Immortality Cultivation

Chapter 228: Escaping Danger

The fight in the stone forest was intense. Zhao Wuji’s sword light flashed, forcing the one-eyed leader to retreat repeatedly, sparks flying from his black tortoise spirit shield.

Four Zhao family disciples surrounded the remaining two members of the Black Tiger Gang, attacking fiercely. The two were soon wounded, especially the "Third Brother" who held the fragment; he was targeted specifically, sustaining several more wounds on his arms and legs. Blood flowed freely, and he looked like he wouldn’t last much longer.

Fang Hao crouched behind a rock, his eyes darting around like a weasel preparing to steal a chicken.

He was anxious; he hoped they would both suffer heavy losses, but he was also afraid that "Third Brother" might be killed accidentally, causing the fragment to be picked up by the Zhao family.

If Zhao Wuji got the fragment, snatching it from his jaws would be extremely difficult.

Just as "Third Brother" was slashed on the shoulder by a Zhao family disciple, let out a scream, and stumbled back, with another sword strike about to pierce his heart, Fang Hao moved!

He had been waiting for this very moment—when the old force was spent and the new had not yet arisen, and everyone’s attention was drawn to the battle!

He activated Shrinking the Ground to an Inch, his figure flashing out from behind the rock like a ghost, moving so fast that only a faint green shadow remained!

He didn’t attack anyone; his goal was clear—he lunged directly at the heavily wounded "Third Brother" on the ground!

"Who is it?!" Zhao Wuji and the one-eyed leader noticed almost simultaneously and shouted sharply.

But Fang Hao’s speed was too fast and his move too unexpected. By the time they reacted, Fang Hao had already reached "Third Brother’s" side and reached out to rummage through his clothes!

"Third Brother" was terrified, his Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, and tried to resist.

Fang Hao pointed his fingers like a sword, using Star Shattering Finger to lightly tap "Third Brother’s" Tanzhong acupoint on his chest. His entire body instantly went numb, unable to move.

Fang Hao’s hand had already reached into his clothes, touched the cold black fragment, and two Storage Pouches. Without thinking, he snatched them all!

"Courting death!" Zhao Wuji’s eyes were practically splitting.

He never expected that after fighting so hard and being on the verge of clearing the field, someone would dare to snatch loot right in front of him!

Moreover, judging by that figure, it was clearly that bastard Fang Hao!

New and old grudges surged into his heart; he was so angry he almost vomited blood. No longer caring about the one-eyed leader, he roared, abandoned his opponent, and merged with his sword, transforming into a shocking long rainbow that pierced directly at Fang Hao’s back!

This sword strike was fueled by rage, its power three times greater than before!

At the same time, the one-eyed leader also reacted. Although he didn’t know what Fang Hao had stolen, seeing his brother restrained and items stolen, he was also furious.

He retracted his black tortoise spirit shield, clenched his fists, which erupted with miserable green flames, and smashed fiercely at Fang Hao’s flank!

He wanted to join Zhao Wuji and kill this unexpected intruder first!

Facing the pincer attack from the two Golden Core Cultivators, Fang Hao remained completely calm.

With the fragment and Storage Pouches in hand, his figure didn’t stop for a moment.

He didn’t even look at the incoming sword light and fist. Combining Divine Spirit Steps and Shadowless Evasion Technique to the extreme, his figure twisted and slid strangely like a fish in water, drilling through the gap between Zhao Wuji’s sword light and the one-eyed leader’s fist wind at the last possible moment!

At the same time, he threw back two explosive flame talismans he had been holding.

Boom! Boom!

The two Talismans exploded in mid-air. Although the scorching flames and shockwaves couldn’t hurt Zhao Wuji and the one-eyed leader, they successfully blocked their line of sight and momentum for an instant!

In that instant, Fang Hao had already rushed more than ten zhang away, about to disappear into the dense fog again!

"Fang Hao! You can’t escape!" Zhao Wuji was so angry he was fuming. How could he let him go?

He pointed his long sword and shouted to his four subordinates: "You guys hold this one-eyed guy!"

He himself transformed into sword light and pursued relentlessly! If he didn’t kill Fang Hao today, he swore he wouldn’t be human!

The one-eyed leader wanted to pursue too, but was tightly entangled by the four Zhao family disciples. Although his strength was a cut above, it wasn’t easy to break free in a short time.

He could only watch helplessly as Fang Hao and Zhao Wuji disappeared into the dense fog one after another, jumping with rage.

Fang Hao ran for his life in front, using Shrinking the Ground to an Inch and Divine Spirit Steps alternately, using every ounce of his strength.

He didn’t need to look back to feel that cold, bone-chilling, leech-like Sword Intent and killing intent behind him getting closer and closer!

Zhao Wuji was determined to kill him, going full speed in relentless pursuit!

"Damn, is this Zhao Wuji part dog? He can track so well!" Fang Hao cursed internally, feeling his Qi depleting rapidly.

Running like this wasn’t a solution; he would be caught sooner or later.

Plus, dashing blindly in this dense fog, if he accidentally ran into some Demon Beast’s nest or a death trap, he would be finished.

While running, he quickly observed the surrounding terrain.

The fog was getting thicker, visibility was only a few zhang, and underfoot were slippery moss and tangled tree roots, making it hard to walk.

Suddenly, his Clear Spring Spirit Eyes caught a faint energy fluctuation in the fog to the front left, which was different from the surrounding environment, carrying a... cold and damp aura?

"Water? Or a swamp?" Fang Hao’s heart stirred.

He remembered the dark red corrosive river water from when he crossed earlier; Zhao Wuji must have seen it too. If he could lure him to a similar place...

He gritted his teeth, changed direction, and rushed toward the area with abnormal energy fluctuations to the front left!

At the same time, he pulled a small jade bottle from his chest, containing poison extracted from the venom sacs he collected when killing the Ink Poison Arrow Frog.

Although the toxicity wasn’t fatal to Golden Core Cultivators, it would be enough to give them trouble if they came into contact with it.

He quietly smeared the poison on a few stones and flicked them in different directions behind him with a clever flick of his wrist.

The stones broke through the air with a faint sound, disappearing into the dense fog.

Zhao Wuji, pursuing closely behind, heard the sound. His Divine Sense scanned and found they were just ordinary stones, even carrying a strange smell.

Thinking it was just another of Fang Hao’s interference tactics, he sneered, not bothering to dodge.

His Sword Qi rolled, shredding the stones. The poison adhered to the Sword Qi and was shaken by his Qi, turning into a faint green mist that dispersed.

Zhao Wuji didn’t pay attention, thinking it was just ordinary miasma.

With that delay, Fang Hao opened up some distance again and rushed to the edge of the area with abnormal energy.

The view suddenly opened up. The fog thinned significantly, revealing a small, eerily calm black pool.

The area around the pool was barren, with only some pale, craggy rocks. The pool water was as black as ink, bottomless, and the surface didn’t have a single ripple.

It emitted a bone-chilling, gloomy cold aura, and even the surrounding fog seemed to be frozen, drifting extremely slowly.

That cold and damp energy fluctuation was coming from the depths of this pool.

"This water... is not right!" Fang Hao felt a chill in his heart, sensing this black pool was even more sinister than the corrosive river water.

He didn’t dare to get close and stopped on a large rock by the pool.

He turned around abruptly, facing the direction of his pursuer, his yitian sword already in hand, starlight flickering on the blade, ready for battle.

Almost at the same time he turned, Zhao Wuji’s figure broke through the dense fog and appeared by the pool.

Seeing Fang Hao stopped running and instead stood with sword in hand, a ferocious smile appeared on his face: "Run? Why aren’t you running now? This place has good scenery, it’s perfect to be your burial ground!"

His gaze swept over the eerie black pool, and a trace of wariness flashed in his eyes, but it was quickly drowned out by killing intent.

In his view, Fang Hao was at the end of his rope, forced into a dead end, and this pool was his last barrier.

"Zhao Wuji, is it really worth it for a few crimson essence fruits?" Fang Hao panted, deliberately showing weakness while observing the movement of the black pool from the corner of his eye.

"crimson essence fruits?" Zhao Wuji sneered, "That’s just interest! Fang Hao, from the moment you embarrassed me at the Azure Dragon Society to snatching my things just now, it has long been a fight to the death between us! Today, here, is your death date! Die!"

He stopped talking nonsense, shook his long sword, and countless ice-blue Sword Qi appeared like a peacock spreading its tail, instantly sealing all of Fang Hao’s evasion space, roaring over with a coldness that could freeze the Soul!

This time, he attacked with full force, aiming for a one-hit kill!

Fang Hao’s eyes sharpened; he knew he couldn’t hide his strength anymore.

He let out a low shout, and his Late Golden Core Stage Qi erupted without reservation.

He operated the Starfall Sword Art to the extreme, and his yitian sword transformed into a brilliant galaxy, meeting the sky full of Sword Qi!

At the same time, he secretly wrapped something from the chaos pill cauldron with a wisp of Chaos Qi and shot it fiercely into the center of the black pool!

Clang! Clang!

Sword Qi and sword light collided crazily, explosions resounding by the pool!

Fang Hao was shaken back repeatedly, the web between his thumb and index finger split, and fresh blood stained the sword hilt, but he managed to block this wave of attacks!

Just as the Sword Qi paused and Zhao Wuji prepared to launch a more violent attack, a sudden change occurred!

The center of the calm black pool, where Fang Hao had thrown the fragment, suddenly rippled violently, as if boiling!

An indescribable terrifying, gloomy, and cold aura erupted from the bottom of the pool!

Immediately after, a giant python, completely pitch-black, covered in thick bone armor, with three ferocious snake heads and ghostly green flames burning in its eye sockets, suddenly thrust more than half its body out of the pool water!

The three snake heads, with six cold vertical pupils, instantly locked onto the two people fighting by the pool, especially... Fang Hao, who had just thrown something into the pool, and Zhao Wuji, who was attacking Fang Hao and had the strongest aura!

Hiss—!

The three snake heads let out ear-piercing hisses simultaneously, filled with rage and killing intent from being disturbed!

Two of the snake heads sprayed two torrents of dark green venom, sweeping toward Fang Hao and Zhao Wuji!

The third snake head opened its mouth and spat out a stream of black cold air that seemed capable of freezing the Soul, arriving later but reaching first, covering the entire area!

"Three-Headed Profound Underworld Python?! A Fourth-Rank Demonic Beast?!" Zhao Wuji’s face turned pale instantly, his Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering!

He never dreamed that this inconspicuous black pool would hide such an ancient Vicious Beast!

A Fourth-Rank Demonic Beast was equivalent to a Nascent Soul Stage existence!

Even if it was only a Low Grade Fourth-Rank, it was definitely not something a Golden Core Cultivator could contend with!

He no longer cared about killing Fang Hao, desperately driving his sword light to set up layers of ice walls in front of him, while violently retreating, trying to escape the range of the cold current and venom.

Fang Hao had already moved the moment the giant python appeared!

He had no intention of fighting head-on. The moment he shot the item in and the python was disturbed, he had already used Shrinking the Ground to an Inch, fleeing for his life in the opposite direction of Zhao Wuji!

At the same time, he pushed his black tortoise spirit shield and empty clarity mirror (to distort the space behind him) to their limits!

Boom! Boom! Sizzle—!

The venom and cold current engulfed the place where they had just been standing.

Zhao Wuji’s ice walls shattered like paper. Although he retreated quickly, he was still grazed by a trace of the cold current on his left leg.

The entire leg was instantly covered in a layer of black ice, and the bone-chilling cold and highly toxic venom eroded it crazily!

He let out a scream, his speed greatly reduced.

As for Fang Hao, although he was also grazed on his back by a remnant of the venom, the black tortoise spirit shield emitted a groan of being unable to bear the load, its light almost completely extinguished, and a searing pain came from his back.

But relying on the sturdy Physical Body from the Hundred Refinements Golden Body Art and the certain resistance of Chaos Qi to toxins, plus the interference of the empty clarity mirror, he managed to avoid being hit directly.

Borrowing the impact of the explosion, his speed increased by another notch, and he plunged into the depths of the dense fog without looking back, disappearing in an instant.

"Ah—! Fang Hao! I will kill you!!" Behind him came Zhao Wuji’s desperate and shrill roar, along with the Three-Headed Profound Underworld Python’s angry hiss and the sound of it chasing through the water.

Listening to the movement behind him, Fang Hao had blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, but a cold smile appeared on his face.

Diverting the disaster, success!

Zhao Wuji, enjoy this "big gift" I sent you!

As for that item... I’ll leave it in that python’s lair for now, and come back to get it when I have the chance!

For now, escaping is the priority!