Ambush

He shook the gourd in his hand again and said, "Although I do not cultivate the poison path, thanks to the Poison Dissolving Art, I can distinguish that a thin layer of medicinal liquid was smeared on this gourd. Once it meets realgar wine, it turns into a deadly poison. You thought you could ambush me with such a trick?"

After speaking, he walked toward the corpse of the Poison Python and swung his long sword to strike at it. At this very moment, a black shadow leaped from a tree not far away, gripping a sharp blade and slashing toward Yan Chihuo's neck.

Yan Chihuo had his back turned and was seemingly caught off guard, appearing as if he were about to perish under this strike. However, he spun his body, circled behind the man, and slapped out with his palm.

The man's blade slashed at empty air, and he was taken aback. He turned his hand to block the palm, but Yan Chihuo felt a great force collide with him, sending his body flying more than ten feet away.

The man let out a sound of surprise, seemingly caught off guard. This person was already at the Body Forging Late Stage, while Yan Chihuo was only at the Body Tempering Middle Stage. For Yan Chihuo to suffer no injuries after their palms collided was truly remarkable. The man then felt his palm go numb and was shocked—the opponent's palm was coated in poison!

Yan Chihuo had the Poison Dissolving Art to protect his body, so the poison used by Yang Kun and Mao Chuan did not catch his eye. Furthermore, with his Spiritual Ear and Spiritual Eye, he had long since discovered this man. Knowing he was no match for a Body Forging Late Stage cultivator, he had set a trap within a trap, using his poison technique to injure the opponent.

The man hurriedly swallowed a few pills and turned to flee, but the poison was so fierce that he felt dizzy in that very instant. Panic set in, but he saw Yan Chihuo swing his sword, and a streak of Sword Qi shot out. Just as he tried to cast a spell, he felt his whole body go limp, his magic power unable to be summoned. Before he could react, the Sword Qi swept across his throat, and his head fell to the ground.

Yan Chihuo walked forward, removed the Storage Ring from the man's hand, turned back to untie the bags from the waists of Yang Kun and Mao Chuan, collected their three Talisman Artifacts, and then extracted the snake head, snake scales, poison sac, and snake gallbladder from the Poison Python before leaving the area.

He arrived at an open space and first opened the bags belonging to Yang Kun and Mao Chuan. His expression changed; the treasures on these two amounted to no more than twenty or thirty Jade Crystals and a dozen spiritual herbs, including three stalks of Jade Ginseng. These did not surprise him, but what truly shocked him were two black Metal Tokens. One was engraved with a tiger head and the characters "Seventeen" beneath it, while the other read "Twenty-one."

These two tokens were exactly the same as the one from the person he killed when he first entered Snow Dragon Ridge, as well as the token belonging to the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon's senior brother! Yan Chihuo thought to himself, It seems this was not a spur-of-the-moment decision by these two; there is an organization out to kill me, and they have sent people one after another.

He then picked up the Storage Ring of the Body Forging Late Stage cultivator and channeled his magic power. After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he wiped away the mark on it and found over forty Jade Crystals, a piece of skin made of unknown material, and several jade bottles containing antidotes and healing pills.

In addition, there was a black Metal Token, identical to those of Yang Kun and Mao Chuan, except the number on it was "Ten."

Being targeted by this assassin organization was a troublesome matter, but Yan Chihuo had no other choice now but to return to the Cloud Soaring Sect as quickly as possible. Once he reached the sect, this organization would surely not dare to pursue him further.

Yan Chihuo had now obtained the snake's poison sac and the Jade Ginseng, so it was time to return. However, since this assassin organization had targeted him and four of their members had died at his hands recently, the conflict between the two sides could no longer be resolved, and they would certainly intercept him on the road.

Although Yan Chihuo's strength was decent, he had self-awareness. If he encountered a Body Forging Late Stage cultivator, he was still no match. He had only succeeded in killing the two assassins this time by relying on the Poison Dissolving Art; if he were to face another Body Forging Late Stage assassin in a direct fight, he feared he would only have a chance to flee.

If only I could change my appearance, Yan Chihuo sighed. The Disguise Technique used by mortals in the martial world was useless against cultivators, so he was merely thinking aloud.

He took out the piece of skin made of unknown material and examined it, thinking suspiciously, What is this? It has limbs and a head; could it be meant to be worn?

He tried putting the skin on his body and glanced at the nearby water surface, only to see a large, black-faced man appearing in the reflection. Who is that!

He was truly startled. Given the sensitivity of his senses, even a Body Forging Late Stage cultivator skilled in concealment could not hide from him. Could this person be a Qi Gathering Stage expert?

He looked around, but there was no one there. His heart settled slightly, and he looked into the water again, only to see the black-faced man once more. He couldn't help but laugh at himself; this black-faced man was none other than himself. It turned out this skin could change one's appearance.

This was truly a treasure fallen from the heavens, perfectly suited for his current needs. However, this skin belonged to that Body Forging Late Stage assassin, so this face would likely be recognized by others.

Yan Chihuo sighed inwardly and muttered to himself, "If only I could change the appearance." As soon as he finished speaking, he was astonished to find that the face in the water had changed slightly.

His heart stirred, and he said, "The black face is too ugly; change it to a yellow face, thinner, older, with a sense of weariness, and a scar on the cheek." As soon as he spoke, the black complexion in the water quickly faded, turning into a yellow-faced middle-aged man who indeed looked somewhat weathered, with a scar over an inch long on his cheek. Yan Chihuo was overjoyed; with this treasure, he had a good chance of evading the pursuit of those assassins.

Next, he took out the snake head, first pulling out the two fangs, and then gouging out the two snake eyes. These two eyes looked like pearls; although he did not know their use, he estimated they were no ordinary objects. What remained of the snake head was the skull.

For a Poison Python of the Body Forging Late Stage, the skull could be used for both medicine and artifact refining, so Yan Chihuo naturally would not let it go. He used his sharp sword to peel back the snake skin, but at the protrusion on the top of the head, he discovered a round bead the size of a fist. His heart stirred, and he thought, Could this Poison Python grow horns? If so, this python has the bloodline of a flood dragon; it cannot be underestimated.

In the Body Tempering Stage, the overall strength of demons and monsters is generally slightly stronger than that of cultivators, but this usually applies to rogue cultivators; sect disciples can often overcome such monsters. However, there are exceptions, such as the naturally gifted, exotic, and powerful demons like flood dragons. For sects like the Cloud Soaring Sect, their disciples are no match for such creatures, and only disciples of major sects can emerge victorious. But if it were a creature like a true dragon, even disciples of major sects might not be a match.