"Take your life while you're injured!"
Just as Zhang Fan was about to press his advantage and defeat Liu Mu with Liu Mu's help, he sensed Liu Mu's aura rapidly weakening. Liu Mu was swaying precariously, unable to maintain stable flight, and suddenly plummeted to the ground, falling into a deep coma.
Zhang Fan, not understanding the reason, rushed towards Liu Mu without hesitation, catching him in his arms before he hit the ground.
Although Liu Mu was exceptionally handsome, Zhang Fan had never doubted his gender. However, as he held Liu Mu, his body involuntarily trembled slightly, giving him the illusion of holding a soft jade. Looking down at Liu Mu's delicate features and snow-white skin, and recalling that Liu Mu had cultivated the Formless Divine Body, a bold guess formed in Zhang Fan's mind.
"Brother Zhang Fan, what are you doing?"
As if possessed, Zhang Fan's hand slowly moved towards Liu Mu's chest. Just as he was about to verify a certain conjecture in his heart, Liu Mu, who was in his arms, woke up. Their eyes met, and Zhang Fan, uncharacteristically, saw panic in Liu Mu's eyes.
Liu Mu immediately struggled to break free from Zhang Fan's embrace. He stood in mid-air, gently tidied his clothes, and regained his usual elegant demeanor.
"Brother Zhang Fan, I didn't expect you to have such tastes. But this young master declares that I am a proper man," Liu Mu said playfully, looking at Zhang Fan.
"Damn it!" Liu Mu's words caused a slight instability in Zhang Fan's Dao heart, and he couldn't help but curse. Then he began to doubt himself, "Could I have been overthinking things?"
While Zhang Fan and Liu Mu were making idle chatter, Sima Cang quickly retreated from Zhang Fan, secretly letting out a sigh of relief.
When he had sensed Zhang Fan's intense killing intent earlier, Sima Cang's heart had turned cold. A berserk Liu Mu alone was enough to suppress him, and now, with an arm lost, Zhang Fan's combined assault with Liu Mu genuinely had the potential to kill him.
However, Liu Mu's sudden misfortune allowed him to escape this ordeal.
The moment Zhang Fan appeared, Fu Beichen and the others knew that destroying the Six Kings' Mansion today was a futile dream. They stopped their attacks. Bai Mengtian, Fu Beichen, and the one-armed Sima Cang stood together, silently watching Zhang Fan with chilling eyes.
"He's only at the mid-stage of the Ninth Tribulation Realm, yet his mastery of Sword Dao rules and Thunder Dao rules has reached such a level. If he were to break through to the Half-step Nascent Soul realm, there would likely be no one in the Boundless Continent who could restrain him. Our sects, which have been passed down for hundreds of thousands of years, would be destroyed by his hand," Fu Beichen said with a grim expression.
"With the unexpected events today and Zhang Fan's return, coupled with his powerful Thunder Sword Domain, we no longer have an advantage in the number of Half-step Nascent Soul powerhouses. It's likely we won't succeed today," Sima Cang said, having lost all will to fight after being battered by Liu Mu and Zhang Fan, already harboring thoughts of retreat.
"Even if he possesses the strength of a Half-step Nascent Soul, how can one person change the tide of events?" Bai Mengtian said with some unwillingness. He was just one step away from destroying Mo Yan's physical body. Without his body, even if Mo Yan's Nascent Soul survived, his strength would drastically decrease, posing no further threat to them.
However, it was Zhang Fan's sudden appearance of his Thunder Sword Domain that had a considerable impact on him, allowing Mo Yan to preserve his physical body.
"Ling Xiu, though your Six Kings' Mansion has escaped disaster today, it is merely a temporary reprieve. When we return, how will you resist us?" Fu Beichen shouted loudly.
"Even if you bring out all the old bones from your sects, what of it? If you wish to fight, my Six Kings' Mansion will see it through to the end!" Ling Xiu stood tall in the void, his words filled with heroic spirit.
"Everyone, there's no need for such trouble." Zhang Fan joined Ling Xiu by this time. He smiled at Fu Beichen and the others, saying, "Since you wish to kill me, I also wish to destroy you. Why don't we arrange a time and place? You bring out all your hidden forces, and we will gather all our might. Let's have a grand battle, swearing by the Heavenly Dao, to the death!"
"What do you all think?" Zhang Fan's smile was genuine, but his eyes were filled with a domineering arrogance that looked down upon all.
"Good! Good! Good! How bold!"
"Although I hate you to the bone and wish to obliterate your existence, I must admit, I admire you."
Fu Beichen was genuinely starting to admire Zhang Fan at this moment. He glanced at Ling Xiu beside Zhang Fan and said, "Given the strength of both sides, I have no reason to refuse. But do you dare?"
"Elder Zhang Fan's words represent the attitude of my Six Kings' Mansion!" Ling Xiu replied concisely.
"Very well, you name the time, I will set the battlefield. Once both sides agree, we shall invoke the Heavenly Dao as witness and make our vows!"
"Three months later!"
"Falling Immortal Mountain Range!"
"By the Heavenly Dao, to the death!"
...
With the oath sealed, Fu Beichen and the others were no longer worried that Zhang Fan would refuse to fight. After gathering their subordinates, they quickly departed from the Panlong Mountain Range.
They had been concerned before. Even if they could gather enough manpower to destroy the Six Kings' Mansion, they might not be able to kill Zhang Fan. With his monstrous growth rate, if he were to hide for a few decades and cultivate to the Half-step Nascent Soul realm, none of the three of them would be able to stop him.
But Zhang Fan was too arrogant, daring to arrange a duel with him. Bound by the Heavenly Dao oath, if Zhang Fan dared to refuse the fight or flee, he would be utterly destroyed under the Heavenly Dao's punishment!
However, having been bested by Zhang Fan several times already, no matter how foolish Fu Beichen and the others were, and even though Zhang Fan was only a mid-stage Ninth Tribulation Realm cultivator, they dared not underestimate him anymore. They had already recognized him as a formidable enemy capable of threatening their lives and shaking the foundations of their sects.
"Three months' time. Gentlemen, do not squander it. Since the battlefield has been chosen as the Falling Immortal Mountain Range, we shall transform it into a battlefield favorable to our side!" Fu Beichen deliberated with Bai Mengtian and Sima Cang before the three factions parted ways.
"Upon returning, we must urgently summon all cultivators above the Sixth Tribulation Realm from our sects. Aside from a few to guard the sects, the rest will gather at the Falling Immortal Mountain Range!"
...
After the cultivators of the three factions had completely retreated, Ling Xiu turned to Zhang Fan and asked, "Elder Zhang Fan, regarding the battle three months from now, what are your chances of winning?"
Zhang Fan pondered for a moment and slowly replied, "Thirty percent!"
"Thirty percent?"
Ling Xiu nodded. Having a thirty percent chance already exceeded his expectations.
After all, the Flying Immortal Manor, Black Sand Cave Heaven, and Sun Shadow Cave Heaven were all top-tier forces comparable to the Six Kings' Mansion. The heritage of any one of them was not significantly weaker than that of the Six Kings' Mansion. Now that the three forces had joined hands, if the Six Kings' Mansion had to face them alone, Ling Xiu believed there would be no hope of victory, and the only course of action would be to take as many enemies with them as possible before dying.
"Lord Ling Xiu might have misunderstood my meaning." Zhang Fan smiled upon seeing Ling Xiu's reaction. "I said I have a thirty percent chance of wiping them out without expending a single soldier."
"Is that true?" Astonishing brilliance erupted in Ling Xiu's eyes. If anyone else had said this, he would have slapped them away. Wasn't this a joke?
Even if the Cang Hai Palace were to intervene, they couldn't possibly destroy those three top-tier forces without shedding blood.
But it was Zhang Fan who said this. He, who was merely an obscure Golden Core stage cultivator when he first arrived in the Boundless Continent, had now made a name for himself across the entire continent, and this had happened in less than ten years.
Zhang Fan had turned too many impossibilities into possibilities. Therefore, even though his words sounded utterly absurd, Ling Xiu still held a sliver of hope.
"How will we do it?" Ling Xiu asked.
"I intend to refine a batch of Immortal-grade spiritual pills to bestow a fortune upon you all!"
...