Green Mist dispersed like green smoke, drifting away.
Xu Ying fell from the sky. With a thud, both feet hit the ground, and he landed as steady as a tripod.
Ding Quan stared blankly. A person whose bones had been twisted to pieces could not possibly land on both feet, much less stand so steadily!
Yet Xu Ying stood perfectly steady!
But this was Nu Art!
Nu Masters opened the body's secret treasuries, comprehended Heaven and nature, raised their inner cultivation, and unleashed Nu Art!
Just now, a single Green Vine from him had been enough to twist a great tree apart!
How could Xu Ying possibly withstand that strike and survive?
Even a deity forged from iron would have been beaten into a sieve and kneaded into mud by that blow!
"Looks like even after becoming the Zhou Family's dog, Magistrate Zhou still hasn't taught you the true Nu methods and Nu Arts."
Xu Ying drew a long breath. His bones crackled, and he lifted his head, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth as he smiled. "If the Zhou Family had taught you the true Nu methods, I should already be dead. Yet you opened your secret treasury for nothing and seized the initiative, but still failed to kill me."
Ding Quan's pupils contracted slightly. He had pledged himself to the Zhou Family, and they had helped him open his secret treasury and become a Nu Master. But he was not a member of the Zhou Family after all. The cultivation method they had taught him was only an inferior one, and the Nu Art they had taught him was inferior as well!
Though he considered himself exceptionally gifted, he could not cultivate to a profound realm or improve his strength!
Xu Ying drove his qi and blood with near-mad violence. Thunder roared inside his body, the sounds joining into one continuous note before transforming into an elephant's bellow!
Behind him, his qi and blood condensed into baleful intent, taking the form of a phantom Elephant-Headed Deity.
Xu Ying fixed his gaze on Ding Quan standing in the pool. Suddenly, he stamped down hard, sending mud flying. He took one step forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, and in the next instant, he was in front of Ding Quan!
"Whoosh—"
He punched out, and the Elephant-Headed Deity behind him punched out as well. Elephant strength erupted, the water's surface exploded, and a gale roared, sweeping waves toward Ding Quan!
With a loud splash, countless vines surged from the water, crossing and intertwining. In an instant, they formed a Vine Shield in front of Ding Quan!
Where Xu Ying's fist wind passed, the vine shield shattered.
At that moment, Ding Quan also drove out a punch. Vines coiled around his fist, growing larger and larger, while countless others wrapped around his arm, like muscles stretched taut before bursting with power!
"Bang!"
Nu Art and martial arts collided. The resulting waves surged into the air, swaying uncertainly as though dragged by a gale!
The Vine Fist shattered with a series of cracks. Ding Quan's body drifted backward. As his feet moved, the Green Vines connected to the Vine Armor on his body were pulled up by the roots, tearing away countless rootlets!
Immediately afterward, the Green Vines sank their roots again, dispersing the force of Xu Ying's punch.
Ding Quan swung his left fist. Countless Green Vines shot toward him with sharp snaps, winding around his left hand and forming a colossal fist.
The other Green Vines clung to the surface of his body, their roots wrapping around his form and drawing taut, storing power like strings of bows, granting him unparalleled strength!
Though his cultivation was not martial arts, Nu Art was simply too wondrous. It allowed his strength to rival that of someone like Xu Ying, who had refined elephant strength!
"Bang!"
Their fists clashed again. Ding Quan retreated another step, while countless more Green Vines surged from the earth, serving as his muscles and sinews!
Xu Ying possessed only a mortal body, with the same number of muscles and sinews as an ordinary person. A Nu Master like Ding Quan, however, could give himself dozens of times more muscles and sinews than a normal person, making up for his lack of strength and rivaling the gods!
At the same time, many Green Vines lashed toward Xu Ying from all directions!
Xu Ying planted a foot on one of them, sending fists and feet flying as he shattered the vines. His qi and blood erupted, and he blasted out another punch!
Ding Quan received more than a dozen punches in succession and retreated more than a dozen steps, until he backed out of the pool and into the woods.
Xu Ying pursued without pause, unleashing the power of the Elephant Strength Bull Demon Fist to its fullest. His qi and blood surged, radiance shining from within him like a great sun repeatedly rising from his dantian, transforming into vast power that accompanied his fists and feet as they attacked his enemy!
His might grew stronger and stronger, but the trees around them seemed to come alive. They attacked him from every direction—even from beneath his feet!
Xu Ying firmly believed that he could now easily beat an existence like the Green Robe Deity to death. But against a Nu Master like Ding Quan, he possessed abundant strength yet could not land it on his opponent!
Ding Quan's Nu Art always managed to disperse his power by the narrowest of margins!
Ding Quan was secretly alarmed as well. Every time he received a punch, he felt as though a colossal elephant weighing ten thousand jin had slammed into him. His arms and legs trembled from the pain!
Though Xu Ying was only fourteen, an inhuman power had been refined within his body—and that power was still growing!
However, with the aid of these vines, even if Xu Ying possessed the demonic strength of a giant elephant, he could still withstand him!
"Besides, this is the mountains and forest—my battlefield. In the mountains and forest, trees and grass are all my weapons!"
Ding Quan's gaze flickered. He faced Xu Ying's attacks head-on and thought, I can wear you down at my leisure!
He caught another punch. Countless Green Vines exploded, then more countless vines wound their way over and linked themselves to his right fist.
But at that moment, one "Green Vine" that had reached his side moved with unbelievable agility. It did not land on his fist, but instead wrapped around his neck.
Ding Quan froze. Then he saw the "Green Vine" open its jaws, revealing a pair of snow-bright venomous fangs on its upper palate, and bite down on his neck!
"Xu Ying, I finally got him!"
The "Green Vine" swiftly slid off his body, crying out gleefully. It was none other than the Snake Demon Yuan Qi.
"A Snake Demon?"
Ding Quan was horrified. He casually waved a hand, and countless Green Vines coiled around the great snake. Immediately afterward, his head suddenly grew heavy, and darkness swam before his eyes.
"What terrifying venom?"
Ding Quan was dazed and muddled. He hurriedly steadied himself, fully mobilizing the power of his secret treasury and fighting the snake venom with everything he had to preserve his life!
The Snake Demon Yuan Qi was nearly strangled to death by the Green Vines. Ding Quan had lost his strength, allowing him to escape. He turned back and shouted at Ding Quan, "My venom is the Fifth Under Heaven! You're beyond saving!"
Ding Quan ignored him. The flesh on his neck rapidly rotted, as though the decay would eat through the entire neck, leaving his head dangling precariously. But in the next moment, a mysterious power erupted within him. The rotten flesh decayed and fell away, while new flesh rapidly grew!
He had actually seemed to neutralize the Snake Demon Yuan Qi's Fifth Under Heaven venom!
But Yuan Qi was known as a Strange Snake. How could its venom be so easily neutralized?
Ding Quan's neck began rotting again, the decay spreading at astonishing speed!
Radiance burst from Ding Quan's forehead. Green energy churned across his face as flesh grew on his neck and then rotted away, as though the venom and his vitality were locked in a tug-of-war around his throat!
Xu Ying smashed through layer after layer of Green Vines and charged over like a barbaric elephant, driving a punch into Ding Quan's chest!
Ding Quan groaned and vomited a mouthful of blood. Xu Ying's palm clamped onto his ribs, and his ten fingers darted across every part of Ding Quan's body, dislocating all his joints!
This was the Snake Catcher's signature technique!
Ding Quan hit the ground, unable to move. Countless Green Vines grew wildly, swallowing him whole!
Xu Ying hammered out punch after punch, blasting through the Green Vines, only to see that the vines—and the earth below—had already been pierced by countless tendrils into a passageway that carried Ding Quan away!
Following the tremors beneath the earth, Xu Ying leaped up and hammered down repeatedly, smashing the ground with all his might and pounding one huge pit after another into the mountain forest!
The Snake Demon Yuan Qi followed behind him in terror. Xu Ying was utterly berserk, hammering out a hundred punches in succession and smashing a hundred pits into the ground!
"Judicial Assistant Ding Quan!"
The shouts of officials came from afar. "Are you the one using Nu Art? Have you found that bandit Xu Ying?"
Xu Ying's expression changed slightly. He hammered out several more punches, and blood began gurgling from the huge pits.
"Little Ying, if we don't leave now, it will be too late!" the Snake Demon Yuan Qi urged in a low voice.
Xu Ying had no time to check whether Ding Quan was alive or dead. He immediately slipped into the mountain forest with Yuan Qi and headed into the distance.
The Snake Demon Yuan Qi shouted, "Get on my back! I won't leave footprints when I crawl!"
Xu Ying jumped onto his back, and the Snake Demon Yuan Qi swiftly crossed mountains and ridges, avoiding the pursuing officials.
"That Nu Master should be dead, right?" The Snake Demon Yuan Qi sped through the forest, his tone somewhat uncertain.
Xu Ying recalled Ding Quan's terrifying recovery ability, and a shudder ran through his heart. He said, "After taking your Fifth Under Heaven venom and being hammered by me so many times, he must be dead!"
Though he said that, he had little confidence.
Ding Quan's neck had rotted away, yet he could still recover at astonishing speed. Xu Ying had never seen anything like it!
He had long heard that Nu Masters were terrifying. This was his first time clashing head-on with one, and he had not expected one to be even more frightening than the rumors claimed!
"Yuan Qi, thank you," Xu Ying suddenly said.
The Snake Demon Yuan Qi paused, then laughed. "You thought I had escaped? I'm not the kind of demon who abandons loyalty. You avenged the villagers, even putting yourself in danger by killing a deity. We demons care about one thing above all: righteousness! You upheld benevolence and righteousness, so how could I abandon you and flee alone?"
Xu Ying was moved. He reminded him, "I'm human, not a demon."
"Don't be so sure. What if you're not?"
The Snake Demon Yuan Qi laughed. "I've never heard of a human mastering Demonic Arts so quickly."
Xu Ying suddenly felt uneasy. Could I really not be human?
No, I'm definitely human! I'm from Xu Family Village, and both my parents are from Xu Family Village!
Meanwhile, several young officials rushed to the edge of the pool. Following the trail, they finally found Ding Quan.
Ding Quan was not dead.
Countless broken Green Vines protected him as they pushed him up from beneath the earth.
The officials were each shocked by Ding Quan's miserable condition. All four of his limbs had been smashed, and an unknown number of ribs were broken. His internal organs had suffered extremely severe injuries!
Moreover, his neck was a mass of black, rotten flesh, foul-smelling and reeking of blood. He had clearly been poisoned!
Even so, he was still alive!
He had opened the First Layer of Ni Wan Secret Treasury. This human secret treasury contained boundless vitality, sustaining his body and making him, practically speaking, an undying body!
Of course, Ding Quan had opened only the first layer of the Ni Wan Secret Treasury. Once the vitality of the first layer was exhausted, his death would follow.
Ding Quan was already close to death, his breath as faint as a thread. The vitality of the First Layer of Ni Wan Secret Treasury was also about to run dry!
The officials hurried to save him, cutting away the rotten flesh and setting his broken bones. One official in black and red robes extended a finger and pressed it to Ding Quan's brow, transferring the vitality stored in his own Ni Wan Secret Treasury to Ding Quan and helping suppress the venom.
The other two officials also transferred their vitality to help his broken bones heal.
As for his internal organs, they were inside the body, and treating them required extreme precision. Ding Quan would have to heal them himself once his injuries stabilized. If others helped, mistakes could easily occur.
Ding Quan's breathing gradually steadied, but all his joints were dislocated, leaving him unable to move or speak.
The black-and-red-robed official was experienced and knowledgeable. He immediately realized that Ding Quan's joints had been dislocated and hurriedly set them, asking, "Brother Ding, who injured you like this?"
Ding Quan breathed a sigh of relief. He immediately recounted how he had encountered Xu Ying and been ambushed by the Snake Demon, then said shamefully, "That Xu Ying cultivates Demonic Arts, and the Snake Demon attacked from behind, leaving me in such a sorry state..."
The officials exchanged glances, smiles showing in their eyes. They had been worried that Ding Quan would seize the chief credit, but with his injuries this severe, he could forget about the merit now.
"Brother Ding, rest easy and tend to your wounds. Leave the capture of Xu Ying to us!" The three men laughed loudly and departed one after another.
Hearing this, Ding Quan felt somewhat displeased, yet he could do nothing about it. He sat cross-legged, intending to heal his injuries, but suddenly touched his chest and went pale.
"Damn it!" Cold sweat poured down his forehead.
A scroll of the Ni Wan Hidden Scenery Qi Refining Method had been kept against his chest. It was the Qi Refining Method the Zhou Family had taught him after he pledged himself to them!
The Zhou Family had issued a strict order: the Qi Refining Method could be learned and cultivated, but copying it and passing it on were strictly forbidden. Anyone who violated this would have their entire family exterminated, their Three Souls executed, and their Seven Spirits scattered!
Any outsider who merely laid eyes on it would have their eyes gouged out and their mind erased, becoming a fool!
Ding Quan had harbored selfish motives, secretly recording the Ni Wan Hidden Scenery Qi Refining Method from memory. But now, that scroll had vanished without a trace!
"Could I have dropped it while fighting Xu Ying?"
Cold sweat poured down his forehead. He struggled to his feet and retraced his path, searching everywhere, but never found it.
"Could it be..."
He recalled Xu Ying dislocating every joint in his body, and his heart turned icy cold. "Did he steal it from my chest then?"
His vision went black, and he nearly fainted on the spot.
If the Zhou Family's Qi Refining Method was passed on, the punishment awaiting him would be the Zhou Family's harshest and most savage!
"I have to eliminate Xu Ying and take back the Qi Refining Method!"
Before you continue