I have a panel that reduces proficiency.

Chapter 78 The Great Teacher

Hey!

The moment he saw the clay figure, Fang Shi had already fled in a flash.

He covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve and shot towards the street corner like an arrow, but it was too late.

The scent of sandalwood had already entered his nostrils, traveled through his breath into his lungs, and enveloped his entire body.

His feet suddenly stopped in place, and his knees began to bend involuntarily.

Fang fought back desperately, his knees sinking lower and lower as he tried to channel his magic power into his legs. But as soon as the magic power entered his legs, it seemed to flow into an abyss, disappearing without a trace.

The bizarre rules are absolute.

At least in all the Qi Refining stages he had heard of, there had never been an exception.

There is no way to stop it unless they are killed.

But he clearly hadn't entered an abandoned house, nor did he intend to look at it, yet this clay sculpture appeared right in front of him.

No, this absolutely cannot continue.

Fang Shi had already discovered something in the Sky Patrol Town.

That style, Frostfall Returns to Dust, which is derived from the "Yuanyun Manual," has an extremely strong destructive power against resentful couples, far surpassing the Armor-Shattering Spikes issued by the Suppression Bureau.

Therefore, he never relied on that heavy, black awl like Sun He did.

Furthermore, the power of frost falling and dust returning is not limited to estranged couples.

Other rogue cultivators in the Suppression Bureau may occasionally possess unique magical abilities, but these are often only effective against a certain type of strange phenomenon.

Some are specifically designed to counteract cold and yin substances, while others can burn away the turbid qi that forms the body. They seem to rely on the mechanism of mutual restraint of the five elements and mutual generation of yin and yang, but upon closer examination, they seem to be quite different.

Only the Armor-Shattering Cone can harm most of the strange creatures, so it was designated as the standard ritual weapon of the Suppression Department by the Three Plates Temple, with each person having one.

Even so, Fang Shi's Frostfall and Dust Return still lingered on the Broken Armor Cone.

Not only is it more powerful, but it is also effective against all kinds of strange creatures, unlike the Armor-Shattering Cone which can only barely cause damage to some strange creatures, and unlike the unique spells of other rogue cultivators which are picky.

Fang Shi was also unclear about the reason.

He vaguely guessed that these strange occurrences were caused by the fall of the True Lord, and were the manifestation of what Chaolu said: "When the way of heaven and earth is disordered, disasters follow." Then the method originating from Chaolu's True Understanding might have an innate power to restrain them.

This idea was unfounded, but after several kills, Shuangluo Chengui had never disappointed him.

If this clay figure is immune to broken armor spikes, talismans, and magical power, then what about when the frost falls and the dust returns?

Fang vowed not to hesitate any longer.

He immersed all his mind in the dark, icy pool deep within his sea of ​​consciousness.

Fear surged like an icy spring, flowing from the depths of his heart straight to his fingertips, where a chilling white light exploded.

"Six types of exits"

Reciting poetry is not about putting on airs, but about using it to more smoothly engage one's mind and spirit.

Cultivators possess three treasures: essence, energy, and spirit. The most powerful spells can only be cast by integrating essence, energy, and spirit.

Reciting poetry can infuse magic with divine power; the process of reciting poetry is the process of accumulating power.

If he were truly in a perilous situation, he would abandon reciting poetry and directly use his will to control the law.

But right now, his knees haven't touched the ground yet, so he still has time.

Just as Fang Shi was about to kneel down and the white light was about to leave his hand—

A yellow fireball streaked out from the side, trailing a blazing tail, and flew past Fang Shi, slamming hard into the clay statue.

With a loud bang, flames exploded.

The clay statue with its eyes closed trembled violently in the flames, the cracks around it widened abruptly, the scent of sandalwood was swallowed up by the acrid burning wind, and fragments scattered and flew everywhere with sparks.

Fang Shi didn't have time to think about why this fireball could shatter the clay figure that even the armor-piercing cones couldn't touch, because his left hand was suddenly grabbed by a slender hand.

"Walk!"

A clear, crisp female voice rang in his ear, speaking rapidly, "That Great Teacher of Virtue has only been temporarily forced back; the fragments will reassemble. Take this opportunity to escape with me!"

Great Teacher of Virtue? Is that the title of this clay statue?

Fang Shi did not hesitate.

He was never the kind of person who would risk his life, so since someone came to his rescue, he didn't mind running away.

Using the force of that hand, Fang Shi turned and ran. After running a few steps, he subconsciously looked up at the benefactor who had saved him, and then his pupils suddenly contracted.

That was a tragic couple.

Her entire body was pure white, and the white clay sculpted her body, which gleamed with a faint, cold light in the rain. Her outline was slender, and her figure was light and graceful. Judging from her shape, she was probably a young girl of marriageable age.

Fang Shi subconsciously looked down at the hand gripping his left wrist.

The fingers are slender and long, with well-proportioned joints. Each nail is rounded and smooth, and even the lines at the joints are clearly visible. Although it is made of white clay, it is as exquisite as a real person's hand.

Fang Shi instinctively wanted to unleash the power of Frostfall and Dust Return to shatter the resentful couple before him.

He had killed at least five vengeful couples in the Suppression Division these past few days, so he was all too familiar with this monster made of white clay—it had no mind, no emotions, and only knew how to harm people according to its obsession.

Regardless of what she just said, a mismatched couple is a mismatched couple.

However, before he could make a move, a stronger and deeper sandalwood scent wafted in from the street ahead.

Fang Shi suddenly looked up and saw two more clay statues appearing in the rain on the street ahead—both with closed eyes, covered in cracks, and exuding the same sandalwood fragrance.

His pupils contracted, and upon closer inspection, the number of clay figures had increased from two to four.

Upon closer inspection, the four statues had become eight, neatly arranged on the main road ahead, completely blocking the way.

"not good!"

The girl's voice suddenly rose, revealing an undisguised panic, as she said, "How could the Great Teacher be truly enraged? I only destroyed one of his avatars; he would never normally make such a fuss!"

Normally?

Fang Shi felt a sudden chill run down his spine.

She said that "usually" she had clashed with the Great Teacher of Virtue more than once?

In that instant of hesitation, the girl suddenly released her grip on his left wrist, reached into the white mud at her waist, and pulled out a thick stack of yellow talismans from somewhere.

With a flick of her slender finger, the talisman transformed into several blazing yellow fireballs in the air, trailing flames as they hurtled towards the eight clay statues in front of her.

Flames exploded one after another, and mud and debris flew everywhere.

However, as soon as the fragments hit the ground, they began to tremble slightly, and sandalwood fragrance emanated from them, as if they were about to reassemble.

The girl moved even faster, pulling out a completely different talisman, blood red in color, with black light emanating from its runes.

She slammed the blood talisman on the ground and shouted, "Suppress!"

Where the blood talisman landed, a circle of deep red light patterns suddenly spread out, enveloping the scattered clay fragments.

The red light instantly halted the coalescing of the fragments.

"Walk!"

The girl grabbed Fang Shi's wrist again and dragged him toward the street corner where the fire was still burning.

The two figures left two blurry afterimages in the rain, and in an instant they rushed out of the street soaked with sandalwood.

Fang Shi remained silent the whole way, letting her drag him along.

The white light at his fingertips remained dormant, neither blasting it out nor withdrawing it.

He had just seen it clearly—the girl casually flicked her wrist and produced more than a dozen fire talismans, their power comparable to that of a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator.

If he turns hostile now, can we win a fight?

What if we launch a sneak attack?

While she was dragging him along and running wildly, with her back completely unguarded, he blasted her with a Frostfall Dust Return attack. Could he freeze her into ice shards before she could react?

But the girl's skills were too fast—from taking out the talisman to casting it, her movements were smooth and fluid. Would a vengeful couple who could use talismans so skillfully really entrust their backs to a stranger when they were running away?

Could she have already secretly laid some kind of backup plan?

Could it be that they had already sensed the power of frost falling and dust returning?

If he makes a move, will it play right into her hands?

This is very important.

Very important.

It's not a question of whether they can win or not, but rather that this ill-fated couple is just too strange.

She just said "usually," implying that she had ruined the embodiment of the Great Teacher.

This is clearly experience accumulated from numerous encounters—how could a resentful couple have experience? How could a resentful couple have memories? How could a resentful couple speak?

All the records in the Suppression Division, all the colleagues, all those who were killed by vengeful spirits, the vengeful spirits they encountered were just faceless, voiceless monsters that only called out people's names according to their obsessions.

The one in front of me is completely different from those estranged couples.

Therefore, she must not be a resentful couple.

So, what are her rules?

Many rogue cultivators in the Suppression Bureau died from their first encounter with the bizarre rules—they thought the vengeful spirit could only call people by name, but it turned out this vengeful spirit could use fire talismans. They thought clay figures only appeared in abandoned houses, but it stood in the street.

Experience is unreliable; applying old rules to new and bizarre situations can easily lead to certain death.

If Fang were to judge her according to the usual rules for ill-fated couples, and unleash a Frostfall Returns to Dust attack, would it be possible that instead of killing her, he might trigger some kind of taboo he was unaware of?

For example, she wouldn't actually attack him unless he made the first move.

This is something that absolutely needs to be determined.

If her rule is "no attack without retaliation," then if he takes the initiative, wouldn't he be walking straight into a dead end?

Of course, we cannot rule out another possibility: the girl was using a ruse.

Does she need him to lead her to a specific place before she can harm him?

Grab his wrist to prevent him from attacking, making him believe it's the rule to retaliate.

In military strategy, this is called the principle of feigning strength and deception, which makes him mistakenly believe that she is fearless and therefore dare not act rashly.

But after thinking about it for a while, Fang Shi felt that it was too convoluted.

How many lives have been lost in the four towns in the past seven days? And which one of them wasn't straightforward?

Kneeling at the scent of fragrance, dragging with six fingers, a grudged couple cannot return.

The rules are simple and straightforward, without any twists or turns.

But then again, the strange and bizarre are new things that only appeared after the fall of the True Lord. Even the Three Plates Observation was a rule that was discovered by testing one by one with human lives. Who dares to say that there are no exceptions among them?

This estranged couple is already exceptional in itself, being eloquent, capable of fighting and escaping. What's so strange about them having an additional attack rule that differs from ordinary estranged couples?

Fang Shi ultimately did not take action.

He slowly pressed the white light from his fingertips back into the depths of his meridians, letting the girl drag him through street after street.

Observe first.

See where she's taking him and what she's going to do with him.

If she truly intends to harm him, it's not too late to fight back desperately.

The two rushed out of the Kui Tree at the entrance of Qiyuan Town one after the other. The rain had lessened considerably, and there was almost no more rain, but the sky was getting darker and darker.

The girl released Fang Shi's wrist, bent over to catch her breath, then straightened up and pulled a palm-sized bronze mirror from somewhere on her waist with her right hand.

Fang Shi's gaze fell on the mirror, and his pupils suddenly contracted.

The mirror reflected the girl's exquisite, lifelike white clay left hand. In addition to the five fingers, a sixth finger was clearly visible between the ring and little fingers.

That finger was exactly the same as the other five, with distinct knuckles and rounded nails. It was slightly bent at the moment, as if it were waving to someone outside the mirror.

This is a mirror demon!

The white light that Fang Shi had just suppressed at his fingertips almost exploded again.

Six fingers were seen in the mirror, and within three breaths, the mirror was shattered with magical power.

But before he could even make a move, an even bigger question arose in his mind.

A vengeful couple and a mirror demon—how could two such bizarre things possibly be mixed together?

Not to mention, if you were to kill him, would you need two strange methods?

This girl is clearly perfect.

Before Fang Shi could figure it out, the six-fingered hand in the mirror slowly turned around, palm up, fingers slightly bent, and the extra finger pointing directly at the girl, with the fingers hooking.

The girl complained, "Little Mirror, we're already so close, and you still ask for money every time? You're so disloyal!"

The mirror demon ignored her.

The five fingers hooked again, hooking even faster.

The girl muttered, "Okay, okay, here you go," took something out of her waist, and tossed it into the mirror.

As the object passed through the mirror, it created a very faint ripple before falling into the six-fingered palm.

Fang Shi could see clearly that it was a jet-black crystal with sharp edges and a faint luster flowing across its surface, completely different from the white fragments of spirit he usually saw.

The aura contained within the crystal seemed to be that turbid energy, much like the purer, clearer energy within the shattered spirit.

However, there is an inexplicable difference.

The mirror demon accepted the black crystal, and its six-fingered hand retracted into the mirror.

Immediately, the mirror surface rippled like water, and the palm-sized bronze mirror suddenly expanded, transforming in an instant into a mirror door as tall as a person, extending to the ground.

The mirror-like surface shimmered, but no one's reflection was visible.

"Alright, come in."

The girl reached out and grabbed Fang Shi's sleeve, pulling him into the mirrored doorway without saying a word.

Fang Shi felt a blur before his eyes, and then he was dragged into the mirror.

Behind them, the mirrored door slammed shut the moment they entered, turning into a streak of silver light and vanishing into the air.

From the moment the mirror door opened to the moment Fang Shi was pulled inside, it was only a breath away.

Before he could do anything, a completely different world had opened up before him.

"We're safe now."

Fang Shi looked in the direction of the sound, and then froze.

The white mud on the girl's face was fading away—no, not just her face, but the white mud all over her body was receding like a tide.

The clay-like texture peeled away layer by layer from her skin, revealing a fair and jade-like complexion underneath.

His features emerged from under the white mud: eyebrows like distant mountains, eyes like autumn water, a straight nose, and lips like cinnabar. He looked about fifteen or sixteen years old, with long, jet-black hair cascading down his shoulders.

She wore a light pink short jacket paired with a moon-white pleated long skirt, and a pale yellow silk sash tied around her waist. Hanging from the sash were a small brocade pouch and several embroidered bags, the contents of which were unknown.

She looked charming and lively, just like a girl next door, without a trace of resentment towards her husband.

The girl looked Fang Shi up and down, her brows furrowing slightly. "Which town are you from? How dare you cross the chasm alone? Are you courting death?"

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