"Did you succeed?"
"How many apertures did you open to wield such power?"
Lu Xuening and Huang Chengyue followed Chen Fan to Cao De's residence.
The two of them had remained outside, standing guard for Chen Fan.
Now, hearing movement within the residence, they smashed through the door and rushed inside.
They happened to see Chen Fan walking out from the ruins of Cao De's study.
"Did you suffer cultivation deviation?"
Huang Chengyue stared at Chen Fan as though he had seen a ghost and could not help crying out.
At that moment, Chen Fan's hair was withered and yellow, his body gaunt and skeletal, skin stretched over bone. He looked as though his days were numbered.
"Chen Fan, how did you end up like this?"
Lu Xuening asked.
"Cultivating the Blood Fiend Art requires the Essence Blood of Ten Thousand Spirits."
"I couldn't find any particularly high-quality essence blood, so I used my own blood essence as the medium to condense Bloodfiend True Qi and open Bloodfiend Divine Apertures. Fortunately, I succeeded."
Chen Fan smiled, looking even more grim and terrifying.
"I have some superior healing pills here. They can replenish qi and nourish the blood. Hurry and take some."
Lu Xuening took a small jade bottle from her sleeve and handed it to Chen Fan.
Chen Fan opened the jade bottle, and a medicinal fragrance wafted out. Just one breath of it made him feel much more invigorated.
He immediately poured all the pills into his mouth in one go, and waves of medicinal power dissolved within his body.
He used the thirty-six apertures throughout his body to contain the primordial qi of heaven and earth, refining it into Bloodfiend True Qi. It flowed through the Eight Extraordinary Meridians before finally returning to his dantian.
Then the Bloodfiend True Qi emerged from his dantian again, carrying the medicinal power through his limbs and bones. Chen Fan's body immediately began to fill out, and much of his blood and qi was restored.
"It truly is good medicine. It would be even better if I could have a few more bottles."
Chen Fan said.
"There's no more. Not a single pill left!"
Lu Xuening hurriedly shook her head.
These were life-saving pills her master had given her. Their value could not be measured in money, yet Chen Fan had swallowed them all like an ox chewing peonies.
To be honest, her heart ached a little.
But when she thought of the sacrifice Chen Fan had made, she felt that if these pills could help him even a little, they had been well worth it.
"Let's go. We'll take a look at the situation in the county."
Chen Fan smiled and said nothing more.
He had now entered the Divine Aperture Realm, opened thirty-six apertures, communicated with the primordial qi of heaven and earth, and condensed Bloodfiend True Qi. He could use the primordial qi of heaven and earth to temper his body at any time, and the blood and qi he had lost would slowly recover soon enough.
It was only that time would not permit it now. Lu Xuening's pills had come at exactly the right moment.
"Everyone in the county has gathered near the county yamen. But at the current rate the black willow branches are spreading, they may completely cover Ping An County before dawn."
"By then, everyone will become nourishment for the Black Willow. No one will survive!"
Lu Xuening said with a grave expression.
"How long until dawn?"
Chen Fan asked again.
"It is already past the third watch. At most, dawn will arrive in two hours."
"From here to Black Mountain, even a Divine Aperture Realm martial artist running at full speed would need at least an hour."
Lu Xuening replied.
"There is still time. It is not too late!"
Chen Fan looked at the dark mass of people gathered near the county yamen. Every face was filled with terror, while the children were bleary-eyed and helpless.
He decided to set out at once for Black Mountain and deal with that strange tree demon as soon as possible.
"Can Lord Chen Fan do it?"
The crowd watched Chen Fan's departing back, unable to keep the question from rising in their hearts.
They watched him beneath the moonlight, one man and one blade, his back to all living beings, walking straight toward that eerie sea of forest.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Sensing Chen Fan's arrival, the forest sea actually accelerated its spread. Countless black willow branches shot toward Chen Fan, seeking to pierce him through!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Before the black willow branches could even touch Chen Fan's clothes, the Bloodfiend True Qi bursting from his body shattered them into powder!
"True qi released beyond the body, and wielded with such mastery. Anyone who didn't know better would think he had been in the Divine Aperture Realm for years!"
"As expected of a peerless genius!"
Seeing how Chen Fan responded, Lu Xuening could not help praising him.
If she knew that Chen Fan had spent eight hundred years reaching this point, enough time to outlast two or three generations of Divine Aperture Realm martial artists, who knew what she would think!
She probably would not even dare imagine it!
"Heaven and Earth, One Blade Slash!"
Chen Fan gripped the Meteorite Iron Blade as Bloodfiend True Qi surged from within him and clung to the blade.
With a single slash, the terrifying Bloodfiend True Qi transformed into a heaven-shaking blade radiance, cleaving apart the forest sea woven from black willow branches!
Using every ounce of strength in his body, he sprinted toward the city gate. Terrifying Bloodfiend True Qi surged in all directions, and wherever it passed, countless black willow branches turned to powder!
"He got out!"
Lu Xuening watched as Chen Fan carved a gap through the forest sea of black willow branches with one slash.
Before the gap could close, he had already reached the gate tower above Ping An County's southern gate. With a leap, he jumped toward the outside of the city.
Behind him, countless black willow branches shot madly at him like sharp arrows, but a tremor from his protective true qi reduced them all to powder!
At that moment.
In the open ground beyond the county's southern gate, countless black willow branches intertwined, forming tree men woven from black branches and leaves.
"Tree demon, stay on Black Mountain and wait for me to kill you!"
Chen Fan said in a deep voice.
After saying that, he used the Meteorite Iron Blade to clear the way and charged directly into battle against the countless tree men.
The area covered by the black willow branches was simply too vast. Precisely because of that, their power had been greatly diluted, and these tree men shattered instantly beneath Chen Fan's assault!
Chen Fan forcibly carved a bloody path through the thousands of tree men and left the area covered by black willow branches far behind him.
Within the county.
Lu Xuening saw that the black willow branches were spreading much faster again.
"Chen Fan should have successfully escaped Ping An County. The tree demon is speeding up its movements, which means it has begun to panic."
"We can only hope Chen Fan reaches Black Mountain and kills the Black Willow's true body before its branches cover all of Ping An County!"
Lu Xuening said in a grave voice.
Chen Fan was truly racing against time. The lives of tens of thousands of Ping An County's citizens rested in his hands alone. If he failed, not a single person in the entire county would survive.
And he himself might die at the hands of the Black Willow.
But if he succeeded, he would render a towering service. If such merit did not earn him the position of a Brocade Guard Centurion, it would be impossible to justify.
He might even be given a Brocade Guard Vice Chiliarch's post.
"Godfather, stand guard for me!"
"We cannot place all our hopes on Chen Fan. I must also strive to comprehend the path of Swordheart Clarity."
"If I can comprehend it, I can enter the Divine Aperture Realm in one stroke and open all thirty-six apertures throughout my body."
"Then, even if the black willow branches cover the entire county before Chen Fan reaches Black Mountain, I can still lead everyone in resisting for a while and buy Chen Fan some time!"
Lu Xuening glanced at Huang Chengyue beside her and spoke.
Under layer upon layer of crushing pressure, she had not been broken. Instead, her will had been tempered and her state of mind honed.
She now felt that she was only one step away from breaking into the state of Swordheart Clarity!
I hope there is still time!
Before you continue