At this moment, the moon was obscured by dark clouds, leaving everything in pitch-black darkness all around.
"Jie jie jie jie!"
Along the banks of the Red River, dense forests covered both sides. Lin Li's team was walking through the forest on the left bank, and due to the absence of moonlight, it was difficult to see anything clearly.
The eerie laughter that echoed around them made everyone on edge, but it caused Lin Li's heart to race with excitement.
"No! While they mean well by placing me in the middle of the group, I can't just sit here and wait for danger to come to me!"
Lin Li thought to himself, "The real strongholds of the demonic sect must be deeper inside. There's probably no significant danger here. My chance to rapidly increase my strength is right now—I can't let it slip away!"
Suddenly, the strange laughter came to an abrupt stop!
At the same time:
"Chirrrp! Chirrrp!"
"Roar!!"
"Hissss…"
Weird sounds echoed from various places in the forest.
"It's the demonic sect's beast-controlling tricks!"
"Everyone, be careful!"
"Protect Lin Shidi!"
The three leaders from the Daoist sects shouted as they prepared for battle. The fight was about to begin!
Demonic beasts, including mutant rats, leaped out of the forest! Venomous snakes spat poison from the treetops, and wolves, tigers, and leopards lurked nearby, their eyes gleaming green with bloodlust as they stared at the group.
At that moment, two of Lin Li's fellow disciples moved closer to shield him.
"They're just in the way!"
Lin Li thought, then dashed straight into the forest. "Since they want to protect me, I'll plunge deeper into enemy territory! They wouldn't dare break formation just to follow me!"
"Lin Shidi!"
"What are you doing?!"
The two sword sect disciples protecting Lin Li were stunned by his sudden move.
Even Wei Heng, the sword sect leader, angrily rebuked him, "Lin Li! How reckless of you! You're putting the entire formation in jeopardy and putting us all at risk!"
"Hmph! So this is what Xuantian Sect is like?"
"When faced with danger, you don't even know how to work as a team!"
"Haha! A Foundation Establishment disciple at the first stage, rushing headlong into death! How foolish!"
"Sure, these may just be ordinary demonic beasts, but even a swarm of ants can kill an elephant! There's no guarantee something unexpected won't happen!"
"Besides, we haven't even reached the demonic sect's outpost yet! If you waste too much spiritual energy now, no one will be able to save you when the real danger comes!"
The disciples from the other two Daoist sects mocked Lin Li's actions, but Lin Li paid no attention to them. Why should he care about their scorn?
This was the perfect moment for him to seize and harvest!
And he didn't even need to activate his Slaughter state—after all, that was Lin Li's ultimate trump card, his final life-saving ability, which he would only use in truly desperate situations.
For now, Lin Li simply circulated the Xuantian Wuji Sword Qi Art.
The spiritual energy in his dantian, which had already liquefied into spiritual liquid after reaching Foundation Establishment, began to churn under the influence of the art, surging through his limbs and meridians. The energy was transformed into sharp, metallic essence, imbuing it with formidable force.
Finally, the energy flowed into the sword—Ye Fan's blade!
In an instant, brilliant golden sword qi radiated outwards!
"Lin Li's fundamentals are solid. His mastery of Xuantian Wuji Sword Qi Art has already reached a level where he can solidify his sword qi. These demonic beasts won't be a problem for him."
Wei Heng muttered to himself, "There's no need to worry about him now. However, his tendency to act without regard for the group is a major flaw. We'll need to watch him closely once we reach the demonic sect's stronghold."
While everyone else was lost in their own thoughts, Lin Li was growing more and more excited!
Golden sword qi sliced through the air as Lin Li, moving freely outside the formation, began his slaughter.
Now that he had entered the Foundation Establishment realm, his highly concentrated spiritual power could be projected outside his body.
At that moment, Lin Li swung his sword, unleashing golden sword qi that shot out in all directions!
In the blink of an eye:
Mutant rats!
Venomous snakes!
Several of them were sliced to pieces by Lin Li's strikes!
[Killed Mutant Rat, 40 Evolution Points earned!]
[Absorbed Mutant Rat's blood essence, 3 energy points earned!]
[Killed Mutant Snake, 70 Evolution Points earned!]
[Absorbed Mutant Snake's blood essence, 5 energy points earned!]
"I've waited four months for this! Finally, evolution points are coming in again!"
Ye Fan was filled with excitement and anticipation. "And this is only the beginning!"
To evolve from a low-grade magical item to a middle-grade magical item, Ye Fan needed 200,000 evolution points.
Currently, he only had about 12,000 points.
Right now, these meager dozens of points from each kill were like scraps to Ye Fan—insignificant, but better than nothing!
At the same time, Lin Li noticed a stark difference. During his Qi Refining days, killing these demonic beasts would significantly boost his cultivation. But now, after reaching Foundation Establishment, while the energy being fed back to him through Ye Fan's sword was still present, it felt like a mere trickle compared to before…
"If it's just a trickle now…"
Lin Li thought to himself, "Then I'll just kill more of them!"
"After all, they're just demonic beasts controlled by the demonic sect! Killing more is just doing the world a favor!"
Lin Li swung his sword several more times, cutting down more than a dozen mutant rats and venomous snakes.
In no time, Ye Fan had earned over a thousand evolution points!
"Although the individual points are small…"
Ye Fan was delighted. "With Lin Li cutting them down so quickly, the gains are stacking up fast! Overall, it's quite rewarding!"
As Ye Fan reveled in his growing power, Lin Li unleashed several more sword strikes, adding hundreds more evolution points and energy values to Ye Fan's total.
"Roar!!!"
At that moment, a mighty beast's roar echoed through the forest!
It seemed that Lin Li's massacre had drawn the attention of the more powerful demonic beasts—and the demonic sect disciples lurking in the shadows.
They began directing stronger creatures, including wolves, tigers, and leopards, to launch an assault on Lin Li.
But…
Even though these beasts were stronger than the mutant rats and snakes…
They were still just Qi Refining-level demonic beasts.
How could they pose a threat to Lin Li?
With a few more swings of his sword, Lin Li effortlessly cleaved a wolf in two!
He followed up with a powerful kick, infused with spiritual energy, sending a leopard flying as it spat blood, clearly on the verge of death.
Then, with a swift reverse grip on his sword, Lin Li plunged his blade into the throat of a tiger leaping at him from above.
The tiger let out a pitiful roar, its final cry sounding almost comical as its life ended.
[Killed Mutant Wolf, 320 Evolution Points earned!]
[Absorbed Mutant Wolf's blood essence, 30 energy points earned!]
[Killed Mutant Leopard, 400 Evolution Points earned!]
[Absorbed Mutant Leopard's blood essence, 46 energy points earned!]
[Killed Mutant Tiger, 666 Evolution Points earned!]
[Absorbed Mutant Tiger's blood essence, 78 energy points earned!]