Chapter 901: Ye Banxia's Strength

He snarled, "You foolish woman! I was going to let you live a bit longer!"

The black blade, gleaming with an icy sharpness, swiftly descended. In an instant, a beautiful head would roll to the ground.

Boom—

But at that very moment, an arrow shot through the air and struck the black blade. The immense force caused the black blade to swerve, grazing Leng Qingzhu's earlobe. A trickle of blood immediately welled up, forming delicate crimson beads.

Li Shangqiu glanced up, his eyes narrowing instantly. He saw a figure, seemingly formed of lightning, rapidly descending from high above, a longbow in his hand. Just before he landed, a purple sword flew out, and he stepped onto it, rushing towards them.

"Jiang Fan?" Li Shangqiu's eyes showed a hint of apprehension. He quickly shifted his gaze, smiling as he said, "I was just joking with Junior Sister Leng. Don't misunderstand."

Killing intent had already risen in his heart. How could Jiang Fan be allowed to know about him slaughtering the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion members? He had to stabilize Jiang Fan first, then strike him by surprise!

Whoosh, whoosh—

But unexpectedly, Jiang Fan paid him no mind at all. He raised his hand and fired two arrows at the energy cores of the two remaining Wu Ji members beside him.

"What are you doing?" Li Shangqiu's expression drastically changed. He quickly acted, slashing out with his black blade, successfully severing the two arrowheads. Just as he thought he had saved his companions,

Jiang Fan, with a tearing sound, transformed into a lightning shadow and instantly appeared behind one of the members. The purple sword pierced through their abdomen, shattering the Golden Core within them.

"Ah! Luo Dan!" Li Shangqiu roared, "You crippled her Golden Core!" Luo Dan was not only a core member at the ninth layer of Core Formation, but also his mistress! Yet Jiang Fan crippled her cultivation right before his eyes!

He furiously charged at Jiang Fan. Jiang Fan, with a backhand strike, unleashed a blood-red lotus, then held his sword and charged at the other core member.

"Junior Brother Jiang, it has nothing to do with me, nothing to do with me... Ah!" Jiang Fan showed no mercy, directly shattering their Golden Core as well.

"You seemed quite pleased when Li Shangqiu told you to queue up," Jiang Fan said.

"Zhang Shiyuan!" Li Shangqiu had just managed to use all his might to block the blood-red lotus. He then saw this scene and roared in uncontrollable fury. The only two ninth-layer Core Formation cultivators in his team had both been crippled by Jiang Fan!

Jiang Fan indifferently raised his sword and pointed it at him: "Your companions merely lost their cultivation. My two senior brothers, however, lost their lives. Now it's your turn. Since you are a team, you should all be neatly crippled together!"

"What?" Li Shangqiu's eyes widened in fury, only then realizing that his other team members had also been crippled! The Wu Ji team he had built with his own hands was completely ruined!

"Jiang Fan! I'll fight you to the death!" Li Shangqiu no longer had his usual domineering air. With a face full of rage, he gripped his black blade and fiercely slashed towards Jiang Fan. His posture suggested he intended to fight Jiang Fan to the death, but in the next instant, he abruptly retreated. He was actually planning to escape.

In a one-on-one fight, he was not confident he could defeat Jiang Fan. Jiang Fan, however, was not surprised. As the former leader of the number one team, Li Shangqiu would not be a reckless person. However, trying to escape in front of him was somewhat wishful thinking.

Just as he was about to give chase, a jade-carved phoenix chair flew through the air from a distance. Seated upon it was a young woman in an elegant black gown, with long, straight black hair and slender, elegant legs. She had her legs crossed, one hand propped under her chin. In her other hand, she held a jade ruler, lightly tapping it on her rounded, slender thigh.

"Ye Banxia?" Seeing her, Li Shangqiu was overjoyed. "You've arrived just in time," he said. "Jiang Fan has gone mad, indiscriminately killing innocents. He killed Deacon Yun Yang's disciples and crippled my Wu Ji members. You must help me..."

Ye Banxia merely cast a fleeting glance at him. With a casual wave of the jade ruler in her hand, a palm-sized array diagram abruptly appeared and instantly struck Li Shangqiu's abdomen.

Crack— The sound of a Golden Core shattering suddenly rang out. His cultivation was crippled.

"Ah! Ye Banxia!" "You crippled my cultivation? Why?" Li Shangqiu simply couldn't believe it. Why would Ye Banxia suddenly attack him for no reason, and so ruthlessly cripple his cultivation?

Ye Banxia looked down at him indifferently. "I don't like being lied to," she said. She was someone skilled in strategy and calculation. With a rough glance at the current situation, she could deduce most of what had happened. How could Li Shangqiu possibly use her?

Jiang Fan's eyes narrowed. This woman... Before, she had been poisoned by the Fragrant Corpse Pill and couldn't display her full strength, so Jiang Fan hadn't realized how formidable this so-called dark horse truly was. Now, he was a little intimidated. A casual strike from her could cripple the cultivation of a fellow ninth-layer Golden Core Completion expert. If she had displayed this power then, with Jiang Fan's cultivation at the sixth layer of Core Formation at that time, he would have been no match for her.

No wonder Ren Guhong and Wu Manyue, those two old foxes, had so readily conceded when she suppressed and trapped them.

Having dealt with Li Shangqiu, the jade-carved phoenix chair slowly flew before Jiang Fan. Ye Banxia looked down at Jiang Fan, still maintaining her aloof, queen-like demeanor.

"How should we settle our accounts?"

Jiang Fan's expression grew wary. This woman's array formations were quite bizarre. "What accounts?" he asked. "You tried to scheme against me, but I outsmarted you instead. We're even."

Ye Banxia lightly tapped the jade ruler on her thigh and said indifferently, "Scheming is one thing; I admit defeat there. But what about stealing my jade-carved phoenix chair? Give it back to me."

Jiang Fan took a few steps back and said, "Why should I return a chair I took by my own ability? You caused my Dragon Heart Blood Lotus seeds to be exposed, and I haven't even settled that score with you!"

The frequency of Ye Banxia tapping the jade ruler on her thigh slowed. Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Are you planning to fight me?" she asked. "You may not be my match."

She had witnessed Jiang Fan's battle with Luo Yingshuang. Yet she could still say such a thing; it was clear she was truly confident. However, after cultivating in the Thunder Pond, Jiang Fan had undergone qualitative leaps in all aspects and was no longer the same as when he fought Luo Yingshuang.

"If you want the jade-carved phoenix chair back, trade something for it." He gripped the purple sword tightly. A sharp sword glow emanated from the blade, emitting an unparalleled, exquisite radiance.

Ye Banxia's gaze fell upon the sword. She suddenly withdrew her fighting intent and said indifferently, "Alright, since you like that jade-carved phoenix chair, you can have it."

"That's a treasure used for tribulation transcendence," she added. "If you have a beloved woman, you can give it to her; it will increase her chances of tribulation transcendence by thirty percent."

"Thirty percent? Is that true? Even a Bodhi Pill wouldn't have such a miraculous effect, would it?" Jiang Fan was considerably surprised. When he wanted to inquire further, Ye Banxia had already turned the jade-carved phoenix chair around and flown away.

The moment she turned, a meaningful curve appeared at the corner of her lips.

Jiang Fan couldn't help but want to take out the jade-carved phoenix chair from the Thunderstone and study it. However, a muffled thud echoed from a distance: Leng Qingzhu had fainted and fallen to the ground.

When she bit Li Shangqiu, that was her last bit of strength. Seeing Li Shangqiu receive his just deserts, she completely relaxed, could no longer hold on, and lost consciousness.

Jiang Fan quickly went over. Without a second thought, he fed her a Rejuvenation Pill. Her complexion visibly improved. She would soon wake up.

Jian Linyuan also rushed over at this moment. Finding that Leng Qingzhu was still alive and hadn't been abused, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Junior Brother Jiang, if it weren't for you this time, all seven of us would likely have perished here."

Jiang Fan shook his head. "Two people were still sacrificed in the end," he said. "Deacon Yun Yang will surely be very sad."

Jian Linyuan was about to say something, but his expression subtly changed. He then said with some embarrassment, "Junior Brother Jiang, do you have any more of the Rejuvenation Pill you gave Junior Sister Leng? I'd like to buy one."

Jian Linyuan wasn't here when Jiang Fan gave Leng Qingzhu the Rejuvenation Pill, was he? How did he know? Wait! Was it the hidden guardian beside him?