Revenge Begins

Time flew.

In the blink of an eye, another month had passed.

During that month, Linley cultivated while waiting for the ingredients for the Hemolytic Poison.

Yale was highly efficient, and the Dawson Chamber of Commerce's influence extended across the entire Yulan Continent. The vast majority of the ingredients had already arrived.

But some ingredients were so rare that even the Dawson Chamber of Commerce needed time to find them.

Linley, however, had not been idle.

He trained frantically under Haoyue's Gravity Spell every day, making rapid progress.

On this day-

"Boom!"

A powerful aura erupted from the training room.

Linley opened his eyes abruptly, a brilliant light flashing in them.

A Level Seven Warrior!

He had finally broken through to become a Level Seven Warrior!

"That's great!"

Linley clenched his fists, feeling the surging power within him. His heart swelled with excitement.

As a Level Seven Warrior, combined with his Dragonblood Warrior transformation, his combat power had reached the Early Ninth Rank. With his earth and wind magic and the Hemolytic Poison, dealing with Clayde should be quite easy.

"Not bad. Faster than I expected."

Haoyue's voice came from outside the door.

Linley turned to look and saw Haoyue leaning against the doorframe, a pleased smile on his face.

"Big Brother Haoyue!" Linley said excitedly. "I broke through! I've become a Level Seven Warrior!"

"I know." Haoyue smiled and nodded. "I felt that aura just now."

He walked into the training room and patted Linley on the shoulder. "As a Level Seven Warrior with your Dragonblood transformation, you now have the strength to face Clayde head-on. But-"

Haoyue changed his tone. "You still need to be careful. Clayde has been a Level Nine Warrior for a long time, and he's far more experienced in battle than you. If you really fought him head-on, you might not be his match."

"I know." Linley nodded. "That's why we're using the Hemolytic Poison."

"Good, as long as you understand." Haoyue nodded in satisfaction.

Just then, Yale's voice came from outside.

"Third Bro! Third Bro! Good news!"

Yale rushed in excitedly, a small box in his hand.

"What is it, Boss?" Linley asked.

"The ingredients you wanted!" Yale handed the box to Linley. "We found the last two main ingredients!"

"Really?!"

Both surprised and delighted, Linley hurriedly took the box and opened it.

Inside lay a blood-red flower and an ice-blue spirit herb, quietly giving off a faint spiritual aura.

"That's great!" Linley's hands trembled slightly with excitement. "With these two ingredients, we can make that stuff!"

"There's something else," Yale suddenly said. "Clayde sent someone over with an ingredient too."

"Clayde?" Linley was taken aback. "Why would he send an ingredient?"

"He said he knew you were looking for medicinal ingredients, so he sent you some 'cloud poria' on purpose." Yale curled his lip. "He said it was to nourish your body. If you ask me, he's trying to win you over so you'll make stone sculptures for him."

"Cloud poria?"

Linley and Haoyue exchanged a glance, each seeing the amusement in the other's eyes.

Cloud poria was one of the important supplementary ingredients in the Hemolytic Poison formula.

Clayde probably never would have dreamed that the ingredient he sent would ultimately be used to make the poison that would kill him.

"Just when you need a pillow, someone hands you one," Haoyue said with a hint of a smile. "How thoughtful of His Majesty."

Linley couldn't help laughing too. "Since he's being so kind, let's accept it."

Over the next few days, Linley devoted himself to making the Hemolytic Poison.

Although he wasn't a professional apothecary, he was a dual-element mage with powerful spiritual energy and strong control over the elements. With the detailed formula Cesar had given him, making it wasn't too difficult.

The process simply required extreme care; the slightest mistake would result in failure.

Haoyue stood guard beside him and also gave him pointers on controlling the elements.

Five days later-

"It's done!"

Linley looked at the six small jade bottles before him, an excited smile on his face.

All six bottles of Hemolytic Poison powder had been successfully prepared!

"It's finally done..." Linley breathed a sigh of relief. "Now that I have this, Clayde, your time to die has come."

He carefully put away the six bottles of Hemolytic Poison.

During the month Linley had been busy preparing the Hemolytic Poison, Haoyue had not been idle either.

His strength had also been rising rapidly.

Through gravity training and his own diligent cultivation, his warrior level had reached the Peak Eighth Rank.

He was only one step away from the Ninth Rank.

And after his Tiger-Striped Warrior transformation, he could reach the Half-Step Saint-level.

Although he was not yet truly Saint-level, he wasn't far off.

More importantly-

Haoyue had already comprehended the profound mysteries of Wielding the Heavy as Though It Were Light.

This was an important milestone on the warrior's path.

Wielding the Heavy as Though It Were Light meant controlling one's own strength with exquisite precision, so that even a force of ten thousand jin could be brought to bear effortlessly, without wasting the slightest bit.

Generally, only warriors at the Peak Ninth Rank could touch upon this level.

Yet Haoyue had comprehended it while still at the Peak Eighth Rank.

This meant his combat power was far greater than that of warriors at the same level.

Besides that, Haoyue's From Mind to Matter ability had also improved greatly.

His health had already reached the Late Saint-level.

This meant he was tankier.

With his innate skill Heavyweight Striker and the damage bonuses provided by Purgatory Dragon Soul and Overflow, even a Saint Realm Mid-Stage expert wouldn't dare take his punches head-on once he attacked.

There were also Mountain Dragon Soul and Ocean Dragon Soul.

Of these two dragon souls, one granted him powerful defense and the power of earth, while the other granted him astonishing recovery and the power of water.

The two complemented each other, making Haoyue's survivability outrageously strong.

All things considered-

Haoyue's current true combat power allowed him to fight and defeat even Saint-level experts at the mid or late stage.

Even against a Peak Saint-level existence, he could clash head-on for a bit and then escape unharmed.

It could be said that Haoyue was now among the small handful of people standing at the top of the Yulan Continent.

Even so, it was better not to draw too much attention. After all, there was a Deity-level expert in the Arctic eyeing the Four Ultimate Warrior Clans.

Late November, year 9999 of the Yulan Calendar.

Winter had arrived in Fenlai City, and light snow drifted through the sky.

Linley stood at the window, gazing at the snowy scene outside, his eyes deep.

"Big Brother Haoyue," he suddenly said, "when do you think we should make our move?"

Haoyue sat nearby, wiping the Purple Blood Soft Sword. Without looking up, he said, "When do you want to make your move?"

"The sooner the better." Linley's voice was cold. "I can't wait any longer."

"Then tomorrow," Haoyue said calmly. "Tomorrow, use delivering a sample stone sculpture as an excuse, then say something went wrong with your cultivation and you can't deliver it to the palace yourself. Clayde values you so highly that he'll certainly come to the residence to visit you and collect the sculpture while he's there. Find a chance to put the poison in his wine."

"All right." Linley nodded.

"Remember, don't rush." Haoyue raised his head and looked at him. "After poisoning him, don't act immediately. Wait until the poison takes effect. If things are exposed-"

Haoyue paused, his tone calm but filled with absolute confidence. "With me here, I'll hold off the enemies you can't deal with yet."

Linley turned his head and looked at Haoyue.

Sunlight streamed in through the window, falling on Haoyue's face and gilding his profile with a golden edge.

At that moment, Linley suddenly felt completely reassured.

That's right. With Big Brother Haoyue here, what is there to fear?

"Yes!" Linley nodded firmly, his eyes full of resolve. "I understand, Big Brother Haoyue!"

Tomorrow would be the day Clayde died.

It would also be the day he avenged his mother.