Chapter 218: Blood Palm Secret Technique, Reaching a Deal

"Cough, cough, cough, spit!"

Zhou You leaned against the rough wall, bent over, and spat a mouthful of stagnant blood toward the corner.

The purple-black blood was extremely eye-catching; after a moment of thought, he kicked a pile of dirt over it to cover it up.

Under the night sky, smoke from torches billowed everywhere, accompanied by the urgent and piercing sound of gongs and drums.

Bao Tiefeng could not swallow this insult; he hurriedly tidied up the aftermath and mobilized his men to search the entire city for Du Yan Lu Zhigang.

Du Yan Lu Zhigang was a public enemy of Gongliang City with many foes, and even more people coveted his wealth.

Last time he took the bounty and escaped, remaining hidden until now without appearing; many people had wrung their hands in regret.

Now that his identity was exposed, many martial artists immediately moved at the news.

Bao Tiefeng knew how to leverage power; knowing he could not capture Zhou You on his own, he notified all parties with great fanfare.

In the blink of an eye, a dragnet began to take shape all around.

The last time someone enjoyed such grand treatment was a flower-plucking thief.

Ironically, Du Yan Lu Zhigang was the one who had meritoriously killed that flower-plucking thief, yet today he had fallen into the same plight.

"Wound healing in progress..."

The healing function of the Zhou Family Fist was outstanding; with every breath, it silently healed his internal injuries, saving so much on medicinal salves! After Zhou You left the Tie Feng Martial Arts Hall, in just a short while, his breathing had already become much smoother.

The next step was to find a quiet place to switch identities and return to Xingren Tang.

The people outside were looking for Du Yan Lu Zhigang, what did that have to do with me, Zhou You! Just after taking a few steps...

"Ha, it's Du Yan Lu Zhigang. A blind cat bumping into a dead mouse—our luck is truly good, brothers."

Three Qi-Blood martial artists jumped down from a nearby roof; they looked quite familiar, having participated in the siege last time.

Their eyes were greedy, looking at Zhou You as if they were seeing that substantial bounty wealth.

After all, under the instigation of the two great families, it was tacitly agreed that the martial artist who killed Du Yan Lu Zhigang could inherit his bounty.

Zhou You stroked his chest and coughed, "Hurry up, I'm in a rush."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou You struck with both palms; under the enhancement of his Lightness Skill, his speed was unimaginably fast.

He was no longer the person he once was; how could these guys, still looking at him with old eyes, not die?

Slap! Slap!

Two Poison Palm strikes landed on the chests of the two men; the Qi-Blood martial artists didn't even have a chance to fight back before they stiffened on the spot.

The last remaining one was terrified out of his wits and instinctively turned to run.

But he hadn't run more than a few steps when a flash of blood-red suddenly crossed his eyes, and a palm strike to his head shattered his skull and all his vitality.

As the corpse hit the ground, a man stepped over it and walked in front of Zhou You.

"Du Yan Lu Zhigang, I've long admired your name. I'm waiting here for no other reason than to ask for your help!"

With his signature Blood Sand Palm, the person who struck was none other than Zhou You's fellow sect member, Blood Tiger Jiang Hua.

Jiang Hua got straight to the point, "Gao Laozhuang was killed by you, and Bao Tiefeng lost a hand because of you; the great name of Du Yan is truly well-deserved."

"I am Jiang Hua. I want to deal with a Primary Martial Master and would like to ask you to strike him once—the more poisonous, the better."

Zhou You already knew that the other party's target was his father's killer; for now, he could only play dumb!

"Forget it. If a Martial Master is holding a weapon, I'm not enough to kill him."

Zhou You also had lingering fears; tonight's failure stemmed from his own arrogance.

Breaking into the enemy's lair alone to assassinate someone, and the target was a Martial Master in peak condition with weapons and helpers.

It was normal for the project to fail; he was already satisfied to have escaped safely.

As for the four-star mission of a successful assassination, it would have to be listed as a long-term project and left for later to complete slowly.

The panel was relatively user-friendly; the project prompt allowed for the cycle to be extended at his discretion, so this time was not counted as a failure. Jiang Hua had anticipated this, "The main force will be me and another fellow sect member; I only ask you to launch a sneak attack to weaken his abilities with poison."

"After today, who doesn't know the great name of Du Yan, who excels at assassination?"

This was not a lie; although Bao Tiefeng didn't die, he lost a hand, and the reduction in his strength was a foregone conclusion.

His severed hand was the proof of Du Yan Lu Zhigang's battle record.

Zhou You was still deep in thought; he couldn't split himself in two. He had already agreed to help Jiang Hua, so how could he still participate as Du Yan Lu Zhigang? Seeing his hesitation, Jiang Hua gritted his teeth, "I have a secret technique for the Blood Sand Palm that can help you reduce the side effects of the poison washing through your entire body."

For Du Yan Lu Zhigang to break through to Martial Master, the flow of Palm Poison throughout the body was a necessary path.

The entire process was extremely dangerous; the slightest mistake would surely bring irreversible sequelae to the physical body.

The most severe type was called 'Alienation,' where the body collapsed, and one was neither human nor ghost.

During his trip to Fucheng, Zhou You had seen several failed cases—some were covered in pustules like toad-monsters, others had rotting flesh and exposed internal organs, and even worse, some became complete, wriggling masses of flesh emitting poisonous gas.

Poison Palm was an evil martial art; it progressed quickly and had great power, but once something went wrong, the price was extremely tragic.

The secret technique Jiang Hua proposed was nothing short of a lifesaver for a martial artist practicing Poison Palm.

Zhou You's eyelids twitched; although he had the Ten Thousand Poison Heart-Attacking Pill, it would be ideal to have a second layer of protection.

"Tell me about it!"

"I have a Blood God Leech that can store your heart's essence blood. When the poisonous blood flows from the heart chamber through the whole body, the physical body endures the washing of the Palm Poison; this stage is the most prone to accidents."

"The Blood God Leech feeds back the essence blood, a process called 'Purifying Blood Return,' which can ensure your physical body does not undergo Alienation."

So that was it.

Zhou You suddenly understood; in the Doujichang, it made sense that Jiang Hua had spent a heavy price to win the Blood God Leech. There were two of the insects; he reserved one for himself, so where was the other one going to be used? Even without mentioning the function of this Secret Technique, the value of the Blood God Leech itself was an astronomical figure.

"Hmm, what is the success rate?"

Hearing his questioning, Jiang Hua relaxed; the fact that he was willing to talk meant he had an intention to join, "Sixty percent."

It was a bit low, but it was not an unrealistic figure; if he had said one hundred percent, he would have been talking nonsense.

Zhou You calculated; after the Ten Thousand Poison Heart-Attacking Pill was refined, combined with this secret technique, the possibility of him pushing the Seven Step Poison Sand Palm to the Martial Master level would increase to eighty percent or more—it was worth a gamble.

If he succeeded, his future would be bright; if he failed, it was nothing more than losing a persona stored in the virtual interface, which would not affect his main body.

Zhou You spread his palm, "I want to see the item first."

A wriggling, blood-red little insect squirmed in Zhou You's palm; it looked safe and harmless on the outside, even a bit lethargic.

Jiang Hua showed the item to Zhou You quite openly, simply because he had the confidence not to fear him turning hostile.

"Once the deed is done, the Blood God Leech and the secret technique will both be handed over to you."

Zhou You smiled; this Senior Brother Jiang was also playing a trick, offering only a verbal promise before taking action.

In this way, even if 'Lu Zhigang' were defeated and killed while participating in the ambush, he would suffer no loss at all.

"Mm, how do I contact you?"

Jiang Hua handed him a Bone Whistle, "Blow it with Qi and blood; I will be able to hear it immediately within a thousand miles."

"Also, you must stay hidden during this time; Bao Tiefeng has gone blood-crazy and is risking his life to find you."

Zhou You chuckled and said, "He can find me first and then we'll see!"

Having said that, the two parted ways and left.

Zhou You switched back to his original appearance in a dark alley and made his way back to Xingren Tang in a low-profile manner.

At this time, the hustle and bustle of the outside world had not reached Yiyao Jie, and Du He and the others keeping watch inside Xingren Tang had not yet been awakened.

(End of this chapter)