The moon reached its zenith.
The Gu family had no idle hands. Close to midnight, everyone was asleep.
Thus, no one noticed when Yaoyao left her room. The entire process was silent.
The clock slowly passed the three o'clock mark of dawn. In the quiet house, three crisp chimes suddenly rang out.
At the same time, in R Nation, the Onmyōji Bureau.
As the holy land of R Nation's Onmyōji, any Onmyōji capable of entering this place possessed absolutely skilled and powerful Onmyōdō.
If one's level was ordinary, they weren't qualified to be registered.
Given their bizarre methods and R Nation's principle of "might makes right," their status was self-evident.
It was no exaggeration to say that this was the true center of power in R Nation. As for the so-called parliamentary group, they were merely "messengers" conveying orders from these people.
For instance, the recent government order to discharge nuclear-contaminated water originated from here.
As a center of power and strength, the architecture here was naturally grand and majestic, like a magnificent imperial palace. It stood on the ground, brightly lit.
Among them, outside a palace flying a flag with a blue sky and a great sun, a golden plaque hung, with the three large characters "Onmyōji Bureau" written in an elaborate, flowing style.
The style resembled that of Hua Nation, but the architecture was Western, so overall it looked like a hodgepodge of elements copied from East and West.
They were often mocked by outsiders, but the Onmyōji, unexpectedly thick-skinned, simply pretended not to notice.
And at this moment, above this awkward building, a bronze-colored ghost gate slowly opened. A small figure walked out from within.
This figure had a black cat perched on her shoulder and was leading a fox, fiery red all over. It was Yaoyao, who had come from the Gu family.
Under the moonlight, her grape-like eyes twinkled. Her gaze fell upon the "Bureau" below, and her lips slowly curved upwards.
"Little Nine, we're going to fight bad guys together tonight!"
Her voice was clear and melodious. The red fox, Hong Jiu, who was being led, trembled, and its airplane ears excitedly pricked up.
Knowing it was here to join the fun, even its resentment from being pulled out of bed in the middle of the night had completely vanished.
Similarly, Xuan Jiu, who was perched on her shoulder, was also a little excited, its emerald cat eyes flickering with light.
Yaoyao saw her two little companions' cooperation, and her faint brows subtly lifted. Then, she slowly raised her hand.
"By command!" A soft, childlike voice echoed in the high sky.
Countless bright yellow talismans flew out like heavenly maidens scattering flowers. They did not fall or get blown away by the wind.
Instead, they spread out five meters per talisman, orderly flying in all directions. In almost an instant, they covered ninety percent of the "Onmyōji Bureau" area.
The sheer number of talismans, dense and numerous, clearly showed that the array being set up was of an extremely high rank.
"Ninth... Ninth-rank array, oh my god!"
Xuan Jiu, perched on Yaoyao's shoulder, suddenly shrieked.
Its cultivation wasn't high, but its discernment was not bad. Especially since the Xuan Cat clan had a long heritage, it naturally knew many secrets.
Recognizing the essence of the array at first glance, its fur stood on end, and its voice even cracked slightly.
One must know that the Dao of Xuanmen arrays borrowed the power of heaven and earth, which was far stronger than human power. It could generally unleash power beyond that of cultivators of the same rank.
Some exceptional talents in array theory could even use it to fight opponents beyond their rank, making it the most coveted of the hundred arts.
However, arrays were easy to defend but hard to attack. Each deployment required complex preparations of tools and was difficult to move, which had always been a drawback of array theory.
Later, a genius array master found another way, using talismans instead of tools. Each talisman carried a part of the array pattern.
These talismans, when combined, could also form arrays. Their power was not weaker than that of tool-based arrays, and they didn't have the problem of being difficult to move.
The only drawback was that talisman arrays were disposable. Drawing array patterns on talismans was difficult and required precise control of spiritual energy.
An array of the same rank, if it could be drawn on talismans, would definitely be effortlessly deployed with tools.
A Ninth-Rank grand array, even if disposable, was enough to sweep across the world in the current era, where Human Emperors were hard to come by and Ninth-Rank cultivators were almost extinct. It would face no resistance.
For this little girl to unleash such power on her first try, saying she intended to blow up the palace was an understatement.
Most of the living people inside would probably die.
"No, little ancestor, don't be impulsive! There are still ordinary people inside!" Xuan Jiu snapped out of its shock, suddenly realizing something, and let out a sharp screech.
One must know that Onmyōji, by inviting Shikigami into their bodies, had indeed stepped onto the path of cultivation, even if it didn't prolong their lives.
Cultivators' battles did not incur karma; this was specially permitted by heaven and earth. After all, to heaven and earth, immortal cultivators were anomalies within heaven and earth.
For anomalies, of course, they should be eliminated quickly. How could they be protected? There were frighteningly many rules and regulations.
For example, cultivators who causelessly killed a large number of ordinary people.
The karmic retribution would backfire. Not to mention Ninth-Rank cultivators, even those who had achieved the Three Flowers Gathering at the Top and successfully ascended to Human Immortalhood would absolutely not be able to withstand it. At best, their Three Flowers would be cut, and their cultivation lost;
At worst, they would suffer the Five Decays of Heaven and Man, and their immortal spirit would be extinguished.
This was also why Xuan Jiu tried to stop her. It was too afraid that this little ancestor would get carried away and end up digging her own grave.
"Master, stop quickly!"
Hong Jiu's voice was even more anxious.
It was a grasshopper tied to the same rope as Yaoyao. If Yaoyao really ended up killing herself, it would be finished too.
However, they were too slow to react.
The talisman fire ignited without actual flame, and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth it invoked instantly condensed into array foundations. Streaks of colorful lightning snakes furiously darted within the array foundations.
This was the power of the array; it needed no preparation. Once formed, it directly slammed down on the Onmyōji Bureau below.
"It's over... It's over. We're dead for sure now."
Hong Jiu let out a mournful cry, and its round fox eyes immediately clouded over with despair.
It was utterly filled with regret now, regretting not having stopped this little ancestor, letting her do as she pleased.
"Huh? Dead fox, don't die yet! This lightning... something seems wrong with it..."
Just as Hong Jiu was wondering whether to leave first, Xuan Jiu, whose emotions were relatively stable, suddenly noticed a clue and quickly reminded it.
And as this voice came out, Hong Jiu subconsciously looked up, and then the entire fox was stunned.
Before their eyes, the five-colored lightning, terrifying as heavenly might, seemingly capable of destroying everything, struck the palace.
And then, a miraculous scene unfolded... The palaces that were struck remained completely unharmed, making the terrifying five-colored lightning appear like a mere "reflection in the water, moon in the mirror."
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