Mortal: The Path to Immortality

Everyone was shocked to see the two bird puppets crashing.

"No, we can't hold them off any longer," the leading cultivator surnamed Hu said urgently.

But then the girl in the green robe addressed the crowd:

"Gathering together will make us too conspicuous; only by splitting up will we have a chance of survival!"

After saying that, she rushed towards the pilot's seat of the flying bird puppet again and slapped a hidden crimson button on the bird's head.

With a crisp "crack," the enormous bird puppet instantly disintegrated in mid-air, transforming into a dozen smaller, yet more unpredictably fast, bird puppets that carried two or three cultivators as they scattered and fled.

Lu Nanzhu was closest, and almost the instant the puppet disintegrated, he flashed and landed steadily on the back of the small puppet carrying the girl in the green dress.

Senior Brother Su and Senior Sister Fan fell into another puppet, instantly putting them at a distance from him.

The other large bird puppets followed suit, and in an instant, dozens of tiny black dots scattered across the sky, each searching for its own escape route.

"Split up and chase them!" Fu Kuang shouted to his men behind him.

He then activated his flying magical artifact, leading several Qi Refining stage subordinates, and closely followed one of the small flying bird puppets.

"Run? Let's see where you run!" he shouted sternly, and the Fu family cultivators behind him tacitly took out a giant net magic artifact that was entirely silver-gray.

On the back of the mechanical bird ahead, a girl in a green dress struggled to maneuver a flying puppet, weaving left and right through the mountain forest.

Lu Nanzhu rested one hand on the back of the flying bird, following the girl's instructions to infuse it with spiritual power, while his other hand occasionally flung out several fireball talismans. The exploding talismans slowed down the enemy's pursuit.

Upon seeing this, Fu Kuang snorted coldly, "Outrageous!" Then, he gave a wink to the cultivator beside him.

The subordinates understood immediately, took out a few more talismans from their storage bags, and slapped them onto their legs.

In an instant, their legs flashed with spiritual light, and their figures left several afterimages in mid-air, forcefully accelerating to take a shortcut and intercepting Lu Nanzhu and the others.

The net-like silver-gray magical artifact was thrown out by the group, and it rapidly grew larger in the air, covering Lu Nanzhu and the others.

"Oh no!" the girl in the green robe cried out in alarm. Before she could change direction and dodge, the flying bird puppet plunged headfirst into the net.

The giant net shimmered with spiritual light, trapping Lu Nanzhu and the others, along with the flying bird puppets, in a tight grip.

The Fu family members worked together to pull downwards, managing to drag the struggling bird puppet from mid-air to the ground.

The flying bird puppet was about to crash into the ground.

However, just before the puppet touched the ground, the giant net that had been glowing suddenly went dark, and a tear appeared in the middle of the net.

"Whoosh—!"

A ray of light enveloped the girl in the green dress, and she quickly emerged from the gap, landing steadily on an open space not far away.

Lu Nanzhu held the unconscious girl in the blue robe in his arms. Beside him, a cloud shimmering with multicolored light was buzzing; upon closer inspection, it was the Spirit-Eating Bee.

"My 'Spirit Binding Net'!" Fu Kuang cried out with some heartache, looking at the tattered net lying on the ground, then staring intently at the colorful cloud. "What is that? This magical artifact of mine is specifically designed to counter escape techniques and supernatural abilities, yet you broke it so easily."

Lu Nanzhu slowly put down the woman in green in his arms, took out the black and white twin blades he was comfortable using from his storage bag, and turned to face Fu Kuang and the others.

Only then did Fu Kuang see clearly the cultivator who had destroyed his treasure.

"It's you!?" He was taken aback at first, then chuckled, a hint of ruthlessness flashing in his eyes. "So that's why you didn't want to join my Fu family, you surnamed De!! When did you become a dog of the Hu family!?"

Fu Kuang's face turned ashen. He exerted force in his palm, and the long halberd made a series of dry friction sounds under his tight grip.

"You bastard surnamed De! Since you refuse to live and insist on dying with the Hu family, then today I, this young master, will grant your wish!!"

Before he could finish speaking, Lu Nanzhu flashed forward, wielding two blades and suddenly appeared in front of Fu Kuang.

Fu Kuang reacted quickly, catching Lu Nanzhu off guard several times.

He stomped his foot, and the rocks beneath his feet shattered with a crash. He brandished his long spear, and a blade of light over ten feet long swept across the ground.

Wherever it went, waist-high vegetation and strange rocks were neatly cut off, heading straight for the Zhumian Gate on the south side of the road.

Lu Nanzhu flicked his hand, and more than a dozen talismans were thrown out.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

A series of muffled thuds followed as several solid earthen walls burst forth from the ground, blocking Fu Kuangchangge's attack and also shielding the girl in the blue robe lying behind him.

Lu Nanzhu crossed his black and white twin blades and swung them, sending two intersecting cyan sword energies slicing towards Fu Kuang like scissors.

"break!"

Fu Kuang shouted and with a flick of his hand, the heavy halberd spun like a flying wheel between his fingers, crushing the two sword energies.

At the same time, Fu Kuang suddenly strode forward, getting closer to Lu Nanzhu.

The long spear made a whooshing sound as it was swung, each strike sending up clouds of sand and stones that pounded the once-flat ground into a pitted mess.

The two dodged and weaved within a radius of ten feet.

Relying on his powerful magic and unpredictable movements, Lu Nanzhu continued to wear down Fu Kuang.

Fu Kuang, unable to break through after a prolonged attack, grew furious, a sinister glint flashing in his eyes.

He suddenly pulled away, thrust his long spear into the ground, and quickly formed hand seals.

The ground beneath Lu Nanzhu's feet trembled violently, and countless hard stone spikes burst forth from the soil, weaving together to form a small stone forest.

At the same time, Fu Kuang had already used his magical artifact to fly into the air and launched a magical attack on Lu Nanzhu from a high place.

Despite being attacked from both above and below, Lu Nanzhu still managed to evade the attacks using his agility.

After a while, Fu Kuang seemed to be unable to hold on any longer and relaxed his offensive pace, thinking to himself:

"Just who is this person?! His magical power is...so profound."

He sensed Lu Nanzhu's ease in dodging attacks, while he himself had consumed too much mana due to using "Earth Thrust".

Before Fu Kuang could even get a foothold, Nan Zhu didn't waste any words. He held up his black and white twin blades, his figure becoming a blur as he took the initiative to fight.

The two clashed again. This time, Lu Nanzhu no longer focused on dodging, but instead used his faster movements and exquisite swordsmanship to engage in close-quarters combat.

"Clang! Clang! Bang! Bang!"

A dense cacophony of metal clashing and the explosions of talismans and spells filled the air.

Not long after, Fu Kuang found himself struggling in close combat.

Just as the two were locked in a fierce battle, several Qi Refining stage disciples of the Fu family, who had been hiding in the distance, saw that the two were deadlocked and began to have wicked ideas.

They exchanged a glance, then, piloting their flying magical artifacts, stealthily made their way towards the woman in the green robe.

Fu Kuang naturally noticed his subordinate's actions and grinned maliciously.

"Fellow Daoist, you'd better take care of your little lover first!"

The Qi Refining cultivators were already close to the woman in the green robe.

Lu Nanzhu took a deep breath, and his body-refining technique instantly began to operate at full capacity.

Beneath his exposed skin, streaks of blue veins shimmered, and even his eyes were filled with blue, making him appear exceptionally eerie.

Lu Nanzhu transformed into a streak of azure lightning. He ignored Fu Kuang behind him, letting the other's long spear slash a bloody gash across his back.

Seeing Lu Nanzhu flee, Fu Kuang breathed a sigh of relief and felt a desire to retreat, but he was also unwilling to give up.

"He does know how to cherish women, but unfortunately, in the world of cultivation, cherishing women is never a good habit."

So he chanted an incantation over the long spear, and the spear immediately burst forth with red light. He then raised the spear and hurled it forcefully towards the woman in the green robe.

On the other side, Lu Nanzhu appeared in front of the Qi Refining cultivators as if he had teleported.

The black and white blades slashed through the air.

puff--!

Before they could even scream, all three heads flew off at once.

As soon as Lu Nanzhu stood beside the woman in the green robe, he saw a red light flying towards him from afar.

Ignoring his own injuries, he picked up the woman and darted away.

Lu Nanzhu looked back and saw a huge ball of explosive light suddenly rise from where it had been.

At this moment, Fu Kuangzheng was escaping from this place on his magical artifact. Realizing that he could not defeat his opponent, he had no choice but to self-destruct his artifact in an attempt to fight back.

"Judging by the power of that explosion, the man surnamed De and his mistress certainly didn't survive!"

"Who are you saying won't survive?" Just as Fu Kuang was talking to himself, Lu Nanzhu, whose body was covered in bright blue stripes, appeared silently beside him.

Before Fu Kuang could answer, Lu Nanzhu suddenly unfolded the "Nine-Feather Ling Fan" in his right sleeve and poured his remaining spiritual power into it.

Swish!

A gust of wind swept past, and Fu Kuang felt a blur before his eyes, followed by an unprecedented lightness at his neck.

His vision began to spin, and finally he saw a familiar headless torso falling from the sky.