From the fake emperor to the concubine

Zhang Yunfan clearly didn't know any powerful magic; his escape method was simple and direct, almost catching Zheng Yi off guard.

This is a hard run.

Although he looked quite disheveled, Zhang Yunfan was surprisingly fast at running away.

In the short time the monster was stunned, Zhang Yunfan had already run several hundred steps.

The monster was not about to let the guy who dared to hurt it get away with it.

Its four hooves galloped like the wind, rapidly chasing after Zhang Yunfan.

For a moment, the speeds of the human and the monster were almost identical.

No matter how desperately the monster chased after it, it couldn't shorten the distance between them at all.

It's astonishing that someone at the mere Qi Refining stage can be so formidable.

Zheng Yi was a little unsure for a moment which of the two was the monster.

Unfortunately, no matter how extraordinary Zhang Yunfan's physique is, he is still just a human being.

For a short period of time, Zhang Yunfan can maintain a relatively extreme speed.

However, this state is ultimately forcibly overdrawing the body's resources.

So after running for only a short while, Zhang Yunfan's breathing began to become rapid, and his speed visibly slowed down.

Upon realizing this, Zhang Yunfan suddenly stopped, turned around to face the charging monster, and made a hand seal with both hands.

The giant sword that he hadn't had time to take when he fled appeared out of thin air dozens of meters above Zhang Yunfan's head and began to fall rapidly.

Because of the great height, the monster didn't notice him at all. Its scarlet eyes were fixed on Zhang Yunfan, as if afraid he would run away.

Zhang Yunfan stood still, watching helplessly as the monster's mouth enveloped his upper body.

Just as the monster's mouth was about to close and bite it in two.

Zhang Yunfan grabbed the largest canine tooth in the monster's upper row of teeth with his left hand and the largest canine tooth in the monster's lower row of teeth with his right hand.

With a roar, it actually forced open the monster's mouth.

No matter how hard the monster tried, it couldn't bite down.

During this process, Zheng Yi was surprised to find that Zhang Yunfan was actually able to absorb some power from the seal that bound him and use it for his own purposes.

Although this force was small, it was a huge help to him.

Otherwise, how could a mere Qi Refining cultivator possibly withstand the attacks of the monsters in the secret realm?

However, what Zheng Yi admired most was Zhang Yunfan's decisiveness.

After realizing that he had exhausted too much energy, he decisively chose to stop and face his opponent when he was in the best condition.

To avoid wasting energy on a pointless escape.

His decision was extremely accurate, which shows that he has a wealth of combat experience.

Just as Zhang Yunfan was locked in a stalemate with the monster, the giant sword in the air fell down.

The already heavy sword was subjected to immense force as it fell from the sky.

Even the monster, which was locked in a stalemate with Zhang Yunfan, sensed the approaching danger.

Instinctively, he struggled and backed away, wanting to leave this dangerous place.

As he struggled, he tilted his head, trying to see what was threatening his safety from the sky.

As it turned out, it would have been better if he hadn't looked up. The moment he did, the giant sword had unfortunately pierced the monster's eye.

Even such a powerful monster has incredibly fragile eyes.

Dark purple blood gushed from the monster's eyes like a fountain.

The enormous sword disappeared completely into the eye and remained inside the monster's skull.

"Awooo!" The shrill screams were like sharp spiritual daggers piercing into Zhang Yunfan's sea of ​​consciousness.

Under normal circumstances, the monster's shriek before it died would have been enough to kill Zhang Yunfan.

Even if he doesn't die, it's enough to turn this kid into an idiot.

This time, however, Zheng Yi's fragments of consciousness were still attached to Zhang Yunfan. He didn't even need to be distracted to deal with this level of mental impact; he could easily withstand it with his mental strength alone.

Actually, Zheng Yi was already prepared to help when Zhang Yunfan turned around to face the enemy.

The two are on completely different levels, and under normal circumstances, Zhang Yunfan would have almost no chance of winning.

Even he hadn't anticipated this situation; the monster had actually chosen its own demise.

Zhang Yunfan's greatsword was completely embedded in the monster's brain.

No matter how powerful this monster is, or how much it overwhelms Zhang Yunfan, it has absolutely no chance of surviving.

His body twitched rapidly a few times, then burst into a spray of ink that splattered all over the ground.

Zhang Yunfan plopped down on the ground, panting heavily: "My goodness, I thought I was going to die this time."

Judging from his lingering fear, it turns out he does know fear after all.

Zheng Yi thought this kid was just naturally thick-skinned and didn't know what fear was at all.

The more this was the case, the more interested Zheng Yi became in Zhang Yunfan.

In critical moments, this kid can put aside all negative emotions and make the right choice.

Perhaps even Zhang Yunfan himself didn't realize how brilliant his on-the-spot decisions were, because for him it was all just instinct.

However, Zheng Yi knew just how rare and valuable this kid's qualities were.

Zheng Yi had seen far too many cultivators who were swayed by their emotions at the most crucial moment, leading to wrong judgments and ultimately their deaths.

Zhang Yunfan calmed himself down, took out some water from his personal space, and washed off the ink that had sprayed all over his face when the monster exploded.

After determining the direction, I decided to leave this troublesome place first.

Seeing this, Zheng Yi, who had originally planned to remain an observer, finally couldn't hold back any longer.

"Boy, stop right there!"

"Huh?" Zhang Yunfan stopped and looked around.

There wasn't a soul in sight around him.

He couldn't help but tap his forehead in confusion, wondering if he was hallucinating.

The next moment, a slightly impatient yet very authoritative voice rang out again: "Silly boy, there's no need to look anymore. Didn't you notice that my voice was coming from within your consciousness?"

"So that's how it is!" Zhang Yunfan suddenly realized.

"Does this mean I also have that kind of personal old man from the novel who can guide my cultivation and make me the strongest cultivator in the Xuanzhou Continent?" For the first time, Zheng Yi felt like he didn't know what to say.

When he inexplicably appeared in the other man's mind, the first question the kid asked wasn't who he was or why he was in the other man's sea of ​​consciousness.

Instead, they treated him like a personal old man system and accepted him as a matter of course.

Even if you know that Zhang Yunfan is not an ordinary person, didn't you accept it a little too easily?
"What kind of personal grandpa? You actually believe things from a storybook?"

"Let me tell you the truth, kid. The reason I entered your sea of ​​consciousness was to seize your body."

"The gap between you and me is like a chasm; for me to crush you is no different than crushing an ant."

“If you know what’s good for you, I can let you suffer less. Otherwise, you’ll suffer unprecedented torment before your soul dissipates. Believe me, that kind of pain will make you feel that death is just a relief.”

"Oh, I see. Then I'll try my best to hold on as long as possible." Zhang Yunfan's tone was so calm, as if this matter had nothing to do with him.

Although Zheng Yi was only trying to scare Zhang Yunfan, the kid's performance once again exceeded his expectations.

He remained remarkably calm despite the perilous situation.

"Aren't you afraid of dying?" Zheng Yi asked, feigning malice.

Zhang Yunfan shrugged noncommittally: "Whether I'm afraid or not, the outcome won't change, will it?"

"Since you can appear in my consciousness, destroying my consciousness should only be a matter of a thought."

"But I don't think you would do that."

Zheng Yi immediately became interested: "Why do you think that?"

Zhang Yunfan smiled confidently: "With your strength, if you really wanted to possess me, you wouldn't need to say so much to me, would you? You could have just attacked."

"With my meager cultivation level, I'm afraid I don't even understand what happened."

"But since you've told me so much without taking any action, I think there are only two possibilities."

"Tell me," Zheng Yi's cold laugh echoed in Zhang Yunfan's mind.

"The first possibility is that you don't have the ability, and the second possibility is that you appreciate my talent, so you can't bear to kill me like this."

For a moment, Zheng Yi couldn't tell whether this guy was just straightforward or simply thick-skinned.

However, the various hints he gave the other party were actually meant to make them guess in that direction.

Given the vast difference in strength, being able to analyze something like this isn't exactly foolish.

"Hmph!" Zheng Yi gave a flamboyant sneer: "You're not so bad after all. I've decided to let you off the hook for now, you stupid brat."

"Oh right, we've all forgotten about the important matter. Who taught you, kid? How come you don't even know these most basic things?"

"This demon turned into ink upon death. You don't think this is just ordinary ink, do you? Use your brain, which is barely bigger than a walnut, to think about it. Can this be something ordinary?"

"Quickly collect these inks before the spiritual energy dissipates completely. Although we don't know their specific uses yet, they are definitely precious materials even if used to draw talismans."

"Senior is absolutely right. How come I didn't think of that before?" Zhang Yunfan's eyes lit up, and he immediately took out bottles and jars to start collecting ink.

After carefully collecting all the usable ink, Zhang Yunfan looked around in confusion and asked, "Senior, what are we going to do now?"

Zheng Yi rolled his eyes at him, but unfortunately Zhang Yunfan clearly couldn't see it.

"You're wrong. It's not the two of us, it's yourself. This is your own trial and has nothing to do with me."

"Oh." After being rebuffed by Zheng Yi, Zhang Yunfan scratched his head and didn't say anything more, walking off in one direction on his own.

If Zheng Yi hadn't been able to sense the kid's emotional fluctuations, he would have suspected that the kid was having some kind of emotional outburst.

Not far from where he had walked, Zhang Yunfan heard a woman calling for help.

"Help! Someone help me!"

Upon hearing the sound, Zhang Yunfan's expression immediately turned serious, and he instantly pinpointed the direction from which the sound originated.

Seeing this, Zheng Yi quickly stopped him: "Wait, kid, what are you trying to do?"

From the time he possessed Zhang Yunfan until now, he has come to know this kid quite well.

This kid is definitely not a fool.

Inside the Zheng family's small grotto-heaven, there were countless cultivators who had entered the grotto-heaven before.

Under these circumstances, it is quite strange in itself that a woman would call for help in the middle of nowhere.

"Of course we have to save people! Senior, didn't you hear someone calling for help? We need to hurry, or it will be too late."

Zheng Yi was silent for a moment: "You really think there's no problem here?"

Zhang Yunfan had already run back towards the direction from which the cries for help came: "I think there are a lot of problems. It's very likely that someone deliberately set this up to lure rogue cultivators like me to help, and then ambush us."

"Considering that this is the Zheng family's assessment for recruiting disciples, this possibility is not small."

Zheng Yi was taken aback: "Since you know everything, why are you still going?"

Zhang Yunfan smiled wryly and said, "Although it's very likely a trap, we can't rule out the possibility that someone might actually be in danger, so let's go and check it out first."

"If someone is in danger, we can rush over to help."

"If this is a trap, at least it means that no one is really in danger, which is a good thing."

Good heavens, this kid wasn't unaware of the danger; he went anyway knowing it was dangerous.

This awkward personality trait brought a smile to Zheng Yi's face.

Such a person is not terrible as an enemy, but incredibly reliable as a friend.

Because you'll never have to worry about this guy betraying you for personal gain.

After crossing a small hill ridge, Zhang Yunfan finally saw a female cultivator lying on the ground.

Beside the female cultivator lay a male corpse in a pool of blood, his fate unknown.

Upon seeing Zhang Yunfan, the panicked woman burst into tears: "Fellow Daoist, please help me quickly! This guy wants to rob me of my money and my virtue!"

"To prove my innocence, I used my last resort to injure this villain, but I am now exhausted and on my deathbed. I don't know when this villain will wake up, and then my life will be in danger."

"Please lend me your help, my benefactor. I will be eternally grateful and am willing to reward you handsomely."

Although this woman wasn't exactly a beauty of unparalleled grace, she was still quite pretty, with fair and rosy skin that looked like a delicate, ripe peach.

With tear stains on her face, her panicked appearance was particularly pitiful.

"Tsk tsk tsk, this woman's acting is pretty good." Zheng Yi commented in Zhang Yunfan's mind.

Everyone was resting, and the guy lying on the ground was breathing steadily and full of spiritual energy. He didn't look like he had been ambushed and was barely clinging to life.

Zhang Yunfan hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay, I will save you. As for any reward, there's no need for that."

As he spoke, Zhou Rang unleashed his greatsword and slashed at the man lying in a pool of blood. (End of Chapter)