Escalating Conflict! The Third Life Concludes! [Seeking Recommendation Tickets!]

"Blood Arrow Secret Technique!"

"This is a desperate move for ordinary people, requiring the gathering of Essence Blood to activate normally, with some signs and slight delays."

"But by using the 'Iron Token Essence Blood', held in the mouth beforehand, it can be unleashed at any time. In recent years, no opponent of equal strength has been able to dodge it."

Zhao Xiaoshuang struck unexpectedly, killing the enemy, then followed up with several more sword strikes to vital points before looting the body while speaking to Meng Nan.

This was the first time Zhao Xiaoshuang had encountered an opponent of this caliber on this journey.

For the past six months, she had encountered mostly Yao Beasts, which didn't require such precision and couldn't showcase the power of the 'Blood Arrow Secret Technique'. This time, she finally let Meng Nan witness it.

"Amazing!"

Meng Nan's interest was piqued, and he recognized the brilliance of this secret technique.

In terms of power, 'Palm Thunder' was stronger, but it was slower to activate and difficult to land on a person, making timing crucial. The 'Blood Arrow Secret Technique', however, was fast to activate and only slightly less powerful than 'Palm Thunder', making it an absolute killing move.

It was sufficient at least for the True Essence Stage.

"Sword techniques and movement techniques are for conventional combat."

"'Palm Thunder' is for breaking stalemates."

"The 'Blood Arrow Secret Technique' is for surprise attacks to secure victory."

The combination of these sorceries formed a very mature practical combat system.

The only thing lacking was defense.

"'Giant Spirit God' secret technique."

"If this secret technique can be mastered, it will surpass many defensive sorceries."

With that, Once the 'Giant Spirit God' secret technique was mastered, this entire system would have no weaknesses and would be sufficient for the True Essence Stage. Beyond that, it would require immortal sorceries.

As they spoke.

Meng Nan was lost in thought.

Zhao Xiaoshuang, meanwhile, was scraping and probing the body with her sword. In the end, she only found a compass, a long sword, and a few talismans.

Zhao Xiaoshuang's attack had been so sudden that the person hadn't even managed to use their talismans.

"This compass—"

Zhao Xiaoshuang reached out to take it. A message came from within, startling her. She then frowned, "Issuing a bounty! Is Sky-Scraping Cliff going to war with Chashan?"

Zhao Xiaoshuang muttered, then handed the compass to Meng Nan.

Meng Nan took it and also sensed a message: "Sensing True Essence Stage quasi-cultivators practicing Thunder Illumination Scripture, Dragon Mountain Scripture, Minor Thousand Sword Art, and Five Thunder Secret Record?"

The function of this compass was sensing.

It contained the aura of these four cultivation techniques. As long as a cultivator practicing these techniques unleashed their True Essence within a radius of ten miles, it could sense their general location.

Sky-Scraping Cliff's purpose in refining such a magical artifact and distributing it to their True Essence Stage disciples was self-evident.

"Has it reached this stage already?"

Meng Nan was somewhat surprised.

Forty years ago, it was still about territorial disputes and duels between immortal masters, a higher level of conflict.

But now, it had truly begun to affect the lower levels.

Sky-Scraping Cliff was eradicating all Chashan True Essence cultivators within its territory, and Chashan was likely retaliating in kind.

Things had escalated!

"Forty years ago, Sky-Scraping Cliff took Tianlin Cave. At that time, there was no large-scale purge. Many people escaped, but some remained, and they were fine."

"For some reason this time, it has become this intense."

Zhao Xiaoshuang also shook her head.

With the current situation, returning to Angming City would no longer be easy.

Immortal Master Moyuanteng had taken over and managed the thirty thousand li of Tianlin Cave for forty years. Now, even on the outskirts, people from Sky-Scraping Cliff could be found searching and killing. In the inner regions, it would undoubtedly be even more dangerous.

"We don't have many years left anyway, what's there to fear!"

Zhao Xiaoshuang laughed, took out an 'Iron Token' from her sleeve, and tossed it onto the corpse. Blood condensed, and soon only a dried husk remained, with a drop of Essence Blood forming within: "Essence Blood from a True Essence Stage cultivator, this is a good thing."

Zhao Xiaoshuang skillfully put the 'Iron Token' back into her sleeve and then detached the drop of 'Essence Blood' for separate storage, her smile widening.

The 'Essence Blood' obtained this way wasn't the best.

Truly top-grade Essence Blood would be like Zhou Shan's back then, where talismans were drawn with blood while the person was still alive, first capturing their spirit. Then, after their death, their Essence Blood would be consumed. Essence Blood condensed this way was the greatest supplement for cultivating the 'Iron Token Demonic Arts', not comparable to what Meng Nan and the others could achieve.

However, neither Meng Nan nor Zhao Xiaoshuang were evil people. They approached the 'Iron Token' with the attitude of using it if possible, and discarding it if not, never falling into the Demonic Dao just to make do with it.

"Continue?"

After collecting the Essence Blood, Zhao Xiaoshuang looked at Meng Nan.

With their lifespan nearing its end, whether they died sooner or later was only a matter of a few years. It was better to fight to their heart's content in Tianlin Cave.

"Let's go!"

Meng Nan felt no fear.

If he had enough time, he would even go to the Tianlin Cave residence alone, just to see which immortal master was currently in charge there, and then shout out to them from a high vantage point for a chat.

After all, he would return immediately when his time was up, with no regrets before death.

Unfortunately, he didn't have enough time this time.

"Waiting for the next trip, I should be able to see the immortal master's demeanor."

Meng Nan looked forward to it.

The couple, unafraid of death, continued to move deeper.

Along the way, they indeed encountered many escapees, as well as those holding compasses and hunting down Chashan disciples.

Zhao Xiaoshuang was in the True Essence Stage, and with the help of 'Essence Blood' and the 'Blood Arrow Secret Technique', ordinary True Essence Stage cultivators were no match for her.

They encountered two, fought one by surprise, and the other would have died if they hadn't fled.

Meng Nan was a burden.

With the experience from the first time, when they encountered such situations again, he would first evade, stay far away, and only come out after Zhao Xiaoshuang had finished fighting.

When encountering ordinary Yao Beasts, Zhao Xiaoshuang would also let him take action.

They pressed deeper like this.

This was courting death.

Zhao Xiaoshuang was not invincible, and Meng Nan was even more of a good-for-nothing.

When they encountered the fourth wave of Sky-Scraping Cliff disciples, this time it was still a single person. This person didn't even make a move, merely controlling five 'Talisman General Black Armors' to kill Meng Nan and Zhao Xiaoshuang.

The Meng couple once again met their end in the Jianghu.

Name: Meng Nan

Lifespan: 18/80

Faction: Chashan · Tianlin Cave

Cultivation: Fetal Breath Contemplation

Inner Breath: 90

Bone Structure: 1

Cultivation Technique: Thunder Illumination Scripture Level 6

Sorcery: Palm Thunder (Proficient), Blood Arrow Secret Technique (Proficient), Gale Thunder Sword Technique (Proficient), Hundred Changes Thousand Illusions Cloud Mist Movement Technique (Proficient), Giant Spirit Mysterious Technique (Uninitiated);

Skills: Alchemy (Beginner: Qi Circulation Powder);

Opening Progress: Viewable

"Level 6 of Thunder Illumination Scripture, I can also smoothly advance to the Greater Heavenly Cycle in reality."

Meng Nan stopped adjusting his mindset and let nature take its course. He opened the information panel, looked it over, and was not entirely satisfied.

In this life, eight years had passed, and his cultivation limit had only been raised from 'Inner Qi Minor Heavenly Cycle' to 'Inner Qi Greater Heavenly Cycle'. He still hadn't reached the True Qi Stage.

Meng Nan had underestimated the difficulty of advancing from Inner Qi to True Qi.

It made sense--

The minimum standard for Tianlin Cave to recruit disciples was the True Qi Stage.

In Yinlian Village, among more than ten Inner Qi Stage cultivators, only one might advance to the True Qi Stage in their lifetime.

This showed the difficulty.

If Meng Nan were given time, plus the assistance of a 'Great Pill', he could break through. For example, in this life, Meng Nan had advanced to True Qi at the age of fifty.

But the time Meng Nan had to open future timelines was ultimately too short.

Eight years!

It was far from enough!

He could only try harder in the next life.

Fortunately, this trip was not without rewards, and the gains were quite significant.

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