Scoundrel, He's Poisoned

Boom, boom, boom...

Before the Divine Weapon Hall.

Old Man Ji was already fighting with reddened eyes.

His fists and feet struck like hammers, each blow heavy and forceful, but the Double-Headed Flame Lion's defense was like a thick city wall—it could be shaken, but hardly dealt any fundamental damage.

Fortunately, Old Man Ji's defense wasn't lacking either. When his blood qi erupted, a faint layer of gold spread over his body, and his arms and fists were wrapped in golden light, as if he had solidified into a golden body.

This was precisely the hallmark of the fourth layer of the Golden Body Art, the Golden Skin Realm.

So every time the Double-Headed Flame Lion swiped a claw at Old Man Ji, it produced a harsh screech of metal grinding, causing him no real harm either.

The two were evenly matched, a worthy opponent meeting a worthy rival, and for a time, neither could gain the upper hand, the situation deadlocked.

When Tang Shan and Meng Gang saw this, they both stepped forward, borrowing blades from the two Qin Family elders, and said, "Master, we'll help you!"

With that, they joined the fray, swinging their swords and hacking with all their might.

Sizzle, sizzle!

A streak of light flashed across the Two-Headed Lion's body, and a couple of tufts of fur fell off, but not a single scratch remained on its hide.

Meng Gang's eyes went wide. "The blades can't even break its defense?"

The Two-Headed Lion flew into a rage. Its leftmost head immediately twisted to glare at the two, then roared, opening its massive maw as a fiery red glow rapidly gathered inside.

Tang Shan's face changed. He quickly yanked Meng Gang back, shouting, "Danger, dodge!"

No sooner had he spoken than with a boom, a scorching fireball shot out from the lion's mouth, moving at incredible speed, the air itself searing.

The fireball missed, slamming into the stone wall behind them. The wall shook, blasted into a table-sized crater, its interior blazing with flames and covered in scorch marks—a formidable display of power.

"Damn, this thing can spit fire too!"

Meng Gang was startled.

Tang Shan was also shaken.

Taking the opening, Old Man Ji leaped back and said to them, "You two are no match for this beast. Don't get close!"

Shen Zhou stepped forward then, brandishing the Taixuan Sword in his hand. "Alright, let me handle it. Let's see if it can withstand one of my strikes."

This time, Old Man Ji didn't stop him.

The Two-Headed Lion, irritated and enraged by the group's assault, fixed both its massive heads on the small figure holding the sword, sensing a hint of danger. It roared repeatedly, but in the end, bestial instinct overpowered everything. Its claws scraped the ground, and both heads opened their gaping jaws at Shen Zhou simultaneously.

Owww!

"With breath that foul, you shouldn't open your mouths. It stinks, you know."

Shen Zhou frowned, then gripped the Taixuan Sword tightly. The danger of the Two-Headed Lion's charge instantly surged the power of his Entry.

"Chop!"

The next moment, Shen Zhou let out a loud shout, raising his sword. A surging blade light coalesced on the sword in an instant, then came crashing down!

A massive lion head flew up, tumbling to the ground with a thud. The Two-Headed Lion's enormous body was hurled backward by the immense force, slamming into the mountain cliff before finally landing.

Seeing this, the rogue cultivators who had been healing were stunned.

Earlier, no matter how the group attacked, they couldn't harm the beast at all. And now, a single sword strike had lopped off one of its heads?

This young man's strength was terrifying, wasn't it?

Then, someone recognized Shen Zhou and Qin Mingyue.

"Look, that woman is Qin Mingyue. They must be from the Qin Family."

"That sword-wielding youth—could he be the Qin Family's new head, the Heaven's Chosen who can enter the Heavenly Firmament with a sword, Shen Zhou?"

"So it's him. No wonder."

The group murmured among themselves.

The two Qin Family elders glanced at them, then paid no further attention.

As for the fallen Two-Headed Lion, after losing its left head, blood gushed from the severed stump, quickly staining the ground red.

The Two-Headed Lion lay motionless on the ground, as if dead.

Shen Zhou sheathed his sword and tilted his head. "That's it? No more movement?"

It didn't seem as hard to kill as the Qin Family elders had claimed!

Old Man Ji was taken aback too. He had struggled so fiercely against the beast, and now it was dead with one strike—the contrast was a bit embarrassing.

Old Man Ji stubbornly retorted, "Hmph, you're just relying on the power of a Divine Weapon. Without that sword, you're nothing."

Shen Zhou shot back without hesitation, "Old man, you're just jealous that I can fight better than you."

Tang Shan shook his head helplessly at this, then stepped in to mediate. "Master, junior brother, stop arguing. Let's think about how to handle the beast's corpse first."

Shen Zhou was about to say that the Taixuan Sword could just absorb it for now, and they'd dissect it later when they left, when suddenly four of the rogue cultivators gathered together and approached. The lead one smiled and cupped his hands at Shen Zhou. "Many thanks, many thanks to the Young Head of the Qin Family and everyone for dealing with this beast. This Humble One, Huang Ming, and my three brothers are deeply grateful.

But since the beast is dead now, we won't trouble you all to handle it. Leave the corpse to us brothers to take care of.

What are you three standing around for? Hurry up and butcher it, then pack it up and take it away."

The last part of that sentence was directed at the three brothers behind Huang Ming. Strangely enough, he spoke those words with unusual smoothness and an air of righteous confidence.

Hearing this, Old Man Ji and Meng Gang were stunned.

What the hell? Was this guy jumping out now to snatch the spoils?

How did they dare?

Qin Mingyue and the two Qin Family elders weren't all that surprised.

They had dealt with rogue cultivators plenty of times before.

On ordinary days, these rogue cultivators might steer clear of clan members, but once they caught a whiff of profit and benefit, they grew bold as brass and would do anything.

Now, with a demon beast corpse comparable to a precious medicine right before their eyes, it was only natural for greed to cloud their minds.

Still, Shen Zhou clearly hadn't expected anyone to be so shameless. He raised his hand, and with a shua, a streak of Sword Qi slashed across the ground, blocking the three men heading for the Two-Headed Lion's corpse. Then, fixing his gaze on Huang Ming, he said without mercy, "Anyone who dares cross this line dies!"

Huang Ming's face darkened. "Shen Zhou, Clan Head, what do you mean by this? Are you, a dignified head of a noble family, going to bully the weak and steal what's ours?"

With just one sentence, he twisted the truth and pinned the charge of oppression on Shen Zhou.

Meng Gang couldn't stand it and stepped forward to argue. "You're the ones jumping in to take advantage. How is that us stealing your stuff?"

Huang Ming replied with righteous indignation, "Friend, you're talking nonsense with your eyes wide open. We exhausted ourselves to wound that beast and lure it here. We were just about to take it down when you barged in, killed it without a word, and then tried to claim it for yourselves. If that's not stealing, what is?"

Meng Gang was so furious his lungs felt like they'd burst. "You wounded it? You were being chased like dogs just now! If we hadn't stepped in, you'd be in that beast's belly by now. And you still have the nerve to call it yours? Do you have any shame?!"

Huang Ming let out a cold laugh. "Nonsense. That was all strategy. If you hadn't butted in, we'd have taken it down ages ago."

His three companions chimed in, echoing him. "That's right, that's right. This beast is ours."

"Are you clan folks trying to bully us? Aren't you afraid we'll spread this around and ruin the Qin Family's reputation for good?"

They jabbered on, pushing their shamelessness and stubbornness to the absolute limit.

Even Old Man Ji couldn't take it anymore. His brows twitched incessantly, looking like he wanted nothing more than to beat these men to a pulp.

Even the Xu Family, watching from the shadows, couldn't help but admire these rogue cultivators, giving them silent thumbs up.

One Xu Family elder remarked, "These scum are usually invisible, but damn if they aren't disgusting when they want to be. This is going to be a headache for the Qin Family."

Just as Huang Ming was smugly congratulating himself on having the upper hand, Shen Zhou raised his hand, lifted the Taixuan Sword, and with a shua, a beam of sword light shot out.

Huang Ming froze on the spot.

A bloodline gradually appeared on his forehead—at first tiny and thin, barely visible. But as blood seeped out, the line grew clearer, until with a pfft, blood spurted three meters high. Then, with a thud, Huang Ming collapsed to the ground.

Dead, with eyes wide open.

In an instant, the scene went silent.

No one had expected Shen Zhou to strike so suddenly.

Huang Ming's companions, shocked and enraged, pointed at Shen Zhou. "You... how can you just kill someone?"

Shen Zhou's face was expressionless. "I didn't kill anyone. Your companion was poisoned by the Two-Headed Lion, which clouded his mind and made him spout false accusations. If it continued, the poison would spread, turning him into a mindless red-eyed monster. I was just helping him find release."

Hearing this, Old Man Ji and Tang Shan stared at Shen Zhou, their expressions screaming, 'You're actually making up that excuse?'

Huang Ming's companions weren't fools. They erupted in fury. "Nonsense! What poison? You clearly—"

Before they could finish, Shen Zhou swung his sword again, and the speaker dropped to the ground.

Shen Zhou explained flatly, "He was poisoned too!"

The two remaining rogue cultivators: "..."

At this point, they understood perfectly—this was a blatant threat!

Shen Zhou finally turned his gaze to the last two. Their legs trembled in unison, and they quickly stammered, "No, no, no... Clan Head Shen Zhou, we were mistaken. That beast wasn't lured by us, and it has nothing to do with us. We'll leave right now..."

With that, the two spun around and bolted, as if afraid that one wrong word would make Shen Zhou swing his sword again.

After the rogue cultivators had fled in terror, Meng Gang gave Shen Zhou a thumbs-up. "You really know how to handle it!"

Old Man Ji, Tang Shan, the two Qin Family elders, and Qin Mingyue all nodded in agreement.

To deal with these toads-on-your-foot—pure nuisances—you had to use Shen Zhou's method. Satisfying!

Shen Zhou, however, didn't think much of it. Just business as usual.

With that episode over, Shen Zhou turned to deal with the Two-Headed Lion's corpse. But just then, a strange "bird call" came from the sky.

As Shen Zhou wondered if there were avian demon beasts in this secret realm, the Two-Headed Lion, which had been lying on the ground "dead" for a while, suddenly sprang back to life. It roared at Shen Zhou and the others, then spun around and fled down the mountain path it had come from.

"That beast was playing dead!"

"Chase it! That's a great medicine—can't let it get away!"

Things happened too fast. Old Man Ji, still fixated on using the lion's flesh to break through his martial bottleneck, gave chase without a second thought.

Fearing Old Man Ji might run into trouble alone, Shen Zhou and the others quickly followed.

After they left, Xu Baxia and his group slowly emerged from around the corner.

Xu Baxia held a palm-sized Bone Flute, carved from some unknown beast bone—crystal-clear, warm to the touch, small and exquisite. When blown, it made sounds like a bird's call.

Xu You watched Shen Zhou and the others disappear into the distance and couldn't help but sigh. "I never thought a Two-Headed Lion that could go toe-to-toe with a Heavenly Firmament expert couldn't withstand one of his sword strikes. That Qin Family Divine Weapon is truly heaven-defying!"

Xu Baxia said nothing, but the fighting spirit flickered once more in his eyes.

Elder Xu You, seeing this, quickly changed the subject: "Young Master Baxia, now that the Two-Headed Lion has lured Shen Zhou and the others to the Rear Mountain Forbidden Ground of the Fire Spring Sect, I think, to be safe, we can use the Fire Spring Sect's Beast-Taming Demon Flute to summon more demon beasts over. That way, once they enter the Forbidden Ground Grand Array, we can have these beasts block off their escape routes.

Thus, when the time comes, Shen Zhou and his group will have no way forward and no way back—only a path to death!"

Xu Baxia was silent for a moment, but in the end, he slowly said, "Fine."

If you can't find the book by its title, try searching by the author—maybe it's just been renamed!