This inevitably made people wonder: once they clashed, who had won?
Crack!
Suddenly, the sound of a branch snapping came from a large tree. A patch of black abruptly appeared on the tree where the blasted figure had landed.
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 pit in the ground, he threw back his head and laughed loudly.
"Hahaha, Qin An, you've finally lost to me, Wu Sancai!"
"Cough! Cough! Cough!"
Several extremely weak coughs came from the pit. The figure inside struggled a few times, but still failed to stand.
However, that struggle revealed the person's face. It was Qin An.
Though he was not dead, Qin An's condition was rather dangerous.
His strength had already been limited, and in that exchange, Wu Sancai had seriously injured him.
Furthermore, he had previously used all the Innate Inner Qi suppressing the deadly poison within his body to unleash Phantom Fist, erupting with ten phantom images. As a result, the poison had flared up again.
This was evident from his bluish-black complexion.
Still, he had not gained nothing. At the very least, Wu Sancai had also been seriously wounded.
Wu Sancai was somewhat exhilarated. Though he too was injured, the sight of Qin An's miserable state made him forget his own wounds. 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 survive much longer.
But when he recalled how Qin An had toyed with him earlier, fury flashed through Wu Sancai's eyes.
"Hmph! Even if you die, Qin An, you'll 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 abruptly appeared beneath the tree where Wu Sancai stood.
No one knew what movement technique that figure had used. With a single flash, he arrived directly before Wu Sancai. Then, beneath Wu Sancai's astonished gaze, the figure's right hand trembled slightly, and a Silver Light Saber Aura flashed past in an instant.
This is bad!
Facing the suddenly appearing figure, Wu Sancai sensed that something was terribly wrong. Especially when that streak of silver light appeared, every hair on his body stood on end, and a chill of death bore down upon his entire body.
Wu Sancai had experienced such a sensation of death only once before, when he encountered a High-level Third Layer demonic beast.
His many 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 over his hands as Wu Sancai prepared to use his strongest weapon, the pair of Black Poison Hands, to block that streak of silver light.
He believed that the Black Poison Hands he had cultivated for thirty years would certainly be able to withstand this attack.
Unfortunately, he had been too confident!
Whoosh!
The silver light flashed, accompanied by a sharp sound of space breaking.
Then came two muffled puffs.
That streak of Silver Light Saber Aura pierced through Wu Sancai's pair of Black Poison Hands, which he had always been so proud of, as easily as puncturing paper. Without the slightest obstruction, it shot through them, then directly into his abdominal dantian before passing through his body once more and flying deep into the forest behind him.
Pfft!
Wu Sancai spat out a mouthful of black blood, his eyes instantly widening.
"How is this possible?"
Trembling, he raised his hands and stared at the two bloody holes in his palms, his eyes filled with disbelief.
His prized pair of Black Poison Hands had actually been broken so easily?
And that was not all. That Silver Light Saber Aura had directly shattered his dantian, causing the Innate Poison Qi he had cultivated for so many years to rapidly drain away into nothingness.
Once he lost the Innate Inner Qi of his Poisonous Cultivation Technique, Wu Sancai was in deep trouble.
The Poisonous Cultivation Technique he cultivated required consuming vast quantities of poison and tempering his body into a poisonous vessel. Thus, the Black Hand Butcher seen by outsiders was not poisonous merely in his hands—his entire body was filled with poison from head to toe.
The reason he himself had not died from poison was entirely because of the special Innate Poison Qi he had cultivated.
As long as Innate Poison Qi remained within his body, no matter how poisonous his body became, he would not harm himself.
But now that his dantian had been shattered, all the Innate Poison Qi in his body had drained away.
Without the Innate Inner Qi of his Poisonous Cultivation Technique, the toxins within Wu Sancai's body erupted all at once. Put simply, he was now poisoned by countless deadly toxins and was absolutely doomed to die.
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 lifting his head, wanting to see exactly who had caused him to suffer such a miserable fate.
But when he saw the figure in the tree opposite him, his pupils suddenly contracted, and his face filled with disbelief.
It was actually him!
How could this be possible?
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, yet in the end, I did not die at the hands of a powerful enemy, nor did I die beneath the vengeance of my foes. I actually died at the hands of a little brat barely in his teens. 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 until his entire body had turned pitch-black. After his final shout, his body suddenly shook and exploded in an instant, turning into a puddle of black water.
The mighty Black Hand Butcher had actually been poisoned to death by his own poison. It truly was a tremendous joke—or perhaps it was simply retribution for his sins!
Ding-dong!
"System Prompt: Congratulations to player Qin Shaofeng for successfully killing one Xiantian Martial Master. As this is player Qin Shaofeng's first time killing a Xiantian Martial Master, and it was a cross-realm kill, the system specially awards 100 points and 5,000 experience points!"
That was right. The person who had suddenly appeared and dealt the gravely injured Wu Sancai his final blow was Qin Shaofeng.
As for why Qin Shaofeng had appeared here, it was actually an ambush assassination he had carried out after careful planning.
After separating from Qin An, Qin Shaofeng had deliberately fled far beyond Wu Sancai's line of sight in order to execute his ambush plan. Then he quietly sneaked back and hid nearby, observing the battle between Qin An and Wu Sancai.
During that time, Qin An had fallen into danger several times, and Qin Shaofeng had nearly been unable to stop himself from helping.
But when he remembered that their enemy was Wu Sancai, he knew that even with himself added in, they would still be no match for him.
If he wanted to kill Wu Sancai successfully, he could only wait for an opportunity.
At last, the opportunity Qin Shaofeng had been waiting for arrived.
Under Qin An's full-force eruption, Wu Sancai was finally injured.
Then, upon seeing Qin An's miserable condition, Wu Sancai completely lowered his guard.
Qin Shaofeng seized the moment when Wu Sancai had completely relaxed. He suddenly appeared, used the Wudang Cloud-Treading Steps he had just learned, leaped before Wu Sancai, and released the Little Li Flying Dagger he had long prepared.
The Little Li Flying Dagger Qin Shaofeng unleashed this time was different from before.
To ensure there would be no mishap, Qin Shaofeng had ruthlessly poured all 1,200 points of Inner Qi into the Little Li Flying Dagger.
He had even swallowed the only two three-star Qi Replenishing Pills he possessed in order to keep his Inner Qi full throughout the process.
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 hatred in his heart.
Of course, this was also thanks to Qin An having seriously injured him. Had Wu Sancai been at his peak, even if he stood still, Qin Shaofeng's current strength—even with a full-power Little Li Flying Dagger—would not have been enough to break through Wu Sancai's Black Poison Hands.
After all, the defenses of a Xiantian Martial Master were not something a Houtian Martial Artist possessing only Houtian Inner Qi could compare to.
There was an enormous difference between Innate Inner Qi and Houtian Inner Qi!
Hoo!
He was finally dead!
Watching that puddle of black water flow continuously down from beneath the tree, corroding the entire trunk before dripping onto the ground, Qin Shaofeng finally let out a breath of relief.
His ambush had appeared incomparably simple and smooth, but only he knew the dangers hidden within it.
Even though Wu Sancai had been seriously wounded, as a Xiantian Martial Master, once he faced Qin Shaofeng, Qin Shaofeng would have been killed in an instant if he was lucky—or at most would have lasted a few moves.
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 5,000 experience points.
Qin Shaofeng had noticed this as well, because the system had stated that this was not an ordinary level-skipping kill, but a cross-realm kill. Since it was also his first time, a greater reward was nothing unusual.
"5,000 experience points? Then doesn't that mean..." Qin Shaofeng suddenly recalled something, and a gleam flashed through his eyes. "Doesn't that mean I can level up again?"
As soon as the words fell, 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 the Houtian Fifth Level!"
Hahaha, he really had leveled up!
Upon 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 was also complete.
"Congratulations to player Qin Shaofeng for completing the three-star mission 'Kill Black Hand Butcher Wu Sancai.' Mission reward obtained: 10,000 experience points and 500 points!" "System Prompt: Congratulations, player experience has reached the level-up requirement. Player Qin Shaofeng has advanced to the Houtian Seventh Level!"
With the 10,000 experience points, Qin Shaofeng's level rose another level, reaching the Houtian Seventh Level.
Player: Qin Shaofeng Level: Houtian Seventh Level, 6000/7000 Inner Qi: 1500/1500 (Houtian Seventh Level possesses 500 Inner Qi; Yi Jin Jing grants a threefold bonus) Talent Spiritual Root: Body of Thunder Skills: Fiery Golden Eyes, Yi Jin Jing, Little Li Flying Dagger War Beast: Hundred Spirits Demonic Fox Equipment: None Mission: None Points: 600 Title: Lord of Lanjiang City
"Mm, not bad. Not only have I reached the Houtian Seventh Level, I'm only 1,000 experience points away from the Houtian Eighth Layer. This time, the gains were truly enormous."
His Inner Qi had instantly been replenished by leveling up, and the fatigue caused by his earlier intense concentration had eased somewhat.
Looking at his Attribute Interface, Qin Shaofeng smiled happily.
Having risen two levels in one go, Qin Shaofeng was naturally in an excellent mood.
Before you continue