He kept shouting, but his hands moved swiftly. With a swipe at his waist, he drew two short blades, dripping with blood, stepped forward, and in an instant was in front of Li Xuanxuan, thrusting his hand forward in a stab.

Li Xuanxuan was thankful that he had endured the pain and hadn't let go of the magic artifact earlier. Twisting the handle of the axe, he inverted it like a shield to block the man's bloody Sword Qi, shaking his chest in pain.

With his other hand, he quickly formed another Talisman, releasing a stream of golden light and conjuring a golden light barrier around himself, finally getting a chance to catch his breath.

The Devil Cultivator's strike missed and he fiercely retreated several steps, gasping for air—obviously, he had not yet recovered from the previous Talisman attack, and was also far from comfortable, cursing as he opened his mouth:

"You son of a... ambushing your grandpa…"

Li Xuanxuan quietly got up, sensing for a while that this person likely had a middle stage Qi Cultivation and was somewhat weak due to his own surprise attack, thinking to himself:

"This man is much faster than me. I absolutely cannot rush to escape. I must take a gamble to seek a slim chance of survival!"

In his heart, Li Xuanxuan was glad the man's cultivation was not as high as the previous Devil Cultivator with the Thunder Bead, and that their paths of cultivation were also quite different, thus he thought:

"Strike while he is sick! Seal his fate!"

With that in mind, he swung the large axe in his hand towards the man's face. The Devil Cultivator glared at him fiercely, crossed the blades, and managed to block the large axe. He then began chanting, spewing out a breath of bloody Qi.

This bloody Qi surged forth like smoke, perhaps some treacherous Spell. Li Xuanxuan did not recognize the method and could only grit his teeth and retreat, worrying to himself:

"What should I do now!"

He was not adept at fighting, with no reliable combat techniques, and even the magic artifact axe in his hand was chosen merely for its high grade, since no one in his family used an axe.

Seeing the Devil Cultivator gradually catch his breath and manage multiple successful strikes due to his superior speed, cutting flesh from Li Xuanxuan's body and even leaving a bloody hole in his thigh, Li Xuanxuan became increasingly anxious.

He clenched his teeth and retrieved a set of Talismans from his sleeve, thinking to himself:

"No matter how reluctant I am, I must survive to have a life to live."

Seeing Li Xuanxuan pull out a set of Talismans from his sleeve in one go, the Devil Cultivator, who was gradually gaining the upper hand, suddenly paled. Fumbling, he could only draw two Talismans, while Li Xuanxuan's hands were already shining with several Talismans, hurling them fiercely at him.

"Insane!"

The courtyard was narrow; the combined power of several Talismans exploding simultaneously was far from just a simple addition. The Devil Cultivator screamed, half of his body erupting into a mist of blood, stretching only three or four feet away in the dark yard before hearing: 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"Command!"

The Talismans burst into a bright red Spell light, and Li Xuanxuan, seeing that Fiend Fire was widespread here, chose Fire Techniques to unleash, causing a dazzling crimson light to shine forth, flames spewing out and engulfing both figures.

"Boom!"

The Pill Pavilion could no longer bear the brunt of the explosion and was immediately devoured by the raging flames, collapsing with a thunderous crash. Fortunately, the whole marketplace was already engulfed in fire, and the sound of collapsing structures was common and didn't attract much attention.

The Dharma Shield covering Li Xuanxuan shattered instantly, and he was flung out amidst the flames, rolling on the ground twice before vomiting blood again. Several ribs broke, and his left leg hung limply, evidently broken.

Surrounded by fierce flames, causing his skin to blister painfully, he struggled to his feet. Fortunately, he was some distance away, and his broken left leg was still connected by tendons. As long as his limbs were intact, it wasn't considered a serious injury.

After slapping a healing Spell on his leg, Li Xuanxuan unsteadily stood up, feeling his Mana completely drained within, probably because the Dharma Shield had used up all the Mana in his body to save his life.

"Where is that man..."

The Fiend Fire spread all around, inciting the flames to become even more intense, causing the broken wooden beams to wriggle like snakes in the air, distorting his vision. Li Xuanxuan saw the Devil Cultivator also struggling to his feet, looking twisted.

His flesh must have been cooked, giving off a smell of char, and the bones of his hands, stripped bare, still clutched those two short knives. He seemed in much better condition, stepping towards Li Xuanxuan steadily.

"You..."

The Devil Cultivator glared at him maliciously, just about to speak when suddenly, a small figure darted out of the large fire, a jade green pestle as thick as a human arm swooping down, smashing directly on his head.

"Crack─"

A loud sound of bone shattering echoed as the Devil Cultivator's head exploded like a watermelon, with white and red bits spraying out like fireworks, scattering all over the ground. The shattered teeth fell like raindrops upon Li Xuanxuan, and a couple even rolled into his sleeve.

"Thud."

Li Xuanxuan finally could not hold on any longer and knelt down, coughing up fresh blood.

"Pitter-patter..."

The monkey continued to swing the pestle, repeatedly striking the Devil Cultivator's chest, smashing blood and flesh, coating the monkey in blood, yet it did not stop.

Li Xuanxuan swallowed an Elixir and took a moment to catch his breath, then applied several healing Spells to himself. With the fire burning hotter around him, the area became a sea of red with thick smoke billowing. He called out:

"Good monkey... use fire! Burn with fire..."

Before the little old man could finish his words, he saw the blood-stained fingertips of the Devil Cultivator twitch.

Having witnessed the Devil Cultivator's signaling method before, Li Xuanxuan didn't dare let his guard down. Tears streamed from his smoke-irritated eyes as he kept his focus, quickly noticing the movement and crying out in shock, frantically pulling out his large axe.

Before he finished his move, the Devil Cultivator's abdomen suddenly swelled and, in a burst, exploded, sending a skinny child flying out, eyes wide with terror, landing and running towards the flames.