Chapter 47

Lin Fan saw clearly that the deceased was a disciple of the Devil Sect. Ximen Shuai snorted disdainfully: "He didn’t know his limits. I only dare to look for isolated Ice Souls, but he dared to rush into their lair. There’s an Ice Soul over there, be careful, there might be more Ice Souls hidden in the snow nearby."

Lin Fan took a deep breath and followed Ximen Shuai, passing by the side of the Ice Soul. This was to attract any hidden Ice Souls to attack. After circling around halfway, he found that this Ice Soul had no accomplices, and then slowly approached. When he was about thirty feet away, the Ice Soul sensed Lin Fan’s presence and clung to the snow. As Lin Fan got closer, the Ice Soul launched an ice attack. Lin Fan was prepared and met it with his bamboo sword. He then used the Bean-to-Soldier technique to fend off two consecutive attacks. Finally, he easily captured the Ice Soul, which didn’t try to escape, in a cloth bag.

"Hmm, not bad," Ximen Shuai nodded, confirming he hadn’t chosen the wrong person. Although Lin Fan had initially lost a move, he quickly gained the upper hand after understanding the Ice Soul’s habits. During a major battle of the Evil Sect, a disciple who specialized in swordsmanship recklessly fought the opponent and died. Another disciple who specialized in swordsmanship first fought the opponent, then realized he was at a disadvantage, calculated the speed and reaction differences, and immediately fled. The evil person pursued, but the disciple turned back and, with the technique of merging man and sword, killed the unprepared evil person.

For the first type of person, Ximen Shuai was too lazy to deal with them. These people only used spells rigidly. The second type of person had the potential to become an expert. Lin Fan was undoubtedly the second type. He could make the most of various mediocre spells. His flexibility and adaptability were his greatest strengths. Because of these strengths, Lin Fan had understood the Heart Talisman. The first type of person would only follow the recorded techniques in documents or scriptures, without any personal characteristics.

Ximen Shuai saw Lin Fan tie the cloth bag to his waist and said, "To become an expert, you must gain more experience. To gain experience, you first need a Bag of Holding."

Lin Fan replied, "I know, that’s why when I heard you could help me get the fur of a thousand-year-old demon beast, I let you trick me here."

Ximen Shuai was surprised, "I said that?"

Lin Fan was exasperated, "We even swore an oath with blood." Don’t bully kids like this.

Ximen Shuai nodded, "Yes, I remember..." How could he help Lin Fan get the fur of a thousand-year-old demon beast? The thousand-year-old fox couldn’t be killed, and there was only one Heartless Vine. Ximen Shuai liked Lin Fan and found him compatible. Since he was a Demon Lord, he couldn’t break his word in front of Senior Thousand Feather and Senior Thirty-Three. But where could he find a thousand-year-old demon beast? Damn... He had been tricked by Lin Fan. Why not just kill a thousand-year-old spirit beast? But a thousand-year-old demon beast was hard to fight, and a thousand-year-old spirit beast was hard to find... Headache, headache.

While he was thinking, a dozen fiery lights rushed into the Ice Soul’s lair where the Devil Sect disciple had been killed. A cultivator, barefoot and in tattered clothes, walked on a flame. The Ice Souls launched ice attacks, and one of the ice attacks was about to hit the cultivator. The cultivator opened his mouth and spat out a true fire, completely melting the ice.

Looking at the cultivator, he had short hair that seemed to have not been combed for a long time, with clumps of hair sticking out like spikes. Ximen Shuai whispered, "Let’s go."

"What?" Lin Fan followed Ximen Shuai, moving close to the snow.

"First among the Eight Great Experts, a disciple of the Evil Fire Saint Sect: Xiefengzi. He has a nickname, Evil Madman. He is twenty-six years old and is already at the late Golden Core stage, proficient in the Three Pure Fires technique."

Just as he said this, Xiefengzi’s protective true qi surged, and a fiery light shot up, forming a fire sword that cut towards the two. Ximen Shuai used the Bag of Holding to deflect the fire sword. Xiefengzi looked at the two for a moment, and Lin Fan and Ximen Shuai were on high alert. Xiefengzi glanced at the agitated Ice Souls and cursed inwardly, then rode a fiery light and left.

Ximen Shuai laughed, "Xiefengzi is afraid we’ll attack him while he’s collecting Ice Souls, so he’d rather give them up."

"Hmm..." Lin Fan thought, if we wait until he’s gone, can’t we collect the Ice Souls then?

Lin Fan and Ximen Shuai observed the Ice Souls, hoping for an isolated one to appear. At this moment, a flame moved quickly along the snow, circling around the mountain and slowly approaching them from behind.

Lin Fan shouted, "Rise!"

At the spot where the flame originated, a dozen sword qi flew up, clanging a few times before disappearing. Xiefengzi appeared in the snow. Ximen Shuai, on guard, asked, "What is this?"

"A sword formation," Lin Fan answered simply. The sword formation Lin Fan used involved burying his controlled swords in a certain area and then activating the formation when the target entered the area. Lin Fan could only set up two sword formations, and he used bamboo swords, so the power was limited.

Ximen Shuai said, "You know the Thunder Spell, you can draw talismans, and you know sword formations... Greed for many things without specializing in any is a taboo in Daoist cultivation."

"Oh!" Lin Fan didn’t tell Ximen Shuai that the Sect Master had instructed him to learn casually until he reached the Nascent Soul stage, at which point he would start true swordsmanship. This was a path the Sect Master had designed for Lin Fan, so the Sect Master had instructed him not to ride a sword before mastering it, to lay the foundation for the future. Lin Fan frowned, "Hey, how long has it been since you took a bath?" He could smell a sour stench from a distance.

Xiefengzi didn’t answer, and Ximen Shuai replied for him, "Disciples of the Fire Sect rarely bathe. Simply put, they hate water."

"Oh?" Lin Fan flipped his hand, "Water Thunder!"

This kid has potential, Ximen Shuai nodded repeatedly, but then he was exasperated. The Water Thunder was flying too slowly and was off target. A Water Thunder slowly flew to Xiefengzi’s head. Xiefengzi was puzzled, looked up, and thought: Ximen Shuai is a tough opponent, but this little Taoist seems a bit shallow.

"Quick!" Lin Fan shouted, and the Water Thunder exploded, spreading a curtain of water. "Take a bath."

What Lin Fan used was a water-based spell, a small technique that Zhang Tongyuan had used to wash his hands after castrating Jiang Bufan. Xiefengzi snorted, flew backward, and suddenly felt something was wrong. A melon-sized burning rock appeared out of nowhere and smashed towards him. It was a Flying Fire Meteor. Impressive, he had calculated that Xiefengzi would dodge the water curtain...

"Roar!" Xiefengzi shouted, his protective true qi turned into a fire dragon, pushing the Flying Fire Meteor away. Then he turned his hand, and two fire whips lashed towards Lin Fan and Ximen Shuai. First in the rankings, he lived up to his reputation.

Bean-to-Soldier, Lin Fan used a low-tech move. A soybean turned into a soldier, and the fire whip wrapped around the soldier and pulled, cutting it into four pieces. Ximen Shuai used the Bag of Holding to block the incoming fire whip.

At this moment, Lin Fan’s Water Thunder appeared again, slowly flying. This time, Xiefengzi didn’t fall for it and lashed the Water Thunder with a fire whip. Upon contact, Xiefengzi realized it wasn’t a spell but true qi.

"Nine Turnings Demon Trapping Spell!" Lin Fan shouted, activating the Nine Turnings Demon Trapping Spell through the contact of true qi.

Once the Demon Trapping Spell was activated, Xiefengzi and Lin Fan were frozen in place. In Xiefengzi’s mind, nine demon beasts appeared. Without a word, Xiefengzi immediately used his ultimate move, a sea of fire sweeping over the nine demon beasts, almost instantly devouring them. Xiefengzi broke free from the Demon Trapping Spell and saw the Bag of Holding accurately strike his chest.