Inside the cave, Gu Chenfeng had been prepared for the sudden attack.
The powerful spiritual perception of the Heaven-Opening Creation Art, together with Beast Speech Proficiency.
Had already alerted him to a formidable presence lurking in the cave, allowing him to prepare.
Whoosh...!
Gu Chenfeng swung his palm like lightning, lashing out like a long whip and striking the blood-red figure squarely.
A sharp crack rang out.
Gu Chenfeng felt his palm shudder violently and go slightly numb.
Hiss!
A hiss sounded as the red figure was knocked back.
Gu Chenfeng focused his gaze and saw it about twenty feet ahead of him.
It was a snake roughly ten feet long, with a gray-black body and a red line running along its spine to the top of its head.
Coiled with its head raised, it stared fixedly at him with cold, sinister eyes, its forked tongue flickering.
It looked remarkably similar to a king cobra.
Gu Chenfeng's eyes narrowed as he quickly searched his memories of the books he had read for information about this beast.
"Blood-Crowned Snake: vicious by nature, feeds on flesh and blood, nonvenomous. Adults can reach the Meridian-Opening Realm."
Its blood essence could nourish blood-crest flowers, which it used to lure prey.
This Blood-Crowned Snake's blood-colored line had already turned dark red and extended all the way to its tail.
Its strength should have been comparable to a nine-star Meridian-Opening Realm martial artist.
A pile of bones lay in one corner of the cave, some animal and some human, ample proof of its ferocity.
Yet as Gu Chenfeng looked at the great snake, he felt the thrill of a hunter spotting worthy prey.
"Finally, a little challenge."
The Origin Beasts he had encountered over the past few days had all been too weak. At most, two punches had ended each fight.
Nor could Gu Chenfeng venture deep into Great Wilderness Ridge and risk his life just to hone his skills.
This Blood-Crowned Snake matched his cultivation and was nonvenomous, making it a fine opponent to practice on.
Clearly, the Blood-Crowned Snake also sensed that the human before it was unusually strong.
Yet its vicious nature would not let it pass up a feast that had delivered itself to its doorstep.
After only a moment's hesitation, a cold gleam flashed in the Blood-Crowned Snake's eyes.
Hiss!
Its body suddenly shot forward, its gray-black scales blending into the dim cave.
Only the red line along its back remained visible, hurtling toward him like a bolt of blood-colored lightning.
The Blood-Crowned Snake was fast, but Gu Chenfeng reacted even faster, raising his hand for another slap.
Crack!
His palm struck its head with an explosive snap, knocking the Blood-Crowned Snake back again.
Rather than retreating in pain, the Blood-Crowned Snake grew even more savage.
With a piercing hiss, it launched attack after attack.
Gu Chenfeng kept his eyes fixed on it, his palms whirling like windmills.
Crack, crack, crack...!
In the blink of an eye, he delivered dozens of slaps.
Not only did the Blood-Crowned Snake fail to get close enough to hurt Gu Chenfeng in the slightest.
Its head was battered dizzy, and its body swayed unsteadily.
The Blood-Crowned Snake finally realized it was no match for this human, and a trace of fear surfaced in its eyes.
Gu Chenfeng, however, was rather speechless.
"Even nine-star Meridian-Opening Realm strength isn't enough? I haven't even used my Iron Elephant Art, and you're already about to collapse."
The next instant, a faint silver-gray glow suddenly spread over Gu Chenfeng's skin.
Then his muscles bulged and veins rose as his entire body rapidly swelled a size larger.
Watching the Blood-Crowned Snake recoil in alarm at the sight, he revealed a savage grin.
"Finished attacking? My turn, then."
Boom...!
The ground shook and dust billowed as Gu Chenfeng vanished from his spot.
A short while later.
Gu Chenfeng looked at the Blood-Crowned Snake on the ground, its body battered out of shape by his fists and driven deep into the earth, utterly dead.
He now had a clearer understanding of his strength.
"Within my realm, I should have no rivals.
Even against enemies in the Source Qi Realm, I can probably meet them head-on, provided their cultivation isn't too advanced.
Is this the result of Internal and External Cultivation?"
Gu Chenfeng then cut out the Blood-Crowned Snake's most valuable part, its gallbladder, and picked the blood-crest flower.
He was just about to seal the flower away.
When he suddenly heard a faint noise outside the cave.
He listened more closely to the insects and birds outside, and his gaze turned cold.
A moment later.
Footsteps sounded inside the cave, followed by a dark figure rushing out.
Whoosh...!
Suddenly, from above the cave entrance.
A large net dropped over the dark figure.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Several poisoned arrows followed, along with a generous handful of lime powder.
"Got him!"
"That brat's done for!"
Tweet...
As a shrill whistle rang out.
Seven or eight burly men rushed from the dense woods and swarmed forward.
Only when they reached the entrance did they discover.
That what the net had caught was a white skeleton wrapped in black cloth.
"What?!"
The next instant, a cold voice came from inside the cave.
"Are you looking for me?"
Everyone turned in shock.
They saw a thick-bearded man standing at the cave entrance, a spear and Bundle on his back, watching them with an inscrutable gaze.
"Fuck, this bastard's a crafty one!"
Their leader, a bald, one-eyed man with half his shoulder bare, froze for a moment before cursing.
The group surrounded Gu Chenfeng with blades in hand.
The bald man sneered. "Since you've spotted us, I'll give you a chance.
Hand over your game and banknotes, and I'll spare your life."
Gu Chenfeng swept his gaze over them. Judging by their appearance, they were a hunting party operating in Great Wilderness Ridge.
He could faintly sense the fluctuations of their blood and qi.
Apart from the bald man, they were all in the Body Tempering Realm.
"Who are you? When did you start watching me?" Gu Chenfeng asked calmly.
The bald man snapped.
"Cut the crap. You've sold plenty of Origin Beast materials at the Post Station these past few days.
You must have quite a few banknotes and spiritual materials on you, right?"
At those words, Gu Chenfeng understood.
Though he had been very careful while traveling through Great Wilderness Ridge, he still lacked some worldly experience.
As the saying went, wealth stirred men's hearts.
The sums he had traded at the Post Station meant little to him, but they were enough to tempt others into crooked schemes.
These hunting parties had plenty of experience in the wilderness.
If they had marked him beforehand and followed his tracks all the way here, that was hardly surprising.
Though the Great Li Dynasty enforced its laws, the vast expanse of Great Wilderness Ridge knew no law.
Murder and robbery were commonplace.
At that moment, among the group.
A wiry young man suddenly looked at the Bundle on Gu Chenfeng's back.
At its opening, a blood-red petal protruded, accidentally left exposed when Gu Chenfeng had hurriedly packed his things inside the cave.
"Look! That's... a blood-crest flower!"
Everyone focused their gaze on it. At the sight of the blood-red petal, their pupils contracted and their eyes gleamed.
"Damn, it really is a blood-crest flower!"
Blood-crest flowers were important spiritual materials for refining first-grade pills. A single flower was worth thousands of taels.
Greed immediately spread across their faces, but the bald man sensed something amiss.
"Wait. Blood-crest flowers are usually guarded by adult Blood-Crowned Snakes. Did he kill one?"
Just then, the wiry young man who had first spotted the Blood-Crest Flower spoke again.
"Brother Poison Dragon, that's impossible. Adult Blood-Crowned Snakes all have Meridian-Opening Realm strength.
This fellow doesn't have a scratch on him. Even the spear on his back hasn't a trace of blood."
Only then did the bald man relax.
"Skinny Monkey, you've got sharp eyes, kid. This fellow's lucky, stumbling onto such a windfall."
The bald man instinctively assumed that Gu Chenfeng had never encountered the Blood-Crowned Snake.
Otherwise, even a Meridian-Opening Realm martial artist would have lost a layer of skin dealing with such a creature, if not his life.
Surely he could not be a Source Qi Realm martial artist.
Experts of that caliber would never operate in this area.
The men exchanged glances, murderous intent laid bare in their eyes as they closed in on Gu Chenfeng.
Gu Chenfeng silently reached back and drew his refined-iron spear.
Cold light flashed off its tip, dazzling their eyes.
"Care to guess why there's no blood on my spear?"
Before they could answer, Gu Chenfeng moved.
Shhk!
The next instant, he appeared before the wiry young man.
The young man lowered his head in disbelief, staring fixedly at the spear piercing his body as blood streamed down its shaft.
With a calm expression, Gu Chenfeng murmured.
"Because this is its first taste of blood."
The next instant, Gu Chenfeng vanished.
Shhk, shhk, shhk...
In the blink of an eye, on the grass outside the cave.
Flowers of blood bloomed, brilliant and eerie.
Gu Chenfeng moved as swiftly as a phantom, thrusting his spear each time he appeared before another man.
This most ordinary of spear techniques, the thrust.
Became a life-reaping Hooked Sickle when backed by Gu Chenfeng's terrifying speed and strength.
The burly men in the Body Tempering Realm could not even make out his figure.
In an instant, the spear pierced their hearts, their throats...
Within moments, seven men lay in pools of blood.
Only the bald, one-eyed man remained.
The moment Gu Chenfeng killed the first man, he had turned and fled.
By now, the bald man's figure was almost lost in the depths of the dense woods.
Greed and murderous intent had long since vanished from his heart, leaving only profound terror.
As a seasoned martial artist who had spent his life licking blood from a blade's edge.
The instant Gu Chenfeng struck, the bald man knew he had kicked an iron plate this time.
Though he was a five-star Meridian-Opening Realm martial artist, his opponent's speed and explosive power were on an entirely different level.
This was absolutely not strength a Meridian-Opening Realm martial artist could possess.
"He's actually a Source Qi Realm martial artist!"
The bald man ran faster and faster, weaving madly through the forest.
He felt he must have escaped danger by now. That man surely could not catch him.
The fear in his heart gradually turned to resentment and anger.
His face twisted.
"Fuck, he dared kill my brothers! I've got to notify the Third Boss and bring a squad to slaughter this..."
His words cut off abruptly.
For within the dense bushes ahead.
A cold gleam flashed like a venomous snake flicking its tongue, instantly pressing against his throat!
The bald man froze as rigid as ice, not daring to move a fraction.
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