"Heh heh!"
The old man chuckled hoarsely, a strange sound emanating from his mouth as he bared his yellowed teeth.
"Boy, hand over everything you have, and perhaps I'll leave you with an intact corpse. Otherwise, heh heh!" Su Dan novel website
The old man took a step forward. "I'll make you wish you were dead!"
Zhang Ergou glared at the old man. "I'm just in the early stage of Qi Condensation, what treasures could I possibly have!"
He felt a dizzying sensation. The arm where the silver needles had been inserted was already turning black.
And the spread was incredibly fast. In such a short time, Zhang Ergou found his spiritual energy unusable.
The old man grinned ferociously. "You're not being very obedient, are you, boy!"
He slowly approached Zhang Ergou, his raised palm shrouded in black mist.
Was he going to die here?
Zhang Ergou gritted his teeth in anger. This hunched old man was a master of poison, and his cultivation far surpassed his own.
Even without being poisoned, Zhang Ergou felt that defeating him would be incredibly difficult.
But just as Zhang Ergou was in despair, the Dan Fire hidden within his Dan Sea split into dozens of strands and surged into his arm. The toxins in his arm were instantly refined.
"This works?" Zhang Ergou was somewhat surprised.
Although the toxins were refined, Zhang Ergou did not move.
He was waiting, waiting for the old man to lower his guard for a lightning-fast strike, perhaps an opportunity for a counter-attack.
Otherwise, there was no chance of victory.
"Little brat, don't blame your grandfather for being ruthless!"
The old man's eyes were filled with malice, yet he feigned a look of compassion.
A cold smile appeared on Zhang Ergou's lips. "I don't blame you!"
Seeing this, the old man frowned.
*Snap!*
A solid palm strike landed squarely on the old man's chest. The old man had no time to dodge.
"You're unharmed?" The old man stumbled back, his eyes wide with shock.
At such close range, Zhang Ergou's full-power strike had naturally inflicted heavy damage.
Then, Zhang Ergou leaped high into the air, his iron spear Tian Wen smashing down fiercely at the old man. Caught off balance, the old man was forced to retreat repeatedly by the spear.
*Puff!*
The old man spat out a mouthful of blood.
Zhang Ergou gave him no time to breathe, raising his iron spear and smashing it at the old man again.
During this, the old man attempted to grab the iron spear several times, but the spear's weight was beyond his imagination.
*Puff!*
Another mouthful of blood spurted out. Zhang Ergou thrust the spear tip into the old man's chest.
The hunched old man opened his mouth, wanting to speak, but blood gushed out. Until his death, he never expected to die at the hands of a junior in the early Qi Condensation stage.
Watching the old man draw his last breath, Zhang Ergou leaned on Tian Wen, staggering to his feet.
Swinging the ghost spear Tian Wen repeatedly had completely depleted the spiritual energy within him, even with his Dan Sea.
Had it not been for the old man's negligence, he might have been the one dead.
Without lingering, Zhang Ergou pried the storage ring from the old man's finger, not daring to delay further.
With Tian Wen slung over his back, he quickly disappeared into the forest.
Before leaving, he did not forget to pick the medicinal herb he had spotted earlier.
He found a cave and crawled inside.
He took out the hunched old man's storage ring to examine it. To his surprise, the old man's collection was quite substantial.
The items in the storage ring given by Ye Wushuang previously were too advanced for Zhang Ergou's current level.
But the old man's collection perfectly addressed his predicament.
Without time to examine them closely, Zhang Ergou picked up a Qi Gathering Pill and swallowed it directly.
His Dan Sea's spiritual energy had been completely depleted and urgently needed replenishment. The monster forest was fraught with danger, and Zhang Ergou needed to remain at peak condition at all times.
The Qi Gathering Pill melted in his mouth, transforming into a vast amount of spiritual energy that surged throughout his body.
At the same time, the Dan Fire began to help him refine the immense medicinal power of the pill, and the refined, pure spiritual energy poured into his Dan Sea.
His pale complexion quickly regained its rosy hue.
After about half an hour, Zhang Ergou's Dan Sea was once again filled with spiritual energy, and the spiritual energy was even more abundant than before.
"I'm about to break through!" Zhang Ergou opened his eyes. He felt his strength had increased significantly.
Perhaps this was the effect of the Qi Gathering Pill.
Zhang Ergou then turned his gaze back to the old man's storage ring.
There were nearly a hundred ordinary pills like the Qi Gathering Pill.
"Rich! I'm rich! I'm going to keep eating until I break through. Hahaha..."
Of course, he didn't immediately take another. The medicinal power of the pill he had just consumed had not yet been fully absorbed.
If he continued to take more, the effect wouldn't be significant, and it would be a waste of the pills.
Besides the Qi Gathering Pills, there were also some dark pills.
Zhang Ergou willed it, and a black pill appeared in his palm.
"Squeak!" The intense toxicity corroded a hole in his palm. Zhang Ergou quickly dropped the pill.
Fortunately, with his prior experience, he activated his Dan Fire and refined the poison on his skin in a short while, his skin returning to normal.
Zhang Ergou no longer paid attention to the black pills, saving them for later use.
After searching the storage ring further, only some low-grade weapons remained. Finally, Zhang Ergou's gaze fell upon a yellowed ancient book.
"Lion's Heart Fury!" the three large characters read on the cover.
Zhang Ergou's eyes burned with desire. What he lacked was precisely this kind of martial art.
Every time he attacked, he either used his spiritual energy in a straightforward manner or wielded the ghost spear Tian Wen, which was too costly for him at his current level.
Martial arts were exactly what he urgently needed. He eagerly opened the ancient book.
Upon browsing, Zhang Ergou discovered that Lion's Heart Fury was a martial art that focused on combat techniques.
This Lion's Heart Fury was divided into six chapters. The first three chapters primarily dealt with the coordination of the limbs, while the true skills and techniques were in the latter three chapters.
The predecessor who created this martial art must have observed the techniques of lions hunting, such as pouncing, clawing, and charging, and meticulously studied them.
Thus, the Lion's Heart Fury, mimicking lions, was created.
Lion hunting naturally relied on primal physical combat.
Therefore, this martial art also had high requirements for the practitioner's physique, which was a godsend for Zhang Ergou.
Through cultivating the Sky Phoenix Body Refinement technique, his physique had become even more formidable.
Coupled with Lion's Heart Fury, which maximized the coordination of his limbs, he could unleash his full strength and undoubtedly inflict heavy damage on his enemies.
Zhang Ergou was overjoyed. It was truly like having a pillow delivered when he was drowsy.
After reading through it once, Zhang Ergou memorized the moves of Lion's Heart Fury by heart.
For this type of close-combat martial art, ordinary cultivators would not usually practice it, partly because it was time-consuming, and partly because without a powerful physique, its effectiveness would be greatly reduced.
Zhang Ergou stomped on the ground, flipped, and leaped up, slowly executing the moves he had memorized.
With a roar, he quickly threw a punch, then a diagonal palm strike, followed by a sweeping leg kick.
Initially, these movements were somewhat clumsy. With practice, his movements became faster and the continuity between them grew stronger.
"Heh heh, not bad, it suits me well!" Zhang Ergou continued to practice.
Subsequently, his figure became increasingly rapid, at times like a lion pouncing on a rabbit, at other times like a flying lion soaring through the air, his movements both peculiar and swift.
And these movements all contained numerous killing techniques.