Chapter Ninety-Four: Grudges from Long Ago

Under an azure sky and faint, wispy clouds, a few birds darted through the air and then vanished from sight.

Su Fan stared in surprise toward the source of the voice, while Hong Lan’s expression darkened visibly.

Qin Yu, however, remained calm, looking at Hong Lan with a distracted air as he said, “Looks like reinforcements have arrived. Do you still have confidence?”

Hong Lan smiled. “If I’m not mistaken, that must be Xiao Lin.”

Su Fan nodded in agreement. He could naturally recognize Xiao Lin’s voice at once; he was only surprised that Xiao Lin had resolved the imperial city so quickly.

Hong Lan slowly backed away, forming seals with her hands as a veil of red light instantly wrapped around her body.

Indeed a remarkable talent. Just as the red glow covered her, a streak of blue light shot through the void like a falling star and struck straight at Hong Lan.

Hong Lan flicked her hand and sent the blue light flying aside. The sudden clash left Qin Yu and Su Fan stunned.

Then Xiao Lin shouted, “The three of us must kill her quickly. Otherwise, with her Nascent Soul cultivation, we are no match for her.”

Qin Yu reacted at once, drawing his longsword and thrusting it at Hong Lan. Sword light flashed between them, as fierce as thunder, crashing toward her.

Because he was injured, Su Fan was a little slower to respond, but he still moved quickly, sending a purple haze surging toward Hong Lan.

Hong Lan was unhurried. She roamed through Xiao Lin’s endless techniques, Qin Yu’s world-shattering sword intent, and Su Fan’s Purple Celestial Art without the slightest sign of weakness.

With nothing more than the agility of her footwork, she could easily evade Qin Yu’s slashing sword.

A crimson shadow moved between the three masses of light. Hong Lan gave a low cry, and a small sword appeared in her hand.

In the next instant, the small sword split into three. The three blades flew at blinding speed, skimming toward Su Fan and the others so fast they could hardly see them clearly.

Relying on the bit of cultivation he had temporarily recovered, Su Fan could still dodge slightly with the Purple Shadow Step, but Qin Yu and Xiao Lin found it difficult to evade.

Their clothes were torn all over, and some of the cuts were already bleeding.

Their faces grew extremely ugly. The pain must have been hard to bear.

The three of them had each been outstanding in the trial, yet even joined together they could not overcome Hong Lan. When a Golden Core cultivator faced a Nascent Soul cultivator, the disparity was simply too great; every attack was like an ant waving its limbs, utterly ineffective.

Hong Lan shouted, “Since you are all so blind, then come and sacrifice yourselves as tribute to my ascent to the Nascent Soul stage.”

As she spoke, she struck out silently. Qin Yu was hit squarely in the chest. He groaned and had no choice but to land at once and sit down to heal his injuries.

Xiao Lin, distracted for a moment, was cut in the abdomen by one of the blades flying at tremendous speed. Blood surged out, yet Xiao Lin still fixed Hong Lan with resolute eyes, fury burning there as he rushed at her again, nearly willing to perish with her.

Su Fan cried out and flashed to Xiao Lin’s side, hurling him toward Qin Yu on the ground. Qin Yu, seeing the situation clearly, hurriedly caught Xiao Lin and forcefully began healing him.

At that moment, Su Fan alone had to withstand Hong Lan’s attacks. As his speed gradually slowed, the three blades had already carved several gashes across his body, and blood stained his purple robes a dark black.

Suddenly, Hong Lan stopped attacking and said, “I heard that Junior Brother Su visited the Sword Repository. I wonder what you gained there.”

Su Fan snorted. “What did I gain? Do you want to see?”

Hong Lan smiled. “I wouldn’t mind appraising it for Junior Brother Su.”

Su Fan’s gaze sharpened. With a slight movement of his fingers, a rusted broken sword appeared in his hand.

Hong Lan froze for a moment, then murmured, “Could this be a magical treasure once used by an ancestor?”

Su Fan did not answer. Instead, he raised the broken sword high and brought it down, as though cleaving through emptiness itself, at once heavy and light.

One stroke, one death. Was this not the might of an ancestor? And yet a Nascent Soul cultivator could not be so easily slain by Su Fan.

If the one holding it were truly an ancestor, then wielding this sword would be enough to kill Hong Lan in the blink of an eye.

But Su Fan was not, so Hong Lan suffered only minor injuries. She coughed a few times and said, “Even with such a treasure, it is still not enough.”

Though she said this, the pallor of her face was enough to show that the object in Su Fan’s hand was extraordinary, at the very least enough to make her wary.

Hong Lan suddenly retreated. The three blades swiftly drew together and then became a dagger.

A deep, ancient, and domineering aura burst forth at once. Su Fan felt his mind quake violently, and the broken sword in his hand trembled even more fiercely, almost struggling to fly out on its own.

Hong Lan’s eyes flashed. She shot toward Su Fan at high speed and, at the same time, hurled the dagger. The dagger moved too fast for Su Fan to avoid, and he could only swing the broken sword to strike it.

The two collided. The broken sword let out a series of buzzing vibrations, and the dagger was flung far away.

The instant the two touched, Su Fan seemed to feel a wave of dizziness, as though he had been controlled by the broken sword and could not retreat even a single inch from the dagger.

Hong Lan clearly felt the same way, though she showed no surprise, as if she had long expected such a change.

Su Fan had no time to think about why. He could only retreat, using the moment to recover a little of his cultivation.

That fierce struggle had already consumed the little spiritual power he had just regained.

Added to the earlier unnamed strike, Su Fan was already at the end of his rope. The only reason he had forced himself to keep fighting was because he feared that if he died, Xiao Lin and Qin Yu would certainly not escape death.

It would be better to throw everything into battle with Hong Lan. Perhaps he could even negotiate terms with her, and then Xiao Lin and Qin Yu would have a chance to leave.

The idea was good, but Hong Lan was determined to kill Su Fan. That killing intent might have come from someone’s desperate command, or from the thousand-year will contained within some magical treasure, or perhaps from the humiliation of a Golden Core cultivator battling a Nascent Soul cultivator.

In short, Hong Lan would not discuss any terms with Su Fan. He was not qualified. At this moment, all she needed was to send the dagger flying again, or even point a finger, and Su Fan would die instantly.

The dagger, like a bird threading through the woods, shot toward Su Fan’s throat at high speed. In the next second, Su Fan would be dead beneath it.

Su Fan was already despairing. He no longer had the strength to evade, even by the slightest inch.

Xiao Lin and Qin Yu could only stare helplessly as the blade stabbed out, inch by inch, toward Su Fan’s throat, ready to take his life.

“You damned bastard. You dare lay a hand on my brother? Just wait, I’ll slaughter you.”

That domineering voice, able to pierce every ear in the forest, rang out and shattered the leaves that were about to fall, freezing the dagger before Su Fan’s throat.

A black silhouette appeared before Su Fan. With only two fingers, it easily caught the dagger, then flicked it away and tossed it to Su Fan.

“Consider this a gift when we meet. Keep it for now.”

Su Fan froze. “Lin Xiaofeng...”

Lin Xiaofeng was still wearing his rain cape. He waved a hand to cut Su Fan off, then looked at Hong Lan and said, “I used to hold back against you because I was wary of the Heaven-Origin Sect. But today, I’m not afraid anymore.”

Hong Lan said nothing. She slowly stepped backward, as though uncertain what he meant.