How Did You Dare?

"Surprised? No, no, no. I was just curious! It wasn't that I looked down on you, but with this little strength of yours, how did you dare?"

Zhang You shook his head.

The Old Daoist did not even seem to have reached the Foundation Establishment Realm. Since the other man also understood Zhang You's strength, killing him should have been somewhat difficult.

But since he had chosen to make a move, he must have had something to rely on.

Could it have been nothing more than that broken sword?

Zhang You looked at the broken sword.

It truly carried a powerful sharpness. Even from dozens of meters away, he could sense the heavy aura emanating from it.

"I truly only have the cultivation of the Half-step Foundation Establishment Realm. Speaking of which, I ought to thank you! If you hadn't stood at the forefront, it would probably have taken me a long time to break through!"

The Old Daoist smiled happily.

"Your reliance isn't just that lousy sword, is it?"

"This can only be considered one of my supports!"

As soon as his words fell, countless black patterns appeared on the ground. Before long, a great array rose up, enveloping both him and Zhang You.

"This is the Blood Spirit Annihilation Array, an ancient array specifically designed to counter Martial Dao."

"It can unconditionally suppress the blood qi of Martial Dao cultivators!"

"It's just this unreasonable! Hahaha! Surprised? Scared?"

"When the Immortal Dao slaughtered Martial Dao cultivators in the past, this was a great killing weapon! Martial Dao fell like a comet, and this array rendered great service!"

"Hahaha!"

The Old Daoist was also an Immortal Dao cultivator who had encountered a fortuitous opportunity.

His luck had always been good. Though his realm advanced slowly, he possessed quite a few treasures.

Zhang You tried to sense it. His blood qi was indeed being suppressed, but not completely. He could still use five percent of it!

Perhaps even the Old Daoist had never expected such a situation!

"I have another question. Was it you secretly pulling strings behind the scenes to bring us into this place?"

Zhang You looked at the Old Daoist.

"Of course!"

"After seeing your true face for the first time, I knew you were that little waiter from Auspicious Cloud Teahouse!"

"The immaculate body that Shopkeeper Li told me about!"

"Shopkeeper Li and the others borrowed my Great Yellow Bell. The condition was Blood Crystals and essence pellets made with an immaculate body as the primary ingredient!"

"So I paid special attention to you! You really are a great tonic!"

"That night, I could have stopped you from knocking me out, but I wanted to know what you were planning!"

"And then I discovered that you actually cultivated Martial Dao!"

"Do you know how I felt then? Do you know how valuable a cultivator capable of cultivating Martial Dao is? Especially one with an immaculate body like yours!"

"Hahaha! That was when I decided to keep your immaculate body all to myself! Shopkeeper Li and those bastards could go yank their own dicks!"

"As long as I control you, won't I have as much Martial Dao cultivator flesh and blood as I want? By then, forget the Foundation Establishment Realm—even the Soul Realm, Innate Realm, and perhaps even higher realms could be within my reach!"

"As for Blood Shadow Ghost Mother's appearance, that truly was an accident!"

"But I never expected you to be able to kill her. I immediately realized that you would not be so easy to capture."

"Originally, I wanted to make some plans first. But then I sensed the ghost domain here, and your battle exposed a weak area."

"Back when I helped deal with Hanging Ghost at Leyun Workshop, the schoolteacher gave me a copy of the Blood Spirit Annihilation Array. I thought it was useless and threw it away long ago!"

"But now, it has become the most suitable means of suppressing you!"

"Yet Martial Arts had long since vanished from the outside world, and there were few other records concerning the Blood Spirit Annihilation Array. If I wanted that book, perhaps I could only start with the ghost domain!"

"Then I happened to learn that the schoolteacher had secretly collected a pill formula for the Longevity Pill, which only strengthened my resolve!"

"So I risked everything, used a small trick, opened a passage to the ghost domain, and dragged us both in!"

"If I truly found something, that would be best. Otherwise, I could only think of another way!"

"And the ghost domain really did manifest things from the living world's past. Though I did not obtain that pill formula, I still gained the method for setting up this array from it!"

"Hahaha! Wouldn't you say even heaven is helping me?"

The more the Old Daoist spoke, the more excited he became!

But Zhang You's expression grew colder and colder!

This old bastard was even more ruthless than Shopkeeper Li and the others. He was treating Zhang You as renewable feed!

Not only would he not kill him, he would fatten him up and extract from him, then fatten him up again and extract from him again, over and over in an endless cycle!

He intended to make Zhang You suffer a fate worse than death!

It was like the method from Zhang You's former world of extracting bear bile from living bears!

"Aren't you afraid of dying here? When the time comes, forget eating me—you might not even be able to keep your own miserable life!"

Zhang You stared straight at the Old Daoist as though looking at a dead man.

"Hahaha, you're overthinking it! The World-Breaking Talismans on me come in large and small varieties. With a small World-Breaking Talisman, I can leave together with you, but that is only for when I have not obtained the array or when my life is not threatened!"

"If anything goes wrong, I can use the Great World-Breaking Talisman to forcibly leave this place!"

"But the Great World-Breaking Talisman is too precious. If I can avoid using it, I should save it!"

As expected, this dog of an Old Daoist had no intention of making a pointless sacrifice.

"Old dog, you really know how to work your abacus."

Zhang You sneered.

"I already told you before! In this world, the only one you can trust is yourself! Blame yourself for being too stupid!"

"Alright, I've said enough. You can surrender without resistance now, right? I'm not trying to kill you. I'll just carve you into a human stump, leave you with one breath, and soak you in a jar! As long as I live for one day, you will not die! When I achieve immortality, I'll let you go. How about it?"

The Old Daoist revealed a cruel smile. He put away the broken sword and took out a long whip!

By then, the array had completely taken shape!

All that talking earlier had been deliberate, so the array could unleash its greatest killing power!

"I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you."

Zhang You stood calmly where he was. The Old Daoist could not see the slightest trace of panic on his face.

"Putting on an act! Blood-Sucking Whip!"

The long whip lashed toward Zhang You, instantly binding him. Then countless barbs wriggled out from the whip and viciously stabbed toward Zhang You's flesh.

This Blood-Sucking Whip was woven from the tendons of all kinds of enormous venomous insects, then soaked in venom for forty-nine days. It naturally possessed armor-piercing properties. Once its barbs pierced the flesh, they could inject various toxins, leaving the victim weak all over and stripped of all spiritual power, while also drawing out their blood.

An ordinary person would fall unconscious on the spot after a single lash.

Even cultivators, if they could not break free in time, would eventually lose all strength in their muscles and become fish on the chopping block.

The Old Daoist was already imagining Zhang You collapsing to the ground, unable to rise again!

"That's it?"

Zhang You gave a cold laugh.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The Blood-Sucking Whip snapped apart.

"Forgot to tell you, cultivating Martial Arts and using blood qi are just hobbies for me! That's only my side job!"

Zhang You walked toward the Old Daoist, without a single wound left on his body.