Techniques and Dao

Chapter 224 Black Poison's Misfortune
The bright white light of the heavens pierced the night sky like a steel needle, one end connecting to the deep universe, and the other end to the troposphere above the city of Chang'an.

The white steel needle's endpoint lies between Tianjizi and Chaodu Xuancheng.

The rapidly descending Tianjizi had also noticed this celestial light and murmured:
"At this critical juncture, what does the Heavenly Court intend to do..."

Just as he was hesitating, he noticed a glowing blue dot rapidly moving forward within the white band of light.

The blue dot in the white light was clearly coming for Tianjizi. So he slowed down his descent, and at the same time, the blue dot's speed also decreased. Tianjizi then sped up, and the blue dot accelerated accordingly, as if to meet him in an instant.

Tianjizi understood that such events only occurred when the Heavenly Court issued an edict, and mortals called such miracles "the will of Heaven."

So he simply flew further down toward the city of Xuandu, and the closer he got to the white light, the more dazzling the blue dots within it became.

As they drew closer, a blue dot emerged from the edge of the Heavenly Court's light. The blue dot suddenly grew larger, and Tianjizi finally saw clearly that it was a three-foot-long, sapphire-blue wooden box. A gold seal was affixed to the front of the box, bearing four large characters: "Imperial Gift from the Heavenly Court."

Upon seeing these words, Tianjizi was initially startled, but then he thought to himself, "When I was little, my mother asked the Jade Emperor for a treasure, saying that the Heavenly Court would bestow it upon me when I grew up. I almost forgot, isn't today my birthday?"

Thinking of this, Tianjizi was less than a hundred feet away from the sapphire blue wooden box. He reached out, and the seal on the box opened automatically. As soon as the seal was removed, the box transformed into countless sapphire blue leaves, and a sword hilt emerged from the torrent of leaves and flew straight towards Tianjizi.

The sword has a dark blue scabbard with the words "Five Elements Sword" engraved on it. The front is inlaid with blue gemstones ranging from light to dark, while the back is inlaid with five-colored jade stones representing gold, wood, water, fire, and earth, complemented by delicate blue trim, making it absolutely gorgeous.

Tianjizi caught the Five Elements Sword as it flew towards him, gripped the hilt, and yanked it outwards.

A deafening dragon's roar echoed, and a beam of blue light instantly turned the night sky a deep blue. The light flashed, and a long, azure sword appeared, eclipsing the stars and moon.

Tianjizi looked at the longsword and shouted, "Perfect timing! This sword will help me break through the Xuan City of Chaodu!"

At this moment, the Xuancheng Shield was right in front of him, and Tianjizi raised his sword and slashed down.

The blue sword tip touched the outer edge of the Xuancheng Barrier, and with a crisp, cracking sound, the first layer of the Xuancheng Barrier shattered. Two more clangs followed, and the second and third layers broke in succession. Tianjizi, using his divine power, thrust downwards.

Then, the Five Elements Sword emitted strange light, and amidst a series of radiant glows and clanging sounds of shattering, the twenty-plus layers of the Mystic City Shield scattered and flew away like exploding glass.

Almost simultaneously with Tianjizi breaking through the Xuancheng Barrier, the Ultimate Hexagram Magic Array descended upon Chang'an. With the support of global computing power, the sky beneath the Hexagram Magic Array suddenly turned deep red!

However, the magic circle did not directly attack Chang'an, but remained suspended in mid-air.

A hole appears in the center of the red sky.

A dense swarm of mages riding magical brooms flew down from the formation, among them dozens of black dragons with enormous wings. The dragons' mouths were filled with sharp teeth, their dark brown claws reflected a cold light, and flames spewed from their mouths from time to time, as if they wanted to devour any prey alive.

The crowds in the city streets had already scattered in terror at the sight, but where else could these city residents go but home?

A black dragon climbed up the side of a tall building, hooking its sharp claws around the corner. The building's walls were gripped by its claws, and rubble, glass, and metal rained down like a storm. Vehicles on the ground were smashed to pieces in this concrete and steel "rain."

The sounds of impacts and alarms echoed throughout the streets.

The black dragon breathed a burst of flames downwards, instantly igniting the building. The windows on each floor, unable to withstand the intense heat, shattered one after another. The shards of glass and metal embedded in the walls melted instantly due to the heat, and molten iron and liquid glass dripped down, creating countless pits and craters in the asphalt.

The cries, screams, and screams of the crowd immediately echoed between the city buildings.

Just then, the black dragon pushed off the building again, causing a corner of the wall to collapse with a crash, sending a section several meters wide crashing down onto the crowd. Simultaneously, the dense crowd below began to scatter, but the street was too narrow; some people fell as they desperately fled, followed by those who couldn't avoid it. The city's order crumbled instantly in this panic, just like the fragile skyscraper before the black dragon.

The massive chunks of wall fell faster and faster, plummeting straight down onto the crowd. If they hit anyone, men, women, the elderly, and children would be reduced to a bloody pulp. Some people in the crowd, with nowhere to escape, struggled to crawl on the ground toward the cars parked on either side of the street, hoping the cars would stop the boulders and save their lives.

But how could they have known that such a heavy block of concrete falling from such a height would crush the car's wheel rims even if they hid under the vehicle? The car would be smashed to pieces, flesh and blood would fly everywhere, and brains would splatter! Even if a life-saving gap were to appear, the sparks from the twisted car frame would be enough to ignite the fuel in the broken fuel tank, burning them alive!

The broken steel bars of the wall, like the scythe of death, whistled down through the air. Just as it was about to crash down on the crowd, the boulder suddenly stopped about five meters above the ground. People cried out in unison, but heard nothing as it fell. Only the bravest among them opened their eyes and stared incredulously at the wall suspended in mid-air.

With another whoosh, the wall flew back even faster, slamming into the back of the black dragon with lightning speed!

With a loud bang, the unsuspecting black dragon, like a kite with a broken string, flew straight down into the distant lake.

The remaining sections of the wall did not collapse either; instead, they slammed into another flying black dragon with a deafening roar. That black dragon was also knocked down. Then, like a meteor hammer, the wall smashed down a third and a fourth black dragon. After knocking away four black dragons, several bolts of magical lightning struck, blasting the giant wall to smithereens.

Tianjizi, standing on the rooftop below, watched as the wall crumbled into dust before withdrawing his magic. He had clearly captured the full attention of the magical legion.

At this moment, the black dragon and the magicians all flew towards him.

Tianjizi glanced at the bandage on his arm, which the magician named Jane had bandaged for him. It was a wound left from the thrilling battle that afternoon; every movement of his arm felt like being licked by flames.

Although the numbers on both sides were vastly different, Tianjizi looked up disdainfully and said:
"A mere rabble, easily crushed and destroyed."

He gripped the azure Five Elements Sword and soared into the sky above Chang'an City.

The magicians raised their wands, and thousands of electric currents converged into a massive bolt of lightning that struck Tianjizi!

Tianjizi held his Five Elements Sword horizontally, blocking the electric current in front of him. The current, gathered from the power of hundreds of mages and carrying tens of millions of volts of high voltage, was conducted to the hilt as soon as it touched the sword.

Although Tianjizi felt a numbness in his hand, he did not let go, but instead pushed forward with all his might.

The longsword cleaved through the lightning, a blue sword aura splitting the group of mages in mid-air in two. Those who had been orderly were suddenly thrown into a chaotic collision in mid-air by this attack.

A strange scene unfolded in the air: no matter how the mages adjusted their postures, each one of them would inevitably collide with the person next to them, their magical brooms clattering and crashing haphazardly. The seemingly random, haphazardly falling mages actually formed several groups, each falling towards the evil dragons.

The mages, having lost their balance, piled on top of the black dragon. The dragon struggled to flap its wings to maintain its balance, but its wings accidentally brushed against even more mages nearby, causing countless chaos in the air.

Tianji's attack was like toppling a dominoes, turning the sky, which was originally occupied by the magic legion, into a disaster scene of people trampling each other in mid-air.

He looked at the falling magical legions and said coldly, "It's fine if you don't make a move."

Just as Tianjizi was about to turn and leave, another red dot appeared in the air. Immediately afterward, a gust of wind swept in. A fireball hurtled straight at Tianjizi's face. Tianjizi cleaved the red fireball in two with a backhand sword strike, but then a plume of dark green smoke emerged from the center of the fireball.

Tianjizi couldn't dodge in time and accidentally inhaled the smoke, immediately tasting a metallic flavor in his mouth. He quickly spat out the filth, and the blackish-green smoke transformed into countless poisonous insects in the air. Then he felt a sharp pain in his throat; it seemed he hadn't fully exhaled the strange smoke he'd accidentally inhaled.

He quickly chanted a purification incantation, stopping the poisonous smoke from seeping further down his throat, but his throat was already burning with pain. Looking in the direction the fireball had come from, a brown dragon with horns appeared, twice the size of the previous ones. Standing on the back of the brown dragon was an old woman with a wrinkled face, wearing a dark red robe and a pointed witch's hat.

The mage held a jet-black, shiny magic staff as tall as a person, and it was clear that the fireball from earlier had originated from this staff.

Tianjizi narrowed his eyes and looked at the newcomer.

At that moment, Hana's voice came through his earpiece: "That's Madeline! The Minister of Dark Arts at Klinsworth School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! She's the one who controlled the second hexagram spell..."

Tianjizi interrupted Huasheng.

"I didn't ask you."

Tianjizi still felt a little unhappy, and then said, "I don't need to know who it is, I just need to know whether she should disappear."

Before Hua Sheng could answer, Mie Ying interrupted, "That's right! She'd better disappear immediately, and all of them should get out of Chang'an!"

Upon hearing this, Tianjizi roughly understood. He looked ahead and saw that most of the disorganized mages had fallen, while the remaining few were struggling to regain their footing in the air.

The brown dragon, flapping its enormous wings, moved slowly, its rough, iron-armor-like skin becoming even more clearly visible as it drew closer. Not only arrows and bullets, but even cannons could hardly harm it in the slightest.

The oppressive aura emanating from the approaching brown dragon was clearly greater than that from the black dragons that had preceded it. Compared to it, the black dragons were like toddlers just learning to walk standing next to a professional boxer.

Standing on the back of the dragon was Madeline, the Minister of Dark Magic, who rode the brown dragon forward and gestured for the other wizards to retreat.

Madeline's forehead was covered in wrinkles, and the deep nasolabial folds around her mouth made her appear much older. Her face was expressionless, and no information could be gleaned from her deep blue eyes. Compared to the young mages around her, Madeline resembled a venomous snake that had hunted its prey countless times.

Tianjizi sheathed his sword and looked at the dark magician before him.

“Bonne chance. You call it: luck.” Madeline said the word in a slightly hoarse voice.

Tianjizi remained silent.

Madeline continued, "I've heard that there's someone with incredible luck at the Magic Academy. You almost wiped out my magicians with just one sword strike. You didn't use magic; you just made them collide with each other. So I guess you're that lucky one."

"Since..." Tianjizi had just started to speak when he suddenly felt an even sharper pain in his throat. He forced himself to retort, "Since that's the case, why don't you get out of Chang'an?"

Madeline scoffed, saying, "We don't care about your luck."

Tianjizi looked coldly at the old woman.

“In this world, there is good fortune and there is misfortune.” Madeline stared coldly at Tianjizi and continued, “In the magical world, there are ways to put people in a state of misfortune; this kind of dark magic is called a curse.”

Tianjizi felt an increasing pain in his neck, starting from the inside out. When he touched his neck, his hand felt like it had been smeared with black powder. His neck had turned black, and this blackness was spreading downwards.

Madeline clearly saw Tianjizi's symptoms and said, "Curses can be effective even for people with exceptionally good luck."

Tianjizi coughed a few times and sneered, "You underestimate Zhiyun."

Madeline said, "Haven't you ever thought that if death can bring relief, wouldn't death be a blessing in disguise?"

This statement is chilling, and it's not without reason.

During the Tianmu Trial, Hua Sheng proved to Tian Ji Zi that having the best luck does not mean he will always win, and he cannot defeat all his opponents.

Even if Tianjizi had won back then, he might have ended up facing the Victorious Fighting Buddha, even if he saw the Golden Cudgel. Mingyou might have also put him to death.

The only way to save Tianjizi is to make him lose the Tianmu Trial without his knowledge.

Curses can indeed change one's luck, and placing someone in misfortune is something dark magic excels at. If used properly, misfortune, even if it cannot suppress good fortune, can at least counteract it, causing bad luck to vanish completely.

Or, as the other person said, compared to endless suffering, death is "good fortune."

Madeline glanced at the black mark on Tianjizi's neck and continued, "The curse is ingrained in your blood. Whether you're lucky or not, it's enough to kill you!"

The air was thick with a chilling atmosphere. He noticed that the blackness in his hand was deepening, and the Five Elements Sword was trembling slightly in his grasp.

Madeline said, "If you die, no one will guard your dragon veins. Let's see if you hand over the Jupiter Silk!"

Tianjizi replied slowly, "There's also a way to die: talking too much."

Madeline's lips twitched, and she tugged at the reins of the brown dragon.

The brown dragon took a deep breath and with a whoosh, spewed a stream of dark green flames at Tianjizi.

In a moment of desperation, Tianjizi invoked the power of the law and used his hand to shield himself from the dark green flames, which were clearly also highly poisonous. Even through the barrier of the celestial incantation, his body still ached faintly.

Tianji flew backward into the air, and the brown evil dragon rushed forward to press him closely.

Tianjizi and Madeline began a chase in the skies above Chang'an. Madeline unleashed a barrage of dark magic spells from her wand, while Tianjizi dodged back and forth in the air. When he couldn't dodge in time, he drew his Five Elements Sword to defend himself. This sword was indeed a celestial treasure; no matter how the brown dragon's flames or the burning dark magic raged, the sword resisted them all, and the blue light on its blade remained undiminished.

After dodging several attacks, Tianjizi felt the cursed poison spreading rapidly throughout his body. The blackness on his neck began to spread downwards like thousands of tiny crawling insects. At the same time, his palms also began to turn black, covering the back of his hands, his wrists, and then spreading upwards to his elbows.

A sudden, sharp pain struck, and Tianjizi could barely grip the hilt of his sword.

"Hurry, hurry, as the law commands! Purification Mantra!"

He recited the incantation again, and in an instant, the blackness stopped below his arm, its spread slowed down.

Madeline's voice came from behind.

"When the poison reaches the heart, it's all over."

(End of this chapter)