Mortal: The Path to Immortality

Seeing that his attack had missed, Liu Yuan gripped the demonic blade tightly, leaped off the bone shuttle, and used the momentum of his fall to slash fiercely at Lu Nanzhu's face.

"Clang! Bang!"

The two fell from the sky together, crashing heavily to the ground. As the dust settled, Lu Nanzhu was seen with his feet firmly planted in the ground, wielding his newly acquired blades, steadily parrying the demonic sword that had struck him. Sparks flew wildly in front of them.

"What incredible strength!" Lu Nanzhu felt a tingling sensation in his arms, but he couldn't help but admire it.

"Not bad! You can actually withstand my 'Dharma Body'. You're much tougher than Junior Brother Chen." Liu Yuan smiled coldly. As he spoke, black demonic energy spread along the demonic blade, threatening to envelop Lu Nanzhu.

"You talk too much nonsense," Lu Nanzhu replied calmly. Then, he suddenly exerted force with both hands to deflect the demonic blade, sidestepped another downward slash from the opponent, and aimed the blade straight for the enemy's throat.

Liu Yuan snorted coldly and tilted his head to avoid the attack. His left hand, brimming with demonic energy, slashed heavily at Lu Nanzhu like a sharp blade. Seeing this, Lu Nanzhu immediately retreated, each step accompanied by a faint gust of wind.

Liu Yuan pressed forward relentlessly, wielding the demonic blade and attacking swiftly, giving Lu Nanzhu no chance to catch his breath.

"Ding! Ding! Clang!"

The sounds of their close-quarters combat were as dense as raindrops. Lu Nanzhu's pair of weapons transformed into two overlapping black and white shadows, while Liu Yuan, relying on his powerful physique enhanced by demonic arts, paid no attention to defense and swung his demonic blade in wide, sweeping attacks.

"Good! Good! Good! Today I've finally met a worthy opponent, hahaha! That's exhilarating! So exhilarating!"

Liu Yuan laughed wildly, his scarlet eyes burning even brighter. Suddenly, he took a step forward, shattering the pebbles beneath his feet into dust. He drew his sword and slashed horizontally, the demonic blade flashing a chilling black light as it swept across Lu Nanzhu's waist and abdomen.

Lu Nanzhu remained expressionless, his face blank, completely focused on the opponent's moves. He leaned back, a gentle breeze swirling around him, and as the blade grazed his clothes, he braced himself with both hands, sending up a string of blinding sparks.

"when--!"

Using the force of the opponent's sweeping attack, Lu Nanzhu activated the "Legend of Fuyao" and his figure floated back several feet in a strange manner.

Liu Yuan smiled as he looked at Lu Nanzhu in the distance: "You think you can hurt me with your low-level tricks?!"

As he stopped fighting, the demonic energy surrounding him slowly healed his wounds.

Seeing this, Lu Nanzhu thought to himself, "This is a tough one. It seems that if I don't clear away this demonic energy, I won't be able to hurt him no matter what. If I don't finish this quickly, I'll be the one who gets worn down."

"call--!"

Lu Nanzhu let out a long sigh of relief, and the green veins around his body suddenly lit up, a sign that he had pushed the "Legend of Fuyao" to its limit. He pushed off with both feet, and his whole body transformed into a green phantom, rushing towards the dense demonic energy.

"Clang! Clang!"

A series of rapid clashes erupted as Lu Nanzhu unleashed his twin blades, his attack several times more ferocious than before, each strike incorporating the bizarre sword techniques he had learned at the Seven Mysteries Sect. Liu Yuan was caught off guard by this sudden counterattack, and the demonic blade in his hand began to falter in keeping up with Lu Nanzhu's rhythm.

"Such swift movement!" Liu Yuan was secretly surprised. He had thought his opponent was at his limit, but he hadn't expected him to have such potential. Watching Lu Nanzhu's agile movements and methodical attack patterns, a strange light flashed in Liu Yuan's eyes, and he actually spoke up during the exchange:

"Junior Brother Lu! With your talent and temperament, it's a waste for you to stay on Spirit Beast Mountain as an unknown disciple. Why not join us? I'll recommend you to the sect, and you'll definitely receive a great opportunity to establish your foundation!"

Lu Nanzhu showed no sign of slowing down his attack, continuing his assault with an expressionless face. Seeing that he was being rejected, Liu Yuan's face instantly darkened, but at this moment Lu Nanzhu was already engaged in close combat, his twin blades raining down on him like bullets, making it impossible for him to create distance and unleash a large-scale destructive spell.

"trap!"

Lu Nanzhu casually flicked his wrist, and several "Earth-Trapping Talismans" were slammed into the ground under the cover of his swordsmanship. The ground beneath Liu Yuan's feet instantly became as if it were alive, and then suddenly locked his feet in place. Although it couldn't trap him for long, it inevitably slowed down his movements.

Immediately afterwards, several "Frost Talismans" were scattered towards Liu Yuan like snowflakes.

"You dare to use such petty tricks..." Liu Yuan's sarcastic words were barely finished when his expression suddenly changed.

The "ice talismans" didn't cause Liu Yuan any harm, but the ice crystals quickly condensed on his exposed wounds, forming a thick membrane that severed the connection between the surrounding demonic energy and the wounds. The wounds, which were originally wriggling and repairing, froze in the cold air. Without the healing power of demonic energy, his injuries gradually began to worsen.

"Damn it!" Liu Yuan was completely enraged. He roared and used a large amount of demonic energy to repel Lu Nanzhu, who was clinging to him. Then, the demonic energy that had been circulating around him began to shrink back frantically, condensing into a strange red ball of light in his left hand.

Just as Liu Yuan coated the magic blade with the ball of light, leaving the defense wide open, Lu Nanzhu reached into his storage bag and scattered all the "Thunder Control Talismans" he had accumulated toward Liu Yuan.

"Crack! Snap!"

Dozens of arcs of electricity struck Liu Yuan. The violent lightning had a remarkable effect on the demonic energy, instantly interrupting Liu Yuan's process of enchanting the demonic blade. Liu Yuan himself was also paralyzed by the lightning, and the little protective demonic energy he had left was almost completely dispelled.

Lu Nanzhu seized the opportunity and shot out like a streak of green light, arriving in front of Liu Yuan in the instant before the lightning had dissipated.

"Pfft!"

A muffled thud.

A short blade pierced Liu Yuan's throat, while another plunged deep into his heart.

Liu Yuan's bloodshot eyes were fixed on Lu Nanzhu, who was inches away. His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but only mouthfuls of black blood gushed out. His body quickly withered, and finally, filled with resentment, he slowly fell backward.

"Huff... huff..."

Lu Nanzhu gripped his twin blades tightly, panting heavily, sweat streaming down his face. Only now did he snap out of his focus on the battle.

This was the first time he had fought to the death with an enemy who was also a cultivator.

After a long while, Lu Nanzhu, having recovered his senses, picked up the demonic sword and storage bag, and probed them with his divine sense, discovering a cultivation technique jade slip—"Great Wilderness Asura Force".

Judging from the description on the jade slip, this "Asura Force" seems to be this person's main cultivation technique. This technique is a typical demonic cultivation method, the core of which lies in controlling demonic energy to temper the physical body, making one's physical strength comparable to that of a demonic beast of the same level for a short period of time. Liu Yuan's demonized body is a sign of the minor success of this technique. However, if one practices this technique for a long time, the practitioner will experience drastic changes in emotions, becoming irritable and easily angered.

"Liu Yuan's final loss of control was probably due to this technique." Thinking of this, Lu Nanzhu also felt lingering fear. "If we hadn't successfully provoked this person and caused him to reveal a weakness, the outcome would have been hard to say."

After gathering his thoughts, putting away the spoils of war, and burning the corpse, Lu Nanzhu was about to leap onto the magical artifact to return to the sect when he heard a cry for help behind him.

"Junior Brother Lu! Junior Brother Lu! Please save me—!"