On the path to immortality, I can see destiny.

The space under the tree roots was dark, with only a sliver of light filtering through the cracks.

Zhao Fan leaned against the tree root, closed his eyes, and forced himself to calm down.

They were safe for the time being, but he knew it was only temporary.

The big man wouldn't give up so easily. That green cocoon wouldn't hold him for long. Once he broke free, with his abilities, it was only a matter of time before he found this place.

We must find a way.

Zhao Fan opened his eyes and glanced around. Su Zixin was leaning against a tree root on the other side, with the Frost Sword across her knees. Her eyes were half open and half closed, clearly indicating that she had not truly rested.

Su Ziyan huddled next to Su San, his leg injury causing him to break out in a cold sweat from the pain, but he gritted his teeth and remained silent.

Su San lay at the very back, her face ashen, her breathing so faint it was almost inaudible. Xiao Er, on the other hand, lay near the cave entrance, his ears perked up, watching the outside with vigilance.

Zhao Fan's gaze fell on his fingers.

The black ring gleamed faintly in the darkness.

He has had this ring for two years, and he has gradually unlocked the restrictions inside, with only the last few layers remaining.

He could sense that the spiritual runes were becoming increasingly sparse and fragile, and it wouldn't be long before he could fully unlock them.

But he didn't have time.

Under the current circumstances, we can only hope that the legacy of the Nascent Soul cultivator contains some powerful killing techniques.

Zhao Fan took a deep breath and sat up straight.

"Fellow Daoist Zixin, Fellow Daoist Ziyan."

His voice was soft, but exceptionally clear in the silence.

"I need your help to protect me."

Su Zixin opened her eyes and looked at him. Su Ziyan also raised his head, his eyes filled with doubt.

"how long?"

Su Zixin asked.

She didn't ask why, because she knew Zhao Fan wasn't the kind of person who would make unreasonable demands at this time.

Zhao Fan thought for a moment.

"I don't know, it might take an hour, or it might take longer, but I'll try to be as fast as possible."

Su Zixin was silent for a moment, then nodded.

She picked up the Frost Sword, walked to the inside of the cave entrance, turned her back to Zhao Fan, and faced outwards.

Although Su Ziyan didn't understand what Zhao Fan was going to do, she moved to the other side and took out the last few magical artifacts from her storage bag, placing them beside her.

Zhao Fan said no more, closed his eyes, and focused his consciousness into the ring.

The last few layers of restrictions were more complex than he had imagined. It seemed that the predecessor who designed the restrictions was deliberately testing the newcomers. The deeper one went, the more intricate the nesting of the spirit patterns became, and the slightest carelessness would trigger a backlash.

Zhao Fan dared not be careless, unraveling the layers one by one, peeling them away one by one.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and his fingers unconsciously traced patterns on his knees, mimicking the flow of spiritual energy.

Time passed little by little.

Su Ziyan glanced at Zhao Fan every now and then, then at the cave entrance.

There was no sound outside, but this silence only made people more uneasy.

Su Zixin stood motionless at the cave entrance, like a statue.

Xiao Er suddenly pricked up his ears and let out a very soft whimper.

Su Zixin placed her hand on the hilt of her sword, her sharp gaze sweeping outwards. The forest was empty, devoid of anything.

"It's the wind."

Su Ziyan said in a low voice.

Su Zixin did not relax, but she also did not take any further action.

Xiao Er was quiet for a moment, then lay back down.

Zhao Fan was completely unaware of everything outside. He had already broken through the last layer of the restriction, which was a restriction composed of only three spirit patterns, but it was more difficult than all the previous ones.

He tried three times, and each time he was just short.

His fingers moved faster and faster across his knee.

Footsteps approached from outside, growing louder as a large man carried a knife in one hand and a compass in the other.

On the compass, wisps of blood-red energy were circulating, pointing in the direction where the group was hiding.

The big man knew that the group was hiding nearby, but he scanned the area with his divine sense and found nothing.

Inside the cave, Su Zixin and Su Ziyan stared intently at the burly man, their tense expressions clearly visible.

Xiao Er also half-squatted at the cave entrance, his four legs bent, ready to pounce.

Zhao Fan was completely focused on breaking the restriction, and didn't even notice the big man coming over.

After many attempts, he finally found that subtle change: the angle between the through pattern and the line pattern was slightly smaller than the normal restriction.

He guided his spiritual energy through the gap, like a needle passing through the narrowest eye of a needle.

The spirit runes lit up.

Then, all the restrictions crumbled and dissipated layer by layer.

The faint light on the ring suddenly brightened, then dimmed, returning to its normal appearance.

Zhao Fan probed into it with his divine sense, but was greatly disappointed. Inside, there was only a narrow space and an even more unfathomable restriction.

In this narrow space, there was only one jade slip placed alone.

Zhao Fan immediately channeled his divine sense into the jade slip, glanced at it, and his last hope was shattered.

The jade slip contained a cultivation technique. Zhao Fan only saw the three words "Life Stealing Technique" at the very beginning of the technique before immediately withdrawing his divine sense.

However, when Zhao Fan withdrew his divine sense, he noticed something different from before.

The ring was previously empty, but now it has a spiral of more than a dozen mysterious patterns.

Zhao Fan immediately tried it out, but as soon as he started operating it, the Xuanwen absorbed a small portion of the spiritual power in his body.

Zhao Fan didn't dare to continue trying and immediately cut off the supply of spiritual energy.

He opened his eyes and immediately saw the big man's figure, his heart sinking.

Su Ziyan and Su Zixin also noticed Zhao Fan's movements and turned to look at him, their eyes full of anticipation.

Zhao Fan gave a wry smile and shook his head slightly.

"I failed, now prepare to fight back."

Zhao Fan didn't offer any further explanation, but instead focused all his spiritual energy on raising the Golden Marrow Thorn, which slowly rose towards the burly man not far away.

At this moment, as the giant man drew closer, the blood energy in the compass in his hand grew ever brighter.

Seeing this, everyone knew that they couldn't escape it any longer.

Xiao Er suddenly stood up, his ears perked up, and a low growl came from his throat.

Outside, the footsteps grew closer.

Su Zixin's Frost Sword was already unsheathed, and Su Ziyan gripped the last few magical artifacts tightly, his spiritual power surging within him, ready to be unleashed at any moment.

The footsteps gradually stopped, and a voice came from outside, hoarse, deep, and with a hint of amusement.

"We've found you."

Without any hesitation, Zhao Fan sent the Golden Marrow Piercing Blade piercing through the air, heading straight for the Han man's most vulnerable eye.

At the same time, Su Zixin unleashed a sword strike.

Su Ziyan then threw out all the remaining magical artifacts at once.

Seeing the fierce attack coming at him, the big man simply waved his hand, and the attack vanished without a trace.

Only Zhao Fan's Golden Marrow Thorn managed to barely pass through the spiritual energy barrier in front of the big man, but it was also tightly entangled by the ghostly figure that suddenly appeared on his body.

"If this is all you've got, then you might as well die!"

The burly man looked at the group of people under the tree roots and slowly raised the blood-red broadsword in his right hand.