The final image reflected in Pei Yan’s pupils was of bronze fragments flying as the Heavy Mace ripped through his Treasure Armor.

Before the Tier Eight Divine Weapon, his Circulation Sword Bone was as brittle as glass. It vaporized inch by inch, starting from his fingertips. His boiling flesh, caught in the wind of the mace, transformed into a shower of crimson meteors that melted honeycomb-like holes into the Earth Fire Rock a hundred feet away.

CLANG!

The Beidou Tianshu Armor slid from Pei Yan’s body and plunged into the lava. Xu Yunfan dropped to one knee, a scorching aura seeping from the gaps in his own Dragon Scale Armor.

Watching the armor sink, he reached out and snatched the Treasure Armor from the lava.

Before he could do anything, his Dragon Scale Armor began to pulse and shift, conveying a feeling of intense craving.

Xu Yunfan, having exited his Linn Character State, felt this strange reaction from his armor. His heart stirred, and he stopped suppressing it.

The moment he gave the mental command, the Dragon Scale Armor began to tremble impatiently, the gauntlet on his hand vibrating intensely.

Countless scales with dark gold dragon patterns pulsed like living things. They detached from the back of his hand and transformed into thousands of fine golden threads, wrapping around the other Treasure Armor layer by layer.

In the glow of the Earth Fire, the gilded patterns on the two Divine Weapons merged like quicksilver. Pei Yan’s Treasure Armor was being crushed to pieces by the leaves of the Dragon Scale Armor.

’It can actually devour other Divine Weapons...’

His pupils contracted as he saw streams of Qi Force erupt from the surface of the Beidou Armor in a desperate attempt to resist.

Dark red, blood-like flames erupted from the gaps in his Dragon Scale Armor. The shattered pieces of the Beidou Armor liquified like mercury, flowing along the golden threads and into Xu Yunfan’s Danzhong Acupoint on his chest.

In that instant, a massive surge of energy rushed into Xu Yunfan’s body, spontaneously activating his Profound Steel Hundred-Forged Body technique.

The Golden Flesh and Jade Bones anomaly flared to life, continuously refining the essence of the armor that the Dragon Scale Armor was filtering.

Xu Yunfan felt as if his internal organs were being tempered by Earth Fire. The bottleneck that had him stuck at the Minor Achievement stage of Blood Exchange actually loosened.

A flood of notifications from his Attribute Panel filled his vision. A quick glance revealed that the Skill Level for his Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer had increased.

As the last piece of armor dissolved, several strands of golden light brightened along the spine of his Dragon Scale Armor.

Seven silver stars traced a path along the armor leaves that formed the great dragon on its spine.

Xu Yunfan flicked his wrist. The armor vibrated, shooting out seven streams of Star Evil Sword Qi that sliced a pillar of lava thirty feet away in half.

It seemed the Tier Eight Divine Weapon, his Dragon Scale Armor, had even more functions yet to be revealed.

The ability to devour other Divine Weapon Armor alone was enough to make even a Nine Realms Qi Cultivation Supreme Grandmaster fight to the death for it, if word ever got out.

Xu Yunfan took one last look at the spot where Pei Yan had perished, blasted to smithereens by the Heavy Mace and consumed by the Earth Fire below.

A lion uses its full strength even when hunting a rabbit, let alone against someone like Pei Yan, a Walker of the Sword Pavilion. The slightest carelessness could have allowed his opponent to turn the tables.

’Good thing I broke through to the Blood Exchange realm beforehand.’

’If I were still in the Flesh Refining Realm, killing him would have been nearly impossible.’

He had spent the last few days racking his brain, trying to pry the secrets of the Empty Clarity Sword Washing Technique and the Triple Jiao Sword Nurturing Technique from Pei Yan. But Pei Yan had laid several traps for him, especially regarding the Empty Clarity Sword Washing Technique. If it weren’t for the Attribute Panel, he might have been fooled. Once the technique showed as "Complete" in his Skill Bar, he naturally gained access to the full version.

Only after seeing the complete Empty Clarity Sword Washing Technique did Xu Yunfan realize that Pei Yan hadn’t even given him the full outline.

’Such a vicious mind!’

The sound of something heavy hitting the ground suddenly came from the shadows of the cliff face.

Xu Yunfan’s gaze hardened. He hurled the Thunderfire Qilin Hammer toward the source of the sound like a viper striking from its den.

"It’s me!"

Qi Huan scrambled out from his hiding place, looking disheveled. The wind from the mace had torn off large patches of his demonic Cyan Scales.

His face was a mask of horror as he saw that Xu Yunfan was the only one left, surrounded by clear signs of a battle. Being a clever man, he instantly grasped the situation. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

He was stunned by Xu Yunfan’s sheer audacity, but even more so by his utter ruthlessness. To dare to kill someone from the Sword Pavilion, one of the most prominent of the Six Great Sects...

Qi Huan didn’t hesitate. He dropped to his knees with a thud. "Se... Senior Brother Xu! I, Qi Huan, am willing to serve you as my lord!"

"Senior Brother Xu..."

Xu Yunfan let out a dry laugh, shaking his head. He sighed, "Brother Qi, you have the worst timing. You were perfectly fine up there. Why did you have to come down?"

Seeing Xu Yunfan’s large hand reaching for him, Qi Huan’s composure shattered. He rasped, "Mile Temple! The Buddha’s Son from Mile Temple was coming! I had no choice but to come down!"

Xu Yunfan’s hand paused for a fraction of a second, then slammed down.

"..."

Watching Qi Huan’s corpse, eyes wide with disbelief, sink slowly into the lava, Xu Yunfan sighed. "Senior Brother Qi, I truly had no choice. In the future, if I remember, I’ll be sure to burn some spirit money for you."

He had killed the current Walker of the Sword Pavilion. If any word of this leaked, it would be a catastrophe not only for him, but for the entire Celestial Craft Cave.

Pei Yan had possessed an Innate Sword Bone, worn Divine Weapon Armor, and was protected by the Cyan Bamboo Sword. As long as he didn’t provoke a Grandmaster of the Refining the Internal Organs realm, he could have gone anywhere.

If they hadn’t been in the Little Heaven and Earth Secret Realm, Pei Yan would likely have been flanked by expert protectors from the Sword Pavilion.

This was a heaven-sent opportunity. In the outside world, he would never have had such a perfect chance.

’If I wanted no one to know, I had no choice but to send them both on their way.’

As he emerged from the fissure and stepped back onto solid ground, Xu Yunfan was surprised to see a bald monk in white robes standing not far away.

He raised an eyebrow and looked over. The white-robed monk had a slender figure, delicate as a lotus. The cinnabar dot between their brows was as crimson as a drop of blood.

Though their head was shaved, it bore no ordination scars. Their skin glowed with a luster like fine white jade. But the strangest part was that when their hands were pressed together in prayer, they revealed three fingers on the left hand and three on the right.

’Six fingers?!’

A thought stirred in Xu Yunfan’s mind. According to the Buddhist Scriptures, being born with six fingers was a sign of a Buddha.

The monk’s six fingers were as slender and pearlescent as new snow-white shoots, and a faint golden light of Sanskrit characters flowed between the knuckles.

"Amitabha Buddha."

As the female monk chanted the Buddha’s Name, a Seven-Layered Radiance Wheel bloomed behind her head, one layer after another.

Each layer of the wheel was formed from intricate Sanskrit characters, and the Six-Character True Words—*Om Mani Padme Hum*—could be faintly seen floating in the air.

She walked barefoot across the scorched earth, and with every step, an illusory golden lotus bloomed beneath her feet. The molten Earth Fire recoiled at her touch, as if in fear of this Buddhist Righteous Law.

Xu Yunfan’s pupils contracted. He blinked, wondering if he was hallucinating.

He realized in an instant, his mind reeling.

’This female monk... she cultivates a Spiritual Secret Method.’

As if sensing his scrutiny, a flicker of surprise appeared in the female monk’s eyes.

"I am surprised to see that you have entered the state, Benefactor."

"The state?"

Xu Yunfan was puzzled, but he understood she was referring to his practice of the Linn Character Technique. He didn’t elaborate, simply asking a question.

"What brings you here, Master?"

"I seek a path to survival. The Buddha told me I would find a spark of vitality here."

The female monk’s voice was like a clear chime as she spoke, her six fingers forming the Great Sun Buddha Seal.

Her white robes stirred without a wind, and Xu Yunfan suddenly caught a strange, wondrous scent. It was not sandalwood or musk, but rather the Pure Qi of a Bodhi Tree’s first budding leaves.

The fragrance was so potent it stirred the dormant Red Flood Dragon Force within his very flesh. Even the leaves of his Dragon Scale Armor, quiet since devouring the Beidou Armor, began to pulse.