Longevity Begins With Zongmen Handyman

Chapter 45: The True Soul-Collecting Horse-Faced Demon

The sun was shining brightly, with not a cloud in sight. The streets were bustling with people, as lively and busy as ever.

Inside the spiritual talisman shop, Li An sat behind the counter, idly reading a book.

"Do you have any ban-breaking talismans for sale?"

A customer walked in, dressed in a wide robe with large sleeves, exuding an air of elegance. He smiled faintly at Li An.

Li An's heart sank, but he showed no signs of it on his face. He stood up warmly and said, "Ban-breaking talismans... of course we have them. What grade and how many does the esteemed guest need?"

As he spoke, he put down the book in his hand and personally went to pour tea. While pouring the tea, he casually tapped one of the jade tea cups.

"Please have some tea first, esteemed guest..."

He offered the tea cup with both hands.

A hint of cold mockery appeared in the middle-aged man's eyes. He had noticed the small gesture of the talisman master, but he still spoke calmly, "No need, I want thirty ban-breaking talismans. Do you have them?"

"Of course we do, but there are only five in the shop. The rest are in the warehouse. The esteemed guest can wait here for me..."

"No, I'll go with you to get them."

A trace of hesitation appeared on Li An's face, but he nodded, "Alright."

He immediately turned around and quickly walked into the inner hall.

The middle-aged man followed calmly.

...

Next door.

"Ding ding ding!"

In a hidden room, Jing Ao, who was meditating, was instantly awakened by the sound of the spiritual bell!

"The demonic cultivator has entered the shop, and they've started making their move!"

Jing Ao's face turned serious. The spiritual bell was monitoring the situation in the shop.

"Surround them!"

He immediately gave the order!

...

At the same time.

Outside the market.

Boom!

In the sky, a black flame suddenly appeared and attacked Qingyang Market.

The defensive array of Qingyang Market instantly lit up, autonomously protecting itself.

Bang!

A loud impact resounded in the sky above Qingyang Market.

Immediately, everyone in the market was shocked.

"What's going on?"

"The market is under attack!"

"What's happening? Who dares to attack Qingyang Market?"

"That flame... it's another demonic cultivator, another demonic cultivator!"

The streets were in complete chaos, with many people looking up at the sky in fear.

In the sky, more than a dozen powerful demonic cultivators had already appeared, exuding terrifying demonic energy.

Among them, one person wore a horse-faced mask and had an astonishing aura.

"The Soul-Collecting Horse-Faced Demon!"

"It's him again!"

"He's here again... Is Qingyang Market safe this time?!"

Everyone started talking.

"Soul-Collecting Horse-Faced Demon, how dare you disturb this place!"

The voice of Yu Xiong, a Foundation Building stage cultivator, resounded. His figure appeared directly in the sky, overseeing the battle and countering the attacks from outside the sky.

"It's a Foundation Building stage demonic cultivator... It really is the Soul-Collecting Horse-Faced Demon!?"

After just one exchange, Yu Xiong was already surprised.

A terrible thought flashed through his mind as well. According to the sect's information, wasn't the Soul-Collecting Horse-Faced Demon supposed to appear near the convoy transporting spiritual medicine?

Why is he appearing outside the market now?

Has the plan... gone wrong?

...

At the same time.

On a mountain road dozens of miles away from Qingyang Market.

A group of people and horses were slowly moving forward. The horses in the group were all mid-grade first-tier scale horses, and there were Foundation Building stage experts guarding the convoy.

However, just as they turned into a forest, there were sudden explosions on the road, and black demonic energy surged up continuously.

Boom!

Hidden demonic cultivators suddenly appeared all around.

Among them, one person emitted the aura of a Foundation Building stage cultivator and wore a horse-faced mask.

"The Soul-Collecting Horse-Faced Demon!"

A Foundation Building stage cultivator in the convoy shouted!

...

Qingyang Market.

The sound of the surging defensive array had already spread from the sky.

In the small garden where Li An had just entered, his figure suddenly burst forth like a spiritual leopard, kicking a flowerpot as he leaped forward!

Two talismans were simultaneously thrown out!

A high-grade first-tier talisman - the Fiery Explosion Talisman!

Two fireballs exploded in front of the middle-aged man.

But the middle-aged man just sneered, raised his hand and wiped away the traces of the fireball.

A high-grade first-tier talisman in front of him couldn't even cause a ripple!

A Foundation Building stage demonic cultivator?!

Li An was greatly shocked in his heart, his face changed. He originally thought that the person coming to kill him would at most be at the Qi Refining peak.

After all, there weren't many Foundation Building stage cultivators in this area of the Yin Yang Demon Sect, only the Horse-Faced Reaper.

Could it be that the Horse-Faced Reaper didn't go to the medicinal herbs area, but came here instead?

How is that possible...

But a terrifying thought flashed through Li An's mind in an instant!

All his speculations were based on the fact that the Horse-Faced Reaper needed those third-grade medicinal herbs.

What if the Horse-Faced Reaper himself had already obtained the third-grade medicinal herbs?!

Then, for the Horse-Faced Reaper, the most important thing would be Li An as his inner demon, and the third-grade medicinal herbs would be optional...

The situation Li An faced would be completely reversed.

However, this thought instead ignited an unprecedented courage in Li An's heart. In his previous life, when he reached the Foundation Establishment stage, he had experienced countless life and death tribulations. Although he had always cultivated steadily, when faced with unavoidable danger, he would not be afraid, but would give it his all!

He suddenly stopped running away and shouted:

"Demonic cultivator, today you will undoubtedly die—"

Li An gritted his teeth and released two more talismans, rushing towards the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man didn't even look at him, and slapped him.

The fluctuations of the talismans were extinguished by this slap, and Li An was directly slapped away, smashing a pot on the ground. He spat out a mouthful of blood, his face pale. He still wanted to stand up, but in the end, everything went black before his eyes and he fainted directly.

"Treacherous talisman master, you harmed this seat in the past. If I let you die painlessly today, it would be a disservice to what you did!"

The middle-aged man sneered.

"Hehe, after waiting for so long, you finally came!"

At this moment, a voice had already sounded.

The middle-aged man turned around and saw that Jing Ao had already brought people and walked into the shop.

He stood with his hands behind his back, a cold smile on his lips, staring at the middle-aged man. "I didn't expect that under the Horse-Faced Reaper, there would actually be other Foundation Building experts... Well, well, killing you will make my achievements even greater this time!"

His eyes were filled with a sense of satisfaction, as if everything was already in the bag!

"Indeed, there is an ambush..."

The middle-aged man looked at Jing Ao, but there was no trace of fear in his eyes. He said calmly, "However, the bunch of turtles from the Xuan Yang Sect sent such a green turtle like you? Heh... Since you're so arrogant, I won't just chop you into pieces, I'll make you into minced meat and feed it to the dogs!"

"What a big mouth!"

Jing Ao said coldly, "Attack!"

Immediately, four Qi Refining peak disciples by his side had already surrounded from four directions.

The four Qi Refining peak experts all held second-tier magical artifacts in their hands.

At the same time, Jing Ao also sacrificed a long spear!

A second-tier magical artifact!

"Die—"

On top of Jing Ao's long spear, golden flames burst forth and charged towards the middle-aged man.

But in the eyes of the middle-aged man, there was such disdain as he laughed, "Just you?"

He waved his hand, and a surging black demonic energy was released.

"Not right..."

The four peak Qi Refining experts wielding second-tier magical tools all had their expressions greatly changed at this moment. They felt as if flames were erupting within their bodies, and their spiritual energy instantly became chaotic. They all abruptly stopped and spewed out a mouthful of blood.

Within the blood, there was a deep blue toxin.

"You actually poisoned us?!"

Jing Ao's heart trembled greatly. He also felt a burning pain within his body, his hand trembling and spasming, to the point where he couldn't even hold onto his spear.

"Do you really think that broken Spirit Bell can escape my eyes?"

The middle-aged man sneered. When Li An touched the teacup on the counter, he had already known that there was an ambush.

Therefore, from that moment on, he had already used the Yin-Yang Demon Sect's secret poison.

The poison he used was colorless and tasteless, and it only took effect after inhaling the Yin-Yang demonic energy. Therefore, Jing Ao and the others were completely unaware.

The hunters... had become the prey instead!

"All the trash from the Xuan Yang Sect, die for me!"

The middle-aged man made a big grab, and in an instant, he had already flashed past the four peak Qi Refining disciples. His claw-like hand directly exploded their throats, killing them on the spot!

He even appeared in front of Jing Ao!

He reached out to grab Jing Ao's heart!

"Senior Brother, save me—"

Jing Ao shouted in fear. Magical tools lit up on his body, barely blocking the middle-aged man's attack, but he was still sent flying and heavily crashed onto the ground, unable to move.

"Stop—"

From outside, a cold and icy voice came. Another middle-aged man from the Xuan Yang Sect had already stepped in.

"Senior Brother, be careful, there's poison... don't breathe!"

Jing Ao reminded with difficulty.

The middle-aged man nodded. He had been paying attention to this battlefield since Jing Ao and the others started fighting, so naturally, he knew what had happened.

"Truly worthy of being a demonic cultivator, so full of tricks. But today, you will undoubtedly die—"

He said coldly, "The one who will kill you is the Xuan Yang Sect's inner sect chief disciple—Han Zhong!"

Han Zhong!

This name was famous within the Xuan Yang Sect. He was a mid-Foundation Building stage expert, only one step away from becoming an elder-level existence!

He... was actually stationed here!

The middle-aged man suddenly laughed, "Finally, something interesting. Alright, you're straightforward, I'm not interested in hiding anything either. The one who will kill you... is the Soul-Reaping Horse-Faced!"

His face twisted with ferocity, and he now held a bone banner in his hand!

Upon seeing that bone banner, Han Zhong's expression greatly changed!

Soul-Reaping Horse-Faced?!

...

(End of this chapter)