Houtian Seventh Layer

This inevitably made people wonder: once they clashed, who had won?

Crack!

Suddenly, the sound of a branch snapping came from a large tree. On the tree where the flying figure had landed, a patch of black suddenly appeared.

It was Wu Sancai!

Wu Sancai's face was somewhat pale, and his aura was extremely unstable, yet his expression was brimming with excitement.

Especially when he looked at the earthen pit below, he threw back his head and laughed loudly.

"Hahaha, Qin An, you've finally fallen into my, Wu Sancai's, hands!"

"Cough! Cough! Cough!"

Several exceedingly weak coughs came from within the pit. The figure inside struggled a few times, but never managed to stand up.

That struggle did reveal the man's face. It was Qin An.

Though he was not dead, Qin An's condition was rather dire.

His strength had already been far from fully unleashed. In that exchange, Wu Sancai had severely wounded him.

Moreover, he had previously used all the Innate Inner Qi suppressing the deadly poison in his body to unleash Afterimage Fist, producing ten afterimages. As a result, the poison had flared up again.

This was apparent from the bluish-black shade of his face.

Still, he had not gained nothing at all. At the very least, Wu Sancai had also been severely injured.

Wu Sancai was rather excited. Although he too was wounded, the sight of Qin An's miserable state made him forget his injuries entirely. He suddenly laughed at Qin An. "Hahaha, Qin An, this time you're dead for sure!"

Wu Sancai was not exaggerating. Given Qin An's current state, even if he did nothing, Qin An would not live much longer.

Yet the thought of how Qin An had toyed with him earlier made fury flash through Wu Sancai's eyes.

"Hmph, even if you die, Qin An, you must die beneath my palm!"

With a cold snort, Wu Sancai prepared to descend from the tree and finish Qin An with a single palm strike.

But at that moment, a figure suddenly appeared beneath the tree where Wu Sancai stood.

No one knew what movement technique that figure used. With a mere flash, he arrived directly before Wu Sancai. Then, under Wu Sancai's astonished gaze, the figure's right hand trembled slightly, and a silver blade gleam flashed past in an instant.

Not good!

Faced with the sudden figure, Wu Sancai felt a grave sense of danger. Especially when that streak of silver light appeared, every hair on his body stood on end, and a deathly chill swept straight through him.

Wu Sancai had only experienced such a sensation of death once before, when he had encountered an Advanced Third-Level Demon Beast.

Years of rich experience made Wu Sancai react instantly.

He could not dodge it. Since that was the case, he could only defend.

Black light flashed from his hands as Wu Sancai prepared to use his strongest weapon, his pair of Black Poison Hands, to block that streak of silver light.

He was certain that the Black Poison Hands he had cultivated for thirty years could block this attack.

Unfortunately, he was far too confident!

Whoosh!

The silver light flashed, accompanied by a sharp sound of something tearing through the air.

Then came two muffled puffs.

That streak of silver blade gleam pierced through Wu Sancai's proud pair of Black Poison Hands as easily as puncturing white paper, without the slightest obstruction. It then shot directly into the Dantian in his abdomen, pierced through his body again, and flew deep into the forest behind him.

"Puh!"

Wu Sancai spat out a mouthful of black blood, and his eyes widened instantly.

"How is this possible?"

He raised his trembling hands and stared at the two bloody holes in his palms, his eyes filled with disbelief.

His proud pair of Black Poison Hands had actually been broken so easily?

And that was not all. That streak of silver blade gleam had also shattered his Dantian, causing the Innate Poisonous Qi he had cultivated for so many years to rapidly dissipate into nothingness.

Once he lost his poisonous Innate Inner Qi, Wu Sancai was truly finished.

The poison art he cultivated required him to consume vast quantities of poisonous substances, refining his body into a poison body. Thus, the Black Hand Butcher seen by outsiders was poisonous not merely in his hands—his entire body was filled through and through with toxic qi.

The only reason he himself had not died from poison was because of the special Innate Poisonous Qi he had cultivated.

As long as he possessed Innate Poisonous Qi within his body, no matter how toxic his body became, he would not harm himself.

But now that his Dantian had been destroyed, all the Innate Poisonous Qi within him had drained away.

Without poisonous Innate Inner Qi, the toxins in Wu Sancai's body erupted completely. Simply put, he was now afflicted by countless deadly poisons. He was unquestionably doomed.

This could be seen from his skin, which was turning increasingly black.

Feeling death approach, Wu Sancai was filled with sorrow. He had never imagined that he would meet such an end.

He could not help raising his head, wanting to see just who had brought him to such a miserable fate.

But when he saw the figure on the tree opposite him, his pupils contracted sharply, and his face filled with disbelief.

It was actually him!

How could this be?

He was merely a Houtian First Layer martial artist. How could he unleash a move with such power?

After seeing clearly who had delivered the final blow, Wu Sancai suddenly burst into loud laughter. "Hahaha! I, the Black Hand Butcher, roamed the world for decades. In the end, I did not die at the hands of a powerful enemy, nor beneath the revenge of my foes. I actually died at the hands of a teenage brat. How can I accept this?!"

"I truly cannot accept this!"

As he laughed, the blackness spreading across Wu Sancai's skin grew faster and faster. Soon, his body had become completely pitch-black. After letting out one final shout, Wu Sancai's entire body shook violently and exploded in an instant, turning into a pool of black water.

The dignified Black Hand Butcher had actually been poisoned to death by his own poison. It had to be said, this was a heavenly great joke—or perhaps, the wages of sin.

Ding dong!

System Prompt: Congratulations to player Qin Shaofeng for successfully killing one Xiantian Martial Master. Since this is player Qin Shaofeng's first time killing a Xiantian Martial Master, and since it was a cross-realm kill, the system has specially awarded 100 Points and 5000 experience points!

That was right. The person who had suddenly appeared and delivered the final blow to the heavily injured Wu Sancai was Qin Shaofeng.

As for why Qin Shaofeng had appeared here, it was all part of a carefully planned ambush.

After separating from Qin An, Qin Shaofeng had deliberately fled far beyond Wu Sancai's line of sight in order to carry out his ambush plan. He then secretly crept back and hid nearby, observing the battle between Qin An and Wu Sancai.

Several times, when Qin An was in danger, Qin Shaofeng had nearly been unable to stop himself from stepping in to help.

But when he remembered that the enemy was Wu Sancai, he knew that even with himself added to the fight, they would still be no match for him.

If he wanted to successfully kill Wu Sancai, he could only wait for an opportunity.

At last, the opportunity Qin Shaofeng had long awaited arrived.

Under Qin An's full-force eruption, Wu Sancai was finally injured.

Then, upon seeing Qin An's miserable state, Wu Sancai completely let down his guard.

Qin Shaofeng seized the moment when Wu Sancai had fully relaxed. He suddenly appeared, used the skill he had just learned, Wudang Cloud-Treading Steps, and leaped before Wu Sancai. Then he released the Little Li Flying Dagger he had prepared long ago.

The Little Li Flying Dagger Qin Shaofeng used this time was different from before.

To ensure nothing could go wrong, Qin Shaofeng gritted his teeth and used all 1200 of his Inner Qi Points to unleash Little Li Flying Dagger.

To keep his Inner Qi Points full, Qin Shaofeng had even consumed the only two three-star Qi Replenishing Pills he possessed during that time.

It could be said that this was the strongest attack Qin Shaofeng could currently unleash.

Under such a powerful attack, Wu Sancai ultimately died with resentment in his heart.

Of course, it was also fortunate that Qin An had severely wounded him. Had Wu Sancai been at his peak, even if he stood still, Qin Shaofeng's current strength—and even a Full Power Strike with Little Li Flying Dagger—would not have been able to break through Wu Sancai's Black Poison Hands.

After all, the defensive power of a Xiantian Martial Master was not something a Houtian Martial Artist with only Houtian Inner Qi could compare to.

There was an enormous difference between Innate Inner Qi and Houtian Inner Qi!

Whew!

He was finally dead!

Watching the pool of black water continuously flow down from beneath the tree, corroding the entire tree before dripping onto the ground, Qin Shaofeng finally let out a breath of relief.

His ambush seemed incomparably simple and smooth, but only he knew the dangers hidden within it.

Even though Wu Sancai had been severely injured, as a Xiantian Martial Master, once he faced Qin Shaofeng, Qin Shaofeng would at most last a few moves even if he was not killed instantly.

Fortunately, everything had ended as smoothly as Qin Shaofeng had expected.

What surprised Qin Shaofeng even more was that killing Wu Sancai had earned him an additional system reward of 100 Points and 5000 experience points.

Qin Shaofeng had noticed the reason for this. The system had stated that this was not an ordinary higher-level kill, but a cross-realm kill. On top of that, it was his first time, so receiving greater rewards was only natural.

"5000 experience points? Then that means..." Suddenly remembering something, a gleam flashed in Qin Shaofeng's eyes. "That means I can level up again, doesn't it?"

No sooner had he spoken than Qin Shaofeng heard a ding dong system prompt.

System Prompt: Congratulations, player experience has reached the level-up requirement. Player Qin Shaofeng has advanced to Houtian Fifth Level!

Hahaha, I really leveled up!

Hearing the system prompt and feeling his Inner Qi instantly recover, Qin Shaofeng was overjoyed.

But that was not the end. Since he had killed Wu Sancai, his mission had also been completed.

Congratulations to player Qin Shaofeng for completing the three-star mission "Kill Black Hand Butcher Wu Sancai." You have received the mission reward: experience points and 500 Points!

System Prompt: Congratulations, player experience has reached the level-up requirement. Player Qin Shaofeng has advanced to Houtian Seventh Layer!

With the experience points gained, Qin Shaofeng's level rose another rank, reaching the Houtian Seventh Layer.

Player: Qin Shaofeng

Level: Houtian Seventh Layer, 6000/7000

Inner Qi Points: 1500/1500 (the Houtian Seventh Layer possesses 500 Inner Qi Points; Yi Jin Jing provides a threefold bonus)

Talent Spirit Root: Thunder Body

Skills: Fiery Golden Eyes, Yi Jin Jing, Little Li Flying Dagger

Battle Beast: Hundred Spirits Demon Fox

Equipment: None

Mission: None

Points: 600

Title: City Lord of Lanjiang City

"Mm, not bad. Not only have I advanced to the Houtian Seventh Layer, I'm only 1000 experience points away from the Houtian Eighth Layer. This time, the harvest was truly great."

His Inner Qi Points had instantly been replenished by leveling up. Qin Shaofeng, who had been somewhat fatigued after maintaining such intense concentration, had now recovered somewhat as well.

Looking at his status interface, Qin Shaofeng smiled happily.

Having risen two levels at once, Qin Shaofeng was naturally in an excellent mood.