Chapter 98: Deep Behind Enemy Lines (VII)

"If you had chosen to run just now, I wouldn't have been able to do anything. But now, I have locked onto you, and you have no chance left!"

Bai Fan scrambled up from the ground in a sorry state. Truly, the Nascent Soul Stage and the Golden Core Stage were separated by a watershed; there was a fundamental difference in their Spiritual Power.

He quickly adjusted his breathing, circulated his Spiritual Power, and regained his composure. His gaze was like a torch, staring straight at Demon Marquis Tianyan, showing not the slightest fear.

This Aura made Demon Marquis Tianyan feel a tingling sensation on his scalp. "This brat is strange; I must end this quickly!"

Demon Marquis Tianyan raised his blood-colored broadsword, which was emitting an eerie, demonic light.

"Tianyan Dragon Soul Slash!"

He slashed out, the blade edge burning with scorching flames, transforming into a fire Dragon that roared as it charged straight toward Bai Fan.

Just as the blade edge was about to reach him, Bai Fan moved his mind and once again utilized "Void Evasion".

Bai Fan's figure vanished instantly, as if he had turned into air. Immediately after, he reappeared on the other side, his form like the wind, nimbly dodging the fatal blow.

"Hmph! Using that trick again? Let's see how many times you can dodge!"

Demon Marquis Tianyan did not stop his blade momentum, swinging it several times in succession.

Every time Bai Fan appeared, a flaming blade edge would slash toward his face, forcing him to continuously utilize "Void Evasion".

The passageway was continuously scorched by flames, the stone walls collapsing in an instant, sending smoke and dust everywhere.

As his blade momentum continued to rise, the height within the passageway also increased; the rock walls had turned into molten lava, rolling and flowing on the ground.

Bai Fan utilized "Void Evasion" repeatedly, and the Spiritual Power within his body was being consumed extremely quickly.

Nearly half of the Spiritual Qi in his body had been drained, and his movements began to become sluggish.

Facing Demon Marquis Tianyan's ferocious offensive, cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

"Hiss—"

Another sharp blade radiance grazed Bai Fan's shoulder, tearing a gash in his clothes, and the scorching Saber Qi left a charred mark on his skin.

"That was close!"

Bai Fan cursed inwardly, his figure flickering and moving once again, narrowly dodging the second flaming blade edge that followed.

"Enough!" Demon Marquis Tianyan's face twisted into a ferocious expression. He roared, his hands suddenly gathering together, and the Spiritual Power in the entire passageway was instantly drained.

Violent flames surged and roared on his body.

With him as the center, the flames surged out in all directions, the scorching temperature causing the entire passageway to tremble.

"Go to hell!" Demon Marquis Tianyan shouted angrily, pushing his hands forward violently.

The massive flames condensed into a burning fire Dragon, accompanied by a deafening roar, as it lunged straight toward Bai Fan.

"A chance!" A cold glint flashed in Bai Fan's eyes.

He had been waiting for this very moment—Demon Marquis Tianyan's offensive had experienced a slight delay in this instant due to over-mobilizing his Spiritual Power.

"Greater Void Rend!"

Bai Fan whispered inwardly, his hands violently tearing at the Void Realm, and the Spiritual Power within his body exploded outward instantly.

A massive black fissure appeared before him; within the black crack, it seemed to contain endless devouring power, drawing in all the surrounding light.

"Boom!"

Accompanied by a heaven-shaking roar, that massive black radiance sliced through the air, striking directly toward Demon Marquis Tianyan.

The immense tearing force ripped the entire space apart, and a bottomless trench suddenly split open in front of Demon Marquis Tianyan, extending into the distance.

"What—"

Demon Marquis Tianyan was greatly alarmed and hurriedly brandished his blade to defend.

However, the terrifying suction force emanating from the black Void Realm crack locked his body firmly in place, the powerful pulling force making him unable to move an inch.

The crack was like a hungry beast, tearing toward him with precision.

"Ah!…" Demon Marquis Tianyan let out a shrill scream.

A line of blood spread from the center of his body, rapidly expanding along the surface of his skin, as if it were going to split him alive in two.

In the midst of the intense pain, he felt his internal organs being pulled out and his bones being crushed, and in the end, he finally endured it.

Beneath his feet, wherever the crack had passed, a bottomless trench had quietly formed, and the molten lava in the passageway was continuously flowing into this trench.

Bai Fan stood at the other end of the passageway, breathing heavily, his forehead covered in beads of sweat.

With that strike just now, he had gathered all his Spiritual Power to launch his strongest Void Rend, intending to kill Demon Marquis Tianyan in one hit.

But right now, Demon Marquis Tianyan was still alive; the recovery ability of the Nascent Soul Stage was very strong, and as long as he wasn't dead, he could fully recover in a very short time.

And he himself had now exhausted his Spiritual Power, fearing he would be unable to fight again.

"Is this… the gap between the Golden Core Stage and the Nascent Soul Stage?" Bai Fan murmured softly, a trace of exhaustion and unwillingness flashing in his eyes.

The gap in Spiritual Power Rank was simply like an insurmountable chasm.

A trace of blood spilled from the corner of Demon Marquis Tianyan's mouth, but a grim smile appeared on his face.

"Hahaha! Truly interesting… To think you could actually almost kill me with only Golden Core Stage cultivation."

He raised his hand to gently wipe away the bloodstain at the corner of his mouth, his gaze full of mockery and arrogance.

Bai Fan's heart sank; did he really have to use that move?

Demon Marquis Tianyan slowly walked toward Bai Fan, the flames on his body gradually compressing into his body, and his whole being emitted the same eerie red light as the broadsword in his hand.

"Next, I will not give you any more chances."

Demon Marquis Tianyan swung his blade like a storm, the scorching blade edges layering over one another, sweeping out with an earth-shattering Aura.

The flames were like a flood Dragon taking to the sky; the temperature inside the passageway suddenly climbed to the extreme, as if the very air were about to be incinerated.

Bai Fan's gaze was stern, and he once again forcibly circulated the Spiritual Power within his body.

His figure flashed rapidly, the power of Void Evasion being continuously triggered; every time he vanished and reappeared, it was like a ghost.

The flaming blade edges slashed down, grazing the positions where he had flashed, kicking up countless waves of scorching fire and churning up a wave of heat like a tsunami.

"Hoo—" Bai Fan had just flashed from the side when a blade shadow burning with eerie light suddenly descended above his head.

It was too late to dodge. "Void Barrier!" Bai Fan formed hand seals, and an invisible barrier quietly took shape.

It only held for an instant before the blazing flames directly tore through the Void Barrier, but this did give Bai Fan time to dodge the blade radiance.

However, the aftermath still swept across his body.

"Pfft!" Bai Fan felt a sweetness in his throat, and a mouthful of blood couldn't help but spill from the corner of his mouth.

He forcibly endured the churning blood and Qi in his body, once again relying on Void Evasion to escape to the other side.

But as soon as he landed, Demon Marquis Tianyan's deafening, wild laughter came from behind him.

"You can't escape! Come and die!"

Demon Marquis Tianyan's footsteps were like thunder, pursuing relentlessly. The blood-colored broadsword in his hand transformed into countless flaming slashes, raining down upon Bai Fan from all directions.

The entire passageway was swept by the blazing blade light; the stone walls collapsed instantly into molten lava, splashing everywhere, and the ground was slashed into a crisscross of cracks.

Bai Fan was dodging almost purely by instinct, his figure like a swallow, weaving through the airtight blade momentum, cold sweat sliding down his forehead.

He escaped from the blade edges narrowly many times, but the aftermath of Demon Marquis Tianyan's blade light grazed his body time and time again.