Volume 1 Volume 6 Chapter 102

Volume 6 Chapter 102: Fate and Choice (10)

The battle may seem complicated, but since both sides started fighting, it has only been a matter of just a few breaths.

Xu Qingfan had not expected that in just a few breaths, the "Disintegration Method" would begin to backfire on him, and the backlash came so violently.

After being sent flying by the demon’s black wings, Xu Qingfan saw the demon chasing him. He was about to counterattack when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his body. In that pain, Xu Qingfan was horrified to discover that the veins, internal organs, energy center, and even his flesh and bones inside were slowly beginning to shatter and break apart—this was a sign of collapse!

Moreover, as time went on, the speed of the disintegration was becoming faster and faster.

The body was collapsing! Turning to nothingness, disappearing between heaven and earth!

Thinking of such a consequence, Xu Qingfan felt a chill in his heart.

Xu Qingfan did not know that the "Disintegration Method" actually acted so quickly; it was just that before using the Disintegration Method, he was already exhausted and had reversed it with the "Formula of Life and Death" cultivation method, causing the backlash to be even fiercer.

In that moment of distraction, the demon had already dashed in front of Xu Qingfan, its claws slashing towards his chest with fierce energy. At the critical moment, Xu Qingfan finally reacted just in time and barely blocked with the "World Defying Sword" in front of his chest. However, the attack power of the demon’s tail was even more fierce, transforming into a dark shadow ready to strike Xu Qingfan. However, Xu Qingfan used the "Five Spirit Bell" to block its path.

However, as Xu Qingfan gradually grew familiar with the demon’s methods, the demon seemed to also adapt to Xu Qingfan’s various abilities. After merging with many demon beasts, it gained the fighting instincts of a demon beast. The seemingly unstoppable dark shadow actually dodged and circled around, attacking Xu Qingfan from another direction just before colliding with the "Five Spirit Bell."

Xu Qingfan did not expect that the monster still had strength at this moment. Caught off guard, even though he tried his best to dodge, he was still struck on his left arm by the monster’s sword tail. With a loud crack, he felt his bone break under the fierce force. When the sword tail was pulled back, it brought out a large chunk of flesh and blood from his arm, tangled in its sharp hooks.

Xu Qingfan took a deep breath, his eyes shining with determination. He bit his tongue and sprayed a mouthful of blood onto the "World Defying Sword" in his hand. Suddenly, the power of the "World Defying Sword" surged, and a massive wave of dark energy spilled out. The monster, clawing at the "World Defying Sword," felt a sinister energy emerge from it. This energy invaded its body through its arms, causing the monster’s numerous eye sockets to explode and its muscles to intertwine and squeeze tightly, putting immense pressure on its bones.

The monster screamed in shock, instinctively letting go of the "World Defying Sword" and retreating dozens of yards away, working hard to expel the invading dark energy. Fortunately, the monster’s own energy was just as strange and powerful, and the "World Defying Sword" had not fully matured, so its dark energy was not strong enough to compete. With a shudder, the monster’s arms suddenly exploded into a mist of blood, and the dark energy never reached its chest before dissipating into the air after the explosion of its arms.

However, the monster’s healing ability was truly amazing. Before the blood mist even disappeared, its arms, now only bones, had already mostly healed.

But Xu Qingfan showed no mercy. He swung the "World Defying Sword" in his hand, and instantly, dark energy overflowed around him, transforming into four massive black demon dragons that charged roaring towards the monster.

In this brief moment of respite, Xu Qingfan forced himself to calm down and roughly estimated his physical condition, feeling even colder inside. If things continued like this, in three incense sticks’ time, his body would completely collapse. If he continued to use the "Disintegration Method" for more than a tea time, even if he defeated the monster, Xu Qingfan would certainly die with no way to recover.

He must finish the battle within a tea time!

Or rather, Little Black must subdue those "Dark Crows" within a tea time to fight the monster for him.

While Xu Qingfan was checking his body and thinking, one-fifth of a tea time had already passed!

Just then, a loud roar echoed as the monster unleashed its "Five Elements Explosion" power. Under its enormous strength, the four demon dragons that were fighting with it were instantly turned to dust.

Then, the monster let out a roar and charged at Xu Qingfan again.

Xu Qingfan sighed and raised his sword to meet it. The difference in strength between them was too great. Even with Xu Qingfan using the "Disintegration Method," which greatly increased his power, he was still at a disadvantage.

After all, the monster had the strength of a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator!

Furthermore, as time passed, the effect of the "Disintegration Method" slowly weakened. Xu Qingfan could clearly sense that his strength was diminishing with each moment.

…

While Xu Qingfan was battling the monster, Little Black was reaching a critical moment in capturing the "Dark Crows."

Although Little Black did not know why Xu Qingfan’s strength suddenly recovered and even grew, he sensed it was likely not a good sign for Xu Qingfan. This moment of showing off his power could lead to endless trouble.

After Xu Qingfan led the monster away, the "Dark Crows" breathed a sigh of relief, shifting their attention back to Little Black. In a state of urgency, Little Black eagerly released his aura and pressure to the maximum, pressing down on the "Dark Crows" in the sky.

The thirty or so Earth-level "Dark Crows" did not back down; they joined forces to exert pressure and resist Little Black.

Time passed slowly. In terms of strength, the thirty or so Earth-level "Dark Crows" were stronger together, but Little Black showed a kingly spirit. In the end, the Human-level and lower Earth-level "Dark Crows," about two thousand of them, all completely submitted to Little Black. However, the thirty or so Earth-level "Dark Crows" remained unmoved, while around two to three hundred middle-class Earth-level "Dark Crows" hovered between the two sides, unsure of what to do.

Having gained the submission of over two thousand "Dark Crows" all at once, Little Black would normally feel proud in front of Xu Qingfan for a long time. But not now; although the number of "Dark Crows" was vast, their strength was low, the strongest being only comparable to a human at the Fake Golden Core Stage. In the war between humans and monsters, their only use would be as cannon fodder.

What Little Black truly wanted—the thirty or so Earth-level "Dark Crows"—still showed no signs of submission. Only by winning their loyalty and joining forces could it stand against the monsters.

Little Black felt anxious. After sensing Xu Qingfan’s situation, it desperately wanted to rush to help Xu Qingfan with the cannon fodder "Dark Crows." In fact, it was already prepared to do so but had been stopped by Xu Qingfan’s timely intervention.

Watching this scene, Little Black sensed that Xu Qingfan was losing in the distant battle. Finally, it made a bold decision, landing on the ground to open the green jade box that Xu Qingfan had left behind before fighting the monsters. Instantly, an overwhelming, pure aura of death spread across the sky.

What the jade box contained was part of the "Purgatory Staff," the green skull filled with death energy!

The reason Little Black had hesitated to take out this skull was that Xu Qingfan had advised against it unless absolutely necessary. According to Xu Qingfan’s guess, the monsters’ strength was partly due to the staff within them. If they discovered the other part of the "Purgatory Staff," no one knew what the monsters would do. With the monsters already so powerful, if they were to obtain the staff’s head as well, their strength would become even more terrifying.

But with things reaching this point, Little Black decided to bring the skull back into the world to quickly help Xu Qingfan!

Feeling the vast and pure energy of death, countless "Dark Crows" shivered in the world, not out of fear, but because of excitement!

No one understands how hard it is for the "Dark Crows" to evolve. The energy of death is one of the most mysterious energies in the world, and the "Dark Crows" must absorb a lot of it to evolve. But how much death energy is there in the world? How many creatures have died in the Western Desert? And how many "Dark Crows" are there?

For this reason, the evolution of the "Dark Crows" is just as difficult as that of the Spirit Fox tribe. Seeing so much death energy at this moment, how could they not be thrilled?

Little Black grabbed the skull with its claws and slowly flew into the air. It proudly glanced at the "Dark Crows" in the world and suddenly controlled the death energy inside the skull, spreading it towards several Human Level "Dark Crows" that had submitted to it first.

The vast black death energy quickly wrapped around four or five Dark Crows. Inside the black mist, these Dark Crows screamed with excitement. After a moment, their screams gradually quieted down, and after a little while, the black mist cleared to reveal four or five black cocoons in front of the "Dark Crows."

The "Dark Crows" knew that being wrapped in black silk cocoons was a sign of evolution for their tribe. When those "Dark Crows" break free from the cocoon, their power would greatly increase. Looking at the fluctuations of death energy in the black cocoons, it was possible they would evolve two levels once they emerged.

Of course, this was also related to the low levels of these "Dark Crows." After all, they were the first to submit to Little Black under pressure. They only needed a small amount of death energy to evolve, and these weak lucky ones had become Little Black’s prized horses.

Seeing all this, greed flashed in the eyes of each "Dark Crow," finally understanding why Little Black had evolved to such a degree in just two hundred years.

However, Little Black’s strong power and the pure, regal aura around it made the "Dark Crows" dare not act recklessly. After all, Little Black’s strength was clear, and even if they were lucky enough to take that skull, they had to be wary of other "Dark Crows" trying to snatch it away.

Little Black did not realize that its show almost caused a crazy grab among thousands of "Dark Crows." Instead, it released its strong aura towards the two or three hundred earth level middle class "Dark Crows," while continually making "caw caw" sounds like a crow, meaning that once they submitted to it, they would not only belong to the rightful side but also share this treasure with them.

Finally, under pressure and temptation, those two or three hundred earth level middle class "Dark Crows" chose to submit to Little Black. Like other "Dark Crows," they landed on the ground, folded their wings, and lowered their heads deeply to show submission.

After the earth level middle class "Dark Crows" showed their submission, Little Black turned to look at the remaining two or three dozen earth level high class "Dark Crows" in the sky. This time, Little Black did not force them with just its own power but kept making "caw caw" calls. Under Little Black’s control, all the "Dark Crows" that had submitted released their own aura, combining it with Little Black’s aura, pushing towards the two or three dozen earth level high class "Dark Crows."

The combined aura of nearly three thousand "Dark Crows" pressed down on the two or three dozen earth level high class "Dark Crows" like a massive mountain. Although these high class "Dark Crows" were not afraid together, divisions appeared within them; some still resisted, while others hesitated.

Finally, when the first earth level high class "Dark Crow" also landed and lowered its head to show submission like the others, the other "Dark Crows" realized that the situation was lost and one by one began to land and show their submission.

Thus, with the help of the emerald green skull, Little Black officially became the first king of the "Dark Crow" tribe in thousands of years.

Every king, after establishing their own kingdom, always feels the urge to express their pride and power. But at that moment, Little Black could not think of such things. When the last earth level high class "Dark Crow" also showed submission, Little Black eagerly called out several times to announce the establishment of its status, then led countless "Dark Crows" toward the battlefield to support Xu Qingfan in the fight against the demons.

…

Little Black did not know that when it took out the tip of the "Purgatory Staff," it inadvertently saved Xu Qingfan once again.

Or perhaps the demon itself did not realize that its body was actually controlled by two parts: one part was the endless resentment of Zhong Ling, the master of the Zhong family, before he died, and his obsession with killing Xu Qingfan. The other part was the main component of this body, the source of energy—the staff of the "Purgatory Staff."

This "Purgatory Staff" was originally created when the Zhong family was almost destroyed. The ancestor of the Zhong family, who was the father of the family’s elder, was angry that, despite his extraordinary power, he was bullied by other clans due to the lack of a decent magical tool. Thus, he used his own body as the core, gathering the dead energy from countless high-level zombies to forge this "Purgatory Staff."

The biggest difference between a magical artifact and a magical tool is that a magical artifact has its own unique "soul." The "soul" of this "Purgatory Staff" is the soul of the Zhong family’s ancestor. After becoming a magical artifact, although all its obsessions and memories from its past life were erased, its instincts remained.

Most of the time, Zhong Ling’s resentment was greater and his obsession deeper, while the staff of the "Purgatory Staff" retained only some basic instincts of the soul. Therefore, the body of the demon was always controlled by Zhong Ling’s resentment after his death.

At that moment, although Xu Qingfan had done his best in surprise, he was still driven into a desperate situation by the demon. His left arm lost the power to move, and a large hole was pierced in his right leg by the demon’s sword tail, bleeding profusely, with a clear scratch mark on his chest that went deep to the bone.

Additionally, his body had begun to collapse, and the effect of the "Disintegration Method" gradually weakened over time, leaving Xu Qingfan without the strength to resist the demon.

Struggling to block the demon’s full-force attack, Xu Qingfan fell heavily to the ground, stirring up a massive cloud of dust, leaving him unable to rise for a time.

As the demon approached for the chase, Xu Qingfan desperately raised the "World Defying Sword," but his movement was slightly delayed. At that moment, Little Black brought out the tip of the "Purgatory Staff," and its aura instantly reached this place.

The demon was about to use one claw to rip out Xu Qingfan’s heart and crush his head with the other claw. However, when it flew within three yards of Xu Qingfan, a sudden intense obsession arose in its heart, causing the demon to fly to Little Black’s position, reclaim the staff tip, and merge it with the staff body.

However, it was the "Item Spirit" inside the magical tool that was at work.

But Zhong Ling’s strong desire was to kill Xu Qingfan, and the two desires clashed against each other, refusing to give way.

Because of this, Zhong Ling’s charge toward Xu Qingfan momentarily paused, and in that brief moment, Xu Qingfan finally dodged the monster’s attack.

In the end, Zhong Ling’s desire to kill Xu Qingfan was stronger and overwhelmed the "Item Spirit’s" wish to reclaim the tip of the staff, and he continued to rush toward Xu Qingfan.

However, when he came to his senses, he realized that Xu Qingfan was no longer in front of him.

But the monster had a keen sense of Xu Qingfan’s presence, and the next moment, it immediately found where Xu Qingfan was.

Xu Qingfan was right beside him.

As the monster turned around, it found that Xu Qingfan had taken advantage of its moment of struggle and had flashed to its side. When it turned, its chest met Xu Qingfan’s, and Xu Qingfan, using all his strength, plunged the "World Defying Sword" into the monster’s chest.

Earlier, the "World Defying Sword" had injured the monster twice, causing two shallow wounds that only let out some blood, but now, after being completely plunged into the monster’s body, it began to wildly absorb the monster’s essence and souls.

The body of the demon was formed by merging countless demon beasts and cultivators together.

As the "World Defying Sword" absorbed energy, the many strange eyeballs covering the demon began to burst one by one. The power from the demon flowed quickly into the "World Defying Sword," making it even stronger and enhancing its ability to absorb souls and blood.

The demon roared in fear, pushing Xu Qingfan away with its last bit of strength. It reached for the sword’s hilt, trying to pull out the "World Defying Sword," but it felt as if the sword was a part of its body and would not budge at all.

The demon beast roared and struggled, constantly trying to pull the "World Defying Sword" from its chest. Countless strange eyeballs kept bursting, and blood dripped into the yellow sands of the Western Desert.

After a long time, the demon’s power weakened by almost half before it finally pulled out the "World Defying Sword." At that moment, the sword, having absorbed countless souls and blood, was filled with strong demonic energy, its power increased many times. As it left the demon’s body, it seemed like a towering pillar of magic surrounded by a lot of dark energy, and once the demon threw it aside, it returned to its form as a sword.

After barely escaping danger, the demon gasped, trembling, and stared at Xu Qingfan in the distance with deep hatred in its eyes. The wound on its chest continued to bleed. Although it had strong healing abilities, the injury caused by the "World Defying Sword," tainted by demonic energy, was not easy to heal.

Step by step, the demon moved toward Xu Qingfan. The "World Defying Sword" truly was a powerful artifact, causing the demon to lose more than half of its strength in a short time. The demon now walked with a slight unsteadiness.

But this time, the demon was determined to kill Xu Qingfan no matter what.

Just as the demon was about to reach Xu Qingfan, dozens of dark shadows suddenly flashed between them. Xu Qingfan focused and saw nearly thirty large black figures blocking the demon from him. These figures wore wide black cloaks, their eyes glowing with blood-red light, holding a "Death God Sword" in their left hand and a "Book of Life and Death" in their right.

It is the unique ability of the "Dark Crow" clan, evolved to Earth level, known as the "Death God Clone"!

Behind the demons, thousands of "Dark Crows" gathered together, forming a vast black cloud that quickly approached.

…

Although the battle that followed was fierce, there was no doubt about the outcome.

The demon, weakened by more than half its strength, seriously injured and attacked by demonic energy, could no longer resist nearly thirty Earth level high "Dark Crows," over two hundred Earth level middle class "Dark Crows," and about seven hundred Earth level low "Dark Crows."

In fact, just to defeat those nearly thirty "Death God Clones," the demon used up half of its remaining strength. After that, it fell into siege by countless "Dark Crows," who unleashed their speed to the fullest, constantly pecking at various parts of the demon’s body, either sucking away some mutated death energy or piercing one of its eyes.

Overall, mutated death energy is harmful even to "Dark Crows," but their greed for the death energy is unimaginable to others; even mutated, it is still death energy, and they can slowly refine it.

Thus, under the siege of countless "Dark Crows," the demon fought for several hours, but ultimately was killed. Before dying, it still stared fiercely at Xu Qingfan, filled with deep hatred, and its last action was to lunge at Xu Qingfan, but was knocked aside by Little Black.

Xu Qingfan did not know that the demon could be killed by the "Dark Crows" for another reason: it had to suppress the "Item Spirit," which caused the death energy provided by the "Purgatory Staff" to greatly decrease…

But none of this mattered anymore.

When Little Black arrived to help, it was already past tea time!

Xu Qingfan’s body was already falling apart, and there was no way to stop it.

At that moment, Xu Qingfan was still alive, but only because the holy power inside the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" was keeping his last breath of life alive. However, all the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" could do was to prolong his time a little. It could drive away poison, heal wounds, and eliminate evil, but it could not save Xu Qingfan’s failing body.

After the monster died, its body slowly shrank until it turned into a green staff and something that looked like an eye, shining and mysterious under the sunlight.

The green staff was the body of the "Purgatory Staff." As soon as it appeared, it flew towards the green skull under Little Black’s claws. Surrounded by a dark energy, the two items quickly joined together, becoming the true "Purgatory Staff." At that moment, the complete "Purgatory Staff" seemed to hold back its dark energy.

Little Black picked up the "Purgatory Staff," the "World Defying Sword" that had fallen nearby, and the mysterious shining eye, and brought them to Xu Qingfan’s side.

Xu Qingfan looked at the "Purgatory Staff" and the "World Defying Sword" beside him, then glanced at the many "Dark Crows" swirling above him, and suddenly smiled bitterly.

Xu Qingfan suddenly remembered the vision he had received during his fortune-telling years ago. In that vision, he had become a demon, surrounded by demonic energy, holding the "World Defying Sword" in one hand and the "Purgatory Staff" in the other, while countless "Dark Crows" circled above him. He looked like an unbeatable Demon King.

At this moment, both the "World Defying Sword" and "Purgatory Staff" were in his hands. Through Little Black, he also controlled countless "Dark Crows." The images from the divination showed that almost all the conditions were met.

However, he hadn’t turned into a demon yet; he was about to become a ghost first…

"At least, I won’t turn into a demon and disturb the world; this is a small piece of good luck among misfortunes… Heavenly Way… fate… there are indeed times when it can change, although this change is not what I expected…"

Xu Qingfan closed his eyes, feeling his body gradually falling apart, quietly waiting for the moment of death to arrive.

What Xu Qingfan did not know was that at this moment, Zhang Xusheng, who had just lost his body and was left with only his Nascent Soul and Original Life Essence Blood, was accidentally flying toward his location, being chased by the three Grandmasters of the righteous path.

The moment his fate changed was just the beginning.

However, whether he becomes a ghost or a demon ultimately depends on himself.