Shortly after the hour of the Pig began, Qian Kang, lord of Evernight City, and his wife flew back to the Bright Realm with Ye Bin, bringing their respective disciples along with Shentu Hong and the others.
This time, they neither summoned those Demonkind and other nonhuman beings nor paid any attention to the scattered fiends of the Forty-Seven Islands. They flew straight over, charging directly toward the Celestial Heart Palace on Mount Qianyuan.
Old Man Withered Bamboo still had no intention of taking action himself. He merely bestowed three kinds of Magic Treasure:
Shentu Hong and Zhuge Jingwo each received three Taiyi Azure Spirit Arrows and a Six Jia Light-Splitting Wheel, while Ruan Zheng received a suit of Six Yang Azure Spirit Demon-Warding Armor.
The Six Yang Azure Spirit Demon-Warding Armor looked as though it had been stitched together from green bamboo leaves, but it was actually as soft as cotton. Its leaves were small and exquisite, and the whole suit folded into a square only three inches across, no larger than a handkerchief.
When tossed into the air and activated according to the prescribed method, it immediately became a suit of armor resembling a straw rain cape, wrapping tightly around the body as though a layer of bamboo-leaf scales had grown over the wearer. Azure Light intertwined, instantly forming an emerald canopy that sheltered the person within. No matter how powerful the water, fire, wind, Lei, or Magic Treasure, it could scarcely harm the wearer. The armor could also render its wearer invisible.
Old Man Withered Bamboo also gave each of the three an Azure Spirit Bamboo Talisman. "I refined these talismans when I first attained the Dao, many years ago. They cost me considerable effort, and there were three hundred and sixty-five in all. After more than