"They really think I'm an easy target."
Xu Le looked at the burly men surrounding him with a hint of helplessness, but his hands didn't stop. The power of the Ox Talisman manifested, and with a single punch, he sent a tall mafia member flying backward, crashing into a wall, spitting out blood, and then losing consciousness. The others nearby, seeing their easy target suddenly turn into a big bad wolf, were terrified and ran away. Xu Le didn't chase after them; they were just a few small fry, not worth his effort. He then turned his gaze back to the battlefield. Although Jackie Chan was quite strong, Xu Le was still prepared to join forces with Jackie Chan to defeat Valmont if things went wrong.
Suddenly, a whistling sound rang in his ears. Xu Le dodged the shadow warrior's flying kick by sidestepping, and at the same time, threw a punch, striking the shadow warrior in the abdomen. The power of the Ox Talisman manifested, and a tremendous force pierced through the shadow warrior's entire body, sending him flying seven or eight meters away. After rolling several times on the ground, he lay motionless, turning into a puddle of shadow and merging into the ground. Before Xu Le could even catch his breath, three more dark figures appeared on the ground, transforming into shadow warriors and surrounding him. They didn't attack directly, but instead stared intently at him. It was as if a pack of wolves was hunting a lion; if the lion revealed the slightest opening, they would pounce and tear it apart.
Xu Le hesitated about whether to continue using the talismans, as the more he used them, the easier it would be to be exposed.
Beep beep beep!
“The criminals inside, please give up resistance. If you continue to resist, we will take action.”
The sound of numerous police sirens blared outside, and Chief Inspector Black's voice echoed through the loudspeaker into the store. Valmont's face paled at the sound, and in a moment of carelessness, Jackie Chan struck him in the abdomen. Valmont clutched his stomach, his voice shrill, whether from the blow or from anger, it was unclear: "Jackie Chan, I'll come back for you later!" With that, he and his men rushed out.
Listening to the intense gunfire outside, Xu Le felt a pang of pity for Valon, who had taken the blame for him and was now experiencing bad luck everywhere. However, Xu Le was quite happy; he had discovered something good.
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Chapter Thirteen: The Search and the Departure
Valmont didn't give the Tiger Talisman to Shendu. The reason is obvious: Shendu's emperor-like temper. Although it was sealed, he still hadn't changed his arrogant attitude. He still thought this was his world and treated Valmont like a grandson. Valmont, after all, was a mafia boss. He was the one who insulted others, not the other way around. If it weren't for wanting the treasure, Xu Le guessed that Valmont would have already turned against Shendu.
If Shendu's subordinates weren't those hardworking and loyal shadow warriors who would never betray him, he probably wouldn't have been able to stay in the real world for so long; he would have been sent back to Hell long ago to be bullied by other demons.
Wait! Shadow Warrior!
Xu Le had a sudden flash of inspiration, recalling a treasure from the earlier storyline that could control the Shadow Warriors: the demonic symbol on Shendu's spellbook, supposedly representing the leader of the Shadow Legion, thus granting it the ability to command the Shadow Warriors. Xu Le was quite envious of these hardworking Shadow Warriors, and he could delegate tasks he couldn't handle in the real world to them. In the episode where Xiaoyu became the Shadow Queen, although her mind was controlled, it demonstrated the mark's significant power, and the Shadow Warriors were quite intelligent, capable of being of great help.
While this mark is said to control minds, what if it were engraved on an object? It's easier to control someone if it's drawn on their body, but not so easy to control someone on an object. Even if it were, their willpower would be strong enough to resist for a period of time, during which time it could be washed off with a potion. The Holy Lord hasn't thought about this spellbook yet; he's probably still focused on collecting talismans. This is a perfect opportunity to secretly take out the spellbook, gaining control of the Shadow Legion and acquiring a large number of spells—why not?
Xu Le watched Valon's breakout attempt through the glass with indifference. Even though he was skilled, he was still inevitably grazed by stray bullets in this hail of bullets. As for his other men, needless to say, Lasu, Zhou, and Afen, the three main Mafia extras, were already wounded and shot, but they endured the pain in order to break through successfully. Their faces were pale, and large beads of sweat rolled down their foreheads. Even in this situation, they still covered Valon's retreat. It has to be said that Valon had a group of good men.
Valon, who was breaking through the encirclement, glanced back at the antique shop and met Xu Le's gaze. Their eyes locked across each other. Valon was both shocked and angry at Xu Le's look; shocked because Xu Le looked at him as if he were an ant, his gaze genuine and confident; angry because this ordinary person dared to humiliate him in such a way. He quickly realized he had been too suspicious, actually being frightened by the gaze of an ordinary person. He glared fiercely at Xu Le before turning and continuing his retreat.
"Sheriff, Valon and his men are about to break out and escape. If we let them get into the streets, we won't be able to use weapons of mass destruction, and they'll just blend into the crowd and get away." Blake looked grimly at Valon and his group, who were about to successfully escape. A burly, heavily armed soldier jogged over to report to Blake.
Thinking about how Valon and his group had escaped again, Black felt increasingly powerless. The soldier was right; Valon was close to breaking through to the main streets. If they succeeded, they wouldn't be able to use heavy weapons, and the operation was doomed to fail. However, many of his soldiers were already wounded, and without timely treatment, they would inevitably suffer long-term consequences. Nevertheless, the operation wasn't entirely fruitless. Although they hadn't captured the boss, they had caught some smaller fry, including Rasu, one of Valon's henchmen.
After thinking it over, Blake realized there was no need to continue the pursuit. He picked up the walkie-talkie and said, "Everyone, listen up! Cease the attack! Wounded soldiers, get medical treatment immediately! Take the prisoners back to District 13!"
The shootout in the alley stopped, and Xu Le and Jackie Chan gave their statements to the police. By the time they got home, it was already 9 p.m. Seeing Jackie Chan yawning from exhaustion, Xu Le said "Goodnight," turned, and went into his study, where he found all the books about Holy Lord.
Xu Le turned on the small desk lamp and began to browse through books about the Holy Lord. Strangely enough, the Holy Lord had ruled the earth for many years and enslaved countless mortals, but there were no more than ten books about him. However, this narrowed down Xu Le's search target, allowing him to find his destination more quickly.
Perhaps due to the inclusion of too much of the original author's personal sentiment, the book consistently condemns the evil of the Holy Lord while praising the greatness of human heroes. This caused Xu Le to frown deeply, inwardly complaining: "Adding a little personal emotion is understandable, but what's with this plethora of personal emotions?"
Fortunately, despite their extreme prejudice, these guys still managed to discover the location of the castle from a book called "The Secret History of Demons." According to the book, this was where Shendu conducted experiments, and many humans died tragically here. Legend has it that Shendu collected a large number of magic books in this castle, and then he compiled these magic books into a magic encyclopedia, which recorded a large number of spells.
Next to the text was an illustration, seemingly drawn by the author himself. The author's drawing skills were quite good; the moment he saw the picture, he could feel the darkness and evil of the castle. Xu Le knew it must be this place because the castle in the picture was almost identical to the one in the anime.
Closing the book of secrets, Xu Le relaxed and leaned back in his chair, gently massaging his eyes with two fingers of his right hand. Reading for so long, and flipping through it so quickly, had made his eyes a little sore.
With a creak!
The study door was opened, and the bright white light was turned on. The glaring light made Xu Le reflexively close his eyes. After a second or two, the stimulation slowly subsided, and he opened his eyes to see his father standing in the doorway with a ruddy complexion, as if something good had happened.
The old man hadn't expected Xu Le to be reading in the study. He coughed twice and said in a serious tone, "You're still reading so late? You're very diligent. But you should also take breaks. Go back and rest. Look, it's already midnight. It's too late." If it weren't for the blush still on his face, he would indeed look like a caring teacher.
Xu Le chuckled inwardly, but outwardly maintained a serious demeanor, closed the Chronicles of Secrets, and obediently returned to his room. Now that he had found the castle's location, he could finally go back and rest. Seeing Xu Le gone, his father breathed a sigh of relief, a smile returning to his slightly wrinkled face.
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Deep in the mountains, towering trees are the only scenery. Passing through the depths of the forest, on a cliff, an ancient castle lies quietly asleep. The mottled walls and the ivy covering the castle add a touch of gloom, but also give people a sense of history washed away by time.
Rustling sounds!
Strange noises rose from the bushes, as if some monster was about to pounce. After a while, a young man dressed in adventure clothes and carrying a brown hiking backpack emerged.
It was Xu Le who found out from the book that the castle was located in a remote forest in Asia. Xu Le looked it up online and found that although the forest was small, it was mostly ordinary trees with few plants and animals, so the forest resources were not very rich. As a result, there were almost no people around, which explained why no one had discovered the castle until now. In addition to the presence of the Shadow Legion guarding it, the remoteness was also a major reason.
After learning the address, Xu Le said goodbye to his father and Jackie Chan, only saying that he was going back to China to handle some matters. They did not suspect anything. With the help of the ID card made by Sheriff Black, he successfully booked a flight to Asia. After several transfers, he finally found the place with the flying abilities of the Chicken Talisman and Rabbit Talisman.
In this respect, Xu Le had to admire Jackie Chan's first-class adventure ability. Without the talisman, he might have been trapped and died in such a dangerous environment, but Jackie Chan was able to cross the jungle and successfully obtain the complete book of magic.
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Chapter Fourteen: Obtaining the "Complete Compendium of Spells"
As he approached the castle, Xu Le felt a series of gazes watching him, but he didn't pay any attention and pushed open the dusty door.
Snap! Sizzle!
The castle, long uninhabited, was covered in dust, obscuring every object within. Xu Le waved his hand, brushing away the dust that had fallen from the ceiling, and continued walking inside. A magnificent throne, a luxurious long table laden with silver cutlery—a testament to the opulent lifestyle of the Holy Lord in his prime. The castle wasn't as complex as Xu Le had imagined; it contained only a large hall, a dining room, and two doors. Pushing open one door at random, Xu Le entered a massive laboratory containing the remains of some monsters, with a few human skeletons scattered in a corner.
The table was covered with a large number of experimental tools, but they didn't hold much appeal for Xu Le. Older items weren't necessarily better. These alchemical tools represented the pinnacle of their era, but after so many years of improvements, they were long outdated, posing significant safety risks during experiments and resulting in a low success rate. After carefully searching each cabinet, Xu Le found nothing of value; only the malice in Xu Le's eyes grew stronger.
Xu Le chuckled lightly, paying no attention to the little mice lurking in the shadows. He exited the laboratory, closed the door, and opened another. Stepping through this door, a massive circular bookshelf came into view. Even having seen such a huge library in anime, Xu Le couldn't help but marvel at how this library was a paradise for book lovers. Although the Holy Lord was a bit eccentric, he certainly knew how to collect books.
Xu Le retrieved a ladder from a corner and began searching for the spellbook. Although the book was awe-inspiring, he didn't forget his goal. Having already pinpointed its location in the anime, it wasn't long before he found the spellbook with a demon on the cover among several books. The moment he held the book, a dozen dark figures appeared, transforming into shadow warriors. These shadow warriors, their eyes flashing red, stared intently at Xu Le, who, standing on the ladder, also watched them with interest.
Suddenly, a shadowy warrior darted out like a cheetah, kicking at the wooden ladder beneath Xu Le's feet. Xu Le realized his intentions.
Do you want me to fall to the ground? That's ridiculous!
Snap!
The wooden ladder couldn't withstand the Shadow Warrior's kick and snapped in two. The broken pieces of wood clattered to the ground, but Xu Le was not seen falling to the ground. The Shadow Warrior who had just made the move looked up at the sky, and a bolt of lightning shot out, instantly shattering him and turning him into a black shadow that merged into the ground.
"If you get injured, you'll turn into a shadow and return to somewhere? Interesting." Xu Le's lips curled up slightly as he floated in the air. He had already put the complete spellbook into his backpack. He was now ready to have some fun with these shadow warriors. Even with his mask on, the Holy Lord wouldn't know who he was.
Whoosh whoosh!