Chapter 75: Crimson Poison Needle

Suppressing his aura until it was nearly undetectable, Zou Feng lay silently between two treetops.

From a distance, he looked just like a motionless spider, waiting for the perfect moment to pounce on its prey.

The light rain made his concealment all the more perfect.

These two remnants of the Ten Directions Sect were, in fact, already being quite cautious.

After coming ashore and using their Inner Qi to dry their clothes, they scanned their surroundings for a long time. Only after confirming there was nothing out of the ordinary did they slowly start walking.

Moreover, the two were in no hurry to press on, stopping every few steps to check their surroundings again.

Unfortunately for them, their luck was terrible tonight; they just so happened to pass right under the tree where Zou Feng was hiding.

Of course, this wasn’t entirely a coincidence.

Zou Feng had chosen this particular tree for a reason.

The surrounding area was filled with extremely dense reeds and grass. Only under these few nearby trees was the undergrowth a bit thinner, offering better visibility.

Even with his prey right beneath him, Zou Feng still didn’t rush to make his move.

He waited until the two had taken a few more steps, their backs turned to him, before silently drifting down.

The moment before he landed, his gaze hardened, and he viciously kicked off the tree trunk.

The next moment, with a SWOOSH, Zou Feng shot toward the Ten Directions Sect remnants like an arrow.

Naturally, his first target wasn’t the Eighth Grade cultist.

Always pick the softest persimmon first. That was the only way to create a one-on-one situation in the shortest amount of time.

"Watch out!"

The Eighth Grade Cultist’s reflexes were no joke. He shouted a warning the very instant Zou Feng’s feet kicked off the tree trunk.

But while he could react in time, the same couldn’t be said for his companion.

Sensing the danger, the Ninth Grade Cultist hastily turned, crossing his arms and channeling his Inner Qi to block.

Seeing this, Zou Feng, who had already closed the distance, let out a savage grin. He instantly switched to the Centipede Stance, and his palms became a blur of afterimages, as if dozens of hands had appeared at once.

Caught off guard and forced to mount a hasty defense, the Ninth Grade Cultist had no hope of dodging such a dense flurry of palm strikes.

As Zou Feng swept past the man, his palms struck his shoulder, abdomen, and waist.

But perhaps because he had managed to circulate his Protective Qi Force, the strikes were painful but seemed to have caused no major harm.

After staggering for a moment, the Ninth Grade Cultist regained his footing.

"Wang Yi, are you alright?"

The Eighth Grade Cultist didn’t immediately give chase. He was still scanning the area for other ambushers besides Zou Feng.

The Ninth Grade Cultist, Wang Yi, pressed his palms down slowly, calming the turbulent Inner Qi from the recent strikes.

"I’m fine. It’s nothing serious!"

"This kid’s Cultivation Skill isn’t from the Celestial Essence Sword Sect!" Wang Yi quickly concluded.

This was his way of telling the Eighth Grade Cultist that the boy was no cause for concern.

The only people the Ten Directions Sect truly feared in Yuan Guang County were the Elite Disciples of the Celestial Essence Sword Sect.

Now that they saw their opponent wasn’t from the Celestial Essence Sword Sect and no other ambushers had appeared, the situation seemed much easier to handle.

"You’ve got a lot of nerve. You think you alone can... huh?"

Wang Yi spoke as he moved into position, preparing to pincer Zou Feng with his companion.

But before he could finish speaking, he felt a warm liquid suddenly welling up from his nose and mouth.

He reached up to touch it. Bringing his hand before his eyes, he saw it was blood!

Tainted blood!

"Poison?!"

Seeing this, the Eighth Grade Cultist rushed forward, pulling Wang Yi behind him. "Quickly, circulate your skill to force out the poison!" he yelled.

"Argh... AAAAAH—"

SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT!

Amid the horrifying bursting sounds, the spots where he had just been struck by the palms ruptured one after another.

With the final burst, Wang Yi’s eyes rolled back into his head, and he collapsed to the ground like a discarded sack.

’What a vicious Poison Skill!’

The Eighth Grade Cultist glanced back and instantly understood what had happened.

The wind howled as Zou Feng lunged forward once more.

But an Eighth Grade cultist was not so easy to deal with, especially now that he knew how deadly Zou Feng’s Poison Palm was.

’Killing Bai Cuixiang a few days ago was a sneak attack.’

’But this time, I’m truly facing an Eighth Grade Martial Artist head-on.’

After just a dozen exchanges, Zou Feng couldn’t help but marvel, ’Eighth Grade Inner Qi really is both fierce and unyielding!’

This Ten Directions Cultist concentrated his Qi Force into his fists, either to trade blows with Zou Feng or to parry and defend.

Every impact sent a shockwave that made his own palms ache and his qi and blood churn.

’If this keeps up much longer, I’ll probably be shaken so hard I vomit up my dinner.’

’But it’s not a huge problem. By now, he must have inhaled a good amount of my poison...’

In fact, from the moment Zou Feng spotted the two Ten directions Cultists and decided to take them down, he had already begun releasing poison into the air.

While it seemed Zou Feng couldn’t land a hit, every palm he threw was actually making the surrounding poison thicker.

Even if an Eighth Grade Martial Artist’s resistance was strong, it was only a matter of time before he couldn’t hold out any longer.

Sure enough, the Ten Directions Cultist’s breathing was already becoming ragged and unstable.

"Feeling dizzy, aren’t you?"

"Finding it hard to use your strength?"

"It’s no use. Stop struggling in vain. Why don’t I just give you a quick end?"

Zou Feng wasn’t taunting him out of some sadistic pleasure; it was a way to break his opponent’s will to resist more quickly.

A psychological attack was just another form of poison.

Unexpectedly, the Ten Directions Cultist didn’t fall for it. Gritting his teeth, he channeled his Inner Qi and, with a great roar, thrust both fists forward viciously.

Zou Feng assumed this was just a final, desperate counterattack and naturally didn’t meet it head-on, retreating just in time.

However, the man didn’t pursue. Instead, he swiftly pulled out an Elixir and swallowed it.

"Ten Directions Divine King, grant me Divine Power!"

"Unmoving Bright King, True Gang Body Protection!"

The moment he finished speaking, a crackling sound erupted from the Ten Directions Cultist’s body, followed by a massive wave of Inner Qi.

In Zou Feng’s eyes, the man’s Protective Qi Force had become faintly visible, forming a pale golden energy shield around him.

’Combined with his earlier shout about True Gang Body Protection...’

’Gang Qi?’

Zou Feng was stunned. ’It can’t be, right?!’

’Inner Qi Transformation Gang... that’s something only a Sixth Grade Martial Artist can do.’

’Surely swallowing some unknown Elixir can’t temporarily grant a person Sixth Grade strength?’

’No, that’s impossible. If that Elixir really had such an incredible effect, the Ten Directions Sect wouldn’t have been beaten into scattering by the Celestial Essence Sword Sect.’

’So this must just be a "Fake Gang" used for intimidation.’

’But even if it’s Fake Gang, the fact that he was pushed to his limit before using it means he must be paying a steep price for this short-term surge in combat power.’

’For a mere Ninth Grade like me, breaking through this layer of "Fake Gang" is going to be incredibly difficult.’

Before Zou Feng could think any further, the reinvigorated Ten Directions Cultist shot toward him at nearly twice his previous speed.

Meanwhile, Zou Feng hadn’t been idle; he had already used the Toad Stance to finish Charging Power.

Facing the menacing Ten Directions Cultist, Zou Feng also unleashed a burst of Inner Qi stronger than before. He circulated his Five Poison Palm to its absolute limit and blasted out his self-created ultimate skill—the Serious Poisonous Thrashing.

The Ten Directions Cultist responded with a sky-filling storm of fist-shadows.

The shadows of fists and palms intertwined, creating a series of terrifying, muffled thuds.

Their movements were punctuated by their guttural roars.

"HAAAAA..."

"RAAAAGH..."

Waves of qi surged out, and within a wide radius around the two fighters, not a single drop of rain could fall.

During the clash, because Zou Feng’s Five Poison Skill had reached the level of Refined Skill, he was repeatedly able to bypass the cultist’s fists and strike his body.

In contrast, every one of the Ten Directions Cultist’s punches was dodged by Zou Feng using his Drunken Immortal Moon Gazing Step.

However, although Zou Feng seemed to have the advantage, the reality of the situation was quite different.

The Fake Gang wasn’t the real thing, but it was still a nascent form of true Gang Qi.

With only the Inner Qi of a Ninth Grade, it was incredibly difficult for Zou Feng to break through his opponent’s defense.

’So even though my palm strikes are landing, the Poison Force can’t penetrate at all!’

"It’s useless! Even if I stood here and let you hit me, you couldn’t break my Protective Gang Qi!"

"You little shit! Don’t think for a second you’re getting a quick death!"

Seeing that Zou Feng’s "scraping" attacks couldn’t break his defense, the Ten Directions Cultist couldn’t hold back and began to taunt him, turning the tables.

He had just taken a Divine Inviting Pill, and the burst of power from manifesting the Fake Gang had also forced the poison out of his system.

Thus, his current condition was absolutely phenomenal.

Now, he just had to wait for Zou Feng to run out of energy and be unable to maintain his evasive speed. Then, he would take him down in one fell swoop.

At this point, Zou Feng had to admit that his Five Poison Palm couldn’t break through the opponent’s protective aura, which now had the nascent form of Gang Qi.

But his skills weren’t limited to just the Five Poison Palm.

’If Palm Force can’t penetrate, what about a "piercing" attack instead?’

The next moment, Zou Feng suddenly dropped low. He simultaneously executed the Scorpion Stance, his middle finger lashing out like a Poison Needle, stabbing at the Ten Directions Cultist’s navel seven times in an instant!

Using a point to break a surface—all seven instantaneous strikes landed on the exact same spot!

CRACK!

A sharp crack announced that the Fake Gang had been pierced through.

The Ten Directions Cultist shuddered violently and froze in place.

The wild laugh still hanging on his lips froze stiff.

The progress on his Chaos Finger was already very close to Refined Skill. One could only imagine how potent its effects were once it broke through a person’s defenses and struck them.

With his Fake Gang pierced and his body immobilized, the Ten Directions Cultist was unable to circulate his qi. He could only watch helplessly as Zou Feng placed a palm on top of his head...

BANG!!

In an instant, the man’s head exploded, his skullcap sent spiraling high into the sky.

Zou Feng took a moment to catch his breath before quickly looting the items from the two Ten Directions Cultists’ pockets.

He then tossed their corpses into the East River and swiftly fled the scene.

It might have looked like a desperate struggle, but it wasn’t.

The number of Evil Skills Zou Feng cultivated was considerable, leaving him with almost no weaknesses.

Even if he hadn’t been able to break the man’s Fake Gang, he still could have chosen to retreat with ease.

Alternatively, he could have relied on the Inner Qi boost from his Black Tortoise Sea-Suppressing Force to outlast the cultist until the Elixir’s effects wore off.

In short, whether it was a fight of explosive bursts, a battle of attrition, or a strategic retreat, Zou Feng had a corresponding ace up his sleeve. He was a true all-around warrior.