Ascending the Mountain (Lower) (Thanks to Shiyi Baishui for the Alliance Leader Reward)

"You."

The bandit opened his mouth to speak.

Swish!

Suddenly, a handful of white powder shot into the sky.

The men were instantly startled. As their vision was obscured, a figure burst out from the powder, punching one of them squarely.

Bang!

A bandit was sent flying backward, his chest caved in. He wasn't going to make it.

"Eight Shadows of Huishan!"

Wei He's arms moved like a monkey's, striking the chests of four bandits in rapid succession within the white powder.

The surrounding four bandits only had time to cry out before being hit in the chest by his fists and sent tumbling back.

Two of them spat blood, while the other two managed to block, but their forearms and chest bones were all fractured.

In just a few seconds, all the bandits lay on the ground, leaving only the bald one.

The bald man was terrified, knowing something was wrong. Without a word, he grabbed a bag from his waist and was about to scatter it forward.

It was his specially made secret weapon, a custom poison powder he had prepared for a long time.

Once scattered, if inhaled through the nose, it was guaranteed to cause severe coughing and pain, rendering someone unable to fight for a short period.

This was the same move he had used successfully when he ambushed that expert last time.

Now...

He grabbed the bag and was about to fling it forward.

Suddenly, a large dark shadow hurtled towards him.

Bang!

It was one of his own bandit subordinates from just moments ago.

This bandit had been kicked flying and slammed hard into the bald man. Both of them rolled onto the ground.

The bald man shoved the bandit away roughly and tried to get up.

Suddenly, his vision went black as a massive fist appeared before him.

"Aargh!!"

He roared, knowing he was at the brink of life and death.

The bag in his hand was about to be thrown.

Thwip!

Unexpectedly, the fist held another handful of white powder.

The lime powder hit him directly in the face.

"Aargh!!!"

He screamed.

He hadn't expected the opponent to be so fast. Combined with the strength the opponent displayed earlier, taking down four people in an instant.

Even he couldn't achieve such strength and explosive power. It had to be a master of the Second Stage Qi and Blood!

Facing such a master head-on, he was no match for him.

But what he hadn't expected was that the opponent, who could clearly defeat him, still chose to resort to dirty tricks.

You're already this powerful, and you still use dirty tricks? Have you no shame?!

The bald man was on the verge of tears, his heart filled with despair.

It wasn't the powerful masters that were scary, but the powerful masters who also used dirty tricks. This was simply leaving no room for survival!

With lime powder in his face, his eyes burning with intense pain, the bald man's thoughts raced through his mind. Unfortunately, he didn't have much time to reflect or regret.

Thump.

A fist landed squarely on his forehead, sending him flying backward, blood streaming from his seven orifices. He crashed into a large tree trunk and fell to the ground, completely still.

Silence returned to the surroundings.

"I really just wanted to leave..." Since I've already started fighting, I have no choice but to kill all these people.

There's no other way; this is just how the world is.

Wei He retracted his fist, picked up a few stones from the ground, and smashed them hard against the corpses around him, one by one.

He made sure to deliver a final blow to each of their foreheads.

After confirming they were all dead, he began to search them.

He found quite a few good things on these ordinary mountain bandits.

Three bags of what were suspected to be sleeping powder, four bags of poison powder. Five bags of dry rations and water. A small amount of gold beans, which were a unit of currency smaller than gold leaf.

Additionally, there was a special small pouch and a small, withered yellow booklet.

"What is this?" Wei He carefully pinched the small pouch and peeked from a distance. Inside was a light gray powder. He didn't know what kind of powder it was and needed to identify it back at his place.

He carefully re-tied the pouch and fastened it together with the poison powder bag.

Then, he tossed the pile of food and drinks into the insulated backpack, separating them from the python meat, and finally picked up the small booklet found on the bald bandit.

The booklet's paper was withered yellow, and the edges were severely worn. Several large characters were crookedly written on the cover: Li Family Pharmacy Ledger.

"Ledger?" Wei He quickly flipped it open with the tip of his knife.

Inside, it wasn't a ledger at all, but a set of complete martial arts diagrams.

The text was on the left, and the graphics were on the right, with each word and sentence described quite precisely.

As for why the cover said "Ledger," it was probably a simple disguise tactic by the bald man.

Wei He didn't have time to flip through it further. He quickly put it away and began to process the bodies.

He piled all the bodies together and used his knife to hack away at the wounds on their fists. This was to prevent people from identifying the martial arts style as Huishan Fist based on the wounds.

Chopping up the wounds would also quickly attract wild beasts to feed on the corpses, making the cause of death and the injuries harder to discern.

After doing all this, Wei He quickly left the area, using large branches to sweep away his footprints along the way.

After walking for a while, he was about to discard the branches.

Suddenly, a very fat man in white clothes walked towards him.

This was the path down the mountain.

This was Shaoyang Mountain.

White clothes, fat man.

Wei He's heart suddenly jolted, and he carefully observed the other person.

This fat man was over 1.8 meters tall and over 1 meter wide, almost like a ball.

But strangely, the exposed skin on his face and hands wasn't the typical pale and plump skin of a fat person. Instead, it was all solid, muscular flesh-colored muscle.

The impression he gave was that this was a fat person with very little body fat, built entirely from muscle.

It was just that his body shape was spindle-like, making him look like a fat man from a distance.

"On such a hot day, you're still wearing a mask? Wrapped up so tightly, how interesting. This is the first time I've seen a strange person like you on Shaoyang Mountain."

A hint of curiosity appeared on the fat man's face.

"I have an illness," Wei He said, muffling his voice. "I'm afraid of scaring others, so I'm wrapped up tightly."

"Looking at the direction you just came from, it's the same direction Kong Yan and his group went. You weren't robbed of your belongings by them?"

The white-clothed fat man narrowed his eyes.

"Your steps are cautious when you walk, and you still carry a slight scent of human blood and lime powder, friend. Well done, you dare to injure my Shaoyang Gate subordinates on Shaoyang Mountain?"

This fat man wasn't easily fooled!

Wei He's heart tightened, knowing he had been seen through. His disguise wouldn't work anymore.

He also narrowed his eyes and slightly hunched his back.

"Sir is joking. I'm just a small hunter. I don't understand what you're talking about."

"Don't understand? It doesn't matter if you don't understand, you'll soon..."

Puff puff!!

At almost the same time, both of them raised their hands and threw handfuls of lime powder at each other.

Both pairs of narrowed eyes closed tightly. Narrowing their eyes was precisely to be able to close them quickly, guarding against sneak attacks.

After throwing the lime, the fat man knew he had met his match. He reached behind his waist, pulled out a cylindrical object, and quickly pressed a switch, aiming it forward.

Puff!

A stream of black water sprayed from the end of the cylinder and shot out.

Unexpectedly, the other side simultaneously flung a bag from above the black water. The bag opened in mid-air, and a large amount of choking powder scattered out.

This time, their movements were similar. They attacked almost simultaneously and were hit almost simultaneously.

Wei He's chest and abdomen were hit directly by the black water. He retreated several steps and looked up at the other person.

The white-clothed fat man also had powder all over his face, but he held his breath and kept his eyes closed, quickly wiping his face with his sleeve.

Without thinking, Wei He pulled out an awl from his body and threw it fiercely at the other person.

He used his Blood Essence burst for this throw, making his speed and strength extremely fast.

Caught off guard, the fat man sensed the wind, retreated several steps, and flung a black dart.

The dart hit Wei He's chest directly. The immense force broke through the leather armor but hit the iron plate inside.

The dart was repelled and fell to the ground.

However, the white-clothed fat man had no time to dodge and was hit in the waist by the awl. He immediately activated his Blood Essence, his powerful Second Stage Qi and Blood surging rapidly, unleashing his strength.

But because he was a beat too slow to exert his strength, and acted in haste, he hadn't fully reached his peak when he met Wei He's punch head-on.

Clang!!

As their fists met, instead of the sound of flesh impacting flesh, it was the sound of metal clashing against metal.

Both men's hearts tightened simultaneously.

The fatty retracted his hand and looked. On the metal glove he wore, one of the spikes was missing. When he clenched his fist, there was a bloody hole between his fingers.

Wei He on the other side also retracted his hand and looked. His fist was fine, but on the handle-spike hidden between his fingers, a trace of blood had appeared.

However, after this exchange, the tip of the handle-spike was bent and broken by the immense force. It likely wouldn't be usable next time.

"Good, good, good!" The fatty thought he had been cunning enough, but he never expected to be outsmarted today, like a goose that pecked the eye of the person hunting it.

He no longer held back. Feeling the wound on his hand throbbing and itching unbearably, he knew it must have been poisoned.

He let out a low growl, circulated his entire Blood Essence, and popped an antidote pill into his mouth before charging forward.

When this guy didn't move, he was still. But once he moved, he was like a moving mountain of flesh, his steps thudding and kicking up grass and dirt.

"Stop for me!!"

The fatty roared, and his intact left hand slashed down like a cleaver towards Wei He's shoulder.

His attack wasn't fast at the start, but it suddenly accelerated mid-way, its speed even surpassing Wei He's reaction time, striking fiercely at his shoulder.

Wei He also circulated his Blood Essence and let out a great shout.

"Hundred Pace Divine Fist!!"

He kicked out, and before the opponent's palm-blade could reach him, he slammed it hard into the fatty's abdomen.

Legs are longer than hands; that's a fundamental truth.

"You damn..." The fatty was kicked off course, grazing past Wei He's side.

But the Shaoyang Palm wasn't just powerful; it also had considerable skill in close-range agility.

As he brushed past, the fatty's palm rapidly changed direction, transforming from a palm strike into a fist, smashing towards Wei He's back.

Boom!

This punch changed too quickly; Wei He hadn't anticipated it and was hit squarely.

But unfortunately, the fatty grunted, and the spot where his fist landed turned out to be a metal plate.

Although his punch dented the metal plate, he himself felt a bone-jarring pain from the recoil.

Wei He didn't hold back, turning around and lunging forward, his fists like a storm, continuously smashing towards the fatty.

The fatty suffered repeated setbacks, and his temper flared. He began to meet Wei He head-on.

Their fists and palms collided, Blood Essence surging.

In less than ten breaths.

The fatty's face turned ashen, and he fell backward, head thrown back.

The poison from the handle-spike and the poison powder had finally taken effect.

Wei He panted heavily. This battle had pushed his combat strength to its absolute limit.

This opponent was the greatest enemy he had ever encountered since his debut.

If he hadn't made thorough preparations beforehand for this hunt, and had encountered this person in his usual state, it would have been hard to say who would have lived and who would have died.

He looked at the fatty on the ground, who was convulsing and gradually becoming still. He reached back and pulled out a poisoned dart, flicking it forcefully towards the fatty.

Although he hadn't practiced with hidden weapons, at this distance of a few meters, he could still manage to throw it with force, making the dart pierce the opponent.

After all, he was someone who had undergone a second breakthrough in Qi and Blood, and his physical fitness in all aspects far surpassed ordinary people.

Swish.

As soon as the dart flew out, the fatty nimbly sprang up, dodging the dart, and flung a handful of throwing darts at Wei He.

Not just one, but a large handful, at least ten or so darts, rained down on Wei He.