Li Qingxian thought for a moment, then said, "My Cultivation has stabilized. It’s a good time to make a move. Let’s go to the Chunfeng Inn."
Inside the Chunfeng Inn, Li Qingxian discussed the matter with Zhou Chunfeng. They quickly decided to stick to their old methods.
An eye for an eye.
Li Qingxian found Hex Lei’s personal attendant, Fatty Yang, and entered the small, private courtyard where Hex Lei worked.
It was a very ordinary study. The main room was filled with documents, while of the two smaller rooms, one served as living quarters and the other for storing case files.
Li Qingxian entered the living quarters and found some of Hex Lei’s old shoes, hair, an outer coat, and other personal effects. Then, he began to set up the Array Devices in the room.
An Eight Trigrams Mirror, a Blood Pattern Banner, a Yin-Yang Sword, a Seven-Star Ruler...
On their own, these ordinary Magical Artifacts were indistinguishable from common objects. They couldn’t be used individually. Only when setting up an Array and casting a skill could they link together and become effective.
After setting up the Array Devices, Li Qingxian frowned slightly as he remembered something.
The Demon Sect had also hired a Fate Master.
’The other side knows the Patrol Bureau has a Fate Master. If I were their Fate Master, I definitely wouldn’t be unprepared.’
After some thought, Li Qingxian took out true Magical Artifacts to act as Array Devices and set up a second layer to the Array.
Once the setup was complete, the Magical Artifacts released a Divine Light, spewing out a dense, tadpole-like script. The script formed into lines that crawled across the room, eventually covering it like a black spider web.
Li Qingxian took out eight Spirit Awakening Talismans, used them to draw Eight Directions Talismans, and placed one in each of the eight cardinal directions.
In each of the eight directions, he then placed an item that Hex Lei had previously touched.
Finally, he placed the room’s round bronze mirror in the very center of the Eight Directions Talismans.
After performing a series of steps for the casting, Li Qingxian pointed at the mirror’s surface. As if alive, the black spider web covering the room rapidly retracted, coiling around the mirror to form twelve slowly rotating black rings.
"Mirror-Heaven, Illuminate Fate! Go!"
At his command, the mirror clouded with a faint white mist that then slowly began to recede.
Just as the white mist was about to dissipate, a CRACK echoed out. The bronze mirror split right down the middle, from top to bottom—a perfectly neat, smooth, and straight fissure.
Li Qingxian’s expression flickered. He retreated rapidly as the Destiny Measuring Ruler and the Destiny Scale materialized above his head.
Then, the mirror cracked horizontally, perpendicular to the first fissure, forming a large cross.
Faint black smoke drifted out from the cross-shaped cracks.
The black smoke coalesced into an old man about a foot tall. His skin was deathly pale, with bulging blue veins clearly visible beneath it.
Naked except for a black cloth wrapped around his waist, he was stooped over with a hunched back, his head lowered to his knees. His entire body seemed to be twisted like the handle of a cane, his arms nearly touching the ground.
His back bulged high, as if he were carrying a giant, round steamed bun.
SPLURT...
The old man’s back split open, splattering black blood and revealing an eye. It had a black pupil and a blood-red sclera, and it spun around constantly, weeping black blood.
The old man’s bare feet, rotting and oozing pus, stepped onto the mirror’s surface with a wet, smacking sound. A mix of putrid flesh and pale bone, they left two trails of filthy blood as he walked toward Li Qingxian.
"Found you..."
A rumbling sound emanated from the Back-Eyed Man’s abdomen as he walked straight toward Li Qingxian.
Li Qingxian tilted his head slightly, averting his gaze from the creature’s eye. He formed a hand seal, and the twelve rings of black, tadpole-like script that had been circling the mirror suddenly contracted, tightening around the Back-Eyed Man.
"Found you..."
Speaking with the voice from its abdomen, the Back-Eyed Man continued to advance. Its pace was much slower than before, but it was still moving forward, not completely restrained.
’I never expected my first Life Comparison to happen so suddenly,’ Li Qingxian thought.
’My opponent used an Evil Fate Skill right from the start.’
Calm and unhurried, Li Qingxian recited a Fate Measuring Sect Spell.
"Measure the heavens by ten thousand fathoms, measure the earth by a thousand leagues... where does this fate reside?"
After reciting the Spell, Li Qingxian pointed a finger. A transparent, colossal phantom of heaven and earth descended. Within this desolate realm that seemed to span a thousand leagues, the Back-Eyed Man was trapped.
The phantom dissipated. The Back-Eyed Man took step after step, yet it seemed to be marching in place, unable to advance an inch.
A closer look would reveal that the Back-Eyed Man was indeed taking large strides, but it was as if it were a thousand leagues away and would take a very long time to cross the distance.
"Found you..."
The Back-Eyed Man’s left arm exploded. A puff of white smoke erupted from its body, and it began to advance once more, though it swayed unsteadily.
Li Qingxian pointed his finger again.
"Let the mountains be the scale weight and the sun be the measure. How much does this fate weigh...?"
An invisible mountain descended, and the creature froze, its skin slowly cracking all over.
The Back-Eyed Man’s head suddenly split open down the middle. Bloody fluid splattered everywhere as the white brain matter within slowly writhed.
But a closer look revealed it wasn’t brain matter at all—it was a roiling pile of fat, white maggots.
Li Qingxian turned his head away again, his peripheral vision catching only the creature’s feet.
"Found you..."
The Back-Eyed Man started walking forward again, panting heavily.
’Anyone who can use an Evil Fate Skill must be a Middle-Grade Fate Master,’ Li Qingxian judged. ’But the power of this Life Maggot is ordinary, which means that Fate Master is definitely not from a Major Sect.’
’I’m well-prepared, and I haven’t even used my strongest technique, the Great Cutting Sword. This is a perfect opportunity for a Life Comparison to gain some experience.’
And so, Li Qingxian tried using several Fate Skills in succession, but his opponent neutralized them all. Nevertheless, the Life Maggot’s movements grew increasingly sluggish as more and more blood and pus oozed from its body.
When the time was ripe, Li Qingxian was about to use the Great Cutting Sword but stayed his hand and glanced out the window.
"You love being a coward, don’t you? Then stay cowering!"
With that, Li Qingxian took out some Life Material Soil.
It was soil from several places: the main street outside the Night Guard Office, the grounds of the Patrol Bureau, the area outside the Night Guard Hall, the paths within the Night Guard’s compound, and the ground outside the Commander’s Mansion.
He chanted a spell as he sprinkled the soil.
"One soil to guide the way, one soil to form the gate, one soil to build the path, one soil to open the court, one soil to enter the house..."
As the Five Earths Guiding Skill took effect, a translucent gate, path, courtyard, and house appeared before the Back-Eyed Man.
The Back-Eyed Man walked slowly toward the gate but hesitated to step through.
Li Qingxian placed Zhou Chunfeng’s waist token and his own Deputy Room Leader token on either side of the gate and chanted with sincere conviction.
"An evil presence comes from without, to bully me of the Night Guard. My rank is low, so I borrow the authority of my superiors. I borrow the power of the main hall, the official roads, and my lord’s Official Seal! With all of you, I shall crush this vile filth!"
The two waist tokens emitted a faint, pure light. The Back-Eyed Man took a misstep and stumbled through the gate. It followed the path into the courtyard and involuntarily entered the house.
A brilliant, golden Official Seal flew out of the house. Like a great mountain, it slammed down on the Back-Eyed Man, and a bloodcurdling scream erupted from the creature’s abdomen.
"Ah... You are vicious..."
SPLAT!
The Back-Eyed Man exploded, splattering the ground with filthy, ink-black blood. The force of the explosion burst the twelve black, tadpole-script rings, but the blast was ultimately contained by the Array Devices.
The golden Official Seal spun once in midair, about to exit back through the Five Earths’ gate. But the two waist tokens pulsed with a faint cyan light, and the seal wavered before retracting back into the house and dissipating from view.
Li Qingxian took out a Spirit Awakening Talisman, shaped it into a cup, and pointed it at the filth on the ground, channeling his Magical Power.
"Collect."
All the filthy blood on the ground flowed upward, pouring into the cup and transforming into a viscous, ink-like liquid that reflected Li Qingxian’s figure.
Li Qingxian kept his head tilted, careful not to look directly at the bloody substance.
’Evil Fate Skills aren’t exactly forbidden, but in the Fate Skill Realm, practitioners of them are universally despised. It makes sense that the Demon Sect can only find this sort of Fate Master to work with. I was only investigating Hex Lei, yet my opponent deployed a Life Maggot. It’s obvious they were most likely targeting me this time. If I were hit... no, that’s not right. Life Maggots are vicious, but Fate Masters have many ways to deal with them; they’re rarely used against other Fate Masters. This Life Maggot was probably meant to use me as a springboard to attach to someone else’s Life Mansion. Otherwise, the Five Earths Guiding Skill wouldn’t have worked so smoothly.’