Ren Cong squinted as he jerked in fright.
It blew his mind, and all his understanding, that Cong Shan and Cong Lin should charge one enemy only to be squeezed to nothing in the enemy's hands. Such a display left him crushed!
And with his hopes gone, that left nothing but fear when he looked at Zhuo Fan.
He never saw Zhuo Fan in action, but this was enough to get it through his thick skull that the rumors were true enough to get him killed.
[He is a monster I can't mess with!]
A shame he had done it already. However, he had more present and serious matters to worry about, like the ever-approaching Qi Changlong and his friends with cold smiles.
Now even without Zhuo Fan's help, the six Ethereal Stage experts against the only Ethereal Stage expert on his side, him, and damn Radiant Stage experts, the rest could do nothing to curb the fear they all felt.
Ren Cong was sweating buckets, his mouth fell, and he teared up. His teammates looked at their young master with pleading gazes.
Even as they knew their young master was in the same boat as them.
Qi Changlong was coming down on them with a savage grin, snapping his finger joints as he made fists.
Ren Cong kept staggering away, filled with sweat.
"Young master Ren, who is the cat and who is the mouse, I wonder?" Zhuo Fan snickered.
Ren Cong gnashed his teeth and turned red in anger.
[The punk is mocking me!]
Zhuo Fan shook his head and smiled, "That's right, I'm here to shame you, but on account of your exquisite manner yesterday, I am inclined to give you a chance. In a team battle, the rule says that the door outside will open after six hours, and the fight finishes regardless of the outcome. So didn't you say you're quite familiar with the area? So be a good mouse and scurry along for a hidey-hole. And if we find you all in the next six hours, then it's only right that the cat gets to eat its prize, ha-ha-ha…"
Demon Scheming Sect's disciples cracked up, filled with contempt for them.
Steward Zhuo wanted to toy with them to their last breath.
[He's the same as Yan Mo!]
The audience chuckled and sighed.
[Such is the way of demonic cultivators.]
"All demonic cultivators are the same, I see. They just love making a show out of their savagery. Ha-ha-ha…" Wen Tao shook his head.
Han Yunfeng glanced over and said, "This is called absolute power. You think you'll see something like this in an equal match?"
"True cruelty only shows when one side has an overwhelming advantage. Maybe Zhuo Fan is telling the others through this act that they shouldn't mess with them no matter how strong they are." Wen Tao sighed.
Han Yunfeng grinned, "Then will you still stand in his way?"
"Regardless of the outcome, I would be happy to know I could fight such an expert!"
Han Yunfeng's heart shook and fell silent.
Wen Tao's words cut deep.
Fighting a losing battle was unwise. From the sect's standpoint, retreat was welcomed against an impossible adversary.
However, to a cultivator whose nature was to go against the natural order, they should fight regardless of adversity and brave any dangers. Having been close to the leadership of a sect, he had forgotten this simple truth, the basic nature of a cultivator.
If he balked in fear against this mighty opponent, how would he progress in his cultivation?
Suddenly, his eyes focused and flicked in Zhuo Fan's direction. "It seems I was mistaken…"
Wen Tao eyed him and nodded with a smile.
[That's how a demonic sect's young master should be!]
"Ten, nine, eight…" Zhuo Fan lifted his arm and started the countdown. Kui Lang and company grinned in Ren Cong's direction, waiting for them to flee like rats.
[I have never been more insulted in my entire life!]
Yet when it came to choosing between dignity and life, Ren Cong could only think of himself as he ran like the wind under the audience's ridicule.
The other disciples thought even less, going after their young master like good gofers.
"Three, two, one!"
Zhuo Fan's counting was slow, but it ended either way quickly. Kui Lang and the others grinned as they began the hunt. They sure loved playing around at another's expense.
But just as they started, Zhuo Fan's smirk started, "People, let's all relish the game!"
They looked at each other and nodded before vanishing. Zhuo Fan smiled and was gone as well.
The little valley regained its tranquility once the game of cat and mouse began. The two gatekeepers closed their eyes, changing the screen outside the dimension by switching through the monitoring arrays already set up inside in search of any movement.
It didn't take long for a Heaven Trailing Sect disciple to appear, frantic in his run for his life.
He barely made a few steps as Lu Xie came from behind. He pointed, and green light shot his ankle. Then thick green energy spread from his heel to the rest of his body.
"Hi-hi-hi, run, kiddie, run! The faster you go, the faster the poison spreads. And when it reaches your innards, you're done for!" Lu Xie cackled.
The guy felt his heart beating out of his chest, and he was so scared he was close to soiling himself. Lu Xie, however, was enjoying the moment of tormenting the poor devil.
"Ah!"
Noticing the green energy was almost at his thigh, he could no longer tarry. He instantly chopped his leg off and started jumping around in an attempt to flee.
Lu Xie sneered and shot another green light on the other leg.
He was again forced to choose between his leg and his life.
The guy was horrified and crying in indignity while Lu Xie was taking his sweet time to see what he'd decide, to relish in his sweet torment…
It took only half an hour for the guy to be without arms and legs. Finally, Lu Xie cackled one last time and wiggled over.
The audience sighed in sorrow. Exalted Double Dragons did the same, but out of boredom.
Such an event was happening all over the place in that world. This was no longer a team battle but a one-sided slaughter.
[Just how on earth did Heaven Trailing Sect offend the Demon Scheming Sect to incur such cruel revenge?]
Holding their foreheads, the two exalted no longer bothered to watch and closed their eyes. However, none noticed that no matter how the view changed, Zhuo Fan was nowhere to be seen among the tortures.
He had been gone ever since the hunt began. It was as if he was no longer in there…
Whoosh~
Deep in the forest, a figure appeared. The proud Zhuo turned around and nodded, "Good, this must be the blind spot in the monitoring arrays."
Then his hand held a sparkling and pure crystal, a sacred stone.
The black energy curled from his hand around the sacred stone and slowly dissolved it. Zhuo Fan focused on the drifting spiritual energy, following its every shift. Then his eyes lit up in glee, "Over there!"
He was gone once more.
This time, Zhuo Fan was sidestepping the monitoring arrays while following the flow of spiritual energy from the sacred stone until he arrived before an unending mountain. The spiritual energy was so thick here it felt like the previous valley could not compare.
To the point that the entire mountain range was like a bright azure dragon as it emitted spiritual energy.
"I knew it. This is a western land's sacred mine. Who knew they'd sealed it up in here?" Watching the distant mountain range, his heart shivered.
The instant he got here, he was convinced that this place had to have a sacred mine.
But since this was someone else's home, it was closely monitored. Looking for their treasury under Double Dragon Manor's nose was asking for the noose.
So, the ingenious Zhuo Fan used Heaven Trailing Sect's hunt to cover his tracks and let him inspect in peace.
That was why he kept telling the disciples to take it real slow, to give him time to have his share of fun.
Now that he was here, his doubts were cleared.
[From what Xie Wuyue said, the five lands' sacred mines could only be exploited at the edges. Most of their ores are being protected by a strong array that can only be placed by the likes of experts from the Sacred Domain.]
Who then, besides him, blowing himself up and ending up in the mortal domain, would fall so low?
Moreover, the path to descend from the Sacred Domain was closed shut. Even a Saint would find it hard to breach it, to say nothing of the others.
[In that case, the answer couldn't be more obvious.]
Squinting, Zhuo Fan pondered.
[This must be related to the five sacred beasts.]
Kunpeng had him look for the other sacred beasts while keeping young Sanzi hostage.
[That has to be it!]
Zhuo Fan looked around the place then his brow shook. "The sacred mine is so important that there are tens of monitoring arrays just a hundred meters from it. Not to mention they are all discreetly setup."
"A shame you guys met me. When it comes to arrays, yours truly is your great-great-great ancestor, humph!"
Grinning, Zhuo Fan's right eye flashed golden. "Besides, you should now be drawn to watching Lu Xie and the other's actions and have no attention to spare on me, he-he-he…"
Whoosh~
With a snicker, Zhuo Fan vanished. He kept showing up and disappearing all over the mountain range, but all were spots where the monitoring arrays could not reach.
Whoosh!
Zhuo Fan finally stopped before the dimly lit mouth of a cave.
As he entered, he did not trigger one of the hundreds of monitoring arrays outside.
He sighed in relief.
Zhuo Fan looked at the cave's walls filled with sparkling crystals shining in a faint light. The sheer density of the spiritual energy was so great it gave him goosebumps.
His eyes lit up at the sight.
This was the entrance to the sacred mine, and these crystals were the sacred stones the vein formed.
All sacred mines had to be formed on top of a World Array to condense such a high concentration of sacred stones. That meant that apart from the sacred array, the sacred mine was not suitable for setting up other arrays, or it would end up disturbed by the natural power of the world.
Thus, Zhuo Fan was not worried there might be any monitoring or defensive arrays here. Unless, of course, they could set up sacred arrays.
Which was an impossibility in the mortal domain.
So Zhuo Fan just waltzed in curiously. He wanted to see who this expert was and what kind of an array he set up to protect the sacred mine.
Hum~
He barely took a few steps, and an ear-piercing ringing came.
His eyes shook, and Zhuo Fan stopped.
[What's going on? Is there someone inside?]
Carefully walking deeper, Zhuo Fan noticed that the ringing intensified. When he reached the end, he was stumped.
A two-meter longsword covered in a prismatic haze floated just above the cave floor. It would sometimes shake and release a mesmerizing ringing sound.
The rich spiritual energy from the sacred stones converged on the longsword.
Like a newborn pup growing on the sweet milk, the long sword was also sustained under the sacred stones' care.
"Is that a… sacred weapon?"
Zhuo Fan squinted and cried out. "By the looks of it, it's even a 6th-grade sacred weapon, the strongest of the Sacred Domain!"
Above the 12-grade spiritual weapons were the sacred weapons!
Only a person from beyond the mortal domain could unleash this weapon's true might. And since sacred stones were needed to refine them, making such beauties was an extremely complicated process. They were a rarity, even in the Sacred Domain.
At least, when Zhuo Fan was the grand leader of the Eight Emperors, he could only refine a 3rd-grade sacred weapon, and that was only in theory as well, having never actually done it.
The materials weren't available everywhere either. Just going by the requirements of the sacred stone alone, he did not know just how many lands of the Sheng clan he had to cheat and how difficult it was to get them off his tail in the process.
He never expected the tiny mortal domain to contain such a beauty, the legendary 6th-grade sacred weapon. Such a wonder made his little heart flutter.
He had plenty of sacred stones on hand but no sacred weapon. Since he stumbled onto one, was he just going to pass by?
Zhuo Fan grinned and walked towards it. "Ha-ha-ha, I know that all sacred weapons have a conscious, so you must be able to understand me. Look, this place is so damp and gloomy, with no sunlight ever getting in. Aren't you bored sitting here all day, every day? Why not join me out to play?"
Hum~
The sword understood Zhuo Fan's intention and shook faintly before emitting a sharp light.
"Wait, wait!!"
Zhuo Fan jumped back at once and waved his hands. "I mean no harm and don't intend to take you for myself. I know sacred weapons need sacred stones to shine and replenish their energy. I have plenty of them with me. If you come with me, you get to soar in the endless sky as we travel the world and have your fill of all you can eat. I'll make sure to make you content."
Zhuo Fan was like an uncle swindling children. He showed such an obscene smile too. His hand flashed and took out a sacred stone. "See, I'm not lying. I can replenish your energy just as well in my ring. The only difference is that you can also come out to stretch your legs."
"Would you like to… check my ring for yourself? If you don't like it, you're free to come out. You're a sacred weapon, and I can't lock you up." Zhuo Fan tentatively showed his Thunder Ring in enticement.
The longsword looked hesitant. It hummed and went still.
Zhuo Fan knew he almost had it and was bursting with excitement.
[Holy hell, I'm about to have the strongest sacred weapon! This is both of my life's dreams come true!]
His trip to Double Dragon Gathering had paid off hundreds of times over. Even if he weren't forced by Xie Wuyue's task or Kunpeng's threat, he'd have come here ages ago for this sweet trinket.
Hu~
However, just as Zhuo Fan was about to hoodwink the sacred weapon, a blue flame flared up from his Thunder Ring.
At the same time, Zhuo Fan's forehead sported the same azure flame, his body crackled with purple lightning, and his right arm flashed crimson.
[What's going on?]
Startled, Zhuo Fan was stumped.
A chilling bloodthirst swept the cave, and Zhuo Fan's heart tensed as he looked incredulously at the longsword.
[What just happened? We were getting to the good part, so why the sudden hostilities?]
He didn't have time to think as the longsword ruthlessly attacked him.
Whoosh!
With a cold glint, killing intent shot out of the longsword and reached Zhuo Fan in a blink.
Zhuo Fan squinted and hurriedly raised his right to block it.
Pff!
The most astonishing thing happened. Zhuo Fan's invincible Qilin arm offered no resistance to the sword's attack.
In a flash, gurgling blood flowed out of it, but Zhuo Fan was too stunned to realize it.
[H-how can this be?]
That was just sword energy, yet it pierced through a sacred beast's body.
[Just what on earth is a 6th-grade sacred weapon made of to be so strong?]
Whoosh~
However, he had no time to ponder as the sword shook and rushed at Zhuo Fan, its blade shining in a dazzling light.
Zhuo Fan was horrified. For the first time, Zhuo Fan was scared to death.
Its sword energy was enough to pierce a sacred beast's body. So now that it came for him, how would he stop it? It was going to make mince meat out of him.
Zhuo Fan panicked, not knowing what to do. Just as the longsword reached him, he was hit by a stroke of genius.
[Since you can't beat them, flee!]
His right eye flashed golden, and Zhuo Fan had moved a hundred meters away in a blink.
As for the longsword, it lost its target and searched for him, unable to find him.
When Zhuo Fan appeared again, the sword closed in on him in a blink.
He cried out on the inside but did not dare to leave the cave, or those monitoring arrays would spot him. Zhuo Fan had no choice but to stay in this narrow cave and dodge the sword's attacks.
This couldn't go on forever since his Yuan Qi would run out if he kept this up. At the same time, the sword would keep replenishing its stores in this sacred mine. It could go on forever.
A fight for attrition was his worst gamble.
[For god's sake, I'll make another tunnel since there's no other path. I could use it to escape the monitoring arrays and take to the skies!]
With that thought in mind, Zhuo Fan dodged one more time, and his right eye flashed with two golden halos.
Divine Eye of the Void's 2nd stage, Void Annihilation!
Bam!
The space shook as the attack struck the cave wall, yet it bounced back. All the attack did was give the whole mountain range a good shake.
Zhuo Fan narrowed his eyes and panicked.
[Does that mean that since this is a sacred mine, breaking the space is still not enough to break the layers of sacred stones?]
But that wasn't the end of his shock. The longsword was in front of him once more.
[Damn!]
Zhuo Fan narrowed his eyes and paled as his scalp went numb.
At this very moment, the longsword was already on top of him, just a hair's breadth away. With Void Annihilation fizzling out, he had no more time to employ Shift.
His only fate was to be skewered to death!
Well, there was one option left, to use the Void Annihilation that had yet to disperse and route the longsword.
[Like that's ever going to happen!]
Regardless of Void Annihilation's strength, it couldn't compare to the Qilin arm. If it got pierced by this thing's sword energy alone, how could a mere Void Annihilation block the longsword's attack?
Zhuo Fan was at the end of the road.
However, watching the longsword just about to tear him a new one, Zhuo Fan could only grit his teeth and risk it all!
[It's worth a shot, even if it's for nothing!]
Zhuo Fan's right eye flashed golden again, "Divine Eye of the Void's 2nd stage, Void Annihilation!"
Hum~
Zhuo Fan's right eye shot out a spatial ripple that collided with the longsword.
Clang!
It was like it hit metal. The longsword was pushed back by the blow. It flipped twice in midair before plunging into the wall filled with sacred stones.
Zhuo Fan was stunned, then he looked at his right arm, still bleeding heavily. With a flick of his hand, he smashed a big hole in the wall next to him.
[Sure enough, the Qilin arm is way stronger than Void Annihilation. So why couldn't it defend against this sword while the latter could?]
Crack~
As he was sinking into his thoughts, the cracking from the wall jerked him away. The longsword twisted around in the wall and was fricking wiggling out of the stone and charging for Zhuo Fan one more time.
Zhuo Fan narrowed his eyes, his face solemn. He no longer hesitated to use Void Annihilation on the spot.
Bam!
The sword was spun through the air again on impact.
With a deep frown, Zhuo Fan was curious why the puny Void Annihilation succeeded where his prized Qilin arm failed.
[Maybe they're naturally opposites?]
Zhuo Fan pondered over some more, and a realization struck him. Since Void Annihilation could handle it, what about the other skills of Divine Eye of the Void?
Whoosh~
The longsword was back again with a ferocious and far more savage attack than before.
Zhuo Fan narrowed his eyes, and this time Zhuo Fan no longer panicked. He was like an old fox biding his time for his prey to fall into his trap.
Finally, the longsword was within a hundred meters, and Zhuo Fan's right eye flashed golden four times. "Divine Eye of the Void's 4th stage, Space Crusher!"
Hum~
The whole cave shook, and the sacred stones littering the walls fell to the ground. But that was a mere jiggle, unlike how it usually behaved outside, where it pulverized everything.
[It shows that a sacred mine is tough beyond reason!]
Zhuo Fan nodded inside, then returned his attention to the incoming longsword. It was also shaking all over as it stopped approaching. All it could do was tremble and shake in the air.
It couldn't even get near Zhuo Fan to strike.
[Just as I thought, Divine Eye of the Void can restrain the sacred weapon.]
Zhuo Fan's eyes narrowed, and his right eye flashed again in three golden halos. "Divine Eye of the Void 3rd stage, Mirage World!"
Hum~
Suddenly, the vibrations stopped. Only the longsword was enveloped in invisible fluctuations preventing it from stabilizing itself. It spun around in place, unable to make heads or tails of what was happening around it.
"Humph, since you don't want to work with me and even tried killing me, there's no need for you to have consciousness." Zhuo Fan's eyes flashed with killing intent.
He knew fully well that sacred weapons had a mind of their own, and this one was no different, housing a spirit that controlled it.
Now he and the sword spirit were at odds. He would have to crush the spirit if he wanted to obtain the sword's recognition. Therefore, he was using illusions to control the sword spirit and calm it down.
If a sacred weapon lost its sword spirit, its quality would fall sharply. He had to put another spirit in its place.
Zhuo Fan looked around, pensive. A flash of red came out of his body and sank into the longsword.
Zhuo Fan started making signs while shouting, "Demon Transformation Art, turning the sword as one's own body, sword spirit renewal!"
Whoosh~
Black tendrils of energy flashed over the longsword along with Blood Infant's creepy snicker. A cry of fear echoed out of the sword. It was the original sword spirit.
However, because Zhuo Fan suppressed its divine sense with Mirage World, it had no way to fight back even if it wanted to. As Zhuo Fan used the Demon Transformation Art along with the Void Annihilation, the sword spirit slowly disintegrated, becoming nourishment for the new sword spirit.
Hum~
With a light ripple, the hovering longsword started trembling, and its previous glossy and impeccable blade now slowly took on a black color while crimson stripes spread over its surface, making it let out a sinister aura.
Stopping Mirage World, Zhuo Fan beckoned, and the sword fell into his hand.
Looking closely at it, Zhuo Fan smiled in satisfaction. "Henceforth, the world has lost a 6th-grade sacred weapon, but it has gained a sacred demonic sword! Little guy, you shall now be the spirit of this sword and my Blood Infant, the strongest 6th-grade sacred demonic sword of the Sacred Domain! How awesome is that? How annoying I can't unleash even a fraction of what you're capable of, not as I am now at least."
The sword shook, then it flew from Zhuo Fan's grip. It spiraled in the air, and Blood Infant appeared in a flash of light.
Then Blood Infant shot into Zhuo Fan's body without so much as a peep.
Zhuo Fan started, then he shook his head, "Little guy, are you trying to say that even if I can't use the sword, you're still one with me?"
Blood Infant simply rested in Zhuo Fan's body, like a child having gone to sleep.
"No wonder you've been my Blood Infant for so many years. You're so much better than some sword spirit. With you controlling the sacred weapon, I can rest easy, ha-ha-ha…"
Chuckling, Zhuo Fan's hand flashed, and a dozen sacred stones appeared, bringing them to his stomach. "Though this sacred weapon needs sacred stones to replenish. Eat up, little guy, eat up and grow strong."
Whoosh~
The sacred stones vanished, and when he looked inside, he noticed Blood Infant had taken them.
Zhuo Fan chuckled, "With so many sacred stones in me, I hope I won't get kidney stones, ha-ha-ha. Wait, with so many sacred stones around, why the hell am I forking them out of my purse?"
Looking at the ground, it was now littered with sacred stones from all the shaking. He sighed.
[I'm so stupid.]
No harm was done since he would just take these pickings, which would be all the same.
Zhuo Fan had no shame whatsoever. But then he noticed his still bleeding right hand and frowned, "Returning Dragon's Roar!"
Roar!
Following the roar, his hand was covered in a flash of green, filled with life, yet the Qilin arm was still wounded like before.
Startled, Zhuo Fan frowned.
[Is it that the Qilin arm can't be healed, or maybe the wounds from a sacred weapon can't be healed?]
Since this was his first injury to the Qilin arm, Zhuo Fan was a little unsure.
[Nevermind, I'll just let it recover with time. After so many years, I ended up bloody wounded in action. I best keep this under wraps, or my actions here will be revealed.]
Holding some bandage, he wrapped it tight around his arm. Then he let his sleeve hide it before he went deeper into the cave.
In the end, his main objective was to investigate the array. He wouldn't be at ease going back with just a sacred weapon.
"This is the place where the sacred mine is sealed. The cave couldn't be dug any further since it must have hit a wall." Touching the end of the tunnel, Zhuo Fan pondered.
He noticed light flowing along the wall, like some kind of barrier, covered in all kinds of symbols. His eyes widened, "I knew it. The one who set this array up must be a master. It's so ingenious I can't find the slightest weakness. It's as if…"
Zhuo Fan narrowed his eyes, "It is just like Lightning Canyon's who trapped Soaring Qilin. It can't be the same person or expert that set it up, right? That would mean this was another remnant of an Emperor!"
[Just what on earth happened in the mortal domain in the past? Why would such an expert leave his mark here?]
Even with the Nine Serenities Secret Records, breaking through this ingenious array was impossible as he was now.
He only got to enter the Lightning Canyon because Soaring Qilin used its life to make a hole. As for the other two forbidden zones, he wouldn't get in even if he risked his life. Their arrays were intact.
Forget about even getting in touch with those sacred beasts, not when he couldn't open the door…