The Old Madman

In fact, the moment Li Fan saw Zhi Jingzi, he almost couldn't hold back and attacked on the spot, condensing the power of the Tai Sha sword into his Hui Xing clone and stabbing her with it to take her head.

Turning around, he saw that there was also Jade Toad Granny next to him, an old enemy he had tried to kill several times but failed. He hesitated for a moment about who to stab first.

Finally, looking at the old man in the blue robe's thick, fat fingers, he immediately recognized the fingerprints on the mecha as belonging to this guy. Knowing that this was a difficult task, he simply spread his arms, pounced on the ground, and disappeared into Agent A's shadow like an osprey diving into a pond, vanishing without a trace.

"Huh--???"

The fat old man watched in disbelief as Li Fan leaped into the shadows. He had never seen such a method of escape in his entire life. His eyes widened in astonishment, and he hopped over to poke Agent A's shadow with his finger.

Zhi Jingzi sat firmly on the futon, without moving an inch.

Hearing the noise, Jade Toad Granny turned around while holding her umbrella. She saw the crazy old man jump down from the shrine, squatting behind the girl and hopping around, smearing the ash on the ground with his fingers and eating it. She couldn't help but roll her eyes and curse, "Crazy..." Then she turned back and continued to stare at the painting in a daze.

Strangely, the two agents did not react at all. They not only did not 'hear' them speaking, but they also did not 'see' so many people around them, as if they were completely unaware of the presence of everyone in the Dao Palace.

"Huh? You're back? The system radar didn't even react, the interference is too severe."

"The biological interference on this colony ship is too strong. It looks like a biological research institute modified from some kind of alien space nest by the company, with cyborgs and synthetic beasts everywhere. Fortunately, the pursuers were dealt with. They were android servants, and the scripts seemed a bit abnormal. There might be a hacker controlling them. I'm worried about the risk of infected puppets, so I haven't investigated directly. Of course, it's also possible that you accidentally triggered the firewall, or that the local native cyborgs discovered our presence."

That's right, we noticed it a long time ago...

Li Fan, hiding in the shadows, rolled his eyes at the old madman who was sticking out his fingers and poking his face.

"Hey, who would be stupid enough to accidentally trigger the firewall! Besides, without a network access pod, with the limited cache of the combat android, I'm already lucky I could hack in before my brain burns out! Alright, alright, unlocked and open."

Before the words were finished, a metal box-like control panel rose up from beneath the shrine of the Profound Maiden. Activated via neural link, it tore off the talisman seal that had been affixed to its surface.

Agent B's pupils gleamed blindingly, and steaming blood flowed from his nose and ear canals, dripping all over his body.

At this moment, even Zhi Jingzi and Jade Toad Granny got up and followed Agent A to take a look. Only the old madman was still scratching his head and staring at Agent A's shadow, completely puzzled.

"This is... a quantum communicator salvaged from the flagship? This antique is quite old, brought over by the Legion? Are you sure it works?"

"It works. The local subnet logs have been recording the communication. Someone recently turned on the computer and enabled it, which is why I was able to find the connection port by tracing the network. With this communicator boosting the signal, it should be strong enough to connect to the public network. Okay, I sent a message using the system. Did you receive it?"

Then Li Fan heard his system speak.

'A Level 1 alert from the Security Bureau has been detected. The Security Bureau fleet is being summoned to converge on the coordinates.'

"Who? Who's calling me! Big brother! Is that you, big brother!" The old madman raised his head and frantically looked around.

Zhi Jingzi remained silent, while Jade Toad Granny Chan rolled her eyes at the noisy madwoman.

Agent A frowned. "We can't get any signal at all. The interference is too severe; it's all static."

"Can't I receive it even though we're so close? Damn it, what's with the communication connection in the log? Cough cough cough cough!"

Agent B disconnected, retracting the nerve thread from the corner of his eye, then suddenly coughed, gasping for breath while spitting blood from his mouth and nose.

"This system chip is rubbish! It just melted down like that. I bet it's only a level three chip! Did the support team embezzle the budget?!"

Agent A thought for a moment, "No matter what, the Legion has even sent the few quantum communication devices they have, and trained so many native creatures. I think 49327 is one of the Legion's headquarters. Download the communication logs; these are all evidence of the Legion's collusion with the company."

If the communication logs were normal before, there might be too many level 5 creatures nearby. Let's move the device to an open area and try calling again later.

As Agent A said this, he pressed his temple, extended a nerve thread, and tried to probe into the quantum communicator.

Zhi Jingzi calculated for a moment, then suddenly flipped his hand, and a Sword Light slashed towards the agent's head!

The old madman grabbed the Sword Light in Zhi Jingzi's hand, his two eyes shifting, one fixed on Li Fan in the shadows, the other darting Fourth Department as if searching for "who was talking to me."

Seeing this, Jade Toad Granny realized something was wrong and took action. She quickly tiptoed, holding her umbrella, and leaped onto the roof beam, hiding in a corner, afraid that the two Dao Lords' melee might be caught in the crossfire and extinguished.

Without further ado, Zhi Jingzi brandished his Sword Light, determined to kill the two agents.

The old madman waved his hands wildly, catching all the Sword Light and shadows with his bare hands, not missing a single strike.

That old bastard Xiantong is Xiantong this strong...

Li Fan had just seen the fat man wearing a blue robe from Penglai and heard him yelling incoherently. After thinking for a while, he guessed that this guy was Xiantong, his former cellmate.

However, I originally thought that he had been imprisoned for more than 500 years after being manifested, so his skills shouldn't be that great. Unexpectedly, he completely controlled Zhi Jingzi.

Even if Zhi Jingzi was seriously injured and was clearly hiding under Yuntai Peak to recuperate, and was not in his best condition, it's still too much of a difference in strength for a dignified Dao Lord to be unable to kill someone.

Hehe! But this is a great opportunity!

Li Fan never misses an opportunity to stab someone in the back. So, taking advantage of the intense battle between Zhi Jingzi and Xiantong, he gathered his star power into a sword, and with a hand emerging from the shadows, he was about to deliver another backstab!

Suddenly! Xiantong shifted his position and stepped on Li Fan's 'hand'!

Li Fan was shocked!

This old madman! He actually saw through his tricks!

Yes, although I can't yet use the Radiant Star Primordial Spirit to condense evil energy and construct a clone of the Thousand-Faced Immortal using the Tai Su Transformation Method, just like Li Fan.

However, he can also manipulate strange Daoist power with baleful attributes, projecting it into the environment to form a barrier-like seal, interfering with and suppressing the immortal shadow's actions!

Or to put it simply, he just stepped on Li Fan and pinned him down...

"Xiantong, letting these two Celestial Devil live will bring endless trouble."

Xiantong suddenly darted behind him, Zhi Jingzi naturally dared not be careless. He was forced to leap out of the palace and land in the courtyard to gather his breath.

Xiantong looked up at the sky and down at the ground, grinning broadly.

"Senior brother, do you know where my Brother Xing Yun is?"

Zhi Jingzi said coldly, "He's dead."

Xiantong said with a simple smile, "You are still lying to me. I don't believe it. Then tell me how he died."

Zhi Jingzi remained silent.

Xiantong, however, put his hands on his hips, sticking out his belly, and said,

"I knew you were all lying, saying the Beichen Sword Sect was destroyed? Where was it destroyed! I asked the Sun Essence and the others, the Sword Sect's leadership is still there! Chun Jun has already recognized it as his master!"

You lied to me, saying Brother Xing Yun was dead! Ha! You can't fool me! I just heard it! Someone was calling me using my Luo Sect's long-distance communication device! If it wasn't Brother Xing Yun, who else could it be? He must be using the communication device to find me! All these years he must have wanted to come and save me! But you stopped him! Isn't that right! Isn't that right!"

Xiantong had probably completely forgotten who had just shushed him, but it didn't matter. At this moment, the two agents stood there like wooden puppets, frozen in place, clearly under some kind of spiritual magic that had sealed their souls.

Zhi Jingzi remained cold and said, "Are you out of your mind and have eye problems? That was just an illusion created by these demons."

Xiantong burst into laughter, his eyes practically popping out of their sockets, and he glared at Zhi Jingzi, shouting...

"Are you kidding me! These two little devils are blind and their souls are so weak they could be extinguished with a breath. What ability do they have to activate a communication device? Besides, didn't they say that someone used it recently? Only my brothers from the Luo Sect know the secret technique of transmitting sound over long distances! Who survived back then? Who disappeared without a trace? Back then, which of my brothers wasn't beaten to a pulp by you? Their souls were scattered!"

Only Brother Xing Yun! Only he is missing! Who else could it be but him! Who else could it be but him! Are you trying to say it's you?! Hahaha! Do you know how to use this communication device?! Hahaha! Show me how you use it, hahaha! Brother Xing Yun is still alive! Hahaha! Brother Yan is still alive! Hahahaha!

Zhi Jingzi was too lazy to waste words with him, so he drew his Beichen Qi Sword and charged forward!

"You madman! Do whatever you want! Go find your elder brother if you want! Die with them if you want! But these two are consumed by the aura of the Heavenly Demon Tribulation, they must die! Get out of my way!"

The bird, Xiantong, yelled loudly and charged forward unarmed to exchange blows.

"Nonsense! Nonsense! Bah! Brother Xing Yun isn't dead! Humph! Senior Brother! I can't believe that after all these years, you haven't improved at all! You're still clinging to your Sword Sect's techniques without any flexibility, and now you can only hide in your elder brother's room. You've even passed the position of Sword Sect leader to someone else! You've really disgraced your master!"

Zhi Jingzi's sword-like eyebrows furrowed, and he roared angrily as if his defenses had been broken.

"Xiantong! You fallen demonic bastard, how dare you talk to me like that! Back then you followed your junior brother around like a shadow! Now you're following Xianhua around like a shadow! How do you think you've done right by your master?! Tell me how he let you out! Tell me how that bastard Xianhua managed to collect all the Empty Star! Did you betray Junior Brother Yan? Did you betray the brothers of the Luo Sect?! If not you, then who is it?!"

The baby was crying Xiantong to breathe.

"Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit! He lost the bet to me! He lost the bet to me! I didn't betray Brother Xing Yun! I never betrayed the brothers of the Luo Sect! I didn't! I didn't! Go ask Xianhua! Go ask Xianhua!"

Zhi Jingzi laughed heartily, looking up at the sky.

"What's the use of saying all that nonsense now! If you hadn't been absent back then, how could the Luo Sect have lost, and how could our junior brother have died! Xiantong! You've ruined them all! Do you know that they were calling for you before they died, asking why you didn't come! Asking why you betrayed them! How can you still have the face to call them brothers!"

Now Xiantong's defenses are completely breached.

"Bullshit!!! Aaaaaah--! My brother! My brother! Aaaaaah--!"

The two fought fiercer and faster! Finally, in a single instant, they transformed into a rainbow, billowing up! One streak of blue, the other of cyan, like two bolts of lightning, two long dragons! Rolling from the ground to the sky, from the heavens to the earth! Like a raging tornado! The rolling Shi Kai, shattering the cliffs and iron walls of the nearby Yuntai Peak, causing the earth to shake violently!

Seeing an opportunity, Jade Toad Granny quickly grabbed her umbrella and headed out to slip away.

Seeing an opportunity, Li Fan's shadow sprang to his feet, raised the Tai Sha Wujing Sword, and prepared to stab him in the back.

Who knew that as Jade Toad Granny walked to the door and stepped out, she suddenly turned around.

This happened to be a direct collision with Li Fan. Both the human and the demon were stunned for a moment. The next second, the painting on the wall floated over and landed in Jade Toad Granny's hand.

Li Fan thrust his sword forward! But it was blocked by the painting! It was as if the graceful swordsman in the painting had blocked it with his sword! As a result, the sword missed by a hair's breadth! It failed to strike the vital point and sever the great demon's head! Jade Toad Granny ducked and narrowly avoided it! Gritting her teeth, she threw away an arm, a gourd, and half of her face, and in pain, she used her escape technique to flee!

Li Fan couldn't help but curse under his breath. He couldn't care less about chasing after this toad demon who was even tougher than Qin Jiu. The opportunity was fleeting, and rescuing Qiongqi was the priority. He flipped over and pounced, his Starshine clone following the flashing blue light, directly into the agent's pupils! Invading the primordial spirit!

Having previous practical experience manipulating the Guiche, and various experiences with the Blood Raven Puppet and the Heavenly Book Magic Puppet, the special agent's cybernetic body's system firewall couldn't trap him. On the contrary, the methods of the Envoy of Xiantong and some kind of the Luo Sect's primordial spirit technique were somewhat troublesome.

Within the agent's primordial spirit, or rather, his sea of consciousness, or even the depths of his soul, a gigantic black-purple lotus flower sprouted, enveloping and sealing the agent's soul!

"Heavenly Book Magic Puppet! Exorcism Sword Intent!"

This was the first time Li Fan had witnessed the true Luo Sect's Yuan Shen method. He immediately unleashed all his abilities, transforming his Yuan Shen into countless demonic puppets. Wielding the Demon Sword, he used the Tai Sha Tian Xing Sword Technique, swarming in from all directions to besiege the lotus! He attempted to cut open the lotus, drag out the agent's consciousness hidden within, and interrogate Qiong Qi about its whereabouts.

However, no one knew what Xiantong's abilities were. Li Fan's large group of magical puppets tore, gnawed, poked, and slashed, but it wasn't entirely useless, though it was of little significance. They painstakingly chipped away one layer of petals, only to have another layer visibly grow back, endlessly and relentlessly, growing faster and tighter and tighter until it was no longer recognizable as a lotus flower, but rather looked more like an onion...

What the hell is this? How do I break it?!

Just as Li Fan was at his wit's end, a chubby hand suddenly reached out from the void behind him and pulled him out of the Nascent Soul Realm!

In a flash, Li Fan saw Xiantong standing beside him, his slender sword-like fingers pressed against his lips.

"Sh--!!!"

Shh my foot!

Li Fan really wanted to shout back, but then he saw clearly that Xiantong Tong was holding his collar with his right hand and Zhi Jingzi's right arm with his left, and what he was really saying was Zhi Jingzi's sword-like finger...

Wow, that's incredible! He tore Zhi Jingzi apart in no time?!

Okay, you're something else. If the hard approach doesn't work, try the soft one.

"... Ahem, Daoist Lord, Xiantong, I have no enmity with the Luo Sect. In fact, I have many friends in the Luo Sect..."

Before Li Fan could finish speaking, Xiantong suddenly looked down at the painting at his feet. His Brother Xing Yun had been cut in two. Then he turned to look at the 'invisible sword' in Li Fan's hand, and then looked up at Li Fan. His face was visibly red, and his nose hairs stood on end!

Damn it, the connection's down! The connection's down! Unplug the network cable!

"Aaaaaah--! Big brother, ahaaah!"

Xiantong roared in fury! He shook off the severed arm from his hand and slapped at Xinghui's clone's face!

"Aaaaaah--!!"

Li Fan in the Hall of Light suddenly stood up! Kun, who was dozing off on the table, was so startled that he tumbled to the floor. With a great effort, the fat Kun straightened up and turned belly up.

"Huff... huff... you fucking lunatic... you're actually this powerful..."

The nascent soul that had been held in his mouth to die in place of him shattered, and the Starshine clone was also killed.

Li Fan sat down with a gloomy face and heavy breathing, staring at the incense in front of him, half of which had already burned out.

This is troublesome. Although he still has the nascent soul that could have been sacrificed for his primordial spirit, and his power to reshape the Starlight Avatar is inexhaustible, and he can jump over using Starlight Projection in the blink of an eye, he can't keep going indefinitely in a battle where his primordial spirit leaves his body. Half of the Soul Incense is left, so does that mean he still has one more chance?

This soul incense isn't some kind of combat manual; it simply reflects the energy of the soul, the time the soul can detach from the physical body. This is different from Qingxu Second Yuanshen, which jumps between two clones. It's the time limit for the primordial spirit to detach from its host body and independently roam the world. For example, in the past, Taisu Moon Worship, and there was a rule that it couldn't last overnight.

When an incense stick burns out, it symbolizes that the primordial spirit can no longer withstand more battles or linger in the body. If it forcibly leaves the body, the consequences can range from mild—soul splitting, amnesia, and demonic possession—to severe—losing the path to return to the body, losing sight of its true self, or even disappearing into the world as a wandering ghost.

Even for someone like the Abbot, who had reached a level of enlightenment, according to the Soul Incense's reminder, three battles would be about the limit. Li Fan was extremely cautious when performing his own ritual this time, but he still Xiantong Xian Tong's primordial spirit, and the Soul Incense's progress was burned by half.

It seems that the primordial spirit, soul, system consciousness, mood points, and the Three Flowers for Disaster Protection, although they all seem to be related to the soul and spirit, and appear similar, actually have quite different algorithms. This path of the primordial spirit has potential for deeper exploration...

But putting all that aside for now, the fact that his fellow inmate from Penglai, Xiantong, was so powerful was truly beyond Li Fan's expectations.

He can tear apart bullets with his bare hands, but can you believe he can tear apart a master like Zhi Jingzi so easily? I'm afraid only Manifestation could suppress him, right? Even if he were to fight Li Fan, I don't think he'd stand a chance...

But who could have predicted that such a divine being would suddenly appear from the half-dead, nearly extinct Luo Sect?

Now look what's happened! He's neglected the Luo Sect questline for ages, his faction affinity isn't high enough, and his combat power isn't sufficient either. It seems like he's stuck... Damn it...