Siblings

Are they driven to desperation by the system, calling everything a flying sword without any regard for consequences? However, if the sole purpose is combat, perhaps it could indeed be used as a flying sword...

Of course, the specific effects still need to be tested. If it can directly teleport into the body of Nascent Soul Stage cultivator, then its power is naturally immense. If it can only work on creatures below the Golden Core realm, then it will probably be a useless tool.

Li Fan shrugged and put the bracelet back in his pocket.

He'd try it another time; his main task now was to get his hands on the Heavenly Book. The real challenge, however, was dealing with the five demons in the mirror. They seemed to be a completely different kind of being compared to the evil spirits. If they came to this side of the mirror, Li Fan wouldn't be afraid of them at all; one glare would be enough to kill them.

But if he entered the world inside the mirror, that would be the other side's home turf, and Li Fan couldn't figure out if there were any traps or mechanisms, so he wasn't confident of victory.

Moreover, the idea that Ghost Hand can deal with these things is just Li Fan's deduction. Who knows what other beings might be inside the mirror? To put it another way, if he really did leave his body and rush into the mirror to snatch the book, and suddenly a golden light shot out from the mirror, damaging his physical body, wouldn't that be a huge loss?

Perhaps I really should talk to the bald-headed monk at the Iron Buddha Temple. The monks should know the origin of this treasure; I need to understand the details of the Phantom Moon Treasure Mirror before taking any action. At least compared to the madwoman screaming in the mirror, the bald-headed monk seems like someone I can communicate with...

So Li Fan made up his mind to disguise himself as an old man version of Li Yaoshi and use his escape technique to go to Iron Buddha... cough cough cough! I almost forgot about the side quest! Damn, I've taken on too many quests, I need to write them down in a notebook...

So he turned back halfway and went back to check on Lin Chen Lin Xiang, only to find that Li Fan had almost completely stumped him.

What's going on?

Lin Chen was exhausted and collapsed to the ground. Clearly, his flying immortal technique had failed. Lin Xiang was still a vengeful ghost, and she moved freely, not becoming a completely controlled flying immortal corpse soldier like a guardian soldier. However, it didn't seem like a complete failure. Because Lin Xiang had broken free of her restraints, she was like a living person, spreading her arms to block her brother and preventing the crowd of people with bows, crossbows, knives, and forks who had surrounded the siblings from getting closer.

A swordsman with a mustache, a slanted-eyed Daoist priest, and a constable with thick eyebrows—three Golden Core cultivators—stood in the front row, confronting Lin Xiang. It was probably them who had broken the Bagua formation that Li Fan had set up earlier. Judging from the traces of blood and gore on the ground, a fight had already taken place. Four or five burly men in the Foundation Establishment stage had been severely injured and were coughing up blood, and were healing their wounds in the back, but surprisingly, no one had died.

Li Fan was a little surprised. He was no stranger to the power of the Fiend Corpse; when they killed, corpses littered the ground, blood and flesh flew everywhere, and they could tear even Golden Core cultivators to shreds. How could Lin Xiang actually stop herself?

Moreover, the sun had already come out, and the sunlight shone through the trees in the forest onto Lin Xiang's fair face, sizzling and burning out patches of glare. But the girl did not move, just held her arms outstretched, forming a stark shape to block her brother behind her, refusing to back down.

"This fiendish corpse seems to have mutated; it's not even afraid of sunlight..." The slanted-eyed Daoist was greatly surprised, clearly not expecting that waiting until the sun came out wouldn't be of much use.

"You must not let it escape to hurt anyone! Huang Daozhang, Jing Daxia, I will use the Gang Fist to block it later. When you see the opportunity, you will kill it with a special move. There is no need to cover me!"

As the thick-browed constable spoke, he tore open his tattered clothes, revealing a strong, muscular brown body. Bloodstains were visible on his ribs and chest, which had been faintly stained black by the murderous aura.

"Chen, I don't think this kid intends to hurt anyone. Why don't we retreat outside the formation, set up the expert's formation flag again to trap them? Why risk our lives..." The slanted-eyed Daoist priest held a talisman in his hand, turning sideways to watch Lin Xiang warily.

"No!" Chen roared, donning his iron gauntlets. "I've seen plenty of cases committed by these fiends! They all deserve to die! What kind of experts are they! They're just demons trying to create corpse soldiers! Once that person returns, they won't be able to hold them back! The sun is up now; the fiends' strength should be reduced by at least half. Now is the perfect time to slay demons and eliminate evil!"

The squinting Daoist priest sighed, "Alright, I'll use the Thunder Talisman my master gave me. All the onlookers, stay far away! Retreat outside the array flags! Chen, you be careful too!"

Everyone hurriedly retreated.

"Thank you for your trouble." Chen nodded, then glanced at the swordsman.

"Hurry up, I've been waiting forever." White mist swirled around the mustachioed swordsman's longsword, like a snake spitting its tongue.

"Okay! Haha--!! Ten heavy Gang Fist!!"

Chen roared, his muscles bulging, and he took a leap forward, taking three large steps before launching himself into the air with a tiger pounce, aiming his fists straight at the corpse's head!

Lin Xiang flapped her hands like a butterfly flapping its wings, defying the laws of gravity to dodge Chen Butou's lunge. With another flap of her arms, her left claw swept down towards Chen's shoulder and back, targeting his collarbone.

This move truly caught Li Fan off guard. The normal way to fight a corpse demon is to go straight for the heart and head, but Lin Xiang actually avoided the attack! And instead of grabbing Chen's head, she patted his shoulder and back – she was holding back! What's going on? She should already be dead, right?

Of course, Chen had also witnessed Lin Xiang's prowess. Someone with real skill like him wouldn't be defeated in one move. He used his left peg to deflect Lin Xiang's claws and then threw a single punch at her face.

However, the formidable nature of the Fiend Corpse lies in its steel-like body and immense strength. When exchanging blows in close combat, its fighting style cannot be predicted by common sense. If an ordinary person were punched in the face, their body's instinctive reaction would be to dodge immediately. This would allow Chen to unleash his powerful fist combo.

But at that moment, Lin Xiang took the punch head-on with her face, making a loud bang. Everyone around her gasp, fearing that the child's cervical spine had been broken by the punch.

However, that didn't happen. Lin Xiang was stopped in her tracks by the punch, but instead used the force to do a somersault, grabbing Chen's right arm with her hands and feet and kicking him with a crack. He was sent flying backward, his shoulder swelling up and dislocated!

Holy crap, they even know martial arts...

However, with his appearance, it was clear that Chen was not the kind of man who could be stopped by a mere dislocated shoulder. With a roar, he swung his right arm and slammed Lin Xiang to the ground with a thud! The impact sent dust flying, dust particles scattering, and cracks appearing on the ground!

At this moment, the mustachioed swordsman Jing Jianke moved around Chen's shadow, darted out from his blind spot, and with a turn of his four-foot-long sword, slashed straight down at Chen's right arm and Lin Xiang's head!

Without fear, Chen raised his right arm and sent his right hand and Lin Xiang to be cut down by the sword!

However, the instant he raised his hand, Lin Xiang also pushed off the ground with one foot, suddenly spinning like a top, like a fluttering wild bee, kicking away Chen, and rushing straight towards Jing Jianke's chest, her claws digging straight for the swordsman's chest!

This man with the mustache didn't have the same high level of awareness Chen. He was probably just there to make a name for himself and earn some commission. He had no interest in sacrificing himself for righteousness. In this life-or-death moment, he used all his strength. He flicked his longsword, took a step back, and the white mist on the blade trembled. It cut through Lin Xiang's outer clothes and hair, and made a series of white streaks on her forearm, but he couldn't cut her arm. Finally, he was slapped in the chest and sent flying!

"Thirteenfold Divine Fist!!"

With a roar, Chen lunged forward, grabbed Lin Xiang's ankle, and hurled her into the woods, smashing a thick tree in half.

"Hero Jing!" Chen roared, and his right arm was reattached in an instant.

"Cough, cough, cough!" The swordsman lay on his back on the ground, blood splattered all over his mustache. "If... if only I had a good sword..."

Li Fan rolled his eyes. Come on, you changed your sword strike into a sword tremor. You're obviously chickening out. But Lin Xiang is interesting. She slapped him in the chest, but she didn't cut him open or grab his heart and lungs. She just slapped him.

Meanwhile, the squinty-eyed Daoist priest was still sweating profusely as he chanted incantations. This was partly because the attack was happening too fast, and not everyone in the world could have their spells and incantations take effect with a single strike like Li Fan, so he still had to chant for a while.

So Chen Captou also made up his mind, "Drink! Fourteen-fold Gang Fist! Die!"

This time, he unleashed a powerful punch, his entire body moving like a blur, once again striking straight towards Lin Xiang's core!

Facing the now even stronger Chen, Lin Xiang had no room to dodge or use tricks. So she let out a furious roar and jumped up to fight Chen head-on.

The two fought fiercely, one with fists and the other with claws, their blows earth-shattering, every punch landing with flesh, every claw drawing blood. After exchanging seventeen or eighteen blows in the blink of an eye, Lin Xiang was punched in the face, sent flying like a spinning top, crashing into three large trees and becoming stuck in the trunks, unable to climb out for a while.

Chen was also covered in bruises, his chest and back riddled with claw marks and holes from fingers, dripping with blood and exuding a murderous aura. He could no longer hold on and knelt on the ground, panting, with some confusion on his face.

By now, he could see that although Lin Xiang couldn't dodge his powerful punches, he couldn't dodge Lin Xiang counterattacks either. If even one of her moves had been aimed at his vital organs, Chen would have died on the spot.

"Alright, alright! I'm ready! Chen, watch out!" The slanted-eyed Daoist priest gathered spiritual energy in the talisman in his hand, his aura reaching straight to the sky, drawing together a large patch of thunderclouds. Oh, it was actually a Thunder Talisman.

"Demon, prepare to die! Radiant Heavenly Might! Thunder of All Things! Five Tribulations to Slay the Demon! Destroy Evil and Repel Weapons! Heavenly Thunder Annihilates... Ouch! Ouch! Ouch ouch~~!"

Li Fan hid in the ground and waited until the Daoist priest's internal Dao Breath had fully dissipated before pointing a finger at his lower back. This prevented the Daoist from falling into a state of demonic possession; he simply felt a sharp pain in his lower back, a tingling sensation in his body, numbness in his legs, and collapsed to the ground.

Of course, his Daoist technique of guiding the thunder magic also went astray with one finger, and then—crack!

A bolt of lightning, which had been gathering power for most of the day, flashed with blue light and struck a nearby tree, splitting the trunk in two with a crack and igniting a raging fire.

"You damned Daoist priest Huang!" The man with the mustache was so frustrated and angry he almost fainted.

Li Fan emerged from the ground, concealed, and looked at the Lin Family siblings.

Lin Chen lay unconscious on the ground, but not dead. His injuries weren't life-threatening. He kept muttering, "Don't kill... don't kill..."

Lin Xiang struggled to climb out of the tree trunk, rubbing the bump on her head. She walked over stiffly, pulled her brother up, and carried him on her small shoulders, trembling as they fled into the mountains for their lives.

Li Fan patted Lin Xiang's head, "At your age, you have such skills. Did you learn them by watching your father and brothers practice? You have good comprehension."

Lin Xiang was startled and swung her hand to grab Li Fan's arm, but her skills were only good for bullying novices. In Li Fan's eyes, it was just like a kitten waving its claws. He casually slapped a talisman on her head and immobilized her. He then skillfully bound the two siblings with the Immortal Imprisoning Immortal Rope and put it in his sleeve.

"I'll take these two," Li Fan tossed a Donghua Changchun Pill to Chen. "Your fist technique is too harmful to your body. Reaching the sixteenth level will surely kill you. Use it less often in the future. It's not like someone will always give you elixirs."

"Senior, wait! Lin Chen is ignorant and I can forgive him for protecting my sister's escape! But that fiend killed a centurion of the Imperial Guards, slaughtered most of the garrison, and has committed more than one murder. How can we let him go like this!" Chen gritted his teeth and stood up, seemingly determined to stop him even at the cost of his life.

"You're saying the girl killed them?" Li Fan glanced at him, then thought for a moment, "What level was their father, that centurion of the imperial guards, at?"

Chen was taken aback, "Golden Core Realm..."

"Her strength should be about the same as yours, right? You personally witnessed this little girl kill her?"

Chen frowned. "The Lin family has a long tradition of guarding the army, and their family martial arts are naturally stronger than my Gangquan. He was torn to pieces, so it must have been killed by a demonic corpse."

Li Fan nodded and said, "When I saw the two of them last night, there wasn't a trace of blood on the girl. She must have just been murdered and fed a corpse-refining pill. Moreover, she was bound with iron chains, so she didn't look like she had killed anyone."

Look at the chains on the ground. She must have only recently become a fully-fledged demonic corpse, gaining superhuman strength to break them. How could she have torn apart a Golden Core cultivator from a powerful family before that? She couldn't even break your arm; she had to use joint locks...

Even if we take a step back and assume she really did kill him, it's highly unlikely that a demonic corpse capable of wiping out a hundred households could be subdued by a boy with a missing hand who hasn't even Foundation Establishment yet, right?

Chen changed drastically. "He was fed a corpse-refining pill... and bound with iron chains..."

"I think it's unlikely that any constable who survives to the Golden Core stage is a fool. Constable Chen, you might as well calm down and think about it carefully. Is it a common occurrence in the Central Plains for a centurion of the Imperial Guards to have his daughter suddenly turn into a demon corpse and wipe out his entire family?"

Li Fan glanced at him, then vanished underground.

This time, Chen didn't try to stop him, and of course, he couldn't stop him anyway.