Nightfall

Ning Que and Sangsang once passed through this verdant gorge on their way to Lanke Temple two years ago.

At that time, he found there were innumerable tactical arrays of talismans set by predecessors in the canyon, which could be triggered once strong enemies came to invade from the south. The collapsed gorge would stall the enemies, preventing them from reaching the hinterland of the Tang in a short time.

Then he immediately rejected the idea because even if his master, Yan Se, was resurrected, he could not mobilize so much Qi of Heaven and Earth and trigger the array at the same time on his own. This is just like what Ye Hongyu thought outside the Verdant Canyon two years later, that it was beyond human power—unless it was already prepared when it was built.

After a long while, the instantly collapsed Verdant Canyon finally stopped shaking. The 20,000 soldiers that were buried under the countless huge rocks had proved Ning Que’s original judgment.

Hundreds of years ago, when the Tang broke through this path, they did something—something big: they turned this path into a deathtrap and a grave.

Since the Tang Empire was founded, they had been guarding against their strong enemies in the south, not the warlords in Qinghe County nor the South Jin Kingdom. They had been guarding against the West-Hill Divine Palace.

Costing them countless resources and effort, designed by the Academy’s predecessors and built by more than 10 Divine Talisman Masters, this important strategic path had become an excellent killing array. Now, the array was initiated after hundreds of years and turned into the last barrier in the south of the Tang Empire.

If not for the number of the soldiers from the West-Hill Divine Palace Coalition Army being beyond the Academy’s expectations, with the length of the Verdant Canyon, it should have buried all the Papal Cavalrymen of West-Hill, as well as the cultivators who stayed behind.

The Verdant Canyon had collapsed, no one could survive but the Martial Arts powerhouses.

Outside the Verdant Canyon, the West-Hill Divine Palace Coalition Army was demoralized and deadly silent.

Looking at the smoky mountains, the Great Divine Priest of Revelation straightened his face.

Ye Hongyu bitterly trembled.

Both of the two respectable Great Divine Priests of West-Hill could not help thinking that if they had entered the Verdant Canyon with the cavalry of South Jin, could they have survived?

Even if they were lucky enough to survive, they would have been badly hurt and forced to leave the battle.

The methods of the Tang were so cruel.

A voice resounded in the quiet carriage in the coalition.

“Huang He and Mu Chu… They must be in the mountains. This is how significant a Divine Talisman Master is for a war. If Yan Se was alive, the Tang would have better odds to win this war.”

There were six disciples of the Sword Garret standing beside the carriage, and one of them had his eyes covered with a white cloth who must have had poor vision. Thinking of the horrible images he had seen before, he agreed with his commander.

Then he suddenly said, “Both the Master of Calligraphy and Calligraphy Addict are Divine Talisman Masters.”

His commander answered, “Every country in the world is invading the Tang except for the Great River Kingdom. The Divine Hall didn’t punish them just for Haotian’s sake. Even if they joined forces, they could not be superior to Yan Se.”

The smoke and dust from the Verdant Canyon gradually covered the sky. Some light fell on the man’s hidden scar on his eyebrow.

The scar looked like handwriting.

It was given to him by Master Yan Se.

Only one person was able to stay alive after Master Yan Se had written a Divine Talisman on his face.

And his name was Liu Bai.

In the violent battle that happened in the East Sea of the Kingdom of Song, Yan Se erased one eyebrow from Liu Bai’s face while Liu Bai pierced one of Yan Se’s arms. It looked like they were equals, but in fact, Liu Bai was stronger.

The Adviser of the Divine Hall, the strongest Sword Sage, Liu Bai, after being hidden for many years, had finally come.

He indeed had come.

“Huang He and Mu Chu should be in the mountains. Kill them,” said Ye Hongyu.

Since Liu Bai was able to figure it out, the West-Hill Divine Palace could as well.

The deacon of the Judicial Department said in a low voice, “Maybe it is Ning Que.”

Ye Hongyu said, “No, he doesn’t have that capability.”

The deacon accepted the order and left.

Followed by over a dozen Papal Cavalrymen, several Martial Arts powerhouses ran toward the gorge.

The Verdant Canyon was a killing array that the Tang had used a lot of manpower on. The Divine Talisman Masters had to use up all the Psyche Power inside of them to initiate it, and that was the moment that they were the weakest.

In the depths of the mountains, Professor Huang He and Mu Chu were going downhill unsteadily with the help of several technical officials of the Ministry of Works.

Since the ghat was rugged, they had to temporarily hide in some fortification that was built under a peak.

The Martial Arts masters of the West-Hill Divine Palace were chasing after them over the mountains, while the Papal Cavalrymen were going to clean the blocked gorge for their Divine Talisman Masters, who would reopen the path.

Divine Talisman Masters were so rare and precious in the world that many large countries, like South Jin and Yuelun, did not have a Divine Talisman Master. In fact, most of them were living in the Academy and Haotian Taoism.

Both the Academy and the West-Hill Divine Palace had Divine Talisman Masters.

The Great Divine Priest of Revelation’s peaceful sounds came out of the carriage. He said, “Thanks to the four of you, Senior Brothers.”

Then, a hoarse voice rang out of a luxurious carriage.

“The Academy and the Divine Hall were once equals in Talisman Taoism. But since Senior Brother Yan Se died, we’ve become weaker than them. Moreover, because building is harder than destroying, we need time to make it through the gorge.”

The Great Divine Priest of Revelation said, “We only need a narrow path.”

The Divine Talisman Master asked, “Why not go around the mountains?”

The Great Divine Priest answered, “We don’t have time.”

Everyone fell silent.

Then the Talisman Master said, “Well, let’s die here.”

The Great Divine Priest said after a while, “Haotian will remember you. We will meet in Heaven soon.”

While they were thinking of how to get through the Verdant Canyon, the Papal Cavalrymen who were cleaning it had entered a sandstorm near the mouth of the gorge.

A moment later, there was a sharp roaring sound and a man was blasted away out of the sand-filled air, fell down to the ground, and died.

Next, several explosions densely rang out and the Papal Cavalrymen were blasted away, falling to the ground one by one.

The Martial Arts masters who were hunting down the Divine Talisman Masters of the Academy were also blasted away and died.

The ground outside the Verdant Canyon was covered with blood and corpses.

The West-Hill Divine Palace Coalition Army was shocked when they saw the corpses and they all turned to the mouth of the gorge.

It was still dark and covered with smoke and dust, which like a heavy fog in winter or a thick stormcloud in summer, enveloping the wilderness like night.

A melodious tweedle came out from inside the smoke and dust.

A few moments later, a low sound of flute joined in.

Someone was singing a song along with the music.

“The bright moon rises over the Green Mountains, amidst a boundless sea of clouds it waxes and wanes.

“The wind gusts through and continues for thousands of miles, all the way past the Gate of Nanyang.

“Heaven blocked the human’s way when the enemy coveted the shores of the Sishui River.

“For so long it had been a war zone, that had not allowed anyone to return safely.”

The singing was not graceful at all, and it was just mechanically repeating the sentences.

“The bright moon rises over the Green Mountains…

“For so long it had been a war zone, that had not allowed anyone to return safely.”

For so long it had been a war zone, that had not allowed anyone to return safely.

The song echoed through the wilderness. Its simple words told of how magnificent the moon shone on the battlefield.

It was mellifluous but sounded heroic.

A high crown emerged in the dark smoke and dust and carried off the night’s color.

A man wearing a high hat came out of the sandstorm.

He naturally put his hands behind his back, his sleeves waving like clouds.

He looked serious and honest with a perfect posture.

He concentrated on every step he took, each having the same distance between them.

A beautiful woman wearing a pomegranate-red skirt followed him, carrying an embroidery frame in her hands and a bag on her shoulder, curiously staring at the mighty army opposite her.

She was the Seventh Sister of the Academy, Mu You.

Beigong Weiyang came next, holding his qin and plucking the strings with his fingers.

Ximen Buhuo appeared with his vertical bamboo flute, deeply frowning.

The Fourth Brother came after him with a Sandtable. He was annoyed by the music, which disturbed his deduction.

The last one was the Sixth Brother, who had a carrying pole on his shoulder.

On one end of the pole, a burning furnace was hanging, and on the other end, there was a heavy box that could contain many things.

The man coming out of the mountains like a shining moon illuminated the dark wilderness.

He had to be the Second Brother of the Academy.