One Step Too Late

This system always sends out two bad messages out of the blue, making Li Fan feel like he's going to vomit blood!

He thought to himself that he had finally mastered his divine skill! He was now invincible! He could finally focus on mentoring the younger generation, developing the sect, and achieving racial ascension!

I can't believe the system got infected with a virus!

The system can get infected with viruses??? How ridiculous!!

Unfortunately, things at Ink Bamboo Mountain were also not easy to handle.

The fleet headed to Chicken Mountain Mine first because Li Fan originally wanted to recruit another group of new recruits to train in Lei Marsh, but the Chicken Mountain garrison Tai Gongshi, told him that the recruits had already been taken away.

It turned out that the other mountains had received a message from Real Person Huang the day before yesterday, informing them that the demon tide that had besieged Lingqiu Mountain had been wiped out by Li Fan in one fell swoop, and the siege of Zhonggu had been lifted.

As a result, the Bamboo Mountain masters of Yangjia Mountain also made the same decision as Li Fan.

Taking advantage of the opportunity presented by the order to destroy mountains and temples, he led a group of newcomers and independent cultivators to launch a counterattack and undergo trials and tribulations!

However, instead of heading to Lei Marsh, they took a more cautious approach and, led by Bamboo Mountain Nascent Soul Stage, gathered forces from the three mountains to launch a counterattack on the demon's lair in the Fei Mountain mine to the west.

Because Li Fan had wasted a day trying to calm himself down, the main force over there had already set off. Moreover, Bamboo Mountain knew his own limitations; he wasn't going to send so many large cargo ships to sweep up goods, nor was he going to dawdle and do any kind of calisthenics or preaching along the way.

They took advantage of the time and information gap, gathering before the monsters could react, and then fled in small boats, riding the wind at breakneck speed. By now, a large force has probably already stormed into Fei Mountain.

Sigh, those guys in Bamboo Mountain, they really have no luck. They've missed another great opportunity to be carried by a high-level player and get free equipment.

Well, it's alright. Leveling up on their own isn't bad either. At least they're not going to be easy prey. Besides, there are probably plenty of monsters in Fei Mountain, so it shouldn't be too dangerous. Let them level up on their own; there's no need to steal their share.

In this way, Li Fan no longer needs to continue westward and delay gathering his troops. Now, with the six ships and three hundred Golden Core cultivators here at Lingqiu Mountain, it is enough to provide experimental data for his Ink Mountain Gymnastics.

Li Fan then transformed into golden light and soared into the sky, where he began to take human form.

Yes, the method of Tai Su transformation! Cruiser Dao Body!

Zhu Long!

' Li Fan has successfully cultivated the Zhu Long Dao Body (Beginner Level), consuming 1200 points to reach his maximum mood; current mood is 9k/21.5k'

This true god, stretching across the sky, was merely a three-hundred-foot-tall worm compared to the adult form that stretched for thousands of miles, blotting out the sun and swallowing the moon. Yet, when people on the ground and on the boats looked up, they saw only a giant beast with a white belly and black scales, blocking out the sun. It could block out the sunlight by shaking its head and disperse the sea of clouds by swinging its serpentine body. It was like Mount Tai pressing down, with an astonishingly powerful aura.

Good heavens! The ground shook! As expected of a cruiser-level Dao Body! It consumed 1200 points right off the bat! And one of its three flowers withered immediately!

That makes sense; given its size and strength, it's indeed quite strenuous and demanding. If Li Fan hadn't recently upgraded the hardware, with the True Yang Technique providing an unlimited energy supply and the Limitless Nascent Soul Stage increasing its output, making it possible for this cruiser to break free from gravity and fly would have been a real struggle.

With each breath of the Zhu Long's human head, billowing clouds of energy were sprayed out, shrouding the divine body. Then, a head and face emerged from the clouds, clearly the face of the Mountain Lord, with golden eyes that swept across the ground.

All the beings on the deck of the mechanical ship were in a state of shock, and no one could look directly at them. Only a few could stand still. Those with cracks in their Dao hearts were terrified, and some even foamed at the mouth and fainted on the spot. Most of the others either knelt on the deck and vomited or covered their heads and huddled in the cabin like ostriches, hoping that they were having a nightmare.

Sigh, they're all at the Golden Core stage, and their eyes can't even withstand the light. These guys are really no good. Looks like he'll have to find a mask like Mo Shan's to wear.

So Li Fan opened his mouth and swallowed the six flying boats whole, storing them in the 'ship hangar'. Then, he swayed his serpentine body, rode the clouds, and flew straight towards the Southern Lei Marsh.

Although not as fast as the escape light, it was still quite large, so it flew over towering mountains and ridges in the blink of an eye, directly crashing into the layers of Lei Marsh above the Thunder Swamp.

These thunderclouds that obscured the waters were so thick that even Nascent Soul Stage cultivators could pass through them with the help of their magical treasures, thus only blocking those lower-level Golden Core cultivators. The Zhu Long Dao Body, of course, was unaffected. Li Fan could even use the boundless thunder and fire to recharge his energy. So he directly enveloped himself in the protective clouds, harnessing the wind and thunder, and plunged straight into the depths of the Lei Marsh Swamp. Then he emerged from the thunderclouds, looked around, and scanned the area with his Divine Sense. Finding a spot with few large monsters but plenty of small ones, he spat out six mechanical flying boats, which landed in the Lei Marsh Swamp.

"Alright, you guys start leveling up. Hang in there for a couple of months, and once Lei Marsh opens, you can go back to Lingqiu Mountain."

So Li Fan simply abandoned the group of bewildered disciples of Ink Bamboo Mountain and rode away on the thunderclouds.

It's okay. People need to be pushed a little. And potential is like that... well, you can always find it if you push it.

However, the cruiser form was simply too taxing on magic power. Even though the True Yang Technique could withstand it, the Returning Void True Essence couldn't. So, Li Fan transformed back into human form in the thunderclouds and flew all the way to the south of Lei Marsh, so that the aura of the Zhu Long wouldn't frighten the surrounding monsters and prevent it from serving its purpose of training disciples.

He could sense that there were indeed a large number of demons hiding in the Lei Marsh. If he was not mistaken, there was only one place in the Lei Marsh where the Demon Race's destiny and spiritual energy gathered, which was the Gonggong Temple that the Nangong Family had suppressed back then!

If the Demon Race were to choose a place as their base, the Gonggong Demon God Palace would be the best choice. The Divine Transformation level demon kings should all be in the temple, so Li Fan was also eager to come and solo the dungeon. At worst, he could just kill without eating.

This was Li Fan's second visit to the Gonggong Temple, so he was quite familiar with the route and flew directly to the center of the Lei Marsh.

Sure enough, the sealing formation had been destroyed by the demons, the Demon Subduing Platform had been overturned, and the waters had been dug into a large pit by the demons, excavating the buildings of the Gonggong clan that had been suppressed underneath. Not only were the auras of many demon kings and great demons gathered here, but many lesser monsters were also darting around in the pit, seemingly searching and digging for something in the ancient ruins of the demon god.

Could it be that they are searching for the cultivation methods of the Demon Race?

Hehe, it's a pity that the Jiuli Dance Manual was destroyed by him long ago, and he even ate most of the Demon God's egg.

"Where did this scoundrel come from! Daring to spy in the shadows?!"

A furious shout rang out, and three Divine Transformation stage demon kings appeared, flying straight out of the Demon God Palace ruins to meet Li Fan.

Li Fan didn't really have a way to hide it. After all, things were different now compared to before when his Gui Xu Nascent Soul form was invisible and he could act as an assassin. The fluctuations of his True Yang Technique's primordial spirit were too intense and fiery to hide.

But Li Fan was still a little surprised.

Why are there only three?

Aren't there four Great Demon Kings at the vanguard? And it's said that Lei Marsh has gathered his main force, but there are only three Great Demon Kings guarding the main camp?

Oh well, whatever. Even a small mosquito is still meat.

So Li Fan raised his hand, signaling his impending death.

"Qingyue of Ink Bamboo Mountain, now the Mountain Lord, you fiends dare to invade my sect and even dare to shout at me, clearly showing no respect for me. Die."

So Li Fan used the Tai Sha Sword Rainbow to attack.

Li Fan's mood improved slightly.

'Li Fan triumphed in the sect's great calamity, slaying King of Qi Wu.'

'Li Fan won the battle at the Broken Mountain Temple and killed King of Qi Wu.'

'Li Fan triumphed in the sect's great calamity, slaying the Extra Greater Chi.'

' Li Fan triumphed in the battle of breaking through mountains and destroying temples, slaying the Extra Greater Chi.'

'Current mood, 9k/24.9k'

Hiss... I just casually used one attack, and another of my three flowers has withered! It seems that the cruiser's physique is really quite demanding!

Let's play it safe and refresh the three-flower ranking. Anyway, my brother doesn't need to worry about the cap anymore, so let's just deduct 2.4k...

"Wh-what?!" "Big brother, ahhhhh!"

The remaining two monsters, filled with grief and rage, didn't even think about escaping. Instead, they attacked from the left and right, one slashing with a knife and the other thrusting with a spear.

Since that's the case, Li Fan didn't bother chasing after the monster with his sword. He casually rolled up his robes, transforming them into gauntlets, and used the power of the Ghost Hand. With a grab and twist of his left hand, he shattered the precious sword. With a swift pull and snatch of his right hand, he immediately seized the iron spear.

Before the two demons could react, Li Fan channeled his power, wielding the iron spear like a sword. He pierced the left demon king's eye socket with a single strike, then thrust it deep into the demon king's groin, penetrating right through his lungs and exiting through his crotch.

At the same time, he leaped up and used the same trick again, concealing the Tai Sha Sword Embryo in his right foot. With a thrust of his toe, he pierced through the right side of the demon king's lungs. Then, he raised his knee and flicked the sword tip upwards, splitting open the chest and ribs, tearing open the cheek, and flying straight out from the top of the skull.

In a single exchange, he instantly killed two fools who dared to rush up and fight him in close combat.

'Li Fan triumphed in the sect's great calamity, slaying King of Lu Wu.'

'Li Fan triumphed in the sect's great calamity, slaying King of Qu Wu.'

'Li Fan triumphed in the sect's great calamity, slaying the Extra Greater Chi.'

Current mood, 9k/29.3k

Ah, invincible, how lonely it is~~

The three demon king corpses fell into the Lei Marsh, revealing their demonic forms as three enormous feathered beasts, somewhat resembling eagles and others like cormorants, with horns on their heads and wingspans of twenty zhang (approximately 33 meters). If they were to take flight and engage in hit-and-run tactics, they might be able to escape. It seems they were truly brothers born of the same family.

Ignoring the other fleeing monsters, Li Fan directly entered the Demon God Palace and used his Divine Sense to investigate. To his surprise, there were no other demon kings hiding in the palace.

However, it was also clear that many Demon Race had been stationed here for quite some time. The hall was filled with blood and flesh, a veritable mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. Most of the corpses were Demon Race devouring each other, a case of the strong preying on the weak. There were also a small number of human remains that had been plundered from the mountains. There were also some foxes and weasels among the demons. Although their cultivation levels were not high, they dressed like scholars and held banknotes in their hands, trying to look like humans, as if they were copying and imitating the various characters and murals in the Demon God Palace.

Li Fan casually walked forward and took a look, discovering that these jackals were not only using human writing, but also using Demon Race runes that resembled hieroglyphics!

Wow, it seems these Demon Race have really become intelligent. Could they be embarking on a path of civilizational revival? We can't let them live. If the company discovers the Demon Race civilization and comes to deal with them as pests, wouldn't the native humans of this world be in deep trouble?

Li Fan naturally wouldn't hold back, flicking his sleeves and blasting these sycophantic advisors into pieces. He destroyed all the ancient books they had copied and compiled. He didn't spare those outside either, smashing them to pieces with a single palm strike whenever they came near, but this method was still too slow.

So Li Fan simply transformed on the spot. The massive body of the Zhu Long instantly destroyed the entire ruins. He raised his head, opened his mouth and collected the corpses of three great kings. He casually rolled and puffed around on the spot, swept his two tails, and razed the entire Demon God Ruins to the ground. He didn't even bother to count how many small demons and monsters he had crushed. He was too lazy to chase after the other elite monsters that had fled in panic, and flew directly back to the training ground of the Ink Bamboo Mountain disciples.

Li Fan poked his head out of the thunderclouds, opened his mouth, and spat out the mangled remains of the demon king.

"You all prepare all this good meat to go with the wine, pluck the feathers, remove the bones, chop it up, and load it onto the ship... Hmm? Oh, you're fighting monsters? Good, good, keep fighting, let me see."

Yes, at that moment, the disciples of Ink Bamboo Mountain were indeed fighting monsters. To be precise, a wolf demon at the Nascent Soul Realm happened to be passing by, smelled the monster, and came over to take a look, intending to capture two people and eat them.

Then Li Moyun made his move and exchanged several punches with the great demon, the outcome of which was still undecided.

However, now they were distracted by the Zhu Long in the clouds, with such a huge human face staring at them from the sky, and a huge pile of flesh and blood of the Nascent Divine Transformation Demon Kings who died with their eyes wide open fell from the sky and landed in front of them. Blood splattered all over them. Even Li Moyun was standing with his neck shrunken, not daring to look up and meet Li Fan's eyes.

The wolf demon was trembling, its body limp, completely overwhelmed by the bloody stench emanating from its mouth and nose, as if the demon king had been slaughtered. It lay prostrate on the ground like a puppy, whimpering and too afraid to move.

"Fight! Why aren't you fighting?! Fight!"

Li Fan's voice was like thunder, making Li Moyun tremble, and the wolf demon shook like a sieve.

"Ha! The Ninth Level of the Ink Mountain Demon Fist!"

At that moment, a figure leaped out from the deck. It was Li Sheng. With a swift stroke, he severed half of the wolf demon's neck.

The wolf demon still dared not move.

Li Sheng, a fearless young man, fearlessly stepped on the wolf demon's shoulder, forcefully pulling the large sword that was stuck in the demon's spine. He then exerted his strength, delivering two more powerful blows. These three strikes were powerful and forceful, severing the wolf's head. He held it in his hand, laughing heartily.

"Mountain Lord, please look!"

Li Fan burst into loud, boisterous laughter, his voice echoing for miles around, like a thunderclap from the heavens, chilling everyone to the bone.

"Good, good, good! Well done, kid! That's the spirit you've got! Mere demons! Mere food on your plate! Snacks to go with your drinks! What's there to be afraid of!"

That demon king is yours! If you can finish eating it, I'll take you as my personal disciple!

"Don't just stand around! Kill! Kill all the monsters of Lei Marsh!!"

"Yes!"

Now Li Fan also understands the joy that old people feel when they see a talented and outstanding younger generation.

When monster slaying has become a tedious and boring mechanical task, nurturing new characters is a new way to play.

It doesn't matter if the hundreds of people from Ink Bamboo Mountain are all good-for-nothings, as long as we can select and cultivate Li Sheng to inherit the Mozhu Daoist Tradition, it will be a worthwhile outcome!

So Li Fan withdrew the Zhu Long Dao Body, transformed into golden light, and flew away, no longer interfering with Li Sheng's leveling up.

After all, the cruiser's aura was terrifying; even the monsters were scared like lambs to the slaughter, running away from afar. This was not conducive to the disciples of Ink Bamboo Mountain honing their skills and leveling up.

However, after wandering around Lei Marsh for a long time, Li Fan discovered something strange.

It seems like only those three demon kings are guarding the entire Lei Marsh? And there are so few Nascent Soul Stage level demons! Strange, where have all the kings of the Ten-thousand-mountains gone?

After searching for a long time, Li Fan finally found a lion at the Nascent Soul Realm. He immediately pounced, tore off its limbs, ripped off half a piece of its head skin, grabbed it, and interrogated it.

"Hey, little cat, which mountain and cave are you from? Where is your king now?"

The lion howled in agony, almost fainting from crying, vomiting blood and howling pitifully, unable to utter a word for a long time.

Li Fan was too lazy to ask anymore. He chopped off the lion's head with a chop, then rolled on the ground, transformed into Qiongqi, and devoured the lion's head in a few bites. With his mouth full of blood, he burped and spat out the lion's soul to ask a question. Finally, he got the answer.

He missed again!

The Demon Race army of Lei Marsh just left, can you believe it!

However, these monsters did not head north to besiege Ink Bamboo Mountain, since they did not encounter them along the way.

However, Li Fan was able to see from the lion's memory that these Demon Race, in formation, crawled into the mouths of a group of whales and were transported out by the eastern waterway! This lion probably really dared not go into the sea; whether it was seasickness or disliked the fishy smell, it stayed behind...

Wait a minute, isn't that the Ling King's army?!

Yeah, when Lei Marsh was sealed off, he escaped by water! And then he escaped all the way to... Holy crap!

Li Fan suddenly understood.

Hengshan did not give up its struggle for the world because of the internal strife within Emei!

The war has never stopped! It's just that the first target of the siege wasn't Ink Bamboo Mountain!

Yes! It's Luofeng Mountain!

Hengshan has mobilized not only the armies of Xun Kingdom and Nangong Family!

They also joined forces with the monsters of the Ten-thousand-mountains and the army of the Ling King of the South Sea!

They plan to first destroy the Luo Feng Immortal Palace and seize control of the Xun Kingdom! Then they will turn their attention to the Li Country!

Exactly! If we go directly around from the east, we can easily drive west along the Li River and go straight in!

Ink Bamboo Mountain, located in both the south and the north, has been strategically positioned and fortified with mountain defenses for many years! And yet, they all managed to bypass it!

What the hell am I going to do?! I never expected these bastards to try and outsmart me! Holy crap, they're pulling a big strategic maneuver...

This is bad! This is bad...

Can Luo Feng hold out now? Probably not... They don't have a Dao Lord to oversee things, nor do they have many strange and unusual trump cards like the Thousand-Faced Immortal or the Celestial Immortal. What good is a mere gatekeeper like that?

Moreover, those Mountain Ghosts couldn't even defeat a Xun tiger up front, and now they're able to concentrate fully on competing with the Crown Prince of Xun and the Nangong Family for the throne. They're probably already giving it their all, right? They never expected that the monsters would suddenly launch a joint attack from behind!

No! Now is not the time to peacefully train the boys! We must hurry back to the mountain and report to the abbot!