Chapter 18

Ximen Shuai landed beside Lin Fan, praising him repeatedly: "Earth遁, impressive. However, no matter how powerful you are, you can't escape from my palm."

Fortunately, due to the Kui Water Yin Thunder, the prohibitions he set up were originally to guard against the mastermind behind the scenes. He never expected that without the help of the prohibitions, Lin Fan would have already slipped away like a fish into the sea. Hmm... It seemed that in mid-air, he had deliberately provoked him.

Ximen Shuai found Lin Fan quite likable. Cultivators generally fell into a few categories. The first type, mostly from the righteous path, were clear-minded and ascetic, rigid in their actions. The second type were from the evil sects, despicable and extremely vicious. Ximen Shuai disliked both types. Lin Fan was very different from ordinary righteous cultivators. He was quick-witted, liked to think with his head, and didn't have the viciousness of the evil sects.

Lin Fan gathered his true qi to resist the true qi net, but Ximen Shuai shook his head: "Our cultivation levels differ greatly. You can't possibly escape. Hand over the Blood Sunstone obediently, and I won't make things difficult for you."

"With you restraining me, I can't move my hands and feet. How can I give it to you?" Lin Fan gave a flirtatious glance: "Why don't you come and take it yourself?"

Ximen Shuai gritted his teeth. He would rather die than touch a man's body. He waved his hand, loosening the true qi net to form a canopy, giving Lin Fan enough space to move.

"Where is it?" Lin Fan felt his body, then put his fingers in his mouth and pondered for a while before starting to feel around again.

Ximen Shuai, growing impatient, said: "Lin Fan, if you don't cooperate, I won't be gentle."

"I found it!" Lin Fan's eyes lit up, and he extended his left hand, throwing the item to Ximen Shuai.

Ximen Shuai saw it was the Blood Sunstone, took it in his hand, and sensed it, confirming that there were no illusions. Satisfied, he nodded and looked at the Blood Sunstone. He saw some blood threads on it. Upon closer inspection, he was shocked. A small Blood Sunstone had a spell written in blood. Ximen Shuai inwardly cursed. Without yellow paper and a brush, this kid had bitten his finger and written the spell on the Blood Sunstone.

"Quick!" With Lin Fan's incantation, the Blood Sunstone exploded, pushing Ximen Shuai half a mile away. The true qi net was shattered, and Lin Fan jumped up, grabbing the Blood Sunstone and grinning. He then used a spell and immediately earth-dashed to escape.

Ximen Shuai returned with a black face, not just in mood but literally black. The spell was a type of lightning technique called Bing Fire Lightning, which had very low killing power and only served to push the contactor away. Normally, this lightning technique couldn't break through Ximen Shuai's protective true qi, but when he held the Blood Sunstone, he had allowed it to enter his protective true qi.

Once again, he had been outsmarted by a low-level technique like the Bing Fire Lightning. Ximen Shuai's resentment had nowhere to go, so he immediately continued chasing in the direction of the town. He landed, touched the soil, and sensed, but found nothing. He flew left and sensed again, still nothing. He flew right and sensed, still nothing.

This was impossible. Although earth-dashing was fast, it had a limitation: it could only be used where there was soil. Ximen Shuai estimated Lin Fan's earth-dashing speed and concluded that he shouldn't have been able to escape his senses. Unless... Ximen Shuai was frustrated. The kid must have run back. He quickly flew to where he was blown up and then chased back.

Suddenly, the restrictions in the market were breached. Ximen Shuai had to turn back and chase in the direction of the market. After landing, he sensed nothing. Should he go forward, left, right, or back? Ximen Shuai knew Lin Fan was playing guerrilla tactics and had to guess a direction.

After thinking for a while, Ximen Shuai smiled and flew toward the town. Lin Fan had come to the market to buy yellow paper and a brush. If he controlled Lin Fan's approach to the town, Lin Fan would have to find a way to break through. Ximen Shuai landed, found a hillside to sit, and closed his eyes to sense. Soon, someone entered from the southeast. Ximen Shuai held back from chasing, and sure enough, the person retreated from the southeast. Then the same situation occurred in the southwest. Ximen Shuai still held his ground. Soon, the person was out of his sensing range.

Lin Fan was also frustrated. He broke through the soil and looked down from the hilltop. Two rivers formed a triangular encirclement around the market. The soil to the market allowed him to earth-dash, but the sand and stones on both sides of the rivers prevented him from using earth-dashing. He could either fly over the rivers and sand, or go around. But if Ximen Shuai was nearby, he would be caught as soon as he appeared.

After some thought, Lin Fan stopped earth-dashing and slowly rose on the wind, drifting slowly toward the market. Ximen Shuai was puzzled. Lin Fan had many better options, such as earth-dashing directly to the market or using the forest for cover to approach the market. Why choose this slow and stupid way?

In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, when Sima Yi saw the empty city, he thought: Zhuge Liang was always cautious, so why would he open the city gates?

However, Ximen Shuai was different from Sima Yi. If Sima Yi suspected an ambush, he could send a hundred cavalry into the city. If it was an ambush, he would be trapped. (Pure personal speculation.) Anyway, that's how Ximen Shuai thought.

Three golden lights flew straight at Lin Fan's face. Lin Fan cursed, "Spicy chicken!" Indeed, the empty city strategy didn't work in reality. The three golden lights weren't very fast, but Lin Fan could tell that if he was hit, he would lose half his life. He secretly cast a spell, forming a vortex in front of him. The three golden lights were sucked into the vortex, paused, and then scattered in different directions.

This kid really knew a lot of tricks, Ximen Shuai marveled. This was an improved version of the Wind Riding Technique. The Wind Riding Technique was a very low-level spell. After casting it, a vortex would appear underfoot to push the person forward. Lin Fan had added his true qi to the vortex, turning it into a defensive spell to disrupt incoming attacks. Ximen Shuai especially missed his Qiankun Ring and ancient sword. The three golden lights were formed from his true qi and were golden lightning spells that would explode upon impact. If he had the Qiankun Ring, it would ignore the vortex's interference and could still be controlled to attack Lin Fan.

Ximen Shuai chanted a spell, and a stone flew up and hit Lin Fan. Lin Fan inwardly smiled but saw the stone growing larger, soon as big as a house. Lin Fan quickly used his powers to stick to the stone, letting it push him backward.

Ximen Shuai looked at Lin Fan with new respect. This was still a low-level spell, the Wind Riding Technique. The Wind Riding Technique was relatively fast. When Lin Fan's speed approached the stone's, he stuck to the stone. Ximen Shuai wondered, if he knew the Wind Riding Technique, why use the slow Wind Riding Technique? His first reaction: it was a trap. His second reaction: where was the trap?

By the time Ximen Shuai had these two reactions, he realized that Lin Fan had been pushed to the other side of the river. Not good, the other side of the river was soil. Ximen Shuai immediately flew up and chased after him. When he landed, Lin Fan was already gone. He extended his hand to the ground and sensed. Sure enough, Lin Fan was earth-dashing toward the market.

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