Chapter 63: A Thread Between Life and Death

"Hurry! Faster..."

Jiang Fan pushed his speed to the absolute limit, fleeing frantically toward the exit of the mine shaft.

Old Devil Xu followed closely behind him with ease.

Although neither Jiang Fan nor Old Devil Xu were slow, the red mist surging from the dark mine shaft was even faster.

In no time, the eerie red mist overtook Old Devil Xu in the rear, enveloping him entirely. Immediately afterward, it caught up to Jiang Fan and swallowed him up as well.

As Jiang Fan sprinted forward, he continuously transferred the damage he sustained, yet he could still clearly feel the impact whenever injury befell him.

"This is bad! The red mist is corroding my physical body. If this keeps up, it won't be long before I face a life-or-death crisis..." Jiang Fan's expression changed drastically as he continued to flee with all his might, realizing that despite his fast pace, he was still no match for the speed of the eerie red mist.

Even though Jiang Fan kept the damage transfer active, instantly shifting the corrosion of his flesh by the red mist onto Steward Wang, the name of Steward Wang in the *Great Dao Heavenly Scripture* was rapidly fading. This sight filled Jiang Fan with extreme anxiety.

Once Steward Wang's physical body could no longer hold out and he was corroded to death by the eerie red mist, Jiang Fan would have no choice left but to transfer the damage to Old Devil Xu. And once Old Devil Xu could no longer endure it either, certain death would await him.

"Master, this red mist seems to have no effect on your subordinate! Please do not refuse, Master; let your subordinate possess you and carry you away!" Old Devil Xu's expression shifted drastically as he hurriedly plunged into Jiang Fan's body.

"Alright!" Knowing the gravity of the situation, Jiang Fan did not refuse.

After all, although Old Devil Xu was currently in a soul state, his strength was far superior. With Old Devil Xu carrying him, the probability of their escape would naturally increase significantly.

Swish!

Old Devil Xu instantly possessed Jiang Fan, and the sensation of being corroded by the red mist suddenly vanished.

"It stopped?" Jiang Fan was rather surprised, murmuring to himself, "It seems these bizarre red mists only pose a fatal threat to physical life forms, having virtually no impact on souls."

While feeling overjoyed, Jiang Fan hastily exerted his utmost speed to escape.

Encased within Old Devil Xu's soul body, Jiang Fan was indeed free from the effects of the eerie red mist, allowing him to sprint rapidly toward the cave exit.

Roar, roar, roar...

However, the relief was short-lived. From deep within the eerie red mist, faint and ferocious angry roars suddenly echoed. The tiny sounds grew progressively louder, clearly indicating that the bizarre entities behind them were rapidly closing the distance.

"Master, it's the filth from the cave! They... they are catching up..." Old Devil Xu turned pale with fright, immediately pushing his speed to the absolute limit to assist Jiang Fan's escape.

The strange entities behind them were drawing closer and closer to Jiang Fan. His heart was pounding in his throat, and Old Devil Xu was gripped by intense terror.

"They're catching up! Old Xu, unleash the Soul-Devouring Art and see if you can swallow them!" Jiang Fan commanded.

"Understood, Master!" Left with no other choice, Old Devil Xu turned back to devour a wolf-shaped soul entity emitting a ghostly aura that was drawing near.

It was a wolf-like soul whose strength was quite a bit weaker than Old Devil Xu's. Behind that wolf-shaped soul, a dozen more equally formidable soul entities were lunging toward Jiang Fan for the kill.

Opening his mouth wide, Old Devil Xu sucked in and directly swallowed the soul entity that had rushed to the rear.

"Master, I can consume these souls, but if their strength exceeds mine, I will be devoured by them instead. We need to speed up..." Having swallowed a wolf-shaped soul, Old Devil Xu gained some understanding of the situation.

"Alright! Devour every soul that gets close from now on! Let's keep running..." Jiang Fan ordered.

"Yes!" Old Devil Xu naturally obeyed.

Although devouring these soul entities would grant Old Devil Xu massive benefits and skyrocket his strength, he was well aware of the perils involved.

Should he encounter a soul stronger than himself, he would suffer a counter-devouring, resulting in a loss that outweighed the gains.

Thus, after Old Devil Xu had swallowed over a dozen wolf-shaped soul entities, the two of them were merely dozens of meters away from the cave mouth.

At that moment, the area outside the cave was bathed in brilliant sunlight, with golden rays shining right at the entrance.

"Master, soul bodies fear sunlight! Let's charge out!" Old Devil Xu cried out urgently.

Awooo!

Just then, an even more powerful wolf-shaped soul rapidly closed in on them. The aura emanating from this entity caused Old Devil Xu's face to drain of color.

"M... Master, I am no match for the filth behind us... Run!" Old Devil Xu was terrified out of his wits.

"Do or die!" Jiang Fan also sensed an overwhelmingly intense life-or-death crisis, yet he knew that despite being only dozens of meters from the mine exit, he was still within range of attack.

Hardening his heart, Jiang Fan directly activated the damage transfer to Steward Wang, then leaped up from within the cave.

Roar!

Behind him, the massive wolf-shaped soul, towering a zhang high, let out an angry roar. Extending a gigantic claw, it slammed a heavy blow directly onto Jiang Fan's body.

With a loud bang, Jiang Fan's body was sent rolling continuously. An ordinary middle-stage Qi Condensation cultivator—or even a late-stage Qi Condensation practitioner—would have found it difficult to endure the terrifying might of that single claw.

"Ah..."

Sitting in his quiet room cultivating, Steward Wang had suddenly felt his body begin to rot earlier, and was currently swallowing healing pills to recover. At this exact moment, however, his body was sent flying backward, slamming heavily against the wall of the secret chamber. He felt as though he had been struck by a devastating blow, instantly leaving him gasping for breath as fresh blood mixed with internal organ fragments spewed from his mouth.

His aura withered in an instant, and his complexion turned frighteningly pale.

"Who... who ambushed... me!" Steward Wang muttered before passing out entirely, collapsing onto the floor motionless.

Though still alive, recovering from his injuries in the short term would be impossible.

Back in the mine, Jiang Fan suddenly sprung to his feet. Under the astonished gaze of the wolf-shaped soul, he bolted out of the cave as if completely unharmed.

Awooo!

The wolf-shaped soul roared furiously, swiftly chasing after Jiang Fan.

It never expected that a human kid at the fourth level of Qi Condensation could withstand a single blow from it without dying, a realization that drove it to the absolute height of fury.

However, the moment it rushed to the mouth of the mine and made contact with the sunlight, a searing, burning pain instantly frightened it into shrinking its body back.

Roar, roar, roar...

The wolf-shaped soul glared at the cave entrance with extreme dread—specifically at the sunlight shining upon it—yet it was powerless to do nothing.

Roaring repeatedly, it cast one last venomous glance at Jiang Fan before gradually disappearing into the depths of the cave. Along with its retreat, the bizarre red mist slowly dissipated into nothingness, as if it had never existed at all.

"I've... I've finally survived!" Jiang Fan let out a long breath of turbid air, his heart still lingering with fear.

If not for his ability to transfer damage, and if not for Steward Wang being resilient enough to bear it, Jiang Fan would likely be dead by now.

"Deep inside Mine No. 00123... I must never go again under any circumstances," Jiang Fan warned himself internally, before his eyes flashed with excitement. "Let's head back to the cave dwelling and check out this massive harvest!"