Shattered Courage

A quasi-low-grade Dharma Artifact that Shen Changchuan had kept clenched in his hand all along became the final blow that decided life, death, victory, and defeat at this very moment!

This Golden Needle

was naturally one of the two Golden Needles in Shen Changchuan's possession.

The Golden Needle combined with the Golden Thorn Technique

was Shen Changchuan's most powerful trump card.

Before this,

whenever Shen Changchuan faced an enemy, he had basically used both quasi-Dharma Artifact Golden Needles on his person together, pairing them with the Golden Thorn Technique to fight his foes.

But that was not actually necessary.

Using both Golden Needles at once

was only because the enemies Shen Changchuan had faced before were the Giant Wild Boar and the Crocodile Demon.

Those two enemies

were both Demon Beasts with enormous bodies and tenacious vitality.

When facing Demon Beasts with such formidable life force, a single Golden Needle might not have been enough to ensure success.

Thus, in his previous battles, Shen Changchuan had used both at once, merely to ensure that he could kill those massive, tenacious Demon Beasts in a single strike.

But this time was different.

This time, he faced a cultivator—a human.

When facing a human,

there was not much difference between one Golden Needle and two.

Because as long as it struck a vital point, death was certain.

Therefore,

when he had first attacked and killed that Qi Gathering Fifth Level Old Second, he had used only one Golden Needle.

The remaining one, the most lethal means at his disposal,

had remained tightly clenched in his hand.

Until this moment,

after enduring in silence for so long, he erupted in a single stroke and thoroughly counter-killed the formidable enemy at the Peak Qi Gathering Sixth Level!

"Hah!"

Watching the scar-faced man in the distance, his entire body charred black and a huge hole blasted through his head, completely lose all signs of life and fall backward,

Shen Changchuan too let out a long breath.

Yet there was no joy or triumph on his face.

Instead, his face was pale as paper. He seemed utterly drained, his back nearly soaked through with cold sweat.

Only after the other man fell

did Shen Changchuan's body sway faintly for an instant.

He could barely remain standing and nearly collapsed.

It could not be helped.

This battle had consumed too much!

Though it seemed as if he had effortlessly wiped out and killed his enemies one by one,

in truth,

from the moment he shattered Zhao Hantao's dantian with one punch and launched his attack,

he had been walking a tightrope the entire time.

One moment of carelessness,

and he would plunge into an abyss ten thousand fathoms deep, dying on the spot!

In that brief quarter of an hour,

Shen Changchuan had not only strained his mind to its limit, but also driven the circulation of his spiritual power to its utmost limit!

Several times,

when his spiritual power failed to recover in time, he could only disregard the consequences and forcibly squeeze out every last shred of strength from within his body and meridians to fend off the enemy!

After several breaths,

Shen Changchuan, having finally caught his breath, barely managed to recover.

But at this moment,

less than one-tenth of the spiritual power within him remained, while his meridians ached sharply from being pushed to the limit time and again.

Still, after catching his breath,

he had ultimately regained the ability to fight once more.

Though his remaining combat strength was less than half of his peak, and the little spiritual power he had left would not last long,

it was enough.

"Y-you... How is that possible?!!"

Not far away,

Zhao Hantao, grievously wounded, stared wide-eyed at Shen Changchuan. Pointing at him as though he had witnessed something inconceivable, he cried out in horror.

Since Zhao Hantao was, after all, at the Qi Gathering Fourth Level,

Shen Changchuan had struck him extremely heavily, crippling him the instant he made his move.

Though Zhao Hantao was not dead now, his severe injuries kept him sprawled on the ground, unable even to stand.

As a result, just moments ago,

after being ambushed and crippled, he had still been cursing Shen Changchuan's shamelessness in his heart, filled with extreme resentment. He had sworn that once the other three from Heshan captured him, he would torture him properly before he could vent the hatred in his heart!

That furious resentment had lasted until this moment.

It lasted until the scar-faced man at the Peak Qi Gathering Sixth Level, the leader among the three, had also fallen to the ground without the slightest trace of life remaining.

At this moment, Zhao Hantao

looked at the three miserable corpses strewn around him.

When he looked back at Shen Changchuan, his eyes were already filled with terror,

as if he were looking upon a demon wearing human skin.

Overcome by fear,

even though he lay on the ground and could not stand, he could not help bracing himself with both hands and inching backward.

"How can this be possible?! Impossible! How could you possibly have such strength?!"

Zhao Hantao's face was full of terror.

He struggled backward in panic again and again, seemingly wanting to flee from the terrifying demon before him.

His body left a clear drag mark across the ground.

How could he not be afraid?

Three of the famed Four Fiends of Heshan had gathered here.

With their leader at the Peak Qi Gathering Sixth Level at the helm, alongside one at the Qi Gathering Fifth Level and one at the Qi Gathering Fourth Level, they had laid an ambush—yet in the blink of an eye, they had been slaughtered until they lay in complete disarray at the hands of this man?!

Judging by the aura he had displayed during the battle, he was only at the Qi Gathering Fourth Level!

Even the weakest of the Four Fiends of Heshan was at the Qi Gathering Fourth Level!

How could this be?!

How could the outcome be this?!

Zhao Hantao simply could not understand it,

nor could he accept it!

However,

Shen Changchuan naturally had no intention of explaining anything to him.

He strode to his side in a few steps and knocked him unconscious with a chop to the neck.

This man was still useful alive.

For instance, Shen Changchuan needed to learn the identities of those who wanted to kill him.

And why they had targeted him.

If he did not get to the bottom of those matters, they would remain like thorns buried deep in his heart.

At the very least,

he needed to know where this crisis had come from

so he could prepare in advance.

Though the matter was urgent,

this was clearly not a suitable place for interrogation. Shen Changchuan intended to take him back to Great Bay Village and deal with him properly there.

So he simply knocked him unconscious first,

to avoid any accidents along the way.

After Zhao Hantao completely passed out,

Shen Changchuan began collecting the spoils around him.

To guard against any unforeseen mishaps,

he first began searching the body of Old Four, the weakest Qi Gathering Fourth Level cultivator.

Shen Changchuan had thought that since this man possessed a suit of leather armor, he should have been carrying considerable wealth, right?

That was what he had originally thought.

But he was quickly disappointed.

He searched nearly every inch of the man's body,

yet apart from the leather armor he wore, there was nothing else of value.

Even that suit of leather armor had been cleaved apart by Shen Changchuan's successive Wind Blade Techniques during the battle. It had completely lost its spirituality and, with it, all value.

Uh,

it was not entirely worthless.

If it were taken to the Mortal Realm and its tears stitched back together, it could still be considered a treasure impervious to blades and spears, worth some gold and silver.

But such things were obviously of little use to Shen Changchuan.

A thought suddenly flashed through Shen Changchuan's mind.

Could this man's wealth have been kept with his Big Brother?

That earlier motion of flipping his palm to produce the Soul-Snatching Bell had seemed to involve a Storage Bag.

With that thought in mind,

Shen Changchuan did not immediately search the leader's body.

Instead, he first headed toward the other side,

walking toward the Qi Gathering Fifth Level cultivator whom he had ambushed and killed first to search him.

Very quickly,

Shen Changchuan found a dagger clutched in the man's hand.

A faint blue gleam reflected from the sharp Wind Blades on the dagger.

It appeared to be a low-grade Dharma Artifact,

and a poisoned low-grade Dharma Artifact at that.

But apart from that dagger,

just like the previous man, he had nothing else on him.

The search yielded nothing.

Shen Changchuan's gaze

then fell upon the corpse of the leader at the Peak Qi Gathering Sixth Level.