Another Demon Shadow?!!

The next moment, the black shadow vanished from where it stood once more.

Wang Xuance's entire body was weak and sore, his blood and qi flowing in reverse. He could only close his eyes and await death.

"Buzz!!"

A layer of golden light silently stretched across in front of them, vast and upright in righteous qi as mystic radiance rippled.

The black shadow's twin blades came chopping down. Blue-black blade light, visible to the naked eye, shot toward them like two green serpents flicking their tongues!

Purple-gold runes flowed endlessly across the golden curtain without the slightest tremor, stubbornly resisting the impact of the blades.

In an instant, the runes on the golden curtain gathered and transformed into a blurred purple-gold figure. Broad-chested and wide-shouldered, with nine golden suns suspended above its head, golden rainbows wheeling as crimson shadows mottled its form!

"Whoosh!"

The purple-gold figure's features were indistinct. All Wang Xuance saw was its ape-like arm pulling back as if drawing a bow. Countless streams of light layered atop one another, and a purple-gold embryonic bow appeared in its hand. A vast killing aura soared into the heavens, while the entire cave mansion echoed with shrill, piercing whistles that tore through the air!

A purple-gold arrow rested upon the embryonic bow, its tip wreathed in intertwined golden radiance and flowing fire. Its peerless killing intent locked firmly onto the black shadow!

"Whoosh!"

The arrow flew from the string, so fast that it burst a cloud of vapor where it had been. The black shadow had no chance to resist and was nailed to death on the spot, exploding into countless drifting ashes!

"Th-this... which senior of the Martial Dao was that? One arrow was enough to nail a Martial Artist Realm expert to death!"

Wang Xuance stood dumbfounded, his mind shaken beyond measure, unable to calm himself for a long while!

As the arrow annihilated the black shadow, the figure on the golden curtain dimmed.

"Crack!"

It shattered with a thunderous crash, breaking apart into scattered motes of golden light!

"Huff—"

Pressing a hand to his chest to ease the numb ache stirred up by the backlash, Wang Xuance closed his eyes with difficulty and regulated his breathing. He slowly exhaled and inhaled until his violently churning blood and qi returned to their source and gradually settled!

When he opened his eyes, a sharp glint flashed through their depths. After surviving such a deadly peril, the power of his blood and qi seemed to have grown stronger by another measure!

But more importantly, he had gained True Martial Qi in that razor-thin brush with death.

With a thought, he summoned his Martial Dao Template.

[Wang Xuance]

[Martial Dao Cultivation]: Three-Knock Blood Pass (first strand of Essence of Blood and Qi).

[Dragon Elephant Grand Stance]: 1000/3000 (beginner).

[Great Arm Scripture]: 1250/2000 (beginner Copper Flood Dragon Realm).

[Vajra Fist]: Fist technique perfected.

[True Martial Qi]: 2,200 strands.

"Taking a slash from that black shadow without dying gave me a full eighteen hundred strands of True Martial Qi. Not a loss!"

Wang Xuance was delighted, yet he also secretly warned himself that should he ever explore another hidden estate like this, he absolutely could not let his guard down.

Originally, with the Martial Dao foundation he had established by condensing his first strand of Essence of Blood and Qi, along with the strength of having mastered a mortal-grade martial art, he should have been more than capable of dealing with this journey into the cave mansion.

What was more, with the Great Arm Scripture's amplification of his strength and the tempering of the flesh of both arms, he could look down upon martial men within the Three-Knock Blood Pass.

At this thought, Wang Xuance could not help but smile bitterly.

"The strength of a Fetal Breath Realm expert truly cannot be fathomed. I couldn't withstand even a single strike from him."

"Until I become a Martial Artist, I will never truly gain a foothold in this world!"

The reason Wang Xuance had been able to escape this deadly crisis was nothing more than luck. When the cave mansion had been breached, his body caught a trace of something unusual, allowing him to retrieve his life from the brink.

As his cultivation in the Dragon Elephant Grand Stance deepened, the sharpness of his five senses had increased dramatically. His ability to detect auras in particular had reached an inconceivable level.

Though the cave mansion was filled with bone-chilling earthly vein yin miasma, as the yin miasma poured outward, waves of pure-yang, tyrannical aura came flooding in, filling the entire cave mansion in an instant.

Those baleful corpses belonged to yin creatures and were naturally repulsed by pure-yang aura. When the cave doors opened wide, they swiftly walked out, naturally avoiding yang and seeking yin.

The nine-foot black shadow carried even heavier yin qi, so it was naturally more fearful still.

Yet the appearance of that purple-gold figure had truly been beyond Wang Xuance's expectations.

Whenever he thought of how that figure had raised its hand and fired a golden arrow to destroy a demon, wiping out its enemy in a single exchange and unleashing such immense power, Wang Xuance's heart could not help but burn.

If one day he stepped onto a Martial Dao path that reached the heavens, could he perhaps attain such a level? His heart raced at the thought; he had long yearned for it!

His gaze swept across the entire cave mansion. It was square and symmetrical, with four long purple-bronze lamps burning along each side, driving away the darkness!

More than a zhang away stood an exceedingly tall skeleton draped in a white cloak covered in countless cloud-patterned seal inscriptions.

The corpse's arms were like those of an ape, its bones gleaming with the luster of jade, crystalline and translucent. Its entire body radiated a towering, heroic majesty, like a heavenly king opening his eyes, solemn as a sacred idol!

A careful examination would reveal that golden light had seeped deep into the skeleton from the top of its dragon-like spine. Like gold lacquer poured over it, the golden light gradually spread across its entire body. This was precisely the golden meridians and jade bones attained only by one whose Martial Dao cultivation had reached the heavens.

Wang Xuance carefully examined the skeleton's owner but found no wounds of any kind!

"I truly wonder what reason caused such an ancient expert to pass away in meditation!"

Rising and walking over, Wang Xuance suddenly felt a surge of reverence and bowed three times to it!

"Senior, I am but an insignificant nobody, not worth mentioning. Though I intruded upon the place of your passing today for a reason, it remains an act of offense!"

"You set trials and dangers only so that your remains would not be disturbed. This junior rashly entered your cave mansion and was fortunate to receive your mercy."

"This junior drifts through life like duckweed and has no choice but to search through the cave mansion where you passed away in pursuit of an opportunity. Once I achieve the beginnings of the Martial Dao, I will surely erect a new stele and establish a new abode for you, repaying the grace that aided my path to enlightenment!"

He bent down, knelt, and respectfully kowtowed three times.

Who would have thought that after finishing his final kowtow and lifting his body, he would suddenly freeze as though struck by lightning, terror flooding his heart!

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a long, pitch-black shadow falling behind him, silent and stealthy as a phantom demon.

Under the illumination of the four purple-bronze lamps, the black shadow stretched several meters long as a strange, eerie aura spread through the air!

"Could it be another demon shadow? Why didn't I sense it in the slightest? Not even a Fetal Breath Realm expert should be able to move so silently!"

Countless questions sprang into Wang Xuance's mind. His blood and qi had yet to recover, his back was exposed to the enemy, and his life and death were no longer in his own hands.

He could not help regretting his carelessness. He truly should not have lowered his guard; in an unfamiliar environment, he should never relax his mind.

After going through a cycle of life and death, it was only natural for the highly focused mind of a low-realm martial man to suddenly slacken once the danger had passed. In his current state, he naturally could not rouse his powerful body to detect the surrounding auras!

"But expecting me to surrender without a fight is the dream of a fool!"

With a thought from Wang Xuance, six hundred and eighty strands of True Martial Qi swiftly poured into the Dragon Elephant Grand Stance.

Within the qi sea of his dantian, the Flood Dragon-Headed Elixir Pearl hovering high above suddenly trembled. Rings of azure patterns spread outward like tidal waves.

Like tinder, the azure patterns drove the blood and qi throughout his body into frantic circulation. Strands of pure blood qi gathered within his dantian and, in the blink of an eye, gradually condensed into a ring of red mist.

The second strand of Essence of Blood and Qi!

Fist Shatters the Tides!

Wang Xuance focused his mind and readied himself. Golden edges covered both fists, and the moment he attacked, he unleashed the perfected Vajra Fist with all his strength!

Fist Aura enveloped his body. His dragon-like spine snapped and shook, his body twisting backward as his fists thrust out like flood dragons extending their claws, smashing viciously toward the demon shadow behind him!

Fist Aura fell in dense torrents like rain, and within several breaths, he unleashed several punches!

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Countless rocks were shattered by the Fist Aura and sent flying in all directions. The entire cave mansion seemed filled with exploding thunder that rumbled without end!

When the commotion finally weakened and the dust gradually settled.

He swept his gaze over the area. Other than several pits blasted out by his rainstorm barrage of punches, where was there even the slightest trace of a black shadow behind him?

"Not good!"

The next moment, a strange sound suddenly rang beside his ear!

It was no different from thunder erupting on level ground!