"What is this..."
The twelve Buddhist cultivators, each with a different expression, cautiously landed, reforming the massive golden formation that spanned the great river. The faces of males and female alike glittered with golden powder, but they were all filled with suspicion and uncertainty.
All the cultivators craned their necks as they searched the sky. They came from diverse backgrounds; some were peak masters of Azure Pond Peak, some from southern clans, some had gained fame at a young age, and some were seasoned veterans. But everyone was watching intently.
"Could he be dead... could he really be dead...?"
Below, a middle-aged man in splendid robes wore a solemn expression. He was none other than Yuan Hudu, head of the Yuan Family, who had once been struck by an arrow. His face remained calm, but inside he was more anxious than anyone.
"His strength surpassed the norm long ago; how could this be possible?! How could this be possible?!"
He searched carefully, his hand half-heartedly continuing his spellcasting, as he listened to the whispers around him. In the sky, two points of platinum light drifted downward.
"Li Xuanfeng..."
In the sky, Si Yuanli, dressed in fluttering azure robes, wore a complex expression as he looked at the white-armored man appearing not far away.
The proper position of Metal in Shen and You had transformed into the white of the West. Li Xuanfeng’s Heavenly Gilded Helm had responded first to the talisman and turned pure white. Stark white lines crawled up his cheek to the corner of his eye and then into his gaze.
Grant me dominion over metal.
Li Xuanfeng had always thought this talisman was a kind of supportive technique or protective spell. Only now did he realize that the reason Si Yuanli had recognized the Monarch Calling Command Golden Talisman at a glance was not because it was something Si Boxiu had simply crafted. It was actually a treasure, perhaps a talisman tool or even a Dao treasure.
"Of course... how could a single talisman suffice for something as important as Anhuai Heaven? Anyone who enters must surely have at least one Purple Mansion Realm item!"
Both of Li Xuanfeng's Immortal Foundations resonated with the Monarch Calling Command Golden Talisman. As his spiritual sense flooded into it, the last doubt in his heart finally dissolved completely.
Why me? Why the Heavenly Gilded Helm? he thought.
Could the goodwill of a Purple Mansion Realm Daoist Master be without cause? The Monarch Calling Command Golden Talisman had always been Si Boxiu’s trump card, and the Heavenly Gilded Helm its most compatible vessel...
Si Boxiu had specially refined a pill and likely added many techniques to make this Immortal Foundation resonate with this set of treasures. Now, the Heavenly Gilded Helm poured into the Monarch Calling Command Golden Talisman, drawing out all the stored divine abilities and mana within.
At this moment, he looked like the incarnation of slaughtering metal, clad in white armor, fearsome and fierce. White energy dripped from his elbows, dyeing his golden bow a cold, ghostly white. Autumn dew fell from the sky like raindrops, pitter-pattering around him.
"Is he really Li Xuanfeng...?"
The doubt even surfaced in the minds of the onlookers. A ring of bright light shimmered behind the man as he stood on the pass gate. Autumn dew flew sideways as he stood unmoving, but that cold, white metal aura silenced them all.
Li Xuanfeng's pupils were fixed on the twelve Master Monks.
Fear finally filled the twelve. They could no longer utter their earlier words about subduing demons and evil spirits. They all avoided his gaze but quickly recovered, and their expressions turned angry as if their pride had been trampled.
They roared, "What a monster! You dare resist!"
Their hands did not stop casting spells. The dharma bottle in the sky glowed with bright lake water, spraying gleaming droplets once again.
The water droplets circled the light around him, mixing with the autumn dew and losing their way. The scorching and sharp mirror light of a golden mirror shot toward him, but it dissolved in front of him and disappeared.
Li Xuanfeng merely opened his fierce eyes slightly, staring at them with a terrifying presence.
"Hahahaha!"
As silence fell over the north and south, laughter suddenly rang from the north. A few more Master Monks tore through the air, their attire completely different from those before.
The leader appeared to have come from afar, his body covered with scattered wooden talismans and his clothes full of patches.
He took one look at the grand formation, then burst out laughing and jeered, "Xu An... you and your brothers are all a bunch of useless trash! Such a golden opportunity! More than a quarter of an hour, and you still couldn't take him down!
"Now that we’re here... if the Way of Emptiness can't swallow this meat, we’ll take a share of it too!"
He laughed for two seconds before realizing how eerily quiet it was over the river. He awkwardly stopped, scanned the scene, and saw that three of the twelve had withered auras and the other nine bore slight injuries.
Then he looked toward the man in white armor across from him. The monk's expression quickly turned solemn. After glancing at the bright gate under his feet, he quietly retreated a step.
The sky was filled with distorted, translucent, slightly white metal qi. Li Xuanfeng remained motionless, silently resonating with the Monarch Calling Command Golden Talisman within him as his aura steadily rose to its peak.
The cold, white metal qi seemed ready to slice open Si Yuanli’s cheek. Of course, he knew exactly what was happening and was extremely familiar with the Monarch Calling Command Golden Talisman.
This was a treasure of the Si Family. Though it was called a talisman, it was more like a spirit artifact. After each use, it required a Purple Mansion Realm Daoist Master’s personal spellcasting to restore it before it could be used again. It was the ultimate object. But it was not something just anyone could wield. Each person’s power differed... without a special technique, only a Purple Mansion Realm cultivator could truly unleash its might.
He had never doubted Si Boxiu’s actions, yet he felt both awe and fear again at the far-reaching vision of the Purple Mansion Realm cultivator. He thought to himself, The Heavenly Gilded Helm... Brother Xuanfeng actually brought the Monarch Calling Command Golden Talisman to such a level! Never mind this place, who in Anhuai Heaven could be his match even for one round?
Everyone watched him in stunned amazement. The twelve tried probing attacks to no avail, and as time slowly passed, they finally exchanged glances. The massive formation in the sky reassembled.
Brilliant golden light flowed, and a whispering chant fell from the twelve’s mouths in unison, echoing in the sky. It grew from a murmur like an ant swarm to a roar like thunder until it gradually reached its peak.
Li Xuanfeng moved.
He still held the white bow, forged from the Metal of Shen and You, and perfectly attuned to his mana. The savage expression on his face had faded, leaving only a slender sharpness. As he drew it fully, it truly resembled an autumn moon.
Yet there was no arrow on the bow.
Everyone was puzzled, but before the twelve could react, something seemed to dart across the sky. The sky slowly turned white, and autumn dew fell like rain. A chill descended from above.
"What..."
Si Yuanli had already disengaged from his duel with two other cultivators. He gently reached out, and caught a small object amidst the falling autumn dew.
He slowly opened his hand and saw a pink flower petal nestled in his palm.
The sun shone brightly, the clouds in the sky dispersed, and countless pale pink flower petals fell from above. A sound of mixed joy and sorrow filled the air, carrying a faint, eerie fragrance.
The petals were tender pink, exuding a delicate fragrance, resembling both a lotus and a peony. They floated on the north wind, drifting across the stunned eyes of the Buddhist cultivators, and gracefully falling into the surging river below.
Si Yuanli’s gaze followed the pink petals swirling on the river’s surface. Slowly, he raised his head, and his eyes found the Master Monks on the opposite side.
Of the twelve Master Monks, only eleven remained.