Chapter 677: Draw Thread To Extinguish Life

As he flew, Li Fan occasionally sensed divine senses sweep over him from below.

But each time, upon seeing that he was merely passing through, they withdrew.

After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Li Fan arrived outside the mountain range Shuo Feng had indicated.

Sixteen towering peaks rose from the range like a giant dragon winding through the land.

Even outside the protective array, Li Fan could feel the dense spiritual qi swirling within.

The moment he arrived, a female cultivator in a pale yellow dress flew out from one of the peaks and came before him.

"You must be the young master's guest. This way, please."

Her demeanor was deeply respectful. She led Li Fan through the protective array and into the mountain range.

Li Fan glanced at her as she walked ahead. She was at the same cultivation level as him, mid-stage Nascent Soul, yet here she carried herself like a servant.

He felt no unease at this. Instead, he kept his tone calm and began probing her about the place.

Despite Li Fan's strength, the woman in yellow showed no hint of negligence. She answered every question in full detail.

This mountain range was called Shuo Feng Mountain. The Scarlet Snow Immortal Venerable had purchased it and named it after Shuo Feng. When Shuo Feng broke through to Foundation Establishment that same year, she gave it to him as a gift.

Though it was called a mountain, it was in truth a meticulously crafted cave dwelling. The sixteen peaks formed an array that gathered the spiritual qi of heaven and earth. The peaks themselves had been forged from Curios containing the laws of heaven and earth. Anyone who lived here would feel their cultivation advance daily under the concentrated power of those laws, even without deliberate effort.

Extraordinary as the dwelling was, after Shuo Feng broke through to the Nascent Soul realm, the Scarlet Snow Immortal Venerable gave him another residence in Tianquan City. Shuo Feng Mountain fell into disuse after that, and he only returned here now and then, when he wanted a place to relax.

Before long, Li Fan spotted Shuo Feng on the summit of the central peak, clad in green robes. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his expression indifferent, while six cultivators at the late-stage Nascent Soul realm attacked him. None of them called on the power of their grotto-heavens. They fought with arcane arts alone.

At the sight, Li Fan's gaze tightened.

These six were no weaklings. Between them they commanded arcane arts of the five elements, flying swords, and even a black arrow divine ability that could cross space and strike from impossible angles.

Shuo Feng did not dodge or evade a single attack. He did not even blink.

White light flared. His Curio of Heaven, Sword, blocked every strike in an instant and hurled them back at their casters.

Boom! Boom!

Explosions rang out one after another. In roughly ten breaths, all six late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators were injured by their own attacks and forced to yield.

Shuo Feng showed them no mercy. Their wounds were severe. One cultivator's body was destroyed outright, and only the power of his grotto-heaven enabled him to reshape his form afterward.

"Too weak. Bring in another batch." Shuo Feng's tone was icy, impatience flickering across his face.

Bitterness showed on the six cultivators' faces, but none of them dared speak. They cupped their hands and withdrew together.

"Hahaha, Brother Shuo, you certainly wield your power impressively!" Li Fan laughed loudly and clapped, showing not a trace of deference to the other's commanding presence.

"You flatter me, Brother Li!" A smile cracked through Shuo Feng's icy expression.

The six departing cultivators glanced at Li Fan as they left but dared not linger. They could only wonder, privately, who he was.

"It's been a long time. Your strength has clearly advanced, Brother Shuo. But I'm no less capable myself. Please, enlighten me!"

Without further words, Li Fan's expression turned cold. He raised his right hand and pointed a single finger at Shuo Feng from a distance.

A breeze passed. Shuo Feng, braced and ready, waited. Nothing about his surroundings seemed to change.

His smile faded, and a cold glint hardened in his eyes. "Brother Li, you're not mocking me, are you?"

Li Fan's expression stayed unchanged, a faint smile on his lips. "I've only just comprehended this divine ability. That was my first attempt. A small mistake is only natural.

"It should work this time. Be careful."

His tone turned to frozen steel. He withdrew his finger, then tapped the air again, feather-light.

"Draw Thread."

The wind stayed gentle, the clouds carefree. Nothing seemed to happen. Only Li Fan's voice carried across the peak, flat and without emotion.

Shuo Feng started to speak, then felt something wrong. His expression shifted violently.

Threads peeled away, one by one, from the azure robe he wore. They drifted through the air and dissolved like ink in water, gone within a breath.

Shuo Feng tried to react, but a grunt escaped him despite himself. A bloody gash opened on his body, as though a razor-sharp blade had sliced through skin to bare the flesh beneath. Before him, a red thread hung suspended in the air.

Sss...

Sss...

The strange sound repeated, again and again. Each time, another thread of blood appeared in the air, and another wound opened on Shuo Feng's body.

In the blink of an eye, he was covered in wounds and drenched in his own blood.

Cold dread surged through his heart. He understood exactly what was happening to him: this was no superficial wound of the flesh. The very fabric of his body was being drawn out, unraveled from existence, thread by thread. He felt like a doll woven from string, with someone slowly pulling him apart.

And through it all, his Foundation Establishment Curio, Sword, made no move to defend him or strike back.

So that's why it's called Draw Thread. Shuo Feng could not suppress his horror.

If this keeps up...

A terrible image flashed through his mind: his body shrinking smaller and smaller as the threads pulled free, until nothing remained but a tattered, broken doll collapsing to the ground, wailing as it awaited the end.

A profound chill gripped his heart. Even as his thoughts raced, he could find no way, in that fleeting instant, to counter the Draw Thread divine ability.

Li Fan kept pointing from afar, his finger locked onto Shuo Feng, showing no sign of stopping.

This man is really going to kill me. Looking into Li Fan's unfathomable gaze, Shuo Feng felt a jolt of pure terror.

"I surrender! I surrender!" The words tore from him, driven by raw instinct.

At the sound of Shuo Feng's voice, Li Fan finally withdrew his finger. In that instant, countless threads seemed to snap at once, and a mist of blood burst from Shuo Feng's body.

"Young Master!" The woman in yellow screamed, her face draining of color.

"I'm fine!" Shuo Feng waved a hand to stop her from rushing forward.

"Good match," Li Fan said, cupping his hands, his expression calm.

Shuo Feng studied him, his gaze complicated.

"Fellow Daoist, your divine ability is remarkable." He had no choice but to admit it, and he meant every word.

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