Seizing Treasure Amid the Chaos

Restriction-Breaking Talismans were designed specifically to counter arrays.

Perhaps one talisman wouldn't be enough, but with another, they could always open a breach.

Zhou Ning's expression grew grave.

If the array were broken, he reckoned that, given his strength, he might not necessarily have to fear this woman.

But once his strength was exposed, he wouldn't be able to stay in the Su Household any longer. He really would have to flee on a flying boat!

As for Scholar Xu and Old Jia, they would probably meet bitter deaths on the spot.

Old Jia's smile looked uglier than a crying face. Dead, dead, we're dead for sure!

He tried to struggle, pleading earnestly, "Fairy! Please don't be rash! We're all a bunch of paupers. Why waste a priceless Restriction-Breaking Talisman on us?"

With life and death on the line, Scholar Xu could no longer worry about saving face either. He quietly hid his green-leaf Law Artifact behind his back.

He nodded repeatedly. "I fish for three days and dry my nets for two. I'm destitute!"

Old Jia even pulled his granddaughter over. "Look how poor I am! My granddaughter fell ill, and I couldn't even get her treated. She's gone simple-minded!"

As he spoke, he shook Jia Tingwan's hair buns.

Jia Tingwan was already sweet and innocent-looking. Now her little mouth fell open, and she went, "Abba, abba."

Guo Changying was so angry she laughed. Did these people really take her for a fool?

Suddenly, two more flashes of red light lit up the distant sky, shooting straight into the heavens. They were signal talismans.

A man from the Guo Household brought his flying boat down in front of the courtyard, carrying a human head with disheveled hair.

Zhou Ning recognized it as the Late Qi Refining hidden guard the Su Household had stationed on Bamboo Creek Island.

The Guo Household man's lips moved slightly as he transmitted a warning.

Zhou Ning's Divine Sense was comparable to that of someone at Foundation Establishment, and he heard every word clearly.

"Young miss, don't be rash. The red iron bamboo is what matters. We might not have enough Restriction-Breaking Talismans!"

Only then did Zhou Ning understand.

Guo Changying shot Zhou Ning a resentful look, then looked at the damned old man beside him.

She suppressed the urge to fire a talisman at the array.

Though she had more than one Restriction-Breaking Talisman, if she used one here, she might not have enough to break the array protecting the red iron bamboo.

She left them with a threat. "I'll let you wretches cling to life for a few more days. One day, I'll come back for your dog lives!"

With that, Guo Changying took her spear and left.

Time was short. There was no need to stay and fight to the bitter end. Destroying the Su Household's spirit-ship plans and plundering their resources came first.

Seeing this, Old Jia dropped onto his backside. "We're alive, we're alive!"

Xu Qinghou's heart also eased. The woman had an overwhelming presence and terrifying strength. If she had broken the array, they would probably have faced ten deaths and no chance of survival.

Then he heard Old Jia sigh. "What a loss, what a loss!"

He hadn't gotten a thing, and he'd lost a high-grade talisman!

The next moment, however, Zhou Ning mounted his bamboo-leaf Law Artifact and rose into the air again.

Old Jia jumped in fright and blurted out, "Boy Zhou, what are you doing?"

Zhou Ning paid no attention to how Old Jia addressed him and simply said, "As the art of war says, when the enemy advances, I retreat; when the enemy retreats, I advance."

With that, he flew straight out of the courtyard.

Little Jia Tingwan's almond-shaped eyes widened. "Grandpa, what's Alchemist Zhou going to do?"

Old Jia said solemnly, "Why, he's going to fight the enemy bravely!"

"Huh? Grandpa, don't you go!"

Old Jia clasped his hands behind his back and said mildly, "Your grandpa has the heart to slay those villains, but alas, I must stay and protect you. I can only miss this fortuitous opportunity!"

Jia Tingwan was deeply moved. Grandpa had sacrificed so much for her!

Xu Qinghou, standing beside them, saw right through Old Jia and found it funny. But on second thought, he sighed inwardly, How am I any better than him?

Recalling the savage fighting earlier, Xu Qinghou still felt a lingering fear.

Earlier, while Zhou Ning was in the courtyard, he had spread his Divine Sense across nearly two li.

He confirmed that the valiant Guo Changying was gone. She had presumably gone to the back mountain to seize the red iron bamboo.

Only then did he dare go out and see whether he could find some fortuitous opportunity.

After all, he had wasted several talismans for nothing and been mocked while trapped at his own door. It was galling.

Moreover, from his encounters with Steward Su and the Guo Household cultivators, he could faintly tell that the ordinary Qi Refining cultivators of Cuiwei Lake seemed almost absurdly weak?

He flew out of the courtyard and activated the Spirit Eye Technique.

Several cultivators were keeping watch on the eastern side of the island, their eyes also glowing. All of them were at the Qi Refining Middle Stage.

Clutching his talismans, Zhou Ning activated his flying boat and flew straight toward them.

Steward Su's residence was under siege. Seven or eight Guo Household Qi Refining cultivators were directing their Law Artifacts to bombard it nonstop.

The shield on the array's surface flickered, but it never broke.

Su Changhe huddled inside, afraid to show his face.

He knew full well that these people were only making a feint to trap him.

Zhou Ning looked at the mangled corpses and broken bones strewn outside the residence, and at the ground soaked in blood. The corner of his eye twitched.

With one sweep of Guo Changying's spear, ordinary Qi Refining Middle Stage cultivators had been utterly unable to resist and had died on the spot.

"Steward Su deserves to die for suppressing news of the purple monkey flower!"

Several Guo Household cultivators spotted Zhou Ning and were startled at first. Then, seeing that he was only at the Fifth Layer of Qi Refining, they all grinned viciously. "You dare come out and court death?"

They all turned their weapons on him. Fireballs, long sabers, flying forks, and jade rulers, each flashing with spiritual light, hurtled straight at Zhou Ning.

Zhou Ning stood in midair, brimming with righteous indignation. "You Guo Household remnants dare invade our Su Household's sacred ground? Today, I shall carry out heaven's justice!"

With that, he produced a talisman and slapped it down. "Great Water Dragon Talisman!"

The talisman burst into light, and lake water surged into a water dragon several zhang long.

Zhou Ning directed the water dragon at the crowd, its waters roaring furiously.

It sent their Law Artifacts flying in disarray, then, without losing momentum, slammed into two cultivators and made them spew blood.

The Guo Household cultivators looked shaken. "Something's not right with him!"

Inside the array, Su Changhe saw everything clearly, and fear gripped his heart.

The speed at which this young man activated talismans was extraordinary!

A talisman was essentially compressed magic power. When a cultivator used one, it took time to activate, and once activated, the cultivator still had to control the Law Technique with Divine Sense to attack.

That was precisely why the immortal cultivation world had never seen a heaven-defying spectacle of a Qi Refining cultivator using a fourth-tier talisman to kill a Nascent Soul Cultivator in one blow.

Otherwise, alchemists and array masters wouldn't even be fit to carry talisman masters' shoes!

An aged Late Qi Refining cultivator shouted, "Protect me!"

With that, he took out an exquisite crimson talisman and rapidly formed Hand Seals. The others brought out small shields and flags to protect him.

Looking at the scattered Guo Household cultivators, Zhou Ning felt the thrill of fighting many enemies alone.

He laughed. "Paltry tricks! You dare show off your ax skills before the master carpenter? Take another Great Water Dragon Talisman!"

Another water dragon crashed down with a surging torrent.

The small shields swelled as they caught the light, overlapping layer upon layer with the barrier formed by the gray-white array flags. Together, they forcibly stopped the raging water dragon.

The Han Household cultivators were overjoyed.

Even the aged cultivator activating the talisman looked excited. The crimson light from the talisman in his hand blazed brighter; it was nearly ready.

This was a first-tier, supreme-grade Flame Explosion Talisman. Its immense power was not much inferior to a Thunder Explosion Pearl's. Even an ordinary Qi Refining Ninth Layer cultivator would meet a bitter death on the spot if struck by it!

Zhou Ning hovered in the sky and pulled back a little. Seeing this, he shouted, "You villains still dare hold out?"

"Great Water Dragon Talisman! Great Water Dragon Talisman!"

Using Divine Sense comparable to that of someone at Foundation Establishment to activate Qi Refining talismans was effortless for him.

The water dragon wheeled and twisted, making a turn around the white shield light before slamming into them from behind.

The aged cultivator staggered violently. The talisman in his hand, which had just finished gathering its power, abruptly went out of control, and violent flames burst outward.

Not only did it fail to hurt Zhou Ning, it swallowed the Guo Household cultivators around him. A sea of fire erupted, and the bodies of several nearby cultivators burst apart, leaving no remains.

Even Zhou Ning, up above, felt a blast of scorching heat.

He was secretly alarmed. It seemed he couldn't underestimate the cultivators of Cuiwei Lake. A Thick Earth Talisman probably couldn't withstand the power of that talisman.

The water dragon shook its head and swished its tail as it plunged into the sea of fire. With a prolonged hiss, water vapor shot into the sky.

After extinguishing the flames, Zhou Ning used his magic power to draw over several battered Storage Bags.

He glanced at Steward Su inside the array and sneered. "Useless trash!"

Steward Su was frightened and shocked. How could an alchemist at the Fifth Layer of Qi Refining possess such strength?

Just then, Zhou Ning's Divine Sense stirred. Several figures were rushing over from the back mountain, led by the spear-wielding Guo Changying, her high ponytail streaming behind her as she sped forward.

Zhou Ning wasted no more time. He stepped onto his bamboo-leaf Law Artifact and sped back toward the courtyard.

Guo Changying was already furious. Spiritual light surged from the black boat beneath her feet, and with a sharp flick of her fair wrist, her spear tip unleashed a slender streak of watery spear light straight at Zhou Ning's back.

Zhou Ning returned to the courtyard in an instant. The sharp spear light struck the array's shield, sending ripples across it like water, but leaving it intact.

Zhou Ning turned around and said cheerfully, "Changying, you have too much killing intent. It's bad for your cultivation."

Guo Changying was so furious she laughed. Her spear flickered, striking the shield like falling raindrops and sending dense ripples across its surface.

The Four Symbols Spirit-Locking Array truly lived up to Su Youyou's words: no one below Foundation Establishment could possibly break it.

After venting her anger for a while, Guo Changying gave the array a resentful kick.

All the Restriction-Breaking Talismans had been used on the array guarding the red iron bamboo. If they delayed any longer, the Su Household's Foundation Establishment cultivators might arrive, and that would be troublesome.

Guo Changying stared fixedly at Zhou Ning, as though she meant to commit his face to memory.

After a few breaths, her expression returned to normal, and she gave an indifferent order.

"Guo Household cultivators, retreat with me!"