The Earth God Temple

Because of the issues with the God Lord Jade and the Blood Infant, Li Fan didn't manage to worship the moon for two nights. Of course, he originally planned to stay at the Earth God Temple for a few more days to study the Blood Infant and maybe even recharge it for a lottery draw, so he wasn't in a hurry.

Unfortunately, sometimes fate just likes to play tricks. When you want a quest, you run around like crazy without finding a single intermediary. But just when you turn around and decide to settle down and grind some monsters or level up, all sorts of story quests, side quests, and daily tasks swarm at you like newly hatched cockroaches.

Upon returning to the Earth God Temple, before he had even finished researching the Carp Dao Body of the System, Li Fan sensed that many uninvited guests had entered his Divine Sense range. There were about four different groups heading straight towards the Earth God Temple.

So Li Fan carefully focused his attention and observed the background of these people, making a rough assessment.

The first wave is the follow-up story of the Golden Core cultivator who was being chased last night. Although Li Fan slapped him twice and rejected the mission, this guy came back again and was chased again. The pursuers were probably surprised that he could escape from three opponents at once, so they sent six Golden Core cultivators to surround and intercept the unlucky guy, heading towards the Earth God Temple.

The second group that came out of Weizhou City was led by a Golden Core cultivator, followed by many Foundation Establishment cultivators and a number of mortals. There were quite a few horse-drawn carriages and oxcarts, probably a caravan, with about a hundred people. They were moving quite slowly, but judging from their route, they would probably reach the vicinity of the Earth God Temple by evening, and perhaps set up camp for the night. Well, forget about Moon Worship tonight.

The third wave is monsters. Yes, monsters. In this chaotic world, demons roam freely. Gen Province has been in turmoil for so many years, how could it lack monsters? It's just that it's the Central Plains after all, so the monsters and demon kings don't have a chance to grow too big before being harvested by the surrounding Daoist sects. But in this kind of climate, spiritual materials and the remains of immortals are everywhere, so trash monsters are indeed as numerous as weeds, one after another. The immortals are too lazy to clean them up all the time, so they just eliminate them when they see them.

This group consists of newly formed Core Formation demons, none of whom can even fly through the clouds. They lurk in the forest like wild beasts, numbering about seventeen or eighteen in a pack. I don't know what kind of jackals, wolves, tigers, or leopards they are, but they probably caught the scent of the caravan as soon as it left the city and followed it from a distance. They probably plan to wait until nightfall when the caravan sets up camp so they can get close and steal a few people to eat.

The fourth wave also seems to be part of a chase plot, but it's not in the same direction as the first wave; it's probably a different side story. The first three Foundation Establishment cultivators are riding fast horses and speeding towards Weizhou, while the next one, a Nascent Soul Stage, is holding off three Golden Core Stage cultivators in the sky.

Yes, Nascent Soul Stage cultivator, but a trashy Nascent Soul Stage, an external alchemy cultivator. The three Golden Core pursuers, on the other hand, all practice Xuanmen cultivation methods, possessing magic treasures and spells, and their combat power isn't trash. The three of them can hold off a Nascent Soul Stage. It seems this is part of the Immortal Palace's storyline.

Sigh, bloodshed every day, the daily grind in the North begins again, doesn't it...?

Li Fan was now numb. This chaotic, desolate place was not a place to cultivate in peace. So he casually dealt with the Revered Heavenly Demon and the magic array barrier, and prepared to find another place to settle down.

But suddenly, Li Fan changed his mind, because he discovered that a fifth wave of pursuers had broken into his Divine Sense range, and some of them were people he knew.

Li Fan only knew a few people in the north. That's right, the one who escaped here this time was none other than Gu Huiming, the genius immortal cultivation girl from Wangwu Mountain!

Unfortunately, the one chasing her this time was also a Nascent Soul Stage, a genuine Nascent Soul Stage, extremely powerful. Gu Huiming should have had a sword pellet and a bunch of magic treasures, but even though she was flying swiftly on her sword, she was caught up by this Nascent Soul Stage cultivator and captured after only three or five moves.

Li Fan hesitated for a moment, suspecting it was a matter within Wangwu Mountain's own family, perhaps the Gu Family patriarch disciplining his unfilial descendants. He was unsure whether to get involved, worried that if he interfered, the other party might offer themselves in gratitude. But the Nascent Soul Stage cultivator didn't give Li Fan a chance to hesitate, heading straight for the Earth God Temple!

Wait, why are you all gathered here?! Don't you have anywhere else to go?!... Oh, I guess not. After all, this is the only spiritual cave nearby. Li Fan chose this place to practice his cultivation, and the others probably just come here to rest and recover their energy...

Well, since they've come to him of their own accord, Li Fan isn't in a hurry to leave. He simply sits down in the temple and closes his eyes to rest.

Sure enough, a moment later, a flash of light appeared outside the earth god temple, and the Nascent Soul Stage who had bound the person landed on the ground. He rushed into the temple with his head covered, and when he saw Li Fan's bald head, he was stunned for a moment, stopped abruptly, and froze at the temple entrance.

Clearly, the other party's counter-surveillance awareness was poor. They entered a shed without checking their surroundings and didn't even realize there was someone inside. Now, when they glared at Li Fan, they still couldn't see through his cultivation level and dared not make a move.

But Li Fan is now more knowledgeable, Divine Sense to predict things, knows a lot of secrets, and has read a lot of gossip. At this moment, his mind is racing. He glances at the person who came up and down and sees a lot of things.

This man was two zhang tall, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, with a dark complexion, rough skin, small eyes, a round head, and a shaved head. He didn't look like a local. Moreover, he wore felt boots, a fur coat with the left side open, an iron whip at his waist, a bull horn thumb ring on his hand, and his left hand clenched into a fist, presumably holding the pink sword pellet. He also had a bag slung over his right shoulder, and it goes without saying who was in the bag.

If you were to tell someone dressed like Hu Barbarians that he is the ancestor of the Gu Family and True Cultivator from Wangwu Mountain, that would be truly unbelievable.

Heh, with the Ten Jiedu' Northern Expedition underway, what could a Hu Barbarians from the north, Nascent Soul Stage 'ancestor,' possibly be doing in the south? What could such a person possibly want from a lone, beautiful woman? No need to guess, right? Besides, he could steal a sword pellet—why not? But this guy, after robbing her, didn't run away immediately; he actually found a place to come down. What, couldn't hold back anymore, huh?

So what if her skin is a little more supple, her waist a little more slender, and her smile a little more alluring? You're a Nascent Soul Stage Grandmaster yourself, can't you all stop being so impatient? Seeing a pair of flawless, fair wrists and already having impure thoughts is just too embarrassing... What? She's not wearing socks?

Hmm, thinking back on it now, Gu Huiming was only wrapped in a barely transparent red silk ribbon, wearing only a few layers of clothing—basically a jacket, a bodice, and a half-rolled-up lotus skirt, exposing his arms and legs—it was a bit stimulating, huh... cough cough. Of course, for a gentleman like Li Fan, who hadn't seen any grand occasions, that was nothing to worry about. But this guy in front of him probably came from the icy plains, and probably hadn't even befriended many beautiful ewes. It's understandable that he couldn't control himself... cough cough...

In conclusion, it seems that Gu Huiming's experience in the martial world is still inferior to that of a certain old hag. It appears that she hasn't made much progress since their separation in the South China Sea, and perhaps she doesn't leave the mountain gate often. She has always relied on the favor of her sect and the protection of her sword pellet to act recklessly. Now that she has met her match, it's no wonder she has fallen into someone's hands.

It seems that even for disciples of the Xuanmen sect, navigating the Central Plains is still quite dangerous; one can easily meet their end. If it weren't for encountering Li Fan, wouldn't he have been plunged into a tragic scene in a desolate temple? Alright, alright, stop making unfounded connections; triggering the restraining force would be disastrous.

To be honest, it's not uncommon for people to use their fists to snatch women in this world, but for someone to be strong enough to grab a sword pellet with their bare hands, that Hu Barbarians is indeed quite formidable. Let's test the Blood Infant's abilities with him; it might be able to hold out a little longer.

And you, kid! Don't eat too fast this time! Hackers need to have class! Don't just unplug the network cable all the time!

The blood-stained baby made an OK sign with his fingers.

Okay, good girl!

Li Fan smiled and clasped his hands together, saying to the burly man, "Greetings, fellow Daoist. This humble monk is Fak, just resting here. I'll be leaving in a little while, so please don't mind me and make yourself at home."

The burly man was momentarily locked in a primordial spirit, almost unable to breathe. He immediately realized that the person in front of him was a rare master. However, since the monk had no intention of fighting, and he was currently kidnapping people and robbing treasures, he naturally dared not make a sound. He looked at Li Fan, nodded without saying a word, sat down in the corner of the earth god temple, put the cloth bag he was carrying on his shoulder on his lap, and stopped moving.

Of course, at this moment, the big man's attention was entirely on Li Fan, and he didn't notice that the blood infant was secretly sneaking into his skull from the back of his head.

Li Fan smiled and, without making any extra movements, sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and regulated his breathing. In reality, he was observing the situation in the cultivator's divine court through the eyes of the Blood Infant.

One wolf, no, two wolves, cough cough, to be precise, a two-headed wolf. This is probably the primordial spirit forged by the cultivators of the northern lands.

The wolf's head on the left has three eyes, each containing the power of Return to Dust, Divine Hardness, and Dark Underworld Dao. The wolf's head on the right is a skull, containing a large amount of burning black Xuanbing ice, and the aura it emits... seems to be malevolent energy!

Hmm? Interesting. This is a cultivation method from the North? The alien races outside the Central Plains have actually developed a heterodox path that allows one to cultivate both immortality and malevolent energy simultaneously?

Li Fan immediately became interested. With a thought, the Blood Infant burrowed into the two-headed wolf's belly, parasitizing the ventricle. The Blood Infant's blood-silk network unfolded like wings, parasitizing the blood vessels in the two-headed wolf's heart. While parasitizing and sucking blood, it also grafted and infiltrated, linking itself with the primordial spirit.

The burly man seemed to sense something, frowning and clutching his chest. Although his cultivation method had a few unique aspects, his understanding of the primordial spirit technique was far too lacking. He couldn't detect what kind of attack he had been hit by, let alone sense the existence of the blood infant. Unable to find out what the problem was, he closed his eyes to rest, seemingly concentrating his magical power in an attempt to suppress the sword pellet in his left palm.

In that short time, the Blood Infant was completely grafted into the heart of the two-headed wolf's primordial spirit. While controlling the primordial spirit, a tumor-like embryo, exactly like the Blood Infant, also grew in the heart area of the great man's body, filtering the blood throughout his body.

Alright, this guy is dead, the implantation was successful, and it's only a matter of time before he completely controls the whole body. So Li Fan sat down in front of him openly and began to study the unique external Dao body of the Northern Lands, observing the primordial spirit structure of the two-headed wolf within the other's divine court.

For a time, the two kept to themselves, and the atmosphere was very harmonious and friendly.

Unfortunately, this brief peace was shattered before it could last long.

The cultivator who had been slapped twice by Li Fan last night rushed into the local temple in a panic.

Li Fan recognized this person by slapping him from a distance using his Divine Sense, without paying attention to his exact appearance. Now, if it weren't for his face being swollen like a pig's head, he would have been a handsome young man with thick eyebrows and big eyes. However, judging from his disguise in commoner's clothes, he was wearing silk underneath, jade incense, boots, and a sword, and his hands were free of calluses. He was probably another spoiled brat, and it was likely another drama of a powerful family fighting over inheritance. Li Fan lost interest in him.

The man burst into the temple and saw a bald man sitting in the main hall and a man with a crew cut squatting to his right. Neither of them were ordinary people, and he couldn't discern their cultivation levels. He was taken aback for a moment, then clasped his hands in a fist and said, "I am being chased. If you two can lend a hand, I will be richly rewarded!"

The northern cultivator remained silent, still focused on suppressing the flying sword in his hand. It seemed that although the sword pellet was temporarily suppressed by the opponent's Nascent Soul Stage cultivation, it wouldn't surrender so easily. After all, this Hu Barbarians wasn't a woman...

Li Fan closed his eyes and remained silent, focusing solely on studying the wolf head's primordial spirit, too lazy to accept these side quests involving grudges and feuds, like a clay sculpture.

The swollen-faced youth had no choice but to try to escape. However, his pursuers arrived shortly after, and like the previous group, they hurled a bunch of useless magical artifacts at him as soon as they spotted their target in the local temple.

The young man covered his head and ran away, somersaulting into the temple to hide.

Meanwhile, those worthless magical artifacts chased after him, heading straight for Li Fan was sitting calmly in the main hall.

"Are you never going to stop?! Get the hell out of here!"

Li Fan impatiently waved his sleeve, and the overwhelming force of his palm sent a pile of useless magical artifacts flying.

"Ah! A master!" "An ambush! Retreat!"

The group of assassins outside were shocked to see this. Having learned from last night's experience, they abandoned all the magical treasures on the ground and turned to run away.

The young man was overjoyed upon seeing this, "Thank you for your help, senior..."

But before the guy could finish speaking, Li Fan reached out and pressed a pressure point on him from a distance. As a result, the unfortunate guy could only stand there like a wax figure, mouth agape and eyes wide open, unable to move at all.

Forcibly interrupting the plot, Li Fan quickly observed the primordial spirit of the northern cultivator.

This Blood Infant was far too powerful. Before he knew it, the two-headed wolf's primordial spirit had been devoured and assimilated by the Blood Infant. One after another, Blood Infant faces grew from the wolf's body. The wolf's head howled in agony, its limbs disintegrated, its flesh and blood separated, and its entire spine twisted, as if an invisible giant hand had peeled this beast apart and kneaded it into a bloody ball of flesh.

With his primordial spirit severely damaged, the northern cultivator's eyes completely lost their luster, his pupils dilated, as if he had suddenly fallen into an illusion and was in a state of shock, his entire body ceasing to move like a vegetable.

Li Fan stepped forward and tentatively snapped his fingers twice in front of the other party, but the other party still did not react. So he reached out to take the pulse and study the dual changes in the primordial spirit and the Dao body. It was clear that this cultivator did not have any particularly fatal injuries. In fact, the Dao Breath in his meridians was still operating normally, gathering his magic power in his left hand to suppress the sword pellet. Only the brain and heart seemed to have mutated. It should be the nodes that were invaded by the Blood Infant. Like a puppet on strings, it was manipulating this Nascent Soul Stage cultivator's body while stripping away his primordial spirit.

Meanwhile, the changes in the primordial spirit within the Divine Court became even more rapid and violent. The two-headed wolf formed from the Nascent Soul Stage spirit was powerless to resist and could only howl in agony as it watched helplessly as its true essence was violently dismantled and reassembled by the blood infant, completely crushed, then turned inside out, with the wolf's head skin turned inside out, forming a ball of flesh and blood. Finally, that ball of flesh grew hands and feet, transforming into the shape of Blood Infant.

It seems that this is rewriting and transforming the cultivator's primordial spirit, erasing their consciousness, and ultimately turning them into something like a clone or puppet.

Throughout the entire ordeal of this primordial spirit being ravaged, the northern cultivator did not retaliate. It was unclear whether it was due to insufficient means or a lack of time to react. However, it was evident that Li Fan was not the only one lacking countermeasures against primordial spirit attacks. No wonder the Divine Sect has become so powerful in recent years; most cultivators are indeed helpless against primordial spirit techniques.

Li Fan carefully observed and recorded the data on the transformation of the Blood Infant's primordial spirit, and then the first wave of the plot began.

This time, the three riders, galloping wildly, fled one after another to the vicinity of the local temple.

But that trashy Nascent Soul Stage guard seemed to be held back by the pursuers, and one of the pursuers actually bypassed him and used his magic to set the lagging rider and his horse on fire! They were completely burned to charcoal!

The horses nearby were startled, throwing their riders off their backs. The riders appeared to have broken their thighs as well. The injured riders and horses screamed in agony, their cries echoing across the plains. It was a truly horrific scene.

The leading knight turned back to rescue his comrade, but before he could even help him onto his horse, he was struck by a fire arrow from the pursuer, which killed his horse. With nowhere to run, he saw a local temple nearby, so he carried the wounded man and galloped into the temple to hide.

Meanwhile, the pursuers leisurely flew over the Earth God Temple, chanting incantations and making hand seals. The talismans on their fingertips burst into flames, and the gathered Crimson Fiend spiritual energy resembled a burning fire crow, flapping its wings and screeching in the cultivator's palm!

"Escape! Do you think you can escape the Commander's grasp? Die!"

But before he could throw the fire crow, a loud "whoosh!" was heard, and a figure two zhang tall burst out of the house! He rushed out of the temple, flew swiftly to the cultivator, and with a single punch, blew the pursuer's head off.

With a loud "boom," the out-of-control fire crow talisman transformed into billowing Crimson Fiend flames, exploding into a fireball in mid-air and igniting both of them.

Then a charred, burning corpse fell into the courtyard and shattered. Another burly man with a crew cut, however, was only burned in his fur coat, revealing his beast-like chest. He landed unharmed in the earth god temple and stood beside Li Fan like a clay guardian.

Li Fan reached out and pressed on the barbarian's heart to check. Sure enough, this new body was completely under the control of the Blood Infant!

Not only is it impossible to defend against, killing without a trace! But it also devours the primordial spirit, seizes the Dao body, and makes perfect use of waste!

Good! Very good! Excellent! Ha! Haha! Hahaha!

Inside the earth god temple, the three men who had been chased and then immobilized by Li Fan could only stare in terror at the bald monk before them. The monk, his eyes gleaming, reached out and touched the chest muscles of the sweaty, bald man beside him, uttering a strange laugh, "Very good, very good, good boy! Good boy! Hahaha! Hiahiahia!" They felt as if they had escaped one tiger's den only to fall into another, experiencing no joy of surviving a calamity, but only a profound sense of bleakness and utterly slim chance of survival...