Shen He rolled awkwardly on the ground, his face covered in fine wounds scraped by sharp sword marks.
He gasped for air in big mouthfuls, his back drenched in sweat. Just as he steadied his mind, a vicious gust assaulted him from the side.
Shen He immediately sensed trouble. He braced the ground with one hand and forcibly circulated his Demonic Qi, shifting his entire body flat two meters away.
Bang!
The black leopard was smashed over like a ragged sack, the azure flames burning on its body completely extinguished.
The leopard let out a pained howl and struggled desperately to move its claws, but it ultimately failed to stand again.
Shen He paid no attention to Zhang Sizhe’s nurtured spirit beast. He vigilantly raised his head to look at the creature ahead.
He described it as a creature because this existence, wreathed in black flames, was neither fully human nor beast, neither demon nor fiend.
Though it possessed the traits of the Demon Beast Spirit that Zhang Sizhe had described, it sometimes reacted exactly like a cultivator.
The creature crouched on all fours, with a pair of wings sprouting from its back and a long, tail-like black fiery tongue trailing from its rear. Its face was pitch-black, its features indiscernible amid the encircling black flames—only a pair of blood-red eyes and its half-open maw dripping blood were visible.
If judged by appearance alone, it was indeed a demon beast.
But what made Shen He uneasy was the black longsword clenched in the demon beast’s mouth.
The black longsword was only about thirty centimeters long—extremely short for a spirit sword. Yet when the demon beast swung it down, the sword mark it produced had a terrifyingly wide attack range.
At the start, Shen He had misjudged the demon beast’s attack range and was grazed by the sword mark from the spirit sword. If he hadn’t cautiously blocked it with the Black Bone Bell beforehand, Shen He might have been cleaved in two.
Even so, his Black Bone Bell was already ruined.
…Sigh, this was the second bone bell he had wrecked. Were the sect-issued bone bells just poorly defensive? Should he switch to a different protective artifact next time?
—Could it be that the bone bell wasn’t meant for defense at all, but for sonic attacks?
As these random thoughts raced through Shen He’s mind to ease his tension, pitch-black flames suddenly surged from the demon beast like a swarm of dragons charging toward him.
Shen He took a deep breath and pushed the sect-taught Illusion Light Technique to its limit, blending his figure into the shifting lights and shadows around him. He leaped and dodged back and forth amid the onslaught of black fire dragons.
After several fruitless attacks, the Black Demonic Beast suddenly emitted a shrill screech.
It then flung its head sharply, hurling the Black Spirit Sword out.
Shen He let out an “ah.”
In the next instant, the Black Spirit Sword seemed to gain sentience. It spun actively in midair and thrust toward him lightly yet eerily!
Shen He instinctively formed a magic formula, and the Emerald Jade Sword shot forth like a streak of green venomous snake.
Clang clang clang!
The two spirit swords clashed in midair. The Black Spirit Sword attacked with blinding speed and ferocity, like a summer downpour, blooming into brilliant white sparks.
Shen He struggled desperately to cope, relying solely on the inertia from the Black Spirit Sword’s assaults and his own instincts to barely hold on. After over thirty rapid exchanges, the Black Spirit Sword completely gained the upper hand.
With a sweep and a flick, its blade flattened, pressing down the Emerald Jade Sword.
At the same time, a burst of spiritual power exploded from the hilt’s rear, granting it secondary acceleration and momentum. The Black Spirit Sword streaked toward Shen He’s brow like a ray of deathly light.
Shen He stared deathly at that black gleam. In that moment, death felt so near, as if he could sense the deathly silence and annihilation of all things.
Just then, the sword blade abruptly froze.
It halted a finger’s width from Shen He’s brow, close enough for him to clearly see the two characters “Dong Ling” engraved on its spine.
Then, the Black Spirit Sword’s blade twisted gracefully, grazing past Shen He’s cheek and stabbing outward.
Snap. A lock of hair by Shen He’s cheek fell, and a blood mark appeared there, with fresh blood trickling down.
Shen He: “…”
He had no idea what had happened.
In the next second, Zhang Sizhe’s voice rang out: “I did it!”
Zhang Sizhe burst through that door, babbling excitedly as he waved at Shen He: “Run, quick!!”
The Black Demonic Beast unleashed an even more shrill and terrifying roar. It whipped its body around and charged madly at Zhang Sizhe.
Shen He’s lips trembled. With a complicated expression, he glanced at the departing Black Spirit Sword, gritted his teeth, rushed to the unconscious Azure Flame Leopard, scooped up the big cat, and bolted without looking back.
Perhaps Zhang Sizhe had activated the key, for Shen He had only run a couple of steps in the pitch-black passage when his vision blurred. In the next moment, he had left the underground cavern and returned to the dense forest outside the entrance.
Zhang Sizhe sprawled on a nearby rock, gasping heavily, his face twisted in agitation and looking somewhat ferocious.
Shen He wiped his face. He first swallowed a Qi Gathering Pill to slowly replenish his depleted Demonic Qi.
Then, cradling the big cat, he walked slowly over to Zhang Sizhe.
“Your leopard was attacked. It doesn’t look good.”
Zhang Sizhe seemed to finally snap out of it, responding a beat late: “Oh, ah, Little Black… Um, it’s fine. I can take it back to recover.”
Zhang Sizhe reached out to reclaim his leopard.
Shen He stepped back slightly.
