Chapter 186 - 151: What is the Price?

After all, Zou Feng didn’t consider Tian Yun an enemy, so he hadn’t struck with his full power. That was why he was on the verge of being hit.

In truth, Tian Yun had already realized her mistake—she had attacked the wrong person.

But her physical condition was poor, and once she threw the punch, she lacked the strength to pull it back.

’Iron Block!’

In the nick of time, Zou Feng frantically activated a technique from his Dragon Scale Iron Armor, causing a section of his muscles to harden as if encased in iron.

Of course, the technique wasn’t actually called Iron Block. Its full name was too long and incredibly awkward, so Zou Feng had just shortened it.

On its own, the technique was actually rather pathetic. But since the Dragon Scale Iron Armor had integrated with his Tribulation-Indestructible Body and advanced to the Realm of Refining Fire, its effect was now on a completely different level.

CLANG—

Tian Yun’s fist felt as if it had truly struck a block of solid iron.

’So hard!’

Tian Yun first cried out in shock internally. Then, ignoring her aching fist, she quickly apologized, "General Leader, are you alright?"

As she spoke, she subconsciously reached out to gently rub the spot where her fist had landed, once again marveling at the hardness of his muscles.

Zou Feng hurriedly took a step back, dodging Tian Yun’s wandering hand.

It wasn’t that he was feigning propriety, but if Tian Yun kept caressing him like that, it wouldn’t just be his chest muscles that were getting hard.

"I’m fine, I’m fine. Master Tian, what are you doing here?"

Seeing Zou Feng step back, Tian Yun suddenly felt a sense of emptiness in both her hand and her heart.

But she quickly returned to normal and said honestly, "That Demon Ape is very strong. I was afraid that if you faced it alone, General Leader, your chances of survival would be slim."

Her answer left Zou Feng stunned for a moment.

He knew it was likely related to what Tian Yun had said earlier—about seeking thrills to find an opportunity to break through to the Gang Qi Realm.

But if she didn’t have some affection for him, she wouldn’t have gone to such lengths.

However, now was not the time to dwell on such things.

Suddenly, sensing a disturbance in the thin mist ahead, Zou Feng quickly motioned with his eyes for Tian Yun to get down.

Shortly after they dropped to the ground, a roar, lacking its usual power, reached them.

Tian Yun remembered the sound well. It belonged to the Ape King that had been relentlessly pursuing Zou Feng earlier.

Peering through the layers of thin mist, however, Tian Yun quickly noticed that the Ape King’s current state was very wrong.

The beast had lost its previous tyrannical aura, the demonic energy around its body had dimmed considerably, and its eyes had lost their spirit.

In this state, the Ape King was blundering about in the mist like a headless fly. Though it continued to roar, its cries grew progressively weaker.

When she saw the Ape King smash into a boulder and begin pummeling it madly as if it were its mortal enemy, Tian Yun finally understood. "It’s been poisoned?"

Zou Feng nodded. "That’s right. In a head-on fight, I’m indeed no match for it. But a mindless beast is a mindless beast..."

"I’ve already turned this area into a place filled with deadly poison. In a little while, this creature will be beyond saving."

Just moments ago, Zou Feng had used the terrain to his advantage, fighting a guerrilla battle with the Ape King while simultaneously setting up a Poison Domain in the vicinity.

The Ape King had already been severely poisoned while fleeing through the toxic mist earlier, and now it had fallen deeper into the trap. It was clearly lost within this Poison Domain.

Hearing this, Tian Yun looked at Zou Feng, her eyes filled with astonishment.

It wasn’t that Tian Yun had never seen a Poison Cultivator before.

But she had truly never seen a Poison Cultivator like Zou Feng—one whose methods of administering poison were so unimaginable and whose direct combat strength was also off the charts.

What was even more baffling to her was that, at least on the surface, Zou Feng showed none of the horrifying physical traits common to other Poison Cultivators.

His mental state also seemed perfectly normal, with no discernible flaws.

"General Leader, your methods are truly formidable... Forgive me for asking, but what is the price?"

The question wasn’t entirely out of place. After all, everyone knew that Evil Skills came with a heavy price.

Zou Feng already considered Tian Yun one of his own, which was why he had revealed his abilities without reservation.

But Tian Yun’s sudden question truly caught him off guard.

’The price?’

’The price is that the number of big shots on my list is dwindling...’

’Every time my Poison Skill levels up, it’s practically thanks to one of those big shots being tortured to the point of wishing for death.’

But he definitely couldn’t say that out loud. So, Zou Feng just spouted some nonsense, "The price is... I could die from the poison at any moment!"

This was essentially a meaningless statement, but it immediately made Tian Yun’s expression twist with anxiety. "Is there a remedy?"

"Er, I have to find other highly toxic substances... and fight poison with poison. Only then can it be alleviated..."

Only then did Tian Yun breathe a sigh of relief. After all, on this trip to Qifeng Mountain, Zou Feng had already acquired a good number of poisonous materials.

As the two exchanged a few more words, the Ape King in the distance, after smashing that massive boulder to smithereens, finally could not hold on any longer and collapsed backward onto the ground.

It struggled to get back up, but after several attempts, it failed each time.

In such a pitiful state, even if Zou Feng were to leave it alone, it would undoubtedly die soon enough.

However, to be on the safe side, Zou Feng remained hidden and continued to wait, allowing the Demon Ape to be more thoroughly corroded by the Poison Domain.

Meanwhile, Zou Feng couldn’t help but start fantasizing. ’If I could create a Poison Domain at will, just how powerful would I become?’

’Don’t be fooled by the fact that the current Poison Domain is about to finish off the Ape King.’

’The problem is, I first had to do the "poison run," then fight a guerrilla battle, and use the Shaking Flower Hand until my arm nearly fell off, just to barely set up the current Poison Domain.’

’In short, the wind-up was far too long for it to be a conventional technique.’

Before long, the dying Ape King suddenly let out one last, mournful shriek before bleeding from its seven orifices and dying.

Seeing this, Zou Feng finally stepped forward and shot out a Palm Force from a distance to confirm whether the Ape King was truly dead.

The result was as expected. After being tormented in the Poison Domain for so long, the creature wouldn’t have been able to feign death even if it wanted to.

It was worth noting that shortly after the chase with the Ape King began, Zou Feng had checked the List of Gods while fleeing.

However, the name of any Demon Beast had appeared on it.

From this, Zou Feng could only surmise that perhaps only humans could make it onto the list.

Arriving before the Demon Ape’s corpse, Zou Feng couldn’t help but let out a sinister cackle.

This Demon Ape’s strength was definitely equivalent to that of a Sixth Grade Gang Qi Realm Martial Artist, and one of the best at that.

But because its Spiritual Wisdom was ultimately lacking, it had been cunningly tricked to death by Zou Feng.

Strictly speaking, compared to Wu Xing from before, the Demon Ape’s death was as frustratingly pathetic as could be.

Next, Zou Feng examined the Demon Ape’s corpse.

His main purpose was to determine which part of the beast was the most toxic.

After all, the creature was massive, and more powerful Demon Beasts could appear at any moment, so it was unlikely he could drag the entire thing away.

After a thorough inspection, the conclusion he reached was that the most poisonous part was, surprisingly, its head.

Without a second thought, Zou Feng immediately severed the ape’s head, picked it up, and left.

"Master Tian, we can’t linger here. The Demon Ape’s corpse will likely attract more trouble..."

He hadn’t even finished speaking when faint stirrings could be heard from the surroundings.

The two didn’t dare to linger any longer and immediately took off running.

Only when they were reasonably certain they were safe did Zou Feng and Tian Yun finally stop to rest where they were.

Night had fallen. Traveling at night deep within Qifeng Mountain was extremely unwise.

Finding a hidden crevice in a cliff face, Zou Feng used the Demon Ape’s skull as a bowl and made roasted ape brain.

The Ape King’s brain was indeed poisonous, so Tian Yun definitely couldn’t eat it. She only had some of the meat from its head.

A poisonous brain was a novelty even for Zou Feng.

After all, he had only ever heard of poison seeping into the bone marrow. For this Demon Ape to have poison in its brain and still live perfectly fine was truly remarkable.

Yet, as for the specific properties of this poisonous brain, Zou Feng still couldn’t identify them even after eating it.

Just like the Xiong Xin he had eaten before, it was another unknown poison.

Just as he was about halfway through eating the poisonous brain, Tian Yun suddenly looked at him in surprise. "General Zou, your hair... why have quite a few strands turned red?"

’Again?’

Zou Feng had taken a small taste first to confirm the poison was harmless to him before he began to dig in.

’But what the hell is up with the poison from these stronger Red-haired Demon Beasts on Qifeng Mountain? Why does it always turn my hair red?’

’Actually, if this is just some weird little side effect of absorbing the poison, it wouldn’t be a big deal.’

’In the future, if I don’t want to walk around with a head of eye-catching red hair, I can just dye it back to black.’

But out of caution, Zou Feng decided to stop eating immediately. He had to figure out what was going on before making any further decisions.