### **Chapter 72: A Series of Twists and Turns**
This was the reality. He, goddammit, couldn't catch up.
It seemed the Phantom Movement Step could only solve the problem of close-quarters combat; long-distance pursuit was still his weakness.
He couldn't even catch a warm meal, let alone execute the schemes and ploys swirling in his mind.
Wang Yu couldn't help but curse inwardly a few times.
***
Meanwhile.
As time passed, the secret technique Steward Xu used to delay the spread of his injuries could only hold for one day at most. Once the technique's duration ended, he would suffer even more severe damage.
However, aided by spirit pills during this process, the True Essence in his Dantian sea had mostly recovered. Although his wounds were horrifying, they were temporarily stabilized by the secret technique, allowing him to regain the combat power of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
His rapidly fleeing figure came to an abrupt halt.
He turned around, facing the relentlessly pursuing Liu Jinxian, and revealed a "benevolent" smile:
"You truly believe I, Xu, dare not kill you?!"
His hands came together, swiftly forming a series of hand seals. A massive surge of True Essence fluctuation, like a raging river or ocean, swelled up in wave after wave.
Except these were waves of fire!
He was a fire-aligned alchemist, cultivated a fire-attribute technique, and his spellcasting followed the same path.
Only by specializing in one path could one achieve mastery.
Looking at the tidal waves of fire crashing in from all sides, reaching twenty or thirty meters high, Liu Jinxian was caught between them like an ant, completely flanked.
The sudden counterattack was beyond Liu Jinxian's expectations, but she wasn't a fool either; it was impossible for her to have no precautions at all.
At the critical moment.
A gray insect the size of a fingernail suddenly crawled out from her nostril. It resembled a woodlouse in shape but was covered in dense, turbid insect eyes.
*Squish—*
As the Gu insect burst, a gray carapace completely enveloped her. Yellow eyes sprouted from the seams of the carapace, staring fixedly at Steward Xu.
The fire waves crashed against the carapace cocoon.
Not waiting for the outcome, Steward Xu, holding a second-grade low-grade magical sword, leaped into the air and swung his sword down from a distance.
The air twisted from the intense heat.
The long sword unleashed a nearly two-zhang-long blazing sword aura, cleanly splitting the carapace cocoon in two. Streams of blood flowed from the fissure, and the insect eyes dimmed.
Steward Xu cautiously approached step by step, warily eyeing the flowing blood. His spiritual sense found it difficult to penetrate the carapace and perceive the situation inside.
He was also guarding against any potential trump cards she might still have.
One step, two steps...
Suddenly, the ground beneath Steward Xu's feet collapsed. Green, pink, and blood-red—three-colored poisonous mist erupted from the earth. His expression turned stern.
Pushing off the air with his feet, he shot straight up like a scallion pulled from dry ground. While escaping, he didn't forget to slash back with his sword, sending out another two-zhang-long blazing sword aura.
At that very moment, Liu Jinxian's Natal Gu, the [Blood Mosquito Gu], materialized from within the poisonous smoke. Its size rapidly expanded, swelling into a giant mosquito five or six meters long in the blink of an eye.
Its proboscis sucked violently, and the blazing sword aura was swallowed like water. The Blood Mosquito Gu's body, originally blood-red, became adorned with flame patterns. In barely a breath's time, it spat out a blood-red fireball the size of a water vat.
It was a tactic of repaying in kind!
Steward Xu was also caught off guard. Instinctively, he swung his sword, intending to unleash a third blazing sword aura. Unexpectedly, a stealthy, grayish-white poisonous wasp flew past him.
It shot a stream of venom from its rear end, which landed squarely on the magical sword. The spiritual light on the second-grade low-grade sword flickered once or twice. Although it didn't fail completely, it could no longer unleash the original sword aura.
There was no time for a second response.
The blood-red fireball solidly struck Steward Xu. Its power was considerable, like a small missile, creating a ring-shaped shockwave in the air as it exploded.
*Thud—*
A charred figure fell to the ground, only the slight rise and fall of its chest indicating any remaining life.
At this point, Liu Jinxian finally leaped out from underground.
She looked leisurely at the miserable state of this Foundation Establishment senior, a mocking arc appearing on her somewhat terrifying face. "Keep being arrogant now? Bully me, and I'll make sure you know what regret means!"
Liu Jinxian also approached cautiously, focusing intently on observing his condition. Only when she saw green poisonous blood seeping from beneath the charred skin did she finally relax.
"Although Jade Serpent Poison is only a second-grade toxin, it's not something an early-stage cultivator like you can resolve. Crawl over here, lick the instep of my foot, and I'll give you a chance to become my servant!"
She actually had such intentions? Truly, a newborn calf isn't afraid of the tiger!
Steward Xu, with more than half his life gone, his eyelids burned away, leaving only two bloody eyeballs rolling in their sockets, heard these arrogant words, and the madness in his eyes intensified.
"You... come closer..."
The Blood Mosquito Gu had not only severely wounded him again but also disrupted his secret technique. The two severe injuries erupted simultaneously, and he had almost lost the ability to stand, especially due to the Jade Serpent Poison.
He could feel his life fading. Half his gums were exposed, and the large areas of burns and suppuration all over his body made his voice hoarse and strained.
"I... am willing... to sign... a slave contract!"
"A brave man knows how to bow to circumstances." Liu Jinxian raised an eyebrow, her anger and frustration dissipating, replaced by a triumphant expression.
Despite her words, her actions showed no leniency.
Her hands formed seals, and a flying sword shot out from her storage pouch, slashing without hesitation towards Steward Xu's neck.
Clearly, her earlier talk of making him a servant was purely her twisted sense of fun, meant to humiliate the dignity of a Foundation Establishment cultivator and retaliate for the treatment she suffered at Profound Bone Mountain.
Her vindictiveness surpassed the rumors!
Flying swords weren't just used as flight artifacts; their sharpness was among the best of all sword-type instruments, making them one of the most commonly used magical tools by cultivators.
The one in Liu Jinxian's hand was no ordinary item either.
As it cut through the air, it made no sound whatsoever as it cleanly severed Steward Xu's head. The vitality in his body rapidly dissipated.
Seeing the matter settled, Liu Jinxian completely relaxed. This was her first time dealing with a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and she hadn't expected it to go so smoothly, which made her even more proud and self-satisfied.
"Be careful!"
Suddenly, Wang Yu's voice came from afar. Liu Jinxian instinctively leaped backward, but a rope-like strand of black smoke wrapped around her waist.
Thick black smoke billowed from Steward Xu's corpse.
The immense spiritual sense he had honed over years of alchemy, catalyzed by some unknown Demonic Path strange art, had actively transformed into a ferocious, malevolent spirit—a vicious ghost lacking reason!
At this moment, it swelled violently and swallowed Liu Jinxian whole in one gulp.
The sight made Wang Yu's scalp go numb.
Rushing as fast as he could, he was still a step too late. This was exactly what made Demonic Path cultivators so troublesome. Who the hell knew what sinister secret arts or unorthodox techniques they might possess...
Only by killing, burning the corpse, extinguishing the soul, and scattering the ashes could one be truly secure.
Even Xu Jiaojiao had a Demonic Path strange art to rely on; her father likely had some opportunities of his own. After all, in the Crimson Kite Demon Domain, anyone who could advance to Foundation Establishment on their own merit, especially a first-generation cultivator who climbed up from nothing, definitely had a few tricks up their sleeve.
"This is troublesome now."
**(End of Chapter)**