Nightfall

There was a straight long street behind the city gate of Yangzhou. The big black horse dashed toward the south along the street and went miles away in a blink of an eye. The clip-clop of horseshoes gradually diminished. That was Ning Que"s answer to the dead men. 

At the street that was located thousands of miles away, a gigantic sacred sedan stopped in the middle of the street. The curtain fluttered in the warm wind of the spring. The face of the young Great Divine Priest, who was sitting inside the sedan, was vaguely shown through the window. He wore an innocent yet ferocious smile on his calm face. 

"I think your unstoppable impulsiveness embarra.s.ses the Academy," Hengmu Liren spoke as he looked at Ning Que. 

Ning Que unmounted from his horse. With no reply, he reached out for the handle of the knife at the back of his shoulder as he walked toward the sacred sedan. 

He was standing thousands of meters away from the sacred sedan and it would take him a thousand small and slow steps to reach the sacred sedan. 

"According to your battle style, you will not allow your opponent a long time to prepare. Why are you taking a thousand steps now? Are you trying to spare yourself some time? Seemingly, you have foreseen the development of the battle."

Hengmu Liren flashed a satisfied grin as he said, "Your easy win against A Da in the wild was within everyone"s expectation because a Fu Master like you were born undefeatable. Moreover, you are backed by your Academy. Together with both the evil devil and the heretic outcast, you"re one of the strongest men among the cultivators now. Unfortunately… none of these work on me." 

Ning Que had taken ten steps forward as Hengmu Liren spoke. 

Hengmu Liren"s grin gradually wore off as he stared at Ning Que who was slowly approaching him. A hint of evilness flashed across his youthful eyes as he said coldly, "Fu Masters from the same state cannot compete against each other? Fu Masters from the Five States are born undefeatable? That means nothing to me. You know clearly that I"ve long surpa.s.sed the Five States. How are you going to defeat me?" 

Ning Que remained silent as he walked forward quietly with his fist gripped around the handle of the knife. Ning Que"s silence did not put Hengmu Liren at ease. Instead, his expression grew grimmer than before. He gently leaned his body forward before he slowly positioned his body upright. He said sternly, "Of course I acknowledge your power. Regardless of the result of today"s fight, this battle will leave a great impact to the entire human world, just like the Battle of Verdant Canyon. This will definitely be noted in the history. Therefore, I appreciate your presence today." 

Hengmu Liren had the opportunity to showcase his power when he was competing against Ning Que, who was considerably strong. 

Despite his expression of grat.i.tude, his tone was filled with absolute conceit. However, Ning Que had a different opinion. Ning Que did not see any similarity between their fight at the street of Yangzhou today and the Battle of Verdant Canyon. Ning Que might have barely caught up with his Second Brother"s then standard. But, Hengmu"s ability was nowhere close to Liu Bai. 

Hengmu Liren was Haotian"s gift to the human world. He even thought that he was the biological son of Haotian. But, that was merely a meaningless statement. Liu Bai was the only and the strongest one to have the courage to attack Haotian. He was the real strong one. 

Hengmu Liren was slightly annoyed by Ning Que"s prolonged silence. A hint of furiousness beamed from his solemn deep eyes. In Hengmu"s opinion, Ning Que should reciprocate and appreciate Hengmu"s presence as well. Hengmu felt insulted by Ning Que"s persistent wordlessness. 

"Are you confident in winning this battle?" he scoffed as he looked at Ning Que. 

"No. I"m not confident." Finally, Ning Que had spoken. He gazed into the sacred sedan and said calmly, "Even when my opponent is a baby who has no cultivation, I will never commence a battle with absolute confidence. Only people like Ye Hongyu and I can understand this mentality. Therefore, you will never be able to defeat people like us." 

After a brief silence, Hengmu Liren replied, "Were you… born to fight?" 

Ning Que was yet a thousand miles away from the sacred sedan. He gently loosened his hand around the handle of the knife before he abruptly made another tenacious grip. 

Hengmu Liren raised his head and stared at Ning Que"s face with his deep and tranquil eyes that were beaming with the divine flame. He said, "Then, do people like you know what you"re fighting for?" 

Ning Que gently lifted his brows. He had no intentions to reply because his words would be meaningless at this point. 

Hengmu Liren slowly stood up. His body, that was dressed in green, was exposed as the curtains around the sacred sedan fluttered. He was surrounded by a powerful yet quiet aura. 

A sound came from afar echoed throughout the entire Yangzhou City. The robust voice was filled with certainty. 

"I"m Haotian"s son. I am deeply in love with the human world. I fight for the human world and I fight for Haotian. Therefore, I will acquire the eternal triumph!" 

Ning Que suddenly released the knife in his hand after he heard Hengmu"s words. He rolled up the sleeves of his black uniform as he said, "This is a coincidence that I don"t like. But, I have to admit that I"ve been fighting for her too." 

He had arrived before the sacred sedan as he finished his sentence. 

An abrupt wind swirled by and agitated the curtains. The curtains were torn into pieces. Before the pieces could form a spiral in the wind, Ning Que had intruded the sedan and stood right before Hengmu Liren.

At this moment, the tiles that were covering the street broke into pieces. The wind blew and the dust on the ground whirled in eddies of wind. With his inconceivable power and speed, he let loose a full-blown eruption of ferocity. 

Ning Que stared at Hengmu Liren.

In fact, this was his first meeting with Hengmu Liren other than their previous and only meeting via Steel Arrow. It was only natural for them to forgo the greeting. Before he even had the chance to take a clear look at the face of this young man, he threw a punch directly at Hengmu. 

His punch was as tough as the Min Mountain. He could even crack the sky with his punch. Thus, no matter how strong Hengmu Liren was, he would eventually have to admit his utter defeat. 

A startled expression painted over Hengmu Liren"s youthful face as he saw the punch that was coming at him. He always thought that Ning Que was a strong enemy. Yet, he did not expect him to act so speedily and mercilessly. 

Indeed, Ning Que intended to be the first to attack. He wished to use his many experiences in battle to overpower this Taoist boy who owned a powerful state but knew nothing about battle. 

He was able to maneuver his attack perfectly after he had opted his fist over the knife. That was the reason why he could attack with astonis.h.i.+ng speed and terminated all the other possibilities in that battle. 

Ning Que believed that Hengmu Liren would eventually be able to counter with an attack. However, there was absolutely no way for him to summon Tianqi and he would not be able to defend himself from Ning Que"s fist, which was really as big as a claypot. 

A loud bang echoed across the streets of Yangzhou City. It was much more terrifying than Hengmu Liren"s menacing words from before. Resembling arrows, the broken pieces of the curtains around the sacred sedan were shot toward every direction. 

Hengmu Liren lowered his head to look at his chest with a contemptuous grin on his face. A thin layer of tranquil light was beaming around his entire body. He opened his arms wide as he looked into the sky. 

Ning Que"s punch failed to knock him down. In fact, Ning Que"s fist had not come in contact with his body at all. That thin layer of tranquil light gradually settled down and formed an indestructible armour that was s.h.i.+elding his body and blocking all the forces that was acting at him! 

The two unalloyed Haotian"s divine flames were burning on his palms! A powerful beam of force came from the vault of heaven and was continuously infusing into this body. That was Tianqi! 

Ning Que did not expect that his prolonged silent prelude, the knife and his subsequent fierce attack with ultimate speed and the strongest punch would be successfully blocked by Hengmu Liren. 

He did not foresee that Hengmu Liren would be able to summon Tianqi within such a short period of time. 

He had fought with the elites of Tianqi State, and had also heard of Sangsang"s narration of Wei Guangming"s Tianqi right before he pa.s.sed away. This was the moment he realized that Hengmu Liren"s speed of summoning Tianqi had surpa.s.sed Wei Guangming and Xiong Chumo. He could almost catch up with Abbey Dean of Chang"an City back in those days. Ning Que had no idea what state was this. 

Hengmu Liren raised his head and looked at Ning Que with a half smile. It was as though he was staring at a dead clown. 

There was a very high bar set for the Five States. The inside and the outside of the Five States were two completely different worlds. Tianqi was the most superior stage of the Five States. When Ning Que was yet stuck at the bottom of the Five States, Hengmu had already achieved Tianqi. How could Ning Que defeat Hengmu?

"Maybe, you should try to use that talisman." Hengmu Liren continued to look at Ning Que with the half smile while he hinted Ning Que with his gaze. Ning Que had once wrote that inconceivably difficult talisman in Chang"an. However, it was impossible for him to recreate the talisman in Yangzhou City as his comrades, the patriots of the Tang who were willing to fight alongside him, had all been killed and hung on the trees and the bridge. 

Ning Que had made a thorough preparation for this battle. So had Hengmu Liren. At this moment, the sorrowful song of cicadas faintly rang from the end of the street. Hengmu Liren responded with a subtle quiver. 

Ning Que remained composed as he knew that Elder Sister was not here. Those were the real cicadas that were chanting their welcome upon the arrival of their queen. He knew that he had to be one to defeat Hengmu Liren. 

Back then, he borrowed the entire Chang"an to make the talisman and successfully defeated the Abbey Dean. During the Rite to Light at Peach Mountain, he was able to handicap Xiong Chumo after he adopted Sangsang"s power.

Now, he was no longer at Chang"an City. Meanwhile, Sangsang"s whereabouts remained a secret. He did not know whether she had arrived at the Divine Kingdom or had resided at a secret place in the human world. Nonetheless, she was not by his side. Thus, he had no idea how to win over Hengmu, the elite of Tianqi State. 

In fact, it had only been a short while.

Ning Que"s fist was still stuck at the chest of Hengmu Liren. Abruptly, Ning Que loosened his fist and laid out his palm just like what Hengmu Liren did. This was not Peach Mountain and the great force of Haotian did not infuse info his core. Out of nowhere, a pellucid drop of liquid appeared in the center of his palm. 

The gla.s.sy liquid appeared gluey and viscous. As the wind blew, the droplet evaporated and turned into gas. It turned into a wisp of Haoran Qi. The Haoran Qi began to blaze angrily in his palm and released immense light and heat. It looked almost similar to the Haotian"s divine flame that was flaring on the palm of Hengmu Liren. 

The scene was considerably eerie. 

 A slap echoed as Ning Que slapped Hengmu Liren"s chest with the back of his hand. However, it was different this time. The thin layer of tranquil light, that was coating Hengmu Liren"s body, seemed to have mistaken Haoran Qi as the divine flame and showed no revolt against the Haoran Qi. 

The burning Haoran Qi had successfully penetrated Hengmu"s core. 

How to defeat the elite of Tianqi State? Master Yan Se divided the s.p.a.ce and hindered the infusion of the great force of Haotian into the summoner. Yu Lian, on the other hand, divided the world and absorbed the opponent into his own world. That could impede the communication between the opponent and Haotian. However, Ning Que was not capable to do either of these. He had no choice but to come up with another method. 

During his seclusion in the cave in order to completely take over Youngest Uncle"s job, he had been pondering on the same question. If Haoran Qi and Haotian"s divine flame shared so many similarities, could they be the exact same thing if the factors of religion and divinity were omitted? Tianqi was generated by Haotian"s divine power. Therefore, the summoner"s capacity to receive Tianqi must be limited. If someone was to contribute more divine power into the summoner, would the summoner be able to withstand the ma.s.sive force? 

This was Ning Que"s plan. 

As Hengmu Liren summoned Tianqi, his core was filled with great force from Haotian"s divine flame. Ning Que could not halt this process, but he could exacerbate the situation by contributing more power into his body. He believed that the divine flame that he inserted into Hengmu Liren"s body had pa.s.sed the threshold and was able to cause damage to his body. 

A wisp of Haoran Qi? That was the result from years of diligent cultivation. It might appear to be a mere wisp. Yet, that cost almost everything. 

Ning Que"s face turned pale abruptly after the gentle slap on Hengmu Liren"s chest. His cheeks seemed to have sunken in no time. That was a solid proof of the significant amount of power he had lost within seconds. 

In the meantime, Hengmu Liren"s face turned pale as well. However, the paleness did not make him look weak. Instead, the paleness brought a hint of holiness to his aura. His bloodshot eyes made a distinctive contrast to his jade-like face. His black and tranquil pupils were filled with sacredness, yet, carried a subtle clue of agony. 

 The process did not last long. 

As the dust on the street whirled, the Qi of Heaven and Earth, that had extended from the sky above Yangzhou City to a distance away, was disrupted. The floating clouds were messily broken into pieces. The sacred sedan could no longer stand still and was instantly turned into ashes. 

It was as though the horrifying typhoon from the east sea of the Song Kingdom had attacked this world all of sudden. The world was covered by darkness as anguished shrieking and crying echoed across the place. The surrounding buildings turned into ruins in a millisecond! 

The typhoon gradually subsided. 

Hengmu Liren stood still at the same spot. His gown was badly torn and heat was released from the slits on the gown. His respiratory tract was suffering from extreme dryness. He was very close to pa.s.sing out, but he succeeded in keeping himself conscious. 

"Foolish humans." He looked at Ning Que with an icy expression as he said with despise, "Was this your plan to kill me? The divine flame is a combination of Haotian"s power and determination. Its strength is inconceivable and boundless. How are you going to break the limit if it"s boundless?" 

He attacked Ning Que with a punch after he finished his sentence. His fist was burning of Haotian"s divine flame, emitting a blinding ray in the dark environment. 

A loud thud resonated across the atmosphere. Ning Que was thrown away and the impact destroyed half of the residences on the street. Then, the dead silence resumed. Hengmu Liren recalled his fist. He was very much satisfied with his ability as he looked at the divine flame on his fist. 

A rustling sound arouse from another end of the street. Someone was trying to move the wooden pillars and stones away. 

Hengmu Liren squinted his eyes as he stared from afar. He was startled and puzzled at the same time. 

Covered in blood, Ning Que stood up from the ruin. An uncertain number of bones in his body were broken. There was a frightful wound on his chest that was caused by Hengmu"s punch and his heart was vaguely visible. 

Having to suffer from such a severe injury, a normal person would have already died. 

Under this circ.u.mstance, even strong determination could not help one to stand up. 

Surprisingly, Ning Que was standing steadily. His expression remained unchanged. 

"Seemingly, the method I learned from the book is not working." He wiped off the blood on his face and looked at Hengmu Liren, who was standing at the other end of the street, and said, "Then, I shall try out the new method I"ve just learned. It might or might not be useful."