“Senior Sister Qiuhui said you’ve installed a Second-Rank Array here?”
Jing Ao smiled as he sat casually across from Li An.
Li An took a sip of soup, but the calm on his face finally broke. A trace of fear surfaced in his eyes, his hand trembled as he set down the bowl with effort. “You…”
“Relax,” Jing Ao said calmly. “You did well—very thorough… Where’s the activation jade talisman for the array?”
Anger, fear, and even a hint of helplessness surged onto Li An’s face. He suddenly stood up. “That array is mine… I paid for it myself! It has nothing to do with you people! Nothing!”
He looked genuinely agitated.
Jing Ao’s smile faded just slightly. He stood up and casually patted Li An’s shoulder.
A wave of Foundation Establishment aura gently released.
Li An felt a crushing force on his shoulder and was instantly pressed back into his chair, a line of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. His face turned pale.
“No need to get so worked up. It won’t change anything, will it?”
Jing Ao said flatly, “It’s just a Second-Rank Array. With your Qi Refining Fifth Layer cultivation, even if you activate it, you’d barely draw out a third of its power. A thing like this should be used for maximum benefit, no? And don’t forget—we’re here to protect you. Think about it carefully, alright?”
Li An's eyes still held fury, but clarity began to return. Facing a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he could no longer lash out. Gritting his teeth, he asked, “You guarantee… that you’ll protect me?”
Jing Ao smiled. “Of course.”
Li An hesitated for a while, then finally sighed. He pulled out a jade talisman and handed it over.
The talisman was etched with formation runes—clearly the activation key to the array.
Jing Ao injected a trace of spiritual power into it. Around the Talisman Shop, a faint trace of array power surged. He nodded in satisfaction. “Talisman Master Li, you’re a smart man. You know what to do next. Live as normal. Eat, drink, sleep. Don’t show any unusual signs… Otherwise, if you disrupt a sect's operation, you’ll be punished as a traitor.”
With that, he casually picked up one of the bowls on the table and scooped up the Nourishing Vitality Soup Tan Qingxue had prepared. Taking a sip, he sighed, “Madam Li lives up to her name as one of the Three Blossoms of the Outer Sect. Even her soup is amazing.”
He licked his lips and muttered regretfully, “To think, I was the one who saved Qingxue back then. Yet it’s Talisman Master Li who gets to enjoy her…”
Xu Qiuhui, Tan Qingxue, and Mu Qingwan—those were the famed Three Blossoms.
Li An’s face darkened slightly.
Jing Ao had already stood and declared, “The operation begins.”
He and his group left.
They didn’t stay in the Talisman Shop but scattered into nearby buildings to form an encirclement.
Staying inside would have made it easier for demonic cultivators to detect them.
If the enemy sensed anything unusual, the plan would be ruined.
Just as Li An had anticipated—Jing Ao’s group wouldn’t be right beside him. Normally, if the demonic cultivators struck, he would be the first to die, and only then would Jing Ao and the others intervene.
Still, Li An suspected they’d leave behind surveillance tools in the shop.
After all, if he were killed silently and no one knew, that would be a complete failure.
Also, when Jing Ao came in earlier, the other disciples had scattered throughout the store—likely setting things up.
Once they left, Li An activated Super Sense and carefully examined every corner of the shop.
After more than a decade here, he knew every inch of the place.
Soon, he noticed something odd.
The teacup on the shop counter had been switched.
It used to be a plain porcelain cup. Now it was a higher-quality white jade cup—with a thicker base.
“Twin Spirit Bells…”
Li An instantly understood.
These were Second-Rank Artifacts—very special. They always came in pairs. If one was destroyed, the other would immediately send a signal.
These were specifically made to detect demonic aura.
Li An, having cultivated the Yin-Yang Demonic Furnace Technique for years, could sense the hidden structure within.
The jade cup was extremely sensitive. If it detected demonic aura within a three-meter radius, it would shatter.
He carefully put it back and searched further.
In the inner courtyard, beneath a flowerpot. In his bedroom, under the chair Jing Ao had sat on.
Together with the cup, there were three Spirit Bells in total.
“They really went all in…”
Li An murmured. Just those three sets would cost over a thousand spirit stones.
And clearly, the Clear Sun Sect’s artifact forgers had specially crafted these against the Demon Sect.
But it made sense. The Demon Sect had become a great threat, and eliminating Horse Face of Death was part of a larger strategic plan. With a Fake Core Elder involved, they wouldn’t spare any resources.
With such tools in place, the moment a demonic cultivator acted, even a faint ripple of demonic aura would trigger them—giving Jing Ao and the others enough warning.
“Jing Ao came instead of a Fake Core Elder. That means the sect reached the same conclusion I did—Horse Face of Death will go after the medicinal herbs.”
“Plus, with Foundation Establishment cultivator Yu Xiong guarding the market, that makes two Foundation Establishment experts in the area.”
“But to raise the odds of success, the Demon Sect will probably use last time’s tactic—cause a diversion around the city while sending elites to assassinate me.”
“Which means Yu Xiong won’t be able to help here. Even if he knows the plan, he has to guard the perimeter to avoid arousing suspicion.”
“So the only Foundation Establishment cultivator in the shop’s vicinity… is probably just Jing Ao.”
If that’s true…
A thought flickered through Li An’s mind, and his eyes narrowed.
Of course, he couldn’t confirm it just yet.
Once the enemy made their move, if other Foundation Establishment cultivators showed up, then he’d know. Only then would he decide what to do.
He quietly tightened his grip on the jade talisman.
The real jade talisman that controls the Second-Rank Array… was still with him.
The one he’d given Jing Ao was a forged replica.
In his previous life, Li An had specialized in arrays and talismans. Though his current cultivation wasn’t high enough to create an entire array, he could still modify an existing one. By inscribing simplified formation marks into a fake talisman, he could simulate activation—fooling even someone like Jing Ao.
From the moment he asked Tan Qingxue to buy the array, he hadn’t expected to keep it secret.
In a matter involving the entire sect, Xu Qiuhui would never keep such a secret for him. Their relationship simply wasn’t that deep.
Giving Jing Ao a fake jade talisman was all part of his plan.
At that very moment…
In a building next to the Talisman Shop—
“Senior Brother Jing, the Senior Brother asks—has the array been set up yet?”
A disciple at the peak of Qi Refining came to ask.
Indeed, the Clear Sun Sect had sent more than just Jing Ao to deal with Horse Face of Death.
There was another powerful figure in secret command.
“Tell him it’s been set up,” Jing Ao said with a smile.
He glanced at the jade talisman in his hand.
The sect had indeed intended to set up a Second-Rank Array in the shop.
But he didn’t expect that Li An, this little talisman master, would be so wealthy and install one himself.
That meant the sect-issued array could be pocketed by Jing Ao.
“Your money, your woman… after so many years of luxury, isn’t it enough?”
He closed his eyes and recalled Tan Qingxue’s face. A mature beauty… with far more flavor than before.
Once this mission ended, it would be his turn to enjoy.
Over the next few days, everything remained calm.
Jing Ao and the others never appeared on the streets—extremely cautious, avoiding detection by demonic cultivators.
Li An ate, drank, slept, and sold talismans as usual.
Tan Qingxue hadn’t returned. Li An heard nothing about her.
Xu Qiuhui had probably settled her somewhere safe?
Her absence was good. If he died, at least someone would take care of his body.
He chuckled lightly at the thought.
“Do you have any Breaking Talisman for sale?”
Suddenly, a voice called out!
…
(End of Chapter)