The bloody light in his eyes flickered. For a long breath, he stood still, murderous aura boiling. Then, slowly, his gaze cleared.
With a low groan, he dropped to the ground cross-legged, closing his eyes.
The familiar rhythm of Tai Chi Xuan Qing Dao and Great Brahma Prajna surged within him, clashing against the malevolent energy of the firestick.
The struggle was fierce. That weapon was no ordinary stick....it had been reforged from the Bloodthirsty Pearl and Soul-Snatching Rod, its very core a prison of endless malice. Even Puzhi, a master of Buddhism, had fallen to its corruption.
But Zhang Xiaofan's will was iron. His dual cultivation glowed faintly within him, the two techniques weaving into harmony, pressing down the madness inch by inch.
Lu Xueqi stood guard before him, sword drawn, her eyes never leaving his meditating figure.
That was when the ground trembled.
Swish!
A bloody vine whipped out of the darkness, striking straight at Zhang Xiaofan.
Lu Xueqi's sword flared. Clang! Sparks flew as she deflected it. The vine retreated, writhing back into the gloom.
Her eyes narrowed. From the shadows, an ancient tree revealed itself.
Its bark was black and veined with scarlet, its trunk vast and grotesque.
Dozens of blood-red vines uncoiled from its body, writhing like serpents.
Two scarlet eyes opened upon its trunk, glowing with hunger.
The Bloodthirsty Demon Tree.
Its vines lashed forward, dozens at once, snapping through the air like whips.
Lu Xueqi's heart raced. She glanced back....Zhang Xiaofan was still deep in meditation, his aura unstable. She couldn't disturb him.
So she dashed forward.
Her sword gleamed, dodging one vine, cutting another.
With a burst of blue light, she pressed close to the tree itself. Her blade rose, blazing with all her might.
"Break!"
The Tianya sword slashed down.
Clang!
The sound was like metal on metal. The strike left only a shallow mark on the monstrous trunk.
The demon tree shuddered but did not fall.
Before she could strike again, dozens of vines surged toward her. She leapt back, sword flashing in brilliant arcs.
Blue light scattered, knocking some away, but the onslaught was endless.
One vine slipped through.
Crack!
It coiled around her waist, binding her arms tight.
The more she struggled, the tighter it constricted, dragging her toward the tree's gaping maw.
Her qi surged, but it was like striking iron chains.
The vines were stronger than even the famed Immortal Binding Ropes.
The bloody maw loomed closer, a foul stench washing over her.
Her eyes turned toward Zhang Xiaofan, still seated, his aura locked in battle with his own demons.
Her heart pounded. For the first time, her calm façade broke.
"Xiaofan!"
Her voice trembled, filled with desperation and trust.
The vines dragged her closer. The abyss held its breath.
"Xiaofan!"
Lu Xueqi's cry pierced the oppressive gloom of the Death Abyss.
Zhang Xiaofan, who had been sitting cross-legged and regulating his breath, suddenly opened his eyes.
A crimson flash streaked across them, his pupils dyed with a chilling blood-light.
His entire body seemed wrapped in a sinister red aura, his expression no longer that of the ordinary, honest youth she knew.
The next instant, he moved. His figure blurred into an afterimage, faster than the eye could follow.
The firestick in his hand pulsed with murderous intent, and with a single slash he cut through the blood-red vines that had bound Lu Xueqi.
Crack!
The blood vines shrieked as if alive, splintering into fragments that fell lifelessly to the ground.
Freed, Lu Xueqi staggered forward, her jade-white arms trembling.
But the toll of the struggle was heavy....her strength faltered, her sword slipped from her grasp, and she collapsed, falling limply.
In a flash, Zhang Xiaofan swept her into his left arm.
His movements were swift yet gentle, like an iron shield that would never allow harm to reach her.
With a surge of spiritual power, he propelled them backward at blinding speed.
Only after he had placed her against a massive boulder, safe from immediate danger, did he release her and turn, eyes blazing scarlet, to face the towering bloodthirsty demon tree.
Before he could charge, a pale, slender hand caught his. Lu Xueqi's grip was weak, her voice soft, almost pleading.
"Be careful…"
Her words struck him deeper than any wound. He looked down at her fragile form, chest rising faintly with each labored breath. His heart twisted.
Rage erupted. His blood-colored eyes locked onto the monstrous tree. His voice was a thunderclap of fury:
"Dare to harm my Naiqi?"
"Die!"
With a roar, Zhang Xiaofan launched himself toward the demon tree.
The tree screeched, its monstrous body trembling. Dozens of blood-red vines erupted from its trunk, lashing at him like a storm of whips.
"Haaah!"
Zhang Xiaofan's roar echoed as he wielded the firestick.....not as a clumsy cudgel, but as though it were a divine sword.
The techniques of Wan Jianyi flowed through his movements.....sword stances executed with perfect precision, every strike carrying sharpness that could split mountains.
He darted left and right, body flowing like wind and shadow, the firestick sweeping arcs of blood-red light.
Each clash severed a vine, spraying dark ichor across the ground.
Snap! Snap! Snap!
Vines fell in showers, writhing like decapitated serpents.
Step by step, he carved a path through the demonic blockade.
At last, he leapt into the air, his voice steady yet filled with unyielding resolve:
"The righteousness of heaven and earth endures!
I do not seek to slay immortals....
I slay demons and gods!"
The heavens trembled.
From the swirling blood-light above, a colossal dragon manifested.
Its scales glistened crimson, its eyes two vast pools of blood-fire that pierced the darkness.
It coiled overhead, radiating a pressure so vast that even the Abyss seemed to groan beneath its weight.
The bloodthirsty demon tree quivered. Sensing true peril, it intertwined its vines together, weaving them into enormous blades of blood, and hurled them forward in desperation.
"Roar!"
The dragon bellowed as Zhang Xiaofan swung the firestick downward with both hands.
"Break!"
The dragon dove. Its massive body smashed through the wall of blood swords. One after another shattered like glass,
fragments raining down like scarlet meteors. But the dragon's momentum did not falter.....it plummeted, sword qi condensed into its fangs, and struck the tree's trunk.
Boom!
The world split.
The demon tree screamed as its colossal body was torn asunder. Its thick trunk cracked, splitting in two, while the ground beneath it opened into a vast gully.
Blood-red sap poured like rain, hissing as it corroded the stone.
Silence fell.
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