The strange changes happening within his body were eventually noticed by Su Fan.
Feeling his body absorb spiritual energy from the outside world, Su Fan was delighted.
Ever since he began cultivating, he had never been able to absorb external spiritual energy—and this had remained an unsolved mystery in his heart.
Cultivators in the Qi Refining stage gradually sense the existence of heaven-and-earth spiritual energy, and by the Foundation Establishment stage, they can absorb external spiritual energy for their own use.
Su Fan’s cultivation level was still unclear in terms of exact placement, but it was certainly above Foundation Establishment—yet he couldn’t even manage this most basic thing.
Over time, he couldn’t help but feel doubtful. Now that he had finally gained this most fundamental ability, it felt like a small knot in his heart had been untied.
Su Fan stopped, his figure standing on the river surface, and sensed the spiritual energy entering his body from the outside. Yet a trace of surprise appeared on his face.
“So that’s how it is…”
The spiritual energy absorbed into his body was not only thin, but also carried a faint, barely perceptible grayish impurity.
To truly convert it into spiritual power usable by Su Fan, it needed to go through separating the impurities and condensing the qi into liquid before it could be used.
“If one doesn’t have enough strength, they won’t be able to detect the hidden problems in spiritual energy. Absorbing too many impurities leaves hidden dangers for future cultivation and one’s own temperament.”
During the absorption just now, Su Fan’s body had subconsciously filtered it, so there was no problem.
But with the extra step of separating impurities, the efficiency was ultimately somewhat low.
Still, compared to before, when his spiritual power was exhausted and he could only rely on his own recovery, being able to absorb spiritual energy from the outside undoubtedly greatly increased Su Fan’s sustained combat capability.
“Even a vacation can bring gains. Not bad…”
Su Fan nodded to himself, but suddenly a foul wind attacked from behind.
A bloody smell… and also a strange aura he had never encountered before.
At the same time, Precognition also showed a warning.
Besides the sudden impulse, there was also an image surfacing in his mind.
Black claws appeared out of thin air, heading straight for Su Fan’s back—right toward his heart.
Su Fan didn’t turn his head. He flipped his wrist, and sword light slashed out.
Precognition’s warnings could predict even death’s unpredictable chain of accidents.
Let alone this sudden sneak attack.
But this strike did not hit the opponent. Su Fan’s long sword traced a silver arc through the air, but beyond that, it cut nothing.
Interesting.
He immediately spread his spiritual sense, wanting to capture the opponent’s figure.
The movements within a five-hundred-meter radius became as clear as watching fire, along with the spread of his soul power.
The river, the mountain forest, the scattered rocks…
Within the range of his spiritual sense, aside from these sights, there was no trace of the opponent at all.
Not only that, there were no signs of any wild animal activity either.
The damp, cold air blew across the river surface. Su Fan’s mind was clear as he recalled the scene he had seen earlier through Precognition.
Black claws, covered in blood and filth. Judging by the skin and bone structure, it was not human—but extremely similar to one.
There was also some black fur on the limbs, similar to a bat.
Bat-man?
The moment the word surfaced, Su Fan’s curiosity grew even stronger.
Genetic mutation? A demon’s mischief? Or perhaps… a yao, something he had never seen before?
People often say “yao” and “guai” together, calling them “yaoguai,” but there is some difference between the two.
“Guai” broadly refers to anything that defies common sense.
But “yao” is more specific.
It refers to evil creatures that cultivated from animals and specifically hunt humans.
With such a heavy bloody smell, the number of people who had died at the opponent’s hands was probably not small.
Just now, it had attacked Su Fan, aiming for a one-hit kill, but it hadn’t expected such a hidden sneak attack to be detected.
So it immediately disengaged and hid in the shadows to observe the situation.
“Hiding?”
Unlike demons, the yao that had suddenly launched the attack had not hidden itself in darkness or another space.
Its body was right there among the mountain forest.
An unnatural airflow rose from around Su Fan, then spread out in all directions.
In just a few seconds, it had already reached both banks.
The airflow seemed to have consciousness as it wandered through the forest.
One second… two seconds…
Suddenly, Su Fan raised his hand and sent an immobilization talisman into the air, striking toward a certain direction beside him!
The instant the spiritual light flickered, a pitch-black shadow suddenly shot up from the forest, dodging the immobilization talisman.
Moonlight falling from between the clouds illuminated the opponent’s appearance.
Wings with a tympanic membrane structure, with a wingspan approaching ten meters. At the ends of the skeletal frame, stark white bone spurs protruded.
A body structure no different from a human’s, draped in a worn trench coat.
Its ferocious face was full of dental bone. Its cheeks were uneven, and its large mouth, packed with densely packed sharp teeth, spat out a red, foul-smelling mist.
The opponent continuously flapped its wings, looking down at Su Fan below. Its golden-brown pupils were full of bloodthirsty intent.
After Su Fan clearly saw the opponent’s appearance, he was somewhat surprised.
He had seen a monster with this image on screen before.
A bland, boring old movie—Jeepers Creepers.
The monster in it was a demon that awakened once every 23 years, hunting for 23 days in the bright spring sunshine.
Whether protagonist, side character, or the police involved, none of them could do anything about this bat-like monster.
There was only the result of being slaughtered by it, with the entire force wiped out.
The reason he had any impression of it at all was entirely because of this guy’s bizarre design.
While watching, Su Fan had guessed what race the opponent actually was and what method should be used to kill it.
Now, the answer had been revealed.
This was a bat yao from North America that had cultivated to success by eating people!
But by all logic, the opponent should currently be sleeping beneath an abandoned church on a rural ranch.
It should not appear in this remote mountain town.
“Whatever. Since it’s here, it’s here.”
Su Fan stopped thinking about those things.
The opponent had suddenly attacked him and interfered with his vacation life.
A moment ago, it had a chance to flee but refused to run. Now it seemed it was still trying to fight back.
Cut it down!
The long sword in Su Fan’s hand, controlled by his divine sense and reinforced with spiritual power, traced a thin silver line through the air!
Zheng!
Before the sword’s ring could even spread, the blade’s edge had already reached the throat of the bat yao in the air!
The latter hurriedly tilted its head, barely avoiding the soul-reaping flying sword, but still had about a third of its neck sliced open by the sharp sword qi!
The pain did not make it feel any cowardice. Instead, it aroused its ferocity, and it dropped toward Su Fan’s direction!
During the dive, the wound on its neck dragged out a long line of blood in the air.
But after that, it healed almost in the blink of an eye!
The long sword that could threaten it had been foolishly thrown by the opponent. The human below was nothing to fear.
It only needed two seconds to tear open this human’s chest and enjoy his organs!
But in the very next second, the bat yao suddenly sensed a powerful crisis and twisted its body to the side.
It saw the long sword return once more—and directly cut off one of its wings!!
