But Zhang Xiaofan didn't flinch.
He simply raised his fire stick and met the blow with a light, almost casual swing.
Crack!
The cave echoed with the sound of shattering bone.
The Wild Dog Taoist's weapon snapped cleanly in two.
"???"
The man's dog-like face went slack with disbelief. His pupils shrank to pinpricks.
"What… what monster are you?!"
Fear surged through him. This "ordinary-looking" boy had destroyed his weapon with a single effortless strike!
The strength behind that staff was terrifying....far beyond anything he could handle.
The Wild Dog Taoist didn't hesitate. With a panicked yelp, he leapt back, retreating into the mist, vanishing from sight.
Hehehehe…"
A low, sinister laugh echoed through the cave, making the air grow colder.
Zhang Xiaofan turned, fire stick ready.
From the mist, a figure appeared....draped in blood-stained robes, his hands glowing with crimson light.
He lashed out with two rays of bloody energy, aiming straight for Li Xun.
Li Xun's face darkened, his handsome features hard as stone.
With a cold shout, he swung the Nine Yang Ruler, blocking the attack with a flash of golden light.
But the blood-robed figure...none other than the vampire demon Jiang Laosan....wasn't there to fight head-on.
After throwing several more blood rays, he suddenly turned and darted into a fork of the cave.
Li Xun's eyes blazed with hatred. "Coward! Stop!"
He bolted after him without hesitation.
"Brother!" Yan Hong called in alarm, chasing after him. The two quickly disappeared into the mist.
Elsewhere, Fashan of Tianyin Temple was also lured away by other Demon Sect members.
In the end, only Zhang Xiaofan, Qi Hao, Lu Xueqi, Zeng Shushu, and Faxiang remained together.
Then...whoosh!
A surge of malevolent energy swept in from behind.
Zhang Xiaofan instinctively thrust his fire stick backward. The two forces collided with a resounding boom, sparks of bloody aura scattering into the air.
His hands trembled slightly. The aura's power was immense.....at least on par with a Jade Purity peak master.
Worse still, it was steeped in vicious demonic energy, enough to corrode ordinary immortal swords.
But against Zhang Xiaofan's fire stick… it was different.
The bloodthirsty weapon thrummed in his hands, almost as if eager to devour this evil energy.
More red light burst out of the mist, slamming into Qi Hao, Zeng Shushu, Lu Xueqi, and Faxiang, forcing them back.
"Hahaha!"
A deep, mocking laugh rolled through the cavern as the mist finally began to thin.
An old man stood upon a stone platform above them, his blood-red robes fluttering. His hair stood wildly on end, one of his eyes entirely bloodshot, glowing with madness.
His gaze swept across them with disdain before fixing on Qi Hao.
The righteous sects… have they fallen so far? Only a handful of children? Did they come here just to die?"
Qi Hao's face changed as he recognized him.
"You're… Nian Shun, the demon who shook the world three hundred years ago!"
The old man grinned, baring yellowed teeth.
Hahaha! So someone still remembers me. But it won't matter. None of you will live to tell the tale!"
He raised his hand, a swirling mass of bloody aura forming in his palm, pulsing with lethal power.
"Fellow disciples," Qi Hao called out sharply, "this man is dangerous! Join forces!"
At once, Qi Hao unleashed his Ice Sword, its freezing light cutting through the cave. Faxiang summoned the Samsara Pearl, its sacred glow countering the demonic haze. Together, they charged at Nian Shun.
---
Meanwhile, the Wild Dog Taoist, humiliated from earlier, spotted Zeng Shushu standing slightly apart.
His broken weapon still trembled in his hand. Snarling, he lunged toward Zeng Shushu instead.
At the same time, Jiang Laosan...hidden again in the shadows.....shifted his gaze back to Zhang Xiaofan.
He sneered. Of all the disciples present, Zhang Xiaofan looked the weakest:
plain face, plain robes, and an ugly staff that looked nothing like a proper magical weapon.
Compared to the striking figures of Qi Hao and Lu Xueqi, he seemed utterly forgettable.
You. You're the one I'll feast on."
With ghostly speed, Jiang Laosan blurred forward.
.His afterimages flickered like phantoms, and in the blink of an eye, he appeared behind Zhang Xiaofan, jaws gaping wide.
"Be good," he hissed, fangs gleaming. "Let me drink you dry!"
But Zhang Xiaofan only smirked.
"Drink my blood? Drink your old wood!"
With a roar, he rammed his fire stick backward.
The staff pierced straight into Jiang Laosan's mouth.
A sharp crack! echoed as blood sprayed out, and the Bloodthirsty Bead embedded in the staff flared to life, glowing a hungry red.
Jiang Laosan's eyes bulged in horror. His mouth burned, his body convulsing as his own blood was sucked out in torrents.
"No… stop… let me go!" he choked, thrashing desperately.
But a green light burst from Zhang Xiaofan's palm, clamping down on the demon's skull like an iron vice.
Zhang Xiaofan leaned close, smiling brightly....yet chillingly.
"Didn't you want to drink blood? Go on then. Drink until you're satisfied."
To Jiang Laosan, that smile was more terrifying than any demon's.
His struggles weakened as the fire stick greedily devoured every drop of blood essence.
"Don't be afraid," Zhang Xiaofan whispered mockingly. "It'll all be over soon."
Within six breaths, Jiang Laosan's body shriveled, collapsing to the ground as nothing more than a dried corpse.
The fire stick pulsed, now throbbing with fresh crimson light.
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