Chapter 88

Lin Fan no longer had the time to pay attention to Juesè, a beautiful and alluring woman appeared, floating above the sea of fire, holding a lyre and scolding: "Two Taoist priests and a bald monk, meddling in other people's affairs."

"Who are you?" Lin Fan asked, having never seen her before.

The woman laughed loudly: "Haha, you don't even know who I am, yet you come to meddle in this matter."

Xiefengzi shouted: "Yu Fengtang, the road is wide, let's each go our own way. Don't think that just because you have two thousand years of cultivation, I will be afraid of you."

"If it were the three of you, I wouldn't have a sure victory," the scorpion demon Yu Fengtang said. "But this monk is already useless, like a clay Buddha trying to cross a river, yet still thinking of saving others. The two of you, die!"

With that, she pulled the lyre, which hummed. Lin Fan and Xiefengzi saw nothing and could only be on guard. Suddenly, Xiefengzi's body flickered, and a strand of hair fell.

Yu Fengtang chuckled: "Turn earth into sand!" She began to play, and the ground turned into a desert. Dozens of sand dragons roared and charged at the two. As they were on guard, more sand dragons surged from beneath their feet.

"Formation of swords!" A hundred cold flashes appeared, and four sand dragons were killed on the spot. Lin Fan was hit by a sand dragon and turned into powder. His true form appeared beside Xiefengzi and said: "Spicy chicken threads, take action."

"None of your business," Xiefengzi shouted, his body transforming into a fire dragon and charging downward, dispersing a sand dragon. He landed on the sand and unleashed his true qi, sending dozens of fire dragons toward the sand dragons.

A hundred-foot-high wave of sand swept over Xiefengzi, and sand flew from all sides, sticking to his body, trying to imprison him. Xiefengzi easily broke free from the sand.

"You have some cultivation," Yu Fengtang nodded. "Then let's begin." The music changed, and sand particles flew up like arrows, shooting at the two.

Xiefengzi took out a gourd from behind his back and poured it downward, layer upon layer of flames crashing down, not only neutralizing the sand attacks but also creating a ten-zhang-wide pool of lava on the ground. Xiefengzi slowly placed his left foot on the lava: "You're forcing me to use my ultimate move."

He spread his arms wide, and a fire sword flew up from the lava. A second one, a third one, and almost instantly, forty-nine fire swords hovered around Xiefengzi.

"Damn, just watch? Take action!" Xiefengzi roared.

"Okay!" Lin Fan cast a spell, and a flying fire meteor fell. Then a second one, a third one. With his Nine Lives and One Nature, the power of his spells was greatly increased, and the flying fire meteors became even more powerful.

Yu Fengtang pulled the lyre, and dozens of sand dragons charged, blocking the flying fire meteors. Xiefengzi's forty-nine fire swords shot out. A wall of sand rose in front of Yu Fengtang, but the fire swords broke through it. Yu Fengtang was surprised and leaped up, with the forty-nine fire swords chasing her at a steady pace.

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck Yu Fengtang, and her body stiffened. Another bolt of lightning followed, and as the fire swords approached, her body turned the color of sand. The fire swords passed through, and a wave of sand rose, revealing Yu Fengtang's true form. Lin Fan was surprised: "Shape-shifting?"

Xiefengzi shook his head: "No, this is a body-doubling technique. We're in trouble; this guy can't be killed."

"What do you mean?" Lin Fan didn't understand.

"The sand is her body. As long as the sand isn't destroyed, she won't die," Xiefengzi sneered. "But her defense is strong, and her offense is weak, so she can't do much to us."

Yu Fengtang was furious. As Xiefengzi said, she was originally cultivating in the desolate land, with no intention of harming others or ruling the world. To prepare for the possible heavenly tribulation, she had cultivated this body of sand, ensuring her own invincibility. She knew her offense was weak, which was why she used the ghosts of Leiyin Temple and the ghost bride to trap Juesè, concentrating her forces to kill one of them. To prevent the other two from escaping, she set up a formation. She had planned everything, but she hadn't anticipated that Xiefengzi's cultivation was clearly beyond her expectations.

Lin Fan seemed to be putting in little effort, as half of his mind was on Juesè. Lin Fan was puzzled. According to Yu Fengtang's best interests, since she was invincible, she should first kill the weakest Juesè. Juesè was currently exorcising the ghost bride and barely suppressing the scorpion poison. Once the exorcism was complete and the scorpion poison was expelled, Yu Fengtang would face three opponents. Why did Yu Fengtang abandon the attack on Juesè?

Yu Fengtang slowly pulled out a ruler from her sleeve, which glowed with lightning: "Unfortunately, ten days ago, I found this lightning ruler in the imperial treasure house and decided to use it."

"Wait, ten days?" Lin Fan was puzzled. "How did you refine it?" If it were a low-level magical treasure, direct refinement would suffice, but this lightning ruler was clearly not ordinary. Conversely, if the lightning ruler were a common magical treasure, it wouldn't add much damage, and it wouldn't help much.

Words were written on both sides of the lightning ruler. Yu Fengtang didn't answer, silently reciting a spell, and then threw the ruler into the air. The lightning ruler hovered in the sky, its lightning flashing more brightly. After a crackling sound, the ruler grew to ten zhang, and a giant eagle with lightning all over its body emerged from the ruler.

What puzzled Lin Fan and Xiefengzi was that the giant eagle didn't attack them but charged at Yu Fengtang. Yu Fengtang seemed prepared, and sand dragons flew up to attack the eagle. Xiefengzi said: "Is this what they call 'lifting a stone to drop it on one's own foot'?"

A roar, and a winged white tiger emerged from the lightning ruler, charging down at Xiefengzi with great momentum. Then a red lightning bird, a one-eyed lightning eagle, and a two-headed lightning snake descended in a flood. Yu Fengtang smiled and asked: "I wonder if this can do anything to you?"

Yu Fengtang was already invincible, but Lin Fan and Xiefengzi were not. Xiefengzi immediately transformed into a fire dragon to counter the lightning creatures, while Lin Fan activated his bamboo sword, weaving through the attacks of the lightning eagle and lightning bird. The lightning ruler glowed brightly, and a bolt of lightning struck Lin Fan. Lin Fan used his heart talisman to shrink the distance, avoiding the lightning, which ultimately struck a tree, turning the point of impact to ashes. Lin Fan was shocked: "What kind of treasure is this?" It was much stronger than his flying fire meteors.

Yu Fengtang said: "This is a treasure from the immortals. Take it; it's unclaimed, and it's yours if you take it."

Lin Fan praised: "You truly have a heart of a snake or scorpion."

The lightning ruler's power grew, and lightning bolts fell frequently. Yu Fengtang didn't dodge, and when she was hit, she would reappear from the sand. Lin Fan was a bit flustered, having to dodge the lightning while being attacked by the lightning bird and lightning eagle. Xiefengzi was more relaxed; lightning is metal, and fire overcomes metal. His protective true qi, which formed a fire dragon, could directly disperse the lightning. Even if it couldn't disperse it, it was hard for the lightning to penetrate his protective true qi.

In the midst of his struggle, Lin Fan turned back and saw that the two-headed lightning snake was charging at Juesè on the ground. Lin Fan cast a wood spell, and a tree rose from the sand. The lightning snake hit the tree, which was split into two and flew away. The lightning snake abandoned Juesè and charged at Lin Fan.

It was strange; he had never heard of an unclaimed magical treasure being able to do this. But if it had an owner, how could Yu Fengtang activate it? If Yu Fengtang were the owner of the lightning ruler, why would it harm her?

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