Starting Cultivation During a Trip

Chapter 49: Chapter 49: Who Is the Protagonist? Zhang Fan’s Primordial Spirit 3.0

Jiang Lai, dressed in a loose short-sleeved top, denim shorts, and white sneakers, stepped in front of Zhang Fan, blocking his path, just like that day on Zhenwu Mountain.

”Hm!?”

”Lai Lai, you’re finally here.” Jiang Hu shouted out.

”You can still fight?” He Fei glanced at Jiang Lai, an odd look flashing in his eyes.

”Why are you here? Weren’t you on leave?” Zhang Fan asked out of nowhere.

”You can’t handle this.”

Jiang Lai’s gaze slanted sideways, glancing at Zhang Fan, her face expressionless as she spoke.

”You two are really chatting in front of me!?”

He Fei’s cold voice suddenly rang out.

Rumble...

Immediately, torrents of blood energy shot up, whipping through the air like fox tails, surging madly toward Jiang Lai.

Buzz—

Almost at the same moment, Jiang Lai moved. In the barely 100-square-meter space, her body darted and twisted, moving as fast as an afterimage, flashing and lunging among the blood-colored tails.

Bam—

As two tails intersected in a killing strike, Jiang Lai seized the opening, spinning sharply, her fair fist slamming down with a bang, shattering both blood-colored tails instantly.

Next, Jiang Lai landed, tapping her toes lightly, her whole body launching like a cannonball, terrifying power turning her form into a blur as she attacked the remaining tails.

”Way too fast... Sister Wen, is she really the boss’s relative?” Jiang Hu watched, chills running down his spine.

That day he’d taken a slap from Jiang Lai—lost two wisdom teeth over it—and now, looking back, the ’value’ of that beating seemed to have just gone up.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Several explosive cracks in a row—those blood-colored tails were smashed one after another. In a flash, Jiang Lai was only five steps from He Fei.

Buzz—

Just then, an even fiercer surge of blood energy soared up, taking the shape of a fox’s head, gaping wide with bloody jaws and biting straight at Jiang Lai.

Jiang Lai’s expression remained unchanged. She crossed her arms before her, letting that bloody fox’s head bite down hard, forcing her back against the wall, dust billowing everywhere.

Whoosh—

Almost immediately, Jiang Lai walked out of the swirling dust, short sleeve at her shoulder torn, pale skin smeared with bright red blood.

”Truly savage!” Zhang Fan couldn’t help but say.

Jiang Lai, expressionless, walked directly up to Zhang Fan.

”You are special, but not special enough.” He Fei sneered.

Everyone once believed they were the protagonist of this world.

When he was very young, his father threw him into a fox den.

As an illegitimate child, he held no position in the He Family. No one knew what those foxes did to him in the pitch-black den.

But in the end, he survived.

This fact alone earned him a sliver of attention, but because of the ordeal, no one in the He Family ever really treated him as human. Only He Huan would sometimes share her snacks and toys with him.

Perhaps that was the only ray of light in his dark life.

From then on, he developed feelings for this little sister—strange ones. Even in the He Family, this girl couldn’t be considered ’normal’ herself.

But that didn’t stop He Fei’s obsession and need for her.

Thus began a different life for He Fei—cultivation bordering on madness, enduring pains others couldn’t, even fusing the Immortal Family spirit he worshipped straight into his own body—until there was no dividing them.

Those who once looked on him with arrogant contempt, he trampled underfoot.

Among the younger He Family generation, not one could defy him.

Before these people, He Fei was the protagonist—tonight was no different.

”Even your life and death is mine to declare.”

Clatter—

Suddenly, He Fei’s shirt tore open, revealing a fox face growing from his chest—shriveled and hideous, stitched onto his body like a taxidermy specimen.

This had once been the ”Immortal Family spirit” he worshipped, now forcibly stitched alive into his flesh.

Crimson blood trickled from He Fei’s hands, flowing slowly into the dirt pool behind him.

The northern-most candle flickered, its trembling flame seeming on the brink of ignition!

The faint dragon’s roar grew ever louder, so much so that everyone’s Primordial Spirit recoiled, shrinking within as if in awe of the heavens and the earth.

”Seven-Star Seal, Dragon’s Tooth Carrying Corpses!”

Behind He Fei, the blood-red light surged, a vague shadow flickering and rising, as if it would break free at any moment.

”Go!”

Jiang Lai’s eyes narrowed slightly, and she murmured urgently to Zhang Fan, then stepped forward, facing He Fei directly.

”Dragon-Suppressing Stake!”

In that instant, Jiang Lai’s hands flew into a sealing gesture, her quiet voice dropping, and her aura shot forth like a rainbow, plunging straight three feet into the ground.

Rumble—

The entire Taoyuan Square quaked softly, like a tremor. The dragon’s roar seemed to weaken by half, and the north candle dimmed to nothing.

”She’s fixing the Dragon Vein with her own body?”

He Fei’s shock was enormous. He stared at Jiang Lai, astonished. ”What...what are you?”

Jiang Lai said nothing. She stood frozen, beautiful face drained of all color, rooted like a pile, pinning the Dragon Vein beneath her feet so it could not rise again.

Such Daoist Skill, even Wen He couldn’t help but look shocked—it was unheard of.

”But what a waste...”

”This dragon in Taoyuan Square is an evil one; its mouth won’t open, its lips sealed, all seven tusks bared outside.”

He Fei shook his head carelessly, eyes full of mockery.

The great dragon doesn’t raise its head, but its fangs bring death!

Crimson blood poured from He Fei into the dirt pool. The north candle flared to life!

Instantly, Taoyuan Square shook violently, a dragon’s roar echoing in every ear.

Then, behind He Fei, blood light surged. Through Primordial Spirit Observation, one could see seven blood-red tusks slowly emerge—ferocious, cruel, chilling to the marrow.

”We’re done for!”

Wen He’s heart trembled. She hadn’t realized He Fei, born of an Out-of-the-Box Immortal Family, wielded such abnormal skill—able to control the Dragon Vein, summon the Great Evil Dragon Fangs.

”I am still the protagonist tonight!”

He Fei’s gaze was icy, full of murderous intent. He looked to Zhang Fan, then to Jiang Lai.

He put on a gentleman’s polite grin, blood light churning, and the savage tusks slowly extended like blades, all aimed at Jiang Lai.

”So dark!”

At that instant, Zhang Fan seemed returned to that day at age twelve—overwhelmed by hopelessness and helplessness.

Everything around was pitch black, nothing visible. In the cold rain, he could do nothing but cry out weakly.

”Can’t see anything... can’t hear anything, can’t feel anything...”

”Why is it like this?”

That rainy night, twelve-year-old Zhang Fan rubbed his eyes desperately, trying to see through the world’s darkness before him.

”Great Night is not bright!”

”You’re not awake yet?”

”Maybe you’ll never wake up!”

Just then, a formless voice drifted through the darkness—sometimes his own, sometimes another’s.

”Almost there, you’re almost there...”

”Find that beam of light. When the Celestial Light shines in, you will see a world never seen before...”

”People are the strangest of all beings. In every one of us lies both divinity and demon—step forward and become a god, fall back and become a demon. Yet in that gap between the divine and the demon...”

”Between the divine and the demon...”

Those messy, drifting words murmured through the hazy darkness, like muttering in a dream, making Zhang Fan glimpse a shred of light in the black night.

”Day’s about to break!”

Just then, a mocking voice slowly echoed through the Dark Room. And under so many horrified gazes, Zhang Fan moved...

He threw himself in front of Jiang Lai, hands forming a seal. A terrifying force blasted upwards, as if his Consciousness was annihilated and his Primordial Spirit ignited, illuminating the never-ending night!