Chapter 54: The Precarious Talisman Array Descends

"You must know something, don't you?" Fuyin Zhenren sat cross-legged. Seeing Lingxiang undo the Spirit Substitution Talisman, he spoke: "I was only in a hurry to save people just now, but thinking about it carefully now, it seems as if all of this is under your control."

"Hahaha... Senior Brother, you really know how to joke. How could I know about these things? It was just a coincidence..."

Lingxiang originally wanted to brush it off with a joke, but Fuyin Zhenren stared at her motionlessly, as if he had seen through everything.

"Senior Brother, do you still remember the Long, Lu, and Qiao families from back then?" Lingxiang, having no other choice under his gaze, lowered her head and said in a low voice.

"You mean!?" Fuyin Zhenren was so surprised by her words that his eyes widened. "Didn't those three families all suffer total annihilation?"

"Although that is the rumor, looking at it now, I fear someone escaped that disaster."

"You mean... Long Qi!?"

Lingxiang turned her head to look at Fuyin Zhenren and pleaded: "Sixth Senior Brother, I have told you about this matter, and I hope you can keep this secret for me. Some karmic consequences must be resolved in the end."

Fuyin Zhenren was silent for a long time after hearing this.

"Those things were not your fault, why must you..."

"It ultimately started because of my mother; it is most appropriate for me to be the one to end it."

Outside the window, birds chirped incessantly, annoying Long Qi to no end—he felt weak all over and wanted to have a good sleep, but why was it so noisy outside? There was even a "clinking and clattering" sound, which truly annoyed him beyond measure.

But just as he was thinking about how to ignore this noisy sound, he suddenly remembered the scene of Lingxiang disappearing.

Lingxiang, she died!

This thought swirled in his heart a hundred times over. He tried hard to open his eyes, but no matter what, he could not do it.

"Lingxiang! Lingxiang!"

He muttered in his sleep, the image of Lingxiang dissipating constantly lingering in his mind.

At this moment, a hand touched his forehead, and a burst of coolness made him instantly quiet down.

"She is fine, sleep peacefully."

Although everyone was currently protected by the Talisman Array, with numerous monsters constantly ramming against it from the outside, it was unlikely to hold for long.

Coupled with the fact that Long Qi was vomiting blood for some unknown reason, the group was burning with anxiety.

Yet Banxia was strangely calm at this moment, sitting alone and thinking: It is rumored that the Qingwei Peak Master is someone well-versed in pharmacology, and this Martial Arts Tournament involved picking Spirit Keeper Fruit. Could it be that she was the one who set the challenge? Plus, she was so prescient that she prepared talismans for Liu Xia and the others; such divine foresight was truly hard to explain.

"Are you all very close with that Qingwei Peak Master?" She suddenly spoke, which gave Liu Xia a start.

What time was it, and she still had the heart to think about these things...

"We are friends, I suppose..." Xinyi said with effort. "Why? Is something wrong?"

"Hmm... something is very wrong..." Banxia analyzed while pinching her chin. "In my view, even those old immortals who can divine the future couldn't calculate things so accurately. You said she gave you the talismans, so how could she have known this would happen?"

Banxia stood up and walked to the edge of the array.

"Could it be she calculated that you would encounter these monsters during this Martial Arts Tournament? As far as I know, apart from the long-lost Sixty-Four Golden Coin Divination, only those who have broken through to the Golden Core Realm can perform such divination. I heard that although she has been at Foundation Establishment since she was young, hasn't she yet to break through? How could she have foreseen this and given you talismans to avoid disaster in advance!"

Although Liu Xia felt that Banxia was not a reliable person, her argument did indeed have some merit.

"Unless..." Banxia drew out her tone while looking at the monsters roaring outside the array.

"Unless what?" Chengkai said impatiently. This girl, why couldn't she just say what she meant?

"Unless she knew from the very beginning what would happen here, which is why she prepared those talismans for you." Banxia said, sitting back down beside Zhao Wuyang. "That would explain the vine cages in the forest."

Hearing her explain her hypothesis, everyone couldn't help but feel that her reasoning made sense, but how exactly did Lingxiang know?

"Lingxiang always has her own arrangements when doing things. Although I don't know why she did this, but..." Liu Xia originally wanted to make excuses for Lingxiang, but halfway through, he felt more and more that Banxia's words seemed more convincing.

At this moment, someone panicked: Could it be that the little Peak Master knew? But how did he know?

Just as everyone was puzzled, Banxia spoke again:

"Actually, these are nothing. People of the Mysterious Sect all have some special methods to some extent. By comparison, I am more concerned about the vine cages I saw on the way here just now."

"What is wrong with that?" Liu Xia was extremely puzzled. The two of them had passed by that place together just a moment ago, and if one followed the previous hypothesis, there was nothing amiss.

Banxia rolled her eyes at Liu Xia:

"You were rushing toward this place in a panic, so naturally you didn't notice. If my guess is correct, according to what you said, those spirits were naturally protecting the fellow students, but..."

Banxia seemed to be deliberately keeping them in suspense, which made Chengkai feel restless.

"But what? It's already this time, don't keep us in suspense."

"It's not that I'm keeping you in suspense, I'm just afraid that I didn't see clearly because I was anxious at the time. There were fifty-seven vine cages hanging on those ancient trees, and there should be fifty-eight Outer Disciples besides us..."

Hearing what she said, Liu Xia's jaw nearly dropped.

"At that time... the situation was urgent... you... you were actually able to see so clearly?"

"Oh my, that's why I said I couldn't be certain..."

But when Chengkai heard this, his heart went cold.

"This girl is likely not wrong... Before Long Qi and I chased the Talisman Paper and came here, there was indeed one more person... That person... was Huiwu..."

"What?" Liu Xia was greatly shocked upon hearing this—he had an impression of Huiwu. They had only saved their lives because of Lingxiang and Fuyin Zhenren, and for such a small person to be alone in these mountains filled with monsters, he was afraid that...

Just as they were worried about Huiwu, Zhao Wuyang faintly heard a sound like porcelain shattering, but the roaring of the monsters around them was too loud, so he didn't hear it very clearly.

But as the monsters kept ramming against it, the sound grew louder and louder. Banxia turned her head to look and saw a crack appearing out of thin air behind them, misaligned like a broken mirror.

And because of the monsters' impact, this crack spread and expanded continuously like a fissure in thin ice.

The Talisman Array was about to break!

Liu Xia and Chengkai hurriedly braced themselves—at this moment, they were the only ones who could protect everyone!

Banxia, however, was flustered, clutching the Yellow Talisman in her hand—that little Peak Master had indeed taught her the incantation for the God Summoning Talisman, but upon seeing this scene, she was so nervous that she had forgotten it completely!

The cracks continued to extend and intersect, and from time to time, objects like glazed glass would fall, only to dissipate like ice flowers as they fell!

The barrier formed by the Talisman Array was finally shattered beyond repair. With a violent impact from a monster, there was a "bang" sound, and it shattered in all directions!

At this moment, the group of monsters swarmed up, roaring as they charged toward the people in the array.

At the critical moment, only a burst of incantation chanting was heard resounding through the clouds:

"Heaven and Earth born together, sweep away filth and remove transgressions, refine and transform the nine paths, drive away evil and bind demons!"

The crowd looked up and saw a Golden Dharma Array suddenly unfold overhead, from which hundreds of light swords flew out to sweep toward the demonic creatures, actually eliminating all the demonic creatures in an instant!