"Baa—!!"
The Human-Faced Two-Legged Sheep let out a twisted howl. On that swollen, grotesque human face, the single remaining eye stared fixedly at Zhao Qiao'er as she frantically fled for her life.
It had no desire to entangle with Lu Yuan.
Its hooves stamped hard, trying to bypass Lu Yuan and chase after Zhao Qiao'er!
A fierce glint flashed in Lu Yuan's eyes as his left hand, which had already formed the "Earth-Binding Seal," slammed violently toward the ground!
"Earth veins like locks, trap evil and suppress spirits, seal!"
Hum!
With Lu Yuan at the center, the ground within a ten-zhang radius rippled with a barely perceptible golden light.
This was the "Earth Vein Evil-Locking Technique" that Lu Yuan had learned from the system rewards. Though it was only a basic Daoist art, it could trap evil spirits' movement for a short time.
The Two-Legged Sheep had just charged two steps when its hooves seemed to sink into a quagmire, its speed suddenly decreasing.
It angrily turned back. On that twisted human face, the corners of its mouth split wider, revealing black-yellow fangs.
"Wu wu..."
The eerie wailing sound rang out again, even sharper and more concentrated than before.
Lu Yuan felt his vision blur as the surrounding scenery began to distort and deform.
Trees transformed into ghostly shadows with bared fangs and claws, the ground rippled with blood-colored waves, and even the air seemed to congeal into viscous liquid.
It was trying to weave dreams again!
Lu Yuan bit hard on the tip of his tongue. The severe pain mixed with the taste of blood exploded, forcibly maintaining a trace of clarity in his spiritual platform but he knew very clearly that this bit of pain alone could not resist the full erosion of a monster with two hundred years of cultivation.
He must take the initiative to attack!
"Five Thunder Righteous Law, break illusions and punish evil, quick!"
Lu Yuan's right hand formed a sword gesture and swept across the peachwood sword, frantically pouring spiritual power from within his body into the sword.
The cinnabar-carved talismans on the wooden sword suddenly lit up with crimson light, and a thread of lightning as fine as hair yet extremely condensed shot out from the sword tip.
Stabbing directly at the Two-Legged Sheep's forehead!
This wasn't true heavenly thunder, but rather "Palm Thunder" simulated by Lu Yuan using his own spiritual power, including the heavenly thunder that had blocked the Two-Legged Sheep earlier.
Thunder techniques were very, very advanced. Only Daoists who had truly reached the rank of Celestial Master could use them. However, although Lu Yuan's thunder had less than one-tenth the power of heavenly thunder, it excelled in being swift and precise, specifically breaking yin evil illusions!
Crackle!
The lightning struck the Two-Legged Sheep's forehead dead center. That human face let out a shrill, miserable scream as a cloud of black smoke exploded on its forehead.
The illusion violently shook, like a reflection in water scattered by a thrown stone.
The Two-Legged Sheep went completely mad.
It no longer tried to weave dreams, but instead its limbs' muscles bulged, its horns glowed with an eerie black light, and it lowered its head to charge fiercely at Lu Yuan!
The speed was astonishingly fast!
Lu Yuan's pupils shrank sharply as he held the sword horizontally in front of him with both hands.
Bang!!!
A heavy impact sound exploded.
Lu Yuan felt as if he'd been hit head-on by a charging wild bull, his entire body flying backward seven or eight meters.
His back slammed heavily into an old tree, shaking his internal organs violently.
Puff!
A mouthful of fresh blood sprayed out, staining the Daoist robe on his chest red.
Although the peachwood sword had blocked the direct piercing of the horns, fine cracks had already appeared on the sword's body.
This Dharma sword that had followed him for over a year was about to give out.
After landing a successful hit, the Two-Legged Sheep didn't pause at all. Its four hooves struck the ground as it charged again!
This time, thick black qi rose around its body. A venomous expression appeared on that human face, its horns pointing directly at Lu Yuan's throat!
I'm going to die!
This thought flashed through Lu Yuan's mind but Lu Yuan's body was faster than his thoughts. Almost instinctively, he rolled to the side while pulling out a handful of yellow talismans from his chest, scattering them forward without even looking!
"Golden light protect the body, all evil retreat, command!"
Seven or eight talisman papers spontaneously combusted in mid-air, transforming into a mass of dazzling golden light barrier.
The Two-Legged Sheep crashed into the golden light. The black qi and golden light collided violently, making a corrosive "sizzle" sound.
The barrier only held for two seconds before shattering with a thunderous crash, but those two seconds were enough for Lu Yuan to create distance.
He knelt on one knee, breathing rapidly, cold sweat streaming down his forehead.
The Two-Legged Sheep was too strong!!
Really too strong!
This kind of direct frontal confrontation, whether it was Lu Yuan's preemptive attacks or defending against the Two-Legged Sheep's attacks, each time required massive consumption of the spiritual power within his body.
Just that golden light curse had drained nearly twenty percent of Lu Yuan's spiritual power.
The gap between the two was too great.
Lu Yuan gritted his teeth and looked up toward Ningyuan Town. Zhao Qiao'er's figure had already become a small dot.
The distance to the town entrance was about a hundred meters more.
Hold on for thirty more seconds.
Just thirty seconds...
"Baa wu—"
The Two-Legged Sheep also noticed Zhao Qiao'er's escape and understood it must use its full power to kill Lu Yuan.
Otherwise, once Zhao Qiao'er entered the town, it would completely lose its chance.
In an instant, the Two-Legged Sheep stopped circling with Lu Yuan, and the black qi around its body suddenly surged.
The features of that grotesque, terrifying human face began to twist and shift, finally splitting open a third eye on its forehead.
A completely pitch-black, eerie vertical pupil with no whites!
The vertical pupil opened.
Lu Yuan only felt a chill shoot from his spine straight to the back of his skull, all his body hair standing on end!
Danger!
Extreme danger!
Almost on pure instinct, he threw himself to the side.
Swish!
An invisible mental assault grazed past Lu Yuan's scalp.
The old tree behind him, thick enough to require two people to encircle, instantly showed a cut half a foot deep in its trunk, the surface as smooth as a mirror.
Lu Yuan looked back at this scene, his scalp tingling.
This beast had actually been hiding such a killing move!
If he had been half a second slower just now, what would have been cut wouldn't be the tree trunk, but his own head.
Seeing that one strike had missed, the Two-Legged Sheep's vertical pupil gathered black light again.
No time left.
Lu Yuan knew he couldn't dodge a second strike.
He directly gritted his teeth and held the Dharma sword horizontally in front of him, preparing to forcibly withstand this strike!
As long as he could withstand this one strike, it would be enough, just this one!!
Zhao Qiao'er was already safe, just a few dozen meters from the town. After forcibly withstanding this strike, Lu Yuan would immediately retreat!!
But... clearly, Lu Yuan had somewhat underestimated the Two-Legged Sheep's killing move.
No, it wasn't really underestimating. One could only say that the gap between the two was truly like an impassable chasm, really too great.
Even though Lu Yuan poured all the spiritual power in his entire body into the Dharma sword in his hand, making the sword shine with dazzling crimson red, but...
When the Two-Legged Sheep's charged strike came down...
The Dharma sword in Lu Yuan's hand only held for less than a second. Then, this Dharma sword that had followed Lu Yuan for over a year subduing demons and eliminating evil shattered with a sound.
As the Dharma sword blocking in front shattered, the next moment, Lu Yuan felt a tremendous force slam into his chest.
It was exactly like being hit by a bull running at full force. Lu Yuan was instantly sent flying!
He tumbled over ten meters through the forest, breaking countless low saplings, finally falling powerlessly to the ground.
At this moment, Lu Yuan's mind was completely blank, his body like a puddle of rotten mud, unable to exert even half a bit of strength.
This strike had directly destroyed all his control over his body.
Forget standing up to escape, even moving a finger had become an extravagant hope.
It's... it's over...
This time... it seems I'm really going to die...
Lu Yuan lay powerlessly with his head tilted, his blurred vision looking toward the distance.
Zhao Qiao'er... should have already run into the town...
Because the Two-Legged Sheep didn't chase after her anymore, but instead dragged its venomous, twisted steps toward him, one step at a time.
The black qi around its body grew thicker and thicker, clearly preparing to deliver its final, most thorough strike.
It's really over...
Even if there were heavenly treasures in the system space, he had no strength to retrieve them.
Despair.
Utter, complete despair, like ice-cold seawater completely submerging him...
However, just when Lu Yuan thought he would surely die.
The Human-Faced Two-Legged Sheep that had been pressing closer step by step suddenly stopped in its tracks.
In those eerie eyes of its, an unprecedented fear actually appeared.
From who knows when, a strange crimson tide had surged up all around, like fresh blood... no, that was fresh blood!
A thick, pungent bloody smell frantically poured into Lu Yuan's nostrils.
Blood, boundless blood, was rushing in from all directions, transforming this mountain forest into a sea of blood.
At the same time, a line of blood-red characters abruptly appeared before Lu Yuan's eyes.
[Name: Gu Qingwan]
[Type: Ghost Bride]
[Cultivation: Ominous]
[Weakness: Ominous]
[Danger Level: ★★★★★★★★★★]
Lu Yuan: "???"
How... how many stars?!