The Northern Song Dynasty returned south, seeking the truth of the Dao.

"Brother!"

Wang Huanzhen exclaimed in surprise and tried to get up to help, but the poison in his body had not completely dissipated. His legs were weak, and when he suddenly stood up, he staggered and almost fell.

He hurriedly braced himself with his hands and scrambled towards the direction where the two were fighting. Meanwhile, the evil Taoist priest, seeing Ao Shuang's decisiveness, also became ruthless and, disregarding everything, gripped his dagger and thrust it straight at her.

Although both of them had already taken human form, their superhuman instincts remained. And the way superhumans fight is different from how humans fight; there isn't as much scheming and intrigue. Once a conflict breaks out, it's a fight to the death.

The two were in this state, each more ruthless than the other. Seeing that Ao Shuang actually wanted to catch his dagger with his bare hands, the evil Taoist simply gripped the hilt with both hands, increasing the force, while simultaneously lowering his head, trying to dodge Ao Shuang's attack.

This situation was entirely Ao Shuang's doing. Since the evil path hadn't retreated, there was even less reason for him to back down. He let out a low roar, actually using his human form to emit a sound similar to a dragon's roar.

Dragons are the leaders of all beings, possessing an innate ability to suppress other beings with their dragon might. After this dragon roar, the evil Taoist suddenly felt that Ao Shuang before him had grown taller.

Hesitating for a moment, his hands slowed down. Ao Shuang was focused on the evil Taoist at the moment. Seeing his movement slow down, she narrowed her eyes and quickened her movements.

The evil path was only affected for a moment. By the time he regained his senses, Ao Shuang's fleshy palm was already in front of him. He was startled and then pressed the gem at the end of the dagger.

Then he threw down the dagger, spread his arms wide, and charged towards Ao Shuang in an embracing posture. After being pressed down by the evil Taoist, the dagger shot out suddenly, turning into a throwing knife that pierced straight into Ao Shuang's shoulder.

Meanwhile, Ao Shuang was stabbed squarely by the flying dagger, causing his left shoulder to sway backward and his entire body to lose its balance instantly. Wang Zhenhuan, standing behind him, witnessed everything.

"Brother!!!"

He wished he had eight legs so he could teleport over and help him. He raised his hand, seemingly trying to support Ao Shuang, and shouted loudly. Ao Shuang had already noticed the moment she lost her balance.

If she continued to attack like this, although she could hit the evil path, the force would be far less than before. Therefore, Ao Shuang did not choose to stabilize her body, but instead turned her body to the side and used her left palm to strike vertically from top to bottom.

Snapped! ——

With a muffled thud, Ao Shuang delivered a solid slap to the back of the evil Taoist. He was bent over, coughing up blood from the blow, and before he could even finish his embrace, he collapsed to the ground.

After Ao Shuang struck down with her palm, she lost her balance and fell sideways to the ground. Wang Zhenhuan stumbled over to her side and helped her up.

He then trembled as he took out a porcelain bottle and fed him a pill. After more than ten breaths, Ao Shuang slowly woke up. Wang Zhenhuan finally breathed a sigh of relief and then looked in the direction of the evil path.

The evil Taoist lay motionless on the ground, surrounded by pools of his vomited blood, which melted the snow and stained the frozen earth red. Wang Zhenhuan helped Ao Shuang sit up and then whispered to him.

"Brother, you rest for a moment, I'll go check on that evil path."

"Be careful, it might be a trap!" Ao Shuang warned weakly. Wang Zhenhuan nodded immediately, and after thinking for a moment, he got up and picked up the soft sword that Ao Shuang had thrown aside.

After taking it in his hand, he pulled out a yellow talisman from his pocket. He didn't have much spiritual energy to begin with, only half of it. After casting spells one after another, he now had less than 10% of his spiritual energy remaining.

Even the three ghost generals he had just summoned could not be maintained. After their attack missed, Wang Zhenhuan's spiritual energy could not be replenished, so the three ghost generals dissipated and returned to the underworld on their own.

He took a deep breath, then began to form hand seals and silently chanted the mantra: "The cycle of Heaven continues, the Five Elements remain in balance. The Supreme Lord lends his power, imbuing the spirit with amplified might! The Supreme Lord Laozi, hasten your command!"

As the incantation ended, the yellow talisman in Wang Huanzhen's hand spontaneously combusted. He extended two fingers and traced them from top to bottom along the soft sword. With his movement, a layer of white light clung to the fishbone of the soft sword where his fingers had passed.

Wang Huanzhen gripped the soft sword that shimmered with light and slowly walked towards the evil path. Upon reaching the evil path, he first poked it with his sword.

The evil Taoist lay on the ground, unresponsive. Wang Zhenhuan was not relieved. He raised his soft sword again and thrust it into the evil Taoist's seven orifices.

Unexpectedly, the evil cultivator suddenly trembled, rolled to the right, and dodged Wang Zhenhuan's sword strike. A yellow light emanated from its body, startling Wang Zhenhuan, who was about to deliver another blow.

He was blinded by the glaring yellow light and instinctively raised his hand to shield his eyes. After the yellow light dissipated, a huge yellow weasel, more than half the height of a man, appeared.

It crouched on its front paws, growling a warning at Wang Zhenhuan, its eyes filled with resentment and anger. Wang Zhenhuan was startled by its sudden revelation of its true form.

Weasels are usually no more than an arm's length long, and that's with their tails. The weasel in front of him was more than half a person's height, like a large domestic dog.

The weasel crouched down, a sign that the animal was about to attack. Wang Zhenhuan, who had lived in the mountains for over a month, naturally knew this. He raised his soft sword and assumed a defensive stance.

Awaiting the impending attack, the weasel let out a low growl and charged towards Wang Zhenhuan. Seeing this, Wang Zhenhuan swung his sword and thrust forward, using offense as defense.

"There's a secret in the sword hilt; press it and something will happen!" Ao Shuang's voice rang out at the right moment, reminding Wang Zhenhuan from behind.

Wang Zhenhuan reached out and touched it; sure enough, there was a thumb-sized protrusion on the hilt. He immediately pressed it down, changing his thrust into a flick. He had witnessed Ao Shuang's attack earlier.

So he naturally knew that the soft sword could transform into a long whip, but he just didn't know how to use it. Now, thanks to Ao Shuang's reminder, he had found the mechanism and naturally wouldn't give up on using it.

The soft sword suddenly extended from the air, transforming into a long whip, and lashed out at the weasel. The weasel had suffered from this whip before and knew its power. It decisively turned around, its back to Wang Huanzhen, and ran.

Seeing that it was trying to escape, Wang Huanzhen hurriedly gave chase, but unexpectedly, a deafening thud suddenly came from ahead. Immediately afterwards, a stench hit him, making him feel dizzy and nauseous.

He felt dizzy, his legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground...