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This... damn it, it even summoned underlings!
The sudden change caught Li Yan off guard.
Plans couldn't keep up with changes. Although he didn't know how the Cold Altar Rampant Soldier managed it, the situation had undoubtedly shifted from a duel to a brawl.
It seemed the earlier provocation went too far...
Li Yan couldn't afford to regret and immediately got up, drawing his blade.
Clang!
He held the blade in his right hand, the blade tip angled upward, his stance half crouched. His left hand reversed its grip on the blade's handle, holding it horizontally in front of his waist, and he slowly stepped back.
This was called the pressing blade stance.
It allowed for offense and defense; the blade tip angled upward could instantly thrust at incoming beasts, and the scabbard could act as a blunt weapon to strike or defend.
Retreating to the incense burner in the Land God Temple, he stopped and crouched quickly, picking up the tribute blade tassel, stuffing it into his chest.
The wolf pack was fearsome, but the greater threat lay with that Cold Altar Rampant Soldier.
This Three Talents Demon Suppressing Coin Blade Tassel was the key to winning.
Of course, it couldn't be used recklessly yet.
Without a moment's pause, the wolf pack launched their attack.
Roar——!
Suddenly, three wolves in the front charged out.
They bared their ferocious fangs, two coming from the ground, aggressively targeting Li Yan's abdomen as if to disembowel him.
The remaining one leaped suddenly, jaws wide, aiming for Li Yan's neck.
This was the wolf pack's extremely savage combined attack skill.
Ordinary prey, even if they avoided the neck's vital point, would be knocked down, allowing the remaining two wolves to tear open his belly.
However, Li Yan was prepared.
With a half-step forward and before his right foot landed, his blade flashed.
It created the illusion that the blade outpaced the man.
This was the brilliance of the Guanzhong Fast Blade.
Typical bladesmen strike by planting their foot firmly, channeling power from the ground to generate force through their waist and arms, whether slashing or sweeping, the force was formidable.
However, the Guanzhong Fast Blade was delivered before the foot landed.
The powerful arm and wrist strength, combined with a sharp blade, compensated fully for the lack of leverage.
What use was strength if one's throat was cut first?
Guanzhong bladesmen earned their large reputations with this singular skill.
Mastering this blade technique made them so quick that others could hardly react.
The charging Evil Wolf experienced the same.
Mid-air, the blade edge penetrated its throat, stabbing straight into its skull.
The momentum didn't lessen, and with the Guan Mountain Blade's sharpness, half its head was directly sliced off, blood splattering everywhere.
Meanwhile, the two ground wolves attacked.
Li Yan stepped back accordingly, using his left hand to reverse grip the scabbard, thrusting it into the left wolf's throat, making it shriek in pain. His right hand wielded the blade to sweep downward.
Splurt!
The wolf attacking from the right had its forelimb sliced off, immediately losing balance.
Li Yan stepped forward again with a tentative step, delivering a sweeping kick that sent the legless wolf flying seven or eight meters, rolling several times, kicking up dust.
It had its leg severed, was kicked in the soft belly, thrashed while vomiting blood, and gradually grew quiet.
Only then did Li Yan twirl the blade, thrusting downward.
The wolf on the left, with the scabbard in its throat, was madly biting, and this stab pierced from the back of the neck, pinning it to the ground, silencing it.
Fwoosh!
Wolf blood sprayed, splattering Li Yan's face.
His expression unchanged, his icy gaze remained fixed forward.
The wolf pack's attack had a pattern; they didn't swarm but sought weaknesses, attacking in waves.
Even if they failed, they attempted to wound the prey.
No matter how large the beast, under these waves of attacks, both flesh and spirit would rapidly collapse.
The advantage was minimizing losses.
After all, injuries in the wild often led to death.
The wolves' tactics hadn't changed, yet they hadn't anticipated Li Yan's blade skills to be so sharp, killing three wolves in a breath.
The follow-up attack was disrupted.
Feeling the murderous intent emanating from Li Yan, the remaining Evil Wolves whimpered, circling but too afraid to advance recklessly.
Li Yan's attention was solely on the alpha wolf.
He could smell the familiar stench emanating from it.
Compared to last night, it was clearly weaker.
Widow Wang was right.
The Cold Altar Rampant Soldier, having been injured several times and devouring wandering souls and specters within ten li, was now at its weakest.
The Evil Wolf it possessed was merely lurking just outside the range of the temple's incense, without any intention of entering.
It seemed it wanted the wolf pack to drag him out.
Li Yan's expression was cold and stern, standing motionlessly with the blade.
He wanted to exorcise this scourge; the opponent also coveted his soul and body.
At this moment, it was just a matter of who would lose patience first.
Roar!
Perhaps fearing the dawn's arrival and the rise of Yang energy, the Evil Wolf possessed by the Rampant Soldier suddenly let out a roar.
The stink around it exploded, scaring several wolves to urinate on the spot.
Under its coercion, they all charged towards the Land God Temple.
"Kill!"
Li Yan's thunderous shout rang out. Backing against the Land God Temple, the Guan Mountain Blade slashed left and right, even delivering a Skyward Kick that sent the charging Evil Wolf flying.
The cold gleam burst forth, immediately butchering two wolves.
But his lack of experience's weakness began to show.
With so many wolves attacking simultaneously, he couldn't keep up. After one round of attacks, his moves became predictable; an opening appeared, immediately putting him at a disadvantage.
Even his blade-holding right hand was bitten down tightly by a wolf.
The others bared their fangs to bite.
Even when kicked away by Li Yan, they'd turn around and attack again.
Awooo!
From afar, another wolf howl resounded.
It was the Evil Wolf possessed by the Rampant Soldier who feared the pack might destroy Li Yan's body, issuing a command with a growl.
Indeed, the wolves no longer attacked viciously but started dragging him outward by his limbs.
Li Yan was in excruciating pain, his heart welling up with rage.
He knew this was a critical moment.
Even if he managed to break free, exhaustion from the pack's siege would follow, and even with the Substitute Divine Statue's recovery to kill the remaining wolves, facing that Cold Altar Rampant Soldier, he would still be doomed.
Now, his only chance was to slay that Rampant Soldier.
Keeping this in mind, Li Yan, enduring the sharp pain, gripped the Guan Mountain Blade tightly, allowing the wolf pack to drag him towards the Rampant Soldier's Evil Wolf.
The dust flew up, leaving a blood-streaked trail across the ground, harrowing to look upon.
Soon, he was dragged to the side of the official road.
Here was beyond the incense coverage of the Land God Temple.
The Evil Wolf, possessed by the Rampant Soldier, couldn't hold back any longer, lunging forward, its forelimbs pinning Li Yan's chest, baring its ferocious fangs, growling lowly.
Li Yan could clearly feel the icy sensation at the back of his heart suddenly surging and spreading outwards.
This chill was so startling, it seemed to invade his internal organs; his skin began to numb, even his consciousness grew hazy.
Meanwhile, the Substitute Divine Statue began to take effect.
Li Yan's judgment was accurate, the curse affected the spirit, but the Rampant Soldier's attempt to possess and seize his soul inevitably altered his physical state.
If completely possessed, it would likely be as Widow Wang mentioned, with dark waters seeping from his internal organs.
The repairs by the Substitute Divine Statue brought Li Yan back to clarity.
At this moment, without any hesitation left, he drew the Three Talents Demon Suppressing Coin Blade Tassel from his chest, pressing it onto the Guan Mountain Blade, and thrust upwards fiercely!
The Rampant Soldier was casting a possession spell, utterly unable to dodge.
A "splurt" sounded as wolf blood mixed with black water trickled down.
Roar——!
From within the Evil Wolf, a bizarre howl emerged.
The sound was part beast, part human, as if two voices overlapped, echoing all around.
The remaining wolves seemed to break free from control, trembling all over, dirtying themselves while madly rushing into the bushes, vanishing from sight.
Li Yan, at this point, couldn't spare any attention.
Upon the combination of the Three Talents Demon Suppressing Coin and the blade, a bone-piercing coldness spread along the blade, piercing the upper wolf.
It pierced not only its body.
Li Yan could keenly smell that as the Three Talents Demon Suppressing Coin merged with the blade, it emitted a cold and bloody scent that pierced through the Rampant Soldier's stench.
The Yang Six Roots correspond to six senses, each representing a divine skill.
The divine skill he awakened was smell—while not as direct as Yin Yang Eyes, through scent, he deeply sensed the shift in forces between the two.
The "Hundred Battle Valor" plaque, incense from the Land God Temple, seemed to possess a similar warmth, an attribute of Yang.
In contact with the Rampant Soldier's power, they mutually canceled each other out.
Conversely, the Three Talents Demon Suppressing Coin held a Yin power, even colder than the Rampant Soldier's, like ice entering water.
It didn't weaken, even absorbing the Rampant Soldier's power.
Roar——!
The bizarre howling grew ever fainter.
Finally, as the Rampant Soldier's stench thoroughly dissipated, the wolf above stilled, leaving only the scent of its corpse.
Thud!
Li Yan gave it a shove, and the wolf carcass tumbled aside.
He breathed heavily, utilizing the Substitute Divine Statue.
His wounds vanished in a breath.
Except for the tattered clothing and fresh blood, there was no sign of his recent arduous battle.
The Substitute Divine Statue could eliminate all adverse conditions of the body, including exercise-induced muscle soreness.
Consequently, to some extent, it could restore stamina.
However, while the physical body recovered, the exhaustion following extreme mental tension could not be dismissed, so Li Yan lay there a while before slowly climbing up.
At that moment, his expression stiffened.
Within his Dantian, the accumulated injuries in the Substitute Divine Statue finally reached the limit, densely packed cracks appearing, as though on the brink of collapsing.
Sigh~
From the statue's left shoulder, a phantom flame suddenly extinguished.
Like a restart, the statue instantly recovered, without a trace of damage.
Did he just... lose a life?
Li Yan fumed, unable to resist spitting angrily.
But he also knew, without the Substitute Divine Statue, this calamity would've been inescapable.
That which Widow Wang worshipped was supposedly a legendary spirit medium, although somewhat off, the Rampant Soldier didn't even dare show its head, suggesting its formidable nature.
Suddenly, his brows furrowed, feeling the Guan Mountain Blade in his hand growing increasingly cold, like grasping an ice shard.
His bones ached from the chill, even his skin began to numb.
Li Yan quickly discarded the blade tassel.
On the yellow earth, the previously intricate blade tassel knots, including the Three Talents Demon Suppressing Coin, were all stained with wolf blood, emitting a bloody scent.
Absorbing some power from the Rampant Soldier, it seemed to enhance this treasure!
This wasn't a good thing.
It meant he'd find it increasingly difficult to wield this treasure in the future.
He'd have to find a way to solve this.
Or, better yet, find a master and delve into that mystical world!
With this in mind, Li Yan tidied up the traces on the ground, carefully placing the Demon Suppressing Blade Tassel into a red cloth bag, and vanished into the night.
Soon, he arrived outside Widow Wang's.
Before he even approached, his expression changed.
The mixture of incense and the rancid smell had vanished.
Indeed, upon pushing open the gate to the courtyard, it was empty inside.
The offering table, memorial tablets, red ropes, incense burner...
Widow Wang and that spirit medium, all traces of their existence had been cleaned up, leaving it indistinguishable from an ordinary residence.
Something stirred in Li Yan's mind as he looked around.
Indeed, the peculiar formations made from clustered altars were haphazardly scattered, foul waters flowing freely.
At this point, Li Yan was utterly certain.
Widow Wang and her companions were evading something...
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