Those Who Strike Later Suffer

The blue powder seal tore through the air and shot straight at the old man. When it was less than a meter away from him, a massive shadow descended from above and slammed heavily into the barrier.

For an instant, space itself seemed to solidify. Then, a thunderous boom exploded through the hall.

Some of the people fighting upstairs were caught off guard by the sudden blast. Their ears rang, and their heads spun.

After the thunderous crash, waves of energy produced by the collision spread outward through the hall. Every table and chair in the inn that had only recently been replaced after the daytime brawl shattered into pieces wherever the waves passed.

At the center of the energy ripples, the Gaunt Old Man's face flushed red. Both hands desperately gripped his trembling cane, while the thick wood-attribute Dou Qi covering it melted away at a visible rate.

Since his hands were in contact with the cane, the old man could feel an incredibly terrifying burning-hot aura continuously invading along it from the blue-pink jade seal.

He could imagine that once the Defense Barrier formed from his own Dou Qi through the weapon was completely exhausted, that burning-hot aura would fully erupt.

Though he understood this, there was nothing he could do.

Thus, he could only watch helplessly as the barrier in front of him melted away at high speed, while the heat transmitted from the tip of the cane grew increasingly intense...

The barrier lasted less than ten seconds before completely melting away. As the wood-attribute Dou Qi barrier fully dissipated—

The cane, which should have been a fine weapon, rapidly changed from black to fiery red...

"Pssh..." An unusual sound suddenly came from where the Gaunt Old Man's hands gripped the cane. Immediately afterward, he let out a muffled groan of pain, hurriedly released it, and threw away the cane that had nearly turned into hot coal.

The cane fell to the ground and smashed heavily onto the bluestone floor. Its fiery red temperature rapidly shrank back, and in an instant, it became an ordinary iron rod.

Cracks continued spreading across the iron rod. Clearly, this weapon that had looked quite expensive had now completely become a piece of scrap iron.

The Gaunt Old Man had no time to mourn his weapon turning into scrap iron, because the instant it left his hand, he clearly saw a strand of blue-pink light shooting fiercely toward him.

What grade of Dou Skill is this? How could it be this powerful? And with such a terrifying person here, why didn't Scarface report it? Didn't he say there were no Da Dou Shi or stronger?!

Amid his shock and confusion, the Gaunt Old Man had no time to dodge. He gritted his teeth, hurriedly mobilized the little Dou Qi remaining inside his body, and formed a somewhat thin suit of Dou Qi Armor over his body, preparing to take the attack head-on.

The slightly dimmer blue-pink jade seal arrived as expected and lightly struck his chest.

Xiao Ming only heard a shrill scream. The struck old man was sent flying, crashing violently into the wall and kicking up clouds of dust that buried him.

"He's not dead? What a tough life."

Xiao Ming swallowed a Qi Returning Pill as he watched the dust in surprise.

As the one who had launched the attack, he naturally knew how terrifying the Earth Tier Middle Grade Dou Technique, Three Flame Ethereal Seal, was. It was an explosive Dou Technique that required multiple flames to gather into a seal. The more flames used, the greater its power, but it was also extremely difficult to cultivate.

If he had not previously drawn the mastery experience for it, Xiao Ming could not have unleashed this attack so quickly.

Although he had only used two types of beast flame this time, that did not mean its power was low. After all, it was a genuine Earth Tier Dou Technique, and it had directly drained thirty percent of the Dou Qi in his body.

The amount of Dou Qi it consumed was astonishing.

Its power was equally remarkable.

Even under such circumstances, the opponent had not completely died. Xiao Ming could still sense a trace of the Gaunt Old Man's weak aura.

Xiao Ming could only sigh at how tenacious the old man's life force was.

Sighing was one thing, but he could feel the severely depleted Dou Qi inside his body recovering.

As the dust dispersed a little, Xiao Ming decided to strike while he was down and take his life.

With a flip of his hand beneath the black robe, a completely fiery red Three-Foot Long Sword embedded with a Fifth-Tier Magic Core appeared in his grasp.

He activated the Profound Tier High-Grade Movement Dou Technique his teacher had given him before—Shadow Chasing Wind!

He stomped fiercely on the ground. Fiery red energy exploded beneath his feet, and the propulsive force created by the surging Energy Fluctuation turned Xiao Ming into a black figure that shot straight toward the center of the dust.

Earth Tier Low-grade Dou Technique, Vast Righteous Astral Flame Sword!

In midair, Xiao Ming's hand trembled slightly as he thrust the sword's tip toward the black figure visible within the dust.

At once, four fiery red sword auras containing immense force shot forth.

"Hmm..."

The black figure merely trembled and let out a low groan before falling completely silent.

When the gathered smoke dispersed, a mangled corpse with a charred black, exploded chest appeared before Xiao Ming.

This marked the official death of the Five-Star Great Dou Shi, the Gaunt Old Man!

"Whew." Seeing the corpse with terror still written across its face, Xiao Ming let out a soft breath and calmed his emotions.

This was the first time in his life that he had killed someone. Perhaps because the other party was a human trafficker, he did not feel anything particularly special.

He did not even feel guilty about the sneak attack. Instead, he felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction.

Upstairs.

Hearing that the huge commotion downstairs had fallen silent, Ding Lao'er and the enemy facing him looked at each other.

For a moment, everyone stopped fighting.

Ding Lao'er knew that his Boss was stationed downstairs. But such a huge disturbance just now meant that something unexpected must have happened and his Boss was fiercely engaged in combat with someone.

Combat was one thing, but the sudden silence left Ding Lao'er somewhat stunned.

The battle had ended far too quickly, and judging from the earlier commotion, the enemy was probably difficult to deal with.

With that thought, a sense of unease suddenly rose in Ding Lao'er's heart. The flames burning nearby cast shifting, unpredictable shadows across his face.

Ding Lao'er's opponents were the White-bearded Strong Man Duo, the two who had been the first to mock those people who fought in the inn during the day.

Both radiated the aura of Eight-Star Dou Shi. The reason they had not taken advantage of Ding Lao'er's distraction to launch a sneak attack was the Muscle-softening Powder.

Although Xiao Ming's fire had awakened them in time and they had taken a little antidote, the effects of the Muscle-softening Powder had not completely worn off. Even if they had, facing Ding Lao'er, who possessed Da Dou Shi strength, would still have been difficult for them.

The two had struggled hard to hold on just now, repeatedly finding themselves in danger. If Ding Lao'er had not needed to capture them alive, they would probably have already been lying on the ground.

Even so, both were now covered in tattered wounds. Their bodies, several degrees sturdier than Ding Lao'er's, were covered in blade marks, with threads of blood seeping out. Clearly, they had truly suffered just now.

In contrast, Ding Lao'er's yellow clothes remained spotless.

The two strong men exchanged a glance. Although they did not understand why Ding Lao'er had stopped, it was good that he had. They could use the chance to catch their breath and wait for the medicine's effects to pass so they could recover their strength.

"Don't drag this out. Finish them directly."

With unease in his heart, Ding Lao'er no longer hesitated and loudly ordered his subordinates without turning his head.

"But Eldest Brother said he wanted them alive. These are all meant to be traded to the Blood Sect. If we can't produce the goods then, we'll..." A subordinate with Dou Zhe strength hesitated.

"Shut up and do as I say! I suspect something happened to the Boss downstairs. Those people from today should be enough to deal with the Blood Sect. Stop dawdling!"

"...All right."

With no more reservations, these inn human traffickers' attacks became sharp and fierce. Their opponents found it difficult to hold on and fell dead one after another.

Those who had finished off their opponents joined the other unresolved battle groups, helping the others end the fight quickly.

Shadowless Mad Blade.

Ding Lao'er slashed the White-bearded Old Man across the neck, swiftly killing him. With a backhand slash, he killed his companion as well. Seeing that things were nearly settled, he then said,

"Go downstairs!"

"Yes."

Thanks to Nalan YYDS from the comic version of Ye Lingling for the reward, and to Xingweixing, Nangong Yulin, and reader 20200409161423662 for the monthly passes. Thanks, everyone, for the recommendation tickets.