This Sword Cultivator is Somewhat Dependable

Zang Xiaojian took a slight breath.

The imposing force of heaven and earth enveloping her flying sword was the so-called Sword Intent.

Although it was only the weakest level of Sword Intent, as a supreme technique that could be mastered only by high-level cultivators, even an extremely tiny wisp carried an awe-inspiring might.

Under the enhancement of the Wind Sword Intent, her flying sword not only broke through the sound barrier but also, carrying the imposing force of heaven and earth, pierced straight into the unprotected belly of the Black Jiao and slashed its demon core.

Of course, wielding Sword Intent with her Foundation Establishment Cultivation placed an enormous strain on her.

Just that one stroke depleted forty percent of Zang Xiaojian’s spiritual power, which was why she would not resort to this Sword Intent unless absolutely necessary.

Although Mo Yan was astonished by Zang Xiaojian’s earth-shattering strike, he understood the gravity of the situation at hand. Seeing the Black Jiao perish, he immediately turned to assist Lu Qingshan in killing the Gray Jiao.

If they could eliminate one Jiao beast so swiftly, the remaining Gray Jiao should pose little challenge with the three of them joining forces.

The Jiao beasts were not highly intelligent, but as third-grade Jiao beasts, they naturally recognized the disadvantage of the current situation.

The moment the Black Jiao was decapitated, the Gray Jiao’s first reaction was to attempt to flee, but it quickly realized that if it abandoned the Dragon Transformation Pool and escaped, it would face a fate worse than death upon the Demon King’s return.

Moo!

The Gray Jiao let out a mournful cry, suppressing the thought to flee deep within its heart. Its claws lashed out, striking Lu Qingshan’s Sword Armor, sending sparks flying everywhere, while its tail swung at Lu Qingshan.

Despite the strength of the Sword Armor, Lu Qingshan dared not take the Gray Jiao’s attacks head-on. Like a slippery snake, he deftly dodged, evading the tail at the last moment with a quick sidestep, the attack missing him entirely.

Though it looked perilously close, it was all within Lu Qingshan’s control.

Indeed, it was relying on such highly agile maneuvers and his precise grasp of the combat situation that Lu Qingshan ventured to confront the third-grade Jiao beast alone.

However, even after such a brief skirmish, sweat had already begun to bead on Lu Qingshan’s forehead.

This kind of prolonged engagement was indeed exhausting for his mental focus.

Fortunately, the Fire Serpent controlled by Mo Yan surged over, and Zang Xiaojian’s flying sword followed suit.

Once the three joined forces, the pressure on them lessened significantly, and Lu Qingshan let out a slight sigh of relief.

The wounds on the Gray Jiao were worsening by the moment.

Suddenly, the Gray Jiao let out a furious roar, brushing Zang Xiaojian’s flying sword aside, and shot a pillar of water from its mouth, clashing with the fireball produced by Mo Yan. After an explosive burst, it turned and slammed headfirst into the five-colored radiance, appearing ready to make an escape.

Upon the Gray Jiao’s impact, ripples immediately appeared across the surface of the five-colored radiance.

"No good, the Gray Jiao is trying to escape!" Mo Yan exclaimed in urgency.

If the Gray Jiao managed to flee and bring back an army of Jiao beasts, their troubles would greatly escalate.

Lu Qingshan, Mo Yan, and Zang Xiaojian quickly closed in on the Gray Jiao, aiming to encircle it and thwart its breakout attempt.

But no one noticed that within the raging pupils of the Gray Jiao, there was a glint of barely perceptible chilling intent.

Whoosh!

The next moment, a dense black light burst forth from the Gray Jiao’s abdomen.

There, was the location of the Gray Jiao’s demon core.

"It’s trying to self-destruct!" Lu Qingshan’s expression changed.

A self-detonation of the demon core required a certain activation time. Under normal combat circumstances, if they detected that the Gray Jiao was preparing to blow up its demon core, they would have ample time to flee the explosion radius. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

But because the Gray Jiao had feigned an attempt to break through the shimmering shield to escape, the three of them, fearing they might draw the attention of other members of the Jiao clan, subconsciously had gotten too close to the Gray Jiao.

Without time to think, Mo Yan waved his hands, and flashes of spiritual light appeared. He swiftly brought out five or six defensive artifacts and placed them in front of the trio.

Boom!

The explosion caused by the self-detonation of the demon core rang in Lu Qingshan’s ears.

A huge wave of spiritual power spread out, crushing everything effortlessly, and shattered all the spiritual lights that were protecting Mo Yan, breaking them into pieces.

Mo Yan couldn’t discern carefully and hurriedly brought out a dozen defensive artifacts of varying quality from his storage ring.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

One after another, the spiritual lights shattered, and the artifacts turned to ash.

These dozen or so defensive artifacts ultimately failed to stop the spiritual power fluctuation caused by the demon core’s self-detonation, but they did manage to buy Mo Yan and Lu Qingshan a brief moment to react.

Lu Qingshan’s Sword Armor suddenly expanded to form a shield of Sword Qi, enveloping the three of them.

Mo Yan also disregarded the limit his meridians could withstand and frantically stimulated his Spiritual Power. Red Lotus Fire and Cold Spirit Fire surged out from his hands, forming a Netherfire Shield as a second layer of protection.

Clang!

Spiritual Power penetrated Lu Qingshan’s Water Walking Sword Armor.

However, after being weakened numerous times, the Spiritual Power wave finally exhausted itself in front of Mo Yan’s Netherfire Shield, sparking a few embers before quietly dispersing.

Mo Yan’s complexion looked extremely ugly.

Because the Five-Colored Radiance he had used to suppress the noise had instantly collapsed under the sweep of the Spiritual Power wave.

The thunderous roar resonated, traveling far and wide.

After everything had settled, Mo Yan wiped the fresh blood seeping from the corner of his mouth and asked, "Are you all alright?"

Lu Qingshan was also far from comfortable, with his Sword Armor shattered and his Qi-Blood surging throughout his body, his complexion was somewhat pale.

Only Zang Xiaojian was not greatly affected.

"The commotion caused by the self-destructing Gray Jiao was so vast, I’m afraid it won’t be long before other Jiao Beasts will be upon us, we can’t afford any more delays," Lu Qingshan said.

Mo Yan naturally understood this reason as well, "Let’s go, let’s check out the Dragon Transformation Pool!"

The three of them leaped up and headed straight for the cave.

Just before entering the cave, Lu Qingshan suddenly remembered something.

The Jiao Beast’s self-destruction hadn’t hurt Miss Qin, had it?

Lu Qingshan instinctively looked back at the huge boulder in the distance.

It was empty, Qin Yitian’s figure nowhere to be found.

Had she left? When did she leave… But it’s better that she’s gone; otherwise, it might become difficult to leave later.

Lu Qingshan felt a sense of inexplicable loss, but also heaved a sigh of relief, then quickly came to his senses.

What’s gotten into me, worrying so much about a stranger? he scolded himself inwardly and then plunged into the Jiaolong Demon King’s cave abode.

Inside the cave, it was a complete mess, with debris everywhere and the ground charred and blackened.

This was the destruction caused by Mo Yan’s Red Lotus Netherfire Bead.

The cave was vast, and at its depths, there was a small, shimmering pool.

That was the Dragon Transformation Pool.

Next to the Dragon Transformation Pool, West Rat the Great hugged a white jade bottle, teeth clenched with resentment and looking rather wronged at the three people who entered, "This Dragon Transformation Pool is still protected by spells and restrictions, and I can’t break them."

At the moment when the two Third-Grade Jiao Beasts left the cave abode, West Rat the Great had already stealthily infiltrated the cave.

This was the plan they had set long ago – to divert the tiger away from the mountain, letting the skilled West Rat the Great take responsibility for collecting the Dragon Transforming Spiritual Liquid from the pool.

Unfortunately, things did not go as smoothly as they had anticipated. There was still a spell protecting the Dragon Transformation Pool, and this spell proved to be unbreakable by West Rat the Great, who had no means of attack.

Luckily, they eventually succeeded in slaying the two Third-Grade Jiao Beasts.

Knowing the urgency of the situation, Zang Xiaojian did not hold back. With a slight shout, the Flying Sword once again enveloped with Wind Sword Intent, he rapidly bombarded the spell above the Dragon Transformation Pool.

Crackle—

The blue light shield transformed by the spell instantly shattered into specks of Spiritual Light and dissipated, revealing the full view of the Dragon Transformation Pool to the three of them. Discover exclusive content at empire

The Spiritual Liquid, as dense as gel, flowed slowly within the pool. The liquid was crystal clear, with a layer of green radiance flickering, and an exotic fragrance wafted through the air, refreshing and invigorating to those who took just a sniff.

"This is the Dragon Transforming Spiritual Liquid refined by the Jiaolong Demon King using countless rare Spirit Materials," murmured Mo Yan.

West Rat the Great, already sneakily approaching, was drawn by the fragrance and couldn’t help but take a light sip from the liquid within the Dragon Transformation Pool.

Lu Qingshan grabbed West Rat the Great with one hand, "You dare to eat this recklessly, aren’t you afraid something will go wrong..."

Lu Qingshan suddenly paused mid-sentence, his voice trailing off.

Because, at that moment, a line of informational data quietly appeared.

"Detection of Dragon Transforming Spiritual Liquid (Incomplete, 90% efficacy) presence. Commence absorption of Dragon Transforming Spiritual Liquid and convert it into Experience Points (Absorption rate of 1000 Experience Points per breath)?"