Evil Arts

Chapter 38 Evil Arts

The moon was bright and the stars were sparse.

With the road being relatively wide and flat, traveling at night was not a problem.

However, traveling through the wilderness at night carried great risks.

There were many wild beasts in the wilderness, and the night was their most active time.

Clatter, clatter, clatter.

On the quiet road, there was only the sound of horse hooves and rolling carriage wheels.

Occasionally, the roar of a beast could be heard from afar.

Li Gan observed his surroundings vigilantly.

After passing Xianlin Town, the nearest city was Anling County City.

At their current speed, they would likely reach Anling County City late at night.

In this world, apart from the provincial and commandery capitals, curfews were generally enforced. The city gates would have long been closed, making it impossible to enter.

Although there were some villages along the way, it was impossible for them to be allowed to stay the night in the middle of the night.

Fortunately, it was not yet late autumn, so the temperature at night was not particularly low. Spending the night in the wilderness was not a major issue, provided one guarded against wild beasts.

After traveling for about an hour or so, they arrived near a village.

The village was pitch black, with almost no lights to be seen.

At this hour, due to a lack of entertainment, everyone was basically already asleep.

"We will rest near this village for the night and get back on the road tomorrow morning," Li Gan said.

In places where people lived, wild beasts generally stayed away, making it much safer.

They found a fairly wide and flat area. The two carriage cabins were parked side by side, and the horses pulling them were tied to the side. The two coachmen took out spare fodder and began to feed the horses.

The people in the carriages also came out to get some fresh air.

Li Gan jumped onto a large tree nearby, sat on a branch with his sword in his arms, and kept watch over the surroundings from a high vantage point.

A chorus of barking erupted from the village.

The small caravan had stopped, disturbing the dogs in the village.

The dogs in the village barked for a long time before finally quieting down, though they would occasionally let out a few more yaps.

However, the village remained dark, and no one came out to investigate.

Or rather, they dared not.

"Big brother, I want to climb the tree and play too."

The little girl, Xiaowen, arrived under the tree with two other children and spoke with longing eyes.

"Xiaowen, don't disturb Young Hero Li. Let's go get something to eat."

Lin Yun said quickly.

She knew that Li Gan was keeping watch, and if her daughter disturbed him, he might easily be distracted. If any unexpected situation occurred, it would be troublesome.

She pulled her daughter back to the carriage.

After the three children chattered noisily for a while, they gradually quieted down.

After all, they had been traveling all day, and the exhaustion of the journey had left them weary. Once they had eaten, they fell asleep inside the carriage.

The coachman and the servants also leaned against the carriages to rest.

Li Gan did not eat anything; he simply swallowed a blood vitality pill in silence.

When he was not practicing and did not need to replenish his internal qi, a single blood vitality pill was enough to satisfy his body's needs for two or three days.

When traveling, he rarely ate other food.

Because there were risks.

The night was as still as water.

As the night deepened, mist permeated the air, bringing with it a touch of chill.

Faint snoring drifted from the carriages.

The coachman and the two servants from Lin Manor were already fast asleep.

Only the coachman from Yun Manor remained highly vigilant, his breathing steady, still in a state of alertness.

Li Gan kept his eyes closed, leaning against the tree trunk with his sword in his arms, hovering between sleep and wakefulness.

At the slightest sign of movement, he would be able to perceive the outside world instantly.

He had already woken up many times throughout the night.

Each time, it had only been wild animals passing by.

The dogs in the village would bark a few times occasionally, followed by long stretches of silence.

Suddenly, a figure darted over from the distance.

The speed was extremely fast.

The target was none other than the carriage.

Li Gan, perched in the tree, snapped his eyes open. Through the dim moonlight, he saw that the figure appeared disheveled, with an aura that was chaotic and violent.

It was as if he were a ferocious beast.

Is it him?

Li Gan recognized him at a glance.

The fire-sacrifice mage from Xianlin Town who wore the bright red dharma robe.

The robe on the fire-sacrifice mage was already tattered and torn.

Did he have a battle with an inner disciple of the Divine Sword Sect and then manage to escape?

Li Gan thought to himself.

At the same time, he moved, swooping down from the tree like a night owl. He drew his precious sword and lunged toward the figure rushing at the carriage.

Simultaneously, he unleashed the sonic attack of his dharma tool, the Chen bell.

Hum!

While he was still in mid-air, an invisible chime emanated outward.

Like a thunderous toll, it exploded inside the mind of the oncoming figure.

The man's ferocious momentum stalled instantly.

After landing, Li Gan flicked his sword, the blade blooming in the night air like a soaring dragon, and thrust it toward the man's chest.

Bang!

The edge of the sword felt as if it had struck tough cowhide; it only managed to pierce a tiny bit.

At the same time, a burst of blood-colored light erupted from the man's body, knocking his sword away. A pair of blood-red eyes stared back, as wild and insane as a beast's.

What kind of evil art is this?

Li Gan was startled.

Even with the sonic interference from the bell, his strike had failed to kill the opponent.

Thinking of this, he did not hesitate to use his strongest killing move.

Secret Technique: Myriad Transformation Sword Qi.

In an instant, his thick internal qi surged out of his body, merging with the heaven and earth origin qi in the air. Centered on him, a massive amount of sword qi gathered, guided by the longsword in his hand.

A brilliant streak of sword qi, ten feet long, took form and slashed fiercely toward the crazed figure.

"Xian... Xiantian."

The disheveled figure, wreathed in bloody light, let out a hoarse, terrified sound and actually turned to run.

But how could he possibly evade the secret technique Myriad Transformation Sword Qi unleashed by Li Gan?

As the brilliant sword qi swept across, the figure was sliced into two halves mid-stride, a truly gruesome sight.

"That's it?"

Li Gan stared at the enemy easily insta-killed by the Myriad Transformation Sword Qi, stunned for a moment.

Did I use too much force just now?

Feeling that nearly half of his internal qi had been consumed, Li Gan let out a long breath.

The power of the Myriad Transformation Sword Qi was abnormally high.

He guessed that it was most likely because after cultivating the Immaculate Sword Body, it had formed a powerful amplification effect on the secret technique of Myriad Transformation Sword Qi.

Everyone resting at the scene had been awakened.

The coachman stood guard at the door of his mistress's carriage immediately, holding a pipe forged from refined iron, his expression extremely tense.

The two servants held their weapons, but their ankles were trembling.

The aura fluctuations that erupted from the fight just now were too terrifying.

"Hurry and prepare, we are leaving here immediately."

Li Gan said quickly.

This fire-sacrifice mage had appeared here suddenly; no one knew what might happen next.

Hearing Li Gan's calm voice, everyone felt an inexplicable sense of security.

Thus, everyone began to busy themselves.

Li Gan looked at the two halves of the corpse, the pungent stench making him frown.

He had no intention of cleaning it up.

Disgusting.

However, he still stepped forward and carefully rummaged through the remains.

There was a small pouch tied to the waist.

The bottles and jars inside seemed to have been shattered.

Finally, he pulled out a cowhide booklet.

The man had kept it tucked against his chest.

It was just that the booklet had been sliced neatly in two by sword qi.

He pieced it together and read the five characters on the cover: Blood Transformation Star-Absorbing Method.

He began to flip through it cautiously.

Immediately, his brow furrowed.

Judging by the opening content, this was definitely an evil art.

It allowed one to absorb the vital blood of living creatures and rapidly refine it into internal qi.

He hadn't read the rest, but it certainly wouldn't be any better.

He was just about to use his internal qi to shatter the booklet, but suddenly, a thought struck him. He ultimately decided to keep it. He took a silk cloth from his own pack, wrapped the two halves of the booklet, and stowed them away.

By this time, the two carriages had been packed up.

"Move out."

Li Gan vaulted onto his horse and led the caravan to continue their journey through the night.

As for the two halves of the corpse, the people in the nearby village would report it to the authorities once they discovered it.

Besides, the inner disciples of the Divine Sword Sect in Xianlin Town were surely hunting this person down as well; they might even be tracking them from behind.