Heavenly Dao's First Move, a False Nascent Soul Wolf Demon
Jin Pang, who was chasing after Qin Chuan, also felt the earth-shaking force of his sword strike. He stopped and looked toward the source of the commotion. "Is the enemy that strong?"
"No, wait... that should have been a sword technique. Apart from Pei Xuan, almost no Golden Core cultivator in the sect could unleash a sword technique like that, and Pei Xuan didn't enter the secret realm."
"It was Qin Chuan!" Jin Pang instantly realized that Qin Chuan had unleashed that invincible sword technique.
"If Qin Chuan has to use a sword technique like that against the enemy, then... doesn't that mean the enemy is about as strong as him? A Golden Core pill cultivator like me would just be serving myself up on a platter."
"Maybe... I should leave...?"
"But wouldn't it be pretty dishonorable to leave like this...?" Jin Pang was terribly torn. He wasn't the sort to abandon a teammate. Although his alliance with Qin Chuan was only temporary, they were still allies.
A short while later, Jin Pang gritted his teeth and continued chasing after Qin Chuan. He stuck to what he had said: "I'll just take a look. If I can save him, I will. If I can't, no one can blame me."
Meanwhile, Qin Chuan was cursing at how utterly ridiculous female-oriented stories were. What male-oriented protagonist wouldn't drool over the female lead's equipment?
She had used more than a dozen talismans, including space-breaking and instantaneous movement talismans, and seven or eight treasures capable of blocking a Golden Core cultivator's full-power strike had been destroyed. Now she still had a treasure that flew at incredible speed. Qin Chuan could only keep chasing Gu Xiran down because he had a great many treasures of his own, as well as heaven-defying strength.
"I don't believe I can't kill you." Qin Chuan caught up to Gu Xiran again, his spiritual energy badly depleted. This time, he threw a magical implement straight at her, intending to kill her with the force of its self-destruction.
Gu Xiran used another defensive treasure to block the self-destruction of the magical implement Qin Chuan had thrown. Refusing to concede, Qin Chuan threw another one, and Gu Xiran used another defensive treasure to block it.
The two of them fought like children playing house. Qin Chuan threw magical implements that self-destructed, while Gu Xiran blocked them with defensive treasures or talismans.
"I got these magical implements by going out on my own adventures, killing people and looting their corpses. One look at this weakling female lead and you can tell she's never been out adventuring. Someone must have given hers to her. A female lead everyone dotes on is enough to drive a man mad."
Qin Chuan turned his grief and indignation into killing intent. As he threw another magical implement to self-destruct, he activated the Bloodstained Art and appeared beside Gu Xiran in an instant, thrusting his sword viciously at her neck.
"Let's see what lifesaving treasures you still have this time!!!"
Gu Xiran was completely stunned. With Qin Chuan so close, she didn't know what to do. Her treasures and talismans had also been used up, leaving her no way to counter him. She closed her eyes, a single thought in her mind: Am I going to die like this after being reborn?
Just as Qin Chuan's sword tip was only a finger's breadth from Gu Xiran, a wolf howl rang out. "Awoo!!!"
At the same time, a wolf's claw swiped at Qin Chuan's head. He could only abandon his attempt to kill Gu Xiran for the moment and use the Tianquan Sword to block the claw.
"Clang!" The Tianquan Sword met the wolf's claw, and the tremendous impact drove Qin Chuan back. Gu Xiran survived once again, while the wolf demon ignored her completely and went straight for Qin Chuan, intent on killing him.
"Fuck! Am I the only human here? Isn't the female lead human too? Why the hell is this wolf demon only chasing me?" Qin Chuan cursed, then took to his heels.
Facing the wolf demon before him, which appeared to be at the Late Golden Core Stage, Qin Chuan had no choice but to run. He also understood that this was how that bastard Heavenly Dao was protecting the female lead.
"You bastard Heavenly Dao, just you wait. Sooner or later, I'll wipe you out."
The wolf demon was extremely fast and caught up with Qin Chuan in no time. A claw struck at his back, forcing him to stop and use the Tianquan Sword to block the attack.
The wolf demon was immensely strong. Qin Chuan had to grip his sword with both hands to barely withstand the strike, then used the wolf demon's force to retreat backward.
"I can't beat this Late Golden Core Stage wolf demon. Fuck, is that bastard Heavenly Dao this unreasonable? Why is the wolf demon chasing me...?"
"Wait, the wolf demon... fuck, could it be because I killed two wolf demons when I first entered the secret realm?"
Halfway through speaking, Qin Chuan remembered that incident, and another thought occurred to him. But he had no time to dwell on it, because the wolf demon attacked again.
The wolf demon struck again with a sharp claw. Qin Chuan once more used its force to escape, putting some distance between them.
"Running like this won't work either. This wolf demon's cultivation is already higher than mine, and I used up most of my spiritual energy chasing Gu Xiran. If I keep running like this, sooner or later I'll run out of spiritual energy and be at the wolf's mercy. While I still have some spiritual power, I need to find a way to seriously injure it."
As Qin Chuan ran, he looked for a way to strike back. Sitting and waiting for death wasn't in his nature.
The wolf demon caught up with him twice more, but both times he dealt with it the same way. Fortunately, the Tianquan Sword his master had given him was strong enough to let him withstand the wolf demon's sharp claws repeatedly.
From seeing the plot, Qin Chuan knew that his Tianquan Sword, Shen Qingyuan's Tianxuan Sword, and the male lead Cangwu's High Heaven Sword were the three strongest divine swords born in the Sword Abyss.
With his current cultivation, he couldn't wield the Tianquan Sword in his hand, so Shen Qingyuan had sealed it for him. He would have to undo the seal himself after breaking through to a higher cultivation level.
Even so, the Tianquan Sword's sharpness and hardness alone made it no inferior to a Nascent Soul cultivator's intrinsic treasure. Qin Chuan had repeatedly relied on its power to turn danger into safety.
"My master treats me so well. She even gave me such a heaven-defying sword. Tianquan and Tianxuan, a match made in heaven." That was what Qin Chuan marveled at every time he used the Tianquan Sword.
Qin Chuan had no time to marvel now. The wolf demon attacked again, and this time it had gotten smarter. Instead of meeting him head-on and giving him a chance to use its force to escape, it seized the Tianquan Sword with one claw and drove the other straight at his chest.
Qin Chuan had been distracted by thoughts of Shen Qingyuan, and because the wolf demon had kept falling for the same trick, he had let his guard down. He only reacted when its claw had already pierced his outer robe.
He had faced life and death many times during his adventures. Without thinking, he kicked the wolf demon in its most vulnerable spot, its vital root. The wolf demon howled in pain and flung him and the Tianquan Sword away.
Strike while it's down and take its life!
Ignoring the pain in his body, Qin Chuan first threw out a magical implement and detonated it to halt the wolf demon's advance. Then, gripping the Tianquan Sword, he leaped into the air again. The power of a formation and the stars rapidly converged at the sword tip.
He even used the Bloodstained Secret Art to boost the power of this strike to its utmost. It would be more than enough to deal with a Late Golden Core Stage wolf demon.
"Heavenly Dipper Demon-Breaking Sword!!!"
After he swung his sword, all the spiritual energy in his body was drawn out. Utterly exhausted, he fell from the sky, unable to move a single part of his body.
The spot where the wolf demon stood was split in two by the sword qi. Qin Chuan turned his head slightly to look at it, and the outcome was not what he had imagined. The wolf demon was still standing there, with only a cut of moderate depth on its left shoulder.
"A False Nascent Soul Stage wolf demon!!! I'm doomed. That bastard Heavenly Dao is ruthless enough-it's determined to kill me." Only then did Qin Chuan realize that the wolf demon chasing him all this time was not at the Late Golden Core Stage, but the False Nascent Soul Stage!
Had he known it was a False Nascent Soul Stage wolf demon, he certainly wouldn't have thought of fighting back. He would have just run.
The False Nascent Soul Stage and the Late Golden Core Stage were two different realms. The False Nascent Soul Stage was reached after repeatedly failing to break through to the Nascent Soul Stage, but already touching upon it. Such a cultivator could kill a Late Golden Core Stage cultivator in an instant; their combat strength was on a different level.
Qin Chuan's attack had enraged the wolf demon. It was angry, and after letting out a howl, it charged at him.
"Tianquan..." Qin Chuan made one final counterattack, using the little spiritual energy he had just recovered to control the Tianquan Sword and block the wolf demon.
But it was all in vain. The wolf demon swatted the Tianquan Sword to the ground, and at the same time, its sharp claw reached Qin Chuan's face. Qin Chuan didn't even have the strength to clench his fists and could only watch helplessly as the wolf demon's claw crushed his head.