Longevity: Starting as a menial servant in the Green Wood Sect

The air was sliced ​​by countless transparent threads, emitting a piercing shriek. The inescapable net that had been laid out long ago suddenly tightened under Gu An's frantic pulling, like a greedy maw biting down on Wang Mazi in the arena.

"You bastard!"

Wang Mazi roared, his face contorted with terror. He could clearly feel the sharp, cold air approaching from all around. If he were caught in this net, even if he was at the fifth level of Qi Refining, he would be cut into pieces.

"Open it for me!"

In this life-or-death situation, Wang Mazi dared not hold back any longer. He slammed his storage bag shut, and a palm-sized, jet-black iron shield shot out, swelling to the size of a door in the wind to protect his body. At the same time, he crushed a priceless Explosive Flame Talisman in his hand.

This is a talisman of a higher rank than the Fireball Talisman, and its price is more than ten times higher, but Wang Mazi has no choice but to use this life-saving magic weapon now.

After all, you can buy talismans with spirit stones, but if a person dies, they're really gone. No one would want to let decades of hard work go to waste.

The moment the Exploding Flame Talisman was unleashed, it triggered a deafening roar!

A crimson wave of fire exploded outwards in a ring centered on Wang Mazi. The intense heat, accompanied by shockwaves, slammed violently into the tightened Xuan Yin silk net.

sizzle-

The silk threads, having been soaked in oil and quenched with poison, were exceptionally tough and managed to cut through the flames. However, faced with absolute force, several threads that were the main points of stress could not withstand the pressure and snapped with a "crack".

The shockwave made Gu An feel a sweet taste in his throat, and the tiger's mouth of his right hand, which was pulling the main string, split open and bled profusely.

His carefully laid trap was ultimately broken.

Although Wang Mazi was dressed in rags and his hair was disheveled, he still survived. Looking at the broken silk threads around him, the resentment in his eyes was almost tangible, and the low-grade flying sword that was suspended in mid-air pierced the clouds, emitting a bloodthirsty hum.

"Good...very good!"

Wang Mazi gasped for breath, a cruel smile playing on his lips. "You've used every trick in the book, haven't you? Now, die!"

He pointed his sword, and the flying sword transformed into a cold light, no longer engaging in any piercing maneuvers, but heading straight for Gu An's neck—a fatal decapitation strike.

At this moment, Gu An's left arm was pierced, his right hand was seriously injured, and although the medicinal power of the Exploding Spirit Pill was still in his body, his meridians were on the verge of rupture. The aftereffects of the Exploding Spirit Pill had already started to take effect. If this stalemate continued, and the side effects came to a complete end, he would be unable to use any spiritual power and would surely die.

But he couldn't dodge this fierce attack right now. It wasn't that Gu An didn't want to dodge, but that there was no way to avoid it. This was not only a suppression of speed, but also the despair of being locked on by divine sense.

Gu An stared intently at the approaching cold light, his eyes filled not with despair, but with madness. He suddenly reached into his robes with his left hand and pulled out a talisman that shimmered with a pale gold light—the "Vajra Talisman" he had recently purchased at a high price.

"rise!"

A thick golden light shield appeared out of thin air, enveloping his entire body.

clang!

The flying sword slashed fiercely at the light barrier. The sound of metal clashing against metal was deafening.

The light shield trembled violently, lasting only a moment before becoming covered with spiderweb-like cracks.

Crack! The Vajra Talisman burned to ashes. But the flying sword's killing intent was also blocked, deflected three inches, and slammed into the rock behind Gu An, embedding itself three inches deep.

However, there was only one talisman, and Wang Mazi clearly had some left over.

"Chuanyun, come here!" Wang Mazi's eyes were filled with ruthlessness. He clenched his fingers and suddenly summoned the flying sword back into his hand. "Damn it, I almost got tricked by you, kid. You're the first person to hurt me like this. You deserve to die! Die!"

Wang Mazi thrust out his sword, and upon receiving the order, attacked again.

The sword flashed, leaving only a breath of reaction time!

Gu An neither retreated nor fled. He didn't even bother with the flying sword that was so close at hand. His eyes flashed with ferocity, like a lone wolf cornered in a desperate situation. He let out a low growl, and the ground beneath his feet exploded.

"kill!"

Instead of retreating, Gu An advanced! His figure was like a cannonball, narrowly dodging half of the sword energy, and charging madly towards Wang Mazi, who was ten feet away, despite the flying swords kicking up debris.

His left arm wound ripped open from the intense exercise, and blood gushed out, but he was oblivious to it. He didn't even care about the flying sword that was about to fly back behind him. Right now, his eyes were filled with determination, and he had only a death wish.

Wang Mazi's pupils constricted sharply. He had never seen such a reckless fighting style. Cultivators usually maintained distance and used spells and magical artifacts to kill each other. This kind of madman who would fight hand-to-hand with sword energy even if it meant his intestines were torn apart was simply unheard of.

"You're asking for it! Do you really think I'm afraid of you?!"

Wang Mazi was a seasoned veteran; his panic lasted only a moment. Seeing that the flying sword couldn't arrive in time, he formed a claw with his left hand, lightning surging in his palm.

"Palm Thunder!"

Crackling sounds filled the air as he slammed a bolt of lightning, as thick as a child's arm, into his palm. It carried an aura of destruction and struck Gu An, who was charging towards him.

There is no way to avoid it.

Gu An had no intention of dodging. He straightened his chest, activated the Hundred Refinements Golden Body Technique to its limit, and let the bronze luster flow under his skin as he forcefully rammed his chest into the lightning bolt.

boom!

Lightning exploded.

Gu An's clothes turned to ashes instantly, his skin and flesh were charred black, and a nauseating smell of meat filled the air.

The excruciating pain that penetrated to the bone made Gu An's vision blur, but his body, clad in bronze and iron, had not been trained in vain. Although the lightning charred his flesh, it failed to pierce his sternum, much less shatter his heart meridian.

"How is that possible?!"

Wang Mazi was horrified. He withstood a palm strike from a fifth-level Qi Refining cultivator head-on without dying or being crippled? Is this kid a demon in human skin?

In the instant he was stunned, Gu An had already rushed in front of him.

A sinister smile appeared on that face, blackened by lightning and covered in blood—the savage grin of a hunter seeing his prey fall into his trap.

"Got you?"

Gu An stretched out his arms like iron clamps and hugged Wang Mazi's waist tightly, disregarding everything.

The immense force of the impact caused both of them to tumble to the ground.

"Get out of here, you bedbug!"

Wang Mazi struggled frantically, unleashing his protective aura in an attempt to blast Gu An away.

But to his horror, he discovered that the boy was incredibly strong; his arms seemed to be welded to his body, and no matter how hard he tried, they wouldn't budge.

"Let's go to hell together..."

Gu An whispered in his ear, his voice hoarse like a vengeful ghost.

The next moment, Gu An, holding Wang Mazi, suddenly rolled to the side.

There, in an inconspicuous depression, lay Gu An's final trump card—a dense, yet-to-be-triggered "Thousand-Thread Net."

Bang! The mechanism has been triggered.

Dozens of transparent threads coated with deadly poison sprang up instantly, like a tightening sack, tightly binding the two entangled individuals.

The sizzling sound of silk threads cutting into flesh is enough to make your teeth ache.

"Ahhhhh!"

Wang Mazi let out a piercing scream. His protective aura was useless against these incredibly sharp threads, which dug deep into his flesh, instantly staining his robes with blood.

Gu An was in just as much pain. The silk threads, without any eyes, had also cut into his back and arms, while also seeping into his already bloody wounds.

But he was protected by copper plating and had long been numb to pain, so he didn't utter a sound and gritted his teeth to endure it.

The two were like two insects trapped in a spider web, their faces pressed together, their breaths audible.

Wang Mazi's eyes were bloodshot, filled with extreme fear and madness. He opened his mouth, wanting to bite off Gu An's throat or spew out some kind of life-saving poison mist.

But Gu An reacted faster than him.

"puff!"

Gu An swallowed hard, and a mouthful of blood that he had been holding in his mouth, mixed with the specially made "throat-sealing powder" and his own poisonous blood, sprayed onto Wang Mazi's face.

It smells foul, is scalding hot, and is highly poisonous.

"Ugh—!"

Wang Mazi instinctively closed his eyes; the poisonous blood entered his eyes, causing him excruciating pain.

In that instant, in the blind spot.

Gu An, who had been tightly holding Wang Mazi's right hand, suddenly loosened his grip, and his index finger shot out. It was no longer a wide, sweeping thrust, but a burst of short-range force at extremely close range.

All spiritual power, all vital energy, and all hatred converged at the fingertip at this moment. On the fingertip, the dark golden light was compressed to its limit, even faintly revealing a hint of blackness.

"Geng Metal Finger... Give it to me, break it!"

*Thud!* A soft, muffled sound. Like a finger piercing a thin layer of paper.

Gu An's fingers pierced Wang Mazi's Adam's apple with perfect precision, entering from the front of his neck and exiting from the back.

The force of the finger exploded, instantly shredding the cervical vertebrae and trachea.

Wang Mazi's body stiffened abruptly, and a "hoho" sound came from his throat, the despair of being unable to breathe after his trachea was ruptured.

His small, beady eyes widened, and the resentment in them quickly dissipated, replaced by a deathly stillness.

The hand that had reached for Gu An's eyes fell limply to the side.

The entire corpse pressed heavily on Gu An.

Gu An gasped for breath, each breath feeling like swallowing a knife, his lungs burning with pain.

He won, but he no longer had the strength to push the corpse away, not even the strength to move a finger.

The effects of the Exploding Spirit Pill had completely worn off, followed by the backlash of severed meridians. The penetrating wound in his left arm was still bleeding, his chest was charred from being struck by lightning, and his back was a bloody mess from being bound by the Thousand Silk Net.

My vision began to blur, and my ears were ringing.

Just then, the pale blue panel in front of me flickered slightly, and a few lines of text appeared:

[Slay a Qi Refining Level 5 cultivator, defeating an enemy of a higher level, +50 combat experience]

[Understand combat instincts in life-or-death battles, and improve practical combat skills: Proficient (1/200)]

[Geng Metal indicates a significant improvement in application skills, promotion to Mastery (50/600)]

[Characteristic Unlocked: Bone Penetration (Increases finger penetration by 30%, inflicts Geng Metal Qi, hindering wound healing)]

[Current Status: Near Death (Multiple fractures throughout the body, severe damage to meridians, severe poison backlash, excessive blood loss)]

Lifespan: 19/90 (If left untreated, lifespan will be permanently and irreversibly reduced)

Watching his lifespan being relentlessly deducted, Gu An gave a bitter laugh. This wasn't cultivation; it was clearly trading one's life for another.

He clung to his last shred of consciousness, and with all his might, pushed aside Wang Mazi's corpse. Trembling, he pulled a bottle of hemostatic powder from his pocket and, without caring whether it contained erysipelas, poured it all over the wound.

"I can't sleep... I can't sleep yet..." Gu An bit his tongue, the pain keeping him conscious to the very end.

Wang Mazi is dead, but this place is still the entrance to Youying Valley, still Zhao Feng's territory.

The body must be disposed of, which inevitably leads to... concocting a perfect lie.

He struggled to crawl toward the hollow where the "blood lingzhi" was, leaving a long trail of blood behind him, a shocking sight.