Iced Red Bull

After hearing Gu Fengchen's introduction, Xue Mei was momentarily stunned.

She frowned and thought about it. She knew Yao Chen, the owner of Myriad Medicine Pavilion.

She frowned as she sized up Gu Fengchen. He had sword-like brows and starry eyes, a heroic air about him, glossy black hair, a face like polished jade, and refined, handsome features. He was truly a dashing young man.

In truth, Gu Fengchen really was handsome. Even he himself, upon first seeing his appearance, had nearly felt like he was about to be turned gay.

Xue Mei muttered to herself. The man before her did not resemble that sleazy Boss Yao in the slightest. Could Boss Yao have been cheated on?

Girls always had plenty of inner drama. After thinking for a moment, Xue Mei cautiously asked, "Isn't the owner of Myriad Medicine Pavilion someone named Yao Chen?"

Although Yao Chen had been dead for a month already, information traveled slowly in this era, and Yao Chen was not some major figure. It was perfectly normal for Xue Mei not to know.

"He had a little accident a couple of days ago. You know how it is—the Magic Beast Mountain Range is full of accidents," Gu Fengchen explained with a smile.

At that moment, the villager who had accompanied Gu Fengchen earlier happened to arrive. Upon hearing Gu Fengchen's words, all he wanted to do was complain inwardly.

An accident?

Heh. Was the accident he was talking about the time he accidentally "slipped up" and slaughtered Yao Chen?

Though Gu Fengchen had not admitted it himself, everyone had already guessed that Yao Chen had been killed by this young man calling himself Gu Feng. After all, Gu Feng had benefited the most from Yao Chen's death.

Besides, with his strength, crushing Yao Chen was as easy as crushing an ant.

But the villager did not expose him. He did not want an "accident" to happen to him.

Xue Mei did not press further. She took out a Storage Ring and handed it to Gu Fengchen. "I'm from the Alchemist Guild in Black Rock City. This time, I only came to try gathering some Medicinal Herbs. These herbs could originally be found along the outskirts of the Magic Beast Mountain Range, and we never intended to go deep inside, so the guards we brought were ordinary guards. But we never expected to run into this. Sigh, thank you so much this time, Boss Gu. Please, you must accept this Storage Ring."

Gu Fengchen did not stand on ceremony and accepted the Storage Ring. Then he smiled and said, "Miss Xue Mei, if your Alchemist Guild ever needs materials for refining pills, feel free to purchase them from our Myriad Medicine Pavilion."

Gu Fengchen openly stated his intentions. He wanted to establish a connection with the Alchemist Guild. Xue Mei smiled and nodded. "Of course! I'll tell my teacher, Frank, as soon as I get back!"

However, just as both sides got what they needed and reached an agreement, an even denser barrage of barking rang out.

The guards who had survived the ordeal and were gasping on the ground seemed to have developed Tiger Hound PTSD. They all sprang to their feet at once.

A mass of Tiger Hounds surrounded them. This time, there were dozens of black second-tier Tiger Hounds. Clearly, that pack had not truly fled—they had gone to call reinforcements.

They really held a grudge.

Perfect. I'll deal with all of you at once!

Gu Fengchen had originally intended to burn these Tiger Hounds to ash with a single blast of Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame. But with Xue Mei present, it would not be wise to reveal his Heavenly Flames, so his thoughts spun rapidly as a plan came to him.

"You leave first. I'll deal with them!" Gu Fengchen stepped in front of Xue Mei with the heroic air of a male lead saving a beauty in a television drama.

Xue Mei's small mouth parted slightly. For a moment, she had no idea what to make of his sudden goodwill.

Gu Fengchen winked at Xue Mei and said with a smile, "Go on. You can't help me here—you'll only hold me back! When I come to the Alchemist Guild to buy pills in the future, remember to give me a discount!"

Xue Mei opened her mouth, but in the end said nothing. She nodded earnestly, then boarded the carriage. Before getting in, she did not forget to glance back at Gu Fengchen, as though she wanted to remember the young man's appearance.

Everyone left, and the Tiger Hounds did not pursue them. Instead, they surrounded Gu Fengchen, as if he were their only enemy.

"Still holding a grudge?" Gu Fengchen raised a brow.

Gu Fengchen smiled at the Tiger Hounds, then bolted off in the direction opposite from where the others had gone.

The Tiger Hounds froze for a moment. Their limited intelligence could not explain why the human who had just been so valiant had suddenly run away.

He was scared!

Yes, he had to be scared!

These enraged Tiger Hounds instinctively assumed that Gu Fengchen was afraid and trying to flee. Howling wildly, they chased after him.

The Tiger Hounds' barking rose and fell behind Gu Fengchen.

Gu Fengchen did not run very far. Only after he was fairly certain that Xue Mei and the others had escaped far away did he stop.

With the Forest Strolling Technique, if he truly wanted to run, even a third-tier magical beast might not be able to catch him.

When the Tiger Hounds saw Gu Fengchen stop, they immediately perked up.

Howling wildly, they charged toward Gu Fengchen in a half-encirclement.

He took a deep breath. Golden flames wreathed his body, and stars seemed to flow through Gu Fengchen's eyes.

He was like a star ring surrounded by countless stars.

In that instant, the wind and clouds around him gathered into Gu Fengchen's body, the clouds forming a ring of stars.

At this moment, facing the vast pack of Tiger Hounds, Gu Fengchen suddenly realized something with melancholy. Although he had the Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame, he had no Fire Attribute combat techniques, much less any area-of-effect skills.

In other words, he could only cover himself in Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame and kill these Tiger Hounds one by one.

That was a little beneath him.

Yeah, when I have time, I definitely need to find a Fire Attribute combat technique.

But there was no helping it now. Gu Fengchen bent his body like a drawn bow, golden flame patterns tracing themselves across him. He stomped hard against the ground and shot forward like an arrow, the distance between him and the Tiger Hounds shrinking to within arm's reach in an instant.

He spread his arms, golden flames covering his fists. He threw a punch, and it exploded amid the Tiger Hounds.

Gu Fengchen took them down one punch at a time without any pressure. Even second-tier Tiger Hounds comparable to Dou Shi could not cause him much trouble.

"If it were an ordinary Dou Shi, it would probably be difficult to hold out under the siege of so many Tiger Hounds."

In fact, there was a reason these Tiger Hounds had been able to cause trouble for the villages west of Qingshan Town.

Their combat prowess was formidable, and their speed and agility were astonishing.

Yet Gu Fengchen did not feel the slightest fear. He felt incredible. This feeling of invincibility was incredible.

It was as though what flowed through his veins was not blood, but iced Red Bull...

Amid the Tiger Hounds' encirclement, Gu Fengchen was like a god of war.

In less than ten minutes, Tiger Hound corpses littered the mountains and fields.

Gu Fengchen slowly let out a breath of Turbid Qi. He found two second-tier Tiger Hound Magic Cores. His luck was not bad.

He clapped his hands and sensed the depleted Dou Qi within him, feeling somewhat tired.

Although the Indestructible Golden Body and Three Thousand Burning Flame Body made him nearly invincible among those at the same level, his Dou Qi could still run dry. If there had been even more Tiger Hounds, then even he could only retreat for the time being.