Encountering the Black-Robed Martial Artist Again

Chapter 36: Encountering the Black Robed Martial Artist Again

After an unknown amount of time, Li Yifan's consciousness slowly surfaced from the boundless darkness and cold. The first sensation was an all-pervading, bone-deep pain throughout his body, especially his left arm, which felt as if countless red-hot steel needles were piercing and twisting within, while a chilling, foreign true qi stubbornly eroded his meridians. Secondly, there was an extreme sense of weakness. His dantian's sea of qi was empty, his meridians depleted, and even moving a finger was incredibly difficult, like recovering from a severe illness or having all his strength drained.

He struggled to open his heavy eyelids, his vision blurry. It took a while for him to adjust to the dim light of the cave. The air was thick with an unshakeable stench of blood, scorched earth, and an indescribable, dead stillness, like something utterly decayed. He turned his head slightly, and his vision was met with a scene of devastation: cracked ground, broken stalactites, scattered rubble, and, not far away, a shocking pool of black ash spread out in a radial pattern—the final trace left after Li Heng's soul was annihilated by the "Shadow Demon."

Memories surged into his mind like a tide: the thrilling, near-death battle with Li Heng, the comprehension of the true meaning of "Nine Yang Burning Evil" at the last moment, and the scene of Li Heng's body exploding due to the backlash of his blood curse. A wave of fear washed over him; if his cultivation hadn't broken through at that critical juncture, he himself would have turned to dust.

"I must heal quickly and leave this place," Li Yifan warned himself. This cave was no place to linger. Although Li Heng was dead, the mysterious "Corpse Demon Old Monster" (the black-robed figure) could appear at any moment. Furthermore, the dense yin energy here was extremely detrimental to his severely injured body.

He attempted to circulate the "Nine Yang Burning Heaven Technique." A needle-like pain shot through his dantian. His true qi was severely depleted, with only a faint wisp of the Nine Yang True Qi origin, like a candle in the wind, slowly circulating and repairing his damaged meridians. He dared not delay, enduring the intense pain. With his usable right hand, he painstakingly retrieved several jade bottles from his personal pack. These were the supplementary pills he had received for a previous mission.

First, he poured out a pill the size of a longan, emitting a cool aura—a Detoxification Pill. Li Heng's "Netherworld Thorn" qi was incredibly venomous, possessing both corrosive and poisonous properties, which needed to be neutralized first. Swallowing the pill, it instantly transformed into a cool torrent that spread through his limbs, particularly flowing towards the wound on his left arm. The chilling, sharp foreign true qi, upon encountering the medicinal power of the Detoxification Pill, dissipated like ice meeting the sun. Its corrosive speed noticeably slowed and was gradually neutralized. The piercing pain in his left arm finally eased slightly.

Next, he took out two more pills, the size of pigeon eggs, with a warm luster and fragrant aroma—Qi Replenishing Pills. These pills were excellent for rapidly restoring true qi. He swallowed both Qi Replenishing Pills simultaneously. They dissolved upon entering his stomach, transforming into two streams of pure, gentle warmth that quickly replenished his dry dantian and meridians. Like parched earth receiving much-needed rain, his depleted meridians greedily absorbed this energy. The faint Nine Yang True Qi origin was nourished, gradually grew stronger, and its circulation speed increased.

With the support of true qi, Li Yifan's spirits lifted slightly. He took out another jade bottle and poured out some thick, pale golden ointment—Wound Healing Ointment. He carefully used his right hand to apply the ointment to the shocking penetrating wound on his left arm. As the ointment touched the wound, a cool sensation spread, followed by a gentle warmth that began to promote healing and consolidate blood and qi.

After completing these tasks, Li Yifan was drenched in sweat and panting. He leaned against a cold rock behind him, closed his eyes, and focused, channeling the medicinal power and his newly generated Nine Yang True Qi to repair his internal injuries, especially the damage to his left arm's meridians. Time flowed by in silence.

About an hour later, Li Yifan's complexion regained a hint of color. Although still weak, he could at least move without issue. The severe pain in his left arm was suppressed, and the wound began to scab over, though that arm would likely be unusable for some time. His true qi had recovered to about ten percent, enough to support his movement and deal with minor emergencies.

He slowly stood up, his gaze sweeping across the battlefield, finally settling on two items near the pile of ashes: an ancient-looking, now dim black Soul-attracting Jade Box, and a simple yet ancient-looking ring, entirely black.

Li Yifan stumbled over and cautiously probed the two items with his true qi. After confirming there were no traps, he picked them up.

The Soul-attracting Jade Box felt cool to the touch, its lid tightly shut. The eerie rune drawn with Li Heng's blood had faded. Li Yifan attempted to inject a trace of Nine Yang True Qi, but the Jade Box remained unresponsive, seemingly requiring a specific yin-attribute cultivation technique or incantation to open. He dared not force it open, fearing unforeseen consequences, so he carefully put the Jade Box away. This item was of great importance and needed to be taken back to the guard post for specialized handling.

Next, his gaze fell upon the black ring. The ring's material was neither gold nor jade, and it felt heavy. Its surface was unadorned, bearing only a sense of ancientness. A thought struck him, and he attempted to inject a faint trace of Nine Yang True Qi into the ring.

Buzz!

A faint hum! A barely perceptible dark light flashed across the ring's surface. Immediately, Li Yifan's senses perceived a strange space, about three feet square, opening up! The space was not empty but contained several items: a few yellowed ancient books, several jade bottles of different materials, a small pile of ores shimmering with various colors, and some miscellaneous gold, silver, and other items.

"Storage Ring!" Li Yifan exclaimed in surprise! This was a true treasure! Far more valuable than any gold or silver! He never expected Li Heng to possess such a thing! This kind of treasure would make even Innate experts envious. It seemed the demon had acquired it in some secret realm. It was likely that most of the demon's accumulated wealth over the years was stored in this ring. He suppressed the urge to immediately inventory his gains and slipped the ring onto his right index finger. Now was not the time for a thorough examination.

After securing the two crucial items, Li Yifan searched the cave thoroughly, especially the stone rooms and tents where Li Heng had resided. Besides finding some daily necessities, ordinary cultivation supplies, and a few decent weapons, he found nothing else of particular value. Clearly, Li Heng's most important possessions were carried on his person.

"It's time to leave." Li Yifan took a deep breath, his gaze shifting to several dark cave entrances at the other end of the cavern. The secret passage he had used was occupied by the black-robed figure and might not be safe. He needed to choose a relatively secure exit.

However, just as he was about to move, an extremely subtle yet chillingly cold aura, like a venomous snake, silently emanated from one of the cave entrances at the far end of the cavern! This aura was familiar to Li Yifan—it was the aura of the "Corpse Demon Old Monster"! He had actually returned at this moment!

Li Yifan's body tensed instantly! Without hesitation, "Spirit Fox Steps" was unleashed to its absolute limit. Ignoring the potential strain on his injuries, his body shot like a startled rabbit towards the nearest and seemingly most inconspicuous narrow cave entrance! His current condition was extremely poor; he had no chance of fighting this unfathomable black-robed figure again!

The moment Li Yifan disappeared into the cave entrance, a gaunt figure, as dark as ink and shrouded in deathly energy, emerged from the opposite entrance like a phantom—it was the returning "Corpse Demon Old Monster"!

The black-robed figure stepped into the cave, his gaze immediately falling upon the ashes belonging to Li Heng. Within the shadow of his black hood, a low, hoarse sound of surprise seemed to emanate.

"Hmm? Dead? Soul annihilated? Who did this?" The black-robed figure's voice rasped like two bones grinding together, extremely unpleasant. He carefully sensed the residual energy traces within the cave. The potent aura of the Netherworld Blood Curse backlash made him frown slightly, but what drew his attention more was a faint, pure, yet supremely yang aura with an ultimate spirit-destroying will lingering in the air!

"Nine Yang True Qi? And... a trace of true fire?" The black-robed figure's tone held a hint of surprise and solemnity. "Since when did the Xuntian Guard produce such a person? To force the old ghost Li Heng to use the Netherworld Blood Curse and trigger a backlash?"

His gaze, like that of the keenest falcon, swept across the entire cave, quickly spotting the faint traces left by Li Yifan's hasty escape and the direction in which the supreme yang aura had disappeared.

"Hmph, trying to run?" The black-robed figure let out a cold laugh, his figure flickered, transforming into a wisp of black smoke, and he directly pursued the cave entrance Li Yifan had fled into! His speed far surpassed Li Yifan's! Clearly, he was extremely familiar with the passages within this cave!

Li Yifan fled desperately through the narrow, dark passage, "Spirit Fox Steps" pushed to its limit, but his injuries and weakness severely hampered his speed. The chilling, terrifying aura of death behind him, like a persistent leech, was rapidly closing in! The icy killing intent was almost piercing his back!

"No! The speed difference is too great! I'll be caught soon at this rate!" Li Yifan was filled with anxiety, his mind racing. A head-on confrontation was a death sentence; he had to find a way to shake off his pursuer!

Just then, he noticed a fork in the passage ahead, with three almost identical tunnels extending into different darknesses. At the entrance of one of the tunnels, he faintly detected a very weak airflow fluctuation, slightly different from the surrounding yin energy, carrying a hint of... the stench of soil?

"An exit?!" Li Yifan's heart leaped. Without time to think, he immediately chose that tunnel and plunged into it! At the same time, as he ran, he quickly fumbled in his pack for his remaining few flash talismans. Without looking, he hurled them towards the direction behind him and the other two forks!

"Bang! Bang! Hiss--!"

A blinding white light flashed and disappeared! Although its effect on these masters would be limited, it would at least disrupt their vision and perception for a moment!

As expected, the pursuing black-robed figure's speed slowed slightly, and a low grunt of annoyance was heard. But after a brief moment, he had locked onto the correct tunnel Li Yifan had entered and accelerated his pursuit again! However, this brief interference bought Li Yifan a precious sliver of time!

Li Yifan ran desperately along this tunnel. The passage sloped steeply upwards, and the smell of soil grew increasingly distinct. Finally, he saw a faint light ahead! It was an exit!

His heart filled with wild joy, and he accelerated, bursting out! The scene before him suddenly opened up—it was a dense primeval forest! It was afternoon, and sunlight dappled through the thick canopy. He had actually escaped from the mountain's belly directly into some part of the Black Stone Mountains' forest!

However, before he could catch his breath, the black-robed figure emerged like a phantom from the cave entrance behind him!

"Boy, leave the Soul-attracting Jade Box and the storage ring, and I can give you a quick death!" the black-robed figure's voice was icy, his killing intent palpable, as he advanced step by step. The sunlight in the forest seemed unable to dispel the deathly stillness surrounding him.

Li Yifan's face turned ashen, his heart sinking to the bottom. He had just escaped one wolf's den only to fall into a tiger's maw! Was he truly doomed today?