Chapter 490: Barriers and Contemplation

Chapter 490: Barriers and Contemplation

Hui sat there, meditating. His brow furrowed in focus, hands clenched on his robes. Come on. I only have a few moments. Think!

Death qi and life qi. Killing and forcibly growing cells. No one in this world should have a defense against an attack like this. If I can figure it out, then!

Across from him, power continued to build on Han Qins sword. Gui Delun smashed through a second barrier, then paused, stepping back to give Han Qin room to work. Theyre easy to break, but the barrier comes back the moment you smash it. It tests ones patience more than ones strength.

Well see about that, Han Qin murmured.

Fire passed down the length of his sword. His sword keened, trembling in his hand. He drew it back. Flame traced after the blade as it moved. In the arc of flame, a phoenix appeared and cried out, vanishing the next moment.

Pressured, Hui gritted his teeth. Come on. Come on! I can do this. I just

A quiet hiss interrupted his wild thoughts. He peeked open an eye to find himself face-to-face with Zhubi, the snakes silly upturned nose inches from his own. Zhubi flicked out his tongue. It struck Hui in the face gently, almost a slap.

Hui took a deep breath. Thats right. I wont get anything done by panicking. Ill have faith in myself, and in you, Zhubi and immerse myself fully in this technique!

Han Qin unleashed his sword technique. A line of fire swung from the blade of his sword at the barrier. The second it impacted the barrier, the barrier melted away. The line continued on, even as the talismans created a new barrier to entrap Han Qin and Gui Delun. In a moment, it reached the talismans.

Fuck, Hui thought.

Fire spread over the talismans, instantly burning them to nothing. The first barrier vanished, popping like a soap bubble. The attack continued on. It struck the second layer. The second layer of barriers held for a moment before the attack burst it as well, burning the talismans on the far side. At the third layer, the barrier burst, but the attack was so weakened that the flames merely washed over the talismans, rather than burning them outright.

Never mind, Zhubi. Ive got to handle this first, Hui said, jumping up. He bit his lip, thinking.

Dont bother. The natural enemy of talismans is fire. Your barriers are nothing before me, Han Qin sneered. He drew back his sword, flame gathering on the blade already.

If thats the case Hui took a deep breath and gathered his qi to his fingertips. He drew a talisman on the air with qi.

The second he finished drawing it, the talisman activated, becoming a barrier.

Han Qin laughed. Meaningless.

Beside Han Qin, Gui Delun sat in the lotus position. Qi swirled around him as he focused on recovering from his wounds and stabilizing his cultivation.

Thats right. Ive never created delayed-activation air talismans before. Hui scowled. A second later, he lifted his hand again. Well, if thats the case then I simply have to draw the network of 108 talismans all in one go!

At this point, its basically a spell formation, but whatever. Didnt Master say it? Labels are just things people apply to actions after the case. Talisman, spell formation, does it really matter?

Lifting his hands, Hui paused, like a conductor about to conduct an orchestra. He closed his eyes, drawing the image of the interlinked talismans in his mind. From each talisman, he added a tail of qi, drawing one to the next so that the whole piece worked together as one. One stroke. From start to finish, without lifting the brush, the entire talisman should be a single stroke!

Han Qins sword keened. He shifted, preparing to release his attack.

Huis mind raced ahead. A hundred, a thousand configurations passed by. Each with a defect, imperfect, not quite right. Lips moving, Hui murmured silently to himself, his eyes dancing back and forth as he reviewed the imagined images. No. Not quite. That wont I cant. I need The source of this content nov(el)bi((n))

Hui shook his head. His hand trembled from the searing burn in his stomach as he gestured at the cultivators flying all around them. These my sect. I revived them using your altar as a basis. Senior you should recognize your technique better than anyone.

Han Qin stared. For the first time, he scanned one of the Starbound Sect cultivators with his qi. His eyes widened. You arent lying?

Hes lying. Of course hes lying. Hes a silver-tongued scoundrel. Han Qin, dont listen to a word this man says, Gui Delun said, shaking his head.

Coughing, Hui suppressed another surge of blood. No. Theres no more reason to lie. Im almost dead. Senior, you killed the one who knows how to use that altar you built. The one who finished your legacy. Senior how can you live with yourself? Cutting off your own legacy that is the kind of world you created.

Han Qin fell back, his face nearly as pale as Huis. No. No. It cant be!

But if you can extinguish Hui looked down, where flames still flickered in the deep wound in his gut.

Han Qin shook his head. I cant. Even I cannot. Those flames are something I borrowed. Something above my level. Before you die, tell me! What did you do? What was I missing?

Motherfucker. Dont go attacking people with techniques you cant cancel! Damn it. My ploy was for nothing! Sighing, Hui stood upright and wiped the blood off his face. His color recovered somewhat, body no longer fluttering on the verge of death. Looking Han Qin in the eye, he smiled sweetly. Why dont you fuck off, you fucking piece of shit. Go chase your womans shadow for another thousand years and die a dogs death without ever knowing what I know right now.

I still dont have long to live, but well, Im not that close to dying yet. These flames are no help, dammit! Still He put a hand to his gut and sent death qi into the flames. They dimmed, but no sooner had they faded than they jumped back up at full strength again.

Hui twisted his lips, wincing from the pain. Right. Phoenix. Then maybe He fed life qi instead.

The flames leaped up, jumping joyously in his flesh. His body crackled merrily, popping and snapping like a roasting piece of pork. Hui barely bit back a scream, crumpling in around the flames, his hands hovering. He wanted to grab the pain, but the fear of burning his hands or worsening the ache kept him from touching it, so all he could do was hover. Even from hovering distance, the heat smacked his palms, like reaching into a raging fire.

Alright, how about I leave them alone?

Desperate, Han Qin pushed up against the barrier again. I know a technique to repress the flames. If you tell me how to finish the altar, Ill teach you how to repress the flames.

Hui laughed. Youre bargaining with a dead man. He might be able to repress the flames, but what does it matter? I dont have long to live, flames or no. Sure, I might have told him the secret if he could remove the flames, but repress them? Im not going to live long enough for it to matter. And Im certainly not going to release a horrifying member of the Four Evils out on the world on account of this small cultivators short-term pain. I love life more than anyone, but Im not totally lacking morals.

Dont bother. Hes bluffing. You shouldnt believe a word he says, Gui Delun said flatly.

Han Qin backhanded Gui Delun with a closed fist without turning around. Dont speak of things you dont understand.

Gui Delun pressed a hand to his cheek, startled more than anything. How dare!

If you knew who I was, youd be bowing and scraping for the chance to receive my fist, Han Qin replied.

Oh dear. Phrasing, Hui said.

Ignoring the two bickering inside the barrier, Hui pressed his hands up against the barriers outside. He synced his qi to the barrier. I dont have the time to come up with an actual technique. All I can do is my best, I guess!

If you wont tell me, Ill have to take the information from your mind, Han Qin said, drawing back his sword again.

Hui licked his lips. And run as hard as hell if it doesnt work. I dont want to be soulsearched!