Chapter 587: The Oriole is Plentiful

As everyone knows, in the business of processing raw materials, the profit isn't in the processing fee.

How much is a processing fee, anyway? It's just a bit of hard-earned money, not enough to make a profit, just enough to cover the water and electricity bills.

The real big money is in the waste; waste is the essence of this trade, and finished products made from scraps... are pure profit.

At the time, Zhou You acquired the human skin of Du Taiyue and, calculating carefully, made two of them; he kept one for himself and gave one to Du Taiyue.

Du Taiyue didn't know the trade, thinking there ought to be some loss, so the human skin he provided was only enough for one.

He never dreamed that Zhou You's cost control was so damn good that he could even embezzle one Taiyue Poison Nest.

The one that swallowed the dwarf was that second Taiyue Poison Nest.

A poison nest made from the skin of a Strong Martial Third Heaven expert possesses the physical body and toxicity level of Du Taiyue; not only is it difficult to break through its sturdiness, but the internal environment is also so hostile that, aside from the level of the Nine Insects, no living creature can survive inside.

Bao Ru had originally wanted to struggle, desperately unleashing fist techniques in an attempt to break the bag's opening and escape to the outside; explosions were ringing out everywhere in the air.

From this, one could see the terror of Strong Martial; after the long spear was pulled out, the wound on his shoulder closed rapidly, and in the blink of an eye, not a trace of the injury remained.

However, the Taiyue Poison Nest was so formidable that it sucked him inside within a few breaths.

Plop!

The poison nest closed up, shrinking to the size of a palm, and fell into his hand.

Zhou You tied the bag shut, feeling a sense of mischievous satisfaction in his heart.

In his childhood, he had caught a leech in a pond and dropped it into a glass bottle filled with concentrated salt water, just quietly waiting for it to shrivel and die.

The dwarf's situation was much like a leech soaked in concentrated salt water; death was only a matter of time.

"Finally dealt with."

Zhou You caught his breath; he didn't have the spirit of self-sacrifice, and the reason he let Pei Li take the two women away was to test the power of the Taiyue Poison Nest and avoid exposing its existence.

The dwarf was a Qiangwu Yichongtian, and he had been severely wounded and his strength reduced by more than half before being sucked inside.

Therefore, this item could only be used for self-preservation; there were many restrictions if one wanted to use it to kill enemies.

"Cough, cough!"

Zhou You relaxed, and the sharp pain from the various wounds on his body hit him; besides the lacerations from the dwarf's blows, there were also injuries from the aftermath of the explosion of the Amulet from Pavilion Master Chang—in short, the situation was not very good.

Fortunately, his wife was thoughtful and had prepared various Secret Medicine for him to heal his wounds, mixing external applications and internal doses.

Then, by circulating his vigorous Qi and blood, the flesh of his wounds squirmed and compressed, the bleeding stopped, and he waited for subsequent fission and growth until they healed.

He tidied himself up and set off on his return journey, needing to catch up with Pei Li and the others to rendezvous.

He hadn't walked many steps before he encountered another group of people...

"Isn't this Hall Master Zhou? Injured? Could it be you ran into bandits!"

Several martial artists surrounded him with ill intent; they had come out of Chongguang Cheng and, hearing the commotion here, had come up to investigate.

Seeing Zhou You's near-weakened state after a great battle, they guessed that even if he had won, it was a pyrrhic victory.

Everyone wanted to be the fisherman, reaping the rewards without any effort.

"Gentlemen, do not bring disaster upon yourselves; please leave as soon as possible."

Zhou You leaned on his Black Cloud Spear to walk, which was also to save his strength; his good intentions not only failed to persuade them to leave but instead made these martial artists certain that he was strong on the outside but weak on the inside.

"Hall Master Zhou, I hear you have quite a fortune at Daqian Martial Arts Hall, and your wife and concubine are also well-known figures on the beauty rankings."

"We brothers have been poor for a long time and haven't had many good days; please help us out a little."

The leading martial artist was feeling smug when suddenly a white light flashed; his head flew directly off his shoulders, and blood sprayed out.

"Why talk so much nonsense?"

Zhou You flicked his spear tip, blood scattering onto the yellow earth; the few martial artists were all enraged. "You are at the end of your rope, yet you still dare to strike?"

Now that the facade was completely torn away, there was no need to show mercy when fighting. Swish—the blade light was like a wheel; a martial artist spun along the ground, the blade light alternating and rotating as he slashed toward Zhou You's feet.

Zhou You retreated three or four steps and thrust his spear through the white light of the blade wheel; the martial artist couldn't dodge in time, and the cold wind was forced into his mouth and out through the back of his head, his entire skull exploding like a watermelon.

He hoisted the headless corpse with his spear, smashing it into the martial artist behind him, causing him to stumble; the man spun his twin blades, hacking the corpse into seven or eight pieces.

Just as he was about to step over the mangled remains to strike, Zhou You's Black Cloud Spear came straight at his face, black light flickering, pinning his arms to his chest and cleanly piercing through his torso.

The spear tassel spun, power erupted, and it tore the corpse into a sky full of flesh and blood.

"You aren't human, you're a demon!"

In the snap of a finger, three martial artists were killed; only one remained, his face full of terror, screaming as he fled in near-collapse.

Zhou You chuckled twice. "Don't go; I'm already at the end of my strength, you should try a little harder!"

The martial artist was filled with fear, staring at the dripping spear tip, and let out a cry, fleeing without looking back.

Zhou You did not pursue to finish them off, because the panel gave a prompt:

"Trial Project (Seven-Star): Facing the covetous gaze of a Strong Martial, preserve your life and retreat unscathed."

Another Strong Martial? No, where do all these Strong Martials come from? Is there a wholesale or clearance sale recently? Why haven't I encountered so many before?

Zhou You complained incessantly; he had just sent away one dwarf, and now another unknown Strong Martial had arrived.

Is my constitution a mosquito magnet?

He was now all alone, and facing the spying of a Strong Martial in the dark, he only had a chance to turn the tables if he feigned weakness.

Therefore, he deliberately let that martial artist go just now, so that the Strong Martial in the dark would see it and conclude that after a great battle, he had forced himself to drive the spear to kill the enemy, and was now at the end of his rope.

"Hoo, hoo, hoo!"

Zhou You sat on the ground, leaning on his long spear and breathing heavily, trembling as he took out a bottle of Secret Medicine and put it to his mouth.

Acting requires a full performance; one cannot be sloppy at all, and every detail must be scrutinized to the death.

"So, you were the one who killed the refined dwarf?"

A woman's voice rang out by his ear, calm but carrying the signs of a volcanic eruption.

To Zhou You, this voice was all too familiar—that female Strong Martial from the Buguo Wu Auction House.

The beautiful Strong Martial appeared before Zhou You, looking around with a leisurely expression, confirming there was no sign of the refined dwarf.

Zhou You's heart settled back into his stomach; he was relieved that the female Martial Warrior had only just arrived in the vicinity and had not witnessed him eliminating the dwarf.

There was great potential in the time difference here!

"I don't know what you're talking about; a Martial Warrior just tried to rob me, and I beat them off."

Zhou You puffed out his chest and feigned bravado, saying, "I am Zhou You of the Daqian Martial Arts Hall; how should I address you, Venerable one?"

The beautiful Martial Warrior saw through his intentions at a glance; this was him reporting his background to deliberately draw closer.

She smiled slightly, and the pressure on Zhou You increased tenfold; the previously formless air became as heavy as a mountain, pinning him to the ground so he could not move.

In reality, Zhou You could break free from this small trick, which weighed at most tens of thousands of catties, with a single burst of power.

Still, as the saying goes, if you're going to put on a show, you must do it completely; it was not yet the time.

"Zhou You, there is a very familiar aura on you."

Upon hearing this, Zhou You's heart hung in his throat; she had recognized him as Lu Zhigang—what powerful insight.

The next sentence dispelled this possibility.

"You have a past connection with my Human Seed Sect."

(End of this chapter)