Severing Half the Poison Demon's Palm, Shaking the Jianghu!

"Hahaha, after all this time, your poison has finally flared up... This old man has a habit—no matter who I encounter or what the circumstances are, I poison everyone around me. But it is only a compound poison. So long as nothing unexpected happens, I pay it no mind, and it naturally will not flare up. But if something unforeseen does occur, I administer another poison, and the compound poison will erupt completely, becoming a deadly toxin."

"You are clever and cautious. You did not breathe, touch anything, or come near me, but you still spoke to ask Miss Zhou and the others questions earlier. The moment you opened your mouth, you were poisoned..."

Ouyang Bo stared fixedly at Ji Qing.

Yet he showed no intention of stepping forward. Instead, he remained extremely cautious, even slowly widening the distance between himself and Ji Qing.

Ji Qing finally understood why he had been poisoned.

This Ouyang Bo was simply too cautious. The title of "Poison Demon" was truly well deserved!

He had actually poisoned everyone around him?

It was likely not just Miss Zhou—even those horse bandits had been poisoned.

Whether it was the horse bandits or Miss Zhou, they had been given a compound poison. Under normal circumstances, it had no effect, but once they came into contact with another poison, it could turn into a deadly toxin.

It was as though Ouyang Bo was always preparing for trouble before it arose.

When Miss Zhou and the others heard this, their expressions changed drastically.

Who could have imagined that the Old Beggar, who had helped them before and saved the lives of everyone in the Zhou Family, had actually poisoned them?

Was this what the Poison Demon was like? He was truly terrifying.

But even though they knew they had been poisoned, there was nothing they could do.

The Poison Demon's poison was difficult to cure even when one knew about it.

Time trickled by.

Ji Qing's inner force was circulating frantically.

He suddenly found something strange.

His inner force was indeed circulating sluggishly, but it had not stopped completely.

Moreover, as time passed, the poison in his body was actually slowly weakening.

"Can my inner force weaken poison? Even dissolve it outright?"

Ji Qing examined the sensation carefully.

He understood.

It was because of his Supreme Yang Inner Force. Its "supreme yang" nature could neutralize poison.

Ordinary poisons simply could not do anything to Ji Qing's Supreme Yang Inner Force.

The compound poison Ouyang Bo had administered was indeed formidable—colorless and odorless, difficult for anyone to detect.

But the harder a poison was to detect, the less fierce its toxicity often was.

How potent could the poison Ouyang Bo had casually administered to guard against trouble possibly be?

At most, it could only make Ji Qing's inner force circulate somewhat sluggishly.

But Ji Qing gave nothing away.

He was waiting.

Waiting for Ouyang Bo to lose patience.

Then, he could kill him in a single blow!

At last, Ouyang Bo could no longer hold back.

He had calculated the timing precisely. At this moment, the compound poison he had administered was at its most violent peak.

Ouyang Bo suddenly sprang forward.

His hands seized a large handful of concealed weapons.

There were all kinds of concealed weapons.

Poison needles, iron caltrops, Bone-Piercing Nails, and more.

Every concealed weapon was smeared with deadly poison.

His skill with concealed weapons was not the most exquisite, but he prevailed through sheer quantity. So long as even one concealed weapon struck Ji Qing, Ji Qing would be afflicted by deadly poison and would undoubtedly die!

"Ji Qing, die!"

With a flick of both hands, Ouyang Bo sent a great mass of concealed weapons whistling through the air, like raindrops filling the sky.

Clang.

In the next instant, Ji Qing drew his blade.

The blade left its sheath, breathtakingly beautiful.

The dazzling blade light accelerated the very instant it emerged from the sheath.

The concealed weapons filling the sky seemed so slow before Ji Qing's slash.

The brilliant blade light swiftly formed a curtain of blades before him.

Clang, clang, clang!

The hidden weapons collided with the blade's edge, yet not a single one could get close.

"You weren't poisoned? Impossible—you were clearly poisoned just now..."

Ouyang Bo's pupils contracted, his heart violently shaken.

He immediately sprang back in retreat.

Unfortunately, he was still too late.

No matter how fast Ouyang Bo was, how could he be faster than Ji Qing's blade light?

When the Startling Swan Blade appeared, heads fell—this was no empty saying!

Ouyang Bo felt an extreme sense of danger.

It seemed to him that he could not block this strike.

He would die!

"Ah..."

Between life and death lay great terror.

Ouyang Bo abruptly thrust out his palm, actually reaching directly for Ji Qing's blade light.

"Pfft."

His palm was effortlessly cleaved apart by the blade light.

Though the blade light still slashed toward Ouyang Bo, that fleeting obstruction from his palm slowed it ever so slightly, allowing Ouyang Bo to evade by the narrowest of margins.

Ouyang Bo lost half a palm.

Bright red blood streamed without cease.

"Whoosh."

Ouyang Bo violently flung his half-palm.

A great quantity of blood turned into a bloody mist and flew toward Ji Qing.

"Hm? Even the blood is highly poisonous?"

No matter how fast Ji Qing's blade was, how could it guard against blood raining from all directions?

Ji Qing directly removed the conical hat from his head and threw it toward the blood mist.

He himself retreated at once.

The blood mist was scattered by the conical hat, most of it dispersing.

But in that brief delay, when Ji Qing focused his eyes again, Ouyang Bo had already vanished. Even the severed half-palm on the ground had been taken away by Ouyang Bo.

Ji Qing did not immediately give chase.

First, Ouyang Bo was full of schemes—who knew whether he had set up poisonous traps ahead?

Second, Ji Qing truly had been poisoned just now. It was only because he possessed Supreme Yang Inner Force that he had refined the poison away. Yet the poison within him had not been completely purged. If he pursued Ouyang Bo, the consequences would be difficult to predict.

This was Ji Qing's first encounter with Ouyang Bo.

Ouyang Bo's martial arts were not weak; he could be considered at the peak of the second rank.

Of course, in martial arts alone, Ouyang Bo was still no match for Ji Qing.

But Ouyang Bo bore the title of Poison Demon. His methods of poisoning were uncanny and impossible to guard against.

Who could have imagined that every person Ouyang Bo encountered wherever he went had been poisoned by him?

Ji Qing immediately sat down cross-legged and circulated his inner force, intending to thoroughly refine the remaining poison in his body first.

"All of you carry the poison Ouyang Bo left behind. Do not come within thirty feet of me!"

Ji Qing said to the Zhou Family members.

The Zhou Family members looked at one another, but none dared disobey.

Only after half an hour had passed did Ji Qing finally finish circulating his inner force.

He was certain that the poison in his body had been completely refined away.

"Whoosh."

Ji Qing left.

He left without even saying goodbye to the Zhou Family members.

Only after Ji Qing had completely disappeared did the Zhou Family members finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Now, only corpses littering the ground and the Zhou Family members remained.

"The battle between the Startling Swan Blade and the Poison Demon truly lived up to its reputation. Either one of them could easily wipe out all of us..."

"This time, they can be considered mutually wounded, right? Though the Poison Demon seems to have suffered worse—half his palm was cut off."

"Ji Qing really was poisoned. He was circulating his inner force to expel the poison just now, yet even while poisoned, he managed to cut off half the Poison Demon's palm. Truly formidable!"

"Ji Qing won by half a step this time, but only because he caught him off guard. Now that Ouyang Bo is prepared, it will likely be very difficult for Ji Qing to catch him off guard again..."

The Zhou Family members all buzzed with discussion.

This battle between Ji Qing and Ouyang Bo had truly opened their eyes!

"Enough, stop talking. Hurry to West Mausoleum Prefecture. Don't forget, we're still carrying the poison Ouyang Bo planted in us. Though it hasn't flared up yet, who knows what harm it might do to our bodies? The sooner we reach West Mausoleum Prefecture, the sooner we can find a physician to take a look..."

The Zhou Family's young lady spoke.

Everyone's hearts tightened.

Indeed, there was still deadly poison in their bodies!

Just thinking of that Poison Demon sent chills down their spines.

Thus, the Zhou Family convoy set out once more, heading for West Mausoleum Prefecture.

No sooner had the Zhou Family convoy departed than several black-clad figures appeared behind them.

They were none other than people from Listening Wind Tower of East Mausoleum Prefecture.

They, too, had witnessed the entire battle between Ji Qing and Ouyang Bo!

"Return and report."

The Listening Wind Tower men swiftly vanished without a trace as well.

On the twenty-third day of the second month in the eleventh year of Yongchang, Startling Swan Blade Ji Qing pursued Poison Demon Ouyang Bo outside East Mausoleum Prefecture. The two engaged in a fierce battle. Ji Qing used the Startling Swan Blade to sever half of Ouyang Bo's palm, and Ouyang Bo fled in disgrace!

The moment the news emerged, the Jianghu was shaken!