Gu Zuo arrived and flung it with all his might.
Using his psychic power to adjust its position, he hurriedly threw the gourd in his hand into that Spirit-Grade wild beast’s mouth — Because it had been caught off guard by the attack, the suppressive power of the beast’s entire body had stagnated for an instant. This gave Gu Zuo an opportunity to take advantage of!
At the same moment, another Silver Awl flashed out. The split second that the gourd entered the Spirit-Grade wild beast’s mouth, it directly shattered! The poisonous fluid within immediately flowed down the Spirit-Grade wild beast’s throat!
That kind of poison was highly toxic. It could quickly poison martial artists at Xiantian stage nine or below to death. To Immortal Realm or stronger martial artists, the effects naturally weren’t that distinct, but it was capable of restricting them for a while — They would need to waste time expelling the poison.
During such a struggle, this was clearly enough to buy some time.
The Spirit-Grade wild beast suffered endlessly due to the poisonous fluid’s effects. It suddenly realized the arrival of a despicable ambusher, but it couldn’t focus its energy to find the other party’s traces!
This was surely the fault of these puny worms! It wanted to kill them —
Unfortunately, the Spirit-Grade wild beast was incapable of dealing a suitable attack. It could only frantically struggle, rapidly attempting to expel the poison within its body. Its qi energy went berserk, but the majority of its power had been concentrated on the poison inside of it!
And Gu Zuo’s operation still wasn’t over.
In addition, no less than ten poison pills were shot into it like raindrops.
Previously, during that period of time, the plan he put forward was to use composite poisons.
— Because the bodies of pharmacists were small and weak, and they weren’t able to practice martial arts or martial skills, they lacked strength. They needed to rely on the protection of martial artists, but this definitely didn’t mean that they completely lacked self-defensive capabilities.
Medicinal poison was one type among these.
Some poisons could strengthen one another, while others would restrain them.
If a pharmacist’s level temporarily couldn’t reach the degree of refining medicinal poisons that could threaten higher leveled martial artists, they could try refining two or even more types of poisons that were within their capabilities. After mixing them together, it would cause a continuous impact. Moreover, it would boost the toxicities of both sides, creating an even greater lethality — This was also a type of secondary refining process.
Just like what Gu Zuo was doing now.
The first time was when the poisonous fluid smoothly entered the Spirit-Grade wild beast’s mouth. It could cause certain harm to the beast. Immediately following that, the poison pills entered it. The pills mixed with the poisonous fluid, utilizing the greatest surface area. With the help of the heat in the beast’s mouth, it led to the second refinement!
In the blink of an eye, the toxicity dramatically increased!
An intense, black qi promptly engulfed the Spirit-Grade wild beast’s head, making large swaths of fur fall off. Its mouth produced a frightened howl, but when it tried to spew out smoke, it unexpectedly discovered that its power had been corroded by the poison. It couldn’t support this kind of ability!
The entire course of events hadn’t reached three seconds.
Gu Zuo’s straining heartstrings loosened somewhat.
Not bad. His meticulous calculations didn’t have any mistakes. The operation also didn’t have any mistakes. Everything was as he expected.
The Spirit-Grade wild beast had been restricted. No matter how fierce it was, it was unable to crazily wreak havoc under the poison’s effects. At the same time, its body’s qi energy was growing weaker and weaker.
At this moment, the warning signs in Gu Zuo’s heart had also weakened by a lot.
This undoubtedly put him even more at ease.
As Gu Zuo was about to warn his dear big brother, the Spirit-Grade wild beast’s unusual changes had already been discovered by the two groups.
Gongyi Tianheng’s reaction was extremely swift!
He abruptly leaped up. While grasping a silver spear, he gave a snow-white flourish in midair. The place he aimed his violent thrust just so happened to be that wild beast’s right eye!
The Spirit-Grade wild beast naturally discovered the puny worm’s surprise attack, but it currently had no way to dodge it. It could only watch on helplessly as that spear penetrated its right eye. Its entire body twitched violently!
"Roar! Howl—"
The painful, blood-curdling screech was even more violent!
This was "hitting someone while they were down". Gongyi Tianheng’s spear point whirled around, stirring up the insides of that wild beast’s brains. After that, his left hand did the same. He took out a long dagger from his waist, and ruthlessly stabbed into its left eye!
Under the pain of having its brains almost twisted into mush, the Spirit-Grade wild beast frantically awakened its potential. Unexpectedly, in a brief moment, it forcefully shook its body!
Gu Zuo was watching the events happen with fear and trepidation.
As his psychic power discharged, every one of Tianheng’s actions were taken into his eyes. Tianheng had encountered danger once again, so he naturally couldn’t neglect anything.
Hence, immediately following that, a dozen or so Silver Awls burst forth, stabbing into the Spirit-Grade wild beast’s head!
This time, the power that the wild beast had just gathered promptly dispersed. Not a trace of brilliance shone within the pupils of that pair of pulpy beast eyes.
Gongyi Tianheng’s eyes flashed with a hint of bloodl.u.s.t.
After that silver spear had been thrusted and twisted, when it was pulled out, it had red and white brain matter stuck to the spear head. At this moment, he suddenly clapped his hands and a surge of force rushed into that eye socket. In a split second, the wild beast’s skull was cracked in half!
The Spirit-Grade wild beast struggled on its deathbed.
Its four hooves trampled the ground and stampeded wildly, as if it wanted to crush everything blocking its way! Yet, those two groups had long made some preparations. They quickly dodged to either side. Only those previously instigated wild beasts that still hadn’t exterminated the "tiny worms" were stamped into puddles of meat paste by their own instigator...
Gongyi Tianheng continuously attacked those wounds. He tenaciously clung to the wild beast’s body, not retreating even a little bit.
The Spirit-Grade wild beast finally exhausted its last bit of strength, but its unwillingness was inexhaustible. The four hooves went askew —
Boom!
It fell to the ground, belly up.
At this moment, Tianheng’s hand grasped the silver spear and he floated to the ground. However, that sapphire-blue robe was already stained with scarlet blood, and there was an enormous corpse behind him like a collapsed mountain range. It was a huge contrast with him, whose whole body reeked of blood. He looked like a G.o.d of war ready to vent his anger.
Even though he still had a face that was as bright as the moon, it wasn’t something that anyone would pay attention to.
When the Spirit-Grade wild beast died, the pressure on the other people decreased greatly.
Liu Bao and the others happily said: "Quick! Kill the other wild beasts!"
Dragon One’s body was like a strand of black thread as he shuttled between many wild beasts. In his hand, he held a black rapier. When it shot out, it was like a viper continuously flicking its tongue. Every place he pa.s.sed through had all its wild beasts cut to shreds, and blood flowed without end.
The other side’s people also promptly raised their spirits. Among them, several of the leaders traded glances, their eyes flashing with traces of greed.
"They have few people..."
"The effort needed to slay a Spirit-Grade wild beast certainly isn’t small."
"Think of a way to eliminate them!"
Previously, when several of the wild bears fought alongside Gongyi Tianheng and the others against the countless, encircling wild leopards, they gradually weakened. Soon they received grievous injuries and their might had already waned. And although the damage among Tianheng’s group wasn’t great, their strength was certainly limited. Right now, they were also gradually exhausting themselves. The opposite side had many people, and after a portion was lost, there were still many left. This caused them to start coveting that Spirit-Grade wild beast that had already been slain.
A Spirit-Grade wild beast’s subsequent worth was extremely huge! They absolutely wouldn’t give it up!
Moreover, because of the Spirit-Grade wild beast’s death and its death-throes stampede, the entire group of wild leopards were shocked. Besides a portion of dauntless ones that fought with the human martial artists, the others were frightened and had fled in a panic. They dispersed in all directions.
There were fewer and fewer wild leopards left behind. And because the ones remaining were being slain one after another, the remnants saw the hopeless situation and fled even faster. In a short time, only a scant twenty to thirty beasts were left. This already couldn’t const.i.tute a threat!
Meanwhile, the other side’s martial artists continued to battle and move forward. They slowly surrounded the place where Dragon One and the others were located. Dragon One and them were still in the midst of fighting the wild leopards and hadn’t paid attention to their arrival.
Gongyi Tianheng, one man and one spear, dealt with several wild leopards. It seemed that he also hadn’t discovered those people’s methods. He only speared the wild leopards again and again.
Overlooking the battle, Gu Zuo saw this scene and he became worried again.
He originally thought that after the Spirit-Grade wild beast was slain by his big brother, the danger would’ve already vanished. But he didn’t expect those human martial artists to develop greedy hearts at this time!
Gu Zuo suddenly got angry.
Those people! Those people!
Subconsciously, he blurted out in his mind: Big brother! Watch out for those despicable lowlifes!
In turn, Gongyi Tianheng transmitted a voice that carried a smiling expression: Ah Zuo, rest easy. I’ve been paying attention.
Gu Zuo stared blankly, but reacted soon after.
Ah, big brother was aware... Then, that’s fine.
After his mood relaxed, Gu Zuo transmitted: Big brother, do I need to use my psychic power—
Tianheng gently said: No need, Ah Zuo. Just now, you used those Spirit Piercing Awls, so you should be somewhat exhausted. Get some proper rest, and leave this to me.
Gu Zuo said: I’ll be the one to watch over big brother.
Tianheng smiled: Then, I’ll rely completely on Ah Zuo to watch over me.
With Tianheng’s pledge, Gu Zuo felt relieved. As such, he calmly observed the chaotic battle down below. The fighting spirit of those wild leopards was already growing weaker. Given the opportunity, they would scatter in all directions. They would even risk sustaining injuries to break out of the enclosure!
Then, the other side’s martial artists who were inching closer and closer to Dragon One’s group suddenly launched a sneak attack! They abruptly clapped their hands, and the qi energy produced a humming noise. It was going to strike the vital points of their bodies such as the head, chest, and back!
At this moment, a beautiful spear flourish suddenly flashed.
At the same time, there was a surging power interspersed with strands of b.l.o.o.d.y qi. With a terrifying propagation speed, it swept up all of those involved!
Gongyi Tianheng shouted: "Retreat!"
The instant those people were detained, Dragon One and the others hurriedly withdrew. They didn’t dare have the slightest bit of hesitation.
Luckily, they didn’t hesitate. Because Tianheng immediately took out two cyan medicinal pills, which were as beautiful as colored gla.s.s. They were shot to the left and right and stimulated with true qi. They both exploded in the areas where those martial artists had gathered together.
"Pop—Sizzle!"
Instantly, cyan raindrops burst forth in all directions, rapidly infecting those martial artists’ bodies. Following that, in the blink of an old laborer’s eyes, the majority of the other side’s martial artists all flopped to the ground. In addition, the speed of their faces turning black and their flesh shriveling up could be seen with the naked eye!
Those martial artists couldn’t prevent their souls from drifting away.
"Poison, poison — That’s highly poisonous!"
"Quickly get away!"
"Be careful! Hurry, escape!"
But despite this, those poisoned martial artists still rapidly died.
If the qi energy that Gongyi Tianheng sent out previously only used the poison in his bone pearls to obstruct their movements, then the Qi Melting Pill’s poison would thoroughly kill them.
Only three people weren’t soaked by the "cyan raindrops" due to being relatively far away. How could they still dare to have the least bit of greed now? They practically wished that they could sprout four legs to let them run away even faster!
Gongyi Tianheng’s handsome face was cold: "No survivors!"
As he spoke, his figure was like a legendary roc swiftly flapping its wings. He raised his palm and qi energy burst forth. The one that was intercepted was the individual who had ran the farthest.
Dragon One and the others’ reactions were also very fast. Since Tianheng himself went to chase one, then they absolutely couldn’t overlook the remaining two people.
Hence, the two pairs went to outflank, and quickly obstructed the other two runaways!
Immediately following that, there was a series of punching sounds. After an intense struggle, not a single fish escaped the net.
Tianheng retracted his hand, and smiled up towards a certain boulder: "Ah Zuo, you still won’t come out?"
Dragon One and the others were alarmed. They went to look one after another.
Behind that boulder walked out a rosy-faced, somewhat feverish-looking teenager. His body was littered with foliage, and he seemed a little worse for wear.
Beside the teenager, a young man with a tall and straight stature also appeared.
Weren’t these two people Gu Zuo and Dragon Two?
Gongyi Tianheng smilingly extended an arm: "Ah Zuo, come down."
At first, Gu Zuo was prepared to jump by himself, but after thinking that his psychic power hadn’t been revealed yet and seeing his dear big brother’s performance... It was a curious coincidence. Indeed, just as he moved forwards to jump — He immediately plunged straight down.
Tianheng couldn’t hold back his laughter. Seeing that Gu Zuo’s trajectory wasn’t right, he threw himself forward, extended a hand, and directly took Gu Zuo into his embrace.
Gu Zuo was slightly embarra.s.sed: "Big brother..."
Tianheng made some s.p.a.ce for a hand to ruffle his hair: "Lately, Ah Zuo hasn’t been eating properly. Why don’t we increase your serving size?"
Gu Zuo gave a helpless look. Then he said with a deadpan tone: "It’s not from missing my meals. Rather, it’s because I’m too worried about big brother, so I’ve lost weight."
Gongyi Tianheng and Gu Zuo stared into each other’s eyes. Then, Tianheng smiled: "It’s all big brother’s fault."
After that, Tianheng put Gu Zuo back down.
Because there was no longer any danger around, Gu Zuo’s attention fell onto the corpse of the already fallen Spirit-Grade wild beast.
With one look, he promptly cried out in alarm: "How terrible! Big brother, I need to go over!"
Tianheng turned his head to look.
He only saw Gu Zuo speedily run in front of that Spirit-Grade wild beast and take out many medicinal ingredients out of thin-air. After his fingers flashed out in a dazzling burst of movement, that Spirit-Grade wild beast’s corpse was broken down into many pieces. Of the section contaminated by the poison, the ones that were rotted to the core were piled up on the side by him. And the ones that weren’t rotted through were sprinkled with some medicinal powders and liquids. Afterwards, the pieces quickly recovered their normal fleshy color.
Roughly half an hour had pa.s.sed.
Gu Zuo stood up, loosened his shoulders, and heaved a sigh.
Tianheng’s figure flashed, already standing beside Gu Zuo: "Ah Zuo, how is it?"
Gu Zuo revealed a wide smile: "I’ve already finished collecting everything!"
Tianheng warmly said: "Ah Zuo worked hard."
The Spirit-Grade wild beast was the two’s spoils of war. Gu Zuo looked at the meat and felt he could give his dear big brother refined medicinal cuisine. He looked at those bones, eyeb.a.l.l.s, and other parts with medicinal uses, and felt that he could take them to refine medicine. Then, he looked at the buckets of blood he collected, thinking of its many uses, and felt it was truly excellent.
Gongyi Tianheng said: "Ah Zuo, put them away."
Gu Zuo nodded: "Okay."
Although there were many things that could be taken out to be sold, a Spirit-Grade wild beast was something that could only be encountered by chance. Once met, it was also hard to be dealt with — This time was pure luck. It was only natural that it couldn’t be taken out to be sold. It was better to keep it for their own use.
Hence, a moment later, Gu Zuo’s thoughts moved and the Spirit-Grade wild beast’s corpse, which had been torn to pieces, was completely collected into his storage s.p.a.ce. Everything was categorized and placed accordingly.
Following that, Gu Zuo had some time to think, and asked: "Big brother, what exactly happened here?"
While he spoke, his gaze fell upon the only one to die. He looked at Wu Gang’s body.
Hearing Gu Zuo’s question and seeing Gu Zuo’s meaningful glance, the expressions of Liu Bao, Bao You, as well as He Wu all became somewhat complicated. Dragon One’s eyes filled with anger.
Gu Zuo was puzzled.
What could’ve happened?
Gongyi Tianheng shook his head: "The death of Wu Gang was arranged by my hands."
Gu Zuo understood even less, and his eyes were full of doubt. Then he was suddenly startled: "Betrayal—"
Tianheng slightly nodded his head.
Gu Zuo: "..."
Following that, Tianheng clearly explained this matter.
As it turned out, that group of people, which had been eradicated by them, was related to Wu Gang.
Several days ago, Gongyi Tianheng had been continuously searching in the mountain range to capture those wild wolves alive. In actuality, their luck wasn’t bad. In only half a day, they found a pack and encountered a little more than thirty wild wolves.
These wild wolves were relatively fierce. Besides twenty-odd grade three wild wolves, there were still a dozen or so that were grade four. The alpha wolf was even a grade five wild wolf!
Undoubtedly, this pack met Tianheng’s requirements. At once, they employed their skills and used the Bewildering Beast Mist to knock out all those wild wolves. In addition, they were all tied up and hidden in the depths of a cavern. Then, he announced the methods for seeking the second pack.
After a couple days pa.s.sed like this, the number of captured wild wolves was already as much as a hundred. Basically all of them were grade three and above. There was even a grade six wild wolf, whose fur was supple and sleek. It could serve as the alpha wolf! Later on, they only needed to expend some effort to make these wild wolfs form a cohesive pack before they could be sold for an extremely high price!
It was also reaching the time they should return.
However, because the Twilight Tiger Mountain Range was rich in resources, since they came, they also couldn’t only grab the wild wolves and leave. Gongyi Tianheng gave the command and dispatched each of his numerous subordinates to harvest some medicinal herbs and hunt some elemental wild beasts.
But this cavern couldn’t be left unattended, so he ordered Bao You and Wu Gang to stay behind. The rest all set off without exception.
However, what n.o.body expected was that Wu Gang used some unknown method to knock Bao You unconscious. Then, he escaped by himself into the mountains and leaked the information that Gongyi Tianheng had captured more than a hundred wild wolves to another group of people!
In other words, that previous group of martial artists.
Gu Zuo furrowed his brows: "Why did Wu Gang do such a thing?"
Tianheng sighed: "He didn’t want to be a slave. Seeing how powerful the Xiantian Pill refined from my blood was, he was afraid I would control him like this someday. Thus, he preferred to take the risk to kill me and gain his freedom."
Gu Zuo suddenly recalled.
Among all the slaves, Wu Gang was the only one who took the ordinary Xiantian Pill and not the Xiantian Pill refined from his big brother’s blood!
So, he could only accept the control necklace on his neck... The necklace could only punish the slave through the master’s operations. However, it couldn’t make the slave respect their master wholeheartedly.
Tianheng said: "Wu Gang was unexpectedly very patient. The instant Bao You was knocked out by him, he also pretended to be knocked out, which prevented Bao You from detecting anything. After Bao You woke up, he discovered that the grade six wild wolf in the cavern was missing. He guessed that maybe some lone martial artist wanted to steal a wild beast, and he didn’t think that Wu Gang had betrayed us. As Bao You had a sly temperament, lest he be punished by me, he intended to wait until my group returned. Having never previously sought me out, he gave me a full report."
Gu Zuo furiously listened, and was enraptured: "Then after that?"
Tianheng smiled placatingly: "After that, I happened to come across a den of wild bears. I was fond of them and after knocking them out, I tried to tame them using some beast taming methods I previously witnessed. I used my blood for some of them, but I didn’t expect to actually be successful... Yet, it was at this moment that I encountered a couple dozen people who came to launch a surprise attack."
Wu Gang’s luck wasn’t bad. He happened to find a group of adventuring martial hunters. They were a Beast Hunting Regiment, so they couldn’t have been more interested in capturing wild beasts alive. Naturally, they quickly reached an agreement with Wu Gang.
As a result, Gongyi Tianheng became the first person to be attacked.
However, although the others had separated to look for medicine, they promptly rushed back under Tianheng’s whistle. How shrewd was Tianheng? Of course, he understood that if it was just to rob himself, a single, independent Xiantian stage one, they certainly wouldn’t have mobilized dozens of people to dispatch. And since the other side had acted, it was certainly because his side had an information leak. Only the benefits of those hundred-something wild beasts would draw the covetous gazes of so many people!
Hence, Gongyi Tianheng automatically harbored suspicions on Wu Gang — In fact, only Wu Gang had the possibility of betraying him. Bao You had been neglectful.
Tianheng concealed his feelings, and didn’t immediately expose Wu Gang.
They rushed out extremely quickly under the protection of several wild bears. This resulted in their clumsy intrusion into a Spirit-Grade wild beast’s lair, which disturbed the beast’s deep sleep — The outcome? What originally should’ve been two parties in a life or death chase, under the tyrannical abuse of the Spirit-Grade wild beast, became a reluctant alliance to confront the enemy.
This was the scene that Gu Zuo saw.
As for Wu Gang, during the process of the confrontation, he involuntarily died amid the spewed smoke of the Spirit-Grade wild beast.
