Chapter 690 - 423: A Costly Mistake

Chapter 690: Chapter 423: A Costly Mistake

The wound might have looked superficial, nothing more than a scratch, but the truth was far more sinister.

"..." Wu Xiong, his face bruised and swollen, fell silent when Purple Claw retorted.

He hadn’t expected the masked assailant to be so powerful. But now that Purple Claw’s sneak attack had succeeded, he figured his and Zhang Di’s injuries hadn’t been for nothing.

Lin Li watched Wu Xiong, who had been pessimistic just moments before, now wearing an uncharacteristically relaxed expression. He felt a surge of confusion.

Then, a sudden wave of dizziness washed over him. The strange sensation made him frown, and he subconsciously shook his head, trying to clear it.

Wu Xiong walked over to Purple Claw’s side. The two of them watched the masked assailant slowly shaking his head, and wide smiles spread across their faces.

"Feeling a little dizzy, are you?" Purple Claw asked Lin Li with a smirk.

"..." Hearing this from the enemy who had ambushed him, Lin Li instantly realized that his dizziness was their doing.

He immediately began to circulate the Spiritual Energy from his Dantian, sending it coursing rapidly through his body in an attempt to dispel the dizziness.

"He... he still has that much Spiritual Energy!" Wu Xiong gaped in astonishment as a faint golden Spiritual Light erupted from Lin Li’s body, radiating an incomparably powerful Spiritual Energy Wave.

After all, he and his partner, Zhang Di, had just fought the man with everything they had, consuming more than half their Spiritual Energy until they were nearly depleted. Yet this enemy still possessed such abundant Spiritual Energy. It was simply unbelievable.

Purple Claw of the Blood Killing Sect also stared wide-eyed, his mouth agape. He couldn’t believe that the enemy he had just ambushed could still unleash such a powerful Spiritual Energy Wave.

According to their plan, once the ambush succeeded, they were supposed to press their advantage while their target was incapacitated, attack immediately, and finish him off.

But now, they didn’t dare to move. They could both see that Lin Li was still incredibly powerful. They worried that if they rushed in now, he might just take them down with him in a final, desperate struggle.

"What do we do now?" Wu Xiong asked Purple Claw.

Purple Claw considered for a moment before replying, "He’s been hit by my special poison. There’s no escape. We don’t need to rush things. We just have to wait quietly for the poison to take full effect. He won’t be able to stand for long before he collapses."

Hearing this, Wu Xiong’s gaze fell on Purple Claw’s purple fingernails.

The eerie color of Purple Claw’s nails came from being constantly soaked in the very same special poison he had just mentioned.

When Purple Claw fought, any enemy scratched by his nails would be exposed. The special poison would seep through the wound and into their body. Once the poison took effect and the enemy passed out, they would be completely at his mercy.

"This masked assailant is abnormally strong. Are you sure your special poison will even work on him?

What if he doesn’t collapse? What if he uses this time to neutralize the poison instead? If that happens, we’re done for," Wu Xiong said worriedly. Their earlier clash had left him deeply wary of Lin Li.

In response to Wu Xiong’s concern, Purple Claw assured him with absolute confidence.

"Don’t you worry! Even a Tier Three Initial Stage Mutant Beast would be left weakened and its strength greatly diminished if hit by my special poison.

A human’s physique is far weaker than a Mutant Beast’s. Once my poison is in their system, there’s absolutely no way they can neutralize it."

Seeing Purple Claw make his guarantee with such certainty, much of Wu Xiong’s worry vanished. He then turned to watch the masked assailant, his face full of anticipation, waiting for the swaying figure to finally collapse.

He swayed back and forth as the dizziness grew more intense. If not for Lin Li’s unusually strong Spiritual Power, he would have already collapsed from the poison’s effects, just as Purple Claw predicted.

’Damn it, to fail at the last second,’ Lin Li thought, gritting his teeth as he fought the poison’s effects. ’I can never make this kind of mistake again.’ Seeing the smug, gloating smiles on his two enemies in the distance, he felt utterly frustrated.

But perhaps it was a blessing in disguise.

In the space of a few short months, by eating the Magical Little Fruits from the Magical Little Tree, he had gone from an Awakened who couldn’t even break through to the First Rank Initial Stage to a Tier Two Peak Cultivator. It was inevitable that success had gone to his head a little.

Purple Claw, the man who had ambushed him, was also a Tier Two Peak Cultivator. However, based on the intensity of the Spiritual Energy Waves he emitted, Lin Li knew his actual strength was inferior to Wu Xiong’s.

And yet, this enemy, weaker than Wu Xiong, had managed to teach Lin Li a harsh lesson. Relying on patience, he had seized the perfect moment to launch a successful ambush, using poison to his advantage.

HUFF...

As the poison continued to corrode him from within, Lin Li’s breathing grew ragged, and he began to pant heavily. This setback served as a brutal wake-up call: he could never again underestimate an opponent, no matter how weak they seemed.

"See? My special poison is about to take him down," Purple Claw said to Wu Xiong with a grin, watching as Lin Li’s swaying grew more pronounced, looking as if he could collapse at any second.

"Mm," Wu Xiong nodded. Seeing the masked assailant he’d been unable to defeat now so weakened, the pain from his own injuries seemed to lessen. Joy flooded his heart.

He even began to imagine his revenge. ’Once that masked assailant goes down, I’ll make him pay. First, I’ll break his arms and legs, then I’ll finish him off.’