As midnight approached, the Prince's Manor gradually quieted down.
Ginseng Immortal Old Freak Liang Zi'ong carried a string of medicine packets and left the Ancient Cypress Courtyard where he lived with one of his disciples, heading toward the Frost-Defying Courtyard where Ouyang Ke resided.
He had not joined in humiliating Ouyang Ke earlier. Now was the perfect chance to offer help in his hour of need. He had specially prepared several excellent wound medicines and remedies to replenish blood and vital energy, intending to win Ouyang Ke over while he was down and later use him to establish a connection with the Western Venom and gain some benefits.
After Liang Zi'ong had gone far away.
Two figures silently drifted down from the rooftop. They were Lu Chen and Huang Rong.
They had arrived a quarter of an hour ago and had been hiding on the roof the entire time. They had intended to wait until Liang Zi'ong fell asleep before acting, but he had remained busy in the pharmacy, leaving the two of them no choice but to wait patiently.
Yet now, Liang Zi'ong had actually gone out himself, saving them quite a bit of trouble.
The two came to the pharmacy door and listened carefully for a while. Lu Chen gestured to Huang Rong, who understood and moved to stand beside the door. Lu Chen then raised his hand and knocked.
"Master?"
A young voice came from behind the door.
"Did Master forget something?"
As he spoke, the door creaked open, and a youth in green stepped out. Before he could see who was outside, Huang Rong, standing beside the door, struck like lightning and tapped him unconscious with one finger.
Lu Chen caught the youth in green, dragged him inside, and placed him in a chair. He then glanced around, his gaze settling on a large bamboo basket.
"There's a strong medicinal smell coming from the basket."
Huang Rong said softly.
Lu Chen nodded. He walked over to the bamboo basket and lifted its lid. Inside, a huge snake as thick as a bowl and entirely crimson-red was coiled up, its body giving off a dense medicinal scent.
It was winter. Though this mutated Treasure Snake did not need to hibernate, it was not particularly active either.
The sound of Lu Chen lifting the lid had startled it, but its reaction was somewhat sluggish. Before it could attack, Lu Chen put the lid back on and tightly tied the basket shut with hemp rope.
He then picked up the large bamboo basket and smiled at Huang Rong.
"The treasure's in hand. We can go back and enjoy it at our leisure."
Elsewhere.
Liang Zi'ong was having a pleasant conversation with Ouyang Ke in the Frost-Defying Courtyard.
Not only had he brought Ouyang Ke carefully prepared medicines for his injuries and recovery, he had also gifted him a secret art for gathering yin to replenish yang. This catered perfectly to Ouyang Ke's tastes, immediately changing his opinion of the white-haired old man and making him much more courteous in conversation.
After chatting for a while, the two began discussing Lu Chen again.
Liang Zi'ong said, "That boy Lu seemed to be using the legendary sword aura."
Ouyang Ke nodded.
"My uncle once said that the Dali Duan Family possessed a divine sword-aura art that could release sword aura from the fingers and pierce through anything. But that martial art had long been lost. Not even the Southern Emperor, one of the Five Greats, managed to learn it. Who knows where that boy Lu acquired such a strange skill?"
He somewhat suspected that Lu Chen had stumbled upon a fragment of that sword-aura art from the Dali Duan Family by chance, but the thought did not seem very plausible. Even Duan Zhixing, the Southern Emperor, had failed to learn the Duan Family's divine art. How could Lu Chen, an outsider, possibly obtain it?
Or perhaps Lu Chen's Formless Sword Finger was merely a similar technique?
As he was puzzling over this, Liang Zi'ong continued.
"That boy Lu's Formless Sword Finger is quite formidable. Does Young Master Ouyang have any countermeasures?"
Ouyang Ke said confidently.
"The sword aura unleashed by his Formless Sword Finger only reaches about an inch. It can display some vicious might through surprise alone, but now that he has used it once, I will certainly defeat him the next time we fight."
He believed he had already seen through the workings of Lu Chen's Formless Sword Finger, while he himself had yet to reveal his trump-card technique, the Spirit Snake Fist.
The next time they fought, if he suddenly unleashed the Spirit Snake Fist, he would surely catch Lu Chen off guard.
Liang Zi'ong warned him.
"Young Master Ouyang must not be careless. That boy Lu is extremely cunning and deceitful. When he fought Reverend Lingzhi, he deliberately held something back, never using his sword aura and only using his sword fingers to break Reverend Lingzhi's Great Mudra. Only when he fought you did he suddenly release sword aura and ambush you. What if he is still concealing something? What if that invisible sword aura reaches farther than one inch?"
Ouyang Ke frowned, but still stubbornly said.
"So what if his invisible sword aura can reach one foot? Now that I know this trick of his, how could I possibly fall for it again? I only need to avoid wherever his sword fingers point."
Though he said so, he knew that if he fought Lu Chen again, he would have to remain constantly vigilant against that invisible sword aura which could not be seen. He would inevitably be constrained, and his martial arts would suffer greatly.
Liang Zi'ong read his expression and knew that Ouyang Ke was troubled. Smiling, he offered a suggestion.
"You could try concealed weapons. Lu Chen's sword fingers are sharp, but his fist and palm techniques are quite ordinary. In this old man's view, that boy Lu may be the most traditional sort of swordsman, practicing only swordsmanship and rarely dabbling in other martial arts. Thus, when fighting him, you could suddenly use concealed weapons and catch him unprepared. Medicine and poison are not separate fields. This old man knows a little about poisons as well, so poisoning concealed weapons would be easy enough..."
Ouyang Ke nodded silently. He had actually been considering the same thing.
Liang Zi'ong continued.
"That boy Lu's Formless Sword Finger is invisible and formless, secretive in its execution, capable of wounding enemies from afar, and tremendously powerful. It can be called a divine art. If we can defeat that boy Lu, capture him alive, and force the secret of the Formless Sword Finger from him..."
Ouyang Ke was also tempted by Lu Chen's Formless Sword Finger.
Only three fingers remained on his right hand, one fewer even than the Nine-Fingered Divine Beggar. His fist and palm techniques would inevitably be greatly weakened, but the Formless Sword Finger only required the index and middle fingers, so losing his little finger and ring finger did not affect it at all.
More importantly, the Formless Sword Finger looked elegant!
It was far more graceful than his uncle's Toad Style, perfectly suited to a dashing young master like him.
If he could obtain its secret, he would certainly devote himself to mastering it.
Ouyang Ke immediately gave Liang Zi'ong a generous smile.
"If we truly force the secret manual of the Formless Sword Finger out of him, Ouyang Ke will definitely share it with Elder Liang."
Liang Zi'ong was overjoyed.
"Young Master Ouyang is generous and righteous. This old man admires you!"
Afterward, he worked even harder to offer advice.
"This old man observed the boy Lu's two battles against Reverend Lingzhi and Young Master Ouyang. I have gained a modest understanding of his finger-sword formula, body movements, and footwork..."
As he spoke, Liang Zi'ong rose to his feet and demonstrated the movement techniques and sword formulas Lu Chen had used, as remembered from an observer's perspective. He could not possibly replicate the nimble swiftness of Lu Chen's movement techniques, nor could he imitate the power and detailed variations of his sword formulas, since he did not know the internal method. Still, he could mostly break down the outward rhythm of the footwork and the movements of the techniques.
Ouyang Ke also demonstrated each move he had remembered from his own perspective, comparing them with Liang Zi'ong's demonstrations. The two repeatedly practiced, discussed, and studied them, attempting to break down Lu Chen's martial arts.
At the same time, in the Winter Plum Courtyard.
Three large bowls of steaming snake blood sat in a row on the table in the living room.
This snake blood did not have the slightest fishy stench. It only carried an extremely pungent, bitter, and heavy medicinal smell, like some medicinal soup boiled down to a highly concentrated state rather than fresh snake blood.
"One bowl and a half each," Lu Chen said.
"No, no, no. You should drink it all." Huang Rong shook her head repeatedly with a look of disgust.
"No. This Treasure Snake's blood can not only greatly increase cultivation, it can also make one immune to all poisons after drinking it. We have offended Ouyang Feng, so we need to guard against him using poison. Rong'er, you have to drink it too."
"Ouyang Feng is one of the Five Greats alongside my father. He probably wouldn't stoop so low as to bully someone younger than him..."
"Rong'er, you don't know the Western Venom. How do you know what kind of person he is? There's no room for discussion on this."
Lu Chen said firmly, picking up a bowl of snake blood and handing it to Huang Rong.
"Here. This one is yours."
Huang Rong pouted as she accepted the large bowl. Blinking, she said in a soft, sweet voice.
"Then you drink first. Show me how it's done."
"Fine!"
Lu Chen picked up a bowl of snake blood and took a deep breath. The pungent, bitter medicinal smell immediately made him cough repeatedly, causing Huang Rong to let out a laugh, her eyes curving into crescents.
Lu Chen put on a stern face.
"No laughing. Be serious. We're drinking medicine."
As he spoke, he held his breath, brought the bowl to his lips, tilted back his head, and gulped it down.
In one go, he drained the entire bowl of snake blood.
Then he picked up the second bowl and was about to pour half into his own bowl when Huang Rong said.
"This whole bowl is yours too. I'll only drink one bowl at most anyway. Otherwise, I won't drink a single sip. Don't tell me you can pinch my nose and force it down my throat."
Lu Chen knew she wanted him to gain more cultivation. Touched, he did not argue with her. He lightly clinked his bowl against hers.
"Fine, this bowl is mine too. Come, let's drink this precious medicine together!"
As he spoke, he stared at Huang Rong with bright eyes.
Huang Rong had no choice. Scrunching up her little face, she silently circulated the Breath-Holding Secret Art and completely stopped her breathing before bringing the bowl to her lips. Then she tilted back her slender neck and began gulping.
Lu Chen nodded in satisfaction at the sight and began drinking the second bowl in great gulps as well.
Before long, the two had each finished their medicinal blood.
Lu Chen felt as though his tongue had been numbed by the bitter, pungent taste. Even his breath tasted hot and bitter. Huang Rong hurriedly poured herself water to rinse her mouth, and after using three large bowls of water, she darted into the bedroom like the wind, retrieved a toothbrush and toothpaste, and began vigorously brushing her teeth.
Having just finished one round of brushing, she was about to start another when she suddenly felt a wave of heat rise from her chest and abdomen. In the blink of an eye, it spread throughout her body, making her feel scorching hot, as though she were being roasted in the center of several blazing furnaces.
When she looked at Lu Chen again, his face was flushed red, sweat beaded on his forehead, and wisps of white vapor were even rising from his head.
"The precious medicine is taking effect! Quickly, practice!"
Lu Chen called out a reminder, assumed a stance, and began practicing the Muscle and Bone Strengthening Chapter.
Huang Rong hurriedly put down her toothbrush and began practicing the Muscle and Bone Strengthening Chapter opposite Lu Chen.
As soon as they began, they immediately felt that this practice was completely different from before.
Though the Muscle and Bone Strengthening Chapter produced immediate and obvious results, normal practice was like a gentle drizzle, slowly nourishing the muscles, bones, and meridians, while their cultivation increased only bit by bit.
But now, it felt as though a torrent of heat was within their bodies. Guided by the Muscle and Bone Strengthening Chapter, it surged through their muscles, bones, and meridians, rapidly improving their physiques, strengthening their bodies, and widening their meridians.
It was as though a torrential rain were falling within their dantians. Countless streams of heat poured into them and transformed into true qi, sending their cultivation soaring wildly.
Huang Rong had only drunk one bowl of snake blood. After practicing the Muscle and Bone Strengthening Chapter for half an hour, she had completely digested the medicinal power. The heat throughout her body faded, leaving her feeling cool and refreshed, with her hearing and sight noticeably sharper.
She then tried performing a set of Falling Blossom Divine Sword Palm techniques. She found that the exquisite moves she had previously been unable to use due to insufficient cultivation, or could use only with little power, now came naturally to her and no longer posed any difficulty.
Moreover, every move was more agile, swift, and powerful.
"This increased my cultivation by at least six or seven years!"
Huang Rong looked at Lu Chen with excitement written all over her face.
Lu Chen had not finished refining the medicinal power and was still practicing the Muscle and Bone Strengthening Chapter. Huang Rong patiently remained nearby, accompanying him in practice.
Another half hour passed before Lu Chen finally completed his refinement. He laughed heartily, formed a sword finger with his index and middle fingers, and sliced toward the corner of the table. While his fingertips were still three inches away, the table corner fell off with a sharp snap. The cut was smooth as a mirror, as though it had been sliced by a sharp sword.
Huang Rong's eyes lit up.
"Your sword aura can reach three inches now?"
Lu Chen nodded with a smile.
"That's right. I've been practicing diligently every day lately, training the Muscle and Bone Strengthening Chapter, so my sword-aura technique had already improved greatly. After drinking the Treasure Snake's blood today, my cultivation advanced enormously, and my sword aura can now barely reach three inches!"
Huang Rong was delighted at first, but then pouted again.
"If I'd known the Treasure Snake's blood was this useful, I wouldn't have drunk any. If you had drunk all three bowls, wouldn't your sword aura have reached four or five inches?"
Lu Chen smiled.
"It wouldn't reach that far. Even if I drank all three bowls, it would probably only reach four inches at most."
Seeing that Huang Rong still looked regretful, Lu Chen added with a smile.
"That Treasure Snake's flesh should be useful too, just like Bosiqu Snake meat. If we eat that huge snake, our cultivation should increase another step."
At that, Huang Rong stopped dwelling on it and said with a smile.
"We ate snake every day with Condor Brother. I'm sick of snake meat already!"
Just as she spoke, a heart-wrenching scream faintly rang out from outside.
"My Treasure Snake..."
Mm, it was Liang Zi'ong's voice.
He had spent half the night studying how to deal with Lu Chen alongside Ouyang Ke, and after receiving Ouyang Ke's promise to introduce him to Ouyang Feng, he had returned home full of excitement. Yet upon returning, he discovered that the Treasure Snake he had raised for twenty years had vanished, and he immediately let out an anguished scream.
It was the dead of night, and the Prince's Manor was silent. Liang Zi'ong's cultivation was quite deep as well, so his scream carried far. The manor's guest retainers who lived nearby naturally all heard him.
Before anyone could figure out why Old Liang had gone mad in the middle of the night, they heard him howl miserably again.
"Damn it! Which bastard stole my Treasure Snake!"
"Old Liang, what the hell are you screaming about?"
The hot-tempered Hou Tonghai came out of his room and shouted through the air with his qi fully raised.
"The neighbors are sleeping! Disturbing people's dreams in the middle of the night—can't you act like a human being?"
Yet his voice was even louder than Liang Zi'ong's, startling nearly half the Prince's Manor.
"My Treasure Snake! Who stole my Treasure Snake?"
Liang Zi'ong's eyes were red as he rushed out of the Ancient Cypress Courtyard and charged toward the Green Pine Courtyard, where Sha Tongtian and Hou Tonghai lived. "Hou, you were the first to answer! Is that because you have a guilty conscience? Did you steal my snake?"
Hou Tonghai answered indignantly.
"What nonsense are you talking about? What Treasure Snake? I've never even heard of it..."
Liang Zi'ong was nearly out of his mind by then. How could he listen to Hou Tonghai's explanation?
He charged straight into the Green Pine Courtyard, screamed, "Give me back my Treasure Snake!" and lunged at Hou Tonghai, raining fists and kicks down on him.
Among the Prince's Manor's guest retainers, Hou Tonghai was the weakest. He relied entirely on his senior brother to support him. Faced with Liang Zi'ong's mad-dog assault, he could barely hold out for a dozen exchanges before he could no longer defend himself and hurriedly called for his senior brother.
"Senior Brother, help me!"
Ghost Gate Dragon King Sha Tongtian barked.
"Old Liang, you've gone too far! My junior brother and I have never seen any Treasure Snake of yours!"
As he spoke, he leaped into the courtyard, blocked one of Liang Zi'ong's attacks for Hou Tonghai, and began a rolling, tumbling battle with Liang Zi'ong.
The two shouted and fought, alarming all the guest retainers.
Ouyang Ke, who had only just become friendly with Liang Zi'ong, was the first to arrive at the Green Pine Courtyard, bringing several of his white-clad concubines. Peng Lianhu, who was close friends with Sha Tongtian and Hou Tonghai, quickly arrived afterward.
Reverend Lingzhi also hurriedly threw on his monk's robe and came over carrying a pair of large bronze cymbals to watch the excitement. Lu Chen and Huang Rong naturally came as well, mingling innocently with several manor guards who had rushed over at the sound, watching Sha Tongtian battle Liang Zi'ong.
Just as they were enjoying the spectacle.
After battling Sha Tongtian for over a hundred exchanges, Liang Zi'ong gradually regained some of his senses. Then he suddenly caught a trace of medicinal scent—he was an expert in medicine and extremely sensitive to such smells. The faint scent seemed strangely familiar. It appeared to be the scent of his Treasure Snake.
Liang Zi'ong was instantly invigorated. He launched a reckless flurry of attacks that temporarily forced Sha Tongtian back, then said, "Stop!" After voluntarily withdrawing from the fight, he took a deep breath and locked onto the source of the scent. He immediately glared viciously at Lu Chen and Huang Rong.
Seeing Liang Zi'ong's eyes, which seemed ready to devour them, Lu Chen looked utterly frank and readily admitted it.
"We did indeed eat a completely crimson-red snake just now. Could that have been Elder Liang's Treasure Snake?"
"What?"
Liang Zi'ong's vision darkened.
"You... you ate my snake?"
Lu Chen sighed.
"We were sitting inside our room when that snake crawled in on its own. We thought it was a wild snake, and it smelled so good that we simply couldn't resist. So we killed it and ate it."
Liang Zi'ong asked with a flicker of hope:
"Where's the snake blood? Is the snake blood still there?"
He thought that people generally only ate snake meat, while snake blood was usually discarded. As for his Treasure Snake, the meat was secondary; as long as the blood remained, most of his twenty years of painstaking effort would be preserved.
"Snake blood?" Lu Chen looked grief-stricken. "I'm sorry, Elder Liang. We made the snake blood into maoxuewang for hot pot. It was so delicious that we couldn't stop ourselves from eating every last bit..."
"Maoxuewang..."
Liang Zi'ong swayed. His mind buzzed as though it had exploded, and his vision went black in waves.
In a daze, he actually felt a strange sense of Heaven's justice was clear; retribution never failed—
He had just discussed with Ouyang Ke how to deal with Lu Chen. He had suggested using poisoned hidden weapons, helped Ouyang Ke break down Lu Chen's martial arts, and even plotted to seize his Formless Sword Finger. Yet Lu Chen had turned around and eaten his snake...
Wasn't this retribution?
But he quickly cast aside that thought. His eyes reddened as he glared at Lu Chen and roared hoarsely:
"Utter nonsense, utter nonsense! My Treasure Snake may not hibernate, but it wouldn't wander around in winter either. How could it possibly have crawled to where you live?"
Hou Tonghai had just been beaten by Liang Zi'ong for no reason. Though he was not injured, he was thoroughly displeased. Hearing this, he crossed his arms and sneered:
"If it doesn't hibernate in winter, then your snake clearly isn't a proper snake. And if it isn't a proper snake, maybe it thought your room reeked too much of old man and felt stuffy living there, so it wanted to move somewhere else. It just happened to crawl into the courtyard where Little White Dragon and Little Sword Demon lived, and they just happened to mistake it for a wild snake and eat it. What's so impossible about that?"
"Besides, it was just a tiny worthless snake. What's the big deal? Old Liang, you're already well into your old age, with white hair and beard. Is it really worth nitpicking with two younger juniors over such a trivial matter? Do you have any bearing as a senior of the Martial Arts World at all?"
"How about this? I, Old Hou, will say something fair: let this matter of that worthless snake go. Once spring comes and the snakes leave their holes, have Little White Dragon catch a hundred or so proper, good snakes to compensate you. Be more generous. Don't let the youngsters laugh at you."
"You..."
Liang Zi'ong's head was already about to explode from rage. Yet he feared Lu Chen's martial arts and did not dare resort to violence lightly, leaving all that fury with nowhere to vent. After hearing Hou Tonghai's nonsensical words, his rage overwhelmed him. His body suddenly convulsed, and he toppled to the ground with a thud.
Seeing him lying on the ground, foaming at the mouth with his eyes rolled back and his cheeks twitching nonstop, Hou Tonghai slapped his thigh and cried out strangely:
"Oh no, Old Liang has had a stroke!"
Well, Old Hou was right. Liang Zi'ong had not merely fainted from anger—he had been angered into a stroke.
Lu Chen blinked.
So without making a single move, I'd already taken down one of the Jin Dynasty's F4 generals?
Hmm, Third Master Hou had also delivered a helpful assist. He deserved some credit too...
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