiritual power proved that both possessed the aptitude for cultivation, though Zhang Jian's talent was clearly more outstanding.

When the Dragon-Tiger Aura dissipated, the two relied on the small amount of spiritual awareness they had just condensed to sense the changes outside in advance. They vaguely sensed the existence of the Dragon-Tiger Aura.

At the same time, they sensed an exceedingly sinister force pressing toward the Zhang family residence.

Sensing the change, the two instinctively rose to act.

Yet the stone mirror in the ancestral hall suddenly shone brilliantly. A dense layer of golden radiance shot forth from it, and beneath that golden light, certain demons and monsters outside the Zhang residence had nowhere to hide.

Strange paper figures appeared out of thin air, only to let out wails of anguish and despair beneath the golden light before melting away completely.

"Paper figures?"

The two moved with extraordinary speed, breaking through the air to appear outside the Zhang residence. At once, beneath the illumination of their spiritual awareness, they saw the paper figures turning to ash.

Whether Zhang Yi or Zhang Jian, neither had ever faced such a sight before. The bizarre scene sent chills down their spines.

Those paper figures were like living people!

At the same time, both were astonished by the power of the stone mirror in the ancestral hall.

It was actually this sharp and formidable.

Especially Zhang Jian. His thoughts stirred inwardly. It seemed his five senses and spiritual perception had not been mistaken before. That stone mirror truly was the Zhang family's treasure that guarded the clan.

"Looks like someone wanted to plot against us, but never expected that our Zhang family still had such a treasure?"

"Still, these paper figures seem a little familiar!"

Zhang Yi frowned as he looked at the adorably simple-looking paper figures. He oversaw the Zhang family ancestral hall, and every grand sacrifice of the Zhang family had to pass through his hands before it could proceed smoothly. He was more familiar than anyone with such funeral paper figures.

But Zhang Jian had already recognized them. A sharp gleam flashed through his eyes. "Zhang's Paper Effigy Shop!"

Zhang Yi's gaze tightened slightly.

"I'll go take a look!"

"Together!"

Seeing Zhang Jian shoot away at once, Zhang Yi was slightly surprised, but after thinking it over, he swiftly leaped after him.

As for the Zhang residence, they were not worried. With the Zhang family guards and the treasure protecting it, it would not be easy for anyone to breach it.

Meanwhile, inside Zhang's Paper Effigy Shop, Paper Figure Zhang suddenly seemed to have been struck by lightning. A dense golden light erupted from his entire body, nearly roasting him alive on the spot, and he could not stop letting out low, agonized cries.

Golden light even poured from his eyes.

The golden light scorched his body, making him emit waves of inhuman screams.

The oil lamp on the table was buffeted by a violent wind, swaying fiercely and nearly going out.

"He's suffered a backlash!"

Ji Ming's expression changed as he watched the scene.