"Blood Arrow Secret Technique!"
"This is a desperate move most people use only as a last resort. Normally, activating it requires gathering Essence Blood, which takes some time and gives the opponent a chance to react."
"But with the Iron Token's Essence Blood, you can keep it in your mouth beforehand and unleash it at any time. Over the years, not a single evenly matched opponent has managed to dodge it."
After Zhao Xiaoshuang had caught her enemy off guard and killed him, she thrust her sword into his vital spots several more times. Only then did she search his corpse while explaining things to Meng Nan.
This was the first time on their journey that Zhao Xiaoshuang had encountered an opponent of this caliber.
For the past six months or so, they had mostly run into monster beasts. There had been no need for such precision, and she hadn't had a chance to show how formidable the Blood Arrow Secret Technique was. This time, at last, Meng Nan had seen it for himself.
"Impressive!"
Meng Nan was intrigued. He could see the technique's merits, too.
In terms of power, Palm Thunder was stronger, but it took longer to activate and was difficult to land. Timing was crucial. The Blood Arrow Secret Technique, by contrast, activated quickly and was only a little weaker than Palm Thunder. It was absolutely worthy of being used as a killing move.
At the very least, it was more than enough at the True Essence Stage.
"Swordsmanship and movement techniques for ordinary combat."
"Palm Thunder for breaking stalemates."
"Blood Arrow Secret Technique to catch the enemy off guard and seal the victory."
Together, these techniques already formed a well-rounded combat system.
The only thing they still lacked was a way to defend themselves.
"The Giant Spirit Mysterious Technique."
"If I can master this technique, it'll surpass many defensive arts."
That would do it.
Once he mastered the Giant Spirit Mysterious Technique, the system would have no weaknesses. It would be more than enough to carry him through the True Essence Stage. Beyond that, he would need immortal techniques.
As the two of them talked,
Meng Nan pondered.
Meanwhile, Zhao Xiaoshuang prodded and sliced at the corpse with her sword. In the end, she found only a compass, a longsword, and a few talismans.
Zhao Xiaoshuang had struck so suddenly that the man hadn't even had time to use his talismans.
"This compass—"
Zhao Xiaoshuang reached for it. A message came from within, making her pause. Then she frowned. "A kill order? Is Sky-Scraping Cliff going to war with Cha Mountain on all fronts?"
Muttering to herself, Zhao Xiaoshuang handed the compass to Meng Nan.
Meng Nan took it and sensed a message as well. "It detects True Essence Stage cultivators who practice the Thunder Illumination Scripture, Dragon Mountain Scripture, Minor Thousand Sword Art, or Five Thunder Secret Record?"
The compass's purpose was to detect.
It contained the auras of those four techniques. Whenever a cultivator who practiced one of them released their true essence within a dozen or so miles, the compass could sense their approximate location.
Sky-Scraping Cliff had forged these magical tools and distributed them to its True Essence Stage disciples. Their purpose was obvious.
"Things have already reached this point?"
Meng Nan was a little surprised.
Forty years ago, it had been a territorial dispute, with immortal masters fighting one another. The conflict had been between people at a much higher level.
But now it had truly spread to the lower ranks.
Sky-Scraping Cliff was wiping out every Cha Mountain cultivator within its territory. Cha Mountain was likely striking back in kind.
This had gotten out of hand!
"Forty years ago, when Sky-Scraping Cliff seized Tianlin Cave, it didn't carry out a large-scale purge. Many people escaped, and some stayed behind. None of them were harmed."
"I don't know what's happened this time, but the fighting has become so brutal."
Zhao Xiaoshuang shook her head, too.
In their current situation, returning to Angming City would be no easy feat.
The immortal master of the Cloudvine had seized and governed Tianlin Cave's thirty thousand li for forty years. Now, they were encountering Sky-Scraping Cliff's people hunting and killing others even on the outskirts. It was bound to be even more dangerous deeper inside.
"Either way, we don't have many years left. What's there to fear?"
With a smile, Zhao Xiaoshuang pulled the Iron Token from her sleeve and tossed it onto the corpse. Blood gathered into it. Before long, only a dried-out husk remained, along with a single drop of Essence Blood. "Essence Blood from a True Essence Stage cultivator. Now that's a good find."
Zhao Xiaoshuang deftly took out the Iron Token, put it away, then collected the drop of Essence Blood for later use. Her smile grew wider.
The Essence Blood obtained this way wasn't particularly good.
The finest Essence Blood came from doing what they had done to Zhou Shan: while the victim was still alive, draw a talisman in blood to capture their spirit. Then, after their death, devour their Essence Blood. The Essence Blood gathered this way was the greatest nourishment for cultivating the Iron Token Demonic Art. It couldn't compare to what Meng Nan and the others had.
But neither Meng Nan nor Zhao Xiaoshuang was evil. They treated the Iron Token as something to use if it came in handy, and to discard if it didn't. They would never fall into demonic ways just to make use of it.
"Shall we keep going?"
After collecting the Essence Blood, Zhao Xiaoshuang looked at Meng Nan.
Their time was almost up. They had only a few years left, whether they died sooner or later. They might as well fight to their hearts' content in Tianlin Cave.
"Let's go!"
Meng Nan was just as fearless.
If he'd had more time, he would even have wanted to go alone to the depths of Tianlin Cave, find out which immortal master was stationed there, and call out from a high vantage point, asking them to come out for a chat.
Once his time was up, he would return at once. He had nothing to fear before death.
Unfortunately, he didn't have enough time on this trip.
"Next time, I should be able to witness an immortal master's splendor."
Meng Nan looked forward to it.
Neither of them feared death, so they continued deeper into the cave.
Along the way, they encountered quite a few people fleeing, as well as others carrying compasses and hunting down Cha Mountain disciples.
Zhao Xiaoshuang was at the True Essence Stage, and with Essence Blood bolstering her Blood Arrow Secret Technique, any ordinary True Essence Stage cultivator who ran into her was as good as dead.
When two came at her, she would catch one off guard and kill him. If the other didn't run, he would die, too.
Meng Nan was dead weight.
After learning from their first encounter, whenever they ran into trouble again, he immediately avoided it, keeping his distance until Zhao Xiaoshuang finished fighting before coming back out.
When they encountered monster beasts of average strength, Zhao Xiaoshuang let him fight them.
And so they ventured deeper.
They were practically asking for death.
Zhao Xiaoshuang wasn't invincible, and Meng Nan was even more useless.
When they encountered the fourth group of Sky-Scraping Cliff disciples, there was only one enemy again. He didn't even attack. He simply controlled five Talisman General Black Armors and killed Meng Nan and Zhao Xiaoshuang.
The Meng Clan couple died in the jianghu once more.
Name: Meng Nan Lifespan: 18/80 Faction: Chashan Cave Cultivation: Fetal Breath Contemplation Inner Breath: 90 Root Bone: 1 Techniques: Thunder Illumination Scripture Sixth Layer Arts: Palm Thunder (Proficient), Blood Arrow Secret Technique (Proficient), Gale Thunder Sword Technique (Proficient), Hundred Transformations of the Thousand Illusions Cloud-Mist Movement Technique (Proficient), Giant Spirit Mysterious Technique (Uninitiated); Crafts: Medicine Refining (Beginner: Qi Circulation Powder); Unlock Progress: Available
"Sixth layer of the Thunder Illumination Scripture. In the real world, I can advance to the Greater Celestial Circuit without hindrance, too."
Meng Nan no longer tried to adjust his mindset. He let things take their course, opened the information panel, and looked it over. He wasn't very satisfied.
After eight years in this life, he had only raised his cultivation ceiling from the Inner Qi Minor Heavenly Cycle to the Inner Qi Greater Heavenly Cycle. He still hadn't reached the True Qi Stage.
He had underestimated how difficult it was to advance from Inner Qi to True Qi.
Come to think of it—
The minimum requirement for disciples at Tianlin Cave was the True Qi Stage.
Of the dozen or so Inner Qi cultivators in Yinlian Village, only one might manage to reach the True Qi Stage in their entire life.
That showed just how difficult it was.
Given enough time, and with the aid of a Great Elixir, Meng Nan could break through. For instance, in this life, he had reached the True Qi Stage at fifty.
But he had far too little time when he activated the future timeline.
Eight years!
Nowhere near enough!
He could only keep working at it in his next life.
Fortunately, this trip had brought him gains, and not small ones, either.
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