Chapter Eighteen: Duel of Magic (Please continue reading!)

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“What about the Su family’s guards?” After Su Ye entered the Zhao Village with the cat demon, he discovered that Gao Yuan and the rest of the Su family’s guards had vanished without a trace.

“They were recalled by the Su family a few days ago. I heard that Young Master Su Ming has returned!”

A steward of Zhao Village looked at Su Ye with unease, his gaze flickering to the civet cat cradled in Su Ye’s arms.

He recognized the cat: it was the very demon that had slaughtered the people of Zhao Village, and now it was nestled quietly in Su Ye’s embrace.

A sense of anxiety welled up within him. He knew something of the recent events in the Su family—now that Su Ming had returned from afar, what position could Su Ye hope to hold in his own house?

“Young Master Su, the five elders of our Zhao clan who accompanied you into Wushi Mountain have not returned even now. Do you know where they are?” The steward, suppressing the chaos of his thoughts, spoke with genuine concern—among the five, one was his own father.

“They are all dead,” Su Ye replied coldly, his gaze sweeping over the villagers of Zhao Village. “Your greed led you to commit evil, and thus you brought down the monsters’ wrath upon yourselves. I have dealt with that demon for you, but I hope from now on you will do no more evil. Should you bring calamity on yourselves once again, no one will save you.”

At the news that all five elders had perished, the steward’s face was immediately shadowed with grief.

He could not help but glance at the cat demon in Su Ye’s arms. Now that the demon had been subdued by Su Ye, who then was the true killer of his father?

But Su Ye wasted no more time on them. Before coming down the mountain, he had already surmised that Su Ming and his master, Zhao Huaisheng, had likely reached Jinhua County—this now confirmed his suspicions.

With the wind beneath his feet, Su Ye sped away from Zhao Village, making for Jinhua County.

Though he was swift, the journey from Zhao Village to Jinhua County spanned a hundred miles, and it still took him more than two hours to arrive.

By then, the sky had cleared, and the sun stood high, its light spilling across the earth.

Su Ye did not hurry into the city. Instead, he rested under a large tree outside the walls, regaining his strength and waiting for Su Ming and Zhao Huaisheng to arrive.

Even before entering the city, Su Ye sensed an evil aura lingering outside the walls, deliberately left behind. As soon as he perceived it, the aura quickly dissipated.

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Jinhua County, Su Residence.

“Master, was it that little bastard Su Ye who returned?” Su Ming asked as soon as he saw his master rise abruptly to his feet.

Zhao Huaisheng was a tall man, his features as youthful as a young noble, his countenance handsome to an extraordinary degree—yet a strange, bewitching aura clung to him, unsettling to behold.

“Yes, it is indeed Su Ye who has come back. Good disciple, wait for me here in the city. Once I have slain Su Ye, I will take you to the Hall of White Bones to begin your cultivation,” Zhao Huaisheng said, a smile curling across his face. With his words, a chill wind swept up around him as he swiftly departed the city.

In truth, Zhao Huaisheng held Su Ming in little regard. Su Ming was lazy and lecherous, dull of wit and lacking in talent. The only reason Zhao Huaisheng had taken him as a disciple was to exploit the Su family’s vast wealth.

Su Ming, oblivious to his master’s true motives, was overjoyed, already picturing Su Ye’s death at his master’s hands.

Outside Jinhua County.

Before Zhao Huaisheng had even emerged from the city, Su Ye sensed a surge of demonic energy rising from within.

“It’s Zhao Huaisheng. His strength far surpasses that of the fiend from Wushi Mountain,” Su Ye thought grimly as the sinister aura swept over him.

Though both the fiend from Wushi Mountain and Zhao Huaisheng were practitioners of the same realm, the former had only recently broken through, while Zhao Huaisheng had long since mastered it.

Moments later, Su Ye saw Zhao Huaisheng’s tall figure striding towards him from the city.

Rising to his feet, Su Ye spoke quietly to the cat demon before fixing his gaze upon Zhao Huaisheng.

“You’re not Su Ye, are you? Today, let me see which little ghost dares to ruin my plans!” Zhao Huaisheng’s strange face momentarily betrayed surprise.

According to Su Ming’s reports, Su Ye’s transformation was recent, yet now Su Ye stood before him with the cultivation of the third realm. Such rapid progress was almost unbelievable.

As his words fell, Zhao Huaisheng drew a pitch-black wooden sword from his waist, silently channeling his internal power. Instantly, a sinister aura seeped from the blade.

A jet-black arc of sword-light shot forth, wailing with the anguished cries of countless souls as if innumerable specters were trapped within its glow.

With a flick of his wrist, Su Ye produced the talisman brush hidden in his sleeve. Channeling the Yin-Yang Five Thunder technique, a jade talisman within his spirit sea flashed with blue-white light. An exorcism talisman swiftly took shape, meeting the oncoming black sword-light head-on.

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Boom!

With a deafening crash, the exorcism talisman collided with the black sword-light, causing its glow to flicker wildly, the wails even sharper and more piercing.

The talisman’s power endured for a moment longer, then burst apart, while the black sword-light twisted, transforming once more.

Countless vengeful spirits tangled together, forming a mass of dark phantoms that lunged straight at Su Ye.

A flash of anger passed over Su Ye’s face. Light flared again from the talisman brush in his hand, and in the blink of an eye, another exorcism talisman formed.

At that instant, the cat demon beside Su Ye sprang forward, its body surging with yellow-white light, darting like lightning toward Zhao Huaisheng.

Seeing the cat demon attack, Zhao Huaisheng’s expression grew grave.

Though the demon was only a first-realm monster and weaker than Zhao Huaisheng, it was still enough to cause him significant trouble.

Now, forced to defend himself against the demon, Zhao Huaisheng had to divide his focus, even turning the bulk of his attention upon it.

After all, in Zhao Huaisheng’s eyes, the cat demon’s strength far exceeded that of Su Ye.

In the instant Zhao Huaisheng was distracted, Su Ye swept his sleeve, unleashing a Thunderfire Talisman and a Shadow Sigil. Carefully crafted for this very moment, both talismans surged with power.

The Thunderfire Talisman released a torrent of lightning and flame, which fused together into a spear that howled toward Zhao Huaisheng’s chest.

The Shadow Sigil unleashed a cold, bluish-gray light, sharp as a sword and sinuous as a spirit serpent, striking directly for Zhao Huaisheng’s throat.