Chapter 116.2: Dao Shi'er Surrounded; Four Thousand Cauldrons Stage Experts! (II)

"Mr. Dao."

"It's Dao Shi'er."

"Mr. Dao, you slew three more northern barbarians?"

"Is that the 113th... or the 114th?"

"I heard the northern barbarians are furious and have tried every possible way to deal with you, but they still haven't been able to stop you."

"Yes. Your bounty on their side has become even higher than Song Wuqing's bounty."

"Honestly, I'm jealous. That's another few hundred minor merits in the bag for Mr. Dao..."

Upon entering Beiling City, Dao Shi'er was almost recognized by everyone, and they all greeted him. After all, anyone who would carry the heads of several northern barbarians at the Divine Strength Realm every day would inevitably draw attention.

More importantly, this spectacle had been going on for almost a month now.

Despite being ranked 61st on the Divine Strength Rankings, Lu Changsheng attracted even more attention than those ranked in the top three.

Soon, Lu Changsheng completed the handover of the heads and obtained a few hundred minor merits in return.

"I've got news! Big news! The northern barbarian who is ranked 75th on the Divine Strength Rankings has publicly challenged Dao Shi'er! He's known as the Fat Butcher, and he wants to wager a Marrow-Augmenting Grand Pill!

"If Dao Shi'er wins, the pill will belong to him! To make sure that nothing will go wrong, they're even willing to have experts from both sides oversee the fight!"

The entire city was thrown into an uproar upon hearing the news.

Everyone immediately looked at Dao Shi'er. A Marrow-Augmenting Grand Pill was ranked alongside the Divine Strength Grand Pill and the Hundred Cauldrons Grand Pill, but it was actually even more precious than the two. Once consumed, it could strengthen and enhance one's bone marrow.

Bone marrow was the body's factory for producing blood; it was the very root of blood qi and the foundation of one's body. Lu Changsheng couldn't believe that Fat Butcher would wager such a priceless pill for even a moment.

If Fat Butcher truly had such a pill, why had he not consumed it for himself? He'd have to be insane to put that up as a wager.

However, Fat Butcher was clearly not insane. This meant there was only one explanation behind this—it was a trap. A trap aimed squarely at Dao Shi'er. More precisely, it was meant to exploit Dao Shi'er's supposed greed and lure him into taking the bait.

Dao Shi'er just had to accept the challenge, and the northern barbarians would be able to kill him.

It seems the northern barbarians have decided to spare no expense just to deal with me. They're even willing to put up a Marrow-Augmenting Grand Pill as bait just to lure me in. And they also chose the Fat Butcher, who has a grudge against me but is below me in the rankings.

Their goal is obvious. They want to make me drop my guard; they want to make me think that I can defeat him so that I'll take the bait. Unfortunately for them, they still ended up underestimating me.

If I want a Marrow-Augmenting Grand Pill, I can just exchange some merits for it. It's just ten thousand minor merits. A single Divine Strength martial artist is worth at least a hundred minor merits.

I just have to kill a few dozen, at most a hundred northern barbarian Divine Strength martial artists to obtain ten thousand minor merits, so why would I take the risk? No, I'm not going!

Lu Changsheng swept his gaze across the crowd. Among these people, some had to be secretly colluding with the northern barbarians. However, it didn't matter to him, as he was only going to make his stance clear.

Having made up his mind, Lu Changsheng declared that the northern barbarians ought to stop their schemes, wash their necks clean, and wait for their turn, as he was going to "harvest" swathes of them every day.

With that, Lu Changsheng turned around and left, leaving behind only a group of martial artists standing there in silence.

"Dao Shi'er actually turned it down?"

"That really is Mr. Dao's style, deliberately making the northern barbarians angry.

Hahaha

."

"They can't do anything about him. Coercion, temptation, disguises, and schemes—none of them works on Mr. Dao."

"I guess they're really desperate this time."

"Still... isn't Mr. Dao being a little too cautious? Fat Butcher ranks below him, and it's a Marrow-Augmenting Grand Pill we're talking about here. That alone would save years of cultivation..."

A few martial artists couldn't quite understand Lu Changsheng's decision. A Marrow-Augmenting Grand Pill couldn't be easily obtained. How had Dao Shi'er rejected it so decisively, without the slightest hesitation or visible temptation?

"Idiots."

Many people cast sidelong glances at them. There would always be foolish individuals who would be tempted by such bait. Unfortunately for the northern barbarians, Dao Shi'er was not tempted at all.

As the days passed, Lu Changsheng remained cautious as ever as he made his "harvest" across the Northern Region Battlefield. The northern barbarians seemed to have resigned themselves to reality, no longer expecting Dao Shi'er to accept a direct challenge.

They abandoned the search for Dao Shi'er and focused on other martial artists instead. They also became more ferocious, acting as if they intended to recover the losses inflicted by Dao Shi'er.

Starting from the middle of the month, the battles throughout the Northern Region Battlefield became even fiercer. The daily casualties shot to the skies, and as always, Lu Changsheng remained wary.

He had been observing a northern barbarian squad for more than four full hours at this point. It was a four-man squad, with nothing particularly unusual about them. At most, they could be considered ordinary Divine Strength martial artists.

They were probably at the Hundred Cauldrons Stage, but they clearly lacked the qualifications to enter the Divine Strength Rankings.

"Good. You will do."

Lu Changsheng selected his target, or rather, selected his "prey." Without the slightest hesitation, he rushed toward them at full speed. The northern barbarians revealed wary faces as they surveyed their surroundings.

Just then, the sky darkened, and the grasslands seemed to transform into a pitch-black starry sky. A three-thousand-chi waterfall plunged down from the heavens, piercing the starry void.

The four men jolted violently at the sight.

"He's here! Dao Shi'er with his Starry Sky Waterfall Intent!"

"

Hahaha

, we finally caught Dao Shi'er!"

At the sight, the four were not alarmed but delighted instead. They were all too familiar with Dao Shi'er. Even if they had never met him in person, the northern barbarians knew Dao Shi'er's characteristics as if he were the back of their hands.

"

Hm?

" Lu Changsheng drew his saber, and a streak of crimson light engulfed the four northern barbarian martial artists.

"

Hahaha

, Dao Shi'er, your end is near!"

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"Move!"

Boom!

The blood qi of all four northern barbarians surged at once. At the same time, four terrifying auras shot straight into the sky. Those weren't ordinary auras, but ones infused with Intent.

Yes, their auras emanated Intent, creating a terrifying sight. Each far exceeded the Hundred Cauldrons Stage; all four were Thousand Cauldrons Stage experts.

Four Thousand Cauldrons Stage experts, and all of them possess Intent. They're strong enough to be a part of the Divine Strength Rankings top fifty, yet none of them are on the rankings.

They must be quite low-key despite being northern barbarian martial artists. They really do think highly of me.

Lu Changsheng finally realized one thing. Indeed, those walking by the river would inevitably get their shoes wet. He was in trouble.

The enemies had done a great job of concealing themselves. They weren't in the rankings and had revealed almost no information about themselves to the world. They had also used only a sliver of their strength over the past few hours.

As a result, Lu Changshell fell into their trap, despite his extreme caution.

In truth, this outcome did not surprise Lu Changsheng. He had been relentlessly harvesting heads on the Northern Region Battlefield, and it was about time he stumbled upon some trouble.

BANGG!

Lu Changsheng's saber light shattered one after another. The attack failed and couldn't kill even a single one of them. Instead, he ended up being surrounded. In the blink of an eye, he was in mortal danger.

"We've had to wait for days just to kill a mere Hundred Cauldrons martial artist like you... you can be proud of that achievement. We're going to gang up on you, Dao Shi'er, and there's nothing you can do about it!"

The blood qi of the four combined in midair, and a terrifying pressure enveloped Lu Changsheng. It was as though four massive mountains were pressing down on him. This was the first time Lu Changsheng had faced such overwhelming pressure. Even against Zhao Kun, he hadn't felt this way.

The killing intent of the four Thousand Cauldrons martial artists surged as they charged at Lu Changsheng.

A strange light flashed through Lu Changsheng's eyes. "Do you really think that you've already won?"

BOOOOOMMMM!

The next moment, Lu Changsheng erupted with all his strength. In addition to the three-thousand-chi waterfall in the pitch-black starry sky, wave after wave of tidal waves manifested and swept downward.

The massive waves slammed against the blood qi in the sky, and each impact sent violent tremors across it.

The sight was created through the combination of Wave Intent, the Starry Sky Waterfall Intent, and Lu Changsheng's Divine Dragon Third Transformation.

Lu Changsheng swung his saber, slashing out with all his might. The amplified attack exceeded three thousand cauldrons in strength as it slammed into the curtain of blood qi that blotted out the sky.