Chapter 71 - 45: First Kill, Strange Black Stone

Chapter 71: Chapter 45: First Kill, Strange Black Stone

Fleeing in panic, his junior martial sister would naturally sprint along the easiest escape route he had designed for her.

...

Mu Xiaoyu sprinted across the grassy field. Feeling the wind brushing against her cheeks and watching the vegetation rapidly recede in her vision, she felt a slight sense of relief. She could hear the RUSTLE of the python thrashing through the grass in pursuit behind her, but the sound was growing increasingly distant.

She gritted her teeth and thought, "Phew, if I keep running like this, I should be able to escape... You hateful python! Once my senior martial brother is free, he’ll stew you into soup!"

Before the thought could fade, her vision suddenly cleared. The surrounding dense forest and vegetation seemed to vanish out of thin air. Appearing before her was a steep, nearly vertical cliff wall over a hundred feet tall. Mu Xiaoyu hurriedly skidded to a halt, narrowly avoiding crashing into the rock face.

"Ah..." She looked up. The blue sky was crystal clear, but her vision went dark with despair.

These past few days, she had also been learning some Minor Magic from Li Yinsheng, which included the Armor-Horse Skill. However, her Magical Power was meager, and she had focused most of her energy on the Yin Yang Light-Splitting Sword. She merely knew how to activate the Armor-Horse Skill. Relying on such a rudimentary mastery to scale a hundred-foot cliff was absolutely impossible.

Behind her, the RUSTLE rapidly approached from a distance. Mu Xiaoyu looked around. The cliff face formed a semi-circle, completely cutting off her escape routes to the left and right.

"How can I be so unlucky..." she muttered. She cast the Armor-Horse Skill on herself, but instead of attempting to climb the rock wall, she raised her sword and pointed it toward the direction of the RUSTLE. Since there was nowhere to run, she could only fight it out. As she focused her mind and calmed her breathing, several streaks of Sword Light hovered beside her. She waited for the moment the python slithered out of the forest with that RUSTLE, ready to unleash her Sword Light and deliver a head-on blow!

Hidden in the shadows, Li Yinsheng saw through her intentions and shook his head slightly. A demon was a demon after all. Although it was not particularly formidable yet, it still possessed a few mystical tricks and wouldn’t be so easy to deal with.

Mu Xiaoyu, who had been judging the python’s distance by the RUSTLE, suddenly felt her ears ringing with silence. The RUSTLE that had been growing louder and clearer as it approached had abruptly vanished just as the creature was about to charge out of the woods. Her surroundings instantly fell quiet, leaving only the SWISH of the tree canopies brushing against one another.

In this sudden transition from noise to silence, between two large trees at the edge of Mu Xiaoyu’s vision, a long, pitch-black shadow shot toward her through midair! This was its method of concealing its movements—temporarily leaving the grass to travel by coiling around the tree trunks.

The python flew at her with incredible speed and from the periphery of her vision. Yet, it was as if she had been staring at that exact spot the whole time. Almost the instant its head lunged out, she bent her knees and sprang away, causing the python to miss its target entirely. Furthermore, as she retreated, the streaks of Sword Light surrounding her simultaneously shot toward the python.

A look of joy appeared on Mu Xiaoyu’s face. Fortunately, after cultivating Magical Power, she had also awakened her Divine Sense. Even though the range of her Divine Sense was extremely small right now, it still gave her enough time to react to a python at this distance. Coupled with the fact that she had cast the Armor-Horse Skill on herself beforehand, allowing her to dodge like the wind, she managed to seize the initiative despite the sudden ambush.

But soon after, the joy on her face froze. Within her Divine Sense, the Sword Light landed on the python but only managed to tear open a few inch-long gashes. Though the wounds were a few inches deep, compared to the python’s massive size, they could hardly be considered severe injuries. Instead, the attack only roused its ferocious nature.

Mu Xiaoyu hurriedly stepped sideways in retreat. In the very next moment, the python’s tail swept across the spot where she had just been standing. However, she did not anticipate that the tip of its tail would kick up a gust of demonic wind. Although she dodged the physical strike, the demonic wind blasted her midair, sending her tumbling and crashing face-first into the dirt.

Mu Xiaoyu quickly rolled over and scrambled to her feet, spitting out the mud and sand she had bitten into with a PTUI PTUI.

"PTUI PTUI PTUI... You!"

With a look of annoyance, Mu Xiaoyu glared at the python, which had already turned its head to lock onto her. Her temper was flaring as well. Raising her hand, she hurled several streaks of Sword Light squarely at the vital spots at its three-inch and seven-inch marks!

"You damned oversized worm! Do you really think this Commandery Princess is easy to bully?!"

Hidden in the shadows, Li Yinsheng raised an eyebrow. His junior martial sister’s series of lightning-fast reactions just now had been quite good. In fact, they were so impressive that she didn’t seem at all like the pampered daughter of a Commandery Prince. Then again, during her time at Xuanzhen Temple, aside from eating well, she hadn’t exactly lived a life of luxury.

However, since he had specifically chosen this python, he naturally wouldn’t let his junior martial sister kill it so effortlessly. At her current level of mastery over the Yin Yang Light-Splitting Sword, her Sword Light could easily sever trees and pierce rocks. A light sweep was enough to slice mundane heavy armor in two. But this python’s scales were vastly superior to Mortal Iron Armor Leaves. Even if a mundane External Martial Arts Master hacked at them with full force using a Hundred-Forged Refined Steel Saber, they would only leave a white scratch.

If Li Yinsheng had encountered such a demon on a mountain close to mortal settlements, he definitely would have slain it. Otherwise, if it suddenly charged down the mountain one day, it would inevitably bring disaster to countless mortals. However, Xuanzhen Temple was quite far from the mortal world, so this python was now relegated to serving as practice for his junior martial sister.

Li Yinsheng’s Divine Sense remained locked onto the python without a moment’s pause. Beside him, the Cold Bright Sword flickered with a chilling gleam, its dense sword shadows fluttering. The Brass Incense Burner had already condensed the image of a yellow crane ready to take flight, and two Netting Magical Artifacts hovered on his left and right, prepared to spread open and envelop the target at any given moment. If the python posed even the slightest threat to his junior martial sister’s life, it would be instantly scooped up and diced into minced meat.

Fortunately, his junior martial sister’s performance was acceptable so far. Relying on the agile movements granted by the Armor-Horse Skill, she continuously tangled with the python. Although her Sword Light struggled to inflict severe wounds, she managed to avoid taking any hits herself. During the exchange, she also attempted to thrust her Sword Light into the python’s mouth to bypass its incredibly tough scales. But execution proved far more difficult than conception. Her control over the Sword Light was far from flawless. After several attempts, her strikes either bounced off the python’s head or missed completely.

Just as their fierce battle reached its peak, a flash of bloody crimson glinted in the python’s eyes. It viciously whipped the demonic wind, which had been coiled around its tail the entire time, directly at Mu Xiaoyu. Caught entirely off guard, Mu Xiaoyu was struck by the blast. She was sent flying through the air, her back slamming heavily against the cliff wall.

Having lost its demonic wind, the python’s speed seemed to drop a fraction, but Mu Xiaoyu’s mobility was severely restricted from crashing into the rock face. The python immediately bore down on her, its jaws opened wide as if to swallow her whole.

Li Yinsheng’s eyes flickered, and he was just about to dice it into minced meat.

Mu Xiaoyu coughed. A fierce glint flashed in her eyes. Refusing to dodge or retreat from the descending jaws, she took a bold step forward, raised her sword, and thrust! Eight streaks of Sword Light rose and coiled around her blade, but rather than shooting out directly, they instantly merged together. They transformed into a five-to-six-foot-long Python Fang that crashed straight into the python’s gaping maw.

Sensing danger, the python immediately snapped its mouth shut, intending to use its sturdy scales to withstand the attack as it had before. The fang collided with the scales on the top of the python’s head. It paused for just a fraction of a second before piercing straight through, splitting the python’s head wide open and pulverizing it completely.

The Profound Evil Sword! ℯℯ𝑙.

Li Yinsheng stared in slight astonishment. After his Martial Uncle had taught him this Sword Technique, he had passed it on to his junior martial sister. However, she had never been able to grasp its method. He hadn’t expected that a moment of desperation would actually force her through its threshold.

But on second thought, it made sense. This Sword Technique utilized Sword Light to condense the image of a Fierce Beast. Since his junior martial sister had never seen a Fierce Beast before, that was likely the reason she had struggled for so long. Right now, she already had a foundation of ten streaks of Sword Light. Spurred by the python’s savagery, she used its ferocity as a reference and successfully executed the technique. Otherwise, her Sword Light’s initial manifestation wouldn’t have taken the shape of a Python Fang.

When Li Yinsheng cast the Profound Evil Sword himself, it condensed into an entirely different form.

Just as he was about to step out, his gaze fell on the python’s limp corpse, and he froze once more in surprise. The python’s head had been reduced to a pile of fleshy fragments. Yet amid the gore, an egg-sized, flawlessly round Black Stone glowing with a dark sheen was incredibly conspicuous.

Mu Xiaoyu also noticed the Black Stone. Looking utterly disgusted, she pulled a brocade handkerchief from her Qiankun Bag and used it to pick up the stone, avoiding direct contact. Under the sunlight, this Black Stone was the complete opposite of the python’s black scales, which shimmered with iridescent colors. It seemed to absorb all light, producing absolutely no reflection.

However, what shocked Li Yinsheng was that even though he could clearly see the Black Stone in his junior martial sister’s hand with his naked eyes... Within the perception of his Divine Sense, that Black Stone did not exist at all.

Li Yinsheng’s head filled with questions. He firmly believed that there were indeed objects in this world capable of deceiving a Daoist’s Divine Sense. But how could such an object appear inside the head of a demon with such shallow cultivation? This isn’t how cultivation works!