Chapter 91: Even A Lion Uses Its Full Strength To Hunt A Rabbit (II)

After collecting the corpse poison, Zhao Ziyan asked curiously, "Grandfather, are living corpses really that powerful? With our Zhao Family's resources, can't we capture one alive and use it as a source of corpse poison?"

Corpse poison was the term they used to refer to the Baleful Yin poison found on living corpses. According to the ancient texts passed down in the Zhao Family, this corpse poison was extraordinarily potent and could be used to concoct a highly lethal poison. Not long ago, news of living corpses appearing in Beast Roar Mountain had spread, prompting them to send people into the mountains to search for them and collect corpse poison.

"Capture one? How would you even do that? Living corpses have skins like bronze and bones like iron. They fear neither blades nor poison. Only overwhelming strength can suppress them.

"Even an ordinary Blood Qi Realm expert stands no chance against a living corpse and can only flee. Only martial artists who have reached the third transformation of blood qi or higher can even attempt to fight one.

"But living corpses are too resilient. Even then, capturing one alive would require at least three or four experts above the third transformation," said the old man as he shook his head.

It wasn't that he didn't want to, but it was that he couldn't. If they could capture a living corpse alive and keep it as a source of corpse poison, the Zhao Family would soon become the foremost family in Songyi City.

"Strange... Why hasn't Uncle Hai returned yet? It's only a mere Bone Forging Realm brat. With Uncle Hai's lightness technique and tracking skills, he should have caught him by now."

After collecting the corpse poison, Zhao Ziyan waited for a while longer, but Uncle Hai still hadn't returned. He looked toward the direction Uncle Hai had gone, doubt flickering in his eyes.

"Let's go check," said the old man after a brief pause for thought.

The two of them packed up their things and entered the forest. They walked dozens of meters, passing through a dense patch of forest where the undergrowth grew thick.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Suddenly, two cold blades flashed out, their edges impossibly sharp as they tore through the air with a shrill, deadly whistle. The old man's hair stood on end. He stomped down hard, throwing himself backward at an angle to narrowly evade the flying blades.

Bang!

The throwing knives grazed past him and struck a distant tree trunk with a loud bang, blowing out a small, round hole.

"

Ah!

"

A familiar scream rang out. The old man trembled and turned toward Zhao Ziyan. One of the blades had pierced Zhao Ziyan's temple from the side, burying its hilt deep within. Blood and brain matter sprayed through the air.

The immense force behind the blade lifted Zhao Ziyan off his feet like a rag doll, slamming him into a tree trunk. He fell silent and still. His eyes were wide open, frozen in terror and disbelief, refusing to close even in death.

"Yan'er!" shouted the old man, his heart splitting with anguish.

This was his most beloved grandson, the most outstanding junior of their lineage, who had reached the Organ Forging Realm at just 23 years old. With just a few more years of training, he could have broken through to the Blood Qi Realm. Yet he had died so easily, right before his eyes.

"Who are you, coward? Come out!" the old man bellowed.

Even in his grief, he dared not approach Zhao Ziyan's body. Instead, his mind was taut as a bowstring as he stayed alert to his surroundings. Whoever it was, they were strong and definitely at the blood qi gauze stage. Even he had felt an immense threat from that single strike.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

No one replied. Instead, three more cold, deadly throwing knives answered him.

"

Hmph!

"

The old man let out a cold snort and swung his wolf-toothed mace, batting the throwing knives away one by one. He had only been caught off guard earlier because of the ambush. Now that he was prepared, such crude hidden-weapon tactics could not harm him.

He scanned the forest around him but could not sense the attacker's aura at all. What's more, the enemy's lightness technique was extraordinary, producing almost no sound at all. The cold wind howled, and the rustling of leaves masked even the faintest movement.

Who is this person? Their ability to conceal their aura is terrifying. I can't sense even the slightest blood qi fluctuation!

The old man's expression grew grim, shock rising in his heart.

He prided himself on his skill in hiding his aura, but compared to the person lurking in the dark, his abilities were insignificant. The enemy had been hiding less than 10 meters from him moments ago, yet he hadn't noticed a thing.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

Three more throwing knives shot out, cutting off the old man's retreat. The old man dodged swiftly, occasionally deflecting them with his mace.

"It's useless. If this is all you're capable of, you won't be able to take me down. Do not let me discover who you are. If I do, I'll see to it that your entire family pays with their lives for Yan'er's death!" said the old man coldly, his eyes like ice.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

Three more throwing knives flew through the air. The old man blocked them with his mace, but the tremendous force behind the blades numbed his arms slightly.

What tremendous strength!

The old man's expression grew even more solemn. He stayed fully alert, watching every direction as he slowly moved toward a nearby clearing.

The old man was powerful and was considered a top expert among the members of the Zhao Family. Combined with his mastery of poison, even Blood Qi Realm experts of the first transformation feared him. Yet here in the dense forest, the opponent's agility and frightening ability to conceal their aura made it impossible for him to locate them. That left his vast knowledge of poisons useless and unable to put to use.

Sniff, sniff.

The old man sniffed the air and caught a faint, familiar scent.

"Poison! A strange poison, too. Even I haven't seen this one before. But trying to use poison against me? You're still too young!" shouted the old man with a grin.

He circulated his blood qi and noticed its flow had slowed slightly. Though he didn't know exactly what poison it was, his Zhao Family heritage had given him vast knowledge of toxins. Even the slightest symptom was enough for him to roughly identify how to counteract it.

He quickly rummaged through his pack and pulled out a dark brown pill, one designed to counteract most poisons that slowed blood qi circulation.

Whoosh.

A throwing knife shot through the air, piercing the void and streaking straight for his face. The old man shifted his body, dodged the blade, and swiftly tossed the pill into his mouth.

Bang!

From the grass, Lin Zheyu suddenly burst forth. His blood qi roared within him, surging into his legs. A terrifying force exploded as his right leg swept out with a howling gust, aimed straight at the old man's head.

Caught completely off guard, the old man had no time to defend. It was too fast, much faster than he could comprehend. The attacker's aura concealment was terrifying. Hidden by the forest and coupled with astonishing speed, the strike caught the old man completely unprepared.

Thud.

His head was struck viciously, and the pill he had just thrown into his mouth flew out. The tremendous force sent him hurtling backward, slamming into the ground and leaving his vision spinning.

Horror gripped his heart, but years of experience and sheer willpower helped him resist the dizziness as he rolled desperately across the ground. He rapidly channeled blood qi into his legs and tried to retreat at high speed, but it was already too late.

Crack!

Lin Zheyu exploded forward, his feet stamping with power as he crossed the distance in a few steps. The Barbaric Ox Fist surged forth, and blood qi erupted in his arms. His blood qi roared like thunder, and a tremendous momentum spiraled around him. His fist slammed into the old man's chest, and with a sickening crack, ribs shattered as the blow punched straight through, leaving a gaping hole.

The old man spat out a mouthful of blood. His vision slowly cleared, and at last he saw the attacker's face; it was the same young man he had seen just moments before.

"It... It's you!"

The old man's eyes widened, disbelief frozen on his face as he drew his final breath. Even in death, he couldn't understand how that youth, who was clearly a Bone Forging Realm martial artist, had suddenly erupted with the power of the blood qi gauze stage. With all his knowledge, he had never imagined that someone so young could have reached the Blood Qi Realm.

Thud.

Lin Zheyu casually flung the corpse aside and finally let out a breath of relief. The Zhao Family was troublesome, and the old man's poisons had made him wary. If the old man and the middle-aged man had stayed together, Lin Zheyu would have been forced to fight with great caution.

"Even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit. One must never underestimate any enemy," murmured Lin Zheyu quietly to himself.

If he hadn't feigned weakness from the start and hidden all signs of strength beyond the Bone Forging Realm, successfully luring the middle-aged man away, he would never have succeeded so easily.

Lin Zheyu did not linger. After searching the old man's body, he returned to where the middle-aged man had died, searched him as well, and quickly departed.