Horse Mountain Stronghold

Only then did the Short Young Man relax. He immediately led the Spirit Marten in pursuit, heading in the direction Xu Yan had fled.

To think he was one of the men hunting me!

Hatred welled up in Xu Yan as he fled. He had never imagined that one of his pursuers would be the stallholder who had sold him the booklets at Blue Brick Square.

At that thought, he immediately opened his Storage Bag and tossed the two booklets aside, then swiftly changed direction several times before heading toward an unknown destination.

Not long after he discarded the booklets, the Spirit Marten led the two men to that spot.

Glancing at the booklets Xu Yan had discarded, the Short Young Man snorted coldly. "He reacted quickly enough. Finding him will take some effort now."

A sneer flickered across Scarface's face, and he spoke slowly.

"After being struck by Century-Old Corpse Poison, that brat won't live past ten breaths. Even with a Swift Speed Talisman, he can't get far. Rest assured."

Just as Scarface had said, Xu Yan felt unbearable pain in his shoulder as he pressed onward. He touched it and found that all the blood flowing out was black.

His expression changed drastically. He realized that the black enchanted nail had been coated with a deadly poison.

I never imagined he could be so vicious and underhanded! Boundless fury rose in Xu Yan's heart, and he silently swore that if he survived today by some stroke of luck, he would avenge this grievous wrong.

"Hss!"

The intense pain forced a low hiss from him. Threads of blackness were already spreading from his shoulder throughout his body.

As the corpse poison spread, he felt the magic power throughout his body begin to stagnate, becoming difficult to circulate. A sense of foreboding rose in his heart.

Yet when the corpse poison reached the spot between Xu Yan's brows, the Mysterious Green Pearl stirred, and a powerful suction emanated from that point.

Streams of black corpse poison immediately surged toward the space between his brows, as though being swallowed by a black hole. In the end, the Mysterious Green Pearl devoured it all, just as it had devoured Golden Light Daoist's magic power that day.

As the corpse poison was drawn out strand by strand, the blood flowing from Xu Yan's shoulder turned red again. The sight eased his mind somewhat.

He immediately crushed the spirit stone in his hand and drove all his magic power into a swift dash in one direction.

Behind him, the Short Young Man and Scarface Qiu naturally knew nothing of the change that had taken place in his body.

Half an hour later, impatience showed on Scarface Qiu's face. By all rights, anyone struck by his Soul-Devouring Nail could never have fled this far.

An hour later, both men stopped on a hillside with dark expressions. They exchanged a glance without speaking, the atmosphere oppressively tense.

"Brother Qiu, how do you explain this? Didn't you say he wouldn't survive ten breaths after being struck by your Soul-Devouring Nail? More than an hour has passed, and we've searched every inch for dozens of miles around without finding so much as a ghost of him!" The Short Young Man's eyes were bloodshot as he stared at Scarface with a somewhat savage expression.

"Hmph! How should I know? You have only your poor judgment to blame! And Wang Liu, I'm warning you: don't speak to me in that tone, or don't blame me for disregarding our years of friendship!" A flash of murderous intent crossed Scarface Qiu's eyes.

Hearing this, the Short Young Man knew that today's ambush had failed completely. Remembering the venomous look in the youth's eyes as he fled, he could not help shuddering inwardly.

Xu Yan had no idea how far he had run. Only after seeing that the two men had not caught up did he slowly breathe a sigh of relief.

I finally escaped that deadly ambush!

The treachery of the cultivation world had been laid bare before him. He had thought himself cautious enough, yet he had still fallen into a trap. He could only blame his lack of experience.

At that thought, Xu Yan's gaze turned cold. This ordeal had helped him mature considerably.

I need to find somewhere to recover properly.

With that thought passing through his mind, he looked around.

Soon, his eyes brightened slightly as he settled on a location.

A mountain range stretched for dozens of miles, resembling a galloping steed when viewed from afar.

"Horse Mountain!"

He had heard people mention this place before. It was famous in the mortal world—not for the mountain itself, of course, but for the band of utterly vicious bandits who lived there. These bandits had built a settlement in the mountains called Horse Mountain Stronghold. Relying on the treacherous terrain, they plundered passing merchants. Government troops had tried to eradicate them many times, only to return with their feathers clipped in defeat each time.

Horse Mountain was full of bandits, so there should not be any cultivators there. Its dense forests and perilous terrain also made it ideal for hiding.

With that in mind, Xu Yan changed direction and headed toward Horse Mountain. As for the bandits there, he did not give them a second thought. He had already reached the Second Layer of Qi Refining; ordinary mortals could not hurt him.

An incense stick's worth of time later, Xu Yan stopped. He had arrived at the foot of Horse Mountain.

At the entrance to Horse Mountain stood a checkpoint guarded by two burly bandits, both bare-chested, with ring-pommel broadswords hanging at their waists.

Not wanting to alert the bandits, Xu Yan took a detour, intending to enter Horse Mountain from the side.

After walking for roughly half the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Xu Yan reached a secluded spot filled with sheer cliffs, all but impassable to ordinary mortals. But he was already a cultivator at the Second Layer of Qi Refining. He immediately circulated his magic power into his palms and the soles of his feet, successfully entering Horse Mountain within a few breaths.

He then made his way along the mountain range, stopping only when he discovered a pool halfway up the mountainside.

The pool was about a hundred feet across and appeared bottomless. A ribbon of white silk plunged into it from the mountaintop, sending up countless splashes in a magnificent sight.

Xu Yan observed the area beside the pool for a while and discovered a natural cave several hundred yards away. Delight immediately appeared on his face.

He soon reached the cave. Although its entrance was only about ten feet across, the space inside proved quite large, leaving him thoroughly satisfied.

After using his magic power to move a dozen or so massive rocks over to block the entrance, Xu Yan felt every last bit of strength leave his body and slumped onto the ground.

He rested for a few breaths before taking a Qi Gathering Pill from his Storage Bag and swallowing it.

After swallowing the Qi Gathering Pill, he immediately closed his eyes, sat cross-legged, and circulated his cultivation method to begin healing his injuries.

Only three days later did Xu Yan slowly open his eyes.

The insidious danger of the man surnamed Qiu's Soul-Devouring Nail lay in the Century-Old Corpse Poison coating it. Once the Mysterious Green Pearl removed that poison, the wound in his shoulder was not so serious after all. After three days of patiently circulating his cultivation method to recover, it had mostly healed.

Only now did he truly relax.

He peeled the Swift Speed Talisman from his leg. The talisman paper, which had originally emitted a faint glow, had gone completely dim, with not a trace of spiritual energy left inside. Clearly, it could no longer be used.

If Du Fei had not given him those two talismans, he would surely have died in this ambush. For the first time, he truly understood how important magic artifacts and treasures were to a cultivator.

Then boundless murderous intent toward the short young man and the scar-faced Qiu rose in his heart!

He had also discovered something new about the mysterious treasure between his brows: besides devouring magic power, it could devour deadly poison as well. This stirred a desire in him to thoroughly study the Green Pearl Magic Treasure.

However, Divine Sense could only emerge at the Third Layer of Qi Refining, and he was currently only at the Second Layer of Qi Refining.

At that thought, his gaze swept over his Storage Bag, and he took out the first-tier, low-grade Fire Array and the Redfire Burning Art.