Blood-Horned Bear!

As soon as the light went out, Zhou Chen felt Miasma Poison seeping into his body through his breath and skin. It even brought a faint sting!

But under the Divine Statue's power, the Miasma Poison quickly turned into Mist Incense!

"It really works!"

Zhou Chen's eyes lit up, and a delighted smile spread across his face.

Even without eating Blood Deer meat, simply absorbing the Black Mist outside the city would let him accumulate an inch of Mist Incense each day. Add dried Blood Deer meat, and two inches a day would be no problem.

Twice as fast!

He was literally growing stronger just by breathing!

"From now on, even if I do nothing else outside the city, finding a place thick with Black Mist to train will be worth it!"

Overjoyed, Zhou Chen took out some dried Blood Deer meat and began chewing. He needed to build up Mist Incense quickly and push his Wild Bull Fist to Major Accomplishment.

While Zhou Chen searched for rare treasures and absorbed the Miasma Poison in the air, an enormously fat figure sat behind a screen in a mysterious, luxurious residence. Rolls of flesh piled upon his body until he resembled a mountain of meat. He was fast asleep, snoring heavily.

Before him stood a delicate brass balance. A dark cloud of mist rested on the left pan, and a writhing lump of flesh on the right. The balance had tipped right by an almost imperceptible amount.

The snoring stopped. The fat man cracked his eyes open, glanced at the balance, and muttered, "What's going on? The door hasn't been opened since the last delivery of Blood Tai Sui. How did some of the Black Mist we let in disappear into thin air again?"

"Forget it. It's only a little. No harm done. I'll mention it in my next report."

He closed his eyes again and resumed sleeping, his snores rumbling like thunder.

Outside the city, Zhou Chen wandered through the Black Flesh Forest for nearly an hour. He found no rare treasures—not even a decent medicinal herb.

It made sense. The Martial Warriors who came out here were hungry as wolves and fierce as tigers. They had probably dug three feet into the ground for every treasure nearby. What would be left for him?

Just then, a deafening beastly roar erupted from deep in the forest ahead. The hiss of blades cutting through the air and shouted voices followed, startling the birds into flight. They surged outward in a dark mass.

Someone's surrounding a strange beast up ahead?

Zhou Chen moved forward, approaching quietly.

In a clearing ahead, a man and a woman were attacking a blood-red monster together. It resembled a giant bear, but was a full size larger than an ordinary one. A pair of sharp antlers jutted from its head, while a ring of purple eyeballs grew around its neck, packed densely into its fur. It was revolting.

"A Blood-Horned Bear?"

Zhou Chen's gaze sharpened as he recognized the strange beast. Once fully grown, it rivaled a Martial Warrior at First-Rank Major Accomplishment. Its antlers were hard as iron and could pierce Iron Skin, while the purple eyes around its neck sensed movement in every direction. Sneaking up on it was extremely difficult.

Its bones and meat, however, were excellent materials for refining pills!

The young man had reached First-Rank Major Accomplishment and wielded a fierce sword. The woman was weaker, only at First-Rank Minor Accomplishment, and her sword technique did not appear to have reached Minor Accomplishment. Zhou Chen recognized it as the Flying Eagle Martial Arts Hall's Flying Eagle Sword Technique.

The Blood-Horned Bear already bore several wounds. It roared in a frenzy, raking its sharp claws across the ground and nearby trees and leaving deep gouges behind!

Suddenly, the Blood-Horned Bear let out a howl and went berserk. A series of wet, squeezing sounds came from its flesh as the eyes around its neck shot free, hurtling toward the pair. They burst in midair, forming a rain of purple blood.

Where the blood struck the ground, it hissed and sent up greenish smoke. In moments, it corroded a dense scatter of pits.

"Junior Sister, watch out!"

Lin Xuan's face changed. His sword whirled into a curtain of light as he struggled to block the blood raining down before him, but he had no free hand to protect Jiang Qin behind him.

Zhou Chen had been watching from the shadows. At the sight, he kicked off hard and shot forward like an arrow loosed from its bow. Grabbing Jiang Qin by the arm, he yanked her out of the blood rain.

Hiss, hiss, hiss—

The blood struck where they had just stood, eating pits of varying depths into the ground. White smoke spread, carrying a pungent smell.

After unleashing that attack, the Blood-Horned Bear wilted. It turned and fled at full speed without looking back.

"Thank you for saving her, brother! I'm Lin Xuan, and this is my junior sister, Jiang Qin. We're from the Flying Eagle Martial Arts Hall!"

The young man breathed a sigh of relief and hurried to thank him.

Safe now, Jiang Qin watched the Blood-Horned Bear escape and called out in frustration, "Third Senior Brother, the Blood-Horned Bear is getting away!"

"Brother, if you'll help us catch and kill the Blood-Horned Bear, my junior sister and I will give you half its bones and meat in thanks."

Lin Xuan spoke earnestly.

Both of them had suffered minor injuries and used up much of their strength. They had no energy left to give chase.

"All right."

Zhou Chen did not hesitate. He immediately set off after it. The Blood-Horned Bear was injured, so taking it down should not cost him much effort. It was a good bargain!

Following the blood trail, Zhou Chen soon found the wounded Blood-Horned Bear licking its wounds. Seeing him arrive alone, it roared and thrust out a forepaw, five claws black as iron hooks slashing straight for his neck.

It was not intelligent, but instinct told it that fighting one person would be easier than fighting two.

This was Zhou Chen's first fight against a strange beast at his own level. He could not afford to be careless.

A cold glint flashed in Zhou Chen's eyes. He pivoted and flipped halfway through the air, his body slipping past the claws by a hair. Still airborne, he had reached the Blood-Horned Bear's flank.

Using the momentum of the flip, he twisted sharply at the waist and hips. His right fist clenched, veins bulged along his arm, and a faint golden glow spread across his skin. He brought his fist down from above, hammering the Blood-Horned Bear's skull!

Wild Bull Fist: Raging Blood Crashes the Mountain!

Bang!

Golden Skin flared to its fullest, and terrifying force poured out like a waterfall!

The Blood-Horned Bear sensed an overwhelmingly fearsome presence. Its tail tucked between its legs, and it instinctively tried to flee—but it was too late!

The next instant!

A heavy impact exploded through the clearing!

The Blood-Horned Bear's massive head slammed downward under the blow. With a boom, its entire skull drove into the ground. Bones cracked audibly, and blood gushed from its mouth and nose. Its four legs twitched twice, then went still.

The Blood-Horned Bear was known for its thick hide, tough flesh, and hard bones. But with Golden Skin bolstering him, Zhou Chen's fists were as hard as metal. In that head-on clash, one punch shattered the bear's skull and killed it on the spot!

"Whew!"

Zhou Chen exhaled, a smile appearing on his face. Just as he had thought, taking down a strange beast at First-Rank Major Accomplishment took little effort for him now.

Half the Blood-Horned Bear's flesh and blood alone had to be worth at least twenty or thirty taels of silver. He had made a fortune on this deal.

Lin Xuan and Jiang Qin finally arrived. Seeing the Blood-Horned Bear lying dead on the ground, they both looked delighted.

Lin Xuan strode forward and cupped his fists solemnly toward Zhou Chen. "Thank you for stepping in, brother! As agreed, we'll split it in half."

But at those words, Jiang Qin frowned at once. "Senior Brother! He barely had to lift a finger to kill the Blood-Horned Bear. Why should he get so much? We did all the hard work! We even paid a fortune for the bait that lured it here. What did he have to do with any of that?"

She had arrived just in time to see Zhou Chen kill the Blood-Horned Bear they had struggled against for so long. She assumed they must have wounded it badly and that Zhou Chen had merely picked up an easy prize!

As for Zhou Chen saving her life, she had cast that straight to the back of her mind!

Zhou Chen frowned slightly, irritation rising within him.

Lin Xuan froze at her words and hesitated. Then he placed a hand on his sword hilt. "Brother... my junior sister isn't entirely wrong. How about this? I, Lin Xuan, won't forget that you saved her today. If you run into trouble in the Outer City, you can come find me at the Flying Eagle Martial Arts Hall. As for the Blood-Horned Bear, why don't you take ten percent?"