Nan Tianxiong was furious to the extreme. For a dignified cultivator, the patriarch of the Nan Clan of Pingzhou, to suffer such humiliation from mere martial folk—it was simply intolerable. Did these ants truly believe they could trap him?

Nan Tianxiong regretted his overconfidence after casting the spell, not leaving the Eternal Fortune Tavern immediately to recover his magical energy. Nan Zhonghao and Nan Zhongjie had still not returned, and his remaining mana was insufficient for any powerful destructive spell, only enough for utility magic.

But the entire area within several li surrounding the Eternal Fortune Tavern was swarming with a sea of people. To force a breakout without paying a significant price seemed nearly impossible.

Nan Tianxiong’s expression shifted slightly when he saw the distant, faintly cracking golden light shield. This place could not be held much longer. He quickly straightened the askew cap on his head, pulled a yellow talisman inscribed with mysterious runes from his robes, muttered an incantation rapidly, and slapped it onto his body.

"Divine Power Embodiment!"

With a loud shout, a dazzling silver light erupted violently from Nan Tianxiong. In addition to the golden shield, a silver aura now enveloped him. However, this silver light was not a defensive ward but another utility spell—Divine Power Embodiment.

The Divine Power Talisman could temporarily boost strength tenfold.

Using this spell required a small expenditure of mana and could only be sustained for a short period; once the internal mana was depleted, the talisman would lose effect.

Nan Tianxiong dared not delay. He snatched an iron rod, weighing several dozen pounds, thrown at him, roared, and lifted a burly man weighing two to three hundred pounds as if lifting a small chick, sweeping him violently toward the surrounding toughs.

"Crash!" The hundreds of men surrounding him were violently swept away by his divine strength, tumbling several zhang away.

All the high-ranking members of the various guilds who witnessed this scene were utterly aghast. Sweeping away over a hundred mid-to-low-tier toughs in one go—this level of might was truly astonishing.

Nan Tianxiong glanced contemptuously at the surrounding thugs, then immediately leaped from the second floor toward the ground. Utilizing the Wind Control Art, he landed amidst the dense crowd on the street. He spun the iron rod in his hand like a furious whirlwind, smashing open the onlookers below, and dashed along the congested streets toward the northwest exit of the county town. Once outside the city walls, in the open wilderness, it would be difficult for the assembled guilds to surround him.

"Brothers, chase quickly! The demonic thief can’t hold on; he’s trying to escape! He’s done for!"

"Hahaha! I’m taking his head! Nobody touch it!"

"Brothers ahead, block that demon thief’s path! Don't let the ten thousand gold leaves get away!"

The guild masters and elders of the Ten Great Guilds were both delighted and anxious. They were delighted that the Nan Clan Patriarch was fleeing, clearly unable to withstand the fierce assault of the guilds. They were anxious because, just as success seemed imminent, the Nan Clan Patriarch kept unleashing new spells.

Tie Yuyang, Wei Yuan, Zheng Da, Wu Gang, the four major guild masters, along with their elders, urgently shouted commands, quickly dividing and directing their guild forces. They dispatched the first-rate experts of the major guilds, even sending in their top masters, to surround and intercept Nan Tianxiong from all directions, vowing to pin him down within the narrow streets of the county town and slay him using the sheer mass of people.

Ye Qin blended into the noisy crowd.

He thoughtfully pulled out a talisman inscribed with silver powder from his robes—a talisman obtained from Nan Zhonghao, identical to the one Nan Tianxiong was currently using. Could this be the talisman for Divine Power Embodiment?

He tucked the paper away, activated the Wind Control Art and Earth Evasion Art, and weaved through the crowd with phantom-like speed, tracking Nan Tianxiong neither too slowly nor too quickly. Before others could even clearly discern his shadow, he flickered and vanished without a trace.

In a few blinks, Ye Qin was submerged in the crowd, his gaze locked onto Nan Tianxiong. Nan Tianxiong was still about three li from the East Gate. If the experts of the Nine Guilds failed to hold him, Ye Qin would have to risk making a move, using the Wind Binding Art to intercept Nan Tianxiong before he burst through the city gate, killing him within the confines of the city.

At this critical juncture of surrounding Nan Tianxiong, the third, fourth, and fifth Suicide Squads, composed of the first-rate experts of the Nine Guilds, finally exerted their immense power. Three to four hundred first and second-rate masters, layered ten deep inside and ten deep outside, fearlessly surrounded the area directly in the center of the street where Nan Tianxiong stood, throwing themselves into the assault.

Nan Tianxiong swung his rod, resisting fiercely, but the strength in his grip was gradually weakening. All the power in his body seemed to be draining away like rushing water, so much so that he could barely hold onto the iron rod.

This was the precursor to the Divine Power Talisman dissolving, the power about to vanish.

Nan Tianxiong felt a mixture of shock and rage. His mana was nearly depleted. Once the Vajra Talisman and the Divine Power Talisman collapsed, if he couldn't break through the encirclement, and without the protection of the Golden Light Shield, his life would end tonight in this unremarkable small county town.

"You despicable ants, you deserve death!"

Nan Tianxiong’s face was pale, his white eyebrows bristling fiercely, his expression utterly crazed. He summoned the last vestiges of his strength, swept the surrounding crowd away with his iron rod, then, with a trembling hand, hastily pulled out a stack of over twenty talismans from his robes.

Every talisman in this stack was incredibly valuable, representing the Nan Clan’s accumulated wealth from the last few hundred years—his only remaining lifeline. Even if it caused him piercing heartache, he had to rely on these talismans to fight his way out.

Ye Qin, hidden among the crowd, was considering the right moment to launch a sudden attack on Nan Tianxiong. He suddenly saw Nan Tianxiong pull out a stack of yellow talismans, his eyes narrowing sharply. A powerful sense of crisis instantly surged through him.

He quickly executed an Earth Evasion Art, shrinking the distance by several dozen zhang, retreating backward.

Just as Ye Qin completed his Earth Evasion Art retreat, Nan Tianxiong urgently recited the incantations, using only minimal mana to launch the powerful talismans out one by one.

"Fireball Talisman!"

A string of Fireball Talismans was launched. Boom! One fireball struck the dense cluster of martial arts experts nearby. The flames erupted, spreading embers over a wide area spanning more than ten zhang. Within those ten-plus zhang, it instantly turned into a living hell. Some guild members had sparks land on their arms, and that limb immediately vanished in the fire. Some had a small flame touch their chest, leaving a large hole burned through their sternum. Others caught more fire and were engulfed, burning to ash.

Three consecutive Fireball Talismans later, Nan Tianxiong had blasted his way several dozen zhang forward.

The countless piercing screams and wails caused the confidence of the assembled guild members to waver once more.

"Wind Blade Talisman!" A pale red wind blade shot straight out, piercing through dozens of toughs ahead in one go.

"Ice Spike Talisman!" A deep blue ice spike shot forth. Crack! Within the ten-plus zhang path of the spike, dozens of toughs from the Black Iron Guild were impaled by the icy projectiles. In the blink of an eye, their faces turned purple from the extreme cold, their blood frozen solid, and they collapsed to the ground, frozen to death.

"Thrusting Spike Talisman!" An earth-yellow stone spike emerged.

The four to five hundred first and second-rate martial arts experts who had been besieging Nan Tianxiong were annihilated under this relentless offensive of talismans, subjected to indiscriminate slaughter. The entire encirclement collapsed, descending into chaos. People shrieked and wailed, scrambling to flee toward the sides of the street.

"I’m burning! Help! Water! Bring water quickly!" "I’m freezing! Run!"

The high-ranking members of the Nine Guilds were horrified to realize that their supposedly clever human-wave tactics had not only failed to stop the Nan Clan Patriarch but had instead invited even more unrestrained slaughter from this mad patriarch.

Even Tie Yuyang and Wei Yuan, two peerless masters, exchanged a look, their faces turning pale with horror.

The Nan Clan is simply not human!

This was the only thought that surfaced in their minds at that moment. Having completely lost their morale, they mixed into the fleeing crowds, escorted by their personal guards, scrambling for their lives.

Ye Qin, relying on his sharp sense of crisis, had successfully avoided that round of Nan Tianxiong’s frantic talisman attacks, narrowly escaping death. Fine beads of cold sweat dotted his forehead and back, his heart racing with lingering fear.

Had he been even slightly slower, he might have been engulfed by the range of that talisman assault.

The Nan Clan was truly not to be trifled with; even when cornered to such an extreme, they could still unleash such madness.

Strong recommendation! Four chapters released in a burst today, fiercely begging for votes to break into the overall rankings! Release times are scheduled around: 12:00 AM, 8:00 AM, 6:00 PM, and 11:30 PM. Brothers and sisters, let’s strive to push Purple Mansion onto both major recommendation charts in one go! .