Chen Yi pondered for a moment before letting out a faint chuckle. "Professor Liu, if someone of your age is willing to take such a bold risk, wouldn't it be disgraceful for someone as young as me to retreat in fear?"
Professor Liu Dajun cast a deep, approving glance at him. "Good. A young man with not only knowledge but also courage. If we succeed today, your future will surely soar to unimaginable heights."
Luo Yan listened to their exchange, her brows furrowed tightly. She wanted to intervene, to dissuade him, but the words forming on her lips were swallowed back.
Everyone has their own choices, their own principles. She knew that if she tried to persuade him, Chen Yi would undoubtedly refuse—just as she herself would never agree to release a criminal if asked. Such convictions are the anchors of one's soul.
If she couldn't stop him, the least she could do was silently support him.
"Alright, the time is drawing near," Professor Liu said gravely. "Chen Yi, let me explain what you need to do. It's neither too difficult nor too simple. Between the first and fifteenth minute of the hour of Chen, you must draw the Five Elements Exorcism Talisman at a designated location. The five of you—representing metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—will each take a position. However, timing is crucial; the talismans must be completed within exactly fifteen minutes. Not a second early, not a second late..."
Professor Liu patiently explained every detail of the task to Chen Yi.
As he listened, Chen Yi's gaze wandered around the site. Initially, he had doubts about the plan's feasibility. The Five Elements Exorcism Talisman seemed far too simplistic—suitable for dispelling ordinary malice, perhaps, but to counter Dragon's Malice? It felt like using a mantis to stop a chariot, a futile struggle.
However, as his eyes traced the faint lines crisscrossing the ground, his skepticism turned to astonishment.
Within the ten-meter radius of open space, intricate, nearly imperceptible lines were etched into the ground, weaving together like a delicate brocade. At the perimeter stood five stone statues—Bixi, the dragon's son; a qilin; a fierce tiger; a phoenix; and a black tortoise—each occupying one of the five cardinal points. Their crimson eyes glinted faintly, a sign that they had been spiritually awakened.
Upon closer inspection, Chen Yi realized that the lines were composed of countless smaller talismans—Universal Illumination Talismans, Six Harmony Talismans, Supreme Golden Lock Talismans...
The Five Elements Exorcism Array they were about to draw wasn't an isolated formation. Instead, it was intricately linked to the surrounding lines and statues, forming a much larger Feng Shui array—one that transcended ordinary Feng Shui techniques. This grand array was on an entirely different level, and the seemingly simple Five Elements Exorcism Talisman was, in fact, the core mechanism of this monumental structure.
Feng Shui arrays had been lost to history during the chaos of war. The last recorded use was during the Republican era, when Master Zhang Tianshi employed one to control flooding. Since then, no one had been known to practice such techniques.
Yet here was Professor Liu Dajun, recreating this ancient art. If there were a Nobel Prize for Yi-ology, this feat alone would make him a frontrunner for the award.
At that moment, Chen Yi truly understood that fame is never unearned.
Professor Liu's mastery of Yi-ology was unfathomable. To combine so many simple elements into such a colossal Feng Shui array was a feat far beyond Chen Yi's current capabilities.
He felt a surge of gratitude for his earlier decision. To participate in the revival of a Feng Shui array was an opportunity most practitioners could only dream of. The six of them would become the pioneering figures in this historic endeavor.
"Do you understand?"
After finishing his explanation, Professor Liu asked solemnly.
"I understand!"
Chen Yi's expression mirrored the professor's seriousness. He knew that any failure on his part would render all of Liu Dajun's painstaking efforts meaningless.
Seeing that Chen Yi had grasped the instructions, everyone began their final preparations.
Even Geng Bo, usually a carefree troublemaker, adopted an unusually serious demeanor as he distributed wooden boxes to each participant.
Inside each box was a fine wolf-hair brush and a container of prepared cinnabar ink.
At that moment, a crane truck rumbled onto the site. Several workers disembarked, securing the flame-shaped sculpture with steel cables.
Chen Yi and the other four took their positions at the five cardinal points—east, south, west, north, and center—while Professor Liu oversaw the operation from the central hub.
Everything was ready. As the rising sun cast its light over the scene, Professor Liu's expression grew solemn.
"Begin!"
At his command, the crane roared to life. The flame-shaped sculpture trembled under the immense force, slowly breaking free from the earth.
Chen Yi could clearly see the Dragon's Malice—serpentine wisps of black energy coiling around the eight flames of the sculpture—writhing in agitation, like a feral beast on the verge of escaping its cage.
The five participants dipped their brushes into the cinnabar ink, poised to act the moment the sculpture was fully unearthed.
One meter... two meters... three meters...
As the base of the sculpture emerged, it became clear that its foundation wasn't the usual concrete or stone. Instead, it was a tapered metal pillar, like a colossal nail driven deep into the ground.
The pillar was etched with countless lines, filled with a dark red substance that emitted a nauseating stench. It didn't take much imagination to deduce that the substance was congealed blood.
Finally, the metal pillar was fully extracted, standing nine meters tall.
At the same time, the serpentine Dragon's Malice broke free from its bonds, beginning to coalesce.
Chen Yi felt his spiritual energy churn violently within him, as though drawn by an invisible force. The malice within his energy seemed particularly exuberant, as if rejoicing.
"Draw the Five Elements Exorcism Talisman!"
Suppressing the discomfort, Chen Yi steadied himself. His brush danced across the paper like a dragon in flight, swiftly forming the talisman's intricate lines.
As the five of them began their work, the eyes of the five sacred beasts seemed to glow even brighter, almost alive.
The coalescing Dragon's Malice suddenly dispersed, splitting into five streams that burrowed into the ground, their destinations unknown. However, the turbulence within Chen Yi's body intensified, causing his usually steady hands to tremble uncontrollably.
In talisman crafting, even the slightest deviation could render the work useless. Yet Chen Yi's spiritual energy was spiraling out of control, threatening to undo everyone's hard work.
Professor Liu noticed Chen Yi's struggle but could only watch helplessly. At this critical juncture, intervention was impossible. Everything rested on Chen Yi's resilience.
From a distance, Luo Yan's eyes remained fixed on Chen Yi, her heart gripped with anxiety. He had just been discharged from the hospital and hadn't fully recovered. Could he endure this ordeal?
At the brink of collapse, Chen Yi bit down on his tongue, the sharp pain jolting him back to focus. Silently, he recited the Nine Secret Mantras: "Lin, Bing, Dou, Zhe, Jie, Zhen, Lie, Qian, Xing."
As the mantra echoed in his mind, his hands gradually steadied. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, but his brushwork regained its precision and fluidity.
The black malice continued to surge, only to be divided into five streams by the Feng Shui array and absorbed by the five sacred beasts.
Time crawled by. For Chen Yi, the fifteen minutes felt like an eternity of torment. He juggled the demands of drawing the talisman, reciting the mantra, and enduring the violent turbulence within his body.
Finally, the Dragon's Malice began to wane.
Professor Liu skillfully directed the array, channeling the malice into the Feng Shui formation, where it was weakened layer by layer before being devoured by the sacred beasts.
Suddenly, a deafening dragon's roar reverberated through their minds.
"Boom!"
A murky, viscous column of water erupted from the ground, washing away the talisman lines in an instant.
Everyone froze in shock.
Dragon's Blood.
The I Ching had foretold it: "When dragons battle in the wild, their blood shall turn black and yellow."
The dispersed Dragon's Malice reassembled, forming a ferocious dragon's head.
Though the dragon had no eyes, its gaze felt tangible, piercing through each of them.
Professor Liu let out a heavy sigh, his face suddenly aged by a decade.
Chen Yi, meanwhile, let out a pained scream. His eyes turned bloodshot, and he stumbled toward the dragon's head, his expression twisted in agony.