The Wild Girl

Rolling black winds swirled and clashed above the swamp and forest. As the shimmering light of the treasures flickered, vague human figures and scattered corpses fell from the sky and perished in the mud.

These cultivators who dared to venture deep into the heart of Lei Marsh Swamp, unless the numbers on both sides differed too much, would engage in a chaotic melee upon encountering each other. Compared to truly rare and Heavenly Treasure, the flesh and blood on the other side were the 'opportunities' these heretics were so eager to find.

The Winner naturally take all, but the flesh and blood of the losers will continue to nourish the creatures of Lei Marsh until the next time Lei Marsh opens, where they will transform into new Ling Bao, attracting a new batch of adventurous travelers to join this cyclical feast.

To call them short-sighted might be an oversimplification. After all, how many people in the world possess Li Fan's talent, good fortune, and incredible destiny? Didn't they all start from scratch, cultivating diligently life after life, accumulating wealth and connections before gradually entering the orthodox Xuanmen sect? For a true independent cultivator, having even a reliable Cultivation Method is already a feat; who would expect to collect a pile of treasures and refine a seventh or eighth-grade divine pill?

Most of the Li Fan encountered along the way were similar to those he had just met. To say they were of low skill level was an understatement. But to call them trash was also unfair, considering they were Golden Core cultivators who had finally broken through the threshold of cultivation. To casually wipe them out after all that effort seemed like bullying.

So when Li Fan observed from afar that a fierce battle was taking place near the third spiritual vein acupoint, he thought it best to be kind and not set a trap. He decided to avoid any conflict, since seven days had passed since the Immortal Palace, and the rogue cultivators probably didn't have any information. He decided to simply take a detour.

After all, he hasn't activated the Killing Tribulation yet, so there's no mood cap increase. He just defended himself by the spring, which only increased his mood by a mere dozen points. Apart from that sword, everything else was trash, and it even filled his Yin-Yang Qi Transformation Bag. It's clear that killing monsters on this map is inefficient and not worth the effort of farming these Golden Core Stage white-named crayfish that he might sting. It's one thing to waste energy, but if he gets too carried away killing, it will affect his Dao Heart, which is not worth it.

On the contrary, the direct harvesting yielded huge profits, with a whole bunch of rare and miscellaneous materials. Even if they failed to catch up with the Nangong Family this time, affecting their state of mind and preventing them from breaking through for several years, it wouldn't be a big problem.

Having acquired so many materials, Li Fan can now begin to hone his skills in alchemy and artifact crafting. In short, he needs to develop in all six arts: morality, intelligence, physical fitness, aesthetics, labor, alchemy, artifact crafting, array formations, talismans, divination, and mechanisms.

So after being overwhelmed by Lei Marsh's resources, Li Fan's strategy changed from advancing the main storyline and annihilating the Nangong clan to letting the main storyline unfold as it came and prioritizing resource gathering.

So Li Fan stopped flying in the sky and instead traveled through the underground marshes, leaping between vines and tree trunks, picking an orchid here and a nest of beetles there. He was too lazy to explain each and every one of the Profound Heaven Sword Intent in detail, so he just spat out one word at a time: 'elixir, weapon, medicine, material, poison, jade, sword, throw...'

Li Fan also used a cinnabar pen to mark his pile of Storage Jade, and then collected and sorted the various materials into categories.

Sigh, when others come to Lei Marsh, they have to fight for every single fruit, but he comes and collects every single jade pendant. Can you believe the difference in fortune between people is so vast?

'The Dao of Profound Heaven Sword Intent, damn it!'

Cough cough, okay, let's not provoke this guy anymore, or he'll accidentally write "fuck" on the jade pendant too...

After continuously collecting goods, and having nearly filled the dozen or so jade pendants he'd gathered by the spring, Li Fan finally noticed that he seemed to have deviated from the spiritual vein path on the map. Where was he...?

So Li Fan sat on the tree trunk, closed his eyes, and used his Divine Sense to scan the surrounding aura.

Although no spiritual veins or energy points marked on the map were found, another wave of rogue cultivators found them amidst the fighting. It seems this is truly as lively as a festival, with the entire Lei Marsh Swamp in complete chaos.

However, after observing from afar this time, Li Fan decided to take action. This wasn't a fight among human cultivators, but rather a group of demons attacking humans!

A quick sweep of his Divine Sense revealed eight Inner Core stage demons surrounding two human cultivators in the forest. One was Golden Core Stage cultivator, already injured, and the other was merely Foundation Establishment stage cultivator. The Golden Core cultivator was carrying the Foundation Establishment stage cultivator as they desperately tried to escape through the forest, but their escape route was already blocked by the demons. They were like cornered beasts, fighting desperately; without a fight, they were certain to die.

Immediately, Li Fan took out the Yellow Jade Sword Case, made a sword incantation, and the Heaven-Slaying Sword transformed into a white streak, soaring into the air with a blazing light, leaving a trail of light in mid-air before plummeting straight into the dense forest. It struck the eight demons locked in Li Fan's Divine Sense, instantly piercing their chests and decapitating them, annihilating the eight demonic consciousnesses within Li Fan's sea of consciousness. Then, Li Fan flicked his finger, and the Heaven-Slaying Sword transformed back into a beam of light, swiftly flying back into the sword case. It all took... a dozen seconds, perhaps?

Yes, that's it. That's how flying swords are used... It's really boring...

Li Fan leaped onto the battlefield, stepping on tree branches. He casually collected the monsters' corpses, then stood atop a tree, stepping on the leaves, and looked at the two people he had saved.

An old woman, her body blackened and filthy as if burned, with veins bulging on her face like centipedes, and blood flowing from her mouth and nose, lay motionless on the ground. It seemed she had been seriously injured in the battle, probably surrounded and killed by monsters, and was now exhausted.

The other was a child, covered in dust and dirt, skinny like a monkey, somewhat malnourished, but his dark eyes were bright and spirited. He didn't seem frightened by the monster, and for such a young age, he could already Foundation Establishment; his aptitude must be quite good... right?

'The Dao of Profound Heaven Sword Intent, Part Eight.'

Eighth rank? It's not bad to be considered a rank, but it's above trash.

"Thank you so much for saving my life, Immortal." The old woman, hunched over, prostrated herself on the ground and kowtowed to Li Fan. "Please, Immortal, take my disciple out of Lei Marsh. I have nothing of value but one inner core to repay your life-saving grace!"

As she spoke, she suddenly plunged the elixir into her abdomen, pulling out a Golden Core that bloomed with four colors, and died instantly.

Li Fan didn't even have time to react. He frowned slightly. This old woman was ruthless. Knowing she was beyond saving, she directly extracted his Golden Core...

In fact, both the Golden Core cultivated by humans and the inner cores cultivated by demons contain spiritual energy and are precious materials that can be used in alchemy. However, Heavenly Treasure are not lacking, and rare and precious treasures can be used as substitutes. Therefore, it is rare for serious cultivators to use human cores to refine medicine.

Li Fan swept his palm wind around and took a look at the four-colored pill. It was missing the Divine Hardness Qi and the Crimson Fiend Qi was also a bit impure. The other three colors were okay, but it was obvious that he had tried to refine the Five Qi Golden Core but failed. It was impure and the five energies were unbalanced. It was garbage.

Li Fan glanced at the child beside the old woman. The child neither cried nor made a fuss; he simply knelt quietly beside the old woman and helped her tidy her hair.

"Hey, what's your name?"

The child looked up at Li Fan, bowed to him, and said, "Hungry dumpling."

Li Fan, "..."

System translation...

Chen Asha stated that her Chen Asha.

Li Fan frowned. "You're a girl?"

The child stared at Li Fan and said, "You're dead."

Li Fan, "..."

Chen Asha replied, "Yes."

Okay, okay, I understand this...

Li Fan frowned. Well, another burden had been picked up. But he couldn't just leave her in this Lei Marsh Swamp; she'd surely die. It seemed unlikely they'd reach the Immortal Palace this time... Oh well, one thing at a time. He'd just consider it an escort mission...

Li Fan landed in front of the girl and casually tossed the old woman's Golden Core to her. "Here's your master's thing back. Do you have any other relatives? Do you want me to bury their bodies?"

Chen Asha shook her head, bowed three times to her master, took out a brocade pouch from her waist, took out an incense burner from the pouch, opened the lid of the incense burner, and a black snake crawled out from inside. It burrowed into her master's mouth and nose and sucked out all the essence and blood from the corpse, turning it into a skin bag scattered on the ground.

Li Fan frowned. What kind of eerie skill was this?

'Profound Heaven Sword Intent Dao, Gu.'

Oh... Gu... Could you explain in more detail?

' Profound Heaven Sword Intent, I don't know it, so how can I explain it in detail? I've heard that some barbarian tribes in the Kun Country use Gu poison; this is probably a barbarian girl.'

"Southern barbarians?" Li Fan glanced at Chen Asha, who was wrapping a black snake around her hand and putting it back into the incense burner along with her master's Golden Core. Her clothes were filthy, making her look like a beggar, and there was no discernible ethnic characteristic.

"Are you from Kun Country?"

"Die."

"Your area has been taken over by a religious sect?"

"Sen's feet are like spicy hot pot, I know."

"What about the Immortal Palace? You know the Immortal Palace... never mind, have you ever seen a single auspicious cloud?"

"Sister."

"... You're only at the Foundation Establishment stage, why did your master bring you to Lei Marsh?"

"Gathering the blade and sprinkling it, the medicine is strong and the family must distribute the package, Grandma is on behalf of the family to ask for pots and pans, then she comes to the south."

As Chen Asha answered, she held up the incense burner in her hands and showed it to Li Fan.

Well, it's clear this girl is quite clever and quick-witted. She can barely keep up with conversations in Mandarin, and she's not shy at all. Her aptitude is definitely not bad, but her accent is too heavy, making it really awkward to listen to. Li Fan really has to rely on the system's translation to communicate with her.

"Keep your treasure safe. I have my own things to attend to, so I'll give you a ride for now."

"Please order more fresh produce and wine," Chen Asha replied with a bow of thanks.

What kind of food is this, used to buy liquor... or even soy sauce?

Having a burden like this would make it inconvenient to collect Heavenly Treasure, but Li Fan wasn't in a hurry. Anyway, Lei Marsh had plenty of time ahead of him. He didn't have any clues about the Nangong Family right now, so he could even go back to Zhonggu first, leave the girl in a safe place, and buy a few sacks of Storage Jade from merchants before coming back to harvest some more treasures.

Li Fan pondered for a moment, then summoned the Demon Slayer Sword, using its Sword Light to envelop Chen Asha and carry her into the sky. This wild girl had shown quite a bit of courage earlier, but now that she was flying, she was very nervous. The Sword Light flew high and fast, scaring her so much that she couldn't help but grab onto Li Fan's Daoist robe, as if afraid of falling.

So Li Fan had no choice but to slow down the Sword Light to prevent the child from getting airsick and vomiting.

However, this made the Sword Light too conspicuous. After traveling less than ten miles, Li Fan immediately sensed a group of people using their Divine Sense to spy on him and flying towards him.

He tried to change direction and circle around several times, but was locked by Divine Sense each time, so he simply gave up and landed in an open area. He pointed to the bushes next to him and said to Chen Asha, "You hide over there."

He told the girl to hide well, Li Fan waited for a while until the six cultivators flew up to him. He then cupped his hands in greeting and asked, "What brings you here?"

"Hand over your flying swords and Storage Jade!" The group of cultivators, like Li Fan, wore veils and masks to cover their faces, shouting like bandits.

"I advise you all not to seek your own death," Li Fan politely advised.

Then the robbers let out a strange laugh, flicked their hands to form hand seals, and unleashed a series of magical treasures with a clanging sound.

Li Fan could only sigh. He made a sword-like gesture with his hand, and the Heaven-Splitting Sword Light flashed, slicing open the throats of the six people and causing six bursts of blood. The figures in the sky also choked, as if they were monkeys that had been suddenly electrocuted and instantly froze. Then they fell one after another from mid-air into the swamp. A pile of magical treasures were scattered on the ground before they could even be shown off.

Chen Asha, who was hiding in the bushes, almost dropped her jaw.

Sigh, there was no other way. Li Fan didn't want to be so fierce, but his Dao heart was really unstable. He had to suppress his divine body with the Five Luo Sword Ghosts, and he couldn't be distracted by flying and controlling the sword at the same time. He didn't dare to be too careless and take too long to deal with trash, so he used Heaven-Splitting Unsheathing to kill them all right away.

These rogue cultivators were strange, though. Seeing them actually approaching, Li Fan initially thought they were asking for directions. If they really wanted to rob him, why wait until they were within eye contact before unleashing their magical attacks? Wasn't that just offering their necks to be killed? How could they possibly survive?

"The Profound Heaven Sword Intent says that the Golden Core Stage's primordial spirit is insufficient; even magic weapons and flying swords require a large amount of Divine Sense to control. If you can't keep a close eye on the target when throwing low-grade trash, it'll easily be smashed away... Besides, it's quite a freak that you, a Golden Core Stage cultivator, can kill someone beyond visual range..."

Oh, so in short, it's just that I'm awesome, right?

' Profound Heaven Sword Intent Dao, damn it! What are you pretending for, brat! Stabilize your Dao heart already! How annoying!'

Ahem, okay, I accidentally showed off a bit. My Dao heart got a little too cocky; I need to be careful.

Li Fan quickly cleaned up the battlefield. Turning his head, he saw the barbarian girl still lying obediently on the ground. He coughed and said, "It's alright, come out. Just a few petty thieves."

Then Chen Asha darted out like a monkey, pounced on Li Fan's feet, and knelt down.

"Ball Ball Fresh Search Hungry Sitting at the Bottom! Corner Hungry Cutting Grandma's Baby!"

Li Fan couldn't help but roll his eyes. Come on, he already had enough people around him who couldn't communicate without translation software. Besides, he'd only been cultivating for a short time; taking on disciples already? Wouldn't that be a joke if word got out?

"My cultivation is shallow, and I am not qualified to impart knowledge and skills. You don't need to worship me. Once you escape from Lei Marsh Swamp, go to Ink Bamboo Mountain to seek your immortal destiny."

Ignoring Chen Asha's pleas, he wrapped her up with a palm strike and carried her away on a Sword Light.