Yin Tiejiu, the sect leader of the Black Lion Gate from the vast northwest, knelt before Cheng Xiaofan, trembling like a sick chicken, dejected and downcast.
A domineering figure of the martial world, reduced to begging for his life from another.
Cheng Xiaofan chuckled coldly and said, "Have you forgotten what you just said? Didn't you say that only one of us could survive in this world?"
"If I let you go, wouldn't that be slapping my own face?"
"After all, you are a renowned figure in the martial world. As an unknown junior, I must respect your decision!"
Hearing this, Yin Tiejiu was stunned.
His face immediately turned ashen.
"You really won't let me go?" Yin Tiejiu asked, gritting his teeth.
Cheng Xiaofan smiled and said, "That's what I'm thinking. Do you have any new suggestions?"
Yin Tiejiu roared, "If you don't let me go, I'll escape!"
"..." Escape?
Just as Cheng Xiaofan marveled at how someone could declare their escape with such righteousness, Yin Tiejiu leaped, his body as light as a feather, landing on the treetop dozens of meters away.
With his toes barely touching the tips of the branches, he flickered through the air and vanished.
He had truly escaped!
"You're going back on your word? I hate those who don't keep their promises the most!" Cheng Xiaofan was furious. Golden dragon scales appeared on his legs, and he kicked off the ground.
Whoosh!
Like a cannonball leaving its barrel.
Three kilometers away, in the deep mountains and old forests, Yin Tiejiu wiped the sweat from his face, relishing his escape from danger, when a figure suddenly descended from the sky.
Boom!
The ground let out a loud roar, collapsing into a large, deep pit.
The figure then gracefully rose from the pit, standing steadily before Yin Tiejiu.
"How... how did you catch up?" When Yin Tiejiu saw Cheng Xiaofan's face clearly, he trembled all over, his face draining of color.
In Yin Tiejiu's mind, when it came to speed in escaping, he would consider himself second to none in the world.
He never expected Cheng Xiaofan to catch up.
Cheng Xiaofan smiled wickedly and said, "You, a mere ordinary cultivator, dare to challenge the speed of Dragon Ascending to the Heavens?"
After his bones were completely transformed by the dragon bones, Cheng Xiaofan felt that Yin Tiejiu was no match for him.
Before obtaining the Dragon Bone Claws, he had even doubted if he could defeat Yin Tiejiu.
But after integrating the Dragon Bone Claws into his body, that thought had long been cast aside.
Thump!
Yin Tiejiu knelt before Cheng Xiaofan for the second time.
He cried like a child, "Since you know I am an ordinary cultivator, why, as a supreme dragon, must you relentlessly pursue someone like me, an ant?"
"Please let me go!"
"What if I refuse to let you go?" Cheng Xiaofan knew that this man's hands were stained with the blood of the innocent, and if he wasn't eliminated, he would continue to wreak havoc.
Yin Tiejiu gritted his teeth and said, "Then it's either you die or I die!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, he leaped from the ground and launched dozens of punches at Cheng Xiaofan.
Unfortunately, because Yin Tiejiu had expended too much of his internal energy in the great energy fire he unleashed in that mountain gully, his punches carried no trace of flame.
Even so, the wind from his punches carried the sound of thunder, and each punch was lethally potent.
To Cheng Xiaofan, it was child's play, easily evaded.
Hmph!
To end the fight quickly, Cheng Xiaofan let out a furious roar. The sound of a dragon's cry rolled through the low sky like thunder, scaring the wild beasts in the mountains into prostrating themselves, not daring to make a sound.
Cheng Xiaofan's dragon claws immediately seized the opponent's throat.
Crack!
Yin Tiejiu's windpipe was crushed.
Simultaneously, Cheng Xiaofan's hand plunged directly into the opponent's dantian, extracting a crystal core the size of a pigeon's egg.
This was a fire-element cultivator's crystal core!
Red as flame, crystal clear and translucent.
Cheng Xiaofan casually threw it into his spatial storage.
Although Yin Tiejiu was vile, this crystal core was incredibly pure.
Keeping it would allow the spiritual energy in his spatial realm to filter it. Perhaps this crystal core could be used to cultivate another fire-element cultivator.
Cheng Xiaofan kicked Yin Tiejiu's corpse aside, deciding to let the wild beasts of the mountain finish the job.
In the blink of an eye, Cheng Xiaofan returned to that mountain gully.
A gust of mountain wind blew, and he felt a chill on his body and head.
He looked down at himself, then touched his head, and was shocked. "Heavens, when did I become like this?"
Cheng Xiaofan realized with astonishment that, at some point, his clothes and the hair on his head had been completely burned away by flames.
He had been so busy chasing the fleeing Yin Tiejiu that he hadn't noticed he was completely naked and bald.
Fortunately, his backpack was still on his back.
If his clothes were gone, how could the backpack still be there?
He then understood. He often used this backpack as a cover when retrieving items from his spatial realm. It must have been infused with so much spiritual energy that it narrowly avoided Yin Tiejiu's energy fire.
What was even more embarrassing for Cheng Xiaofan was that his fair skin, after being scorched and blackened, resembled a roasted suckling pig, exuding a tantalizing meaty aroma.
He couldn't help but think that if he stumbled into a den of wild beasts, he would surely be swarmed and torn to pieces in minutes.
He probably wouldn't even have the strength to fight back.
Cheng Xiaofan found a stream pool by a waterfall and jumped into the water. He took a few energy pills and divine dragon pills before starting to wash himself.
In a short while, with the combined power of the medicine and dragon energy, his skin was restored to its original state.
Even his hair had regrown.
"Screeeech—"
At this moment, the Sky-Breaking Eagle, carrying Li Mingxi, appeared before Cheng Xiaofan.
"Ah!"
Cheng Xiaofan let out a startled cry, frantically covering himself with his hands, and angrily shouted, "Evil eagle, I didn't call you back, why are you here!"
"Master, I sensed through my spiritual awareness that all people here have been cleared by you and it is safe, so I brought the beauty back!" the Sky-Breaking Eagle said somewhat aggrievedly.
It thought to itself, who knew you would be bathing here?
Besides, you saw Li Mingxi bathing before, so having her see you now doesn't seem wrong!
Li Mingxi also thought the same, saying, "Master, it's nothing. You continue your bath, I'll close my eyes and haven't seen anything!"
This girl!
She was clearly lying with her eyes wide open!
Why were her eyes so wide open?
Was she trying to devour him with her eyes?
"Turn your back!" Cheng Xiaofan said loudly.
Li Mingxi immediately replied, "Okay, I'll turn my back!"
Then she added, "Eyes unseen, heart at peace!"
"..." Cheng Xiaofan almost fainted.
He finished washing in a hurry, took out a change of clothes from his backpack, and quickly put them on.