Sworn Brothers

Liu Zhuo was not lying. With the help of the local Blood-Clad Demoness and relying on his Divine Sense and the Si Nan, Li Fan quickly found the Heng Hai Army's Corpse Refining Array.

Last time, when Li Fan discussed the war in Kun Country with Blue Fatty at Yuntai Peak, the strategists wondered how the Divine Cult had managed to secretly gather so many fiendish corpses. Now, Li Fan understands their doubts.

With a combined army and a corpse-refining formation, such a large-scale operation had no chance of being hidden. Li Fan could sense the surging baleful aura from afar, which heightened his mood. Observing with his Divine Sense, it seemed as if a black dragon was rising from the horizon, soaring straight into the sky, forcing away all the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, leaving only churning dark clouds and the soaring baleful aura that filled the heavens and earth, as if a storm was about to descend.

"It's gotten this big! Didn't you say that whenever a Devil Embryo appears, all the surrounding cultivators would rush to exorcise it..." Li Fan turned to look at Li Wugou, and was stunned, speechless for a moment. "You, what kind of outfit is that!"

Li Wugou followed behind, and somehow she had taken off her clothes—well, not all of them, just a little bit left.

She had taken away her previous white robe, the yellow robe Li Fan had given her, and the golden sword and whisk she used for show. Now she wore a bronze demon mask with a blue face and fangs, her hair disheveled, looking like a mad shaman praying for rain.

She wore only a scarlet long dress close to her body, which looked like a battle-hardened armor. It was tattered and stained with blood, turning a deep ochre color. It was severely damaged, torn from the thighs down, exposing her jade-like feet. The dress was also torn in the middle, forming a V-shape that went straight down to her lower abdomen. Most of her shoulders and back were also bare. Her chest and back were covered with many runes drawn in cinnabar, whether it was some kind of protective spell or to prevent accidental exposure, it was unclear.

Li Fan was completely dumbfounded.

Li Wugou, somewhat embarrassed, turned to the side, covering her chest, and spoke in a muffled voice through her mask, "... Didn't I tell you? I just underwent a tribulation of lightning, and my robes are all damaged..."

Anyway! We'll inevitably have to fight later! I can't change my methods anytime soon, so rather than run into my enemies and get exposed, I'd rather stick to my old ways to avoid revealing my true nature."

She turned to the side, revealing a rather nice figure, with a shapely and graceful silhouette. Cough cough. In addition, there was a tattoo on her back, a clean and bright image of Profound Maiden, dressed in pure white robes, holding a golden knife and whisk. One could imagine where the reference for her 'makeover' came from.

Changing your skin for PvP is understandable, but...

"The image of the Profound Maiden on your back doesn't look exactly like me, doesn't that give you away?"

Li Wugou seemed somewhat surprised, "You were able to see the image of the Profound Maiden so quickly? This is the Emei inheritance I obtained by chance. What people usually see is a red-faced, fanged Rakshasa demon. I only saw the true form of the Profound Maiden after meditating and comprehending for a long time!"

Li Erlang truly lives up to his reputation as a legitimate successor of the Xuanmen sect; his extraordinary talent is truly admirable.

"There's such a saying?"

Upon hearing this, Li Fan couldn't help but lean closer to examine the tattoo of the Mystic Profound Maiden on her back. He could indeed see the Profound Maiden herself, and while observing Profound Maiden, he seemed to hear a female voice chanting some kind of scripture, which was quite eerie. Perhaps it was because of his high level of comprehension, or perhaps it was because illusions couldn't fool the Gu Guan Method? But her buttocks were quite perky, cough cough!

Seriously though, is this really a genuine Emei technique? Qin Nanxin doesn't have any of these. Surely, everyone who reaches the True Person realm gets a tattoo, right? And upon closer inspection, it seems to be more than just a painting; there are even smaller characters of scripture within it...

"Hey! Don't get so close!" Li Wugou shuddered as the hot breath from Li Fan's nostrils brushed against her skin, and she quickly dodged away. "My reputation isn't good. You, a disciple of this sect, would better change your appearance, lest word get out that you're associating with Demon Path!"

"Oh, my apologies, my apologies." Li Fan himself had also been caught off guard by the lightning and was left battered and bruised, so he could understand that Li the Witch was in a somewhat desperate mood.

However, she's right. The Heng Hai Army's heinous acts will definitely attract the attention of surrounding cultivators. Then, with cultivators, corpse demons, warlords, and the Yellow Heaven Dao all involved, a great battle is inevitable. The Penglai disciple, Red-Haired Ghost Li Datang, is too conspicuous; changing his appearance would indeed be more appropriate.

So Li Fan thought for a moment, then decisively shaved his head off with the wind of his sword...

Blood-Clad Demoness Li Wugou (Battle-Damaged Version): "... That's it?"

Li Fan (crew cut) shrugged, "Anyway, nobody recognizes me. Oh, are you cold? Do you want me to put one on? I'll take one off for you..."

"It's not cold! You don't need it!"

Actually, it's really unnecessary. Li Wugou practiced some kind of evil 'Emei' technique, and when he screamed and controlled his qi, his whole body seemed to be shrouded in ice mist. It was obvious that he had special true qi protecting him. With a strange scream, he pierced through the clouds and passed by in a flash. So there was no need for any armor or magic robes.

Li Fan also used Ice River Escape to follow, and the two of them made a great show of flying through the air. One made a shrill sonic boom, and the other made ice marks all over the sky. They had no intention of hiding their heads or tails and went straight for the Heng Hai Army camp. Naturally, they were discovered from a great distance.

Then, from near the towering array of malevolent energy, six beams of light flew through the air and intercepted the two from afar.

Those who dared to approach were naturally all Nascent Soul Realm cultivators. Li Fan glanced at them and noticed two who were clearly dressed as generals, followed by two fairies in pink and green robes, and a monk and a Daoist. Moreover, none of these six were mere pretense; their strength suggested they were all legitimate practitioners of the Xuanmen (Daoist sects). Li Fan was truly impressed; the Central Plains was indeed a place where hidden talents and countless opportunities for immortality lay. Even these wild monsters were all practicing the righteous path, significantly increasing the map's difficulty...

But before they could even introduce themselves, exchange pleasantries, or establish a connection, the green-skirted fairy opposite them pointed at their noses and cursed, "Blood-Clad Demoness! You're still alive! Give me back my grandson's life!"

Then the fight started.

Just as Li Wugou said, she was indeed a local celebrity, and anyone who associated with her must be Demon Path. The six cultivators opposite decisively split into two teams, separating Li Fan and Li Wugou, and immediately surrounded them to fight.

Sigh... that's really... quite decisive. Suddenly there wasn't a single preamble or unnecessary chatter. It's a bit hard to get used to...

Li Fan's side consisted of a monk, a Daoist priest, and a general. The three worked together quite well, suggesting they were frequent collaborators.

The general charged ahead, taking the lead and closing in to restrain Li Fan. He was fully armored and wielded an iron rod. With a roar, he launched a spiritual attack, trying to demoralize Li Fan. At the same time, the iron rod howled with a strong wind and smashed down on Li Fan's head with immense force.

The Daoist priest would occasionally spew forth thunderous fire from his mouth to provide remote support. He would also cover his hands with his sleeves, seemingly performing some kind of hand seal, while a strong Dao Breath would emanate from his mouth and nose, clearly preparing a powerful attack.

The monk, twirling his prayer beads, stood guard in the middle, neither joining the general in a pincer attack nor straying too far from the Daoist priest. He simply kept chanting incantations, it was unclear whether he was stacking buffs or casting spells.

Li Fan neither dodged nor immediately attacked, but met the general's attack head-on. He casually deflected the iron rod and tested it a couple of times, noticing that the opponent's staff technique had some elements of the Dou Department and the Body Domination Technique, but it was not the Martial God Body that had entered the Dao through martial arts. Although he cultivated the protective true qi of the Xuanmen, it was clearly not yet mastered, and was only at the level of being able to kill with a single strike.

However, their armor was quite interesting. Although it was just ordinary battle armor, the plates were covered with golden scriptures, and with the monk's chanting power, it had a strong damage reduction effect. Li Fan tried to poke it twice with the Dalu Jing Tian Finger technique, but the armor blocked both attacks. It seems they're quite skilled; a tank, healer, and DPS team—a pretty standard dungeon team.

However, the three of them were only so-so, far inferior to someone like Shi Zai. Li Fan wasn't in a hurry to kill them instantly, so he casually shielded them and focused on seeing what kind of skills Li Wugou possessed.

Li Wugou was being attacked by two female cultivators, one in green and one in pink, each wielding two swords. Meanwhile, the general, holding a divine bow, was providing support from the rear by occasionally firing golden pellets. It was a coordinated attack from both close and long range.

These two female cultivators were clearly from the same sect. The two of them, wielding four swords, unleashed a fierce and profound sword formation. Not only were their sword techniques exquisite, but they also concealed deadly intent, with each move linked to the next. Furthermore, their Sword Light was imbued with true qi and Dao fire. The Sword Light swirled and clashed as it came towards them, creating a perilous situation if one were caught in it. No wonder the others did not come to their aid.

Li Wugou's strange inheritance allowed her to keep up with Li Fan's escape speed, indicating that her movement technique was absolutely top-notch. However, due to the ingenious nature of this double-person sword formation, she didn't have Li Fan's ability to break the formation after just one look. She also had to worry about being sniped from afar. For a time, she was actually blocked by the two of them and was in danger several times. She was stabbed and slashed, and was hit by seven or eight swords. Only because she had true qi protecting her body did she avoid being injured in vital areas. Her blood-stained clothes, which could no longer be covered, were slashed even more.

Indeed, it's clear that Li Wugou, lacking powerful magical treasures, could only rely on his protective qi and rely on his movement and palm techniques to fight head-on. It was indeed a bit of a stretch for him to defeat his opponent.

Meanwhile, the Iron Rod General had already fought several rounds and knew how formidable Li Fan was. After all, that's how close combat is; once you've exchanged blows, it's clear who has the greater strength and skill. Right now, his club, which he'd thrown with all his might, was easily deflected by Li Fan, not even touching his torso. He knew he was in trouble; he couldn't win by brute force. So, seizing the opportunity when Li Fan was distracted, he let out a signal-like roar, the sound reverberating across the wilderness like a sonic attack.

The monk and the Daoist priest behind them were also shocked, not expecting their teammate to be unable to withstand the attack so quickly. So the Daoist priest used his ultimate move!

With a flick of his sleeves, the gathered Dao Breath surged violently, revealing a colossal deity in the clouds, embodying the essence of heaven and earth! Then, the Daoist's eyes blazed with Dao fire as he pulled a jade seal from his sleeve, poised to smash it down! The deity also moved in unison, raising its right hand and lifting a green mountain in its grasp! It crashed down directly at Li Fan!

Li Fan felt a chill run down his spine, sensing something. So, while keeping his right eye on the general's move, he turned his left eye away from the oncoming mountain and looked at the monk instead.

The monk was pointing at him when, in the next instant, a magnificent white light flashed, and a Sword Qi shot straight towards Li Fan's head!

With a deafening boom, not only did the Sword Light strike, but mountains also crashed down at the same moment! The billowing dust enveloped Li Fan and the general!

Li Wugou was also startled by the roar, realizing that the other side had suddenly launched a deadly attack. He let out a shriek and rushed out of the encirclement.

Her movement technique was still extremely sharp. Although she couldn't defeat two Nascent Soul Stage cultivators in a short time, escaping was no problem for her. Otherwise, she wouldn't be alive now.

Seeing that the other side was about to decide the outcome, Li Wugou immediately withdrew, escaped the encirclement, and wanted to see if he needed to provide support or prepare to flee immediately.

But upon closer inspection, she was taken aback.

Li Fan didn't dodge.

Indeed, Li Fan didn't dodge. He took the blow head-on, then smashed the mountaintop with a single palm strike, choosing not to flee or evade.

Because he knew that the only threatening attack was the monk's Sword Qi, and that the opponent was coordinating their attacks and predicting their movements, dodging would only make things worse and might break his defenses, so he simply took the hit head-on.

"You! Who are you?!" General Iron Rod slammed his iron rod into Li Fan's waist, but Li Fan was caught in the impact and couldn't pull it back.

Li Fan glanced at him, "Speaking of which... are we just going to fight like this? Aren't any of you going to pull off a killing spree or something? Killing people so casually, my gains are really low..."

Li Wugou laughed loudly upon hearing this, "That's it! The killing calamity obscures the heavenly secrets! As expected, you Xuanmen disciples are indeed shrewd! You covered for me!"

As she spoke, she waved her hand, took out a talisman from her Storage Jade, and began to write and draw.

"Huh? You can even start a killing spree? Yeah! I don't have karma, but you do!"

Li Fan was overjoyed. He grabbed the Iron Rod General, snapped it in half with a crack, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down, and threw him to the ground to die. Then he moved forward and blocked Li Wugou's path, unleashing a powerful palm strike with the Obscuring Moon Palm, forcing the two female immortals who had come to chase after Li Wugou to retreat.

Li Wugou laughed, "I've been harmed so many times, how could I not? It's just that I've killed too many scoundrels, who remembers which one's grandson is!"

Li Fan was embarrassed; he had actually been trapped in the formation many times, but he hadn't really learned much about formations.

However, starting the killing spree was more important, so Li Fan casually caught the golden pellet shot at him, then tossed it back at the female immortal and asked, "Hey, you there! Who's your grandson?"

The fairy in green robes was so angry that she cursed, "Bah! You demon, you witch! You adulterous couple!"

Li Wugou, unwilling to tolerate this insult, retorted, "You're the adulterer! Your whole family are adulterers! Are you ready to face this calamity today?"

The fairy in green was furious. "Ah! Blood-Clad Demoness! The one who will kill you today is Yan Qin of Kongsang Mountain!"

"Oh, Yan Qin of Kongsang Mountain, write it down quickly!" Li Fan grinned, then suddenly stepped forward, grabbed Li Wugou's waist, and dodged the Sword Qi and Dao fire shot by the monks and Daoists.

"Hey! Let go!" Li Wugou angrily broke free from Li Fan's embrace. "I'm starting my own tribulation, what's it to you! I'm asking you, who are you to me, how dare you enter this tribulation!"

Hmm... that is a problem. I can't exactly say I can transform into a giant fish and jump in, can I?

Li Fan knew that the other party still intended to become his disciple, but looking at Li Wugou's shapely figure, he couldn't help but be tempted and said, "How about we become partners..."

Li Wugou chuckled coldly, about to turn hostile.

Li Fan quickly stopped him, "Sworn brothers! Sworn brothers! That's right! We share the same surname, Li, maybe we were family eight hundred years ago, so why don't we become sworn brothers?"

"Sworn brothers?" This time, Li Wugou seemed somewhat tempted.

Yan Qin of Kongsang Mountain chimed in, "Adulterous couple! Incestuous promiscuity! Utterly depraved!"

Li Wugou flew into a rage, "If I don't tear your mouth apart today, I'll be unworthy of the title 'Blood-Clad Demoness'!"

No, you never mentioned being called Blood-Clad Demoness before, did you? Do you actually like that nickname...?

Li Wugou had already written the inscription on the talisman flag in his hand and threw it away. Instantly, it transformed into a sky full of yellow silk, covering the sky and the sun, and directly covering everyone under a vast curtain.

Li Fan was taken aback. This method was somewhat different from the killing tribulations he had seen before. Moreover, he noticed that the edges of the yellow silk talisman array were being burned by Dao fire, indicating that this killing tribulation that concealed the secrets of heaven had a time limit.

To avoid any unforeseen complications, Li Fan decided to stop holding back. He spat out Moon Soul, its silver light flashing, and with a flick of his sword, he severed the heads of the monk, the Daoist, the general, and the fairy in pink in the blink of an eye. He left only Yan Qin of Kongsang Mountain to settle the score with Li Wugou.

Well... what else can you do? A flying sword beheads, the sword falls and the person dies. It's just that invincible, boring, and empty...

Fortunately, the system still recognized the killing spree, so Li Fan gained another 5 points to his mood and increased his cap by 2,500 points, bringing his total to 19.8k...

But now that they'd encountered the real god of death, how could the remaining two possibly fight?

Yan Qin was utterly terrified. She screamed, "Sword Immortal!" and turned to flee.

Li Wugou was also terrified by the unparalleled Sword Light of Yuepo, but her mental fortitude was still quite good. Seeing Li Fan still waiting for her leisurely with his hands behind his back, she was aroused and unwilling to lose face. With a sharp cry, she flew in front of Yan Qin to block her way and grabbed at her face!

Yan Qin also roared angrily, slashing with both swords at the same time, trying to cut off Li Wugou's arm.

Although her two swords weren't divine weapons, they were still sharp tools. Unexpectedly, when they were about to strike her fingertips, they were caught between Li Wugou's index and middle fingers. Suddenly, those fingers extended, like two sharp cones, and pierced straight into Yan Qin's eyes! They burst out of her skull, creating two bloody holes!

Yan Qin only had time to let out a scream before Li Wugou flipped her hand and ripped her skull off with a 'crack'!

"I cut the lawn..." Li Fan covered his mouth, "It's so bloody..."

Li Wugou rolled her eyes at him, casually wiped the blood and flesh from her hands on her skirt, then looked around at the other headless corpses that had just fallen from the sky, and sighed with genuine envy.

"This is the true method of the Xuanmen sect; it's truly captivating..."

In that short time, not even half of the yellow silk that blotted out the sky had burned completely, yet all those caught in the calamity had perished.

Li Fan came over and patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Actually, most Xuanmen sects don't have this kind of ability. It's just that I'm stronger."

Li Wugou slapped Li Fan's hand away from her shoulder, saying, "Please, Second Brother, show some respect and observe proper etiquette between siblings."

Li Fan froze for a moment. "Actually, I should be younger than you... Sigh, never mind, I'll just take the loss and be the second brother. By the way, Third Sister, could you teach me that technique you used to unleash the killing calamity?"