The fortune teller was quite startled, looking Chen Shi up and down. "You know of the Young Master too? Just who are you?"
The Young Master owned an extrely large number of businesses, with three or four establishnts in Carriage Capital alone. The fortune teller didn't want to offend soone who might be on the sa side.
Chen Shi gently stroked the blade of the Dark Spring Swimming Dragon Sword. The young dragon within the sword swam along with his fingertip, seemingly very interested in it.
"The Madam of Rouge Lane in Yudu, Du Divine Hand of Pleasure Woods, Aunt Xue of the Matchmaker House, Shopkeeper Qiu of Mingfeng Pavilion."
Chen Shi smiled slightly. "They all died by my hand. You are the fortune teller of the Mountain-Moving Clan. Tell my fortune. Calculate your own luck today. Let's see how accurate you are."
The fortune teller's expression changed slightly. The Nascent Soul behind his head now held a small abacus in its hand.
The abacus was exquisitely crafted, only about an inch and two or three-tenths in size, yet its ninety-one beads were clearly defined.
The most peculiar thing was that each abacus bead had a different talisman seal branded onto it. Both the front and back sides were carved with five different talismans, corresponding to the five-elent talismans.
The central axle of the beads was even more complex, carved with as many as eight talismans, corresponding to the eight trigram talismans.
The abacus fra itself was also engraved with various strange talisman patterns, outlined with gold thread mixed with cinnabar. The craftsmanship was so exquisite it was breathtaking.
A single bead from this abacus alone was probably worth over a hundred taels of silver!
Such masterful, heaven-defying craftsmanship could only be the work of either the Hundred Refinents Hall or the Lu Ban Sect!
"I asked you to tell a fortune, not count money."
Chen Shi snorted, stepped forward, and thrust out a finger. His sword-finger shot out with a *shhh* sound.
The fortune teller heard the sound of air cracking. The Dark Spring Swimming Dragon Sword was already before his eyes. He tilted his head to dodge, while his Nascent Soul raised the abacus to intercept the swimming dragon sword.
"I dodged it!"
He stared wide-eyed as the swimming dragon sword transford into a streak of cold light that flew past his face, a wave of joy rising in his heart.
Chen Shi's sword was simply too fast. His life had hung by a thread. Fortunately, his neck was sturdy and he tilted his head in ti, otherwise this strike would have surely taken his life!
However, his reaction was so fast that the timing of his abacus flying out was off, failing to et Chen Shi's sword strike.
Now, the power of each abacus bead began to activate. The talismans for tal, wood, water, fire, and earth on their surfaces lit up. The hexagram symbols for Qian, Kun, wind, thunder, and others also began to rotate. The abacus beads rapidly enlarged.
This talisman-weapon's power was extraordinary. Once activated, the power of the multiple talismans on the ninety-one beads stacked, the five elents complented each other, causing the power to skyrocket. Supplented with the eight trigram talismans, the power beca even more formidable.
Adding the principle of the five elents overcoming each other, if the enemy was too powerful, the abacus beads could ensnare them. The eight trigrams would bind from the outside, while the five elents would explode within. Enemies were often blown to smithereens!
His abacus had as many as one hundred and eight different uses, evolving into one hundred and eight different moves. It could be used for close-quarters defense or long-distance spellcasting, all with perfect ease.
"Although this person obtained the Dark Spring Swimming Dragon Sword, he doesn't know the thod to refine and control it. He only knows how to use it as a sharp sword."
In that fleeting mont, nurous thoughts flashed through his mind, inevitably including a bit of a desire to show off his skills. "I'll use the internal five-elent cycle of generation to trap his lower body. Use tal energy to shred him, wood energy to make him swell, fire energy to incinerate him, water energy to wash him into ashes, and earth energy to crush him. Then use the external five elents to blast him into pieces! Finally, refine him with the eight trigrams, turning him into a small, delicate human-flesh dicinal pill!"
The power of his abacus was now expanding outward. The fortune teller prepared to restrain its power.
At the sa ti, on a rooftop several dozen *zhang* behind him, a red line suddenly appeared on the neck of the Nascent Soul realm cultivator crouching there.
This person also saw the swimming dragon sword flying towards him, but its speed was simply too fast. A flash of light arrived before his eyes, passing by in a blur from his neck.
Panic surged in his heart, and he hurriedly leaped into the air. While still mid-air, he suddenly thought, "Why do I feel so light?"
He looked down and saw his own body, from the neck down, below him. It had eight arms, arms spread open, in a leaping posture.
He and his body had leaped together, only his head had leaped higher.
At the sa ti the swimming dragon sword struck him, Chen Shi had already transford the Thrust Sword Style into the Cloud Sword Style.
Before the Cloud Sword Style move was even complete, it transford into the Chop Sword Style, then into the Wipe Sword Style—four moves in total. They were all the simplest moves of the Ziwu Evil-Slaying Sword, moves any scholar would know.
Four moves, clean and crisp.
Above him, the person who had summoned over a hundred flying needles saw his needles severed as they were encircled once by the cloud sword.
This person's neck was also severed by the cloud sword.
The Chop Sword Style swept past, from top to bottom, cleaving open the head and the miniature shrine with its divine embryo behind the head of the person over a hundred *zhang* behind Chen Shi!
The Wipe Sword Style was extrely fast. On the lake surface, a hundred *zhang* away, a water dragon had its neck wiped away, collapsing with a splash.
Along with this water dragon, the Nascent Soul realm cultivator standing on the dragon's head also had his neck wiped. He now had one hand clutching his throat while the other frantically searched through the dicine bottles on his person, looking for Continuity Paste, trying to apply it before death to extend his life!
Panic filled his heart. The dicine bottle in his bosom suddenly slipped from his hand and fell into the lake.
He let out a great cry. The blood in his neck could no longer be suppressed, spraying outward. His corpse sank into the lake.
Chen Shi caught the flying swimming dragon sword, gently wiping the blade with his sword-finger.
The blade was like water. The young dragon within the water obediently swam along with the movent of his finger.
"Have you calculated it yet?"
Chen Shi's fingertip wiped past the sword tip. His gaze didn't waver, fixed on the sword tip as he said softly, "Are you destined to live or die today?"
The fortune teller had just reached the thought of "human-flesh dicinal pill." The power of his abacus had just been restrained, and he was about to prepare his second move.
Only then did he suddenly discover that the four people traveling with him were already dead.
Cold sweat broke out on his forehead. Heavy thudding sounds ca from behind him—two thuds. The first was the headless torso falling down, the second was the falling head.
Then ca a series of *shhh* sounds as a string of flying needles fell from the sky.
The severed needles fell precisely around them, forming a large circle.
Imdiately after, the corpse of the flying needle master plumted down with a whistling sound.
Chen Shi took a step to the left. The flying needle master's corpse landed on the ground with a *thump*, not touching him in the slightest.
From behind him ca the sound of the corpse of the person whose head and shrine had been cleaved open falling down, and the sound of a corpse hitting the water from the lake surface.
Cold sweat poured down the fortune teller's forehead. He had never seen a flying sword this fast.
Too fast!
He had thought the flying sword was aid at him. When he dodged it, he had even felt a sliver of relief, thinking himself stronger.
He never imagined the flying sword's target wasn't him at all, but his companions!
Before he could even retract his move, his four companions, each in different directions, separated by one or two hundred *zhang*, had all died!
He had never seen such a fast flying sword!
The Mountain-Moving Clan had many experts and skilled individuals, but there had never been a sword this fast!
Looking at Chen Shi, he felt an inexplicable pressure.
"I..."
His body trembled. All the various moves he had thought of just monts ago had now completely vanished from his mind, leaving it blank.
Chen Shi walked up to him, sheathed the swimming dragon sword, took out the Dragon Whisker Brush, and said calmly, "After you go back, you can take your ti calculating."
Using his blood and Qi as cinnabar, he used the Dragon Whisker Brush to draw a strange talisman. With a light flick of the brush tip, the talisman flew up on its own and landed on the fortune teller's chest.
This talisman didn't have the traditional three-part structure of a divine manifestation, divine na, and divine words. It depicted a large tree with root tentacles coiled like snakes or octopuses.
Its internal structure was extrely complex, with an imnse amount of detail. If drawn with a cinnabar brush, it would probably take two or three days to complete and would be prone to errors.
But if one could achieve creating talismans with a single thought, drawing this talisman would be extrely simple, and the chance of error would be very low.
This talisman was called Nightmare Wood. In the *Precious Mirror of Talisman Creation*, it was ranked as a third-grade talisman, the most complex creation talisman Chen Shi could draw at the Nascent Soul realm.
Drawing this talisman required many strange and rare materials. It even needed the shed skin of a demon as a catalyst, and ghost souls refined into liquid, mixed with morning dew to grind the cinnabar before one could paint.
However, the Creation Treasure Guide also said that if one had a brush that could connect yin and yang, one wouldn't need to search for these materials. Only the Nightmare Wood drawn this way would be sowhat less powerful.
The fortune teller's voice was hoarse. "You're letting go?"
Chen Shi instructed, "I've left a talisman on your chest called Nightmare Wood. After you return to the Mountain-Moving Clan, imdiately find your Sect Leader and request the best talisman master to break this talisman. I'm giving you three hours. Don't delay."
The fortune teller shivered, hurriedly turned, and ran as fast as his legs could carry him, rushing away in a panic.
Chen Shi's fingertip twitched slightly. A large fire flew out, igniting the corpses on the ground and burning them to ashes.
He also cleaned up the other two corpses in the village to prevent them from turning into evil spirits under moonlight exposure. Only then did he walk towards A Zhuo's house under the terrified gazes of the villagers.
The woman A Ying, having seen him kill, was scared out of her wits. She had already bolted the door, hiding in the courtyard, hugging her two children and trembling.
Hearing knocking, she saw A Zhuo about to open the door and hurriedly said, "Qiao Zhuo, don't open it! He killed people!"
A Zhuo said, "Little Ten won't harm us."
The woman A Ying said, "He might not harm us, but what about his enemies?"
A Zhuo hesitated. Chen Shi's voice ca from outside the door. "Uncle A Zhuo, it's Little Ten. One person's actions are their own responsibility. I've committed a cri, and I'll bear the consequences myself. I'll go resolve this matter and won't trouble you further."
A Zhuo stood behind the door and instructed, "Go ahead. The sons and grandsons of Chen Yindu are second to none. Don't disgrace your grandfather's na."
Chen Shi bowed. "Uncle, rest assured, I will go all out. Auntie, don't worry, I won't implicate you."
The woman A Ying didn't dare to speak.
Chen Shi slipped several Silver Notes through the door crack. "Auntie, I have no ti to teach Little Tiger and Little Wei. Uncle A Zhuo has many matters and can't earn much money. Here is so silver. Please accept it and find a good private school for them to attend. Don't let them fall behind."
He turned and left.
A Zhuo pulled out those Silver Notes. Opening them, he saw they were all hundred-tael notes, universal notes from the Wansan Money Shop, exchangeable for silver anywhere.
A Zhuo intended to open the door and return them. The woman A Ying quickly stopped him. "This is your nephew's filial offering. Why not accept it? If we don't take this money, what will your two sons use to study and learn characters? Relying on the little money you earn from beekeeping, they'll never set foot in a private school in this lifeti! I don't expect you to achieve greatness, but Little Tiger and Little Wei cannot be held back!"
A Zhuo thought for a mont and said, "I've wronged you and the children."
Although he was an underworld marshal and appeared glorious, it was like donkey dung—shiny only on the surface.
Underworld marshals received salaries from the underworld court. The salary was high, but it was paid in paper money that could only be used after death, and they accumulated rit in the underworld.
This money and underworld rit couldn't be spent a single penny while alive.
To support his family, he could only rely on beekeeping to earn so money.
No matter how powerful his cultivation, how high his status in the underworld, how grand his entrances and exits with followers, how glorious he appeared, in the mortal world, he was just an ordinary beekeeper who needed to work and earn money for three als a day.
If his heart were a little worse, just slightly worse, his family situation wouldn't be so impoverished.
He would have endless wealth, beautiful won, and servants.
But if he were truly slightly worse, then he would no longer be Underworld Marshal A Zhuo.
Chen Shi arrived at the bridge and found people examining the ashes on the ground. Seeing him co, they scattered in panic.
"Go report to the authorities!" soone shouted.
Chen Shi reached out from a distance and made a grasping motion. That person *whooshed* flying backward, landing before him, scared limp and unable to move.
Chen Shi asked, "What's your village called?"
"Shuikou Village," the villager replied, trembling.
Chen Shi raised a hand, pointing in the direction the fortune teller had fled. "Going that way, what place is it?"
"Luhua Village."
"Further."
"Yuanmu Town. Further than that is Carriage Capital city."
Chen Shi nodded slightly, released the villager, took out a small silver ingot, and pressed it into his hand. "My na is Chen Shi, Chen Shi of Qianyang Mountain in Xinxiang, the two-province top scorer of Xinxiang Province and Gongzhou Province. I killed those four people. It has nothing to do with anyone else. Go report to the authorities. Make sure to explain clearly."
The villager nodded repeatedly.
"Go report quickly."
Chen Shi waved his hand. "Make it clear: it's the two-province top scorer Chen Shi, not provincial graduate Chen Shi!"
The villager clenched the silver and jogged off.
Because he had silver in hand, he ran much faster than the other people going to report.
Chen Shi walked towards Carriage Capital at a leisurely pace.
The fortune teller didn't dare stop for a mont, heading straight for Carriage Capital. Upon arriving, he didn't care about anything else, barging into the Mountain-Moving Clan's hall in Carriage Capital, shouting, "Help—!"
The entire Mountain-Moving Clan was startled, everyone coming out to look at him.
Saintess Xuan and the Mountain-Moving Clan's Sect Leader Baili Mu also hurried over upon hearing the news. They saw the fortune teller standing in the crowd, surrounded by people asking with concern what had happened.
The fortune teller let out a great cry, violently tore open his upper garnt, and shouted, "The others are dead! That sword-stealing kid planted a talisman on ! It will take my life in three hours! Half an hour has already passed!"
On his chest, the vermilion Nightmare Wood talisman was extrely eye-catching.
This talisman's structure was incomparably complex. Imprinted on his body, it actually seed like a living thing, its root tentacles still wriggling, burrowing into his body, as if absorbing his blood and Qi, using him as human-shaped fertilizer.
"Everyone, step back!"
Several talisman masters with extrely high talisman attainnts from the Mountain-Moving Clan walked over, pushing the crowd aside. One talisman master, seeing this talisman, was startled and hurriedly asked, "Did the person who planted this talisman tell you what it's called?"
The fortune teller said, "He said it's called Nightmare Wood."
That talisman master's expression changed slightly. "Southern School Talismans, third-grade talisman, Nightmare Wood! To think soone could actually refine this kind of talisman. Impressive skill, truly impressive!"
He pressed down on the fortune teller's lower eyelid, pulling it down. He saw many tiny root tendrils wriggling in the white of his eye.
He pointed a finger at the fortune teller's glabella. The fortune teller's body trembled slightly. The miniature shrine behind his head leaped out. They saw many root tendrils had also grown between the shrine and the Jade Pillow Acupoint!
Seeing this, everyone present gasped in shock.
This kind of talisman was practically a demonic thod!
That talisman master examined the fortune teller's Nascent Soul. Seeing the Nascent Soul sitting in the void within the shrine, not yet entangled by root tendrils, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Fortunately, the Nascent Soul hasn't been caught yet. If the Nascent Soul were also entangled by root tendrils, the speed of the Nightmare Wood's maturation would greatly increase. An instant eruption, and I'm afraid no one below the Spirit Transformation realm could escape!"
Baili Mu asked, "Can it be broken?"
That talisman master smiled slightly. "Sect Leader, if this person's talisman attainnts are above mine, then breaking his talisman would be extrely dangerous. But he's just a youngster. Breaking his talisman shouldn't be difficult."
He imdiately prepared cinnabar, black dog blood, and other materials, intending to break the talisman.
Baili Mu sighed in relief and asked the fortune teller, "Where did you encounter the sword-stealer?"
"Shuikou Village."
Baili Mu's eyes flashed. He said calmly, "Shuikou Village, huh? Good!"
He turned and walked out. A group of Mountain-Moving Clan experts quickly followed him. Behind him, that talisman master lowered his brush onto the fortune teller's chest, beginning to break the talisman.
Suddenly, Baili Mu felt a heart-palpitating aura emanating from behind him. He hurriedly turned to look. He saw the fortune teller's physical body suddenly swell. A bizarre, monstrous tree burst out from within, tearing apart his body, growing in all directions.
*Whoosh whoosh whoosh* sounds of breaking air filled the hall. Chaos erupted. Branch after branch pierced through the backs of the heads of the fleeing Mountain-Moving Clan mbers.
One by one, Mountain-Moving Clan experts were hit, floating up into the air, more root tendrils and branches growing from behind their heads.
Expressions of terror appeared on their faces as they fell into endless nightmares.
"Save ! Quickly, save !"
The talisman master trying to break the Nightmare Wood talisman showed a look of horror. A tentacle had also pierced his head. He cried out, "My nightmare... it's so terrifying!"
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