"Whoosh! Szzzt!"
A crisp slicing sound rang out, and Ye Feng's body jolted. The autumnal rural scenery and the old man in plain clothes before him vanished instantly, replaced by the previous scene.
"Wha... what?"
Seeing what was before him, Ye Feng was utterly shocked.
He didn't know when Su Jianying had appeared before him. Eerie red light coiled around Su Jianying's body, and from such close proximity, Ye Feng could even smell a strong, pungent scent of blood.
Woven within the eerie red light of Su Jianying's body were wisps of strange black mist. The black mist contained a large number of wriggling, peculiar runes, giving Ye Feng a feeling of oppression and darkness.
What shocked Ye Feng even more was that Su Jianying hadn't attacked him. Instead, the Tang dao in his own hand had somehow sliced through the opponent's body.
It wasn't just Ye Feng; Su Jianying, who was standing mere inches away, also wore an expression of extreme, unutterable shock.
"Whoosh! Szzzt!"
While Su Jianying was stunned, Ye Feng gripped the Tang dao in his hand and struck the opponent's chest again.
The next moment, Ye Feng abruptly turned, mustering all his strength, preparing to escape.
"Urk!"
To Ye Feng's surprise, as soon as he turned and before he could even take a step, his entire body went limp, and he collapsed onto the ground.
"Wh... what the heck?"
Lying on the ground, Ye Feng felt both frustrated and bewildered because he found he had no strength whatsoever. He couldn't even move a finger.
"Thump!"
Just then, Su Jianying also swayed and fell to the ground.
He clutched his bloody chest, his eyes wide as he stared at Ye Feng on the ground. "No... impossible... How... how could you possibly injure me..."
"A mere mortal... how could the so-called arcane energy..."
Halfway through his sentence, Su Jianying seemed to sense something. He abruptly looked down at his chest.
The wound there was no longer bleeding. Instead, like his cheek before, it had cracked into countless fissures like a terracotta pot, and fragments were constantly falling off.
"Kid, you... what's going on... a body possessing divine power shouldn't be hurt by mundane weapons..."
"Unless that Tang dao..."
Suddenly, Su Jianying's eyes darted, and he stared intently at the Tang dao Ye Feng was still holding.
After a long moment, Su Jianying's pupils contracted sharply. It seemed he remembered something, and the confusion on his face instantly turned to terror and disbelief.
"That Tang dao... is it... is it... No... impossible... The Martial God is already dead... impossible..."
"Kid, you... who are you..."
By the end, Su Jianying's voice was extremely hoarse, even changing pitch. He couldn't finish his sentence.
His lips had already begun to turn to powder and crumble.
Not only that, but Su Jianying's entire body was starting to resemble a terracotta figure, a broken one at that.
A gentle breeze blew, and starting from Su Jianying's outstretched hand towards Ye Feng, his entire being turned to dust and scattered with the wind.
Truly, he had vanished into thin air!
Lying on the ground, unable to move even a finger, Ye Feng's eyes were wide open. Witnessing this ridiculously unbelievable scene, his heart was filled with surprise and confusion.
What had happened in just a few breaths' time was clearly far beyond his comprehension!
"Big Brother, are you alright?"
At this moment, Xiao Xiao's voice, full of worry and concern, came from a distance.
Earlier, Ye Feng had instructed Xiao Xiao that no matter what happened, she must not reveal herself, as it would bring catastrophic danger to both her and Ye Feng.
So, when Xiao Xiao saw Ye Feng injured, even though she was so worried her heart was about to pound out of her chest, she still suppressed her inner impulse and did not act rashly.
Now that the enemy named Su Jianying was dead and Ye Feng was lying on the ground, Xiao Xiao could no longer hold back. She quickly ran towards Ye Feng from her hiding spot.
"Big Brother, what's wrong? Are you injured anywhere?"
Xiao Xiao reached Ye Feng's side, crouched down, and felt around his body with her small hands, her face filled with anxiety.
"Uh, I..."
Ye Feng desperately wanted to say he was fine and reassure Xiao Xiao, but at the moment, he couldn't even move a finger. He was indeed not okay!
"Whoosh!"
Suddenly, Ye Feng's vision flashed, and a pair of white shoes with beautiful patterns appeared before his eyes. The owner of those white shoes was none other than the woman in white, Yue Feixue.
Under Xiao Xiao's confused gaze, Yue Feixue squatted down, a glow flashed in her hand, and a pill swirling with light was placed into Ye Feng's mouth.
This pill seemed different from the one she had given Ye Feng before. It had a peculiar fragrance, and just smelling it made his limbs feel comfortable.
Ye Feng, almost instinctively, swallowed the pill.
The next second, Ye Feng felt as if something had exploded in his belly. Immense energy spread throughout his body, and a fire-like warm current permeated his muscles, tendons, and bones.
"Huh?"
At this moment, a clear surprise appeared in Yue Feixue's beautiful eyes. She withdrew the hand that had been reaching for Ye Feng's chest.
"Your body is somewhat special... this is good, it saves me the trouble of helping you neutralize the medicinal effects."
Yue Feixue said indifferently, then stood up and walked away.
Ye Feng did not respond. In fact, he hadn't heard what Yue Feixue was saying at all. His consciousness was excitedly looking at the personal information panel in his mind.
After entering the desert, he had trained diligently and absorbed a lot of energy from the arcane origin stones. The progress bars for Strength and Agility (Black Iron beginner) were only a little over a third of the way.
But after Yue Feixue gave him the pill with the peculiar fragrance, the progress bars for Strength and Agility advanced at a visibly rapid pace, quickly exceeding half and reaching two-thirds.
The progress bars did not stop there but continued to advance, reaching completion.
"Ding~ Congratulations to the host for reaching Black Iron intermediate!"
Almost simultaneously, Ye Feng heard the system's voice, which he hadn't heard in a while.
After being promoted to Black Iron intermediate, the progress bars for Strength and Agility still had three segments.
The progression of the progress bars did not stop. The white halo continued to move forward, stopping only after reaching one-third of the Black Iron intermediate mark for Strength and Agility.
At this moment, the warm, even burning, sensation throughout Ye Feng's body finally ceased.
"Damn... what treasure did that woman in white give me just now?"
"This increase in power is too fast!"
Regaining his ability to move, Ye Feng sat up. He clenched his fist slightly and twisted his body, feeling the surging power within him with great surprise.
"Big Brother, you're better?"
Seeing this, Xiao Xiao was clearly overjoyed. She had been so worried just moments ago.
"Yeah!"
Ye Feng nodded slightly, pinched Xiao Xiao's cheek, then stood up and walked towards Yue Feixue.
At this moment, Yue Feixue was looking intently at a spot with a grave expression. Standing beside her was the white-haired elder Zhao Gongzi, his brows furrowed.
Yue Feixue and Zhao Gongzi were looking at the same place: the six-pointed blood sacrifice array created by the Blood Skeleton, or Su Jianying.
More precisely, they were looking at the Netherworld Script Divine Monument within the six-pointed blood sacrifice array!
"Forced advancement will only ruin your future!"
As if knowing what Ye Feng was about to say, Yue Feixue spoke first.
...