Afterimage Fist

"Two-tenths of my Dou Qi could produce flames as large as a room. Not bad!" Yun Shu said, raising an eyebrow.

As for the name of this Battle Skill, it was Crimson Flame Storm.

Presumably, the person who created this Battle Skill could use crimson flames to unleash an entire storm of fire.

It was like the Flame Splitting Tsunami Ruler. The effect when Yao Lao used it was completely different from when Xiao Yan used it.

"As expected of an Earth Rank Battle Skill. It's far more useful than that Profound High Rank one." Yun Shu nodded in satisfaction. He should have learned this one first.

"Forget it. Since it isn't dark yet, I'll keep traveling!" Yun Shu looked up at the sky. In the past, he would have already been looking for a place to rest by now.

But now that he had a portable Alternate Dimension, he could rest whenever he wanted. Since the sun had only just set, Yun Shu planned to travel a little farther.

Xiao Yan was supposed to set out tomorrow, but Yun Shu did not know whether the plot would change because of his involvement.

"Hm?" Before he had gone very far, Yun Shu spotted seven or eight carriages slowly heading in his direction—toward Wu Tan City.

"I can't see through the strength of the one in front!" Yun Shu narrowed his eyes when he saw the man leading them. He quickly leaped onto a nearby tree and used the Divine Concealment Art to hide his aura.

He was already a Three-Star Dou Shi. In Wu Tan City, the only people far stronger than him should have been the elders of those few clans.

The Clan Leaders were unlikely, since he knew the leaders of the three great clans.

"It's all that damned Xiao Family's fault! Sooner or later, I'll kill that bastard!"

"Second Elder, the person cooperating with our Gale Family is only a First-Rank Alchemist. Can he really stand against the Second-Rank Alchemist hired by the Xiao Family?"

Upon hearing the leading man's words, Yun Shu narrowed his eyes. He finally knew who this guy was, as well as what these carriages of Medicinal Herbs were for.

In the original story, the Gale Family had hired Liu Xi, a First-Rank Alchemist. Now, the Gale Family and the Oba Family had likely learned that Yun Shu had not refined pills in a long time. The two families were probably secretly joining forces, intending to reclaim their status as the three dominant powers of Wu Tan City.

And these Medicinal Herbs, if nothing unexpected happened, had probably been gathered for Liu Xi as well. Ever since Yun Shu began cooperating with the Xiao Family, the Mittel Auction House had practically stopped selling anything to the other two great families.

That was why this fellow had gone to other cities to buy Medicinal Herbs...

"Hehe! Aren't these gifts being delivered right to my door?" Yun Shu might not have been a match for Gale Nu, but he had a Peak Dou Huang Experience Card. These Medicinal Herbs were worth at least several hundred thousand Gold Coins altogether.

Using just a few seconds of the Experience Card in exchange for Medicinal Herbs worth hundreds of thousands was an extremely worthwhile deal.

"System, use the Peak Dou Huang Experience Card!!" The moment Yun Shu spoke, he vanished from where he stood.

"What?!" Having sensed a terrifying aura nearby, Gale Nu had just turned around when a massive black ruler came crashing toward him.

Slash!!

"System, pause the Experience Card!" Yun Shu immediately said upon seeing Gale Nu's head separate from his body.

At the peak Dou Huang level, it had taken him only about two seconds to deal with Gale Nu. The Experience Card still had 1 hour, 59 minutes, and 58 seconds remaining.

It did not matter. What he had gained this time was enough.

But he had only dealt with Gale Nu. There were still more than a dozen lackeys left.

The power of a peak Dou Huang receded from Yun Shu like a tide, making his legs go weak. It seemed the Experience Card did not come with nothing but benefits. The instant it was deactivated, the sudden drop in strength gave his body a brief feeling of weakness.

Fortunately, that weakness lasted for only a second before fading away. Holding the Mystic Heavy Ruler, Yun Shu looked at the Dou Zhe lackeys before him and curled his lips into a faint smile.

They were all merely Dou Zhes, but there were plenty of them. They could at least give him a little fun.

"H-He killed the Second Elder!!"

"Run!!"

Yun Shu: ???

"Fuck!" Yun Shu said helplessly as he watched the group flee without the slightest shred of dignity. But after thinking it over, he understood. Gale Nu was a Great Dou Shi, and someone capable of instantly killing a Great Dou Shi was simply not an opponent they could handle.

"Forget it, forget it. They're only a bunch of Dou Zhes, and some aren't even Dou Zhes!" Yun Shu sent all the Medicinal Herbs to the system for the Lottery.

After all, these were only Medicinal Herbs for refining First Grade Pills. Yun Shu barely even refined second-grade pills now, so these herbs were useless to him. He simply chose to use them for the Lottery.

" Ding! Lottery in progress..."

"Congratulations. You have obtained a Mystic Rank Low-Level Battle Skill: Afterimage Fist."

"Afterimage Fist: Consumes Dou Qi to leave an afterimage while moving. The faster the speed, the more lifelike the afterimage and the longer it remains. Once mastered, it can split into countless afterimages. The afterimages possess no attack power."

"Afterimage Fist? Isn't that Turtle Hermit's signature move?" Yun Shu said in surprise.

It had not displayed any attack power in the original story, and one's speed had to reach a certain level before it could be used.

But his version seemed to have been modified by the system, just like the Heavenly Thunder Break from before. Now, he only needed to consume Dou Qi to produce afterimages. Greater speed merely made the afterimages more realistic and allowed them to linger longer.

Still, for Yun Shu, who was about to enter the Monster Mountain Range, this move was indeed useful. After all, second- and third-tier, even third- and fourth-tier magical beasts did not possess much intelligence. Afterimages could be used to deal with such not-so-smart magical beasts.

After settling matters here, the sky gradually darkened. Continuing his journey now would be somewhat dangerous, so Yun Shu looked around. Once he confirmed that no one was nearby, he directly activated Kamui and drew himself into the Alternate Dimension.

"Ya Fei is hosting an auction... Then I'll tidy up my home!" Yun Shu checked on Ya Fei and Xun Er. Neither of them had anything going on at the moment, so Yun Shu took out all of his Omni-Pills.

Then he threw them all out at once.

Bang bang bang bang...

Although there was no light in this Alternate Dimension, it was not completely dark either. It felt somewhat like an overcast day.

And the ground was entirely stone. He wondered what he would find if he dug downward...

Would he never reach the underground, or would he reach the planet's core like on Earth?

Or perhaps... bedrock? [grinning dog emoji]

And overhead, since there was no light, he could not see at all whether he was in a special space or on a stone planet floating within the Alternate Dimension...