Chapter 57: Advancing in Cultivation

Lu Fengmian pushed Xiao Jin behind him.

“Hide.”

Xiao Jin froze for a moment, then hurriedly scrambled up and ran into the tunnel.

The giant serpent’s vertical pupils fixed on the fleeing figure, but before it could move, a streak of sword light slashed toward its vital point.

“Hiss!”

It turned its head and stared at the human who dared to attack it.

Lu Fengmian’s gaze grew heavy; that strike had not even managed to break its scales.

This serpent’s cultivation was higher than his.

Not just by a little.

His thoughts raced. He tested it with several more slashes while swiftly dodging the serpent’s sweeping tail.

After one strike, its defense remained unbroken.

After two strikes, its defense still did not falter.

The third attack landed near its eye; the giant serpent finally blinked, but that was all.

This serpent was at the Nascent Soul stage.

Lu Fengmian’s heart sank.

His own realm was only at the middle stage of the Golden Core, a full major realm lower.

His attacks were no more than tickles to it.

Fortunately, his movement techniques were fast enough. He had cultivated “Asking the Moon and Listening to the Wind” to such a degree that dodging a creature of this size posed no problem.

Thus man and serpent fell into a stalemate.

He could not injure the giant serpent, and the giant serpent could not catch him.

The serpent seemed to realize this as well.

Its vertical pupils churned, and suddenly it abandoned attacking Lu Fengmian, lunging instead toward the tunnel entrance.

“Oh no!”

Lu Fengmian tried to intercept it, but he simply could not stop it in time.

The giant serpent slammed its head into the narrow tunnel entrance.

“Boom!”

The mountain rock shattered. The entire entrance was smashed into a massive crater as debris cascaded down.

Xiao Jin staggered back in panic, but after only two steps, he froze.

Behind him, in the direction of the exit, the passage had collapsed at some point.

Rubble tightly sealed it shut; not even a sliver of light could pass through.

It was over.

I was trapped.

The serpent’s head had already thrust into the tunnel, its gaping maw aimed directly at him.

In the next second, a hand seized his collar and hoisted him up.

At the critical moment, Lu Fengmian scooped Xiao Jin up with one arm and dashed out of the tunnel.

The serpent’s head crashed down where they had just been standing, triggering another earth-shaking tremor.

“Senior Brother…”

“Don’t speak.”

Lu Fengmian did not look at him; his eyes remained locked on the serpent.

This was trouble.

The giant serpent had withdrawn from the tunnel. Its vertical pupils were fixed on the two of them.

It seemed to have realized that among the two, the weaker one was the flaw.

It no longer insisted on attacking Lu Fengmian alone but directed most of its strikes toward Xiao Jin.

Lu Fengmian had to protect him, and thus his movement techniques were severely restricted. Dodging became increasingly strenuous.

Several times, the serpent’s attacks swept mere inches above Xiao Jin’s head.

This could not continue.

He would not last much longer.

Once his strength was exhausted, both he and Xiao Jin would die here.

Xiao Jin watched the sweat seeping from Lu Fengmian’s brow, the cuts on his arm carved by flying debris, and the robe stained with dust and blood.

A sharp ache suddenly pierced his eyes.

What virtue or ability did he possess to deserve such protection from Senior Brother?

“Senior Brother…” he said, his voice trembling.

“Mm?”

“Don’t worry about me.”

Lu Fengmian did not look at him. His figure flashed as he narrowly evaded another strike.

Xiao Jin continued, “It’s all because I ran around recklessly that things turned out like this; it’s all my fault…”

“Don’t overthink it.”

Lu Fengmian cut him off, his tone calm.

“Since you call me Senior Brother, I cannot abandon you.”

Xiao Jin’s tears finally spilled over.

He looked at Lu Fengmian’s profile—clearly exhausted, yet utterly unwavering.

He thought, if only they could survive and leave this place.

He had to become stronger.

Strong enough to protect himself.

Strong enough not to burden others.

Strong enough… that one day he could stand beside Senior Brother instead of hiding behind him.

On the surface, Lu Fengmian remained calm, but inside he was beginning to panic.

Clenching his teeth, he shouted inwardly:

“System.”

【Present.】

“Can you temporarily raise my cultivation? Any method will do, as long as I can defeat this serpent.”

【Host request detected: Pre-cultivation application.】

【Evaluating…】

Sweat dampened Lu Fengmian’s palms.

Hurry.

Heaven above, system, save me.

His mind spun frantically, yet his expression did not change as he narrowly evaded another lethal strike.

At that moment, the giant serpent suddenly halted.

A flash of human-like irritation flickered in its vertical pupils.

After such a prolonged battle, this human was like a loach—impossible to seize.

It lifted its head and let out a piercing hiss; the entire cavern trembled.

Its massive body coiled along the cave walls suddenly tightened.

Like a living wall, the serpent’s body began to encircle them.

The space grew smaller and smaller; the room to dodge dwindled rapidly.

Lu Fengmian’s pupils contracted slightly.

This beast had started thinking.

He had to break out before they were completely trapped.

But just as he moved, the serpent violently jerked its head!

A ferocious surge of demonic qi burst from its gaping maw!

Caught off guard, Lu Fengmian only had time to turn and shield Xiao Jin with his body.

Rip—

His moon-white sleeve was torn open, and blood splattered out.

Lu Fengmian let out a muffled groan and staggered two steps.

Xiao Jin was protected in his arms, completely unharmed.

But on Lu Fengmian’s arm, a wound deep enough to reveal bone gushed with blood.

A portion of his brocade robe was dyed red.

Xiao Jin’s pupils shrank abruptly.

“Senior Brother!!”

He cried out involuntarily.

Lu Fengmian made no sound. He merely furrowed his brows and continued retreating.

Blood streamed down his arm, dripping onto the ground and quickly forming a small pool.

Xiao Jin stared at that pool of blood, his mind in chaos.

It was all my fault.

I should not have left the group without permission.

I should not have been lured away by that broken crystal.

I should not have come into this secret realm.

From the very beginning, I had been an ill-omened person.

He had no talent to cultivate, his family had declined, and the Bai family had annulled their engagement with him.

The elders had gone to great lengths to send him to Lingyun Sect, yet after cultivating for so long, he still had made no progress.

He did nothing right.

And now he had even dragged Senior Brother down with him.

He lowered his head, his entire body trembling.

Only his tears fell, drop by drop.

【Evaluation approved.】

When those four words echoed through Lu Fengmian’s sea of consciousness, he almost thanked the heavens on the spot.

【Temporary cultivation elevated to Nascent Soul stage.】

【Side effect: Physical weakness for three days afterward; cultivation temporarily regresses to the initial stage of Golden Core.】

The next second—

A surge of power so immense it nearly shattered his meridians flooded into his body!

The Golden Core within his dantian spun madly, radiating blinding light.

Late-stage Golden Core.

Golden Core Great Perfection.

Bang!

The barrier shattered.

Nascent Soul.

Lu Fengmian lifted his head.

The giant serpent seemed to sense something.

It stopped attacking. For the first time, a trace of vigilance flashed in its vertical pupils.

This human had only just been at the middle stage of Golden Core—how had he suddenly…

Lu Fengmian gave it no time to think.

He gently placed Xiao Jin in a relatively safe corner behind him.

“Stay there. Don’t move.”

Through tear-blurred eyes, Xiao Jin looked up at Lu Fengmian’s back.

At this moment, the aura emanating from him was completely different from before.

Lu Fengmian turned and walked toward the giant serpent.

The serpent hissed and lunged forward!

This time, Lu Fengmian did not dodge.

He raised his hand, facing the maw large enough to swallow him whole.

Condensing qi into a sword.

Golden sword light burst from his palm, coalescing into a massive blade nearly three zhang long.

The aura radiating from the sword made even the surrounding air tremble.