On the path to immortality, I can see destiny.

With the support of spiritual power, Zhao Fan's spear tip pressed against the broadsword, yet it could not budge in the slightest.

Without any hesitation, the female cultivator blocked Zhao Fan's attack and then used her strength to send the spear flying.

Then, he swung his sword and unleashed a yellowish-brown blade of light, slashing towards Zhao Fan, who had been knocked back.

Zhao Fan held the spear horizontally in front of his chest, rapidly circulating his spiritual energy to form a thin barrier.

The moment the blade touched the barrier, it pierced through it and struck the spear shaft, the powerful force bending the shaft in half.

Zhao Fan was pushed backward by this force.

Seeing that he was about to be unable to withstand the attack, Zhao Fan could only control the small bell that was entangled with the spikes, and make it fly back and spew out a golden light, which was enough to barely block the attack.

At this moment, the sharp spikes behind him emitted a series of piercing shrieks as they struck the shield behind Zhao Fan.

The shield was pierced through by the attack, and the two-inch cone-shaped tip of the shield pierced through Zhao Fan's ribs.

The spiritual energy contained within it penetrated through his body, piercing a bloody hole in Zhao Fan's abdomen.

Zhao Fan was also propelled by this force, flying towards the female cultivator's blade.

However, as he drew near, Zhao Fan suddenly thrust out his spear with lightning speed.

The female cultivator was startled. She hadn't expected that the pain of being stabbed in the abdomen wouldn't make Zhao Fan panic. Instead, he used this opportunity to launch a counterattack.

However, this female cultivator was also very experienced. At such close range, she managed to twist her body so that the spear passed right through her abdomen, only slightly scratching her skin.

Zhao Fan naturally wouldn't miss such a good opportunity. The spear that had been lingering in the distance was now aimed straight at the female cultivator's chest, about to pierce her through.

At that moment, the red light reappeared on the female cultivator's hand, and she actually managed to grab the spear halfway through its flight.

Only the tip of the spear pierced her fair skin, penetrating less than an inch.

The female cultivator forcefully pulled out the spear, and her spiritual energy quickly flowed into it.

As the female cultivator had predicted, the boy opposite her was particularly bad at refining magical artifacts.

Although the spear had been refined, the spiritual traces within it were very faint. As long as one used spiritual power to cleanse it, the spiritual traces could be erased in a short time.

Zhao Fan also clearly felt that the connection between the spear and himself was rapidly weakening, and his heart sank.

He had no time to think. With a flick of his spear, he tore open the female cultivator's clothes around her abdomen, then turned and stabbed at her neck.

The female cultivator was no longer flustered. She had initially thought the boy was there to steal something, but it turned out he was there to deliver something.

Thinking this way, Zhao Fan's fierce face seemed a bit more endearing.

If it weren't for his rather ordinary appearance, the female cultivator wouldn't have minded keeping him as a cultivation vessel for dual cultivation.

Facing Zhao Fan's all-out thrust of the spear, the female cultivator landed and easily dodged it.

Among the independent cultivators, many possessed some mortal martial arts skills. Compared to them, Zhao Fan's moves were too obvious and too easy to dodge.

"Little brother, don't struggle anymore. If you surrender now, I can still treat you well. If you don't surrender, then don't blame me for being ruthless."

As the two passed each other, the female cultivator couldn't resist teasing Zhao Fan.

Before she could finish speaking, a large bell covered her from underneath.

After being hit, the female cultivator was startled and immediately cast several defensive spells.

However, she soon discovered that the bell seemed to only have the effect of trapping enemies, and had no killing effect at all.

The female cultivator raised her sword and attempted to unleash several sword beams, but she only managed to leave shallow marks on the inner wall of the bell.

The loud noise made her ears ring.

Seeing how sturdy the bell was, the female cultivator knew that forcing it would not work.

So he immediately placed his hands on the bell wall, increased the output of spiritual power in both hands, and prepared to seize control of the bell.

Sure enough, it was the same as before; the spiritual traces on the bell were very faint.

Feeling the spear that had completely lost its connection and the bell whose connection was growing weaker, Zhao Fan had no time to feel sorry for the magical artifacts.

Finally, he cast a spell at the large bell and rushed out of the cave at high speed.

As for the shield, because of the sharp spike nailed to it, Zhao Fan couldn't put it into his storage bag, so he simply gave up on it.

On the way, Zhao Fan first used his spiritual power to seal the wound on his abdomen, took two healing pills, and then took out a wind-controlling talisman from his storage bag and activated it directly.

After leaving the cave, Zhao Fan soared into the sky and headed straight for the depths of the Cangyun Mountains.

Outside the cave, the old man and the scholar were doing their best to hold back the adult Blood Shadow Wolf when they saw a figure soar into the sky.

Of course, he knew that this person was the thief who had stolen the things.

However, the two were too busy taking care of themselves to give chase.

A short while later, the female cultivator in red also came out of the cave.

But Zhao Fan was nowhere to be seen.

"Fellow Daoists, where did that thief go?"

The female cultivator in red, unable to see Zhao Fan, immediately inquired of the two people outside.

"Fellow Daoist Lin, is that thief a hand?"

The old man noticed that the woman in the red dress was dressed in tattered clothes and had bloodstains on her body. He sensed something was wrong and immediately asked what was going on.

The female cultivator in the red dress was somewhat embarrassed. Since Zhao Fan had just escaped, the two of them could naturally sense his cultivation level.

It was indeed embarrassing to have a cultivator at the fifth level of Qi Refining escape from my grasp.

"That kid is extremely cunning; we weren't careful enough, and he got away."

Despite her apologetic words, the woman in the red dress didn't really care. Although the boy had run away, he had left behind three mid-grade magic artifacts and a broken shield, which was a low-grade magic artifact. Together, they were worth nearly two hundred spirit stones.

The cub he took was the weakest of the three, and it would be lucky to sell it for a hundred spirit stones.

Although he let the wolf escape, based on his contribution to the hunt for the Blood Shadow Wolves, he would only get the weakest cub. So, in the end, he actually made a profit.

"Let's spare this kid's life for now. We can find him after we've killed this beast."

The scholar in white spoke softly.

The two of them were indeed struggling to deal with the Blood Shadow Wolf. If the woman in the red dress were to chase after it, not only would she not be able to catch up, but she would definitely not be able to kill the Blood Shadow Wolf.

Compared to potential losses that can be recovered, the tangible gains in the present are more important.

"Fellow Daoist Feng is right, but I wonder what this person stole?"

The old man nodded slightly, agreeing with the scholar's words, but still asked what had been lost.

"That kid only managed to snatch one cub when he saw me go in. But since it was my fault for not protecting it properly, the remaining two cubs can be divided between you two. I only want the Blood Shadow Wolf corpse."

……

On the other side, after Zhao Fan flew over the mountain, he immediately put away the Wind Control Talisman, and then activated two other talismans, a Breath Concealment Talisman and a Swift Movement Talisman.

He didn't dare go straight back to his cave. He wasn't sure if he was being chased by those three late-stage Qi Refining cultivators. If he brought the enemy back to his cave, he might not even have a place to cultivate anymore.

However, recalling the loss of four magical artifacts this time, Zhao Fan felt his heart was bleeding.

My master's sword is gone, his spear is gone, his little bell is gone, and even the black iron shield that had been with me for so long is gone.

Looking at the skinny little wolf, Zhao Fan felt like he had been ripped off.

However, seeing the dense aura swirling around the little wolf, Zhao Fan decided to trust his intuition.

At this moment, the little wolf was sleeping soundly against Zhao Fan's chest, feeling the warmth.

During the battle just now, Zhao Fan kept the little wolf wrapped in his spiritual power, preventing it from getting hurt.