A Man Could Make a Mistake

This is a routine flashback before the big battle.

This happened about three months ago, when Li Fan was still confined to his bed and had to grow his legs.

' Profound Heaven Sword Intent, the secrets of sword dueling? What secrets are there in sword Ruyi Sword Scripture, and so many talismans and formations? You can also use the Qiankun Flying Dragon Sword. Use whichever you like. The more you kill, the more skilled you'll become.'

Li Fan, bored, flipped through the book. "I was just asking if there are any combo moves. Look at these formations. Setting them up beforehand for an ambush is easy, and a crushing victory is naturally a free-for-all. But what about encounters? One-on-one? Evenly matched? The enemy is stronger than me? What if I get ambushed first? Don't tell me your Beichen Sword Sect is invincible, yet you haven't even summarized a single trick or experience in sword fighting?"

"The Profound Heaven Sword Intent is meaningless. Everyone's experience and magic weapons are different, so how can you summarize it? You can only organize sword duels within the sect for daily sparring and training."

Moreover, if you are attacked first, it means you have completely fallen into someone else's trap. Naturally, all your tricks and strategies will be thoroughly investigated. The more experienced you are, the more likely you are to be outmaneuvered and turned into a deadly trap. You'll basically be dead before you even realize it.

As for a pure skirmish, as I've always said, if things go wrong, just fly over with your flying sword and behead the enemy. When the fight really starts, don't worry about hiding any trump cards or special moves. Just unleash them all at once and kill your opponent first. Otherwise, you'll end up with a bunch of tricks that you can't even use and end up losing in the gutter, which would be pathetic.

Besides, when have I ever gotten entangled with anyone? If I want to kill someone, no one can stop me!

Li Fan: "... I know you're the strongest player, I just wanted to ask if there's a one-click macro for the arena, cough cough, something like the Xuan Tian style sword fighting tips. If not, never mind. I'll ask Xiao Yao another day."

' Profound Heaven Sword Intent? Who says I don't have it! What don't I possess!'

Li Fan, "..."

"Profound Heaven Sword Intent, well, sometimes you don't know the opponent's background and want to confirm their identity. Or you're unsure of their true form and weaknesses, so you need to test them further. Or you know the opponent's escape techniques are powerful, and you're worried that you won't be able to kill them on the spot, and instead, the opponent will test your trump cards and escape, which could become a hidden danger in the future."

In these special cases, it is indeed necessary to engage with the other party for a while, exchange a few moves, test their strength, and seize opportunities. You can't scare them away right away.

Therefore, the most crucial thing at this time is to maintain distance.

"Keep your distance?"

"The Profound Heaven Sword Intent maintains distance, using visual observation, Divine Sense, and the ability to instantly reach the opponent with killing moves and stealth. In short, during combat, always keep the opponent within your controllable sword range. This way, no matter what changes occur in the battle, you will have time to respond and counterattack."

It can't be too far, otherwise the opponent can easily escape and you won't even have time to interrupt their spells or incantations. Being too far away could actually be life-threatening.

But you can't get too close either. There are too many ways to plot against someone in this world, and if you get too close, your opponent might lead you into a trap they've set up beforehand.

Ideally, your opponent should be within your sword's range, while you remain outside theirs. By employing unprepared attacks with ever-changing strategies, you will naturally be invincible in every battle.

Therefore, how to determine the right distance requires actual sword fighting experience.

Everyone has a different style. You already know enough moves. I still need to see what your style is before I can give you specific guidance.

Simply put, it depends on the opponent's background and origins. If you're facing a disciple from Three Great Sects...

The direct descendants of the Immortal Palace are a bit further away. They are skilled in physical combat, celestial manifestations, and Dao bodies, but their variations are limited. They can be a bit tough the first time, but once you get used to them, they become less difficult to deal with. Just be careful to dodge their refined divine light and Dao fire.

Try not to get entangled with people from the Xuanmen sect. Test them with the first three moves. If you can't withstand all three, run away immediately. Those are probably old monsters who have undergone a transformation and rebirth. Their true strength cannot be measured by their current cultivation level. You can't defeat them. On the other hand, if an ordinary cultivator has any skill, their first three moves are usually the most powerful. As long as you get past them, your opponent will think you're nothing special and lower their guard. In that case, you can hold back and use those three moves to feint before killing them.

As for the Divine Cult, hey, I'm quite skilled at fighting them. Let me teach you a sure-fire method: even if you encounter a protector who has received the true teachings, you don't need to be afraid! That is to get close! Chase them and don't give them any breathing room!

The God Lord is indeed a genius. Not only does Body Domination Technique, but the spells he passed down are also extremely varied and unpredictable. Moreover, his Primordial Spirit Technique is the most powerful. Therefore, those who fight the God Sect should be careful not to let them get too far away and escape from their sight!

Otherwise, once they protect their physical bodies, they can use their spirits to attack you. Facing hundreds of spells, you'll be overwhelmed and unable to defend yourself. Remember to stay close, stay close, and never give them a chance to create distance to cast spells!

Okay! Stick it on! Let's try three moves first! Then kill someone!

Enveloped in malevolent flames, like a ferocious tiger amidst a black wind, it pounced, leaped, and slashed at the black-robed man wearing a jackal mask. In a flash, it tore open Lu Yu's robe, revealing his true form beneath.

"Tiger Transformation! Blood Shadow Godly Movement! Which protector is here! How dare you attack Lu Chai at this time! To snatch the Saintess at this moment, are you trying to betray the sect?!" Lu Chai was nearly caught off guard by the black tiger's sudden sword snatching and roared in shock and rage.

His robes were torn to shreds, and a claw struck his chest, leaving three deep gashes. Had he not been using a puppet body, he would have been killed by that attack!

As expected, it was still a puppet. However, this one was made so realistically that it looked like a real person, but its appearance was completely different from Lu Yu's. Perhaps, like 'Lu Yu' and 'Lu Qi', it was just an incarnation for convenience. So let's just call him the leader of the Divine Cult, Lu Chai!

"Roar--!" Li Fan suddenly raised his head and spewed out a whirlwind of murderous energy from his tiger's mouth! Like a tornado and a torrent of fire, it swept across, directly smashing the rock walls around the altar, sending rocks flying everywhere! The earth shook!

At this moment, with the continuous baleful aura emanating from the Blood Lord nourishing his True Essence, Li Fan, despite using the Qiongqi Dao Body, found his mind clearer than ever before! Not only did he not lose control of his body as if in a dream, as he had before, but he was even able to use the Dao Body to launch attacks as if it were his true body!

Moreover, with just this one leap, Li Fan became familiar with the meridian and skeletal structure of this tiger-shaped body. He even figured out how to directly draw upon the evil energy within the Qiongqi's body and unleash it like the Qiankun Flying Dragon Sword, thus inventing a new move for sweeping evil energy!

"Where did this beast come from! How dare he ruin my important plans!"

Enraged, Lu Chai moved like a ghost around the altar, dodging the sweeping winds and clearly drawing Li Fan's attacks to prevent him from accidentally injuring the Blood Lord on the altar pillars. At the same time, his hands moved rapidly, forming hand seals. Suddenly, a handful of yellow talismans poured out from between his palms, spreading out like yellow leaves swept down by a strong wind!

"The Supreme Lord expounds the Dharma with the sound of golden bells and jade chimes, subduing all demons and evil spirits in the defiled lands. Heavenly flowers scatter, and the Dharma drum shakes the layers of delusion. May the eight rays of light illuminate the hearts that turn to refuge! So be it!"

With Lu Chai's incantation, a large number of yellow talismans flew like butterflies and clung to the malevolent wind spewing from Li Fan's mouth! Although they were instantly burned away by the black wind and fire, a large portion of the malevolent energy was absorbed and evaporated by the yellow talismans. One by one, they covered the sky and the sun! They actually met the surging malevolent energy head-on, forming a wall and forcefully dispelling the raging torrent of malevolent wind!

Li Fan's heart skipped a beat. This Lu Chai was truly formidable. Even after his flying sword was taken away, he remained unfazed and saw through Li Fan's transformed form at a glance. He appeared powerful but was actually quite weak, relying entirely on the advantage of the pervasive malevolent energy in the arena! Therefore, he immediately cast a spell to dispel and absorb the surrounding malevolent energy, directly altering the battlefield! How could he allow Lu Chai to succeed?

Li Fan immediately leaped forward, opened his mouth, and spewed out five swirling vortexes of malevolent energy from his lungs, like black dragons sweeping across! He controlled them with the five ghosts in his heart, launching a series of powerful attacks from all directions, weaving left and right, attempting to break through the talisman wall head-on and directly attack Lu Chai's five limbs!

"A mere trick!" Lu Chai grabbed with his left hand and pulled out a square black flag from his storage pendant at his waist. With a wave of his hand, he blocked all five streams of malevolent energy coming his way, which were actually drawn into the flag and absorbed into it!

At the same time, Lu Chai lifted and tore off his robe with his right hand, raising a huge roll of cloth that actually landed and formed an array! It billowed out with a whoosh! In an instant, a magic array was about to be erected!

How could Li Fan possibly give him the chance to set up an array and perform magic!

"Awooo!" With a roar, the ferocious tiger lunged forward, smashing the cloth wall with its claws, and charged straight at Lu Chai, not letting him out of its sight. At the same time, it opened its mouth and spewed a breath! But this time, it was not spewing out any murderous aura!

Three moves had passed! A flash of light, and the sword, Pitian, emerged from its body! It plunged straight into Lu Chai's skull!

Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, Lu Chai let out a sharp shriek, turned his head around, and revealed his face from the back of his head. He opened his eyes wide and stared at the bright, shining sword tip of Pitian, which was piercing right in front of him!

This sudden switch startled both of them.

Lu Chai never expected that his opponent would not use a flying sword upon coming up, but instead use a series of agile movements, first paralyzing him with his murderous aura, and then suddenly assassinating him with a flying sword! This tiger was more cunning than a venomous snake!

Li Fan was also surprised that even after using a combination of deception and violence, Lu Chai was still able to defend himself!

"Aww!" But Li Fan still had the upper hand at this point!

Taking advantage of Lu Chai's distraction by the flying sword, Li Fan charged forward like a tiger leaping across a river! He smashed through the cloth wall, his four claws crushing Lu Chai's limbs, and then he bit down on Lu Chai's neck!

But I didn't get a bite!

In that instant, Lu Chai's chest armor suddenly burst open, and his bones and mechanisms rapidly disintegrated and reassembled. His ribs were temporarily modified into mechanical arms that spewed out from under his body cavity and pressed down on the tiger's head.

Li Fan's scalp was being gripped by those mechanical arms, but it didn't hurt at all! His eyes scanned the area, and he could clearly see the structure inside Lu Chai's puppet shell. At the heart, there was a metal polygonal cage that was operating wildly, transforming its own body into mechanical arms to defend against the tiger's teeth. It was clearly the core mechanism of this puppet's power source... No! The shape is wrong!

Lu Yu had once shown Li Fan something resembling a cricket cage hidden in his right arm. Could that really be his true form?! Was he just openly showing it to him?

Li Fan whirled his head and saw his right arm, which he had smashed with a claw, crawling out. The Lu Chai beneath his claws suddenly emitted a bright light from its mouth and nose! It exploded with a loud bang!

The raging flames illuminated the altar, but amidst the billowing smoke, the purplish-black ferocious tiger's mane merely trembled like ocean waves, yet it was not seriously injured. This was because, in the instant the explosion occurred, the flames mixed with the surrounding malevolent energy, along with the blasted Pitian, were almost simultaneously absorbed into the black moon wheel that appeared on the back of Qiongqi Dao Body's head!

But the two beastly eyes, one black and one white, stared at the severed arm that was crawling out like a crab, yet they didn't immediately rush to grab it.

It wasn't that he didn't want to, it was that he couldn't; Li Fan crashed.

He strained his eyes to dispel the drowsiness, and his beastly pupils gradually widened and regained their clarity.

Oh no, the lamb's nutrients have been completely digested. I only used the Heaven-Splitting Technique briefly, and my body almost lost control...

It feels like you're running a game that's maxing out your CPU, but then you recklessly switch to running two different antivirus programs from different companies, and it's so laggy you can't even move a single frame.

Oh no, my primordial spirit at the Golden Core Stage is still too weak! It's far too much to try and simultaneously transform my Dao body to control the flying sword!

Immediately, four figures leaped out of the shadows, with the leader grabbing the severed arm and replacing it with his own.

Now in a new body, Lu Chai glared angrily, "You really want to oppose my cult? Don't blame me for being ruthless!"

Li Fan still couldn't feel his hands and feet, and his body wouldn't obey his commands. He could only manage to speak in a low voice, "Go ahead and be ruthless. The Saintess is in my belly. As long as I can hold you off until dawn, all your plans will be in vain."

On the contrary, it's too late for you if you don't run away now, hehehe. But you've invested all your savings, are you really willing to run away?"

"... What exactly do you want? Just say it!" Lu Chai obviously didn't expect that Li Fan was in such a dangerous state and had exhausted all his options. He thought that the other party had destroyed his physical body, but then deliberately let him go just to negotiate terms.

"Heh heh," Li Fan chuckled coldly, his tiger's mouth splitting open. He was happy to catch his breath; after all, you're all riddle tellers. "Guess!"

"..." Lu Chai remained silent for a while, "You've been secretly watching me all along, waiting until now to sabotage my plans. Clearly, you have ulterior motives and have been plotting for a long time! I am ashamed of my lack of patience!"

But you've always had opportunities to make a move, you just chose this moment to jump out and force me to act, so your goal isn't the Blood Lord or the Saintess, but rather other things in my possession.

But you have no shortage of flying sword-level magical treasures, and you also possess the Blood Shadow Godly Movement and such superior body transformation techniques. Naturally, you are comparable to the ancient orthodox lineage of the Three Great Sects, so naturally you would look down on my unorthodox magic. Judging from your path of transformation, you probably have no interest in Mechanical Puppet either... Transformation... I understand."

You know nothing! You're trying to write my mind! My legs are numb and I can't move, otherwise I'd bite you to death, you scheming bastard who's been plotting against me!

"It's good that you understand." Li Fan smiled on the surface, but inwardly he was cursing...

Then Lu Chai slowly said, "So you chased after me all the way from Kunlun for that thing!"

Damn it! Once I get moving, I'm going to kill all of you riddle-solving bastards!

Li Fan smiled and nodded, "You are indeed smart."

Lu Chai gritted his teeth and said, "I knew this thing would be ruthless... but I've already given it to Jade Toad Granny."

Li Fan stopped smiling and took a step forward.

"I am not lying to deceive you!" Lu Chai said urgently. "You should know that only that thing can persuade a great demon at the Divine Transformation level to help me restrain the mountain lord of Ink Bamboo Mountain!"

"Without prior planning, how could my arrangements today possibly succeed in temporarily eliminating the threat posed by the two Nascent Divine Transformation of Ink Bamboo Mountain?!"

Li Fan narrowed his eyes. So Lu Chai had indeed reached some kind of agreement with Jade Toad Granny. So before he was chosen as a disciple, Jade Toad Granny caused a ruckus at Ink Bamboo Mountain and played chess with the mountain lord. Was it Lu Chai's purpose to make the two Divine Transformation fight, so that the mountain lord would be injured and go into seclusion to recuperate? But it was indeed because the mountain lord went into seclusion that he was able to arrange these Blood Lord's descent.

But what exactly was it that could make that great demon Jade Toad Granny act on his behalf?

At this moment, Li Fan's tiger-headed expression was uncertain, exuding murderous intent, and his face looked very fierce.

Lu Chai was also worried that if the other party didn't get what they were after, they might break off relations and ruin his hard-won plans. He was a model of a ruthless hero, and without hesitation, he loudly proclaimed, "Your Excellency, do not worry! Although I gave that thing to Jade Toad Granny, I can frankly tell you that I obtained it from the Kun Country! There is actually one in the Li Country as well! It's in the Guo Family's treasury!"

However, the Guo Family is heavily guarded, and Jade Toad Granny was seriously injured by the mountain lord before, so I don't have any use for her yet, which is why I didn't take her for the transaction!

The Guo Family resides in Daning Ward in the east of the city. It is close to the Imperial City and heavily guarded. Even though you are powerful, you cannot easily infiltrate there! However, once the Blood Lord descends and chaos erupts in the city, you will have a chance to take what you need, won't you?

I have no intention of deceiving you. I have already sold this information to the demons in the south, and they have arranged for many reinforcements to come. Regardless of whether this matter succeeds or fails today, they will besiege the Guo Family to seize the treasure. If you arrive too late, you may miss this opportunity again!

Li Fan squinted at him for a moment, then said slyly, "You really are quick-witted. At a time like this, you not only want me not to ruin your plans, but you also want to use me as a pawn to attack the Guo Family and attract the attention of Ink Bamboo Mountain. You're really something."

"Heh heh, but you're always talking nonsense, how could I possibly trust a jackal like you?"

Lu Chai gritted his teeth, "Your Excellency knew perfectly well that once that name was uttered, the Abbot would foresee it!"

Li Fan laughed, "It wasn't me who said that. Besides, do you really need this little bit more money?"

Lu Chai narrowed his eyes, knowing there was no time for further delays and entanglements. He gritted his teeth, "Fine! Whether I die sooner or later, I'll die anyway! Let you know that I sealed the egg sheaths of the Four Fiends!"

Four Fiends?

Li Fan was taken aback.

This Lu Chai truly lived up to his reputation for cunning and resourcefulness. Li Fan's sudden change in emotion made him realize that the other party knew nothing about the Four Fiends, and he instantly understood that he was utterly defeated. Unable to contain his shock and anger, he screamed and cursed...

"You fucking schemed against me!"

"That's what you call a mistake made when you're young!"

Li Fan laughed loudly, and a fierce tiger leaped up, its roar shaking the mountains and the heavens.

"Lu Chai! Die--!"