Chapter 11

This... it can even summon minions, damn it!

The sudden change caught Li Yan off guard.

Plans couldn't keep up with changes; although he didn't know how this Cold Altar Chang soldier managed it, the current situation had undoubtedly changed from a one-on-one to a gang fight.

It seems I provoked it too much just now...

Li Yan couldn't care about regret and directly stood up to draw his blade.

Clang!

He held the blade in his right hand, the tip pointing diagonally upward, crouched in a half-empty stance, while his left hand reverse-gripped the hilt, held horizontally in front of his waist, and he slowly retreated.

This is called the 'Pressing Hu Hu Dao Ren Stance'.

It can attack when advancing and defend when retreating; the blade tip points diagonally upward, allowing for an immediate thrust against charging beasts, and the scabbard can also be used as a blunt weapon to strike or defend.

Retreating to the incense burner of the Earth Temple, he stopped, quickly crouched down, picked up the blade tassel offered, and tucked it into his chest.

The wolf pack is terrifying, but the greater threat is that Cold Altar Chang soldier.

This Three Talents Demon-Suppressing Coin blade tassel is the key to victory.

Of course, it cannot be used rashly yet.

Without the slightest pause, the wolf pack immediately launched an attack.

Roar—!

Three wolves from the front suddenly darted out.

They bared their ferocious fangs, two coming from the ground, aggressively, targeting Li Yan's lower abdomen, as if to disembowel him.

And the remaining one leaped up, baring its fangs, biting toward Li Yan's neck.

This is an extremely fierce coordinated attack technique of the wolf pack.

Ordinary prey, even if they dodge the vital neck, would be pounced on, and the remaining two wolves would take the opportunity to tear open their belly.

However, Li Yan was well-prepared.

He stepped forward in a half-empty stance; before his right foot even landed, the blade light had already flashed.

It gave people an illusion, as if the blade was faster than the person.

This is the mystery of the Guanzhong Fast Hu Hu Dao Ren.

Ordinary people use blades with their feet firmly planted, power rising from the ground, gathering the strength of the waist and arms; whether hacking or sweeping, it is as heavy as a thousand jun.

However, the Guanzhong Fast Hu Hu Dao Ren is delivered before the feet land.

The powerful arm and wrist strength, combined with a sharp, good blade, is enough to compensate for the lack of force generation.

No matter how fierce the blade stance is, what's the use if your throat is cut first?

The Guanzhong swordsmen relied on this unique skill to make a great name for themselves.

Those who are good at using this blade technique are so fast that people simply cannot react.

The fierce wolf that pounced was the same.

While in mid-air, the blade edge had already entered from the throat, thrusting straight into the skull.

Its momentum didn't diminish, and combined with the sharpness of the Guanshan blade, half of its head was directly shaved off, blood splashing everywhere.

At the same time, the two fierce wolves on the ground had also attacked.

Li Yan took the opportunity to retreat, his left hand reverse-gripping the scabbard to flick, inserting it into the throat of the wolf on the left, causing it to howl in pain, while his right hand held the blade, shaking his arm to sweep downward.

Splat!

The wolf attacking from the right had a front limb shaved off, immediately losing its balance.

Li Yan then stepped forward firmly in an empty stance, using a 'Blocking Horse' leg sweep, sending the legless wolf flying seven or eight meters away, rolling several times on the ground, dust flying.

It had a broken leg and was struck in the soft waist, whimpering and struggling while vomiting blood, gradually becoming still.

And Li Yan, at this moment, only then twirled the blade and took the opportunity to thrust downward.

The wolf on the left had its throat inserted by the scabbard and was tearing frantically; this strike, however, entered directly from the back of the neck, pinning it to the ground, and it stopped moving.

Splat!

Wolf blood sprayed, splashing Li Yan's face.

He didn't change his expression, his cold, stern gaze always fixed on the front.

The wolf pack's attack also has patterns; they don't swarm all at once, but look for weaknesses and attack in batches.

Even if they fail, they will find ways to make the prey get injured.

No matter how big the beast, under these wave-like attacks, both body and spirit will quickly collapse.

The advantage of doing this is that it can minimize losses.

After all, getting injured in the wild often means death.

The wolf pack's tactics hadn't changed, but they clearly didn't expect Li Yan's blade technique to be so sharp, killing three wolves in the blink of an eye.

The subsequent attacks were broken.

Sensing the killing intent surging from Li Yan, the remaining fierce wolves whimpered and circled, and although they didn't leave, they didn't dare to rashly come forward.

And Li Yan's attention was entirely on the alpha wolf.

He could smell that familiar fishy stench on the other party.

Compared to last night, it was clearly much weaker.

Widow Wang was right.

This Cold Altar Chang soldier had been injured several times in a row, and even after devouring the wandering ghosts and wild spirits within a ten-mile radius, it had reached its weakest state.

At this moment, the fierce wolf it possessed was only wandering outside the range of the Earth Temple's incense, with no intention of entering at all.

It seems it wants to let the wolf pack drag him out.

Li Yan's expression was cold and stern, standing still with his blade.

He wants to clear this scourge, and the other party also covets his soul and physical body.

At this moment, it depends on who loses their composure first.

Roar!

Perhaps fearing the rooster crowing time was approaching and the Yang energy was rising, the fierce wolf possessed by the Chang soldier suddenly let out a roar.

Its stench erupted, and several wolves were immediately scared into peeing.

Under its coercion, they all charged toward the Earth Temple.

"Kill!"

Li Yan let out a violent shout, back against the Earth Temple, his Guanshan blade hacking left and sweeping right, and he even took the opportunity to deliver a 'Skyward Kick', kicking the pouncing fierce wolf away.

Cold light exploded, and he immediately slaughtered two wolves.

But his weakness of lack of experience had already manifested.

With so many wolves attacking at the same time, he couldn't handle them all; after one round of attacks, his moves became stale, exposing gaps, and he immediately fell into a disadvantage.

Even his right hand holding the blade was bitten dead by a wolf.

The remaining ones bared their fangs to tear.

Even if kicked away by Li Yan, they would turn back to attack.

Awoo!

In the distance, another wolf howl.

It was the fierce wolf possessed by the Chang soldier, fearing the wolf pack would bite Li Yan's physical body, issuing a roar and giving an order. Sure enough, the wolf pack didn't use lethal force anymore, but bit his limbs and dragged him outward.

Li Yan felt severe pain all over, and evil energy surged in his heart.

He knew that this was a critical moment.

Even if he could break free, he would be exhausted in the wolf pack's siege, and even if he recovered with the substitute statue and killed the remaining few, facing that Cold Altar Chang soldier, he would find it hard to escape death.

The only chance at this moment is to behead that Chang soldier.

Thinking of this, Li Yan endured the severe pain, holding the Guanshan blade tightly, letting the wolf pack drag him toward the Chang soldier's fierce wolf.

Dust flew, leaving a trail of blood along the way, which was shocking to the eye.

Soon, he was dragged to the side of the official road.

This place had already left the range covered by the Earth Temple's incense.

The fierce wolf possessed by that Chang soldier couldn't hold back anymore, pouncing directly, its front limbs stepping on Li Yan's chest, baring its ferocious fangs, and growling in a low voice.

!.

Li Yan could clearly feel that the icy sensation on his back surged violently and spread outward.

This chill was so astonishing, as if it wanted to invade his internal organs; his body skin began to go numb, and even his consciousness became somewhat blurred.

And the substitute statue began to play its role at this moment.

Li Yan's judgment was correct; the curse acts on the spirit, but this Chang soldier wants to possess his soul, which will inevitably cause changes to his physical body.

If completely occupied, it is very likely that, as Widow Wang mentioned, his internal organs would begin to ooze black fluid.

The repair of the substitute statue allowed Li Yan to regain consciousness.

At this moment, he no longer had any hesitation, took out the Three Talents Demon-Suppressing Coin blade tassel from his bosom, pressed it against the Guanshan blade, and thrust it upward violently!

The Chang soldier was in the middle of casting the possession spell and couldn't dodge in time.

Only a 'splat' sound was heard, and wolf blood mixed with black fluid dripped down.

Roar—!

Inside that fierce wolf's body, a strange roar was emitted.

This sound was a bit like a beast, and a bit like a human, as if two sounds overlapped, echoing continuously in the surroundings.

The remaining few fierce wolves also seemed to break free from control, trembling all over, defecating and urinating, frantically darting into the grass and disappearing.

And Li Yan, at this moment, couldn't care about it at all.

At the moment the Three Talents Demon-Suppressing Coin combined with the hilt, the bone-chilling cold spread along the blade edge, piercing through the fierce wolf above.

What was pierced was not just the physical body.

Li Yan could clearly smell that the Three Talents Demon-Suppressing Coin combined with the blade edge, emitting an icy and bloody scent, piercing into the Chang soldier's fishy stench.

The Yang Six Roots correspond to the six senses, which are six types of supernatural powers.

The supernatural power he awakened was the sense of smell, which was clearly not as intuitive as the Yin-Yang eyes, but through scent, he had the deepest understanding of the changes in the power of both sides.

The "Hundred Battles Mighty" plaque and the Earth Temple's incense should be the same type of similar power, giving people a warm feeling, with the attribute of Yang.

Colliding with the Chang soldier's power, they cancel each other out.

And the power of the Three Talents Demon-Suppressing Coin belongs to Yin, even colder than the Chang soldier's power, like ice entering water.

Not only did it not weaken, but it was even absorbing the Chang soldier's power.

Roar—!

The strange roaring sound grew weaker and weaker.

Finally, after the Chang soldier's fishy stench completely dissipated, the fierce wolf above also stopped moving, leaving only the scent of the wolf carcass itself.

Thump!

Li Yan took the opportunity to push, and the wolf carcass rolled to the side.

He gasped for breath and continued to use the substitute statue.

The wounds all over his body disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye.

If not for the tattered clothes and blood, one couldn't tell at all that he had just experienced a fierce battle.

The substitute statue can replace all bad states of the physical body, including the soreness caused by muscle movement.

Therefore, to a certain extent, it can also restore physical strength.

However, physical recovery couldn't eliminate the fatigue after extreme mental tension, so Li Yan lay down for a while before slowly climbing up.

Just at this moment, his expression stiffened.

Inside his dantian, the injuries accumulated by the substitute statue finally reached their limit, and dense cracks appeared, as if they could collapse at any time.

Whoosh~

Above the statue's left shoulder, a ghostly fire suddenly extinguished.

As if rebooting, the statue instantly recovered, without a single scar.

So... I lost a life?

Li Yan felt annoyed in his heart and couldn't help but spit fiercely.

But he also knew that if not for the substitute statue, he would have found it hard to escape this calamity.

What Widow Wang worshipped was the legendary 'Out-of-Horse Immortal'; although the state was a bit wrong, the other party didn't even dare to show their face, which shows how terrifying this Chang soldier is.

Suddenly, he frowned, only feeling that the Guanshan blade held in his hand was becoming increasingly cold, as if holding an icicle.

His bones were cold and painful, and even his skin began to go numb.

Li Yan hurriedly dropped the blade tassel in his hand.

He saw that on the yellow earth, the originally exquisite blade tassel knot, including the Three Talents Demon-Suppressing Coin, was all stained with wolf blood, emitting a bloody aura.

Absorbing some of the Chang soldier's power can actually enhance this treasure!

This is not a good thing.

It means that it will become increasingly difficult for him to use this treasure in the future.

It seems he needs to find a way to solve it.

Or rather, apprentice himself to a master and step into that mysterious world!

Thinking of this, Li Yan cleaned up the traces on the ground, carefully put the Demon-Suppressing blade tassel into a red cloth bag, and disappeared into the night.

Soon, he arrived outside Widow Wang's door.

Before he even got close, his expression changed.

That fishy stench mixed with incense had disappeared.

Sure enough, after pushing the door and entering the small courtyard, it was already empty inside.

Offering table, spirit tablets, red ropes, incense burner...

Widow Wang and that Out-of-Horse Immortal, all traces of their existence had been cleaned up, no different from ordinary civilian houses.

Li Yan's heart stirred, and he looked around.

Sure enough, the strange formations made of jars were also scattered at will, with various filthy, dirty water flowing all over the ground.

At this moment, Li Yan was completely certain.

Widow Wang and the others were hiding from something...

(End of chapter)