Chapter 44: Fierce Battle Against a Half-step Primordial Yang, Kill!
Gu Fan slowly withdrew his mockery—this time, he was not being careless.
After all, the opponent had touched upon the Primordial Yang Realm. When fighting desperately, his combat strength was not to be underestimated.
If he suffered a reversal in such a situation, it would be a massive loss.
"Tu Ling Art!"
In the sky, the totem formed by spiritual energy and blood energy instantly shot into Lian Huo’s body.
In the next moment, golden patterns emerged on the surface of his body, making him look like a celestial being, radiant and resplendent!
Gu Fan felt a wave of irritation in his heart.
That aura, that skill effect!
Why did righteous cultivation techniques always look so flashy?
"Die!!"
Golden light flickered in Lian Huo’s eyes, and the powerful spiritual energy even dyed his hair strands gold.
He reached both hands out toward Gu Fan.
Boom! Boom!
Two bolts of lightning crashed down.
"Thunder? Just what I needed!"
Gu Fan stood motionless as the Refined Fiend Body Art circulated at full force.
The difficulty of this technique lay in its requirement for massive amounts of energy-rich resources.
In fact, as long as it was pure energy, it could fuel this technique.
For example, the crystal cores of zombies—or the golden thunderbolts right in front of him!
At this moment, Gu Fan’s body was like a floodgate flung wide open, absorbing the endless golden thunderbolts surging into his body, stimulating every single cell!
Lian Huo looked utterly shocked.
He cried out in disbelief!
The Tu Ling Mode he activated at great cost allowed him to manipulate thunder power.
Yet now, not only was it incapable of breaking through Gu Fan’s defenses, but even a massive amount of lightning seemed to vanish like stones thrown into the ocean!
"How can he be so strong?! I’m a half-step into Primordial Yang! There's a gap of four realms between us! Why is he this strong?!"
Lian Huo couldn’t accept the disparity for a moment.
He had originally thought he could slaughter both of them single-handedly.
Reality smacked him hard in the face—he couldn't even deal with one of them, despite going all out, and he was even in danger of being defeated!
"Senior Brother of Shangqing Sect? More like a spineless shrimp, if you ask me."
Fury surged through Lian Huo. With a low growl, he directed two even thicker lightning columns toward Gu Fan once more!
"Die for me! I’m going to blast you into ash!"
Gu Fan’s eyes lit up—this was exactly what he wanted!
"Come to me!"
And so, the two of them entered a strange rhythm—one going all out to unleash thunder, and the other greedily absorbing it to temper his body and physique.
Suddenly, from the other side of the battlefield, a scream came from Zi Ling.
Lin Yi’s sword aura was sharp and fierce, with every slash leaving a trail of blood on Zi Ling’s body.
Though the wounds weren’t deep, her entire body was covered in cuts, with twisted flesh that looked terrifying and ghastly!
"Senior Brother! Why haven’t you finished off Gu Fan yet?! He’s just a trash at the sixth layer of Spirit Sea Realm, and you’ve exchanged over a hundred blows without killing him?!"
Lian Huo was already mentally and physically exhausted, and upon hearing his junior sister’s words, he immediately exploded.
"Shut up! You stupid woman!"
After yelling, he looked toward Gu Fan, and the lightning in his hands disappeared.
"Gu Fan, there’s no real conflict between us. That stupid woman offended the two of you—I'll leave her to your mercy! As long as you let me go, I’ll surely repay this favor in the future!"
Gu Fan slowly floated into the air and approached Lian Huo.
"Didn’t expect this from you. Quite ruthless."
At this moment, Zi Ling, hearing his words, went completely mad like a rabid dog, screaming hysterically:
"Lian Huo! What do you mean by that?! Do you even know what you’re saying?!"
Lian Huo ignored her and instead cupped his hands again:
"I was also beguiled by this woman, which is why I came into conflict with you two. Now that I’ve come to my senses, I won’t continue down the wrong path!"
After speaking, he threw all the storage pouches from his body to the ground.
"These are all my possessions—consider them an apology to the two of you!"
Zi Ling became even more distraught upon hearing this. If even Lian Huo was scared, what fate would befall her?
Her father was the master of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion of the Shangqing Sect! A sect elder!
Second to none under the heavens!
He didn’t want to die!
“Lian Huo! You’re finished! I’ll definitely tell my father!”
“Ridiculous! If it weren’t for you, would I have offended Brother Gu and Brother Lin? Shut up already!”
As he finished speaking, Lian Huo slapped Zi Ling flying with one palm!
Gu Fan narrowed his eyes, watching Lian Huo with interest.
This man was much more decisive than he had expected.
The moment things started going south, he immediately admitted defeat, and even attacked his own ally to earn trust.
Truly, he was a ruthless character.
But the more ruthless someone like that was, the more Gu Fan couldn’t afford to let him live.
In his past life, scenes like this were all too common.
Leaving behind such a hidden danger would undoubtedly bring endless trouble in the future.
“Lian Huo, what you said isn’t wrong. Unfortunately, I’ve been timid since I was young—I don’t like leaving behind even the smallest threat! Not to mention...”
At this moment, Lin Yi added, “Not to mention we already said—no one from this Autumn Wild Hunt leaves alive!”
As soon as he finished, Lin Yi slashed out with his sword.
The grayish-white sword aura vanished in an instant.
Lian Huo’s face turned dark.
In a panic, he pulled Zi Ling in front of him to block the attack.
Pfft!
Zi Ling’s eyes widened in disbelief—she couldn’t accept that Lian Huo would treat her like this!
As the daughter of the master of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion of Shangqing Sect, she had a future full of boundless prospects, yet it had all ended just like that!
Her body was split in two—falling to the ground front and back, twitching once before going still.
Lian Huo didn’t even spare her a glance. He turned and ran toward the distance!
His first thought now was to find other righteous cultivators. If he could gather all the participants, they would definitely be able to block Gu Fan’s assault!
Gu Fan and Lin Yi chased after him without pause. In no time, the two intercepted him from both sides.
“You two really want to kill me without mercy? I admit I underestimated you both, but if I fight with everything I have, I will definitely leave you with serious injuries!”
“Don’t forget this is the Great Qian Empire. The righteous sects are nearby—if you’re injured, can you still safely return to the Heavenly Evil Sect?”
Gu Fan cracked his neck and waved Lin Yi aside.
“Stand back and hold the formation. I’ll handle the rest!”
Before any reply could come, his figure vanished from where he stood.
In the next instant, he appeared right in front of Lian Huo!
Lian Huo was shocked and immediately surrounded himself with thunder energy!
Boom!
With a deafening crash, Lian Huo’s body was sent flying like it had been hit by a train, smashing into a cliff wall several hundred meters away.
“Gu Fan! Spare me! I’ll serve you as my master in the future!”
Lian Huo coughed up blood, survival instinct driving him to beg for mercy.
But Gu Fan said nothing—he simply threw punch after punch.
The two fought all the way across a hundred li, the ground shattering and forests obliterated along their path.
To be fair...
A half-step Primordial Yang Realm cultivator who had activated some secret art did have impressive defenses.
So thought Gu Fan, as he once again slammed Lian Huo into the ground with a heavy punch.
By now, Lian Huo had completely lost the ability to resist—he had become nothing more than a humanoid sandbag.
Gu Fan landed on the ground and slowly walked to where Lian Huo lay, no longer trying to escape.
“You’re the most durable opponent I’ve ever met—took seventeen of my punches.”
Lian Huo lay on his back, panting heavily and vomiting blood.
“Heh... heh heh... If you kill me... you won’t make it out of the Great Qian Empire alive!”
“This Autumn Hunt... Shangqing Sect has eyes on it... You killed so many righteous disciples... there’s no escape! Hahaha!”
“As long as... you let me live... I can get you back to the Heavenly Evil Sect...”
Lian Huo laughed while coughing blood.
Even now, he was trying to plead for his life.
Gu Fan smiled and placed a hand over Lian Huo’s heart.
“No need. Shangqing Sect will be nothing but a stepping stone for me. Farewell!”
Squelch!
Lian Huo’s chest was pierced through.
With unwillingness in his eyes, he exhaled his final breath!