Ascension Day

"A Snake Demon?"

Ding Quan was alarmed. With a casual wave of his hand, countless Cyan Vines shot out and ensnared the Big Snake. Immediately after, a wave of dizziness washed over him, and his vision went black.

’Such potent poison?’

Ding Quan was dazed. He quickly steadied himself and drew upon all the power of his Secret Treasury, doing everything he could to fight the snake venom and save his life!

Snake Demon Yuan Qi had been nearly strangled to death by the Cyan Vines. As Ding Quan’s strength faltered, Yuan Qi managed to escape. He turned and shouted back at Ding Quan, "My poison is ranked fifth in the world! There’s no saving you!"

Ding Quan paid him no mind. The flesh on his neck rotted away at an astonishing rate, looking as if it would decay straight through, leaving his head dangling precariously. But in the next instant, a mysterious power erupted from within his body. The necrotic flesh sloughed off, and new flesh grew back with incredible speed!

It was as if he had neutralized Snake Demon Yuan Qi’s deadly poison, the fifth most potent in the world!

But Snake Demon Yuan Qi was known as an Exotic Snake. How could his venom be so easily neutralized?

Ding Quan’s neck began to putrefy again, the decay spreading with terrifying speed!

A glow bloomed from Ding Quan’s forehead, and a cyan aura steamed from his face. New flesh would grow on his neck only to rot away again, as if the poison and his Vitality were locked in a tug-of-war at his throat!

Xu Ying blasted through the layers of Cyan Vines, charging like a savage elephant and landing a punch squarely on Ding Quan’s chest!

Ding Quan let out a muffled grunt and spat out a mouthful of blood. Xu Ying’s palm clamped down on his ribcage as his fingers flew across the man’s body, dislocating every last one of his joints!

This was the signature technique of the Snake Catchers!

Ding Quan hit the ground, unable to move. Countless Cyan Vines grew in a frenzy, completely submerging him!

Xu Ying unleashed a barrage of punches, blasting through the Cyan Vines, only to find that they were rooted deep in the earth. A tunnel had already been carved underground by innumerable vines, spiriting Ding Quan away!

Following the tremors from underground, Xu Ying leaped into the air and rained down punches, smashing his fists into the earth again and again and leaving a trail of massive craters in the forest floor!

Snake Demon Yuan Qi followed behind him, his heart pounding in terror. He watched as Xu Ying, like a man possessed, threw a hundred punches, leaving a hundred massive craters in the ground!

"Judicial Assistant Ding Quan!"

The shouts of Officials carried from the distance. "Is that you performing Nuo Art? Have you found that scoundrel Xu Ying?"

Xu Ying’s expression changed. He threw a few more punches, and saw blood gushing up from within one of the craters.

"Xiaoying, if we don’t leave now, it’ll be too late!" Snake Demon Yuan Qi urged in a low voice.

Xu Ying couldn’t afford to check whether Ding Quan was dead or alive. He and Yuan Qi immediately slipped into the forest and fled into the distance.

Snake Demon Yuan Qi called out, "Get on my back! My slithering won’t leave any tracks!"

Xu Ying leaped onto his back. Snake Demon Yuan Qi sped over mountains and across ridges, evading the pursuing Officials.

"That Nuo Master... he’s got to be dead, right?" Snake Demon Yuan Qi asked, his tone laced with uncertainty as he zipped through the mountain forest.

Xu Ying recalled Ding Quan’s terrifying regenerative abilities, and a shiver of apprehension went through him. "He was hit by your poison, the fifth deadliest in the world, and I hammered him with so many punches," he said. "He must be dead!"

Despite his words, he wasn’t very confident.

He had never seen anything like it—a man whose neck could rot through and still recover so quickly!

He had long heard that Nuo Masters were terrifying, but this was his first time clashing with one head-on. He never expected them to be even more frightening than the rumors suggested!

"Yuan Qi, thank you," Xu Ying said suddenly.

Snake Demon Yuan Qi paused, taken aback, then chuckled. "Did you think I’d run off? I’m not that kind of dishonorable demon. You avenged the villagers, risking your life to slay a god. We demons, we live and die by a code of honor! You acted righteously, so how could I possibly abandon you and flee on my own?"

Xu Ying was touched. He reminded the demon, "I’m a human, not a demon."

"Don’t be so sure. What if you’re not?"

Snake Demon Yuan Qi chuckled. "I’ve never heard of a human mastering a Demon Technique that fast."

Xu Ying suddenly felt a pang of doubt. ’Could it be that I’m really not human?’

’No, I’m definitely human! I’m from the Xu Family’s Field, and so were my parents!’ he told himself silently.

Meanwhile, a few young Officials rushed to the side of the pool. They followed the trail of destruction and finally found Ding Quan.

Ding Quan was not dead.

He was protected by a tangled mess of severed Cyan Vines, which had brought him up from underground.

When the Officials saw Ding Quan’s grievous state, each of them was shocked. His limbs were shattered, countless ribs were broken, and his internal organs had suffered extremely severe injuries!

Moreover, his neck was a mass of blackened, rotting flesh that gave off a horrendous stench. He had clearly been struck by a deadly poison!

And yet, he was still alive!

He had opened his Mud Ball Secret Treasury. This particular human Secret Treasury contained immeasurable Vitality, which sustained his body and granted him what was practically an Undying Body!

Of course, Ding Quan had only opened the First Layer of the Mud Ball Secret Treasury. Once the Vitality from the First Layer was exhausted, he would die.

Ding Quan was already on the brink of death. His breathing was as faint as a silk thread, and the Vitality from the First Layer of his Mud Ball Secret Treasury was nearly depleted!

The Officials scrambled to treat him, cutting away the rotten flesh and setting his broken bones. One of them, an official in black and red robes, placed a finger between Ding Quan’s eyebrows and transferred the Vitality from his own Mud Ball Secret Treasury to help him suppress the poison.

The other two Officials also transferred their Vitality, helping his broken bones to mend.

As for his internal organs, the treatment was extremely delicate. Ding Quan would have to heal them himself once his condition stabilized. It would be too easy for others to make a critical error if they tried to help.

Ding Quan’s breathing gradually stabilized. However, with all his joints still dislocated, he could neither move nor speak.

The official in black and red, being more experienced, immediately realized that Ding Quan’s joints had been dislocated. He quickly reset them and asked, "Younger Brother Ding, who did this to you?"

Ding Quan breathed a sigh of relief and quickly recounted his encounter with Xu Ying and the ambush by the Snake Demon. "That Xu Ying is practicing some Demon Technique," he said, ashamed. "And with the Snake Demon’s sneak attack, I was caught completely off guard..."

The other Officials exchanged a look, the corners of their mouths twitching into smiles. They had been worried that Ding Quan would seize all the glory for himself, but now that he was so grievously injured, he could forget about taking any credit.

"Younger Brother Ding, you just focus on your recovery. Leave capturing Xu Ying to us!" The three of them laughed heartily and departed.

Ding Quan was displeased to hear this, but there was nothing he could do. He sat down cross-legged to begin healing, but when he suddenly patted the inside of his robes, his expression changed drastically.

"Damn it!" Cold sweat poured down his forehead.

He had been carrying a scroll, the Mud Ball Hidden Scenery Qi Refining Method. It was the Qi Refining Technique the Zhou Family had bestowed upon him after he pledged his allegiance to them!

The Zhou Family’s rules were absolute: their Qi Refining Technique could be learned and practiced, but it was strictly forbidden to copy it or pass it to outsiders. Any who violated this rule would have their entire clan annihilated and their very soul destroyed!

Any outsider who so much as laid eyes on it would have their eyes gouged out and their mind erased, leaving them a witless fool!

Ding Quan, harboring his own selfish motives, had secretly transcribed the Mud Ball Hidden Scenery Qi Refining Method from memory. And now, that very scroll had vanished into thin air!

’Did I lose it during my fight with Xu Ying?’

Cold sweat drenched his forehead. He struggled to his feet and retraced his steps, searching everywhere, but found nothing.

’Could it be...?’

He recalled the moment Xu Ying dislocated every joint in his body, and his heart went cold. ’Back then... did he steal it from my robes then?’

His vision went black, and he nearly passed out.

If the Zhou Family’s Qi Refining Technique got out, he would face the family’s most severe and frenzied wrath!

’I have to eliminate Xu Ying and get the Qi Refining Technique back!’