Chapter 571: Taking Life to Forge the Sword Body

"Jiang Fan! Stop!" Consort Yunxia's beautiful face suddenly changed, filled with shame and indignation. "Stop now, and I might consider sparing your life. Otherwise..."

Jiang Fan paid her no mind, his hand groping over her body. He couldn't be bothered to listen to such meaningless nonsense. As Jiang Fan's hand moved, her body trembled again.

Overwhelmed with humiliation, she whispered, "Jiang Fan, killing me is a small matter. Why must you humiliate me like this?"

Jiang Fan rolled his eyes at her. "Isn't it because I can't kill you that I have to take you captive?"

"Uh—" Consort Yunxia's expression froze, and her tone softened as she spoke in a reasoning manner: "But you already searched me before. Why bother doing it again now?"

Jiang Fan finished searching her waist and both sleeves, then reached for her chest. "That was then," he said. "You've been rescued by Demon King Chunni for so long; who knows what else you've hidden on you. To be safe, it's better to search again thoroughly." With that, he reached directly inside.

Consort Yunxia immediately stiffened as if struck by an electric current. The strange sensation filled her with both shame and indignation, yet also a peculiar feeling. She wished she could disappear into the ground.

Immediately, in humiliation, she closed her eyes, raised her neck, and let Jiang Fan search. After another meticulous and detailed exploration, he actually found something: the clump of bloody silver fox fur.

"This fox fur has a destiny with me; it keeps coming back," Jiang Fan mumbled. Without hesitation, he tucked it into his own pocket. Then, he searched her thighs and shoes as well.

"Alright... wait." Jiang Fan stroked his chin, suddenly remembering one more place he hadn't searched. "I almost forgot, your nine tails have grown back."

With a flick of his hand, he lifted her skirt. This startled Consort Yunxia, who exclaimed, "Don't move! I... I'll just extend my tails myself!" If he were to search even there, she would be completely defiled; she might as well die to prove her purity.

Nine fluffy, snow-white tails extended. Jiang Fan picked up one, holding it in his hand. Perhaps due to the blessing of the Five Magnetic Divine Light, the fox tail felt soft and fluffy. It felt very comfortable to the touch.

"You... if you want to search, then search, but don't grope." As Jiang Fan's hand stroked the fox tail, Consort Yunxia's body trembled slightly. An irrepressible strangeness flitted across her face, and a faint groan, like a mosquito's buzz, escaped her nostrils. As if realizing her unusual reaction, she quickly covered her mouth and nose, stopping herself from making any sound. But her trembling gaze betrayed her turbulent inner feelings.

Jiang Fan was stunned. "I've already searched your chest; do a few tails really matter?" He immediately inspected each one. Aside from a clump of silver fox fur like the one before on each tail, there was nothing else. Not wanting to come away empty-handed, he pulled off the clumps of silver fox fur, one by one.

"Hiss!" Consort Yunxia gasped in pain. "Bastard! I, Yunxia, swear that I will repay today's humiliation tenfold!"

"So much nonsense!" Jiang Fan put away the silver fox fur, then bent down and hoisted her onto his shoulder. Consort Yunxia was overwhelmed with shame. To be captured twice by the same man! She had barely escaped once, failed to kill her opponent, and was now caught again. How could she face her own kind if this news reached the demon race?

In her shame, she lowered her head and bit Jiang Fan's back. Even with Jiang Fan's perfected physique, the bite was painfully sharp. He raised his hand and smacked Consort Yunxia's shapely buttocks hard. "Mmmph!" Consort Yunxia's body trembled, she abruptly let go of her bite, and her face rapidly flushed red.

"You... you... I will never forgive you!"

"Never!" Jiang Fan snorted, "Behave yourself! Otherwise, you'll have plenty of suffering ahead!"

Suddenly, Jiang Fan noticed a sneaking giant wolf, cowering behind a nearby iceberg. The visible golden claws were all too familiar. Who else could it be but Golden-Clawed Iron Wolf?

"What a loyal demon wolf, still following along."

"Come here!" Golden-Clawed Iron Wolf had a human collar around its neck. While it wasn't as potent as the karmic bond necklace, which could enslave even a Core Formation Ninth Level cultivator, it was certainly capable of controlling the life and death of a Core Formation Sixth Level demonic beast.

Golden-Clawed Iron Wolf awkwardly emerged. It secretly glanced at Consort Yunxia, whose face was flushed with shame and whose hair and clothes were disheveled. It gave a dry cough. "Cough, cough, I just arrived. Saw nothing at all. You two carry on, carry on." It walked past without looking sideways, as if trying to be an inconspicuous passerby.

Jiang Fan tapped his toe, then, carrying Consort Yunxia, leaped onto the wolf's back. He punched it on the head. "Shut your dog mouth and head back to Boundary Mountain!"

Golden-Clawed Iron Wolf gnashed its teeth. This little darling had caused it to be enslaved by humans, and now called its mouth a dog's mouth! A dog might tolerate it, but a wolf certainly wouldn't!

It turned its head, about to let out a ferocious howl, but then saw Jiang Fan drawing out the terrifyingly sharp purple sword. Its fierce expression instantly transformed into one of meekness and charm. "Lord Jiang, are you going to practice your sword? You practice, practice to your heart's content. Leave the way-finding to me, little Gold; you can rest assured."

Jiang Fan tossed Consort Yunxia aside. At the same time, he placed the Five Magnetic Origin Mountain next to her and activated the Five Magnetic Divine Light. With the Dragon-Binding Lock and the Five Magnetic Divine Light, even if she recovered some of her divine abilities, she wouldn't be able to use any of them.

Jiang Fan sat cross-legged. With both swords resting across his knees, he closed his eyes and began cultivating the latter half of the "Sword Control Art." He circulated his cultivation technique, sending streams of spiritual energy into the purple sword.

Inside the purple sword, streaks of sword qi dispersed and surged into Jiang Fan's body. The purple sword was incredibly sharp; it could easily cut through all things even across space. Although it was only sword qi now, it was still terrifyingly powerful. The moment it entered his body, Jiang Fan felt an intense pain; his meridians had been severed.

Startled, he quickly swallowed a Rejuvenation Pill. He waited for his meridians to recover before daring to draw in another wisp of sword qi. This time, not only were his meridians cut, but his internal organs were also injured. Helpless, he had to wait again for the Rejuvenation Pill's effects to heal his meridians and internal organs.

This made Jiang Fan click his tongue in astonishment. "Is this latter half of the art meant to be cultivated at the cost of one's life? Thankfully, I'm a body cultivator, stronger than ordinary people. Otherwise, wouldn't the sword qi shred my intestines? Even if someone at the Core Formation realm genuinely wielded a spirit-grade purple sword, who could endure the sword qi within it? The person who created this latter half must be completely insane." Jiang Fan grumbled for a long time.

Once his internal injuries healed, he drew sword qi into his body again. As expected, his meridians were severed once more. This repeated for a full half-day. Jiang Fan could already see Boundary Mountain on the horizon. He looked at the nine empty bottles of Rejuvenation Pills before him, his heart aching. Who could believe that he had consumed a full ninety Rejuvenation Pills just to cultivate one sword art? Along the way, he ate Rejuvenation Pills like beans. Only then could he maintain his cultivation.

Though the sacrifice was considerable, the gains were also significant. Behind him, Consort Yunxia, seeing that they were nearing Boundary Mountain, revealed a look of despair. She said indignantly, "Jiang Fan, you'd better not let the Demon Emperor know that you were the one who captured me. Otherwise, you won't escape death, no matter where you go."

Jiang Fan glanced back at her. Invisibly, two wisps of sword qi shot out, piercing her eyes. "Hiss!" Immediately, Consort Yunxia's eyes were injured, bleeding profusely.

She gasped, "How do you have sword qi in your eyes? What bizarre sword art have you cultivated?"

This was Jiang Fan's gain. By drawing sword qi into his body, refining his physique, he had cultivated a 'Sword Body'. From then on, every word, every action, every gaze, was infused with sword qi. Jiang Fan was very satisfied with its effect. But what he most anticipated was the unity of Sword Body and Sword Heart, for sword flight. Seeing that they were almost at Boundary Mountain, he suppressed the urge to try it out. This was to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings that sword flight might cause. It would be quite something if he were mistaken for a Nascent Soul realm cultivator.

Suddenly, Jiang Fan noticed the sky abruptly darkening. He looked up and saw a thick dark cloud hovering directly above his head, having appeared at some unknown time. Jiang Fan frowned. In a clear sky for thousands of miles, where did this dark cloud come from, especially one that directly covered him?

At the same time, a faint voice drifted from behind him, neither hurried nor slow. "Friend ahead, might I accompany you for a while?"