Master's Fine Eldest Disciple

"Pfft—!"

The red-hot shortsword easily pierced the flesh already corroded by the snake venom.

Purple-black blood immediately gushed out, accompanied by a thick stench.

Tang San increased his strength again.

"Clang—!"

Just as he thought he was about to succeed, the shortsword struck the bone in Yu Xiaogang's shoulder.

The bone, corroded by the snake venom, had become incomparably hard.

Even Tang San's right hand, empowered by the Mysterious Heaven Skill, trembled, nearly causing him to drop the shortsword.

He took a deep breath. The sight before him was truly horrifying.

After steadying his breathing, Tang San raised his right arm and swung down with all his strength once more.

"Crack—!"

In the stillness of the night, the sound of breaking bone was especially clear.

Even Tang San, who had been prepared for it, felt his heart shudder.

He applied the medicine he had prepared beforehand to the severed arm, and with the Mysterious Heaven Skill, quickly stopped the bleeding.

Then Tang San used the Mystic Jade Hand to grab Yu Xiaogang's severed arm and toss it away.

Having that thing right in front of him was simply hard to bear.

Besides, he was even more afraid that Yu Xiaogang would be unable to accept it after waking up.

"Pfft—!"

At that moment, Yu Xiaogang, who had shown no movement for a long while, suddenly spat out a mouthful of old blood.

"The blood is slightly black."

Tang San muttered to himself.

He also discovered wisps of black qi drifting through his teacher's body.

This meant that some of the blood containing snake venom had already spread through the meridians to every part of his body.

He had to force this poisoned blood out.

Tang San circulated the Mysterious Heaven Skill and used his inner force to seal Yu Xiaogang's four meridians.

Then, he slowly forced the toxins within the meridians toward the severed arm.

The poisoned blood gradually flowed out, while the black qi around Yu Xiaogang's body slowly dispersed as well.

"Ah—!"

Without warning, Yu Xiaogang suddenly let out a miserable scream.

Huo Feng, who had been sleeping soundly in the grass some distance away, was abruptly jolted awake.

Peering through the gaps in the grass, he saw Tang San forcing the poison out of Yu Xiaogang's body.

"Damn, that's fucking ruthless!"

When he saw that Tang San had chopped off Yu Xiaogang's entire right arm, Huo Feng completely lost his composure.

As expected of Master's fine eldest disciple! He had originally planned to let the awakened Yu Xiaogang or Tang San discover his "seriously injured" self.

Since that was the case, he could only keep sleeping.

After all, it was still early.

On the other side, the pain on Yu Xiaogang's face gradually faded, and the continuous groans from his mouth finally stopped.

Fresh red blood had begun to seep from the severed arm.

Seeing this, Tang San immediately stopped circulating the Mysterious Heaven Skill, then took out more herbs and applied them to the wound.

A severed-arm wound was different from an ordinary wound.

It involved not only flesh, but bone as well.

If it was not handled properly and became infected, he could die outright.

Looking at Yu Xiaogang, whose face was pale but had returned to normal, Tang San let out a long breath.

At least the first step had succeeded.

Though he was extremely weak himself, Tang San did not dare sleep for the entire night.

Early the next morning, he found Huo Feng lying in the grass, "seriously injured and unconscious."

The instant Tang San saw Huo Feng, his heart skipped a beat.

After he had fainted yesterday, what exactly had happened?

He immediately stepped forward and placed a finger beneath Huo Feng's nose.

"He's still breathing."

Tang San was somewhat puzzled.

Not only was Huo Feng breathing, but his breathing seemed remarkably even.

Tang San placed a hand on Huo Feng's wrist. His pulse was perfectly normal too.

This meant there was nothing seriously wrong inside Huo Feng's body. He might simply have fainted.

Seeing that, Tang San gently shook Huo Feng's shoulder a few times and called out, "Huo Feng, can you hear me? Huo Feng?"

"Huo Feng."

Sure enough, Huo Feng, whose eyes were tightly shut, soon began to regain consciousness.

He slowly opened his eyes and looked at Tang San in confusion. His voice was extremely weak. "Tang... Tang San..."

"Where am I?"

Tang San explained that he had found Huo Feng in the grass.

He pulled him to his feet, then helped him over to where Yu Xiaogang was lying.

Naturally, Huo Feng cooperated fully.

"What happened to Master?"

Huo Feng feigned shock, his face filled with horror.

Especially when he saw Yu Xiaogang's missing right arm, his expression was no different from that of an ordinary six-year-old child.

"Teacher was poisoned by a Mandala Snake. To save him, I..."

Tang San suddenly stopped there, his gaze falling on Yu Xiaogang's bare shoulder.

The meaning was obvious.

"Huo Feng, what exactly happened after that yesterday?"

Tang San looked at Huo Feng in confusion.

His final strike against the Mandala Snake should have been fatal, yet when he woke up, there was no trace of it anywhere nearby.

"Sigh..."

Huo Feng sighed and slowly recited the lines he had prepared long ago.

Naturally, after Tang San had fainted, Huo Feng had fought the Mandala Snake again.

But because he was not strong enough, he had been sent flying and knocked unconscious.

After that, he knew nothing.

Tang San nodded without the slightest suspicion.

Over the next three days, Yu Xiaogang remained unconscious.

During that time, Huo Feng and Tang San could only stay together in the Soul Hunting Forest.

"I... what happened to me?"

By the time Yu Xiaogang awoke, it was already noon on the fourth day.

He only felt so weak that he did not have even a shred of strength left. The world spun before his eyes.

Even lifting a hand took tremendous effort.

But when he tried to control his right hand, he felt nothing at all. "Teacher, you're awake."

At that moment, Tang San walked over.

Yu Xiaogang became a little clearer-headed. He suddenly remembered how he had been poisoned and fainted earlier.

A sense of foreboding suddenly rose in his heart.

He barely managed to turn his head and look toward his right arm.

There was nothing there. It was completely empty!

"Boom—!"

Like a bolt from the blue, Yu Xiaogang instantly understood everything.

But how could he possibly accept something like this so quickly?

"Thud—!"

At that moment, Tang San suddenly dropped to his knees beside Yu Xiaogang with a bang.

After knocking his head against the ground three times, he said through tears and snot, "Teacher, when I found you after waking up, your right arm was already too deeply poisoned to be saved."

"To preserve your life, I could only make the decision myself and cut off your right arm."

Tang San's voice trembled slightly as he spoke.

"Forget it, forget it."

Yu Xiaogang shook his head and continued, "No matter what, you were the one who saved me."

"Once I recover a little, we'll leave this place."

Tang San nodded. The environment here was poor and highly unsuitable for wound recovery.

It was just that this trip to the Soul Hunting Forest would likely end empty-handed.

At that moment, Yu Xiaogang spoke again. "Given my current condition, I can no longer help you hunt a high-level spirit ring. We can only settle for the next best thing..."

Tang San's eyes flickered at those words.

What Teacher meant was—

Yu Xiaogang continued,

"Do you remember the Lonely Bamboo I showed you before?"

Huo Feng, listening to Yu Xiaogang from not far away, froze and nearly lost it. Lonely Bamboo?

That Lonely Bamboo with only ten years of cultivation?