Chapter 373: Characters Can Even Run Now

Niu Batian was now relieved. Although the demon was powerful, he certainly wouldn't be able to cause any trouble in front of Mr. Ji.

Meanwhile, Lu Shanjun, despite his fear, also realized that his revered master must not have wanted the bull demon to be harmed. In that instant, he understood that the bull demon had definitely held back because of Luoqing City.

Hearing Mr. Ji's words, Lu Shanjun's demon body dissolved into mist and contracted, quickly transforming into human form. He then bowed deeply in reverence.

"I dare not defy your will, Master!"

Niu Batian sat on the ground, breathing heavily, and grumbled to Mr. Ji, looking at Lu Shanjun, who had become "tiny" at his feet.

"Mr. Ji," he complained, "you must have arrived much earlier. If you had come out sooner, it would have been over. You made old Niu suffer..."

After a complaint, Niu Batian also reverted from his demon body state to human form. However, unlike Lu Shanjun, who manifested clothes when transforming back, Niu Batian only had a few tattered rags clinging to him. With anyone else, he probably would have been uninhibited, but facing Mr. Ji, he still showed some restraint, using his hands to cover crucial areas.

He had clearly bled a lot just now, and his injuries should have been extensive. Yet, Niu Batian's most severe-looking injuries were still the initial claw marks on his arm. On his body, back, and shoulders, there were many bleeding gashes where muscles had already knitted together, and the wounds didn't appear large.

Mr. Ji was also slightly surprised by this situation, as it was not as serious as he had imagined. Hearing Niu Batian's complaint, he shook his head and said,

"I, Ji, did arrive early, but don't just blame me for not stopping it. If your mouth had just kept quiet for a little while, this fight wouldn't have escalated to this point. It might not even have started at all. It's good for you to learn a lesson."

Niu Batian's eyes widened. He looked at Mr. Ji, then turned to look at Lu Shanjun, who was still bowed low in reverence and barely dared to breathe.

"Him?" Niu Batian scoffed. "If old Niu hadn't been suppressing him with my aura, wouldn't he have immediately attacked?"

Lu Shanjun dared not stand up or turn his head, but hearing this, he still cast a sidelong glance at Niu Batian. He took a deep breath but remained silent.

Seeing Lu Shanjun like this, Niu Batian couldn't help but mutter,

"Can't even breathe heavily. In the end, it's brute strength that makes you the boss."

Lu Shanjun withdrew his sidelong glance and no longer looked at him.

At this moment, Yan Fei also flew over from a distance, stopping only when he was close. After cupping his hands in greeting to Mr. Ji, he immediately went to Niu Batian's side and checked his injuries, then took off his own outer garment and gave it to him.

"Brother Niu, are you alright?"

"What could happen to me?" Niu Batian boasted. "Old Niu has thick skin and flesh. Don't look at all this blood I've shed; my true form is over thirty feet tall, no less than a large ship. It's not essence blood or true vital energy; ordinary blood will replenish quickly. Ugh, brother, give me a hand, I can't stand up..."

Old Niu had intended to rise gracefully, but his legs were a bit weak.

Hearing this, Yan Fei quickly reached out to help him. The first thing old Niu did after standing up was to tie Yan Fei's garment around his lower body like a pair of shorts.

Mr. Ji sighed, his gaze turning to Lu Shanjun, who was still maintaining his bowed posture.

"Why aren't you speaking?"

"Master, I dare not make excuses when you admonish me!"

"Stand up and speak."

Hearing this, only then did Lu Shanjun dare to stand up straight and look at Mr. Ji.

"When you bit Niu Batian just now, were you trying to kill him?"

In truth, in Mr. Ji's spiritual perception, the two demons had indeed fought fiercely earlier. But for the first half, it was back and forth; at most, they were getting tired and frustrated. However, Lu Shanjun's last move made Mr. Ji feel as if he had gone berserk and intended to kill. Initially, he had observed the two demons' techniques, as clashes between demons, each possessing extraordinary powers and considerable cultivation, were rare, and it could also teach the brute bull a lesson. But the moment Lu Shanjun bit his opponent, Mr. Ji could no longer sit idly by and had to intervene immediately.

"To answer Master, it was not so," replied Lu Shanjun. "This brute bull possesses extraordinary powers. Although I repeatedly injured him before, I had not actually damaged his essence, nor could I make him yield. I used every trick I had, but I couldn't break through his demon body. I had no choice but to resort to a trick, planning to try and break his demon body with my fangs after biting him!"

Lu Shanjun spoke respectfully and coherently. After speaking, he added, "Earlier, when he charged me with his horns and changed his move outside Luoqing, I saw that too. If he hadn't said earlier that he was a demon who didn't care about eating a few humans, I wouldn't have attacked!"

Old Niu could still sit quietly when he heard the previous words, but upon hearing the latter part of the statement, his temper immediately flared up.

"Bullshit!" Niu Batian exploded. "When the hell did old Niu say it didn't matter if I ate a few people? Anyone who says that is a son of a b— uh..."

Old Niu suddenly stopped his cursing as if pulling back from a cliff. He then remembered when Lu Shanjun's attitude had changed earlier.

"Uh, old Niu... I think I really did say something like that..."

"Hmph!"

Lu Shanjun let out a hum, but knowing his mistake, he said no more. His gaze swept over Yan Fei. Although this brute bull's words were offensive, his demonic nature wasn't bad. Previously, Lu Shanjun had thought Yan Fei and old Niu were colluding; the contrast now made Lu Shanjun look upon him with much higher regard.

At this moment, Mr. Ji also looked at Yan Fei and asked,

"Why didn't you bring out the Sword Intent Scroll?"

Mr. Ji's original intention in leaving the Sword Intent Scroll wasn't to absolve Yan Fei, but bringing it out in that situation would always have an effect on Lu Shanjun. He hadn't expected Yan Fei to not mention it even until the very end.

Yan Fei was momentarily stunned by the question, and it drew the attention of both Niu Batian and Lu Shanjun to him. Lu Shanjun was particularly astonished.

'The Sword Intent Scroll is in his hands?'

In Lu Shanjun's view, his connection with his revered master began outside the mountain god temple back then, but that was far from a master-disciple relationship. To achieve the results he had today, the "Sword Intent Scroll" had certainly played an indispensable role.

Yan Fei didn't explain. After saying, "Please wait, Mr. Ji," he quickly returned to the small manor, searched for a while among the ruins of his bedroom, found a scroll from a collapsed cabinet, and then quickly returned.

Mr. Ji glanced at the ghosts and gods on the Luoqing city wall who still dared not make a move. After cupping his hands slightly, he walked towards the small manor with Lu Shanjun and Niu Batian, meeting the hurriedly returning Yan Fei halfway.

"Please see, Mr. Ji!"

Yan Fei stopped and slowly unrolled the scroll in front of Mr. Ji.

"Hm!?"

Mr. Ji was slightly surprised, and Lu Shanjun also frowned. Only Niu Batian and Yan Fei, who already knew the situation, remained relatively calm.

This paper was definitely the former Sword Intent Scroll, but the strange thing was that on this yellowish paper, there wasn't a single character; it was completely blank.

Mr. Ji reached out, took the scroll, and examined it carefully. He confirmed it was definitely not a Heavenly Talisman Scroll; besides, he shouldn't be unable to see the characters on a Heavenly Talisman Scroll.

"Where are the characters?"

Yan Fei respectfully replied, "To answer Master, when you left your divine intent on the scroll, I, Yan Fei, comprehended it several times. About half a year later, I had a dream that the characters on the scroll flew out and left on their own. The next day after waking, indeed, there were no more characters on the scroll. Even Brother Niu couldn't explain it. Since then, I have kept the scroll sealed away..."

After explaining the change in the Sword Intent Scroll, Yan Fei further explained, "The characters on the scroll had departed, and the divine intent had vanished. Not to mention that in my haste just now, I couldn't find the scroll before the manor was destroyed. Even if I had taken it out, it would just be an ordinary old paper scroll. How would Shanjun know it was a gift from Master?"

To guard against the tiger demon's arrival, Old Niu had naturally considered the item Mr. Ji left behind and had discussed it with Yan Fei. After the characters disappeared, Old Niu had given up on that idea, so not using it this time was simply because it was truly useless.

After saying all this, Yan Fei then handed the scroll to Mr. Ji with both hands.

Mr. Ji had originally intended to say that just the three characters "Sword Intent Scroll" might have been enough to make Lu Shanjun stop. But then he realized Yan Fei didn't know that the "Sword Intent Scroll" was originally a gift from Lu Shanjun, so he swallowed his words and focused his attention on the scroll in his hand.

Mr. Ji looked at the yellowish paper in his hand. When it had characters, the paper's color hadn't been so deep, but now it had the feel of old, aged paper, which he supposed was somewhat related to the disappearance of the characters.

"Heavenly Talisman Scrolls are already mysterious enough," he mused. "I didn't expect characters could just run off on their own?"

Mr. Ji now considered Yan Fei's account "a dream." Although he knew Yan Fei wouldn't lie to him, he still didn't believe that characters could run off on their own. Holding the scroll, he performed a quick divination and indeed felt some faint, distant connection, but it was vague.

'If Daoist Qingsong were here,' he thought, 'he might be able to divine something.'

In terms of divination ability, although Daoist Qingsong couldn't compare to many high-level cultivators, he was very precise when divining things within his scope.

At this point, how could Lu Shanjun not understand? He cupped his hands towards Yan Fei and Niu Batian.

"So Master had already made arrangements," he said. "My apologies for the offense!"

Niu Batian grumbled, just about to speak, when Mr. Ji spoke.

"That's not entirely true," said Mr. Ji. "Yan Fei's matter still had to be judged by you, Lu Shanjun. If he conducted himself uprightly and properly, he wouldn't need me to save him. If he acted improperly and wrongly, why would I save him? What do you think, Shanjun?"

"Master's words are absolutely correct!"

Niu Batian pursed his lips, but ultimately didn't yell. He knew well that now that everything was out in the open and Mr. Ji was also present, Yan Fei wouldn't die today. With an immortal standing right there, could he truly claim "I won't interfere with you" and not interfere? That was certainly impossible.

Lu Shanjun looked at Old Niu and suddenly asked,

"Your demon body, it truly has some unique qualities. Even just now, it didn't shatter."

Old Niu's strength had recovered significantly by now, and he grinned.

"Heh heh, far from it!" he said. "Hiss... Wait a minute, that fight just now..."

Mr. Ji's lips curved upward slightly, and Lu Shanjun finally smiled too.

"Did you realize it?" Lu Shanjun chuckled. "If we simply fought with our cultivation, I, Lu, am not your match. But after my transformation, I gained an innate divine ability which I named 'Heart Awe.' It's somewhat similar to a dragon's qi and dragon's might, but it's more unique. You fell for it at the beginning of our fight, wasting a lot of strength in the wrong direction. Didn't you always feel flustered, always feel terrified?"

"You son of a b—!"

Old Niu was exasperated, but he couldn't lash out at anyone.