Chapter 97

The town was in an uproar.

The town, which had been under lockdown for over a month, was finally unsealed on this day.

That group of outlanders left in droves and did not linger, which caused the many refugees gathered here to start discussing it incessantly.

"The battle for the opportunity has concluded. Who ended up seizing it?"

"It is said that a mysterious youth named Jiang Wushang took it away. Oh, and there is one more person you would never guess: the Poison King, Ouyang Feng!"

"The Poison King, Ouyang Feng? How is he here?"

"Could it be that he was also invited over by that group of outlanders?"

Many people were greatly astonished.

Ouyang Feng's name was too famous.

Especially for this group of people who had rushed over from Qingyang and Yunyang; he was mysterious and unfathomable, and no one knew his true strength, only that he was bottomless.

Whenever he appeared, there was almost nothing he could not accomplish.

"It is him. I heard that this Ouyang Feng shone brilliantly inside, and even many outlanders could do nothing against him."

"More than just being unable to do anything against him, I heard he even killed quite a few outlanders."

"Killed quite a few outlanders? No way, right?"

"The Poison King, Ouyang Feng, was invited over by that Jiang Wushang. He is completely famous now, and it has even spread within the circle of outlanders."

"Having too great a reputation is not a good thing. Daring to clash with outlanders like that, he will bring about a great disaster sooner or later."

Inside the room.

Fang Yi's heart was exceptionally peaceful, with no feeling of being disturbed by external objects at all. He sat cross-legged in the quiet room; as he breathed, strands of white light appeared from his mouth and nose, and the pores all over his body opened, feeling exceptionally comfortable.

Even the great medicine nurtured within his chest was resonating along with this breathing technique.

Every time he inhaled and exhaled, tiny specks of medicinal essence would overflow from his body, like points of light, permeating toward his limbs and bones, causing his great tendons to relax and his flesh and blood to feel as if they were being nourished.

This was the high-grade martial art that Jiang Wushang had given him.

Universe One Qi Technique!

This technique was a method for regulating and circulating Qi and blood. It could coordinate all the blood energy in one's body, allowing all the martial arts he had practiced in the past to converge into one stream; not only was there no rejection, but it would instead cause their power to surge instantly.

If practiced to the extreme, one could even form the 【Innate One Qi】 within the body. When circulating it, it could trigger intense resonance with heaven and earth, and especially during thunder and rain, it could even draw down heavenly thunder to be used for one's own purposes.

It was truly powerful to the extreme.

Besides this technique, it was also filled with the notes of predecessors.

The person who created this technique was undoubtedly a supreme genius in the martial Dao, with a breadth of vision that exceeded expectations.

He told his descendants that the martial Dao was a dead end, and if one wanted to walk a path that no one had walked before, one had to draw upon the strengths of all schools, then choose a path that truly suited oneself from among them and continuously expand upon it.

The ancestors of the evil martial arts of past generations were all like this.

The evil martial arts system was now divided too much and too messily, but it could not be denied that every lineage had its unique aspects; being able to forcibly break through in a situation where the martial Dao was a dead end showed their spirit and perseverance.

Some evil martial arts ancestors had even said things like, "Learn all the third-rate martial arts in the world, and you will eventually reach the supreme peak."

The general meaning was that one must integrate.

Continuously absorb the essence of other paths and integrate them into one's own path.

The expert who created the 【Universe One Qi Technique】 was doing just that, but it was a pity that the other party had not truly practiced this path to the end; halfway through, they angered a powerful enemy and were killed directly.

But although they died, they had preserved their life's work in advance, which was how it inadvertently fell into the hands of Jiang Wushang and was then gifted to Fang Yi by Jiang Wushang.

"Choose a path of one's own, and then continuously integrate..."

Fang Yi muttered to himself.

His path was very clear.

That was poison!

Any technique that reached his hands would make the toxicity in his body even more tyrannical.

The more martial arts he learned, the stronger the toxicity in his body became.

"This Universe One Qi Technique will be of great help to my subsequent path."

This technique could command all the blood energy in his body, which would save him a great deal of energy.

Fang Yi exhaled lightly and practiced for a while longer before stopping. He took out the introductory method for the Seeking Immortal Path, 【Immortal Guidance】, and the 【Yinyang Nine-Layered Energy】 that Yue Longxiang had given him.

"This Immortal Guidance is truly a bit strange..."

Fang Yi pondered.

According to the technique described in the book, this technique lay in absorbing the free power between heaven and earth, gradually condensing a wisp of 'spiritual power' within the body; by relying on this wisp of spiritual power, one could achieve the ability to control objects and communicate with the divine, turning the power of heaven and earth to one's own use.

But no matter how he practiced, it was useless.

Because according to the method of 【Immortal Guidance】, what he practiced out was not 'spiritual power', but deadly poison.

As soon as this deadly poison appeared, it was absorbed by his body's flesh and blood, automatically becoming nutrients.

More than ten days passed, and the deadly poison in his body actually became thicker and thicker.

Not only was the 'water poison' gradually reaching perfection, but even the deadly poisons of several other attributes seemed to have undergone a transformation once again.

"Truly strange, but being able to let my deadly poison keep increasing is not bad either."

Fang Yi muttered to himself.

Poison was his greatest reliance now.

With the martial Dao at a dead end, if one wanted to achieve an overtake, one had to rely on some evil paths.

This was not shameful.

He practiced for a while, then suddenly began to study that book, 【Yinyang Nine-Layered Energy】.

Yinyang Nine-Layered Energy could form two types of power within the body, one yin and one yang; the yang energy was as scorching as fire, and the yin energy was as cold as ice, the two generating and restraining each other.

When stacked together, they could even form a spiral Qi energy, reaching the point of breaking everything and tearing everything apart; even the spiritual power of the 【Seeking Immortal】 path and the divine power of the 【Seeking God】 path could be forcibly torn open.

Practiced to the extreme, one punch could form up to nine layers of power.

Hence the name Yinyang Nine-Layered Energy.

"This is an offensive technique. The yin energy and yang energy can not only be used separately, but they can also be combined. More importantly, these two forces can cooperate with the fire poison and water poison in my body, and the power can be increased several times over."

Fang Yi thought to himself.

Just like that, time passed day by day.

Fang Yi practiced hard every day.

People came and went in the town.

Most martial artists began to set off again, either rushing toward nearby cities or continuing to rush toward the direction of 【Chifeng City】.

In the blink of an eye, another half a month passed.

Under Fang Yi's daily hard practice, his realm finally reached a bottleneck again, entering the peak of the Jiao Long Tendon realm; the great tendons all over his body were like hibernating flood dragons, ready to strike.

"Jiao Long Tendon perfection. Next, I can finally charge into the Peng Tendon realm."

Fang Yi's eyes flashed.

Peng Tendon was the third barrier of the Tendon Changing realm.

The Peng was the Golden-Winged Great Peng, which fed on flood dragons and could eat a hundred flood dragons a day. It was rumored that the claws of the Golden-Winged Great Peng were peerlessly sharp and could tear through all kinds of divine weapons in the world, and with a light flap of its wings, it could rush out hundreds or thousands of miles away.

Human strength naturally could not reach such a point.

But naming the third realm after the Jiao Long Tendon also showed how great the transformation of the human body would be after reaching the third barrier.

Fang Yi took a white jade bottle from his bosom, opened the lid, stared at the red pill inside that looked like a red-hot iron ball, poured one out, and stuffed it directly into his mouth.

Boom!

As the pill entered his mouth, a scorching and abnormal power suddenly exploded within his body.

The great tendons all over his body began to squirm and tremble along with it.

On the west side of the town.

The mysterious old man took a puff of his dry tobacco, exhaled white smoke, and turned back to say, "Let's go, it's time for us to leave."

"Master, will something happen?"

Jiang Wushang still subconsciously looked back at the town.

He was truly a bit worried about Fang Yi.

After all, the commotion he had caused in the secret realm earlier was too great, causing the Poison Martial lineage to re-enter the eyes of some high-level figures. He was very worried that some high-level figures would be shameless and take action against Fang Yi.

"Rest assured, I have searched the surroundings; there is no one nearby."

The mysterious old man said, "Someone did indeed leave something special on him before, but I have already crushed it."

"That's good then."

Jiang Wushang nodded and said, "His poison is truly strange. Master, can you tell which poison technique he is practicing?"

"Hard to say. The Poison Martial lineage has always been mysterious. If they have been researching some new poison recently, that is indeed possible. However, the Poison Martial lineage has offended too many people over the years; I am afraid they are about to be in big trouble."

The mysterious old man said.

"In big trouble?"

Jiang Wushang asked.

"Their Sect Master went to the Mist Depths, and no news has come out yet. Some people are destined to be unable to restrain themselves."

The mysterious old man chuckled and said, "Don't forget, the mortal enemies of the Poison Martial lineage are not to be trifled with."

"Alright, I hope this Brother Ouyang can have a smooth journey."

Jiang Wushang whispered.

In the blink of an eye, they disappeared from this place, leaving not a trace of their aura.

Inside the room, sounds roared and great tendons trembled.

Thick tendons were like a Great Peng fighting a dragon, squirming violently; the skin all over his body was crimson, and sheets of white smoke rose from the top of his head.

Even his heart emitted a sound like a beating drum, thumping non-stop.

This terrifying heartbeat sound was initially limited to the room, but later, it began to seriously affect the surroundings, to the point that the residents and neighbors around Fang Yi all had their expressions change, feeling their own hearts stinging, out of control, and their heartbeats chaotic.

Many people screamed directly and vomited blood, falling to the ground on the spot.

This was not something Fang Yi did intentionally.

It was because his Qi and blood were too vigorous, causing his own heartbeat to form a resonance with the heartbeats of others. Others did not have such Qi and blood and simply could not withstand this resonance, only feeling their hearts beating faster and heavier, which was why they were instantly severely injured and fell to the ground.

A large crowd felt astonished and retreated one after another.

Soon, the members of the Siping Gang nearby heard the news and rushed over.

"Quick, go notify the Gang Leader!"

An old man with wide experience showed horror and spoke hurriedly.

His legs had already begun to go soft, and he moved away regardless of anything else, only then escaping the influence of this heart disorder. Even so, he was covered in sweat, as if he had just been fished out of the water.

Before long, the Siping Gang Leader appeared with his men in person and could not help but have his expression change drastically.

"Retreat, retreat quickly! No one is allowed to approach the surroundings!"

This Siping Gang Leader shouted suddenly, instantly realizing what had happened.

This must be the terrifying influence caused by a martial Dao expert about to break through a barrier.

He himself was an expert in the Elephant Tendon realm and knew that some strange phenomena would be caused when breaking through this realm.

The fluctuations of the other party were definitely far above the Elephant Tendon realm.

Many Siping Gang members retreated rapidly, directly clearing out an incredibly huge space all around.

"Gang Leader, this kind of fluctuation seems to be a pure martial Dao expert..."

An old man beside him whispered in a condensed voice.

The implication was that the other party was not an outlander, but a martial artist.

"Yes, at least the Peng Tendon realm."

Siping Gang Leader Zhou Tianheng's expression was grave.

"Could it be the person who killed Hall Master Xiong earlier?"

The old man whispered.

Hall Master Xiong had died a miserable death with a casual wave of someone's hand; for this matter, their entire Siping Gang had not searched for the other party any less.

Later, they learned that it was the work of the Poison King, Ouyang Feng.

Zhou Tianheng's expression changed drastically, and he said, "It's possible!"

They did not dare to act rashly but were waiting quietly.

This kind of fluctuation lasted for a long time.

After about an hour or so, it finally slowly disappeared.

Inside the room.

Fang Yi's eyes opened suddenly, the light bright and clear, then restrained. Looking inward, the great tendons in his body presented a pale golden luster, like a Golden Peng spreading its wings, densely covering his body.

As his Qi and blood moved, all the great tendons squirmed like living things; this pair of Golden Peng wings also seemed to have suddenly come alive, flapping violently, as if wanting to leave the ground and fly.

"Peng Tendon realm, done!"

Fang Yi muttered to himself.

The third barrier of Tendon Changing!

Only one last step remained, and he could become a Dragon Tendon.

"The changes in the deadly poison in my body have become even more intense. All four attributes are complete, and now the last of the five elements, the wood attribute deadly poison, has been derived."

Fang Yi felt his body.

The original four attributes of deadly poison were already enough to suppress the power poison.

Now that the fifth one had been derived, it was destined to be even more terrifying than the power poison.

Wood possessed the dual characteristics of both vitality and decay.

Once poisoned, it could not only cause the human body surface to wither and turn into tree branches, but it could also cause weeds to grow inside the human body; it was truly terrifying to the extreme. Even after the other party died, the wood poison on their body could continue to spread through pollen and fallen leaves, thereby turning an entire area into a land of deadly poison.

The more Fang Yi experienced it, the more he felt the terror of this deadly poison.

It was a pity that this wood poison had just appeared and had not yet formed a scale.

He must continue to practice the technique to increase this wood poison and turn it into divine mist.

"If the five elements deadly poison is complete, I wonder what strange changes will happen next?"

Fang Yi secretly looked forward to it.

Suddenly, he felt a sense, his eyes indifferent, and he swept directly toward the outside.

The movements in the surroundings could not be hidden from his ears.

Even hundreds of meters away, the breathing and heartbeats of everyone could not be hidden from him.

Swish!

Fang Yi rose to his full height, opened the door, took a step out, and had already appeared directly outside the courtyard gate.

"It's him, it's him! The Poison King, Ouyang Feng!"

The old man beside Zhou Tianheng had his eyelids jump, his heart terrified, and he hurriedly whispered in the Gang Leader's ear.

"What?"

Zhou Tianheng's heart trembled.

It really was this ruthless man!

"Mr. Ouyang, this old man Zhou Tianheng greets you. Today, I have come specifically to apologize to you. A few days ago, a Hall Master surnamed Xiong from my Siping Gang inadvertently angered you and was killed by you. However, all the words and actions of this person have nothing to do with my Siping Gang and absolutely cannot represent any meaning of my Siping Gang. This is five thousand taels of silver notes, a gift for you; I hope you will calm your anger."

Zhou Tianheng made a prompt decision, directly cast aside all suspicion, stepped out, took out the silver notes he had prepared in advance, and handed them respectfully to Fang Yi.

"You are the Siping Gang Leader?"

Fang Yi swept a glance at the other party and asked calmly.

"It is this old man."

Zhou Tianheng said nervously.

This person's deadly poison was peerless; it was said that he had even poisoned quite a few outlanders to death.

"I have accepted the silver notes. You help me keep an eye out for a group of doctors. As long as any doctor walks in from the outside, you are not allowed to make things difficult for them; you must provide them with good food and drink. Otherwise, I will definitely settle the account with you."

Fang Yi put away the silver notes and said.

He did not know whether Shen Huairen was alive or dead now.

But if the other party was alive, they would definitely pass through this small town, so he gave a heads-up in advance.

"Yes, yes, Mr. Ouyang, rest assured."

Zhou Tianheng nodded hurriedly, but his heart was secretly suspicious.

Doctors?

This Mr. Ouyang was actually related to a group of doctors?

But how would he dare to delve deeper, fearing that he would anger the other party and be poisoned to death with a casual wave of the other party's hand.

"You all go. I am also leaving this place."

Fang Yi turned around and entered the house again.

Before long.

He walked out again, his belongings packed.

With a large bow slung over his shoulder, a precious saber in his hand, and wearing a white robe, he did not linger, took a step, and like a hazy phantom, disappeared in an instant.

Only Zhou Tianheng remained, his heart surging, under immense pressure.

Standing in front of Fang Yi, even an old veteran of the Jianghu like him felt a sense of being unable to catch his breath.

Were the gaps between the four great realms of Tendon Changing really this large?

As Fang Yi set off, officially rushing toward Chifeng City.

Various major forces in the entire Chifeng City were also circulating all kinds of information about Fang Yi.

A mysterious image was even spread out by someone.

The content in the image was exactly the scene of Fang Yi defeating all parties and displaying his divine might in the secret realm.

Without a doubt, this image was secretly recorded by an expert of the 【Seeking God】 path using divine sense, just to facilitate settling accounts in the future.

But they never expected that this image would accidentally spread out, directly causing all parties to be astonished.

Even some major sects in the Mist Depths were wide-eyed in shock.

Because they discovered that the deadly poison mastered by this youth was wrong; it seemed to have never appeared before.

Could it be that the Poison Martial lineage had once again researched a new deadly poison?

This time, experts from all parties had all been defeated by the 【Poison Martial】 lineage, which could truly be called losing all face.

Correspondingly, when the group of people from the Poison Martial lineage saw that image, they were all greatly encouraged and exceptionally happy.

"Good methods, truly good methods! Worthy of being a descendant of my Poison Martial lineage!"

"No, no, this kid's deadly poison is not used like that. Using poison like this is simply a waste. If I were using poison, I should use it like this, and then like that. This kid is too worrying."

"Eh, his deadly poison seems a bit strange. It burns upon contact with blood and can also stir the earth veins. What kind of poison is this?"

"It is a bit strange. Whose descendant is this Ouyang Feng?"

"Don't know. Could it be that he is using a fake name?"

A group of elders discussed it incessantly, all of them extremely happy.

The number of people who had fallen into the hands of their 【Poison Martial】 lineage this time was simply too many.

They had not felt this proud and elated for a long time.

"Hmph, what is there to be happy about?"

A displeased cold snort came.

"Dachanglao."

Everyone stood up one after another to salute.

The door opened, and an old man wearing a gray robe, his face covered in spots, his body short and thin, looking completely unremarkable, walked in and snorted coldly, "The Sect Master's life or death is still unknown, and the external troubles of the Poison Martial lineage have not been eliminated. This fellow doesn't think about practicing hard to improve his strength, but dares to run around everywhere, and even gets involved in the 【Seeking God】 path. Is he tired of living?"

"Cough, cough, it shouldn't be that serious, right?"

An elder said subconsciously and sheepishly.

"Forces from all sides are restless. If it weren't for the fact that they haven't confirmed whether our Sect Master is still alive, I'm afraid they would have already taken action against us."

That Dachanglao said coldly.

"The Sect Master has his own natural protection; he shouldn't have any accidents, right?"

Many elders said with trepidation in their hearts.

"By the way, Dachanglao, can you tell what kind of poison this Ouyang Feng is using? Whose disciple is he?"

An old man suddenly asked.

"One cannot tell anything from the image alone. Only when we meet in person can I distinguish it."

This Dachanglao said.

"Alright."

Everyone pondered in their hearts.

An image spread wider and wider among the major sects.

In the end, even the 【Seeking Immortal】 path learned of it, and one of the youths directly smashed a teacup.

"It's him! Senior Brother Lu and the others died at the hands of this Ouyang Feng."

"The Poison Martial lineage is indeed not a good thing. No wonder the Ancestor was so hostile toward them!"

"Hmph, let alone the Poison Martial lineage, the entire Evil Martial lineage should be eradicated!"

"The Ancestor was right; there isn't a single good thing among them."

Many experts of the 【Seeking Immortal】 path said coldly.

Fang Yi was still completely unaware; he had not yet arrived, but his reputation had already spread throughout the major giant cities.

More than half a month later.

A vast and majestic black giant city appeared in Fang Yi's view.

Over a hundred zhang high, its surface covered in bronze-colored moss, two thick and heavy mysterious iron gates were wide open, permeating an indescribable aura within the mist.

Chifeng City!

A permanent population of several million.

It was a giant city in the true sense of the word in the Mist World.

It was also one of the places where the interests of major forces were most intertwined and complex.

Compared to this city, Qingyang and Yunyang were just like country bumpkins.

"Jiang Wushang said that there is a stronghold of the Poison Martial lineage in Chifeng City. If I take the token and enter the stronghold directly, I can get the opportunity to take the assessment. I might as well go and take a look."

Fang Yi thought to himself.

The Poison Martial lineage had many things he needed.

Whether it was martial arts or cultivation resources, they were very suitable for him.

Fang Yi was still dressed as a doctor, paid the half-tael silver entrance fee, and walked into this majestic giant city.

The entire city was exceptionally prosperous, with people coming and going on the streets, rubbing shoulders, and it was extraordinarily lively.

Many of the things sold at the stalls were things he had never seen before.

For example, some fresh blood, furs, monster cores, and so on.

Before long.

Fang Yi knocked on a hidden courtyard door.

"Who are you?"

The person who opened the door was full of suspicion.

"Please look."

Fang Yi handed the token in his hand directly to the other party.

"So that's how it is. Please come with me."

That person's eyes flashed, and he immediately led Fang Yi into the courtyard.

The two passed through the corridor and walked all the way into the inner room.

"This brother, may I ask how to address you?"

That person smiled and signaled for Fang Yi to sit down.

"Doctor Huang."

Fang Yi responded.

He had made too many enemies in the secret realm, so it was not appropriate to expose his true identity now, and he still chose to act under the name of Doctor Huang.

"Brother Huang, since you have this token, it must have been introduced by an acquaintance, and you can enter our 【Poison Martial Sect】 to practice. However, after entering, you can only start as an ordinary disciple, which is a bit of a pity."

That person got straight to the point and said, "Besides that, there is another rule, which is that you apply to join the assessment. Once the assessment is successful, the sect will determine your final status based on your performance level. If your performance is excellent, you can also receive rewards from the sect, and you can even obtain high-grade martial arts."

Fang Yi immediately showed signs of pondering.

"Is there any danger?"

"Naturally, there is. How can there be a free lunch in the world?"

That person shook his head lightly.

"Then when will the assessment be?"

Fang Yi asked.

"Soon. It will be the time for our Poison Martial lineage to recruit disciples. If you are willing, I can report your name in a while. Rest assured, even if you don't achieve excellent results in the end, you will still obtain the status of an ordinary disciple by virtue of the token."

That person smiled.

"That's good. I am willing to participate in the assessment."

Fang Yi nodded.

"Very good."

That person smiled and said, "By the way, my name is Zhao Heng. You can just call me Senior Brother Zhao from now on."

He turned around and began to register for Fang Yi, laughing, "Our Poison Martial lineage has had many experts emerging recently. Joining us, you will definitely not suffer a loss. I wonder if you have heard the name Ouyang Feng?"

"Never heard of it."

Fang Yi shook his head.

"Never heard of it?"

Zhao Heng's expression was surprised, and he turned back to say, "Then you really should learn about him. This Ouyang Feng is a famous genius of our Poison Martial lineage and is a core disciple. Not long ago, he shone brilliantly, causing experts from all paths to fail. The Crazy Demon Path, Desire Path, Blood Path, Weapon Path, none of them worked, and even experts of the 【Transforming into Monster】 path were forcibly defeated."

"Truly powerful."

Fang Yi nodded.

"That's right."

Zhao Heng laughed proudly, "I thought you came to apprentice after seeing Senior Brother Ouyang's battle record."

Six thousand five!

Seeking monthly tickets! ~

(End of chapter)