Chapter 534 - 316: Subduing the Tiger
Chapter 534: Chapter 316: Subduing the Tiger
Standing over two meters tall with bulging muscles, Xu Yang perfectly mirrored his Bright King Image. Bolstered by the 1.3-times Combat Power multiplier of the Eight Ferocious Hidden Dragon Strength, a majestic aura swept outward from his body.
The middle-aged man, who had lunged forward like a streak of bloody light, suddenly felt a terrifying pressure smash into his Heart Spirit. It was as if a thousand-pound boulder had been strapped to his back. His body seemed to plunge into a thick quagmire, and his speed plummeted.
"Eight Ferocious Hidden Dragon Strength at Minor Achievement!"
The middle-aged man was quite knowledgeable and immediately recognized this Secret Technique that originated from the Celestial Strategy Academy. Even his voice trembled.
He thought, "Run!"
The immense pressure radiating from Xu Yang made his Heart Spirit tremble. Despite having charged at full speed moments ago, his only desire now was to escape.
He had assumed that anyone forced to peddle Elixirs in a place like Wu Family Castle would be a nobody. Never in his wildest dreams did he expect to run into such a terrifying expert—someone who hadn’t just mastered a Body Refining Technique to Perfection, but had also trained the Eight Ferocious Hidden Dragon Strength to the Minor Achievement Realm!
Unfortunately, his approach had been far too fast. He was already within ten feet of his target. The very instant the thought of fleeing crossed his mind, Xu Yang took a single step and appeared right in front of him.
The middle-aged man’s vision went black as the terrifying pressure crushed down on him. A fist the size of a woven cushion punched through the air, hurtling straight at his face.
BOOM!
The fist tore through the air, generating shockwaves visible to the naked eye. The gathering Power of Heaven and Earth was forcefully shattered, transforming into a violent gale that swept outward.
There was nothing profound about this strike. It was purely a fierce punch fueled by berserk strength, yet it carried a Mountain-Shattering and Mountain-Breaking momentum.
Before the blow even landed, the sheer pressure generated by the Fist Technique destabilized the middle-aged man’s Protective Gang Yuan. It flickered like a candle in the wind, threatening to extinguish at any second. Even the Martial Dao Imagery manifesting behind him fluctuated wildly, on the verge of collapsing into nothingness.
The middle-aged man was struck by absolute terror. He knew this punch would leave him half-dead, if it didn’t kill him outright. The vast disparity made him feel like a mere Bone Marrow Cleansing Martial Artist facing down a Celestial Essence Martial Artist. It was as if they existed on two entirely different planes of existence.
"Spare my life!" the middle-aged man roared in panic. He quickly retracted the fist he had aimed at Xu Yang, crossing both arms defensively in front of his chest and channeling every last ounce of his Gang Yuan into them.
BOOM!
The heavy fist slammed into his arms. His Protective Gang Yuan shattered and exploded instantly. A violent shockwave swept outward, tearing up the ground within a hundred-foot radius and sending dragon-like plumes of dust surging into the air.
The middle-aged man convulsed violently as his clothes were shredded to pieces. Like a porcelain vase struck by a sledgehammer, his entire body became covered in a dense web of cracks, and he violently coughed up large mouthfuls of blood.
CRACK!
The devastating punch didn’t stop. It crushed right through his defensive guard, snapping his arms entirely and sending severed limbs flying. The man’s face contorted into a desperate plea for mercy, but Xu Yang remained entirely unmoved. The unstoppable fist drove forward, plowing directly into his chest.
A boundless force erupted. Like a raging tsunami crashing into the middle-aged man’s body, his internal organs ruptured instantly.
Amidst the sickening crunch of bone, his chest collapsed inward. He spewed out a fountain of blood mixed with pulverized organ fragments as his body was sent flying backward off the ground. Even in mid-air, his limbs began to spasm uncontrollably.
He flew over a hundred feet through the air before hitting the ground, skidding several more yards before finally coming to a halt. He died instantly, unable to even let out a final scream. His bloodshot eyes remained wide open, staring blankly at the sky in a final, unyielding grievance.
WHOOSH WHOOSH...
The whistling of wind echoed in the distance. Xu Yang glanced over his shoulder and saw three or four figures rushing over from the direction of Wu Family Castle. They abruptly halted about half a mile away. Xu Yang recognized their faces—they were all people he had seen at the trading market earlier. The burly man who had purchased his remaining Dragon Tiger Great Golden Pills was among them.
The group stared in shock at the mangled corpse of the middle-aged man, and then at Xu Yang, whose body was literally steaming with rolling Qi-Blood. A deep chill ran down their spines. Just how monstrously tough must his physique be for his formless, intangible Qi-Blood to radiate outward and manifest as a visible vapor?
If the middle-aged man hadn’t struck first and they had been the ones to ambush him, none of them would have made it out alive.
"Are you all here to kill and rob me?" Xu Yang asked coldly, his gaze cutting through the air like a razor-sharp blade.
"Farewell!"
"Apologies for the intrusion!"
"We merely heard the commotion and came out of curiosity."
Without a moment’s hesitation, the group turned on their heels and fled. They had witnessed the middle-aged man intercepting Xu Yang from afar, only to be brutally crushed in just two moves. Even if they had harbored ill intentions earlier, they absolutely didn’t dare to raise a finger against such a ruthless monster now.
Xu Yang coldly watched them retreat. They were too far away, making it incredibly difficult to chase them down and silence them. He projected his Heart Spirit outward and quickly found the loot buried under a mound of dirt. It contained the Dragon Tiger Great Golden Pills the middle-aged man had bought from him, along with three spirit coins.
"It really is true what they say—murder and arson make you rich overnight!" Xu Yang sighed.
He had gone through the arduous trouble of renting a courtyard, commissioning a Pill Furnace, and purchasing Spirit Medicines. After days of sinking capital and labor into alchemy, he had only netted a profit of five spirit coins upon selling his wares, all while dealing with assassins. Yet, by simply killing this one attacker, he instantly looted three spirit coins and reclaimed nine Dragon Tiger Great Golden Pills, essentially earning seven spirit coins in a matter of seconds.
"No wonder these scumbags love this zero-cost business. It pays way better than making an honest living off a trade," he murmured.
Stowing the loot away, Xu Yang transformed into a streak of faint light and dashed straight back toward Yunzhou City.
By nightfall, he returned to the Purple Sun Sect’s local residence.
He couldn’t risk refining any more Dragon Tiger Great Golden Pills for the time being. He had killed a man today, and there had been witnesses. If the deceased had backers, going out to sell those pills again would be painting a giant target on his own back. He would have to shelve his alchemy business and lay low for a while. Fortunately, he had acquired enough spirit coins to sustain his training of the Vajra Glazed Body for the foreseeable future.
Taking out a single spirit coin, Xu Yang slowly initiated the circulation of the Vajra Glazed Body. A chaotic, yet exceptionally domineering strand of Spirit Iron Essence drilled directly into his meridians and seeped deep into his bones and limbs. In an instant, it felt as though he were suffering the torment of death by a thousand cuts.
As the Vajra Glazed Body circulated, the violent Spirit Iron Essence was slowly refined into his flesh, blood, and bones, aggressively nourishing and fortifying his physical shell.
He thought, "This is undeniably far more effective than simply absorbing a single type of Spirit Iron. The enhancement is much more comprehensive."
Spirit coins actually contained an amalgam of various rare Spirit Irons, many of which he had never encountered before. If they didn’t, a tiny spirit coin could never hold enough value to purchase entire stalks of Spirit Medicine. He could distinctly feel his physique evolving on a much broader scale while cultivating with the currency.
[Vajra Glazed Body · First Layer (849/10000)]
The Spirit Iron Essence within the coin was swiftly depleted. Xu Yang glanced down at his system panel. While the cultivation benefits were superb, the total essence contained within a single coin was meager. One coin increased his proficiency by less than twenty points.
"That means I’ll need almost five hundred spirit coins to fully master the First Layer of the Vajra Glazed Body." Realizing this gave Xu Yang an incoming headache.
After all, a single spirit coin was valuable enough to purchase an entire Dragon Beard Root. Of course, five hundred spirit coins wasn’t an impossible sum. If he could maintain a steady income through alchemy, he could earn that much in a few months. Unfortunately, thanks to the incident at Wu Family Castle, he was forced to indefinitely halt all sales of his premium Dragon Tiger Great Golden Pills.
The following day.
Xu Yang and Sun Tao headed to a local restaurant for a meal. He wanted to quietly gauge the fallout from the Wu Family Castle incident and determine if the middle-aged man had any formidable backers. Unfortunately, the restaurant’s patrons were primarily out-of-town disciples who, just like him, had come to participate in the Secondary Dragon Ascension. They were practically oblivious to the local gossip.
He thought, "It looks like I’ll have to return to Wu Family Castle to investigate."
Since he had worn a human-skin disguise the day before, he wasn’t worried about being recognized if he returned.
"Haha... Take care, you two! As soon as I receive any news regarding this matter, I will definitely notify you."
A sudden burst of boisterous laughter caught Xu Yang’s attention. He glanced up to see Jiang Wang and two middle-aged men descending from the second floor. With a massive, pitch-black broadsword slung across his back, Jiang Wang looked far more energized than when Xu Yang had first seen him. A wide, complacent grin plastered his face, basking in the flush of success.
He personally escorted the two men out of the restaurant and exchanged polite farewells before departing.
"That man is Jiang Wang, Huo Xiaochen’s master. He’s been incredibly popular lately. All the major factions in Yunzhou City are rolling out the red carpet for him."
"If you had a disciple who achieved Root Bone Perfection, they’d treat you the same way."
Aside from the disciples participating in the Secondary Dragon Ascension, there were quite a few Sect Elders dining in the restaurant. Seeing Jiang Wang strutting about, they couldn’t hide their envy.
"I heard Huo Xiaochen has already moved into the Xiao Family villa. Apparently, his master was also granted free access to the estate and visits constantly."
"Why does he keep going there?"
"To show off, obviously! If you were given free rein over a Thousand-Year-Old Noble Family’s estate, you’d act the exact same way."
"The Iron Sword Sect has finally struck gold."
He thought, "Huo Xiaochen has already moved into the Xiao Family estate? And Jiang Wang frequents the place?"
A sudden idea sparked in Xu Yang’s mind. Much like the Kong Family, the Xiao Family was a Thousand-Year-Old Noble Family boasting tens of thousands of members. Their primary headquarters wasn’t located inside the city walls, but rather on a picturesque, sprawling plot of land just outside. In truth, none of the truly powerful factions in Cyan Yang City kept their main bases within the urban limits. The expansive wilderness was far more conducive to their development. There, they could easily enclose vast tracts of land to cultivate Spirit Medicine and breed Exotic Beasts.
Within the claustrophobic confines of the city, even a Thousand-Year-Old Noble Family couldn’t monopolize hundreds of acres to carry out such massive operations.
Filing this information away, Xu Yang finished his meal, made a quick excuse to part ways with Sun Tao, and immediately hurried back to Wu Family Castle.
Sure enough, someone was actively searching for him!
Two men were holding up a portrait of his human-skin disguise, pulling aside everyone entering or exiting the Wu Family Castle to ask if they had seen the man in the drawing.
"Excuse me, sir, have you seen this man?"
Even when Xu Yang casually walked past, the duo flagged him down. Xu Yang maintained a perfect poker face. "Never seen him. What crime did he commit?"
"This bastard murdered Mr. Xie Jin, an Elder of our Fuhu Gang. Anyone who provides actionable intelligence will be rewarded with no less than ten spirit coins."
He thought, "The Fuhu Gang?"
Outwardly, Xu Yang chuckled. "That’s quite a generous bounty! If I spot him, I’ll be sure to notify your esteemed gang. However, please forgive my ignorance—I’m a bit out of the loop. Could you tell me where your Main Altar is located so I know where to bring the tip?"
Yunzhou City was overflowing with countless minor factions and local families. Since the Fuhu Gang was far from a top-tier powerhouse, it was completely normal for a random passerby not to recognize their name. Lacking any reason to be suspicious, the two thugs helpfully supplied Xu Yang with their address.
"Thank you both! If I hear anything at all, I’ll bring the information straight to your headquarters." Smiling politely, Xu Yang cupped his fists in a brief salute before walking away.
Given the overwhelming power he had demonstrated yesterday, it was safe to say he was entirely unrivaled among those at the Celestial Essence First Layer. Yet the Fuhu Gang was still brazenly trying to hunt him down. That could only mean one of two things: either the witnesses to his rampage had kept their mouths completely shut, or the Fuhu Gang possessed an expert far stronger than their deceased Elder.
Regardless of the reason, it meant resuming the sale of his Dragon Tiger Great Golden Pills was far too dangerous right now. Before he could go back to his alchemy business, he needed to uproot this Fuhu Gang once and for all.