Sword Pellet

"Profound Heaven Sword Intent says, 'Holy crap! Sword pellet! Run! Run into the tomb!'"

Without needing Profound Heaven Sword Intent to say more, Li Fan scrambled using both hands and feet, turning to flee into the tomb without looking back.

He could hear Yuan Xuanbao let out a roar behind him, a monstrous cry like the howls of apes on both banks as a light boat passes. It sounded like he charged straight ahead, but the sound vanished in the next instant. He probably met the same fate, beheaded and killed instantly.

Li Fan didn't dare look back, afraid that as he turned his head, a streak of light would chase after him and lop off his head too. But perhaps it was precisely because these two senior brothers sacrificed themselves to block for him that he managed to charge forward, tumbling and scrambling into the tomb's pit.

"Profound Heaven Sword Intent says, 'Host, run inside! Don't stop! I'll block his divine sense for you. He can't lock onto you, so he can't behead you with a single sword! Hide in the tomb first, then directly unleash your sword light!'"

Li Fan sprinted with all his might, adrenaline surging, heart pounding, breathing heavily. His lungs felt filled with icy air, and his sides ached fiercely.

If Profound Heaven Sword Intent hadn't been incessantly yapping, if he hadn't seen blood in the inn before, if he hadn't had at least a sliver of psychological preparation for the style of this world, he might have frozen on the spot, unable to think, and been at the mercy of others.

But the young boy who had been chatting and eating stinky tofu with him just moments ago had his head fall off right before his eyes. Because they knew each other, had drunk together, and spoken, the shock was far more real and terrifying than the bloody scene in the inn.

Yet, the most ironic thing was that Li Fan couldn't muster much sadness or pain at this moment, nor did he feel guilt for abandoning his companions and fleeing. He didn't even feel the slightest fear towards that inexplicable Taoist priest who had opened his mouth and spewed a flying sword to kill his fellow disciples.

He even couldn't help but glance at the system, only to find that the system didn't even register a "mood decrease of one point."

"Li Fan, calm down."

"You don't need to tell me! I am calm! I'm just running! Calmly running!"

Because Li Fan knew that only by doing this could he survive.

Just like in the inn, when he saw so many people die before his eyes, it was as if these life and death events were like an icy stream pouring down from the top of Li Fan's head, leaving no room in his mind for any extra, chaotic emotions.

Li Fan only thought of one thing:

To survive.

To survive.

Because how could he just die like this?

How could he just die like this, like the mangled flesh in the inn?

Let those scoundrels who abuse their power and kill innocents get away with it!!

His clothes disheveled, his hair matted with dust, the boy slid into a tackle, tumbling back to the bottom of the tomb, to the entrance of the underground palace. He pressed his back against the rock wall, hiding among the dummy escorts, and had already retrieved Mu Long's four-foot great sword from the jade pendant, cradling it like a rifle, his hands gripping the talisman seal on the sword hilt.

"Profound Heaven Sword Intent says, 'Host, don't panic, it's useless. That sword pellet in his mouth is at least a top-tier flying sword. To control such a spiritual sword, one must have at least mid-stage Golden Core divine sense cultivation. You're at least four levels behind, you definitely can't beat him! Tear the seal and unleash the sword light, ahhh!'"

"Release it now? Will it hit accurately? I have to wait for him to get closer..."

"Profound Heaven Sword Intent says, 'Host, don't overthink it. Can a Golden Core stage cultivator stand still and let you aim? Stop dawdling and release the sword light to fight! As long as you can startle that Taoist priest and make him hesitate, you'll have a chance when your Senior Brother Lu returns!'"

"What if he doesn't make it back?"

"Profound Heaven Sword Intent says, 'If he doesn't make it back, you're dead! Let alone you using up all your true qi, even if I personally fought, my Qi Refining stage sword qi wouldn't even break his skin!'"

"Damn it--! Motherfucker!"

Li Fan didn't know who he was cursing. Although he was still hesitant, the magic sword in his hand might be the only chance to inflict damage on a Golden Core stage cultivator. To throw it away like the Sword Intent said was truly too risky.

But the situation didn't allow him to hesitate, because Li Fan heard a bell.

A bell sound came from the tomb passage behind him!

Without further hesitation, Li Fan tore off the talisman. Amidst Profound Heaven Sword Intent's frantic shouts of "Throw it far, throw it far, throw it far, cover your head and crouch!", he hurled the magic sword into the pit passage he had scrambled back through, tore open the magic talisman, and then curled into a ball, covering his head.

Though his eyes were tightly shut, he could see in his divine sense the sword being unsheathed, unleashing four beams of sword light, like an unfolding fan, suddenly opening and piercing the entire mountain body where the tomb was located, shooting towards the sky. From afar, it looked like four searchlights shot from below the mountain ridge, piercing through the clouds and soaring into the heavens.

And layers upon layers of dense sword shadows were projected in that instant. The dark underground cave flashed like a silver net woven with spider silk. Just on the path of one of the sword lights, as sword shadows were cast, they illuminated the gate of the underground palace. The bronze-cast, rock-structured tomb door was cut into countless fine squares and collapsed with a roar.

The burial artifacts and terracotta warriors in the tomb were all swept into dust by the sword light. Even though Li Fan was curled up in a corner, a sword shadow was imprinted on his back for three inches, causing an immediate sharp pain, breaking open a deep, bone-revealing wound.

But he was lucky not to die... No, it wasn't luck.

Li Fan looked up. Something like a silver-white bamboo leaf fell from his forehead into his palm.

It was Profound Heaven Sword Intent, half a segment shorter than the previous flying sword fragment. It must have blocked a sword shadow for Li Fan just now, preventing him from losing half his head...

Sword Intent?

Profound Heaven Sword Intent didn't reply. It was probably severely weakened again, and he couldn't count on it.

He looked down again and saw Kun curled up in his arms. Well, this guy was the luckiest, completely unharmed.

Then, from the passage, the tinkling of bells and the sound of heavy objects landing echoed again!

Is he dead?

"Kid, I know you're not dead."

The voice of the Taoist priest, whom Li Fan had only heard a few words from, but would likely never forget, sounded almost without pause.

"Shit--!"

Li Fan gritted his teeth, enduring the immense pain, and thrust Profound Heaven Sword Intent into the sword wound on his back, hoping that Profound Heaven Sword Intent would quickly recover some cultivation in his bloodline to help, as it had before.

Although this action twisted his face in pain and almost made him snort snot, he finally had the strength to get up.

"This is the sword light of the Black Sword. Where did you get it? Could it be... the Mu Long boy?"

The Taoist priest's voice was like a steel needle, chillingly piercing Li Fan's eardrums. It felt as if he were right beside him, yet also far away. Li Fan couldn't tell if the pain in his back was affecting his judgment or if this was some kind of spell. But Li Fan felt his head was about to explode.

"Logically, there should be a Golden Core disciple leading you... Where is he now... Whose subordinate are you... How could you, a Qi Refining stage cultivator, withstand my divine sense lock just now... What is your Taoist name..."

The Taoist's voice echoed, sometimes near, sometimes far, sometimes left, sometimes right, making it impossible to pinpoint his location within the tomb.

But there was no need to!

If he didn't dare to come up and chop off Li Fan's head, what was all this posturing about? A surprise sword light sweep would still injure him! We're all even!

"My Taoist name is your father!"

Li Fan grabbed a shattered terracotta figurine beside him and roared, throwing it towards the sword he had tossed into the passageway earlier!

The moment the figurine hit the ground with a thud, a crimson dragon bared its fangs, and a fiery serpent swept in from the other end of the passageway, engulfing the tomb in true Crimson Sha fire. The torrent of flames, a sea of fire, blazed like a fiery inferno, nearly reducing all living things in the tomb to ash. If Li Fan had gritted his teeth and gone to retrieve his sword himself just now, he would have been roasted by this fire serpent, turned into charcoal!

But luckily, Li Fan had lunged in the other direction!

He could almost feel the searing pain of being crushed by a heavy hammer, half the flesh on his back scorched! He was sent flying by the blast wave of the explosion, blown straight into the tomb owner's resting chamber, its door wide open!

"Cough, cough, cough! No offense intended! All thanks to you, brother!" Even Li Fan was surprised he hadn't fainted, that he could still speak and move.

But he scrambled, pulling up a desiccated corpse lying at the tomb entrance. Seeing the numerous burial objects and the eight-clawed python robe on it, he knew that even if the prince himself were present, he couldn't afford to worry about offending anyone. He pulled out the jade purification bottle and poured the Sha inside into the corpse's mouth, then threw the corpse out of the resting chamber and roared.

"It's decided! Go, Zombie King Jiang Chen!"

'Zombie King Jiang Chen' landed in the tomb hall with a splat, a small section of its leg bone flying off, and a small piece of its shoulder blade stuck to Li Fan's blood-stained palm...

A moment of awkward silence fell over the tomb.

"...Hmph, hmph, haha, hohohohahaha! You brat, you're quite interesting!"

The laughter grew louder as it approached, and Li Fan's heart sank to the bottom.

The white-faced Taoist who had entered the tomb passage with the Taoist on his back, his phoenix eyes fixed on Li Fan at the other end of the tomb.

The two fiery plumes that had been like wings behind his head just now had been forcibly bent into flame-sized wisps, clearly injured by the sword light.

In his left hand, he held a large, dripping head. It wasn't Chen Daotong's, but that of the Suanni. The cut was clean, smooth as a mirror, precisely severed just above the collar. It must have also been cut by the Black Sword's light just now.

What a shame that this beast had blocked a sword strike, causing the sword light to only leave a bloody gash on the Taoist's chest, tearing through his purple sash immortal robe and spilling a pile of intestines. He was holding them in his right hand, and the area covered by his right palm was precisely the Qi Sea. Faint light spots flickered between his fingers, indicating he was urgently healing. He was indeed seriously injured.

What a pity! He hadn't managed to lop off his dog head with a single blow!

"I thought you had some rare magical artifact that could block my divine sense and fix my body, and even scare my flying rainbow. What, not going to use it? It seems your Taoist energy is also depleted."

The Taoist, not killed by the sword light but indeed startled by the sword intent, looked at Li Fan with his phoenix eyes, then at the corpse on the ground with its leg broken off, and sneered sinisterly, "Mu Long even herding sheep to Mount Buzhou, you're unlucky... No, you cut down my mount, disrupted my plan, and damaged my cultivation! It should be me who's unlucky!

Good, very good! Boy, I, a Taoist priest, originally intended to grant you a quick death out of fellow sect courtesy. Now I've changed my mind. I guarantee you won't die so easily!"

Li Fan looked at him, then at the pathetic zombie king, and then scanned the resting chamber for any other magical artifacts or weapons... None... Only a small bone fragment... and a meditation cushion...

A meditation cushion...

As if giving up resistance, Li Fan sighed, endured the searing pain on his back, crawled to the meditation cushion, and sat down.

"Then come at me!"

He gave a middle finger, then stuffed the shoulder bone in his hand, along with the thick blood, into his throat and swallowed it. Sitting cross-legged on the cushion, he stared at the round head of the Suanni in the Taoist's hand, telling himself he saw the moon.

Then, as if he heard the system's voice again.

'Li Fan's mood decreased by 1 point.'

Then, just like the previous two times in the bamboo forest, the wind began to blow.

Sha wind.

"Huh? Entering meditation... This! He's really entering a dream! Little thief, you're seeking death!" The Taoist was stunned for a moment, then flew into a rage. He opened his mouth and spat out a red sword pellet from his throat! It sprang forth again! Leaving a rainbow trail, it coiled directly towards Li Fan's neck!

With just this rainbow coil, in the blink of an eye, it sliced open half of Li Fan's trachea. Blood and wind raged!

But just as Li Fan's entire head was about to fall from his neck!

Kun!

It leaped up!

And swallowed the rainbow trail into its mouth!

"What--!!"

The Taoist was shocked, his phoenix eyes nearly bulging like a goldfish's. But there was no time for shock. He saw rolling thick smoke, black wind and sha mist rising, almost making Li Fan's robes flap wildly. It was as if a black wind tornado was about to rise from the ground, sweeping the brat's body away!

"Evil creature! Don't think of becoming a devil like this!" The Taoist still pressed his right hand to the sword wound on his abdomen, flung the Suanni head in his left hand, chanted a spell, formed a hand seal, and instantly leaped dozens of feet. He plunged his left hand into the sha wind tornado!

The Sha Qi instantly corroded and rotted the flesh and blood of the Taoist's entire arm, leaving only a white, jade-like bone arm entwined with Taoist energy! But this bone arm was still protected by divine light. Even though it was buffeted by the fierce sha wind, flesh and blood regenerated, not scattering at all!

"Return to me!"

The Taoist roared, using his bone arm to grab Li Fan, who had almost completely merged into the sha, and pulled him back from the gale, restoring him to human form!

"What! He didn't become a devil!" The Taoist's heart skipped a beat as he saw the brat, whose right arm pulse point he was pinching and half his body pulled out, was still in human form, not mutated into a Devil Embryo. "You're actually a natural Dao seed!"

"Pfft! You're a natural mongrel!" Then Li Fan opened his right eye and glared at him, sweeping his gaze, and shouting to amplify the power of his move, "Crimson Vein Child Sword Technique!"

And at the moment their gazes met, a sword light flashed and appeared in their pupils, growing brighter and brighter! Finally, there were three soft poof sounds.

"Ahhh--!" The Taoist screamed in agony. His eyes had been exchanged for Li Fan's right eye. His entire eyebrow was swept by the sword light, a deep gash cut into his brow bone! "No! Impossible! You're clearly in the Qi Refining stage! How can you--!"

"Give me one second of cultivation! And that's enough for Foundation Establishment!!"

That's right! The corpse's shoulder blade he swallowed earlier! It had been buried underground for so long, absorbing a tiny bit of Return to Dust true Qi, the last piece of Foundation Establishment treasure! And Li Fan's talent, even if he only worshipped the moon for one second! Was enough for him to instantly Foundation Establishment! Upgrading restores Qi to full, that's the setting! Don't like it, don't play!

Li Fan used his one good eye for a big move. His right eye was just an empty, bloody socket, half his face blown apart by sword light, mangled with wounds and shattered lens. It was a shame. Despite Foundation Establishment Realm cultivation, even the incredibly powerful Crimson Vein Child Sword Technique could only barely scratch the eyes of a Golden Core stage Daoist. It hadn't severed his head, but blinding him was enough!

"Universe Flying Dragon Sword!" Li Fan pressed his advantage! Seizing the chance after being pulled from the Sha wind, capitalizing on the Daoist's blindness from the sneak attack! He'd do it again! Hands and feet! Pouring all his strength...

"Go!" "Bang!" "Gak--!"

But he never expected that a Golden Core stage cultivator, even when ambushed, was still Golden Core stage! The Daoist had already grabbed Li Fan's pulse point. Though momentarily disoriented, the instant he sensed the true qi gathering in Li Fan's meridians, he reacted, launching a kick that sent Li Fan flying! He slammed into the wall, his entire right forearm torn off and clutched in the Daoist's hand!

"Cough, cough, cough! Gak--!" That kick was a critical blow to Li Fan, nearly killing him on the spot. He didn't know how many of his internal organs had burst, but the impact against the wall left him bleeding from all seven orifices, only able to exhale.

But the Universe Flying Dragon Sword had still been unleashed!

The rampaging sword dragon stirred up a tempest within the tomb! The sword wind raged, battering the Daoist's face. Yes, just his face!

Almost all the sword energy was blocked by his purple-sash immortal robe! The Daoist's right hand clutched his lower abdomen wound tightly, refusing to let go of the opening even as sword qi pierced and tore his flesh.

"Damn brat! Give me back my flying sword!" The Daoist was furious at being so thoroughly embarrassed by such a junior cultivator!

He flung away Li Fan's severed arm, swept aside the obstructing coffins and funerary objects with a wave of his sleeve, located Li Fan by sound, and leaped up! He intended to stomp Li Fan's neck into oblivion!

Then the Daoist was grabbed.

Or to be more precise, He was grabbed by a 'King General Corpse' filled with Sha Qi!

If his Dan field hadn't been injured by the sword light, if his sword pellet hadn't been swallowed by the Kun, if his eyes could still see, if his divine sense wasn't obscured by the tomb's Sha Qi and the sword wind from the Universe Flying Dragon Sword, if he hadn't been filled with Sha Qi and then ambushed by a suddenly powerful Sha Corpse King. If not for all these "ifs" strung together, the Daoist would never have been caught by a Sha corpse.

But he was caught.

"Roar--!!"

Perhaps it was fate, but the Sha corpse used a move almost identical to the Daoist's. With a single pull, it tore the Golden Core villain who had desecrated its resting place into strips of flesh and bone, then kicked his chest, sending him slamming into the wall with a "bang!" He splattered into a large pool of blood, showering Li Fan.

The kick from the Corpse King, striking the Daoist from behind, not only obliterated him on the spot but also snapped his spine, bending it into a right angle. Already disemboweled by sword light and with his arms torn off, the impact against the wall meant he could no longer protect his innards. He was clearly beyond saving, only able to gasp weakly. He slid down the wall, sticking to it, coming to rest shoulder-to-shoulder with Li Fan.

Speaking of which, the wall was quite sturdy, not a crack in sight... Well, of course, it was built to contain a zombie king...

Li Fan had only one eye left and couldn't see if the Daoist beside him was truly dead. But he could see the zombie, revitalized by the recent Sha Qi and with the seal on the Black Sword's light broken, had evolved from a dried corpse into a proper Sha Corpse King. It was in a frenzy, its eyes blazing with ferocity. It turned, sniffing the air, and looked towards him!

"Kun, Kun... Kun..." Li Fan's throat was full of blood, his lower body numb. He was in no condition to face the Sha Corpse King that had just kicked a Golden Core cultivator to death and was now striding towards him.

Fortunately, Kun was reliable.

It slapped its tail and leaped from Li Fan's embrace, landing before the approaching Corpse King and spitting.

'Kun states: Ptooey.'

Then, from the catfish's mouth, a rainbow line shot out – it was the sword pellet! Seemingly disoriented, it circled twice in the air. As it was spat out before the Sha Corpse King, it naturally wrapped around the corpse's neck, severing its head.

But the Sha Corpse King still wasn't dead, reaching out to grab the rainbow sword!

This enraged the flying sword. It circled once to the left, once to the right, and in moments, sliced the Sha Corpse King into chunks, shreds, and cubes, scattering them into a pile of wriggling corpse parts. Furthermore, the Sha at the wounds was dispersed by the more potent sword qi, unable to reassemble.

"Shit... Kun..."

Li Fan's single eye stared at the spinning sword pellet, which seemed eager to circle his neck again.

Damn it, he had told Kun to escape earlier. And now it spat out the sword pellet again...

Kun swam to Li Fan's head and perched there, its round eyes glaring at the sword pellet.

It wasn't clear what these two round things communicated, but after a period of standoff, the sword pellet hesitated. It glanced around, saw the Golden Core Daoist was no longer making a sound, and with a leap, it shot out of the tomb passage, leaving a rainbow trail in the air, seemingly regaining its freedom.

Kun patted Li Fan's head.

'Kun states: I want to eat tofu tonight.'