Chapter 168

Chapter 168: Water Escape Technique

In the forest, Shadow effortlessly countered Zhou Luo’s assault.

The power of the ninth level of Qi Refinement was truly terrifying.

Even with the aid of the Six Harmonies Array.

Zhou Luo, at only the fifth layer of Qi Refinement, couldn’t muster enough strength to kill his opponent.

Despite this, his expression remained unwaveringly calm as he watched the black dagger thrust toward him.

He summoned another magical artifact.

A small golden bell appeared, its mighty chime echoing through the air the moment it manifested.

The next instant, the bell abruptly enlarged. Golden light radiated from its surface as it positioned itself solidly before Zhou Luo.

This was precisely the high-grade magical artifact—the Golden Bell—Zhou Luo had obtained from Lu An at the Qinyuan Sect.

Thud—

The black dagger struck the golden bell hard, producing a dull resonation.

As long as spiritual energy sufficed, cultivators below the Qi Refinement seventh level couldn’t budge this Golden Bell.

It could even withstand the assaults of cultivators at the eighth or ninth level of Qi Refinement for hours.

This black dagger magical artifact naturally could not breach it.

Seeing this, Shadow’s face twitched uncontrollably.

This guy had too many hidden cards.

A high-grade spiritual symbol, a high-grade magical artifact, and this unnamed enemy-trapping array…

No wonder he dared to act so confidently while selling Lifespan Pills despite being merely a fifth-layer Qi Refinement cultivator.

For an instant, Shadow inwardly regretted launching this direct attack.

Just then, a jade vial materialized in Zhou Luo’s right hand.

“Golden Rainbow Piercing the Sun” was only a feint—a means to close the distance.

The vial in his hand held the true killing blow.

Seizing the moment, he surged forward, scattering the vial’s deep-brown medicinal powder towards Shadow.

Crushed beneath the gravitational force of the Six Harmonies Array, Shadow could only watch helplessly as the powder drifted toward him on the wind. A chilling sense of mortal peril engulfed his heart.

He gritted his teeth, straining to shift away from the powder.

But Zhou Luo was too swift. The powder floated downward inexorably. Despite his dodge, a speck still touched his robes.

Even as minuscule as it was, the powder instantly corroded his high-grade magic robes. Flesh beneath dissolved, leaving a bloody hole in its wake.

Shadow’s face paled in horror. Unrecognizing of this poison, he hurriedly channeled his protective golden radiance.

But it was far too late.

The moment the deep-brown powder made contact with his body, his death was sealed.

Shadow clearly sensed it—no matter how desperately he pushed his spiritual energy, he couldn’t halt the toxin’s invasion into his core.

The poison was like a stubborn plague that simply couldn’t be removed.

Death’s crisis spread throughout his body; he no longer had the calm expression from before and quickly knelt to beg for mercy.

"Save me, hurry and save me!"

"I can release you, no, I can give you everything I own!"

"No… don’t!"

The poison was already corroding his bones and internal organs; he still wanted to speak, but never got the chance.

In an instant, he had collapsed to the ground, turning into a puddle of bloody water.

Zhou Luo watched coldly, unmoved.

What he had just used was precisely Bone Corruption Powder.

This was an extremely vicious poison; once touched, it would corrode the body. If it was a Qi Refinement cultivator, the poison would invade them instantly, corroding their bones and organs, and finally turning them into a puddle of bloody water.

Even a Foundation Establishment cultivator, if they didn’t remove the poison in time, would still suffer considerable damage.

This Second Level low-grade poison was truly terrifying.

It was just a shame that the materials were incredibly hard to find.

Earlier, he had originally planned to refine one or two more Second Level poisons at Longfeng Marketplace, to have better assurance when dealing with Foundation Establishment cultivators.

But he discovered the market had none of the needed materials at all.

Thinking about it, it made sense.

The path of poison was originally an evil cultivator’s method; the higher the grade of the poison materials, the less anyone dared to sell them.

He had been lucky back then to find some materials in Maple Leaf City, allowing him to refine this bottle of Bone Corruption Powder.

Now, just dealing with this ninth level of Qi Refinement cultivator had used up most of it, leaving only enough for one more use.

Zhou Luo, holding the formation flags, approached that mass of flesh and blood.

He found a storage bag from within, cleaned off the bloodstains with the cleaning spell, then packed away the formation and departed swiftly.

…

An hour later, Zhou Luo appeared on another hill.

For safety’s sake, he deliberately set up a hidden formation to prevent discovery.

Sitting cross-legged under a tree, he took out that storage bag and used his mental strength to inspect its contents.

At first glance, he spotted the token representing Zhen Yuan Tower.

He hastily removed it and tossed it into his backpack.

He didn’t know whether that Elder Qi could use this token to track him down.

After all, the other party came from Chimagong Sect and might possess methods unknown to him.

For prudence, such items were safer stored in the system backpack.

Anyway, the backpack had nine slots; he could find a chance to dump it later.

Apart from the token, there were five medium-quality spiritual stones and over two hundred and thirty ordinary spiritual stones inside the storage bag.

As for the spiritual symbols, only a few top-grade Qi Gathering Symbols and Concealment Symbols were somewhat useful; the others were worthless.

The potions and magical artifacts were also very few, not comparable at all to Liu Fu Chen.

He put all these things into his storage ring.

Zhou Luo discovered another jade slip again.

When he opened the jade slip, surprisingly, it was an Upper-grade Qi Refinement technique.

This was a technique called the Water Movement Secret Method.

After successfully practicing it, one could merge into water, making enemies unable to find one’s trace, and also use water to block the opponent’s attacks.

It could be said to be an extremely good water escape technique.

However,

Zhou Luo glanced at the surrounding mountains and thought to himself.

Could this place really be used for this technique?

Though he thought that, after all, this was an Upper-grade Qi Refinement technique.

He decided that he would still practice it diligently next.

It never hurts to possess more skills.

Moreover, he planned to wait a little longer to confirm that no one was following him before heading to the location of the Dragon Blood Grass.

…

Not long after Shadow died, Qi Chuan appeared at that place with a green-robed Daoist.

He looked at the pool of blood on the ground, frowning deeply.

"It seems his backer has made a move."

Qi Chuan glanced around and detected a trace of array energy.

The other party not only knew alchemy but could also set up arrays; perhaps there was more than one person.

Could it all be a scheme by the Qinyuan Sect?

Soon, Qi Chuan rejected that possibility again.

If it were the Qinyuan Sect, they wouldn’t have needed to use such methods.

Then what exactly was the other party’s origin?

"Senior Brother, what should we do next?" the green-robed Daoist asked aloud.

"I was careless; we can only wait for him to reappear," Qi Chuan said with a darkened face.

He had originally thought that Shadow, at the ninth level of Qi Refinement, tracking the other party was definitely more than sufficient.

Moreover, what the other party excelled at was stealth and tracking.

Unexpectedly, it still failed.

"So we just let the other party go?" the green-robed Daoist complained discontentedly.

"The one who died was a disciple of the Chimagong Sect, and to him, this was no different from a provocation."

Qi Chuan’s gaze turned slightly cold: "Of course it’s not over; I will arrange for disciples to search."

He had already remembered the other party’s aura; no matter how adeptly he disguised himself, it would be futile.

That was also why Shadow could locate Zhou Luo precisely when he left the Tian Xia Restaurant.

"As long as he appears, he surely won’t escape."