Among the strong, there was always someone stronger

Amid the mountain forest, within a ruined temple,

Two masked Martial Cultivators clad in black sat atop the fallen head of a deity statue, watching the entrance to the ruined temple.

One of them, a broad-built man with phoenix eyes, spoke. "Fucking rotten luck. There wasn't even a single set of ingredients for Nine Revolutions Qi Nourishing Soup in the Yin Talisman Sect's Third Warehouse. If I'd known, why would we have taken such a huge risk?"

The Lean Man said, "Second Brother, why bother dwelling on that? With our Late Second Layer cultivation and our dart techniques, even the esteemed stewards and deputy stewards of the Yin Talisman Sect and Black Tiger Gang couldn't stop us.

Once we leave Great Marsh Prefecture, with our strength, wouldn't we be able to find a good future anywhere?"

The man with phoenix eyes frowned. "The Yin Talisman Sect has come out in full force. Who knows when we'll finally escape this danger?"

The Lean Man furrowed his brows. "So what if the Yin Talisman Sect has come out in full force?

If we hadn't heard that Zhao Yufei had deployed a Dragon Blood Treasure Hound, why would we be hiding out in this wilderness? We'd have gone to Qiyu Tower long ago to enjoy ourselves with those top courtesans!

Damn it, once I reach Layer Three Perfection someday, I'll fuck that bitch of a nun, Zhao Yufei. Then we brothers can take turns—I'll go first, and you can take her from behind!"

The man with phoenix eyes knitted his brows tightly.

Mortal Transformation Layer Three Perfection? Easier said than done.

His elder brother and he had cultivated bitterly for eighteen years, only to reach the Late Second Layer.

Even reaching Layer Two Perfection would take another year or two! As for Layer Three...

Although this cultivation speed already ranked among the best among Rogue Cultivators,

It was still far, far too distant from bedding the Pretty Taoist Nun Zhao Yufei! Still, the thought of that goal made one's heart itch and body hard!

He shook his head, flinging away the images and wild thoughts in his mind.

"Is the buyer you contacted reliable, Big Brother? Two hundred and ten intact Essence Blood Beads, two hundred precious Forehead Scales, and other supplies can only be exchanged for ingredients for two hundred portions of Qi Nourishing Soup. That's outrageously ruthless!"

The Lean Man said, "The price of Qi Nourishing Soup ingredients in Great Marsh Prefecture is soaring right now. Besides, our goods are hot stolen merchandise. Being able to exchange them for two hundred portions is already very good!"

Just then,

Footsteps sounded outside the temple.

A tremendously burly man, nine feet tall, walked in wearing a black iron mask. Tangled black beard protruded from both sides of his mask, and he carried a large wooden chest in his enormous palm.

After entering the ruined temple, he said in a low voice, "You two Tao Family brothers really know how to pick a place. This place borders the Demon Fox Territory, and Black Tiger Gang members rarely patrol here!"

"Where are the ingredients?" Upon seeing the Masked Guest, the skinny man involuntarily reached his right hand toward the pouch of darts at his waist.

"Right here!" The Masked Guest waved a hand and opened the chest.

When the wooden chest opened, it revealed all sorts of ingredients for Nine Revolutions Qi Nourishing Soup. A rich medicinal fragrance immediately spread through the surroundings.

Seeing those medicinal ingredients, the skinny man's gaze became somewhat eager. "You're quite capable, Brother. A single herb is hard to find in Great Marsh Prefecture these days, yet you managed to get two hundred portions!"

"Where are the goods?" The Masked Guest ignored his nonsense.

The skinny man smiled. "I'll go get them for you now."

He had only taken one step when he suddenly felt his head grow dizzy. His gaze shifted as he recalled the various medicinal scents he had just smelled.

His face changed drastically, and he roared, "Something's wrong—there's sleeping incense! Damn it, Masked Guest, you fucking set me up!"

He did not dare be careless. His qi and blood surged frantically, suppressing the poison of the sleeping incense, while both hands began to dance. One dart after another sliced through the air with sharp whistles toward the Masked Guest, while the man with phoenix eyes beside him also sent out a continuous stream of darts.

The ruined temple instantly filled with piercing whistles and flashing cold light.

The dart techniques of these two men were more than twice as refined as those of Hu Lin from the Black Tiger Gang, whom Lin Xuankong had once killed. Every time they raised a hand, four darts flew out together, swift as bolts of lightning!

An ordinary Early or Mid Second Layer cultivator facing such terrifying dart techniques would certainly be killed or wounded!

Yet the Masked Guest merely shook both palms, and silver nails extended more than a foot long.

He swung his claws so densely that not even water could pass through, advancing toward the two men through countless darts as he laughed loudly. "As expected of old hands in the martial world—you reacted quite quickly! But even if you noticed the sleeping incense, so what? With your Late Second Layer cultivation, how could you possibly be my match!"

"Black Tiger Shattering Gold Claw—you fucking scum from the Black Tiger Gang!" The man with phoenix eyes turned pale.

"After trading so many times, you never noticed, did you? Surprised?"

The Masked Guest strode toward the man with phoenix eyes.

At that moment, the Masked Guest's palms spun like wheels, blocking countless darts, yet darts continued to strike his body. The Tao brothers' dart techniques were, after all, second only to Lin Xuankong's. They were far beyond what a Martial Cultivator could fend off with bare hands!

Within a few breaths, nearly a hundred darts had stabbed into the Masked Guest's knees, crotch, throat, and mask.

The clangs rang out in an incomparably dense barrage.

Those darts pierced his clothing and riddled his black iron mask with holes. Several even struck his eyes.

Yet this Masked Guest possessed extraordinarily powerful defenses. The blades in his eyes drew no reaction whatsoever—not even his eyelids were broken. He was clearly a Layer Two Perfection powerhouse!

"Layer Two Perfection!" The man with phoenix eyes' expression changed as he retreated.

The skinny man's face also changed drastically, and he tried to retreat. But as he lifted his leg, he was horrified to discover that at some unknown moment, slender, delicate-looking strange grasses had silently wound around both his legs!

He circulated his qi and blood and exerted all his strength to pull free, trying to snap those thin blades of grass. Yet he discovered in shock that despite looking incomparably frail, he, a dignified Late Second Layer cultivator, could not break even a single strand.

Not far away, the Masked Guest had already engaged the man with phoenix eyes in close combat.

The man with phoenix eyes possessed exquisite dart techniques, but his close-range combat skills were inferior to the Black Tiger Claw. In merely seven or eight breaths of combat, he had already suffered hundreds of claw strikes. The black clothing on his body was completely shredded, revealing flesh covered in white claw marks.

Had he not already been at the Late Second Layer, those hundreds of claws would have long since shredded him into minced meat!

Unfortunately, though the man with phoenix eyes had strong defenses, the qi and blood within his body were ultimately limited. He was not Lin Xuankong, and did not possess such vast reserves of qi and blood to squander freely.

Under the Masked Guest's incredibly dense assault, after ten breaths, half of the man with phoenix eyes' qi and blood had already been consumed.

Feeling his qi and blood draining rapidly, the fear in his eyes grew ever more apparent. He knew well that if this continued, he would die on the spot in another ten breaths at most!

Finding an opening, he shouted at the Lean Man, "Big Brother, what the hell are you standing around for? Come over and help me kill him!"

The Lean Man's face was full of fury, and his voice rose sharply. "I fucking don't want to be standing here either! My legs are tangled up by this weird grass, and I can't move at all! What the fuck is this thing?"

Seeing this, ruthlessness immediately surfaced in the phoenix-eyed man's gaze. With a flash, he evaded an attack, then turned and ran. He was preparing to flee alone.

What he had not expected was that just as he turned, the Masked Guest suddenly erupted with unprecedented speed and clawed at his ass.

With a strange ripping sound,

The phoenix-eyed man's body jerked rigid, and he let out a loud scream.

The Masked Guest forcefully withdrew the Black Tiger Shattering Gold Claw, ripping a large section of the phoenix-eyed man's intestines out from behind.

He flung away the filthy thing with a wave of his hand, then continued attacking the phoenix-eyed man, whose agonizing pain had thrown his movements into disorder. One breath later, the phoenix-eyed man's body stiffened, and he collapsed to the ground!

"Second Brother!" The Lean Man's eyes nearly split open in fury.

The Masked Guest looked toward the Manluo Demonic Grass binding the Lean Man.

Then vigilance appeared on his face as he looked around the ruined temple. But at that moment, there was no movement around the temple other than the mountain wind rustling through the grass and trees.

"A demon creature? A grass demon? It looks like it can only bind people and has no real offensive power!"

The Masked Guest removed his battered black iron mask. After staring warily at the Manluo Demonic Grass for quite some time, he finally advanced toward the Tao Family Eldest while enduring the continuous clang of darts.

One breath later, the Tao Family Eldest, trapped in place and unable to dodge, crumpled to the ground.

After killing the Tao Family Eldest, the Masked Guest retreated a considerable distance with great caution. Only after seeing the demonic grass vanish without a trace did he relax.

He leaped from the ruined temple with a wary expression and observed carefully for nearly the time it took to drink a cup of tea. Seeing no movement whatsoever around him, he finally frowned and walked toward the depths of the ruined temple.

A moment later,

The Masked Guest emerged from the depths of the ruined temple carrying a black chest, excitement appearing on his face. "If it weren't for that strange grass demon, I would have had to put in some effort and use some other methods!"

Just then,

Faint footsteps sounded at the entrance of the ruined temple.

The Masked Guest's expression shifted, and he swiftly turned his head, only to see a white-haired old man walk in.

Standing at the entrance of the ruined temple, Lin Xuankong looked at the Bearded Guest before him, feeling slightly moved.

This bearded cultivator, who had robbed the Tao brothers black-on-black and was even fiercer than they were, was actually the Black Tiger Gang steward he had encountered outside the herb shop back then.

For more than a month, he had always regarded this bearded Black Tiger Gang Martial Cultivator as his cultivation goal.

Because when he had first seen him, the scene of this bearded cultivator being impervious to blades and spears had given him an enormous shock.

A powerful Martial Cultivator who could kill an Early Second Layer cultivator in a single strike and intimidate dozens of experts... Yet after only one short month, upon seeing again this bearded cultivator who could easily kill the Tao brothers, Lin Xuankong no longer felt even the slightest bit nervous!

At that moment, the bearded cultivator's eyes flickered constantly.

This old bastard had suddenly come over now... He was a scheming old bastard who had sat back and watched the tigers fight!

Since he had seen him kill the Tao brothers yet still dared to emerge, he must either be quite strong or possess some hidden trump card. Perhaps it was that grass demon from earlier, whose offensive power was not particularly strong... But his Layer Two Perfection defenses were invincible, and he had yet to use his many methods or the ferocity of the Black Tiger Art. Why should he fear him? He only needed to find a way to kill the other party first!

With that thought, his expression shifted as he pointed at the chest beside his feet.

"Brother, since you've come out now, it seems you intend to take a share of the spoils? I wonder whether you're interested in the medicinal ingredients or the Tao brothers' belongings. How about this? I'll give you several dozen portions of ingredients, and the two of us—"

As he spoke, he suddenly raised a hand, flinging a great cloud of quicklime straight at Lin Xuankong's face.

At the same time, he explosively drove off the ground. Bone-cracking sounds like a tiger's roar erupted from all over his body, and he charged toward Lin Xuankong at a speed far beyond before!

Even when a lion fought a rabbit, it used all its strength!

At that instant, the bearded cultivator did not hesitate to use the Frenzied Tiger Roaring Bone Technique from the Black Tiger Shattering Gold Claw, which could instantly raise his combat power. He was determined to kill Lin Xuankong in a single blow!