Cultivation begins with earning spirit stones

Chapter 26 Life and Death in an Instant

Zhang Lin's pupils contracted slightly.

There wasn't enough time to create distance.

He made a fist with his right hand, and then condensed a ball of blazing flame, which he flung towards the gaping maw of the Azure Scale Python.

The Azure Scale Python neither dodged nor avoided, but opened its mouth wide and swallowed the Blazing Flame whole.

Zhang Lin was startled.

The characteristic of the Heavenly Flame is that it burns true energy. The demonic power in the body of a demon beast is similar in nature to the true energy of a cultivator. In theory, once it enters the stomach, it will burn the Azure Scale Python to ashes from the inside.

But the next moment, the scales on the python's abdomen suddenly shone with a dark golden light.

The dark gold patterns moved like living things, coalescing into a strange rune pattern on its abdomen.

The runes flickered slightly, actually enveloping the Heavenly Flame that had been swallowed, isolating the flame from contact with the demonic power.

The Azure Scale Python, which had been raised in the spiritual spring for five years, had evolved such incredible abilities from the natural runes on its scales.

Although the rune began to tremble violently after enveloping the Heavenly Flame, clearly it wouldn't last long, but this brief delay was enough for the Azure Scale Python to rush in front of Zhang Lin.

Its gaping maw opened wide, and two venomous fangs snapped at him.

Zhang Lin shifted his feet and dodged to the side.

But the direction he dodged was already waiting for Master Xiong.

"die!"

The broadsword, imbued with all the true energy of a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator, slashed down.

Before the blade's energy even reached his body, the wind from the blade already made Zhang Lin's robes flutter loudly.

They were attacked from both sides, and their retreat was blocked.

At this moment, Zhang Lin's eyes were frighteningly calm.

He did not dodge.

With a flick of his right hand, the short sword he had seized from Liu San slid out of his sleeve and into his palm.

A low-grade magical artifact, not yet enhanced.

But for now, that's enough.

He didn't use his short sword to parry Xiong Ye's broadsword. If a lower-grade sword were used against a mid-grade sword, a head-on collision would surely break the sword and injure the man.

He did something that even Xiong Ye could never have imagined.

Zhang Lin loosely clenched his left hand, and a ball of blazing flames condensed in his palm.

Then, he slapped the Heavenly Flame onto the blade of the Wind-Breaking Blade.

The eerie blue flames licked the blade, instantly turning the iron-gray edge scorching hot and emitting a faint blue glow.

To control weapons with fire.

This is a rudimentary technique he grasped while using the Heavenly Flame: attaching flames to a magical artifact so that each attack from the artifact is accompanied by fire damage.

Although it's just a temporary enchantment, far less stable and powerful than a real fire-type magical artifact, it's enough for now.

With a flick of his wrist, Zhang Lin unleashed the Wind-Breaking Blade, imbued with the eerie blue light of the Heaven-Burning Flame, as it pierced towards the open jaws of the Azure-Scaled Python.

There are no scales there.

The soft flesh inside the mouth is one of the weakest points on the entire body of the blue-scaled python.

The blue-scaled python instinctively tried to shut up, but it was too late.

The Wind-Breaking Blade, wreathed in blazing flames, pierced deep into the soft flesh of its upper jaw.

"hiss--"

The Azure Scale Python let out a shrill hiss, and its massive body began to thrash violently.

The Heavenly Flame surged into its body through the wound. This time, without the obstruction of scales and runes, the flame directly came into contact with its flesh and demonic power.

The demonic power became fuel.

A ghostly blue flame began to burn from within, and a faint blue light emanated from the gaps in the scales of the Azure Scale Python's upper jaw, head, and neck, as if a lamp had been lit inside its body.

It rolled and tumbled desperately, its massive body sweeping away the surrounding pine trees one by one, and plowing deep furrows into the ground.

However, once the Heavenly Flame enters the body, it can no longer be stopped.

The flames devoured its flesh, bones, and demonic power from within, and the Azure Scale Python's struggles grew weaker and weaker, its hissing becoming increasingly faint.

Finally, the massive body crashed to the ground and remained motionless.

From the moment it swallowed the Heavenly Flame to the moment Zhang Lin pierced its upper jaw with the Wind-Breaking Blade, only three breaths had passed.

But in those three breaths, a level-two peak Azure Scale Python, only one step away from level three, died.

At that moment, Xiong Ye's knife struck Zhang Lin.

It wasn't that Zhang Lin didn't want to dodge, but that in order to deliver that stab, he had already offered his own body to Xiong Ye's blade.

This is a fighting style that trades injury for life.

The broadsword slashed fiercely into Zhang Lin's back.

clang!

A deafening clang of metal clashing echoed through the pine forest.

Zhang Lin's black brocade robe and cyan long gown simultaneously lit up with spiritual light, and the defensive power of the low-grade magic weapon was pushed to its limit at this moment.

But how could two low-grade magic weapons possibly withstand the full force of a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator's strike?

The spiritual light shattered in less than a breath, and the black brocade robe was torn open at the point where the blade struck, revealing the blue scale armor underneath.

The broadsword slashed at the blue scale armor.

On the surface of the deep blue armor, the fine scales lit up simultaneously, and layers of defensive power converged at the point where the blade struck.

Top-grade magic weapon versus mid-grade magic weapon.

The absolute superiority in quality was fully demonstrated at this moment.

Master Xiong felt a force of recoil coming from the blade, his tiger's mouth trembled violently, and the broadsword almost flew out of his hand.

Zhang Lin, however, only swayed slightly and took a step forward to steady himself.

The characteristic of the Azure Scale Armor is its scale-based shock absorption.

"A top-grade magical artifact!"

Xiong Ye's pupils contracted sharply, and he cried out in alarm.

He finally understood.

No wonder this Danxia Sect disciple dared to use himself as bait to lure him into attacking.

From the very beginning, the other party had planned everything.

The Heaven-Burning Flame was bait, the Wind-Breaking Blade was bait, and even his own back was bait.

She used herself as bait to lure him into a full-force attack, thus revealing a weakness.

At that moment, Xiong Ye had just delivered a powerful blow, using all his strength. It was the instant when his old strength was exhausted and his new strength had not yet been generated.

That instant was the moment of death.

Zhang Lin turned around, and the Heaven-Burning Flame on his right-hand Wind-Breaking Blade was still burning.

The pale blue firelight reflected on his face, and his eyes were calm as water, revealing no superfluous emotions.

There was no anger, no smugness, not even murderous intent.

There was only a chilling calm.

"you......"

Master Xiong opened his mouth as if to speak.

The Wind-Breaking Blade had already pierced his chest.

The protective true qi of the late-stage Qi Refining Realm is like paper in front of the Burning Heaven Flame. The flames lick the true qi, making it burn even more fiercely.

The blade pierced through his chest, and the Azure Scale Armor, a mid-grade magic weapon identical to Xiong Kui's, only slightly blocked it before the blade emerged from behind.

Xiong Ye lowered his head, looking at the tip of the knife glowing with a ghostly blue light on his chest. His lips moved as if he wanted to say something.

But he couldn't say anything more.

The Heavenly Flame surged into his body through the wound, and the true energy in his meridians became the best fuel. The flames spread along the meridians to his limbs, bones, and internal organs.

Xiong Ye's body began to burn from the inside out.

A faint blue light emanated from his eyes, mouth, and the gaps in his skin, making him look like a lit lantern.

He opened his mouth, let out a final hoarse groan, and then collapsed to the ground.

In the late stage of Qi Refining, Master Xiong died.

From the moment he led his men to ambush Zhang Lin until he fell to the Broken Wind Blade, it was only the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

The seven-man ambush formation, including a level-two peak-stage Azure Scale Python, resulted in the complete annihilation of the entire force.

In the pine forest, only deathly silence remained.

The two remaining Black Wind Society cultivators, the one with the crossbow and the one who unleashed the Golden Blade Technique, stood there dumbfounded, their magical weapons clattering to the ground.

They wanted to escape, but their legs felt like lead, and they couldn't take a single step.

They weren't under a spell, but rather terrified.

Zhang Lin drew his Wind-Breaking Blade. The Heaven-Burning Flame on the blade had been extinguished, and the iron-gray blade was stained with crimson blood.

He flicked the blood off his knife and glanced at the two men.