Conquering That Great Demon Lord [Xian Ni Fan Fiction] - Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Pursuit and Kill

She was still pondering whether to say something pleasant when her view was suddenly blocked by a leaning figure. A force lifted her from behind, a large hand resting against her waist and back as her knees rose along with her body.

Li Muwan was effortlessly lifted, the sudden force of being carried startling her. Instinctively, she clutched Wang Lin’s lapel, closing her eyes and pressing against his chest. Only when she felt his soft exhale did she slowly open her eyes, seeing Wang Lin’s solemn expression.

“Thank you, Senior Brother.” Li Muwan remembered to express gratitude, relieved he wasn’t completely wooden-hearted to abandon her here. Besides, he currently needed her to refine pills for him.

Wang Lin gazed ahead without looking at the person in his arms, flying out of the cave residence.

Behind them, two bodies turned to ashes and dissipated, while two storage bags followed and ultimately merged into his own storage bag.

Li Muwan’s slender frame was almost entirely obscured by his figure. With nowhere to rest her gaze and feeling awkward keeping her eyes closed, her vision drifted uncertainly before finally settling on his chest. As she pressed against him, she gradually sensed the unusual firmness of his body, and beneath his collar, a corner of shimmering material peeked through.

“Senior Brother, are you wearing the dragonhide armor I made for you?” Li Muwan looked up at him. “Does it fit well?”

Wang Lin dreaded her random questions like this.

Receiving no response, Li Muwan called again, “Senior Brother? Did you hear me?”

“Hmm.”

“What does ‘hmm’ mean?” Li Muwan said plaintively. “Does it fit or not?”

Wang Lin sighed lightly and replied coldly, “Yes.”

Sparing with words.

“That’s good then.” Li Muwan’s lips curved into a blooming smile.

Thinking that would be the end of it after he responded, she quieted for a moment.

“Love’s folly is born in the human heart, untouched by wind or moon. Yet how tragic flower-like beauty ultimately yields to fate’s cruel hand.” Her mood shifted again, tinged with faint sorrow. “Zhu Xin and Zhu Feng shared such profound affection, willing to tread unrighteous paths for each other. Such devotion is truly moving.”

“You overestimate yourself,” Wang Lin said indifferently.

“Overestimate?” Li Muwan was puzzled.

“You assume they are deeply loyal and consider yourself astute enough to read hearts. Thus, you believed they’d be grateful for your petty favors and let your guard down, inviting mortal danger. Isn’t that overestimating yourself?” Wang Lin’s words struck home, meant to shame her.

But Li Muwan shook her head. “It’s not that I overestimated myself I underestimated the depth of their bond.”

“Zhu Feng loved Zhu Xin deeply, unable to bear watching her exhaust her lifespan. He took desperate measures, resorting to the Foundation Stealing Art on me at any cost. Endangering my life was a last resort. If you could have spared them, Senior Brother, I might have helped Zhu Xin achieve Foundation Establishment.”

Wang Lin looked down at her, his gaze questioning. “Are you blaming me for killing without mercy?”

“Not at all,” Li Muwan gently rested her head on his arm. “You acted to protect me. The World of Cultivation is survival of the fittest it’s either you or them. No one is at fault, so how could I blame you?”

“Zhu Xin was Zhu Feng’s heart’s desire. To keep her alive, he would stop at nothing, even betraying his path. I brought this upon myself by ignoring your warnings and misplacing my trust, giving others an opportunity.”

“Fortunately, they only dared to target me. Had they attacked you and you suffered because of me, I’d be too ashamed to face myself.”

Wang Lin gazed at the person in his arms, somewhat dazed and puzzled. She certainly saw things clearly despite being plotted against, she could remain so broad-minded and forgiving, holding no grudges. Yet with such a temperament, it was remarkable she had survived this long in the World of Cultivation.

“Senior Brother, did I say something wrong?” Seeing Wang Lin’s confused expression, Li Muwan tilted her head and asked.

She must have experienced little of the world, thus retaining such innocence.

Li Muwan had been cherished by her elder brother since childhood, receiving meticulous guidance, and was deeply doted upon by her sect master and senior disciples. Having never faced true hardship and growing up immersed in love, she naturally learned how to cherish the world.

Her heart held warm sunshine she herself was the light.

Though Zhu Xin and Zhu Feng’s deaths were regrettable, Li Muwan wasn’t foolish. She wasn’t unaware of the world’s dangers and human nature.

She only wished to use her faint light to illuminate as many dark corners as possible.

This resembled Wang Lin when he first entered the cultivation world, except he could no longer find that version of himself.

The current him had crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, willing to do anything for revenge.

“Follow your own principles. No need to ask me,” Wang Lin said coldly, withdrawing his gaze and collecting his thoughts.

“Then if it were you, Senior Brother if someone you loved was dying in your arms, facing the dissipation of their cultivation would you be like Zhu Feng, defying the heavenly laws and saving them at all costs?”

His recently averted gaze returned to her. Seeing the sincere doubt in her eyes, he wanted to respond, but the question felt too distant to answer.

Someone he loved? He claimed he would never develop feelings for any woman, nor could he afford to.

His heart now contained only hatred there was no room for anything else, nor did he dare hope for more.

Wang Lin looked straight ahead, avoiding Li Muwan’s eyes, and said indifferently, “There are no ‘what ifs.’ I never make conclusions about illusory things.”

Right he was a Fiend, after all. Li Muwan stopped pressing.

As night fell over the Sea of Demonic Cultivation, Wang Lin increased his speed on the Flying Sword. After returning to the Cave Residence, they each entered seclusion.

Li Muwan had nearly damaged her foundation, but fortunately, Elixirs could help restore her cultivation and Spiritual Power. Though Wang Lin was also injured, he would fully recover after consuming the Spirit Elixir and meditating for a few days.

Merging the three pills took considerable time. The Fourteen Valleys within the Sea of Demonic Cultivation contained immense Yin cold energy. Perhaps training there could temper his body into a vessel capable of containing Yin cold energy, completely transforming into cold energy to harmonize the three Frost Pills.

He waited several days until Li Muwan fully recovered her cultivation before planning his outdoor training.

As the Stone Chamber door opened, Li Muwan ceased her hand seals and stood. “Senior Brother, are you going out?”

Wang Lin had grown accustomed to her greetings. “Mn.”

Li Muwan obediently stood waiting for him to specify the duration. After a long silence where they simply stared at each other, Wang Lin assumed she had something to say and waited for her to speak, but no words came.

Finally, Wang Lin broke the silence: “Do you need something else?”

“You haven’t said how long you’ll be gone this time,” Li Muwan said with innocent naivety.

Xu Liguo, resting his head on his hands, remarked boredly, “Ah, just like a young wife awaiting her husband’s return. So charming, so charming.”

“Master, why not just take her in?”

Wang Lin’s Extreme Awareness transmitted into the small sword space: “Noisy.”

“Spare me, Master! This lowly one was wrong, wrong!” Xu Liguo, having been struck, covered his mouth and sobbed incessantly, daring to feel anger but not voice it.

“Don’t worry. I promised to return you to the Luoshui Sect, and I’ll keep my word.” Wang Lin assumed she feared he might not return, abandoning her in the Sea of Demonic Cultivation, which was why she always cared about his return time.

Moreover, he wasn’t certain whether the cultivation method he had comprehended was feasible, nor how much time it would require, so he made no promises.

Li Muwan understood propriety. In the past, he would always proactively inform her of his schedule. She smiled warmly and handed over a dozen bottles of elixirs. “Senior Brother, take care on your journey. These are elixirs I’ve recently refined bring them all with you for emergencies.”

Wang Lin stored them in his Storage Bag and glanced at her. Li Muwan inexplicably felt flustered, then smiled again. “I’ll wait for your return.”

Noticing his slightly dazed expression, Li Muwan lightened the atmosphere by picking up Blood Moon beside her and stroking its head. “Blood Moon will be waiting for you too.”

Blood Moon opened its crimson eyes and twitched its ears.

Wang Lin nodded as if nothing were amiss, then turned and flew beyond the Formation.

The Cave Residence became unusually quiet. Even when he was present before, he would be silent, yet Li Muwan never found it still. Why did she now feel this emptiness?

So quiet that she felt distraught.

***

This time, Wang Lin’s absence lasted three years. Li Muwan waited in the Cave Residence for three years.

Throughout those years, the favorability in the Soul Pearl showed no change. Li Muwan didn’t know if he would return. The Fiend had promised to send her back to the Luoshui Sect before leaving.

The table was covered with elixirs she had refined over the years. Previously, she would deliver freshly made elixirs to Wang Lin’s Stone Chamber, though whether he consumed them remained unknown.

If he continued cultivating to enhance his power, how could he not need elixir supplies? For the sake of the elixirs alone, he ought to return.

After much contemplation, Li Muwan thought: Her soul blood and Soul of Life were entrusted to him he must not die!

[Li Muwan: Soul Pearl, can you sense the Fiend’s presence?]

[Soul Pearl: The favorability hasn’t dissipated, proving the Fiend is still alive.]

She naturally knew this. Her soul blood was with him; if Wang Lin died, she would perish too. But what if the Fiend no longer possessed her soul blood?

[Li Muwan: If the Fiend dies and my mission fails, will I never retrieve my Soul of Life?]

[Soul Pearl: If the host doesn’t change the target of pursuit, failure will permanently prevent recovery of the Soul of Life. However, if the target is switched before the Fiend’s death, it won’t affect the mission though target change is permitted only once.]

[Soul Pearl: Does the host wish to change the target of pursuit?]

[Li Muwan: My soul blood is still with him. Let’s retrieve it first.]

After three years, Wang Lin finally completed the fusion of three pills, lacking only the final step. He wasn’t entirely confident about this last breakthrough.

If he forced the impact, the hard-fused Frost Pill might shatter, nullifying all his efforts and forcing him to start over. He needed the Sky Sundering Pill’s assistance.

Li Muwan had once said that to ensure the Sky Sundering Pill’s success, it must be refined in a Pill Furnace of at least fifth grade.

Over three years, whenever disturbances occurred outside the Formation, Li Muwan would think Wang Lin had returned. She would rush to greet him, only to find it was either a Demon Beast passing by or ripples from the misty sea.

Her small face filled with disappointment as she gazed wistfully at Wang Lin’s Stone Chamber, worry etching her features. Remembering his warning after the incident with Zhu Xin and Zhu Feng, she rarely left the Cave Residence.

While lost in thought, she suddenly felt an earth-shaking Spiritual Power fluctuation from the Formation outside the Cave Residence the strongest disturbance in three years.

Li Muwan withdrew the Soul Pearl and stepped out to investigate, her steps heavy with a growing sense of foreboding.

Standing just outside the cave residence, a black shadow plummeted rapidly from above. The moment it hit the ground, it kicked up clouds of dust, and the shockwave of Spiritual Power sent Li Muwan stumbling back several steps.

At that moment, she clearly saw the figure cloaked in black robes, while outside the formation stood several fierce-looking Core Formation cultivators, eyeing the severely injured Wang Lin with predatory intent.

Li Muwan immediately activated the barrier, raising the formation’s defenses to their maximum. The formation materialized several lifelike flood dragons that roared with deafening fury.

She crouched and hurried forward with urgent concern, her voice heavy with emotion: “Senior brother, what happened to you?”

Hearing the familiar voice, Wang Lin forced his eyes open. His tightly contorted features spoke volumes about the injuries he had sustained, as the blurred shadow before him gradually came into focus.

The sight of someone caring for him so anxiously became his final vulnerability after days of narrow escapes from certain death during the pursuit.

He nearly sighed in relief. Three years he hadn’t been sure if Li Muwan would still be in the cave residence. Seeing her felt like finding a safe retreat.

But when he tried to speak, blood clogged his chest. In his severely wounded state, even talking was tremendously difficult.

Wang Lin forced out the stagnant blood from his chest. Li Muwan helped him up, maintaining proper decorum and distance despite the heavy scent of blood beneath his black robes.

Li Muwan didn’t know why he had provoked so many Core Formation cultivators, who had pursued him relentlessly to this point. But now, if they wanted to survive, there was no other choice.

As Wang Lin staggered unsteadily, Li Muwan noticed the talisman on the back of his black robes and exclaimed in shock: “It’s the Great Extinction Talisman!”

Struck by a Core Formation cultivator’s Great Extinction Talisman yet still alive, only one option remained.

“If not for this Dragonhide Armor,” Wang Lin clutched his chest, speaking with difficulty, “my injuries would be the least of my worries.”

After speaking, he coughed up another mouthful of blood. Bearing his weight, Li Muwan supported him as they entered the cave residence. The bloodstains trailing along the stone path showed how gravely he was injured, yet Wang Lin’s eyes showed no trace of panic.

With his weight pressing on her shoulders, Li Muwan struggled forward. Wang Lin paused and retrieved a pill furnace from his storage bag that he had obtained from the Artifact Refining Pavilion.

“This is a Fifth-Grade Elixir Furnace. Refine the Sky Sundering Pill to completion as quickly as possible.”

When Li Muwan opened the pill furnace, Spiritual Energy wafted out. Being clever, she immediately guessed the reason for Wang Lin’s pursuit: “Were they chasing you for this?”

“No.” Wang Lin firmly denied. “Right now, only if you successfully refine the pill and help me achieve Core Formation can we leave here alive.”

She had asked Wang Lin for the pill furnace. Whether he feared she would blame herself or worry she might surrender the furnace to save her life, he wouldn’t admit the truth.

By informing her of their dire situation and their intertwined fates, he wanted Li Muwan to willingly and wholeheartedly dedicate herself to refining the Sky Sundering Pill.

Understanding the critical situation, Li Muwan knew Wang Lin had returned to the stone chamber to meditate and heal, preparing to break through to Core Formation. She focused entirely on refining the Sky Sundering Pill while outside the cave residence, Core Formation cultivators continuously attacked the Nine Li Corpse Bone Formation.

The residual tremors disrupted her refining rhythm. In her anxiety, she caused the only semi-finished Sky Sundering Pill to fail during the final refinement stage.

Heartbroken and filled with guilt, she suddenly remembered that among the medicinal herbs Wang Lin had given her was the Demon Blood Vine. Wiping sweat from her forehead, she rallied her spirits, cleared her mind, and concentrated on pill refinement once more.

Half an incense stick of time later, she hurried into the stone chamber, slightly breathless: “Senior brother, senior brother…”

Wang Lin opened his eyes and glanced at her.

Li Muwan held the Sky Sundering Pill she had painstakingly refined, her voice tinged with exhaustion and tension. “This is the Sky Sundering Pill I refined using the Demon Blood Vine. Its potency… is slightly inferior…”

Without hesitation, Wang Lin took the pill and consumed it, continuing to circulate his energy. The immense Spiritual Power contained within the pill surged wildly through his meridians. Unable to withstand the overwhelming force, he coughed up another mouthful of blood.

At this critical juncture where life hung in the balance, he let go of all his previous wariness toward Li Muwan. If she were clever, she wouldn’t attempt any tricks at such a moment a fact Wang Lin well understood. Thus, he harbored no suspicion toward the Sky Sundering Pill.

“How much longer can the Nine Li Corpse Bone Formation hold?”

“Against the combined assault of five Core Formation cultivators, at most four days.”

“I’ll achieve Core Formation as quickly as possible.” Wang Lin drank the Spirit Elixir and closed his eyes to resume his cultivation, giving Li Muwan some reassurance. Meanwhile, falling rocks continuously crashed down within the stone chamber due to the attacks outside the formation.

Watching as falling debris threatened to strike Wang Lin during his critical cultivation, Li Muwan immediately formed hand seals and cast a protective barrier to prevent him from being disturbed during his Core Formation breakthrough.

Though the mission regarding the Soul Pearl remained important, their survival took precedence now. Only by wholeheartedly cooperating with this Fiend to overcome this crisis could she proceed with her subsequent plans.

After three consecutive days of assault, the Nine Li Corpse Bone Formation could hold no longer and was finally breached.

“There’s another formation inside?” Beyond the shattered Nine Li Corpse Bone Formation lay another layer of defense the simple magic array Wang Lin had initially set up using spirit stones, though it proved utterly fragile.

As expected, it offered no resistance against Core Formation cultivators.

Wang Lin remained deep in his Core Formation process. Seeing the five Core Formation cultivators approaching, Li Muwan though Wang Lin had denied it had long guessed their true purpose. She calmly retrieved the Hundred Beast Spirit Furnace from her storage bag. “Is this what you’re after?”

The Sky Sundering Pill was complete. Though this Fifth-Grade Elixir Furnace was priceless and had been protected by Wang Lin at the cost of his life, she had no choice but to reluctantly offer it to buy him more time.

“Girl, hand over the furnace.”

Li Muwan slightly furrowed her brows as she surrendered the Hundred Beast Spirit Furnace. Every moment of delay counted. During the pill refinement process, she had secretly infused a drop of her essence blood into the furnace. These Core Formation cultivators had long coveted the treasure and would inevitably fight over it exactly what she wanted to see.

As the cultivators began struggling for possession, an imperceptible smile touched Li Muwan’s lips, though anxiety soon followed as she wondered about Wang Lin’s progress inside.

The lead elder Qian Kun, watching the four others entangled in conflict, sharply rebuked them, shaking them from their obsession with the furnace.

“If Wang Lin could acquire a Fifth-Grade Elixir Furnace worth thirty thousand spirit stones from the Artifact Pavilion, he must possess even rarer treasures,” Qian Kun realized, no longer satisfied with just the furnace.

“A mere Fifth-Grade Elixir Furnace has made you lose your composure? This girl can manipulate such powerful formations and knows how to sow discord to buy time she’s no simple character.”

The four suddenly understood and ceased their struggle. With her plan exposed, Li Muwan could only form hand seals to detonate the furnace.

“You dare destroy the precious furnace!” This act further enraged the Core Formation cultivators.

With her cultivation level, she stood no chance against even one Core Formation cultivator, let alone five.

Yet Li Muwan didn’t retreat. At this moment, she pinned all her hopes on Wang Lin. And Wang Lin, deeply immersed in his Core Formation breakthrough, desperately needed her to stall for time.

She had already bought some time earlier. If they were to attack now, she could only use her own body as a shield. As an alchemist cultivator merely at the early Foundation Establishment stage, she stood no chance of winning.

After several exchanges, Li Muwan barely managed to block a few strikes, but this was already her absolute limit.

The sword array materialized by the Core Formation cultivator’s Spiritual Power struck at her relentlessly. Li Muwan gathered all her strength to withstand it.

Yet she couldn’t block the subsequent attack of light swords. In a critical moment, she narrowly dodged them but was caught in the residual shockwaves, sustaining severe injuries.

If the Core Formation cultivator continued attacking, she would undoubtedly be powerless to resist. Preparing for the worst to perish here today the gravely wounded Li Muwan, her Spiritual Power depleted, staggered to her feet. Her body was covered in wounds, her delicate, fair face smeared with blood and dust, an utterly wretched sight.

Her slender frame swayed precariously as if resolved to face death. Her gauzy robes fluttered in the wind as Li Muwan mustered the last trace of her Spiritual Power and cast it toward the cave entrance behind her. A faint shimmering barrier stirred not particularly strong, but it was the final defense she could offer.

“This life was originally saved by him. Now, I shall consider it repaid.” Li Muwan staked everything, two clear tears tracing down the corners of her eyes.

She hadn’t intended to sacrifice her life. Though reluctant and unwilling, repaying Wang Lin for his repeated life-saving favors made it worth it.

The Core Formation cultivator’s life-bound Magical Artifact instantly transformed into wave after wave of light, assaulting Li Muwan who stood guarding the Cave Residence.

Beneath her ethereal, breathtakingly beautiful face, a trace of serene acceptance surfaced in her smile.

Three years without returning, and upon meeting again, who would have imagined it would be under such circumstances.