Qin Shaofeng's fingertips dug deep bloody marks into the sword hilt. As he stared at the monster's enormous body, which had remained motionless all along, a chill suddenly crawled up the back of his neck—the swarms of insects blotting out the sky, the attacks that seemed fatal yet always brushed past his vital points, had never been meant to kill him. They had been wearing down his ability to resist, bit by bit!
So they weren't trying to kill me?
They were draining my strength...
His earlier feeling had not been wrong. Those attacks had appeared savage, yet hidden mysteries lay within them. Every brush with death had precisely avoided anything fatal. They had clearly been controlling the tempo deliberately.
"So that's how it is..." The backlash from using Twelve Heavenly Mandates twice was too terrifying. Qin Shaofeng's body swayed unsteadily.
The backlash began to cloud his mind. He immediately bit through the tip of his tongue to stay awake, and a sweet metallic taste surged through his throat. The backlash of Twelve Heavenly Mandates blurred his vision, but he could only endure it now. He absolutely could not fall here!
If he fell, there would be no salvation for eternity!
His junior sister was still waiting for him outside!
Just as he forced himself to fight the backlash, a faint tremor suddenly ran through the ground.
Shattered stones pattered down. Qin Shaofeng staggered and braced himself against the rock wall as a foul, bloody stench suddenly flooded his nostrils.
Through the haze, he caught sight of a black mist vortex faintly emerging where the monster lay coiled. Like ants returning to their nest, the insect swarm streamed endlessly into the vortex.
The next instant, the vortex transformed into a massive Alchemy Furnace.
Dark-purple patterns crawled across the Alchemy Furnace's