A mortal cultivating immortality can nurture spirit beasts.

"If you're courting death, then don't blame me. Taste the power of my Azure Flame Blade."

Xu Yan snorted coldly, raised his hand, and a simple, broken short blade flew out. The blade was engulfed in emerald green flames, and as soon as it flew out, the surrounding temperature rose considerably.

Xin Ruyin and Xiao Mei felt the heat and quickly retreated, afraid of being affected. Lin He, who was in mid-air, felt his mouth dry and was secretly alarmed. Without thinking, he took out the Xuan Tie Flying Shield and put on the Fire-Repelling Armor with strong fire attribute defense.

The small shield immediately enlarged as soon as it left Lin He's hand, transforming into a shield that blocked his way. The Azure Flame Blade was extremely sharp; the short blade struck the shield, leaving a deep mark with just one strike. The entire shield surface was as if struck by a heavy blow, and after a violent tremor, it became precarious.

Fortunately, the small shield was quite flexible, and by constantly shaking it, it absorbed a lot of the force; otherwise, this one strike would probably have cut the shield in two.

Even so, Lin He dared not use the shield to defend himself anymore, otherwise, given the current situation, the small shield would most likely be destroyed.

With a wave of his hand, Lin He immediately shrank the shield and retrieved it. He looked at the deep mark on the shield with some heartache and put it into his storage bag.

Without the small shield blocking its way, the Azure Fire Blade charged straight in and immediately reached Lin He's head. At this moment, the Fire-Repelling Armor generated a red protective shield to block it.

Lin He's Fire-Repelling Armor is well-suited to his dual metal and fire spiritual roots, making it highly effective against fire-attribute attacks. It's not much weaker than top-tier defensive magic weapons of the finest quality. However, this time, an unexpected incident occurred.

The short blade struck the red shield hard, causing a violent tremor. Emerald green flames took the opportunity to spread, and these flames were truly bizarre, covering the entire area around the red shield. After a series of crackling sounds, Lin He was surprised to find that his red shield was being gradually eroded and becoming more and more fragile.

"It can even absorb spiritual energy!" This discovery made Lin He's face turn extremely gloomy. He finally stopped holding back and used his most powerful defensive magic weapon at present - the Yellow Silk Umbrella.

This yellow umbrella is a top-tier defensive magic artifact of the finest quality, with remarkable defensive capabilities. Thanks to the umbrella's defense, Feng Yue is virtually invincible among low-level cultivators.

As soon as he retracted the Fire-Repelling Armor, the yellow light sphere immediately enveloped Lin He's figure. Sure enough, the next moment the short blade fell and struck the light sphere hard. The emerald green flames surged down fiercely, causing the light sphere to emit a series of violent explosions. However, even so, the Yellow Silk Umbrella did not collapse. Instead, it kept rotating to dissipate the force, reflecting some of the power of the short blade back, thus managing to withstand this attack.

As for the emerald green flames, they were completely blocked by the yellow parasol and could not burn Lin He's body.

Seeing the Azure Flame Blade bounce back, Xu Yan let out a soft exclamation, seemingly quite surprised. He had thought that this attack, even if it couldn't kill the opponent on the spot, would at least severely injure him and make him suffer.

"Hmph, your defensive magic artifact is quite impressive. It's a waste to leave it in your hands. I'll gladly accept it later."

"You want my magical artifact? With that fragment of a magical treasure you just saw?"

Seeing that the short blade was indeed powerful, far surpassing ordinary magical artifacts, Lin He spoke to test it.

As expected, Xu Yan's expression changed upon hearing the words "fragment of a magic weapon," and he said in a deep voice, "I didn't expect you to see through me. Since that's the case, I'm even less likely to let you leave alive."

The power of this fragment of magic weapon is far inferior to that of a complete magic weapon, but it is much stronger than that of a typical top-tier magic artifact. To give an analogy, it is equivalent to a talisman that can be used without limit.

A talisman has only one-tenth the power of a magic weapon and has a limited number of uses. The power of a magic weapon fragment is hard to say, depending on the degree of damage. Even if both only have one-tenth the power of a magic weapon, a magic weapon fragment can be used without limit as long as the magic power is sufficient, while a talisman can only be used three or four times before disappearing. It goes without saying which one is superior.

If other cultivators knew that Xu Yan possessed such a fragment of a magical artifact, even with his powerful backer, it would likely cause him a lot of trouble. Therefore, Lin He's words further fueled Xu Yan's murderous intent.

"Go to hell!"

Strangely, after saying this, Xu Yan did not command the Azure Fire Blade to attack again. Instead, he looked at Lin He with a look as if he were looking at a dead man.

Lin He's expression turned strange. He was all too familiar with that look in the other person's eyes. He had used that look on many people during the forbidden area trial. It was the expression he had before launching a sneak attack. But now, he was the one being looked at.

Lin He subconsciously activated the Cloud-Stepping Boots on his feet. This top-tier auxiliary magic artifact was indeed extraordinary. With a single breath, Lin He moved seven or eight zhang away. At the spot where he had been standing, a golden-haired ape suddenly appeared, still in a pose as if it were reaching for its heart.

"A Level Two Demonic Beast, the Golden-Eyed Ape!"

Lin He's face was ashen. If he hadn't been careful, familiar with his opponent's expression, and had the top-tier auxiliary magic weapon, the Cloud-Stepping Boots, he probably would have been killed right there.

The golden-haired ape seemed quite displeased with its failed ambush, baring its teeth at Lin He in a very agitated manner, which was quite in line with the personality of a mischievous monkey. Then, it took out a magic artifact that looked like a gauze scarf and covered its head. A strange scene appeared, and the golden-haired ape disappeared again. No matter how Lin He used his divine sense to search, he could not find any trace of it.

Lin He frowned, just about to take action, when Xu Yan gave him no time. He pointed to the Azure Flame Blade beside him, and the short blade attacked again.

Lin He only had time to activate the Yellow Silk Umbrella again before the short blade, carrying emerald green flames, attacked once more. The Golden-Eyed Ape suddenly appeared and launched a punch at the Yellow Silk Umbrella. The demon beast's body was already tough, and the Golden-Eyed Ape was an expert in close combat. Lin He felt a tremendous force strike him, and immediately he frantically poured his magic power into the Yellow Silk Umbrella to avoid having his defenses breached. However, after he finished defending, when he wanted to counterattack...

The golden-eyed ape actually made a face at him, then covered itself with the veil again and disappeared. This cowardly fighting style of hitting and running away put Lin He in an extremely passive situation.

Xin Ruyin and Xiao Mei, who were standing to the side, were already shocked when they heard the words "fragments of a magical artifact." Now, with the help of this elusive Golden-Eyed Ape, even they could see that Lin He was at an overwhelming disadvantage.

"Miss, should we run?"

Xiao Mei asked, somewhat at a loss, but Xin Ruyin gritted her teeth and shook her head, saying, "This senior risked his life to save us; how can we just leave?"

"Miss, with this senior holding them off, we can still run. But in a little while, we won't be able to escape even if we wanted to."

Xiao Mei was deeply concerned for her mistress's safety and very worried, but Xin Ruyin was much calmer. She looked at Xiao Mei and said solemnly,

"Let's go back to our lodgings immediately and activate the grand formation. Even if we can't kill the opponent, we can at least hold them back and relieve some pressure on this senior."

Without waiting for Xiaomei's reply, he ran towards his residence. Xiaomei had no choice but to follow. However, the two hadn't gone far when a fierce voice rang out.

"Little girl, if you take another step forward, I'll kill your maid first."

Xin Ruyin's expression changed drastically upon hearing this. She looked back and saw Xu Yan controlling the Azure Fire Blade while glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, the threat in his eyes was self-evident.

Xin Ruyin dared not move again. She pulled Xiaomei to a stop. She hadn't expected that Xu Yan could still pay attention to her actions during the fierce battle, and seemed to have seen through her intentions. As a result, she naturally dared not act recklessly.

Seeing Xin Ruyin so obedient, Xu Yan was very satisfied. He looked at Lin He again, preparing to deliver a fatal blow. Just then, Lin He suddenly stared at him with a strange smile.