The chain, empowered by the blood sacrifice, was faster than the naked eye could follow.
Pei Yan barely managed to raise his sword to block. The instant the Cyan Bamboo Sword collided with the chain, the frosty patterns on its blade flaked away like brittle porcelain.
For the first ti, Xu Yunfan saw terror flash in the eyes of the Sword Pavilion’s True Inheritor. The end of the chain wasn’t fastened with an iron ring, but with ninety standard-issue Sword Pavilion naplates!
Xu Yunfan’s eyebrows rose. ’So that’s why,’ he realized. ’No wonder the Sword Pavilion’s True Inheritor was so furious.’
’To think the Sword Pavilion had lost another ninety disciples.’
CRACK!
The Cyan Bamboo Sword whined and trembled. A blade that should have been a Divine Weapon was now covered in fractures, on the verge of shattering.
The sickening crunch of Pei Yan’s sternum caving in erupted at the sa ti as the sound of the shattering chain. Before his blood, laced with ice shards, could hit the ground, it was atomized into a red mist by the lash of the flood dragon’s tail that imdiately followed.
This once-invincible True Inheritor of the Sword Pavilion flew backward like a kite with a snapped string, smashing through seven crimson Sword Peaks in his path. By the ti he was embedded in an obsidian cliff nearly a mile away, he was a mangled, bloody wreck.
Xu Yunfan was visibly shaken.
’He’s not dead after all that?!’
’To think Pei Yan had reached the Refining Flesh Realm inside this Little Heaven and Earth Secret Realm. He actually wasn’t blasted to pieces by that tail whip.’
’He must be wearing so top-tier Defensive Armor!’
’And the Sword Qi he’d unleashed with the Cyan Bamboo Sword was staggering—at least equivalent to a full-power strike from an ordinary master of the Blood Exchange Realm.’
’Too bad he only had the strength for a single strike.’
Xu Yunfan spared him a single glance before turning his attention away, his thoughts instead turning to the Armor Pei Yan was wearing. ’Even I couldn’t survive a direct hit from that flood dragon’s tail without my Dragon Scale Armor to nullify most of the force.’
Qi Huan swallowed hard, his demonized, vertical pupils trembling violently.
"Let’s go!"
Without a mont’s hesitation, Xu Yunfan sped toward the stone wall where Pei Yan was embedded. He stomped his foot, and the ground shattered, sending dirt and rock flying like bullets in all directions.
Seeing this, Qi Huan’s expression shifted uncertainly, but in the end, he took off running, following close behind.
’It’s too late to leave now,’ Qi Huan thought. ’If we hadn’t run into Pei Yan, I might have had other options. But now that we’ve found him again, there’s no other way out.’
’The only way to get out of this Little Heaven and Earth Secret Realm is to rely on a True Inheritor from a top Sect, like Pei Yan.’
"Rise!"
Responding to his call, the Thunderfire Qilin Hamr smashed through the rock layer. Xu Yunfan slamd his shoulder into the obsidian wall, shattering it, and instantly spotted Pei Yan lying in a heap of rubble.
Lying in the crevice, Pei Yan’s chestplate was twisted into a grotesque shape, his clothes torn to shreds. Azure motes of light in the pattern of the Big Dipper floated across the surface of his cracked Inner Armor, which humd incessantly.
’The Sword Pavilion certainly has plenty of ways to cheat death.’
Xu Yunfan reached out, his five fingers clamping onto Pei Yan’s pauldron as the Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength surged up through his arm.
As he flared his Strength, the Ice Crystals that had spread from the Inner Armor to freeze the stone wall instantly shattered into powder.
Confirming that Pei Yan was still breathing, Xu Yunfan grabbed his shoulder and dragged him out of the fissure.
He glanced at Qi Huan, who had just arrived, then took off, quickly distancing himself from the area.
Qi Huan didn’t hesitate, following right after him.
After six hours of frantic running, Xu Yunfan ca to an abrupt halt. Before them lay a vast, endless darkness.
"This is it. The edge of this Little Heaven and Earth."
Heavy panting ca from behind him. Qi Huan caught his breath before he spoke.
Xu Yunfan stared into the distance for a long mont before finally pulling his gaze away.
He found a nearby canyon and casually tossed Pei Yan onto the ground.
Qi Huan’s expression tightened. He hurried forward to get a closer look, unable to stop himself from muttering.
"B-Brother Xu, y-you have to be more careful. If Pei Yan really dies, our chances of getting out of here are slim to none."
Xu Yunfan replied nonchalantly, "Relax. He’s tough. The flood dragon’s tail sent him smashing through seven Sword Peaks and he survived. A little toss won’t kill him... And if it does, well, then I guess his luck just ran out."
Qi Huan was speechless.
’To be known as a True Inheritor of the Sword Pavilion... even if he’s only in the Refining Flesh Realm, the way he just effortlessly emitted his Strength ans he’s reached an extrely profound level within that Realm.’
’He’s nearly at the point where every inch of his flesh and blood is saturated with Strength.’
Qi Huan’s expression was complex. Seeing the barely concealed greed in Xu Yunfan’s eyes, he knew exactly what he was planning.
Xu Yunfan had no intention of wasting his Qi of Ginseng to heal Pei Yan. ’As a True Inheritor of the Sword Pavilion, he’s bound to have plenty of life-saving tricks of his own.’
「Half a day later, with the moon high in the sky.」
The unconscious Pei Yan coughed violently and slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the flickering flas of a bonfire.
The fire’s dancing light cast three silhouettes upon the rock wall, and the CRACKLE of burning pine resin startled a sleeping night owl.
The instant Pei Yan’s eyes opened, his fingers were already pressing the release chanism on the Ice Patterned Sword Scabbard at his waist. His heart sank—his Cyan Bamboo Sword was gone. Only when he saw the Thunderfire Qilin Hamr hanging from Xu Yunfan’s back did his tense shoulders finally relax into the shadows.
As his gaze swept the area, he saw two figures sitting cross-legged by the bonfire.
"You’re awake?"
Xu Yunfan looked up to et Pei Yan’s gaze, a faint smile on his lips.
"As expected of a True Inheritor of the Sword Pavilion..."
Xu Yunfan poked the fire with a stick. Several skewers of ga were roasting by the flas, the wood CRACKLING as leaping sparks danced in the air.
"...reaching for your Sword Scabbard despite being so heavily injured."
Pei Yan’s pupils contracted.
He had indeed made a move the instant he awoke. Being called out on it by Xu Yunfan left him feeling a little embarrassed.
Just as Pei Yan was about to reply, his eyes flickered. His gaze shifted, and he noticed Qi Huan’s hand pause as it added wood to the fire. A ripple went through the demonized, Cyan Scales on Qi Huan’s neck.
This subtle movent caused Pei Yan’s sharp eyebrows to arch slightly; he had, of course, noticed there was sothing off about Qi Huan.
"That’s Qi Huan. He was accidentally corrupted by Demon Qi, but he’s recovered his sanity now."
Xu Yunfan explained casually, just as a wry smile appeared on Qi Huan’s face right on cue.
"Brother Pei, forgive my unsightly appearance."
Pei Yan slowly shook his head. He didn’t speak right away, instead silently guiding the Strength in his body to slowly circulate and begin repairing his injuries.
Though they had rescued him, his mind was sharp; he knew full well that these two were not to be trusted.
Just then, a trace of admiration appeared on Xu Yunfan’s face.
"Brother Pei, your Frosty Nineteen Forms were actually faster than that Evil Flood Dragon Tail Whip. If your energy hadn’t given out at the end, you might have actually taken its head."
Pei Yan stared into the dancing flas, then suddenly burst into a fit of violent coughing.
Black blood spewed from his mouth, splattering beside the fire and dousing a few embers, which hissed into wisps of green smoke.
A glint flashed in Xu Yunfan’s eyes. He knew Pei Yan must have been afflicted by the Evil Flood Dragon’s poison.
That Evil Flood Dragon’s power was terrifying, beyond imagination. A single drop of its Jiao Poison could kill an entire city of people. However, under the protection of Pei Yan’s Divine Weapon Armor, the poison’s effects had been significantly delayed.
When Pei Yan looked up again, his gaze was fixed on Qi Huan’s vertical pupils. He spoke slowly, "Cyan Scales at the throat, pupils shot through with blood-fiend energy, a cyan hide and ox horns... it reminds of a certain bull-headed Great Demon Fiend recorded in the archives of the Sword Pavilion."
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