Nightfall

The fog had yet to dissipate and Ning Que had already crossed through it, reaching monk Guan Hai, leaving a pale shadow in his eyes. Nervousness finally appeared in the calm eyes of the young powerhouse from the Buddhism sect.

Monk Guan Hai did two things when he saw Ning Que who had broken through the fog. He separated his two hands, and his right thumb pressed against his palm, changing from a Wisdom King gesture to a heart gesture. His raised left hand turned to a horizontal position, and pushed the strongest Wisdom King gesture in his palm towards Ning Que. His abdomen contracted suddenly as he breathed in to begin his Buddhist Chant.

With the help of the two Buddhist sect emblematic gestures, the fog around his body began to move chaotically. Twilight shone through the milky white fog like flowers blooming in the air. When the first syllable of the Buddhist Chant began in his abdomen, the flowers of the faint Breath of Nature began to form and fall downwards.

Some of the flowers broke into several petals and fell like the rain while some flowers fell complete with their stems. They enveloped his body in a dense cloud. These petals and stems held the Qi of Heaven and Earth moved by the two emblematic gestures. Together with the Buddhist chant, they would frantically bloom upon making contact with an enemy’s body, inflicting harm viciously.

With a Buddhist heart gesture in his right hand, the Wisdom King gesture in his left and a Buddhist Chant that could shock his enemy, Guan Hai used the most powerful Buddhist Sect arts that he knew. This core disciple of the elder at Lanke Temple had a determined and pure Buddhist Heart. He could remain calm in the current situation and make the appropriate response.

Compared to ordinary folk, regardless of whether they came from the Taoism or Buddhism sects, the greatest advantage cultivators had was speed. Before the average person could see the light, their throats would have been pierced by a flying sword. And before the average person had time to dodge, he would have been bathed in blood, battered by that rain of flowers. Monk Guan Hai knew that Ning Que was not an ordinary person, but in the face of his opponent’s sudden attack through the fog, he was certain that his choice was the right one.

It was a pity that he had forgotten something. Distance was necessary to reflect how fast, or perhaps one should say, to profit from the speed a cultivator had. And at this moment, the distance between him and Ning Que was less than a foot. He was right before him.

When the beautiful flowers of the Breath of Nature fell, and when monk Guan Hai’s hands were still making their emblematic gestures, Ning Que did something very simple. He smashed his fist on the monk’s face.

Two streams of blood spurt out.

In a flash of pain and the sound of coughing, monk Guan Hai’s heart gesture in his right hand and Wisdom King gesture in his left were scattered. The flowers from the Breath of Nature had also disappeared, and even the fog had dissipated.

The fog dispersed, and the hall returned to its original quietness and emptiness.

Ning Que retracted his fist slowly.

Monk Guan Hai wiped the blood off his face. After a moment of silence, he said, "I have lost."

What was left of the ice had melted and was flowing in the seams of the dark wooden floors, making a clear tinkling sound.

Monk Guan Hai raised his head and lamented, "Mr. Thirteen is indeed the successor of a Divine Talisman Master. Your use of talismans was beyond imagination, and each of the four Fu characters that you have used was very creative and logical, like an essay with an introduction, development, transformation and a conclusion. It was beautiful. Finally, you abandoned the use of talismans and used your fist, proving that you have understood the true meaning of battle. It seems that I have overestimated myself in wanting to challenge you. No wonder you were so hesitant in the beginning; you mustn’t have wanted to embarrass me too much."

Ning Que did indeed show mercy at the end. He had an abundance of the Great Spirit in his body, and his body was strong. His fist had once crushed Gu Xi’s skull like a watermelon, so how could it be that only monk Guan Hai’s nose had bled?

But in actual fact, he had only won by the skin of his teeth.

Ning Que had used four talismans consecutively and had expended too much of his Psyche Power. However, he had plenty of Psyche Power in his sense of perception, so that was not an issue. The key was that the Great Spirit that he had imbued in the first three talismans had used up all the Great Spirit in his body. He had then tried to ambush the monk through the fog, forcefully after using a Scatter Fu, so his body was extremely weak after that.

If monk Guan Hai had not chosen to use the most powerful Buddhist Sect art in response, but had instead continued to use the Wisdom King protection gesture, and strengthened his defense, he would only need a second more to succeed in felling Ning Que.

Ning Que looked at monk Guan Hai, who stood before him and admitted his loss sincerely. He thanked his lucky stars silently. This monk from the Lanke Temple was in a high state of cultivation, but chose a secluded life in the temple on the mountain to cultivate and study Buddhist scriptures. He did not seem to understand why one battled.

He suddenly thought of something that Ye Hongyu had said when they left the hanging basket at the Front Gate of the Devil’s Doctrine. "Most cultivators in the world do not understand what battle is. It is easy to defeat them."

"It is a pity that my cultivation is not sufficient enough to recognize the legendary Academy’s no-boundary spirit."

Monk Guan Hai was still earnestly reviewing and analyzing the battle.

His attitude was very sincere, and Ning Que’s face burned slightly. He thought to himself, that he had refused to battle the monk on the streets not because he was worried that he would embarrass the monk, but because he was worried that he would embarrass himself.

Ning Que extended a hand and helped him up.

Monk Guan Hai thanked him, and then, said dazedly. "There is something that I do not understand. How did you dodge the raindrops that I flicked at you? Those drops of rain were imbued with my battle intent."

Ning Que smiled and did not say anything, but collected himself secretly.

Monk Guan Hai looked at his expression and could not help but say abashedly, "I am being presumptuous. I am being presumptuous."

He thought to himself, that Ning Que had silently deflected his move, and must have used a special skill of the Academy. That skill must be of the same scale as the no-boundary spirit, and his question would be like trying to peek at the Academy’s secrets.

Ning Que smiled and shook his head, and then, helped him to walk out of the hall.

Only he knew what he had done to deal with the raindrops.

He did not do anything.

He had just lowered his head and allowed the raindrops to fall on his forehead and then seep into his hair.

The raindrops were indeed imbued with a fierce power.

But Ning Que’s skin had always been thick. His skin had gotten even thicker especially since he joined the Devil.

...

...

The Taoists outside the Southern Gate Temple had been paying attention to the happenings within the hall silently.

This was the first battle of the newest generation of the Academy since they entered the human realm.

Some of the silver-haired Taoists could not help but think of the Academy’s Crazy Ke. Their emotions were all over the place as they thought of the bloodshed that the man had been part of since he rode his black donkey into Chang’an.

The doors of the Taoist temple were shut, and no one dared to peek through the windows.

Those standing by for the battle results could only see the fire and the dryness that flowed out of the window. That was followed by the pattering of rain, with water flowing out from below the door, to continue with a chill that was colder than the winter outside the hall. Then, there was a Buddhist light and a solemn Buddhist Chant before all was silent once more.

It was silent in the hall and no one knew of the results of the battle. Did Mr. Thirteen of the Academy win, or did the core disciple of the elder at Lanke Temple win?

Mo Shanshan stood beneath an old tree outside the hall, while looking at the building. Her eyes had suddenly brightened when Ning Que had used four consecutive talismans. And her expression was worried when the Buddhist Chant rang out within the hall, and a vague Buddhist light could be seen. And when silence returned, she could guess how the battle had ended, and she calmed down.

Because she knew that someone like Ning Que might lose or die, but he would not go down without a sound.

The doors to the hall opened, and Ning Que helped monk Guan Hai walk out slowly.

The Taoists who were viewing the battle could not help but be shocked when they saw this, especially when they saw the traces of blood on Guan Hai’s face. They thought to themselves, that Ning Que was indeed a disciple of the Academy who had entered the human realm. He had won with such ease.

Of course, Ning Que was considered to be part of the Southern Gate of Haotian due to his relationship with Master Yan Se. So the Taoists of the Southern Gate Temple could not help but express joy at his victory.

After a short conversation with He Mingchi, Ning Que spoke briefly with monk Guan Hai. He said with an abundance of affection, that he would personally head forth to Lanke Temple to participate in the Yue laan hungry ghost festival next year, and that they should speak more then. Then, they exchanged niceties and left.

Snow fell once more as he walked out of the Southern Gate Temple.

Ning Que’s face looked extremely pale as he walked down the path leading to the city. The hand holding the big black umbrella was trembling slightly. Mo Shanshan, who was beside him, looked at him and sighed deeply. Then, she wrapped her arm around his. It looked like a lover’s hold, but she was actually propping him up.

Mo Shanshan said, "Even though Guan Hai is young, he has been trained by the elder of Lanke Temple, whose state is high beyond measure. His grasp on the Buddhism art is exceptional and is one of the many powerhouses in the Buddhist Sect. You have surprised me, by winning based on your own cultivation skills and not because of your talisman arrows or the pouch that Master Yan Se left you."

Ning Que felt pleased with himself when he heard that Guan Hai was a powerhouse of the Buddhist Sect and that he had beat him. Then, he was a little annoyed when he heard that he had surprised Mo Shanshan. He said, "Do I seem weak to you?"

Mo Shanshan smiled as she looked at the falling snowflakes. "That’s because you’re really weak."

Ning Que was speechless.

Mo Shanshan stopped, then looked at his profile and said in a serious tone, "But you were very strong today."

Ning Que replied seriously, "Thank you."

Mo Shanshan thought of something, and she asked, "I think that there was something odd with the talismans that you used in the hall. You shouldn’t be able to write such powerful talismans in your current cultivation state and your lack of understanding in Talisman Taoism. The talismans that I wrote were like that before I encountered the Great Blockage Formation at the Front Gate of the Devil’s Doctrine."

At her current status, she was naturally qualified to measure other Talisman Masters against her own cultivation skills.

Ning Que only remembered then, that the girl’s understanding of Talisman Taoism was way beyond his, and could not help but feel uneasy. He thought, that if she could see the weird method that he had used on the Fu paper, or even discover his Dark Methods...

"That was not a talisman."

Mo Shanshan caught a snowflake in her hands. She looked at the sparkling snowflake melting slowly in her palms and said, "I understand now. You were using your will like a talisman. Is this the legendary no-boundary spirit of the Academy?"

Ning Que might be a student of the Second floor of the Academy, but he did not know what the no-boundary spirit was. But since Mo Shanshan did not think that he had used the Great Spirit instead of the Qi of Heaven and Earth, he would not try to explain it either.

However, when he heard "the no-boundary spirit", he could not help but think back to the day when he had ascended the mountain. He had seen the words, "There is no boundary to the gentleman" on the stone outside the Wooden door. Could it be that the words held greater meaning?