Chapter 302: Experts Gather! Zhang Fan in the Dark Night

The pale primordial spirit wakes up in shock, the Great Night Buliang suffers heaven's punishment!

The Li River water rises and falls with the wind, the Elephant Shenshan is as immovable as a monument, and time seems to stop at this moment.

Whether it was Xu Banshan, Xu Zhixia, or even Gao Xiaoniang lying on the bamboo raft...

Everyone's eyes trembled, their spiritual platforms wanting to collapse, and where their primordial spirits shone, Zhang Fan's surroundings were chaotic, like the vast dome of heaven, the long night not seeing light, the abyss ten thousand zhang deep, stars hard to see, the great moon sinking; where he stood, all brilliance was extinguished.

That man, in this realm, at this time, was like the king of cultivation.

"Zhang Fan... you..."

In the distance, Xu Zhixia's trembling gaze fell on Zhang Fan, her pale face overflowing with disbelief.

Compared to their reunion in Yujing City, at this moment, Xu Zhixia's shock was even greater.

That time, she saw Zhang Fan possessed Daoist methods, his talent so high that she was tongue-tied, as if in a dream.

However, how much time had passed, and now the height Zhang Fan stood at once again made Xu Zhixia feel unprecedentedly strange.

Such an aura, such pressure, made her primordial spirit almost collapse; it was hard to imagine, if Zhang Fan really made a move, how terrifying it would be.

"How could... how could he have such methods?"

Xu Zhixia's eyes became dazed; even as a member of the Xu family, Zhang Fan now became difficult for her to understand.

"Primordial spirit outer landscape... what kind of outer landscape is this?"

At this moment, Xu Banshan roared in his heart, almost unable to believe it.

He came from a Pure Yang family, a descendant of Ancestor Xu, having seen how many brilliant people, how many people with profound cultivation?

But he had never seen such a primordial spirit inner landscape, heaven's light not shining, all things sinking, even his own primordial spirit seemed about to be buried in it, unable to see heaven above, unable to knock on earth below, past events becoming clouds and smoke, ten thousand zhang high buildings collapsing from then on.

"Great Night Buliang... this is a cultivation calamity... Great Night Buliang?"

A voice roared in Xu Banshan's mind, and he came up with a possibility, yet dared not believe it.

Great Night Buliang is a cultivation calamity, which Daoists avoid at all costs; who could have heaven-defying methods to turn it into a primordial spirit outer landscape, with great divine power, transcending the world?

Whoosh...

Suddenly, a night wind blew, ruffling Xu Banshan's messy hair, a trace of coolness letting him recover, and at the same time, a thick, large hand landed on the top of his head.

Xu Banshan's eyes trembled, and in the corner of his terrified vision, Zhang Fan had already landed on the bamboo raft like a ghost, landing beside him.

He knelt there, like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, not knowing if he didn't dare to move or couldn't move.

"Go home, go find your mother and drink some milk."

Zhang Fan walked past Xu Banshan, not even looking at him, just like an ordinary person walking past an ant.

At this moment, Xu Banshan's face turned red, feeling his dignity completely thrown on the ground, suffering unprecedented trampling.

Zhang Fan walked to Lin Jianyue's side and checked slightly; the primordial spirit had left the physical body for too long, and the body's functions had degenerated quite a bit.

Even a High Merit practitioner couldn't bear the primordial spirit leaving the physical body too far or for too long, unless they reached the Great Being realm.

"Done, let's go."

Zhang Fan looked up and greeted.

"Okay!"

In the dark night, a submissive response came, and immediately after, Li Miaoyin walked out from afar.

Xu Zhixia looked over; she recognized her instantly, it was the woman who had been by Zhang Fan's side at the hotel.

Her expression was complex, watching Li Miaoyin jump onto the bamboo raft and walk to Zhang Fan's side.

"You looked cool."

Li Miaoyin looked at Zhang Fan cunningly, smiling softly.

"Stop it."

Zhang Fan responded with a smile, but didn't hear a hint of flattery.

"Aren't you leaving?"

Zhang Fan looked up and saw Xu Banshan still kneeling on the bamboo raft, as if petrified, not moving at all.

"I... my legs are soft..." Xu Banshan said tremblingly.

He didn't want to not get up, but he really couldn't.

"Go."

Zhang Fan kicked him, the force heavy, directly kicking Xu Banshan away; the latter landed heavily, letting out a muffled groan.

"Go back," Zhang Fan said softly.

"Hmm, go back," Li Miaoyin nodded.

The night was vast, the crushed moonlight rippling with the river water.

Xu Banshan watched the bamboo raft drift further and further away, slowly disappearing from his sight.

"Damn it... damn it..."

Finally, Xu Banshan couldn't bear it anymore; he clenched his fists, pounding the ground frantically, a breath of air seeming to press in his chest, like a volcano restless, about to erupt.

His anger wasn't directed at Zhang Fan, but at himself; he was angry at his own incompetence, angry at his own cowardice.

Just now, that posture, fawning and begging, like a stray dog, had completely thrown away the face of their Xu family.

This wasn't him.

This shouldn't have been him.

"This hatred, I must avenge it! If I don't kill this person, I swear I won't be a human." Xu Banshan said solemnly.

Xu Zhixia walked over.

"I disgraced my ancestors!"

Xu Banshan gritted his teeth, remembering just now, he didn't even have the courage to make a move; in front of that man, his knees were so soft, his former pride, his former glory, and the Xu family bloodline he was so proud of had all vanished

"This hatred and grudge, I must avenge it! If I do not kill this person, I swear I am no man," Xu Banshan said in a deep voice.

Xu Zhixia knitted her delicate brows, not knowing what to say.

"Zhixia, what exactly is the background of this pretty boy of yours?" Xu Banshan asked, looking up.

"I don't know... I don't know anymore either," Xu Zhixia shook her head.

In her impression, Zhang Fan's family background was very simple and clean; there was only his father at home, who had spent his whole life scraping a living on construction sites, the two of them relying on each other for survival.

Back when she was in college, Xu Zhixia had met him a few times; he was a very spirited uncle.

Other than that, there was nothing else special.

If it weren't for such an ordinary family background, she would not have been forced by pressure from her clan to break up with Zhang Fan back then.

"This pretty boy of yours is definitely not simple. Let's go."

As he spoke, Xu Banshan stood up shakily.

"Where to?" Xu Zhixia stepped forward to support him.

"I want to let him know that our Xu family is not to be trifled with."

With these words, Xu Banshan turned and left, taking Xu Zhixia away from Xiangshen Mountain.

Half an hour later, in the suburbs of Jingjiang City.

Mountain and Water Courtyard.

This was a resort villa developed by the Xu family in Jingjiang City, and several of the buildings were properties of Xu family disciples.

Xu Banshan drove the car, stopped in front of a courtyard, pushed the door open, and walked in.

A wisp of faint fragrance wafted through the courtyard, and babbling water circled the rockery.

Xu Zhixia looked up and saw a figure sitting cross-legged in the pavilion beside the rockery, with primordial light rising behind them and an aura rushing like a tidal sea, pressing down upon them.

"It's us."

Xu Banshan's expression changed abruptly, and he hurriedly called out.

As soon as the words fell, that terrifying pressure receded like a tide, returning to simplicity.

"Xu Banshan, you are too useless. Can you not even handle such a small matter?"

A cold voice drifted over, and in the pavilion, a wisp of candlelight flickered to life.

Only then did Xu Zhixia see the person's face clearly: short, sharp hair, brows like blades, and eyes that seemed to hide weapons.

"Xu Changnian!?"

Xu Zhixia was greatly shocked. The person before her was a direct bloodline of their Xu family, and even more so, a top-tier figure among the younger generation; young as he was, he had already attained the Great Being Realm, possessed boundless profound arts, and received the protection of the ancestors.

Xu Zhixia had not expected that even he would come.

Li Changgeng's influence was simply too great.

"We..."

Xu Banshan walked over, and just as he was about to speak, he saw Xu Changnian make a gesture for silence.

He took a metal box from behind him, which looked quite high-tech. After opening it, there was a transparent crystal container inside, resembling a syringe, filled with a viscous liquid. Black and white colors were intertwined, and faintly, the light and shadow of a soul-aspect were entangled, completely melted into that viscous liquid.

Pshhh...

At this very moment, Xu Changnian plunged the syringe into his own chest, and the viscous liquid was injected into his body at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Immediately following, the viscous liquid transformed into two streams of Qi, one black and one white, which actually rose along different paths, gathered at the Spirit Platform, and merged into his soul-aspect.

Boom—

In an instant, Xu Changnian's body shook, and a terrifying aura was released from his Spirit Platform, rolling like a river and sea, endless like the stars.

Xu Banshan watched with a pounding heart; in the blink of an eye, Xu Changnian's soul-aspect had actually grown several times over, and most crucially, this aura was somewhat similar to the Zhang Fan from just moments ago.

"Elder brother... what is this?" Xu Banshan asked, unable to help himself as he watched in astonishment.

"Have you heard of the Divine Demon Holy Fetus?" Xu Changnian said indifferently.

"One of the Nine Arts!?" Xu Banshan was filled with doubt and uncertainty.

"Many years ago, our Xu family produced a senior. He was brilliant in his youth, but unfortunately, his temperament was eccentric. He didn't care for the clan's rules, left home very early, changed his name, and entered the Maoshan Daoist sect," Xu Changnian said, suddenly changing the subject.

Xu Banshan remained silent; he had vaguely heard of this senior, only the latter rarely associated with their Xu family anymore.

"Later, this senior met many like-minded people. They gathered together and founded an extremely mysterious organization, solely to exhaustively study the secrets and origins of the Nine Arts," Xu Changnian said, lowering his voice.

"A mysterious organization?" Xu Banshan showed a look of confusion and joy.

Even as a disciple of a Pure Yang family, this was the first time he had heard of such a secret.

"That organization is called..."

"The Coffin-Carrying Society!"

As he spoke, Xu Changnian made a gesture for silence, his obsessed gaze falling upon the now-empty syringe beside him.

"They have researched the Nine Arts extremely deeply... they can even steal the power of the Nine Arts. This thing is a product that flowed out from that organization..."

"By relying on this, I can possess the power of the Divine Demon Holy Fetus."

Xu Changnian closed his eyes slightly, feeling the changes in his own soul-aspect.

"The power of the Divine Demon Holy Fetus? There is actually such a thing in this world?" Xu Banshan was stunned. He looked at the empty syringe, a trace of greed rising in his eyes.

"This thing is very dangerous..."

Xu Changnian slowly opened his eyes, seemingly seeing through Xu Banshan's thoughts, and reminded him coldly.

"This kind of power will gradually fade away. Even for me, I can only inject it once every two years."

These data were obtained only after sacrificing a large number of individuals.

"Alright, tell me, why didn't you bring the Rabbit back?" Xu Changnian changed the subject and said indifferently.

Xu Banshan gritted his teeth and recounted his encounter at Xiangshen Mountain, though he glossed over his own cowardice and kneeling with the understated words "not a match."

"Zhang Fan? There is such an expert among the Daoist sects? I've never heard of him," Xu Changnian frowned, lost in thought.

With his knowledge and the intelligence he possessed, he could not identify a single expert who fit the description.

"No need to think about it. This person's reputation is not prominent, yet he is a great enemy of Changgeng."

At this moment, a detached voice came from the side.

Xu Zhixia turned to look and saw a woman arriving gracefully. Her appearance was stunning, her long hair tied up, her skin fair, and her temperament ethereal and cold. Standing there, the surrounding environment seemed to become out of place, dimming by three parts.

"Yu Xuanji, you finally came."

Xu Changnian said indifferently.

"A successor of Mount Sanqing!?"

Xu Zhixia was greatly shocked. Among the successors of the ten famous Daoist mountains, there were very few women, and Yu Xuanji was one of them.

Although she was famous, her whereabouts were as elusive as a divine dragon.

"You just said that Zhang Fan is Li Changgeng's great enemy?" Xu Changnian said in a deep voice.

As soon as these words were spoken, Xu Banshan could not help but be moved in astonishment, and Xu Zhixia's expression became even stranger.

How did Zhang Fan suddenly become Li Changgeng's great enemy? Back in college, he didn't even know what Daoist cultivation was.

Yet Li Changgeng was the most outstanding successor of the Bai He Temple in the last thousand years.

The two were existences that had absolutely nothing to do with each other.

"Correct. Changgeng is making such a big fuss this time precisely to surround and kill this person," Yu Xuanji said indifferently.

Her words and tone revealed an extraordinary relationship with Li Changgeng.

"Li Changgeng's great enemy, I would like to see him for myself."

At this moment, a cold voice came from behind Yu Xuanji.

Everyone looked toward the sound and saw a tall, thin man walk out. His eyes were narrow and long, and there was a tuft of yellow hair on his black hair, which looked extremely eye-catching.

"A demon!?" Xu Changnian raised an eyebrow, recognizing the person's origin at a glance.

This was no ordinary demon, but a great demon, and the strength of his aura was actually not below his own.

"As expected of a descendant of Ancestor Xu, your eyes are truly vicious," the yellow-haired man grinned and chuckled.

Back then, Ancestor Xu slaughtered all the flood dragons under heaven, and his reputation among the demons and ghosts of the mountains and seas was immense.

"His name is Huang Liulang. He is a demon-ghost from the Ten Thousand Great Mountains and has long since submitted to Changgeng's command," Yu Xuanji said indifferently.

Currently, Li Changgeng was in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, intending to trap Zhao Jiexuan to death and surround and kill Zhang Fan; naturally, he had obtained the assistance of the demons and ghosts of the Ten Thousand Great Mountains.

"Li Changgeng truly has immense spirit. He has even subdued the demons and ghosts of the Ten Thousand Great Mountains."

Xu Changnian could not help but sigh.

At this moment, he had to admire the methods of this Bai He Temple successor.

After all, since ancient times, the demons and ghosts of the mountains and seas had been the objects of contention between the Daoist sects and the Wu Wei Sect. While resolving personal grudges, he was actually able to win over the demons and ghosts of the dead-end realms.

"Li Changgeng is naturally a dragon among men. I am interested in seeing what kind of goods this great enemy of his is," Huang Liulang chuckled.

"Alright, Zhang Fan is naturally to be left for Changgeng to deal with. We don't need to move against him for now," Yu Xuanji said indifferently.

"Since he has come, let's pass this news to Changgeng first."

Yu Xuanji settled the matter with a single sentence.

"Then, which of you will tell me where Li Changgeng is now?"

At this moment, a detached voice resounded through the quiet courtyard.

Everyone's expression changed abruptly, and they turned to look, seeing a figure like a great demon descending, walking out of the dark night and landing in this small courtyard.

"Zhang Fan!?" Xu Banshan let out a roar of shock, simply unable to believe it.

This man had actually followed them here; surrounded by experts, yet he was completely uninhibited.

"Which of you will die first!?" Zhang Fan said indifferently.

(End of chapter)