Look at Your Feet

If it were just one or two companies trying to overthrow the Golden Summit, then we could condemn those treacherous and ambitious individuals.

However, if the situation escalates to the point of being abandoned by everyone and besieged by the entire world, it's hard to say that Emei itself made no mistakes.

Perhaps Cangsong and the others did their best, but even with their extraordinary computing power, there are bound to be times when they overlook one thing and neglect another.

However, the Three Elders and Four Ancestors did waste too much time trying to stop the irreversible trend, focused too much attention on the ethereal Three Ancestors, and exhausted too much energy planning for a bleak ascension.

They aimed too high and planned too far ahead, so they easily missed what was right in front of them and stepped into a ditch.

After all, the most unpredictable and ever-changing thing in this world is always the human heart.

Often, it's the people you think are most reliable who will betray you and deliver the most fatal blow. And you may die without ever understanding when or what you did to lose a comrade you could once entrust your life to.

Although Li Fan was genuinely curious about what major trouble had occurred in Emei, who had won the battle at the Golden Summit, what kind of ending this chaotic world would bring, when the Abbot would finish his game, and when the large group of wounded and sick people on the verge of death in the mountains would be fully recovered, how the situation would develop from here on out!

But curiosity is useless, because time is unpredictable. While things are still ongoing, all you can do is keep completing tasks and side quests while the main storyline updates...

Now, with the example of Emei and the imminent threat of Hengshan, Li Fan, acting as the sect's deputy, naturally dared not be careless in the slightest. So, in the following days, he didn't even dare to worship the moon, and instead flew around Ink Bamboo Mountain day and night to patrol.

Since he had been thoroughly outmaneuvered by those old ghosts and couldn't hide any longer, Li Fan simply revealed his strength. He flew around the mountain non-stop, testing the limits of his True Yang Qi, and every now and then he would spread out his Divine Sense to scan and inspect with all his might, like releasing an EMP, "buzz~~" a huge wave of heat swept out.

With this attack sweeping across the entire mountainside, not only were wandering ghosts nowhere to hide, but even the disciples of Ink Bamboo Mountain were finding it hard to cope. Being suddenly kidnapped and assassinated by thieves infiltrating their sect at night was already stressful enough, but to be suddenly locked onto by Divine Sense with a "buzz" sound, feeling like they were being burned from head to toe, would leave those with weakened mental states completely unable to concentrate on meditation or cultivation!

So when Li Fan patrolled the vicinity of Yangshuo Peak for the third time, Qiao Chunhua couldn't hold back any longer and flew out to complain, saying that if she kept sweeping, her pigs would become depressed.

"Not a pig! It's Dang Kang!"

Lord Li, the False Moon longer and longer now, and the Abundance Formation of the Ten-thousand-mountains has been broken. If Dang Kang is frightened again during the day, unable to sleep or eat, how will he have the energy to exorcise evil spirits and ward off misfortune at night, and to cultivate the land?

There are no more monsters near my sect. Even if there are, Dang Kang can smell them. Please do not disturb their rest any further!

Li Fan narrowed his eyes, stood up, and glared at her seriously, making Qiao Chunhua nervous. She felt uneasy and guilty, wondering if she had been too disrespectful in front of him.

"What did you call me? Lord Li?"

"Ah, this... aren't you the current Mountain Lord?" Qiao Chunhua didn't know what taboo she had broken, and answered carefully in a soft voice.

"... Mountain Lord, Mount Li..." Li Fan pondered for a moment seriously, then beamed, "Great! Mount Li! That's a good title~~ Little Qiao, just tell me what's on your mind, and I'll make the decisions for you."

Qiao Chunhua, "..."

"Oh, right, your pigs are sick, aren't they? No problem! I have a professional veterinary team here! Li Gan, Li Kun! I didn't call you!"

With a wave of his hand, Li Fan sent two boys and a Kun (a mythical fish) rolling out. Then, Li Fan grabbed the Kun by the tail and stuffed it back into his sleeve.

Ink Bamboo Mountain is really not peaceful now. In order to prevent someone from raiding his home, Li Fan went to Li Family Village during his patrol and rescued a bunch of rascals so they wouldn't starve to death on their own.

If Li Tangyuan and Lin Xiang continue to be left to their own devices by Kun, they'll grow into complete gluttons. To salvage their future, Li Fan decided to cram them in extra education. Since there was an opportunity, Li Fan arranged for them to join classes with Song Dayou and Xiang Kong, the only remaining disciples of Ink Bamboo Mountain, and study, write, and eat together in the Ink Bamboo Mountain Grotto-Heaven.

As for the two original clones of the system, they don't need to learn this outdated knowledge. After initial coordination, their autonomous intelligence has been set. When not connected to the system, they are fully bio-clones with system knowledge. Although they are still in the process of coordination and don't have many facial expressions, they can already maintain their human form and won't suddenly turn into a fish head to eat.

At this moment, the two boys stood up, one dressed in black and the other in white, standing side by side. Under their emotionless gazes, their deep, unfocused pupils, like dark holes, sent a chill down Qiao Chunhua's spine, as if she were looking at the starry sky.

"Stop just eating all day and do something useful. Her pigs are depressed, so they're yours to take over."

Li Gan, "O."

Li Kun, "K."

"... Lord Li, are these two servant boys... really veterinarians?"

Qiao Chunhua was still skeptical. After all, these two were full of demonic energy, smelled like fish, and had that blank, wooden expression; they didn't look human at all.

"Don't let their appearance fool you, they're professionals when it comes to monster technology, and some are even licensed psychologists, so don't worry about them."

Li Fan patted his chest to vouch for it, then rummaged in his sleeves again, grabbed the leopard, threw it out, and, carrying the two boys, went with Qiao Chunhua to herd the pigs.

Kun also sprang up and sneaked out of Heaven and Earth Sleeve, wanting to sneak out with his underlings to make some tofu.

But Li Fan's experience with the tofu tickets had really terrified it; it snatched them back from Kun in a flash.

"Don't even think about it! I've already Dao Integration, and you're still so tiny. You'll be leveling up with me from now on. You're only allowed to go out and play by yourself when you can transform into human form. Got it?"

Kun glared at Li Fan.

Bah!

Wow... this guy's been raised like a wild animal!

"Hmph, then try and escape from my grasp!"

Li Fan had transformed into a Kun before, so he knew what a Kun was. Although it could pass through any barrier without restriction and couldn't be contained, its mobility was very limited. It swam very slowly, at most splashing around a couple of times. Moreover, it was extremely lazy, often just sprawling on the leopard's head like a fish ball, unwilling to move an inch.

Sure enough, Kun struggled a couple of times, but seeing that Li Fan had casually scooped it back up, it gave up after its escape attempt failed. It simply slumped onto Li Fan's shoulder, too lazy to move.

"... Even if you transform, your combat strength will be questionable..."

Li Fan estimated that he would never see the scene of "Kun! Swallowing the starry sky!" in his lifetime...

Since Qiao Chunhua protested, Li Fan no longer needed to use his Divine Sense to investigate.

He certainly didn't find it amusing that he kept disturbing Qiao Chunhua's pigs every now and then. It was just that the battlefield where Qin Nanxin and North Star Guard fought the Black Lotus Sect that night was between Yangshuo Peak and Qingting Peak.

The remains of demons and evil energy in the vicinity have been mostly dealt with by the Real Persons of Ink Bamboo Mountain, but the local ecology has been destroyed, turning the area into a desolate, barren hell.

Li Fan came over to check repeatedly; it turned out he had received a side mission to find someone.

Although Qin Nanxin and Lin Chen had not yet woken up, the Discipline Institute sent a monk to hold the cat, chatted casually with the Saintess for a few minutes, and confirmed the traces of the battlefield before drawing a conclusion.

This Ban Yu practically never tells the truth; he even made the cat choke...

In short, the investigation confirmed that this Saintess had no intention of betraying the sect and joining Ink Bamboo Mountain, and she was indeed not the only one. There should have been a Nascent Soul Realm level protector of the sect present at the time, closely guarding her. However, none of the Ink Bamboo Mountain cultivators who came to collect the remains of the demon god's flesh and blood in the past few days have found any wounded or dead bodies. Considering that this is a cultivator of the sect, the worst possibility is that this person may have already possessed the body of Ink Bamboo Mountain disciple!

The presence of such a dangerous expert in the mountains was certainly a cause for concern, but ordinary people might not be a match for this Nascent Soul Stage protector. Therefore, the Discipline Institute requested Qingyue, who was currently guarding the sect, to take action and apprehend the remnants of the demonic sect.

Now that Li Fan is the dignified Lord Li, the guardian of Moshan Town, he naturally had no choice but to come and search for the demon's whereabouts.

Unfortunately, that night was too chaotic, and Li Fan was too anxious about Qin Nanxin's injuries to pay attention to anything else. By the time these past few days had passed, several groups of cultivators from Ink Bamboo Mountain had come to perform rituals to cleanse the land and dispel the evil energy, leaving no trace that could be deduced.

Lou Guan's soul lamp didn't react either. If this protector killed someone from Ink Bamboo Mountain or possessed a nearby cultivator, he couldn't possibly escape the consequences.

Li Fan had been patrolling the mountain these past few days, but he hadn't found anything unusual or any trace of anyone using escape techniques like Blood Shadow Godly Movement.

So either the other party was incredibly lucky, perfectly infiltrated, and managed to slip away right under Li Fan's nose, out of his blind spot.

Or maybe the other person never left and has been hiding in the same spot all along...

So Li Fan consulted the Si Nan and took out the God Lord Jade again, raising his hand to shine it. Sure enough, the God Lord Jade shone with blood-red light, and the Divine Ghost Face disappeared into the soil, shining directly into the ground.

Hmph, just as I suspected. This guardian must have used earth magic to descend underground and repair his physical body.

Li Fan himself possessed a Qingcheng Mountain technique that allowed him to recover by escaping into the ground, so he naturally saw through the opponent's plan.

This guy isn't stupid. He probably saw Qingyue kill the demon god in one move and knew that flying out would mean certain death. So he used the most dangerous place and the safest blind spot to hide underground and recover. He plans to wait seven days until Ink Bamboo Mountain can't find him, and then sneak out to escape, right?

Li Fan thought for a moment and decided that he could pretend to be a member of the Divine Cult again, trick the Saintess Protector out of there, and then use her to extract some information before killing her.

However, he used to be able to use the <Dao Breath Blood Refining> of the Xuan Tian Flow to forge the blood breath of the Divine Cult. Now that his Cultivation Method has been upgraded, he doesn't know if he can still do it, so he tried it first. He used True Yang Dao Qi to fuse with essence blood to imitate and generate the blood breath of people in the Divine Cult.

Hey, you know what, it actually works! And since the True Yang Fire Seed is placed in the heart, when condensed, it directly infuses the blood and energy throughout the body, which is actually much faster than the previous method of circulating it through the Inner Landscape organs! Haha, this makes the act even more convincing! So satisfying!

So Li Fan looked around to make sure no one was watching, then changed into the Divine Cult's outfit, put on the mask, and transformed into a person from the Tan Flower Island. Then, he grabbed eight talismans from his sleeve, threw them to the ground, and the eight yellow talismans first formed eight gates, then transformed into Dharma images, slashing down like steel knives and iron gates, burying themselves deep in the earthen mound!

This is exactly what he learned and sold from the cang song talisman guide, pointing out that the ground is copper, and sealing people to escape from the earth.

This single move sealed off the surrounding land, broke the magic, and cut off their retreat. Li Fan landed on the ground and secretly transmitted his voice.

"Stop hiding, I've seen you."

Silence.

Li Fan rolled his eyes. "What? How long are we going to squat here? The magic has been broken, and the Qi isn't flowing. Are you trying to suffocate yourself?"

As soon as he finished speaking, four streams of true energy burst forth from the earth.

Pei Shiqing of Songshan knelt before Li Fan, his injuries severe: his thigh was broken, his hair disheveled, blood flowing from all seven orifices, his left arm severed, and his right thumb missing. He clenched his fist, raised a blood-stained jade ring, and shouted.

"Fellow Daoist, you saved my life! The Pei Si Prefecture Sizhou and Mount Song will surely repay you handsomely!"

Meanwhile, Yan Benjing of Hotong Mountain and Cai Zhun of Magu Mountain stood on either side, one holding his palms and the other carrying a sword box. They were also covered in dust and dirt, but their eyes still held a sharp killing intent.

"Senior Brother Pei, everyone dies eventually, don't make it too ugly!"

"Those who follow the divine religion, don't court death and meddle in other people's business!"

The person standing behind Li Fan didn't say much. He was dressed in purple, wore a bamboo hat, carried a sword box on his back, and held a gleaming blue sword in his right hand.

Yes, this was clearly the third North Star Guard expert who had previously assassinated Li Fan with his flying sword. However, he could no longer use his flying sword, as his life force was waning. Although he had no external injuries, he was as thin as a skeleton. It turned out that all his vital essence and blood had been drained and devoured by the sword he was holding in his right hand! As a result, he looked like a dried-up corpse on the verge of death!

That's right, it was an acquaintance! The very sword that almost severed Li Fan's shoulder!

Li Fan, "..."

The four men, each wielding a sword, surrounded Li Fan from all sides. Meanwhile, the true protector of the cult remained crouched on the ground, unwilling to jump out.

The situation became extremely awkward.

Well, Li Fan was genuinely a little embarrassed. So many people were hiding right under his nose... He'd just been mocking Emei for looking too far ahead and not watching where he was standing... How shameful...

But before Li Fan could speak, and before he could feel embarrassed and ashamed for a moment, the other four exchanged glances and, in the same instant, attacked in shock!

The North Star Guard's mummified Dao Breath, having exhausted its life force, was unwilling to die. With all its might, it suppressed the sword in its hand, raised its arm, and thrust it forward, aiming straight for Li Fan's back! It was a selfless, all-consuming strike, unleashing all its power! The sword's edge pierced through the Divine Cult's robes!

Yan Benjing and Cai Zhun were even more insidious. They shouted, "Pei Shiqing! Prepare to die!" and attacked from both sides, heading straight for Li Fan.

Yan Benjing flipped his palms and rushed forward to get close, using the White Crane Fist. His whole body was enveloped in Qi, and layers of Daoist Dao Breath covered his entire body like armor, like crane feathers. His two fists were even more fierce, and he used all his strength to strike Li Fan's chest and abdomen!

Cai Zhun flicked his left hand, tearing open the sword box and unleashing a barrage of Sword Light! At the same time, he retreated sideways, made a hand seal, and swung his arm, throwing out six sword talismans with his right hand, which split into three paths, slashing straight at Li Fan's neck, wrists, and feet! Not forgetting to open his mouth, he also spat out a hidden flying sword, concealed in the rain of swords, aiming for Li Fan's face!

Pei Shiqing went even further. Even in his current state, he still managed to raise his hand and pour all his Dao Breath essence and blood into the jade ring he was holding, then pushed the ring out and smashed it towards Li Fan's face! The jade ring, infused with essence and blood, seemed to roar like a ferocious beast, with lightning surging, and it looked like it was about to explode!

But Li Fan was also prepared.

If he hadn't traveled to the Central Plains, he probably wouldn't have imagined that even Pei Shiqing would dare to attack him so ruthlessly. Even if he managed to dodge the three's sneak attack, he might still have been fatally injured by that seemingly incredibly powerful ring.

However, now Li Fan understands all too well the thought process of those bastards in the Xuanmen sect.

When they commit murder, they basically don't consider who is right and who is wrong.

All they calculate is profit, risk, and odds of winning.

A qualified disciple of the Xuanmen sect would never entrust their life to Yinian mercy of others.

Therefore, not only Pei Shiqing, but everyone made their own decisions at this moment.

After all, in order to escape the pursuit of Ink Bamboo Mountain, they had been holding their breath and sealing their senses underground for seven days.

Just when it seemed they were about to reach the end, Li Fan suddenly arrived, casually setting up an array that sealed off their last escape route.

Therefore, they joined forces to kill this common enemy who held an overwhelming advantage, or at least bring them to the same level, so that they would have a chance to fight for a tangible path to survival.

It's not that they made the wrong choice; it's just that Li Fan is no longer the naive young man he once was, one who would cherish human life and show mercy.

Then a line of blood pierced from the crimson robe, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue, stabbing into the ring. The sword tip swirled and shattered the ring, aiming directly at Pei Shiqing's brow, then withdrew its grip. The blood and bone, crushed into a paste by the surging sword force, instantly gushed from the gaping wound between Pei Shiqing's brows, creating a waterfall-like curtain of blood behind his head, like a peacock spreading its tail.

Then a gust of bloody wind emerged from the red robe, flapping like a vermilion bird. The colorful sword shadows were even faster and denser than the rain of swords that came rushing in. The chaotic sword strikes shattered all the flying swords and sword talismans in the sky. Then the fine, rain-like sword wind swept past Cai Zhun, scattering his entire body into drifting blood fragments.

Then a burst of blood and fire burst forth from the crimson robe, pouncing like a hungry tiger. The oncoming sword fire was utterly devastating, piercing through the iron arm with a single sword strike, turning the white crane protected by Dao Breath energy into a blazing turkey. The exploding blood flames not only swept away Yan Benjing's Yan Benjing Qi accumulated over many years, but also blasted his hardened bones and muscles, honed over many years, into ashes scattered across the sky.

Then a blood-red sword was thrown out from the crimson robe, heavy as a rock and towering as a mountain. It clashed head-on with the treasure in North Star Guard's hand without any fancy moves. A treasure of the Nascent Transformation Stage would naturally not be broken by a sword bought for five thousand strings of cash. But strangely, the five-thousand-string sword was only protected by a layer of Dao fire, yet it still withstood the blow from the Divine Transformation treasure head-on!

On the contrary, North Star Guard's withered body could not withstand the force as heavy as a mountain. With a crisp crack, the collision containing terrifying force caused Bei Chenwei's shinbone and spine to break straight down. His whole body was torn apart and flipped over from the waist like a withered tree, with white bones piercing through his abdomen. <Against Fate> on the spot.

The azure sword was also knocked away by the blow, making a crisp "clang" sound like striking jade. With half of its severed arm torn off, it spun and fell more than twenty feet away.

In the blink of an eye, he killed all four of them with a single move.

Li Fan stared blankly at the crimson sword in his hand, unable to comprehend it for a moment.

Of course, relying on the suppression of cultivation level, instantly killing and subduing four exhausted Nascent Soul Stage was not surprising at all. What surprised Li Fan was not this.

The question is why...

Li Fan tried to condense the blood essence refined by the True Yang Dao Qi onto the sword blade. The crimson sword was enveloped and surrounded by blood fire, radiating a dazzling crimson light, as if he were holding a blazing torch!

Why does the True Yang Technique provide a boost to the Blood Talisman Sword!?

"Holy, Holy Flame! It's the real Holy Flame!"

Hearing the sound, Li Fan turned his head and saw a naked figure emerge from the ground. The ruby was so huge and magnificent that Li Fan couldn't react for a moment.

The woman rushed over, disregarding her shameful, barely clothed appearance. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, palms facing upwards, blood trickling from her fingertips, as if holding two blood-red lotus flowers. Then she spread her arms as if to embrace the 'Holy Flame,' and prostrated herself before Li Fan with adoration.

"Disciple Duan Ye of the Ten Hearts greets the Wisdom Dharma King!"