Dou Technique Clash

Watching the lanky man draw closer step by step, Xiao Yan showed no fear at all. He even smiled and said,

"Daring to make a move against me in Wutan City, you've got quite the nerve. The moment I send out a signal, countless Xiao Family guards can rush here at any time. Forget a Dou Practitioner—even a Da Dou Shi would be dead for sure."

As he spoke, he produced a white pellet from thin air, looking utterly confident.

The lanky man burst into laughter. Staring at the pale red Storage Ring on Xiao Yan's hand, he said excitedly, "A Storage Ring? As expected of a young master from a great family. At such a young age, you already have a Storage Ring worth seventy or eighty thousand gold coins."

After laughing, the lanky man said coldly, "Unless Xiao Zhan is standing behind you right now, no signal will save you. Once I kill you, that Storage Ring will be mine."

Xiao Yan's white signal pellet failed to intimidate him. Instead, exposing the Storage Ring further provoked the lanky man's killing intent, making him move even faster.

He stomped the ground, breaking into a run from a walk. With a burst of force, his entire body became a streak of yellow light.

"You brought this upon yourself. Don't blame me," Xiao Yan said, shaking his head. He viciously hurled the small pellet at the patch of ground the lanky man was about to cross. "Have a look at this signal."

The pellet struck the ground with tremendous force and exploded with a bang, turning into a cloud of grayish-white smoke. In an instant, it sealed off a section of the street and swallowed the lanky man's figure.

The lanky man's vision blurred, and he sensed that something was wrong. What kind of signal flare was this? It was clearly a smoke bomb. Was the brat trying to escape?

On guard, he immediately held his breath and rushed out of the smoke.

Just as he breathed a sigh of relief, the lanky man suddenly felt dizzy. He instantly realized that it had not been a smoke bomb either—it was a powerful poison-smoke bomb!

Even as a One-Star Dou Practitioner, he could barely endure after taking just one breath. Had he inhaled another, this elite mercenary who had slain countless magical beasts might have died on the spot today.

When it came to poison, the poison masters of the Chu Yun Empire had always been the most notorious. Those poison masters often employed vile tactics, spreading poison in all sorts of places and causing heavy casualties among Jia Ma Empire soldiers. Poison masters, already infamous to begin with, were therefore even more despised in the Jia Ma Empire.

The lanky man was considered a cautious person, yet he had never expected a youth from the Jia Ma Empire to possess such potent poison.

Xiao Yan quietly watched the lanky man, whose gauzy clothes flickered in and out of view as his condition clearly worsened, waiting for the medicine to take effect.

After the auction that day, Xiao Yan had learned that the Jialie Family had truly found an alchemist. Knowing that turmoil would soon arise in the city, he selected a poison from the Seven-Colored Poison Classic and refined a dose to keep in his Storage Ring in case of emergency.

That white pellet contained a highly potent drug akin to a knockout powder. Once someone inhaled the smoke produced by its explosion, even a Dou Practitioner would sleep for three days.

"You despicable brat!" The lanky man forcibly rallied his spirits. Like a maddened leopard, he roared, "Advanced Yellow Rank Dou Technique, Flame Cloud Palm!"

A great deal of Dou Qi gathered in his palm as dazzling yellow light erupted, instantly filling the narrow street.

"You ambushed me. How can you call yourself honorable?" Xiao Yan sneered as the Dou Qi within his body rapidly surged toward his palm.

The yellow light was blinding, temporarily impairing his vision. Yet with his exceptional soul perception, he could still lock onto his enemy's direction.

Brilliant golden light burst from his palm, abruptly condensing into a sphere resembling the sun. It was none other than the Advanced Profound Rank Dou Technique, First Sun Scorching Sky.

The instant the sphere appeared, its intense radiance immediately overwhelmed the yellow light ahead. The lanky man instinctively narrowed his eyes. Feeling a scorching aura surge toward him, panic rose in his heart, and his Dou Qi circulation faltered slightly.

But at such a critical moment, there was no turning back. Following the position he remembered, the lanky man fiercely struck forward.

Controlling the golden sphere in his palm, Xiao Yan stepped forward to meet the incoming hand.

In an instant, the two Dou Techniques collided in midair.

Xiao Yan cultivated the Advanced Profound Rank technique, the Sacred Sun Technique. Every circulation of Dou Qi refined it once, and he had also fused it with the fifth-tier Beast Flame, the Lionheart Sacred Flame. His pure Dou Qi carried the might of Beast Flame, greatly increasing the power of the Advanced Profound Rank Dou Technique he unleashed.

As for the lanky man, though his strength was somewhat greater than Xiao Yan's and he had reached One-Star Dou Practitioner, he had been poisoned first and could not even unleash sixty percent of his usual strength. His cultivation technique, Dou Technique, and even his state of mind all fell behind Xiao Yan's.

After the two Dou Techniques collided, the difference between them was almost immediately clear.

Amid a series of hissing sounds, the golden sphere in Xiao Yan's palm effortlessly broke through the yellow light around the lanky man's palm. It continued onward, devouring flesh and burning bone as it swept through everything in its path.

In the blink of an eye, half of one arm was gone. The lanky man, who should have collapsed and fallen asleep, was jolted fully awake by the piercing pain.

Xiao Yan's figure flashed, and he appeared behind the lanky man in an instant. He kicked the back of the man's knee, forcing him to drop to his knees.

As the man's body sank, Xiao Yan unleashed Twin Winds Piercing Ears, putting all his strength into both palms and striking the sides of the man's ears. The blow shattered the lanky man's skull and killed him.

The lanky man's eyes bulged wide, filled with disbelief. Until his death, he could not believe that a task he had thought would be effortless had not only failed, but had also cost him his life.

Looking at the corpse slumped on the ground, Xiao Yan snorted. He found a crystal card of unknown value on the man, along with a mercenary badge marked with several small snakes.

"A hired mercenary." Xiao Yan examined the badge, but did not recognize the mercenary group it belonged to. He casually tossed out a ball of flame and burned the corpse to ashes.

After putting away the two items, Xiao Yan continued on his way more cautiously. He encountered no second wave of assassins, and only relaxed slightly after entering the Xiao Family.

Upon returning to his room, Xiao Yan drank a few mouthfuls of water. With a flip of his hand, he took out a black scroll from his Storage Ring—an Advanced Profound Rank Flying Dou Technique, one of the treasures obtained from the hidden treasure cave.

After obtaining it, Xiao Yan had not immediately begun practicing this precious Flying Dou Technique.

This special Dou Technique would open up two branch meridians in the practitioner's back. The process was exceedingly painful, and as a One-Star Dou Zhe, there had been no need for him to rush into such a risk.

But now he had advanced to Six-Star Dou Zhe, and while searching the Seven-Colored Poison Classic for poisons, he had found a medicine called the Suffering-Relief Pill.

It had a numbing effect, making the body temporarily unable to feel pain while allowing the mind to remain clear.

With those two conditions met, Xiao Yan, having suffered an attack, decided to cultivate the Flying Dou Technique now. If he encountered danger again and could not resolve it, he could still fly away.

This ambush had served as a warning. Xiao Yan had openly prepared Rejuvenation Powder and Blood-Clotting Powder against the Jialie Family, while secretly arranging Spirit Gathering Liquid. But the Jialie Family was no simple opponent either. They openly sold Rejuvenation Powder while secretly arranging for mercenaries to assassinate him, intending to eliminate a major problem at its source.

Xiao Yan reread the ingredients and refining method for the Suffering-Relief Pill in the Seven-Colored Poison Classic. Fortunately, all the medicinal herbs were available in the herb garden in his courtyard.

He went out to gather the herbs and refined a Suffering-Relief Pill. After thinking for a moment, he braced the door shut with a cabinet before slowly opening the scroll containing the Flying Dou Technique.