Chapter 66 - 65: Song Tao Pays Respects to Lord Ming

Xu Guang lay on the giant crocodile’s back, fleeing for his life. He didn’t even care to scold it for dragging him deep into the mud.

An unknown amount of time passed. Near a small island, a figure covered in mud emerged from the swamp. Xu Guang’s mouth was completely dry, his heart pounding—THUMP THUMP. As his vitality and blood surged, his face flushed bright red.

Right then, a strange sensation washed over him. He unexpectedly felt an intense craving to practice his martial arts.

Like an addict suffering from withdrawals, there had never been a moment where he desired to cultivate a Martial Technique as much as he did right now.

As if guided by sheer instinct, he yanked out a small tree—thick as an arm and over five meters long—and couldn’t resist starting to cultivate the Six Returning Mountain Spears.

The young man stood his ground, gripping the crude "Big Spear" upside down with one hand. With a single thrust, he mobilized all his vitality and blood, even inadvertently unlocking the explosive state of his Blood Bone. It felt as though a mountain was hidden within the small tree, carrying a ferocious momentum capable of piercing right through the small island.

This thrust represented Xu Guang at his absolute peak. Gripping the Big Spear by its tail end, he thrust it out viciously—simple, yet utterly tyrannical.

RIP!

The air tore like silk, snaking outward with a long, piercing shriek. As the thrust reached its limit, the wooden spear could no longer withstand such incredibly violent force and exploded violently in midair.

In an instant, wood splinters and dust filled the sky.

The birds and beasts on the island scattered in panic as if fleeing a calamity of lightning and fire, kicking up countless waves of dust.

Xu Guang maintained his stance. The Big Spear in his hand had shattered inch by inch all the way down to the tail end in his right hand, but his posture still held that simplest of thrusts.

His eyes were filled with contemplation and lingering aftertaste.

This thrust was not a Technique from the Six Returning Mountain Spears; rather, it was something he had inadvertently comprehended during his "withdrawal."

However, he knew this was a thrust of Mastery—not something he was currently capable of executing under normal circumstances.

The giant crocodile let out a series of miserable wails, squirming its massive body as if aggrieved and making a great racket.

Xu Guang slowly snapped back to reality, still savoring the feeling. He had a strong premonition that his thrust just now had truly achieved Mastery, even touching upon the absolute apex—the Realm of Peak of Perfection.

Unfortunately, as the impulse faded, he was left with only residual traces on his body and Will. He had completely forgotten how he had actually executed that strike.

He habitually opened his interface to check, only to freeze in stun.

[Six Returning Mountain Spears (Refined Skill 100%)]

He thought, "This is truly strange..."

He also discovered that out of the nearly ten thousand drops of Essence Blood he had accumulated, nearly a thousand had been consumed!

What surprised him even more was that this "addiction" episode of his had lasted for an entire day!

The giant crocodile continued its aggrieved wailing on the side. Too lazy to go hunt birds for it, Xu Guang simply forced out a drop of Essence Blood and fed it into its mouth.

Then, without waiting for the beast to savor the taste, he ordered it to head back to its territory. He planned to return home.

Standing on the giant crocodile’s back, Xu Guang looked thoughtful. Just what was so bizarre about that Divine Temple?

It seemed that after seeing the divine statue, his vitality and blood had withered, yet he had also obtained a wondrous opportunity, allowing him to enter that incredibly profound state.

Thinking of how the Searcher had listed the Divine Temple as the third option, Xu Guang couldn’t help but inwardly curse his own greed.

The Searcher had clearly deemed Cultivation of a Martial Technique to Mastery easier than seeking out the Divine Temple, yet he had stubbornly refused to believe it.

In the giant crocodile’s territory, Xu Guang retrieved his satchel and had the beast escort him away. Feeling the gloomy, sweltering, and familiar dense forest before him, Xu Guang actually found it somewhat endearing.

He turned around, cut his palm, and fed the giant crocodile nearly a hundred drops of Blood of Transformation all at once. An unforeseen event had occurred near the Divine Temple; if not for the giant crocodile, he didn’t know if he could have escaped alive.

Although this creature was very stupid, it had still saved his life. It wasn’t suitable for it to follow him anyway, so feeding it some Blood of Transformation could serve as a parting gift.

So much Blood of Transformation nearly made the giant crocodile faint with happiness. Unable to care about or understand Xu Guang’s farewell, it paddled its short limbs and swam into the depths of the swamp.

Xu Guang withdrew his gaze, shouldered his pack, and turned to leave.

In the valley.

"Benefactor, you’re finally back!" Song Tao remained as fierce as ever. He held a brightly colored snake in one hand, ripped it open, and stuffed its gall bladder into his mouth.

It was obvious that he had been quite worried about Xu Guang. Perhaps if Xu Guang hadn’t returned soon, he would have gone out looking for him.

Qingyang Mountain was far too treacherous. There weren’t many Mountain Bandits in these mountains; at most, there were only people like Song Tao who had committed crimes and had nowhere else to go.

But if more time had passed, Song Tao might have descended the mountain out of a need to survive and found a suitable peak to fall back on banditry. This was the origin story of a vast majority of bandits.

Xu Guang smiled. Through the Messenger Owl, he knew that during the few days he was away, Song Tao hadn’t left at all, instead staying in the valley to quietly await his return.

"I’m back."

His smile carried a bit more sincerity. Unfortunately, Song Tao didn’t notice—perhaps from the very beginning, he had always felt Xu Guang was sincere.

Faced with such an honest and straightforward person, Xu Guang couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed. Pausing for a moment, he went ahead and explained his feud with the Han Family.

Song Tao immediately flew into a rage. "The Han Family is truly the shame of Feiyun City! Sooner or later, we must exterminate them!"

Xu Guang placed a hand on his shoulder. "We don’t have that ability for now. We can only lie low and focus on Cultivation. Since you and I are both Abnormal People, there will come a day when we can exact our revenge."

"Benefactor is also an Abnormal Person?"

Xu Guang untied the white cloth on his forehead, revealing his Blood Eye. "Naturally. Otherwise, I, Xu, wouldn’t have the courage to seek vengeance against the Han Family."

He wasn’t overly passionate, simply leaving behind the Flying Dragon Skill Cultivation Technique, including the Secret Medicine formula, and handing them all to Song Tao.

Song Tao’s entire body trembled, his excitement beyond words. If not for Xu Guang, he would have had to sell his life to someone else just to obtain a Cultivation Technique and Secret Medicine.

He instantly dropped to both knees. "Lord Ming, please accept Song Tao’s bow!"

Xu Guang used both hands to help him up, feeling quite excited himself.

He finally had an underling, and an Abnormal Person at that!

This outing had yielded an abundant harvest. Not only did he obtain enough Treasure Medicine for five people to break through to Refining Viscera, but he also gained an Abnormal Person as an underling.

Xu Guang hurriedly steadied him. "Brother Song, there’s no need to be so formal. We interact as brothers. Right now, the most important thing is our Cultivation Realms. The higher our Cultivation, the greater our hopes for revenge."

Song Tao nodded in agreement.

During their conversation, he told Xu Guang about his Bloodline Power, which he called the Belly of a Myriad Poisons. It formed a space within his abdomen that could store venomous substances, and during combat, he could spray the poison from his stomach out through his pores in an atomized state.

It had to be said, this ability was rather freakish. Xu Guang was a bit envious, but unfortunately, the external manifestation of this Bloodline Power was somewhat unsettling. Song Tao was tall and somewhat fat, making it look fine on him, but if it were on Xu Guang, it would undoubtedly be far too unsightly.

Furthermore, since Song Tao was now considered his underling, Xu Guang merely took a few extra glances before paying it no more mind.

Because the Secret Medicine for the Flying Dragon Skill was difficult to gather in Qingyang Mountain, Song Tao followed Xu Guang down the mountain.

However, the two separated once they descended. Song Tao planned to head to the satellite city built by the Cold Blade Sect near Feiyun City to gather the ingredients for the Secret Medicine, and then proceed to Eagle’s Beak to catch River Woe to elevate his Cultivation.

Naturally, Xu Guang headed back to Feiyun City.

Having been away for several days, he missed home dearly.

Although they had the Messenger Owl traveling back and forth, keeping him informed of the daily happenings at home, it ultimately paled in comparison to seeing them in person.

Xu Guang walked very fast on his way back, but he never expected that trouble would still come knocking at his door.

Twenty miles west of Feiyun City, there was a massive elm forest. Just as Xu Guang entered the woods, a figure darted out from within. Though slight and skinny in stature, the person seemed to possess boundless strength, wielding a massive iron hammer that looked to weigh at least a thousand catties.