Chapter 31: The Talisman Tool Unleashes Its Power

All of this happened in the flash of lightning and the spark of flint, so fast that no one present had time to react.

"Second Master!"

Deng Deng Zhongzhi's eyes nearly burst from their sockets as he slapped the tea table beside him, reducing it to powder.

Too fast!

Even though he had secretly been on guard, he never expected that in the time it took to merely cup his hands in greeting, Tong Yi's left arm would be severed clean at the root!

"Kill them all!"

Deng Deng Zhongzhi leaped out like a tiger, slashing his blade down at Chen Heng while still mid-air, while those twenty fiercely armored soldiers also let out a simultaneous fierce shout and surged forward aggressively.

"Nothing special."

Chen Heng pointed a finger, and the Thunder-Fire Thunderbolt Yuan Pearl shot forth another bolt of Lei Ting, instantly blasting Deng Deng Zhongzhi mid-air several zhang backward until he crashed heavily into the brick wall, leaving a human-shaped depression a chi deep in the surface.

If not for the fact that Deng Deng Zhongzhi was a veteran of countless battles and reacted quickly, wrapping himself in a layer of Embryonic Breathing the moment the Lei Ting struck.

He would have been crushed into broken bones and shattered flesh the instant that bolt of thunder fell.

"Is this a talisman tool? Or perhaps a mid-grade talisman tool!"

Deng Deng Zhongzhi was blown dizzy and disoriented, his chest utterly numb, and for a moment he did not even know if his heart had stopped beating or what.

When he finally struggled to regain his senses and saw the red-and-white Yuan Pearl hovering above Chen Heng's head, he was suddenly struck with horror and cried out involuntarily.

He recognized that pearl; it was precisely the Thunder-Fire Thunderbolt Yuan Pearl belonging to Daoist Daoist Yangshan!

Judging by this.

Daoist Daoist Yangshan must already be...

"Second Master, he is only at the Embryonic Breathing Realm too; do not fear, bring out your talisman tool and fight him!"

His mind racing, disregarding his injuries, Deng Deng Zhongzhi let out another fierce shout, spinning his body rapidly like a top, hoping to engage Chen Heng in a mobile duel to buy Tong Yi a chance to catch his breath.

But before he could get close, a wind blade flew straight at his face, forcing him to roll on the ground and evade in a sorry state.

"Master! Let me hold this man for you!"

Hearing Tu Shan Ge's face was deathly pale; he waved both hands, using his divine power to conjure wave after wave of wind blades, an expression of tragic resolve on his face as he charged forward.

At this moment, those fierce soldiers had also closed in to within three zhang.

Chen Heng paid it no mind; with a wave of his hand, the Yuan Pearl released a ring of fire that instantly burned them into a pool of bones and blood, turning even their armor into iron charcoal.

"You... you..."

Tong Yi finally endured the pain enough to climb up from the ground; glancing at his severed arm and the corpses of those fierce soldiers, he knew this matter could not end well, so steeling his resolve, he unleashed a streak of green light stabbing toward Chen Heng's eyes.

That speck of green light moved extremely fast, reaching Chen Heng's face in an instant, yet just as it was about to advance further, it was suddenly blocked by a layer of qi flow as if it had collided with metal.

Chen Heng smiled faintly; without waiting for Tong Yi to withdraw that speck of green light, the Yuan Pearl again shot forth several bolts of Lei Ting, fiercely blasting toward him.

With a "Boom," the Lei Ting exploded violently, engulfing Tong Yi's figure within it.

Instantly, Lei Jin Guang flared brilliantly, bricks and stones on the ground flew everywhere, and a deep pit appeared, yet Chen Heng did not withdraw the Yuan Pearl but instead gathered another strand of Embryonic Breathing and injected it into the pearl.

Tong Yi was not blasted to death.

A faint circle of jade light swirled around his body, absorbing all the attacks; at this moment, he also desperately urged his Embryonic Breathing, causing that speck of green light to shoot out once more.

They fought like this for several more exchanges.

But Tong Yi grew increasingly alarmed with each exchange.

He had no idea how many life-and-death struggles this opponent had experienced or how much combat experience he had accumulated; it was as if he had been learning to fight since he was in his mother's womb!

The speck of green light talisman tool he drove often hadn't even approached before being struck precisely by a bolt of Lei Ting, the timing captured without the slightest error and the force applied neither a fraction too much nor too little, making Tong Yi feel extremely distressed.

Moreover, he knew clearly that even if the green light talisman tool got close, it would be difficult to break through Chen Heng's Qi Armor Technique in a short while.

Therefore, after only a few attacks, Tong Yi could only focus on activating that defensive talisman tool, desperately protecting his body.

Successive strikes of red-and-white Lei Ting landed, shaking Tong Yi until his expression became even more haggard and blood began to trickle from the corner of his mouth.

"Ahhh!!!!"

Seeing another bolt of Lei Jin Guang flying toward him, Tong Yi let out a hoarse roar from his throat; just as he was about to mobilize all his Embryonic Breathing, his expression suddenly froze, then revealed a look of profound horror and fear.

"No good, my Embryonic Breathing is exhausted..."

The Embryonic Breathing Realm was not like Qi Refining; the Embryonic Breathing within one's body was finite, and using one portion meant having one portion less.

In order to show off his newly acquired "Cloud-Soaring Flying Boat," Tong Yi had deliberately parked it conspicuously in the sky above Mount Yang, an action that had consumed quite a bit of his Embryonic Breathing.

At that time, however, confident that he was on the verge of Qi Refining and had a chance to join the Wuguang Sect to cultivate the Dao, he had not regarded that bit of Embryonic Breathing as anything significant.

But at this critical moment between life and death, that small amount of Embryonic Breathing had become the key deciding the outcome...

The faint circle of jade light around Tong Yi dimmed, and upon being struck again by the Lei Ting, it instantly scattered, sending him flying out heavily like a broken sack.

By the time Tong Yi struggled to stand again, a long sword was already resting across his throat.

"Your Second Master has already surrendered; do you still wish to fight?"

Chen Heng shouted coldly, turning his gaze toward Deng Deng Zhongzhi, who was in the process of punching Hearing Tu Shan Ge to death.

This man was a veteran of countless battles, his martial arts having even entered the realm of perfection; although Hearing Tu Shan Ge could use divine power to summon various forces of heaven and earth, with his Divine Path Golden Body broken, his power was merely so-so.

Yet Deng Deng Zhongzhi, relying solely on mortal martial arts, had managed to defeat and rout Hearing Tu Shan Ge.

If not for the fact that Hearing Tu Shan Ge was a Divine Path spirit, whose true form could be reborn in the outside world using divine power as long as he was not killed within his divine domain.

This fox probably wouldn't even have been able to delay things...

Stung by Chen Heng's shout, Deng Deng Zhongzhi's body trembled, the blue veins on his forehead jumping wildly like small snakes, but in the end, he silently withdrew his long blade.

Meanwhile, Hearing Tu Shan Ge, having used divine power to reshape his limbs once more, also wore an expression of displeasure as he silently ran over to Chen Heng and shrank behind him.

"You are indeed brave and decisive; if that Wusheng Wusheng Tongzi had been willing to share even one talisman tool with you, today's outcome might still be uncertain."

Chen Heng held his sword and smiled.

"I followed the Pillar-State Grand General south and north for so many years, suppressing bandits, pacifying military disasters, and campaigning against the Dan Su; suffering a hundred wounds, I finally achieved my Embryonic Breathing today, only to unexpectedly fall into your hands now."

Deng Deng Zhongzhi glanced complexly at those soldiers burned into charcoal corpses, then cupped his fists and said, "Since you hold the Thunder-Fire Thunderbolt Yuan Pearl, I assume Daoist Daoist Yangshan is already dead, correct?"

Chen Heng nodded.

"The Tong family actually shares little friendship with Daoist Daoist Yangshan; this entire affair is truly a misunderstanding."

To demonstrate his sincerity, Deng Deng Zhongzhi flung the long blade in his hand far away, pinning it into the stone steps outside the hall.

He spread his hands empty, stepped forward a few paces, and signaled that he harbored no malicious intent.

"Second Young Master is impulsive and rash; Your Honor breaking one of his arms already counts as punishment. I can authorize the donation of all Second Young Master's talismanic artifacts to Your Honor as his price for life—how does that sound?"

Deng Deng Zhongzhi narrowed his eyes, his words carrying a faint hint of threat:

"Once the Cloud-Brushing Flying Boat is activated, even common soldiers cannot catch up no matter how hard they gallop; it is sufficient for Your Honor to leave the State of Rong! You must know that Second Young Master is the Tong family's thousand-li steed; should he meet with misfortune, the Pillar-of-the-State Grand General will go mad, and the entire State of Rong will face upheaval!"

Before Chen Heng could reply,

Tong Yi had already erupted; disregarding the sword still held horizontally against his throat, he shouted abusively:

"Want to give my talismanic artifacts to him? Dream on! Don't even think about it!"