Aiming to Harm Others Only Harms Yourself

Li Fan stared at Shi Yong's lifeless body on the ground, gritting his teeth, veins throbbing in his temples.

Seeing his expression, Ji Hao laughed heartily, "Look at you! You all claim to be acting on behalf of Heaven and sacrificing yourselves for righteousness, but it's nothing but deception! When it comes to yourselves, you hesitate and are afraid of death!"

Now look what happened! This person lost his life just because you hesitated for a moment! Can this be considered heroic? Can this be considered righteous? Hahahaha!"

Li Fan looked at him coldly, "That's right, if Shi Yong hadn't spoken up, he wouldn't have died. The same goes for everyone else; none of them would have died."

Ji Hao smiled and nodded, "It's good that you understand. A mere Golden Core cultivator dares to defy a Divine Transformation cultivator. That's wishful thinking and courting death."

Alright, alright, enough of this nonsense. I'll say it again: I am Ji Hao, the sect leader of the Qingyang Sect. The apprenticeship ceremony requires nine kowtows, and then..."

Li Fan ignored him and continued, "I guess the people of E Shenyu are all like stubborn rocks, they don't understand the slightest bit of compromise or maneuvering, which is why they are always easily taken advantage of. So when they wake up, they don't even understand the principle of waiting and seeing if the opportunity will come, and they just rush in to eliminate the demon."

What a complete idiot... yet you can't help but admire him.

Ji Hao smiled, paused, narrowed his eyes, and asked, "What do you mean...?"

Li Fan remained expressionless. "Isn't my meaning clear enough, old devil? Even a coward like me, who's afraid of death, dares to jump out and kill you, only because I'm absolutely certain of victory!"

However, you missed so many opportunities, and I've seen through your true nature. It's clear that you're now facing certain death! You're not even qualified to force me to use my trump card!

You are dead!

"... What nonsense are you spouting? Are you trying to provoke me into making a move?" Ji Hao narrowed his eyes, suspicious of Li Fan's composure. "... I'm already dead? Hmph! You really think that demon-suppressing formation outside can do anything to me? Hmph! How naive!"

"That's right, that's exactly how I calculated it. To eliminate you, I don't even need to use all my trump cards. These few demon-suppressing formations are more than enough! Heh, you still don't understand, do you? Surely not!"

"Hmph! Ignorant brat, you have no idea of the chasm-like difference in strength between Nascent Soul Stage cultivator and a Divine Transformation cultivator, yet you dare to spout such nonsense! Speak your mind!" Ji Hao clearly did not believe Li Fan's words, but he also understood that the fact that he was entangled in the killing tribulation meant that there was indeed a cause and effect for his demise.

But a mere demon-suppressing formation? That's impossible. Ji Hao narrowed his eyes, observing Li Fan's movements and the six Sword Light that drifted erratically in the sky, cautiously searching for any other ambush that could threaten him, which gave this kid so much confidence.

Seeing his cautious demeanor, Li Fan actually smiled. "That's right, I really don't know just how powerful the Transformation Stage is. But even a half-baked novice like me knows a little bit about chemistry."

Ji Hao, "... What should I transform into?"

"You want to know what happened to your death, right? Fine, I'll let you die knowing the truth. Old monster, let me ask you," Li Fan said, not caring whether the other party understood or not. "You were in such a hurry to come to the South China Sea to seize the sword that you've been out of Five-Stone Powder for several days."

"..." Ji Hao narrowed his eyes, then suddenly sneered, "That's it? Five-Stone Powder? You're counting on me to use it? This is the opportunity you've been waiting for? Ha! Hahahaha! Ridiculous!"

Li Fan laughed, "Really? Then why can't you remember the date? And what's with the shivering over there?"

Ji Hao was startled. He looked down and saw his left hand trembling slightly. His pupils contracted sharply, and he pressed his palm down.

Li Fan narrowed his eyes and said, "I've seen what it's like when a person is addicted to drugs; they're not even human anymore."

So what if you're a cultivator? Your pupils are already dilated, what's the use of pretending to be calm? As long as you haven't ascended to immortality and are still using human form to take drugs and pills, you'll eventually get addicted!

Furthermore, whether it's celestial delicacies or cultivation elixirs, as long as one's cultivation level increases, their physical body will also experience significant strengthening and increased drug resistance. Elixirs from the previous level will naturally become unusable, or at least their effectiveness will be significantly reduced. The Five-Stone Powder must be similar, right?

As a Transformation Stage cultivator, if you run out of your usual elixirs, how can the low-level elixirs available in the South China Sea satisfy your level of cultivation? I imagine that to maintain your sanity, you can only rely on taking large amounts of poison to barely alleviate your addiction!

"Hmph! Even a refined nine-stage external elixir is still highly toxic and cannot be taken continuously. How much better could the Five-Stone Powder you got from this market be? Your rationality has already reached its limit by now, hasn't it?"

Ji Hao remained silent. Li Fan continued,

"Look at you, you're neither human nor ghost! Don't you realize your mistake? You can't see a trace of flesh under your skin, your limbs and internal organs are so atrophied, yet the blood vessels in your heart and brain are so thick. Do you even resemble a human anymore?"

I suspect you specially refined it this way to avoid wasting the potency of the Five-Stone Powder formula, and to deliver the poisonous blood to the brain! Otherwise, the ordinary dosage of the powder probably wouldn't be enough to give a Divine Transformation cultivator like you any pleasure, would it?

Hehe, when I saw you hiding in the awning boat eating people, I knew something was off.

If you were truly a pure Devil Embryo, that would be one thing, but you cultivate orthodox Xuanmen divine skills with a solid foundation, so there's no need for you to eat people! If it's said that you're inherently evil, judging from your insights into the pursuit of the Dao just now, it doesn't seem like you could have gone astray from the start.

But if it's a stimulant or similar drug, let alone cannibalism, it could cause anyone to go completely insane, manic, or mentally unstable!

If I'm not mistaken, you may have only made a temporary mistake, becoming addicted to drugs and unable to break free, to the point that the addiction is deeply ingrained! It has now seeped into your bones, affecting your brain, and you might even be suffering from schizophrenia!

Do you remember?! It was the very person you just casually killed who chopped you down! With your character, you old devil, how could you let him die so easily?! Do you even remember his name?!

Ji Hao narrowed his eyes, but surprisingly remained silent and did nothing. He still suspected that Li Fan might have other motives.

But this was exactly as Li Fan had expected. After all, a drug addict suffering from mental illness often has a particularly strong paranoia. Judging from the crazy state of his alcohol slaves, it was clear that this Qingyang Sect member was extremely volatile and unpredictable, making him very difficult to deal with. But at this moment, the more he suspected and speculated, the better, since it would promote blood circulation in the brain and further accelerate the absorption of the toxins.

So when the Five Elements Escape Method failed to work on this Divine Transformation cultivator, Li Fan continued to use verbal attacks, saying, "Just as I expected, you must know your weakness of being too addicted to drugs and occasionally suffering from amnesia. So you've long forgotten about us mere Golden Core cultivators, who are like bait. You're even too lazy to remember the names of your servants, this slave and that slave. You've used all your energy to scheme and covet cultivators above the Nascent Soul Stage level, and you don't have the energy to care about other trivial matters!"

"But you actually remember to give that Lü Daolian a Daoist name, Mingguang... Is Mingguang really a Daoist name bestowed upon him? Or did you simply name your disciples Mingguang when you took them in to kill them?"

"Shut up!" Ji Hao roared, his face contorted in a rage, his voice cracking as if his vocal cords were being torn apart!

Then Li Fan understood, realized, and smiled, "Is that so? So why do you keep bringing up the idea of becoming an apprentice?"

Didn't you look down on those cowards who stick together in sects for mutual support?

Then why are you so fixated on the title of sect leader, and why did you even appoint yourself as the sect master of the Qingyang Sect?

Why do you so readily ask people to become your disciples only to kill them? Is it for fun? Or is it really some kind of secret ritual?

Or perhaps there's a reason you can't remember, or don't want to remember?"

"Shut up!" Ji Hao's gaze shifted, his dilated pupils scanning the surrounding rocks, seabed, Sword Light, and Li Fan's eyes. "I told you to shut up!"

You guys... he discovered, no, he's already experiencing an illusion...

Li Fan then smiled coldly, his three eyes gleaming blood red. "Then let me guess. Your master discovered you were addicted to drugs and intended to kill you with a single blow, but you ended up beating him to death instead, right?"

Your Dao heart collapsed back then, right? So you split into a mad, demonic being, trying to forget about it, right?

How could I forget so easily...? And my Daoist heart and actions have actually changed so drastically...

... Did you want to forget all of this, so you... no...

"So you'll just eat all of them from the Qingyang Sect?"

"I told you to shut up!!!"

"That's why you took poison! That's why you ate people! That's why you lost your memory!"

So you're going to forget all these things that affect your Dao heart, right?!

But it was something I did!

Can you really forget it?

Can't you see the blood on your hands?

Ji Mingguang!

"I told you to shut up!" Ji Hao screamed as she pounced on her!

At this moment, Ji Hao's Dao heart was in turmoil; he was nothing more than a demonic beast in human skin!

Then Li Fan shouted, "It's time!"

Excellent! This is exactly the moment we've been waiting for! He used up all his trump cards and stalled for so long, and spent so much time talking to people, all to give the other four, no, the other three, the opportunity to make their move!

Indeed, they had just been utterly devastated by the explosion of the Azure Yang Flame from the Divine Transformation beast, nearly dying on the spot.

But it's alright! You're sick, Li Fan has the cure! The secret Dragon Fetus Feathering Pill passed down by the Abbot of Ink Bamboo Mountain! He used the Five Luo Sword Ghosts to control them all and fed them to them! It's just that Shi Yong, being so stubborn, rushed out as soon as he woke up...

However, the others, having been reminded, took advantage of Li Fan's verbal delay and relied on the effects of the medicine to regain their confidence—no, to unleash all their potential!

Therefore, Li Fan is now relying not only on the four Nascent Soul Stage outside, but also on the three Nascent Soul Stage present!

The time to vanquish demons and uphold justice has come!

But Ji Hao was still Divine Transformation demonic beast! Before these words had even finished, his right claw was already reaching for Li Fan's head! He didn't even care about his eyes!

"Die! Die--!"

"Namo Great Vows of the Ten Great Vows!"

With a loud shout, Chen Nanggu suddenly appeared behind Li Fan, as if breaking through an invisible curtain of water! He picked up Li Fan and turned to leave, but Ji Hao struck him squarely in the back with a full-force palm strike!

With a clang, Chen Nanggu's golden body was dented by a single palm strike, most of his shoulder and back caved in, and blood, flesh, and internal organs were spurted out of his mouth and nose! The two of them were sent flying more than ten feet away like kites with broken strings!

Right at this moment!

The blow that struck Chen Nanggu also stopped Ji Hao's palm strike. Then, a Sword Light burst forth from the ground! Bai Jianqiu let out a clear whistle! The Sword Light slashed down, severing the old demon Ji Hao's right arm in one strike!

But before Bai Jianqiu could land a successful attack and fly away on his sword, Ji Hao let out a ghostly howl, grabbed with his left hand, and pierced through Bai Jianqiu's intestines, completely piercing the Hengshan swordsman through!

"Gah! I've got him!" Bai Jianqiu roared, spitting blood, as he pulled out the twin swords hidden in the hilt of his longsword and stabbed them straight at Ji Hao's right eye with a backhand strike!

What a devil! He actually reacted in time! He tilted his head back and caught the mother and child swords in his jaws with his teeth!

Right at this moment!

Shen Dongyang pounced over, leaping over the broken sword stained with Shi Yong's blood. His square face was crackling with lightning, which surged from his mouth and nose, as well as the evil-repelling divine lightning accumulated in his palms! The lightning flashed!

"Thunderous roar--!!!"

A double-peaked lightning bolt pierced Ji Hao's ears, striking him squarely in the head. The lightning bolt, the culmination of Ji Hao's life's cultivation, was then slammed into his skull! The Demon-Slaying Divine Lightning exploded forth, causing Ji Hao's entire body to crackle with lightning! Beneath his translucent skin, lightning snakes darted about, turning his internal organs into ashes!

Boom--!

Aww--!!

In the Heavenly Spirit Court, amidst the earth-shattering roar, Ji Hao let out a silent shriek. With a flick of his left arm, he shattered Bai Jianqiu in two at the waist. Then, with a backhand elbow strike, he sent Shen Dongyang flying backward, spinning and crashing into the ruins, his fate unknown!

But before he could pull the twin swords stuck in his chin, he unleashed the palm lightning that was raging wildly inside his head.

The Four-Phase Demon-Suppressing Formation! At this very moment! Like Mount Tai crashing down! It arrived with a deafening roar!

With a single blow, the demon was completely crushed to the ground!

"Aaaaaah--!!!"

Perhaps it was the series of heavy blows that finally brought this demon back to his senses from his temporary drug addiction.

Ji Hao actually managed to get up again, supporting himself on one hand. His entire body was enveloped in a bluish-white flame, and a huge sun wheel appeared behind his head. His body was even growing larger and stronger at a visible speed, with his muscles growing! He was actually about to reach the Divine Transformation again!

But when Ji Hao raised his head, he suddenly froze.

The boy, with three bloodshot eyes, blood gushing from his mouth and nose, and blood spurting from his feet, gripped a crimson sword in both hands. He was like a blood-red shadow, rushing straight into Ji Hao's field of vision.

"You lowly slave, how dare you!" Ji Hao's eyes suddenly flashed with light, and blue flames erupted from his mouth!

Then the three-eyed boy shouted!

"Ji Mingguang, prepare to die--!"

As a result, Ji Hao fell ill.

Ji Mingguang,

They deserve to die.

This is the last chance.

Li Fan leaped onto his sword, his Heavenly Ghost Twin Pills merging with his five hearts! He hurled the sword rainbow in his hand, as bright as lightning and crimson thunder!

"Chi Qiu! Slay the Demon!!"

Then the Chi Qiu transformed into a sword rainbow and flew through Ji Hao's head, piercing his brow and breaking through his spinal cord. It cleaved him in two, his body shattering into pieces!

Ji Hao's vision was also dyed a uniform crimson.

Who... was he again...?

Then the boy's roar seemed to travel from afar, directly into Ji Hao's spiritual aperture.

"Remember the person who killed you! It was your grandfather, Qingyue!!"

So... he was the one who killed me...

Then who am I...?

The Demon-Suppressing Formation crashed down, crushing the old demon, whose Dao heart had collapsed and whose Dao body had disintegrated, into blood and foam!

Hey system! I've yelled so loudly! Shouldn't I get the reward for this kill?

Li Fan's mood improved significantly by 1 point.

'Li Fan triumphed in the battle, defeating Ji Mingguang, the master of the Qingyang Sect.'

Great! I got it!

Li Fan's mood cap has increased by 100 points. Current mood: 602/2000.

What?! Only gained 100 points! After all that grinding, I'm only at the Golden Core level?!

'The deceased was severely poisoned; his physical body was on the verge of collapse, Five Declines of Heaven and Man. He was only destined to live for another hundred years.'

Holy crap! Drugs are absolutely deadly! Even a Nascent Divine Transformation wouldn't escape death if they got involved! Remember this, everyone: never touch Five-Stone Powder!

At that moment, the six Sword Light actually swooped down from the sky, piercing straight into the remaining pool of flesh and blood of the Divine Transformation cultivator, and began to devour his flesh, blood, and soul!

Oh, you dare not share life and death, but after the battle, when it comes to rewards, they all pounce on you to snatch the food!

Li Fan glared at the six swords, his heart burning with rage. He desperately wanted to summon Chi Qiu back and sweep these six pieces of trash to smithereens with a single strike. But then a red light flashed, and Chi Qiu flew over to join the feast...

"Brother Li... are you alright... are you alright...?" Shen Dongyang stood up from the rubble, clutching his left rib, and walked shakily to Li Fan's side. Although he had been struck by an elbow and had half of his bones shattered, his internal organs had not been injured. The fact that he could still stand up showed that his cultivation was solid, his Dao heart was firm, and his foundation was deep. As long as he had a breath left, he could still hold on.

Li Fan rolled over, lying on his back and looking at him. "Brother Shen! Are you alright? I still have some medicine, but Brother Chen's breath was weak from protecting me, I'm afraid..."

Shen Dongyang shook his head. "Brother Bai is already dead, and he can't escape. The killing tribulation has been broken, and the treasure light is overflowing. However, it has attracted a Divine Transformation demon from outside."

Hmm? Another one?

Li Fan sat up on the ground and then saw countless snake heads emerging from the seabed tunnel of the underground spiritual cave. Their long necks, slimy, tender skin, and gaping maws were all lowering towards Li Fan and Shen Dongyang, as if smiling... "You've finally arrived, and you're as disgusting as ever..."

At this point, we could have been ruthless enough to kill Shen Dongyang to silence him, take everything, and leave. The Xuanmen might not have been able to catch up with us in time.

Besides, the reason they went to find those few was precisely to use the calamity-bringing energy of the Xuanmen sect to shield the old men from disaster and make them scapegoats.

Yes, deep down Li Fan knew that he, Qingyue, and Ji Mingguang were not fundamentally different.

They share the same arrogance, discarding anything they deem worthless like worn-out shoes.

They share the same greed; wanting treasures, they'll stop at nothing to grasp them.

They were equally unrestrained and carefree, doing whatever they pleased, running rampant without restraint. Anyone they disliked, even without any connection to them, would be completely eradicated.

It's all just human nature, really. The line between the righteous path and the demonic path is thin, but how clear is the distinction really?

Then Li Fan couldn't help but recall what the pair of Yang Fish had said to him.

If you take too much from everything, the relationship will inevitably end sooner...

Ha, you even bothered to remind me? Was it really necessary?

Because what Li Fan considered worthless and precious was actually the exact opposite of what these natives were pursuing!

"... Brother Dongyang, you should go. Take those six swords back with you."

"What! Brother Li! You mean to!"

Li Fan smiled at him, pointed to the three eyes on his forehead, and said, "I'll keep an eye on things here, and that 'sea monster' won't be able to touch you."

"Please take the flying sword and the bodies of your comrades back to the Xuanmen Sect. Brother Chen might still be saved. In any case, these—humph—flying swords—were earned with your lives; at least you should have some explanation."

Shen Dongyang nodded solemnly, "Brother Li, is there anything else you haven't fulfilled?"

Li Fan glanced to the other side, and Kun gave him a wink before swimming into the sunken ship where the sword furnaces were located. Li Fan then realized that the four old men were unharmed and had probably had a great harvest. There were still several furnaces of swords yet to be opened, so he had nothing to worry about.

"The matter concerning my eyes involves secrets of our sect, so please keep it a secret. As for the matter of exorcising demons, the senior brother of the Beichen Sword Sect is enough, and the world need not know the name of Qingyue."

Furthermore, I fear the Xuanmen sect looks down on rogue cultivators from the South China Sea. I would appreciate it if you could mediate and secure some compensation for Brother Shi, which could then be given to E Shenyu."

"I, Shen Dongyang, will definitely do it." Shen Dongyang clasped his hands in a fist salute, opened his mouth again, but in the end, he didn't say anything. He just nodded silently, cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to Li Fan, and said, "Until we meet again."

So he swept up six swords with a flick of his sleeve, along with Bai Jianqiu, Chen Nanggu, and the remaining broken blade of Shi Yong, gritted his teeth, spat out a mouthful of blood essence, transformed into thunderclouds, and broke through the sea surface to leave.

Watching him leave, Li Fan collapsed onto the seabed, nodded towards the thunderclouds emerging from the sea, and said, "May we meet again someday..."