Sudden Danger

Before Yang Heng's eyes, a silver little snake flicked its tongue, its green eyes gleaming with cold light. Twisting its body, it shot toward his neck like a straight silver arrow.

Yang Heng gave a cold smile at the sight. I've been waiting for you for a long time.

In that flash of lightning and spark, Yang Heng's right hand suddenly hooked back like an eagle's claw, carrying a metallic sheen as it seized the Silver Ring Snake seven inches below its head and tore hard.

Riiip!

The Silver Ring Snake's body was ripped apart like brocade. Snake blood splattered everywhere.

Its body split into two and fell to the ground.

Seeing that the severed body was still writhing, Yang Heng brought one heavy foot down on it.

Splat!

The Silver Ring Snake's remains instantly turned into minced flesh, as though crushed by a thousand-pound jack. It became a sheet of bloody paper pasted to the ground, without even a scrap of bone left.

Before Yang Heng could savor his joy, his sixth sense suddenly sent out a warning. Faintly, he sensed a powerful aura rapidly rushing toward him from behind.

In an instant, Yang Heng's heart palpitated, and every hair on his body stood on end!

Without time to clean up the scene, Yang Heng grabbed the Intermittent Flower and tossed it into his medicine basket. He used the Levitation Technique and shot forward. Each leap carried him three zhang, and after several rises and falls, his figure vanished into the depths of the forest.

A few breaths later, a figure drifted over, descending from the sky to land where Yang Heng had just stood.

Strangely, though the newcomer was traveling through the mountains, not a speck of mud stained his feet.

The man had a face like the Thunder God, high cheekbones, long arms and legs, and an exceptionally tall, burly frame. As he stood there, the surrounding grass and trees swayed and bent low in his direction, as if kneeling before him.

Had Yang Heng been there, he would have recognized the newcomer at a glance. It was Master Lei from the pharmacy.

Looking at the mess before him and seeing that the Intermittent Flower had vanished, Master Lei furrowed his brow and muttered, "Who could have picked the Intermittent Flower?"

"Could it have been one of the pharmacy apprentices?"

As far as he knew, only the pharmacy apprentices had entered the mountains to gather herbs today.

For the past few days, he had been away handling matters and had not been at the camp.

He had only returned that morning when he heard the pharmacy masters mention an Intermittent Flower deep in the mountains, guarded by a Silver Ring Snake. They wanted him to make a move and bring the flower back.

The moment he heard it was an Intermittent Flower, he did not even pause to catch his breath. After asking for the location, he rushed here without stopping.

Who would have thought he would still arrive one step too late?

Who had killed the Silver Ring Snake and taken the flower?

That was what Master Lei wondered.

Among the group from the pharmacy, only he had the ability to kill a Silver Ring Snake without suffering a scratch. The other Blood Brave Disciples could not possibly manage it, much less the pharmacy masters, disciples, and apprentices who knew no martial arts.

If the pharmacy masters had such ability, they would not have asked him to act.

If they forced the issue, they would most likely be bitten by the Silver Ring Snake, poisoned beyond saving, and lose their lives.

The reason he had rushed here without stopping was because he desperately needed this flower to heal his injuries.

During a gang mission, Master Lei had taken a savage palm strike to the chest from an enemy. Though he had eventually killed his opponent, he himself had suffered grave internal injuries. After returning to the gang, he had taken some medicine for internal wounds, but it had shown little effect and could not heal him completely.

According to the gang physician, only medicine refined with the Intermittent Flower as its main ingredient could fully cure him.

He had searched all over Qinghe City, but the Intermittent Flower was precious and rare. Whenever one appeared, someone else bought it first. It was never his turn as a mere Blood Strengthening Martial Artist.

As a Blood Strengthening Martial Artist, he could reign supreme in Qingyang Town, but in Qinghe City, he was nothing much.

A Blood Strengthening Martial Artist in Qinghe City could at most be considered a figure, not yet a personage.

Only Qi Refining Martial Artists counted as personages in Qinghe City, with a certain degree of status.

Those who truly possessed power and influence were Iron Bone Martial Artists.

As for Organ Refining Martial Artists, they hid behind the scenes and cultivated diligently, striving to break through the Body Tempering Realm as soon as possible. They were rarely seen.

After learning that Qingyang Town was a prolific source of Intermittent Flowers, and that more than half the Intermittent Flowers flowing into Qinghe City each year came from Qingyang Town, he had taken up a position in the gang.

He came to Hundred Herbs Pharmacy as the captain of its guards, transporting medicinal herbs to Qinghe City every month. Whenever he had free time, he would delve into the mountains where Intermittent Flowers had once appeared.

Unfortunately, after an entire year, he had not even caught sight of an Intermittent Flower's shadow.

If he still could not find an Intermittent Flower after another half year, his internal injuries would never heal, and he would never be able to improve his cultivation. He would be trapped in the Blood Strengthening Realm for the rest of his life.

Master Lei was a martial arts fanatic. If he could only remain in the Blood Strengthening Realm for his entire life, he would not hesitate to end himself.

He had finally received news of an Intermittent Flower and rushed here at top speed, only for someone else to take it first. Could it be that Heaven wanted him dead?

Master Lei threw back his head and sighed toward the sky.

He looked at the bloodstains on the ground and understood that the person had not left long ago.

Unfortunately, he was not skilled at tracking, and in these vast mountains, where could he possibly search?

Now he could only hope that the person who had picked the herb was a pharmacy apprentice. Then he might still have a chance to obtain it. If an outsider had taken it, he would have no chance at all.

There was more than one way down the mountain. He could not block them all.

Besides, he did not even know who had taken the Intermittent Flower.

Master Lei thought to himself that if the person would hand the Intermittent Flower over to him, he would be willing to agree to any condition.

Since nothing could be done, Master Lei returned to the camp with a face full of loss.

Yang Heng had no idea what happened after he left.

He ran in one breath for roughly ten kilometers before finally stopping.

Yang Heng secretly rejoiced. Fortunately, he had cultivated the Levitation Technique and his movement technique had already reached the entry level. His steps were light, leaving only the faintest traces on the ground. Unless one was an expert tracker, it would be difficult to discover them.

When he had run several li away and saw no one pursuing him, Yang Heng knew he was safe.

Still, to be on the safe side, he continued running deeper into the mountains.

Only after running a full twenty li did he finally relax completely.

Even if immortals came now, they would not be able to find him.

Yang Heng thought to himself.

After resting for a while, Yang Heng reached into his medicine basket, took out the Intermittent Flower, and admired it in his palm.

Under the sunlight, the Intermittent Flower shone with silver light, flashing again and again in a dazzling display.

Anyone who saw this scene would know that this was a rare and extraordinary medicinal herb.

Yang Heng would never hand the Intermittent Flower over to the pharmacy. He decided to keep it for himself; perhaps it would prove useful someday.

After resting a while, Yang Heng did not return by the same route. He feared that the dangerous presence he had sensed might be waiting there like a hunter sitting beneath a tree for a hare.

Wouldn't going back that way be walking straight into a trap? He would never do something so foolish.

What was more, he needed to find a concealed place to hide the Intermittent Flower. After the herb-gathering ended, he could return here and retrieve it.

Yang Heng feared that if he brought the flower down the mountain and the pharmacy searched them, finding it on him would spell trouble.

He could not explain how he had killed the Silver Ring Snake.

If he drew the attention of a martial artist like Master Lei, he would no longer be able to hide his cultivation. When that happened, it would surely be a dead end.

Even if his tongue could make flowers bloom, he could not explain how, in less than two months, he had transformed from an ordinary person into a disciple at the Blood Brave Realm's blood accumulation stage.

Shopkeeper Chen had examined his bones. They were merely low-grade, and his cultivation talent was poor.

With such trash talent, it was impossible for him to break through to the Blood Brave Realm's blood accumulation stage in only two short months.

There had to be some heaven-shaking fortuitous encounter behind it. He could not brush it off with a single Marrow Cleansing Pill.

If such a situation truly arose, Yang Heng would have no chance of survival. He would inevitably face brutal torture, and might even be sliced into pieces.

For the sake of his own safety, he would never bring the Intermittent Flower down the mountain.

Even if he had to destroy it, he would not bring it down the mountain at this time.

The dangers were too numerous.

He had to guard against them!