On the path to immortality, I can see destiny.

As night deepened, the campfire in the valley gradually dimmed, leaving only a few glowing embers occasionally sparking.

Zhao Fan sat cross-legged by the fire, his eyes slightly closed, his breathing steady, as if he had entered a meditative state.

Su Ziyuan and Su Zicheng each found a relatively flat spot, and soon their even breathing could be heard, as if they had entered a meditative state.

However, Zhao Fan did not actually enter a meditative state.

The little dog's reaction just now kept lingering in his mind; its confused expression as it stared at the fire clearly showed that it had sensed something.

But this fire was started by Su Ziyuan and Su Zicheng. If there's really a problem, it's probably because those two aren't clean either.

Zhao Fan didn't continue thinking about it. He couldn't be sure that the two people were unrelated to Su Zixuan's disappearance. After all, their appearance was too coincidental. They happened to be resting at the place where his trail ended.

In the world of cultivation, there are hardly any coincidences.

Zhao Fan remained expressionless, maintaining his meditation posture with steady, long breaths.

But his hands, resting on his knees, were already gathering power, and his divine sense was constantly covering the area within several feet around him, especially those two people.

The night wind howled through the valley, swirling a few withered leaves across the sand.

The embers of the campfire grew dimmer and dimmer until only a faint red glow remained, plunging the surroundings into deep darkness.

About two hours later, the moon had already begun to set in the west, and it was the time when the night was darkest and people were most tired.

Zhao Fan's divine sense detected the very slight movement.

Su Ziyuan's breathing rhythm changed; it was no longer the natural rise and fall of his sleep, but rather a deliberate suppression of his breathing.

Immediately afterwards, Zhao Fan sensed his body moving extremely slowly, his fingers gently groping for something at his side.

Zhao Fan remained motionless, not even changing the frequency of his breathing.

A few moments later, a faint sound came from Su Zicheng's side.

The sound of the fabric rubbing together was extremely faint; if Zhao Fan hadn't remained constantly vigilant, he would never have noticed it.

Zhao Fan sneered inwardly, but maintained a meditative expression on his face.

He even deliberately relaxed his body slightly, appearing as if he had no defenses at all.

In the darkness, two figures slowly sat up.

Su Ziyuan's hand had already touched the longsword placed beside him, and Su Zicheng also gripped another sword tightly.

The two exchanged a glance, then looked at Zhao Fan, who remained motionless by the fire, a ruthless glint in their eyes.

They didn't speak, but stood up very slowly, their footsteps as light as if they were walking on cotton, and approached Zhao Fan little by little.

As the distance drew closer, the spiritual energy circulating within Zhao Fan's body became increasingly solid.

Just as the two of them raised their swords at the same time, Zhao Fan suddenly opened his eyes!

His spiritual power had been accumulating for a long time, and now it suddenly erupted. A solid, light golden light shield instantly appeared around him, enveloping his entire body!

"clang!"

"clang!"

Two metallic clangs rang out almost simultaneously!

Su Ziyuan and Su Zicheng's longswords slashed fiercely at the golden light shield, but only caused two ripples, and the light shield remained completely still!

"you!"

Zhao Fan roared and waved his right hand, a crimson light shooting out from his fingertip, heading straight for Su Ziyuan's face!

It was the Fireball Technique he had been practicing diligently for a long time!

Su Ziyuan was shocked and hurriedly dodged to the side. The crimson light grazed his cheek and struck a large rock behind him, exploding with a loud bang and sending debris flying everywhere!

"We've been spotted! Run!"

Su Zicheng cried out in alarm and turned to flee towards the valley entrance.

Su Ziyuan didn't have time to attack again and retreated quickly, following closely behind.

"Trying to leave?"

Zhao Fan snorted coldly, made a hand seal with his left hand, and the Golden Marrow Thorn transformed into a black light that was almost invisible to the naked eye. It struck first despite being behind, and went straight for Su Zicheng's back!

Su Zicheng felt a chill run down his spine, and before he could dodge, a cloud of blood mist flew out from his shoulder.

At the same time, Zhao Fan leaped up from the ground, his Cloud-Stepping Boots flashing with blue light. His figure was as fast as a ghost, and in just one breath he caught up with Su Ziyuan. He reached out with his right hand, and a crimson light rose from his palm again!

Su Ziyuan glanced back and saw Zhao Fan approaching. Terrified, he swung his sword and slashed!

The sword, imbued with sharp metallic spiritual energy, slashed towards Zhao Fan's head with a whistling sound!

Zhao Fan neither dodged nor evaded; with a wave of his left hand, the Golden Spirit Shield reappeared, steadily blocking the sword strike.

At the same instant, his right hand unleashed a fireball spell, striking Su Ziyuan squarely in the chest!

"Bang!"

With a muffled thud, Su Ziyuan was sent flying backward, crashing heavily into the mountain wall several meters away. Blood gushed from his mouth, and his clothes on his chest were charred black, revealing a soft armor underneath.

The soft armor shimmered with spiritual light, revealing itself to be a protective magic artifact that blocked most of the power from him.

Even so, this attack completely rendered him unable to fight, leaving him limp on the ground, unable to get up again.

On the other side, Su Zicheng screamed and rolled to the side, but when he got up, the Golden Marrow Thorn was already in front of his throat.

Looking at the strange magical artifact before him, a hint of despair flashed in his eyes, and he suddenly knelt down with a thud.

"Fellow Daoist Zhao, spare us! Fellow Daoist Zhao, spare us! It's not that we want to harm you, someone forced us!"

Zhao Fan paused, looking at him coldly.

"Someone is forcing you? Who?"

Su Zicheng trembled all over and shouted incoherently.

"It's...it's those cultivators! They captured Zixuan and forced us to wait for you here, saying you would definitely come after us, and that they would release her if we...they made us kill you!"

A cold glint flashed in Zhao Fan's eyes, and he felt disdain. How could they come up with such a ridiculous reason?

"The traitors? How many of them are there? Where are they now?"

Zhao Fan didn't expose him, but instead followed up on the conversation and asked further questions.

"I...I don't know!"

Su Zicheng shook his head frantically.

"They just told us to wait here, and that they would release Zixuan after it was done. We were only liaising with one person, and I really don't know how many people there were."

Zhao Fan stared at him for a moment, then suddenly turned to look at Su Ziyuan, who was slumped against the mountainside.

Although Su Ziyuan was seriously injured, he was still conscious and was looking at Zhao Fan with a frightened gaze.

"Is he telling the truth?"

Zhao Fan asked in a cold voice.

Su Ziyuan coughed twice with difficulty, a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, and said hoarsely.

"Yes...it's true, we didn't want to either, but...but they kidnapped Zixuan and said they'd kill her if we didn't do something..."

Zhao Fan remained silent for a moment before slowly retracting the Golden Marrow Thorn.

The reasons given by these two people are completely untenable. If they said they wanted to kill him, how could these cultivators be sure that he was the one who came?

Moreover, what was their reason for wanting to kill him? If it were Sun Yao or the group of cultivators who were chasing him back then, they wouldn't have needed to do this once they knew his whereabouts; they could have simply ambushed and killed him on the way.

However, it doesn't make sense if it refers to other members of the Su family. Su Zixuan is no more important than other members of the Su family, and it's impossible for her to choose to kill another member of her clan because of a promise that may or may not be true.