Adam Brooks didn’t find these talismans strange, but they did look somewhat familiar to him. He pondered for a while, then hurriedly took out the He Shan Scripture, flipped through a few pages, and soon found on the seventh page the method for refining the Xuan Yin Ghost-Slaying Talisman. Comparing the He Shan Scripture with these ten or so black talismans, he couldn’t help but be slightly startled, muttering to himself, “Could it be that this Daoist also practiced the He Shan Scripture? Why does he have more than ten Xuan Yin Ghost-Slaying Talismans on him?”

Adam Brooks was already faintly sensing that something was wrong, and didn’t dare to think about stealing any more valuables. He threw all those ten or so black talismans into the Five Yin Pouch, turned over, and left. When he came in, he had already scoped out an escape route; with a few leaps, he jumped out of the large mansion. Just as he was about to retrace his steps back to Henry Clark’s place, suddenly a streak of black light shot up from above the mansion, like a monstrous python, twisting and turning in the sky.

Adam Brooks sensed danger and didn’t dare to move, quickly hiding himself and only then stealing a glance up at the sky.

He saw that monstrous python twisting in the air for quite a while before finally descending into the front courtyard. A very tall old Daoist suddenly leapt up, standing atop the roof ridge, scanning all around. He seemed to sense something, bent low, and with a display of lightness skill, moved even faster than lightning, circling the entire mansion—which covered more than ten acres—in just a moment.

The old Daoist didn’t find anything, but a trace of anger appeared on his face. He raised his voice and shouted, “Which fellow Daoist has graced us with your presence, and actually captured my disciple?”

Adam Brooks was shocked, thinking, “So the Daoist who was just swallowed by the Five Yin Pouch was this old Daoist’s disciple. Luckily, I killed him and destroyed the evidence. That monstrous python-like black aura the old Daoist just summoned seems to be the Seven-Kill Primordial Spirit from the He Shan Scripture. To master such a technique is almost like becoming a demon—how could I possibly be a match? Even if there were tens of thousands of soldiers here, they’d just be slaughtered by this old Daoist. I’d better not show myself and hide carefully.”

Adam Brooks was nimble and well-hidden, so the old Daoist couldn’t find him for the moment and grew even angrier. The old Daoist shouted a few times but, seeing no one respond, shook his wide sleeves, releasing over a hundred white, ghastly skulls. As soon as these skulls appeared, they grew to the size of cartwheels, spewing thick black smoke from their eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, flying wildly through the air and scattering in all directions in the blink of an eye.

Adam Brooks hid in the shadows and saw everything clearly. After the old Daoist released so many skulls, his figure flickered and vanished without a trace—his lightness skill was so superb it was almost inhuman. Adam Brooks became even more cautious, crawled out from his hiding spot, and escaped along the street corner, leaving the mansion behind. He had only run two or three streets before he finally breathed a sigh of relief, but then felt a chill on his back. Turning around, he saw a skull the size of a cartwheel, white and ghastly, cackling eerily, spewing black smoke from its mouth, and lunging straight at him.

Although Adam Brooks carried a fine Burmese saber, he didn’t dare draw it against the skull. He quickly raised his hand, sending out a ring of fluctuating black light that happened to envelop the skull. As the black ring expanded and contracted, it was about to swallow the skull, but the skull was extremely strong, struggling fiercely to break free.

The He Shan Scripture records that these demon ghosts, called “Skull Demons,” are an extremely vicious type of sorcery, ranking second only to the Seven-Kill Primordial Spirit in the He Shan Scripture. This sorcery requires the skulls of those who died violently as materials, condensing countless fierce souls and spirits, and only after killing countless living beings can it be refined. The poisonous smoke spewed by the Skull Demons contains corpse poison—anyone touched by it will surely die. With each life it takes, it devours the soul, growing ever more ferocious.

The Five Yin Pouch ranks seventeenth in the He Shan Scripture, and since Adam Brooks had only been practicing for a few days, he had no idea how to deal with the Skull Demon. He gritted his teeth and held on, but the Five Yin Pouch gradually failed to contain the Skull Demon. The Skull Demon let out a shrill, eerie screech, its teeth clacking together, then suddenly spewed a cloud of poisonous smoke and swelled up, bursting the black ring conjured by the Five Yin Pouch, and lunged at Adam Brooks with its gaping maw.

The black smoke from the Five Yin Pouch was shattered by the Skull Demon, causing Adam Brooks’s internal energy to stagnate. He couldn’t care about the overwhelming discomfort, twisted his body, and leapt aside, dodging the Skull Demon’s bite. At the same time, Adam Brooks drew the Burmese saber given to him by Henry Clark, and with a backhanded sweep, struck the Skull Demon as it turned in midair to attack again.

Adam Brooks had trained in Iron Bone Skill, an external hard skill that greatly increased his strength. He hadn’t expected much from his strike, but to his surprise, although the Skull Demon could fly, it was actually very light, its power lying entirely in the poisonous smoke swirling around it, and it wasn’t very strong physically. Adam Brooks’s saber sent it tumbling through the air, spinning away.

“So this monster isn’t so scary after all!”

With a successful strike, Adam Brooks grew bolder, gripping his saber horizontally, ready to smash the Skull Demon to pieces.

The Skull Demon shrieked eerily, steadied itself in the air, then suddenly soared higher, opening its huge mouth from over ten yards up and spewing a stream of black smoke downward. Seeing the thick, inky smoke, Adam Brooks dared not let it touch him. He quickly flipped over, hooked onto a low wall by the street, and somersaulted over it in an instant.