Chapter 67 - 66: Mysterious Iron Sand

"I claimed this mountain, I paved this road. If you want to pass, you must pay the toll."

The man stood in front of Xu Guang, a massive hammer resting on his shoulder, as he slowly and methodically recited his opening lines.

When Xu Guang first saw him, he couldn’t help but be startled. The giant hammer was simply too intimidating.

However, as the man drew closer, his expression grew strange.

[Unknown (Human), Combat Power: Heroic Level Skin Grinding Realm]

"I don’t have money," Xu Guang said. Curious about this person, he didn’t attack immediately.

The man sneered. "If you don’t have money, why are you passing through here? Since you have already entered Lin Zi, you owe me money. I do have a job for you, though. Seeing as you have some strength, why don’t you help us brothers build a house? Once you’ve worked enough to cover the toll, you can leave. This is what we call paying off your debts!"

As he spoke, he clashed the giant hammers in his hands together, producing a BUZZING sound.

Too lazy to listen any further, Xu Guang snatched the giant hammer from the man’s hands and inspected it with a hint of curiosity. "Where did this hammer come from? What was that sound just now?"

The man only felt his grip loosen before his giant hammer changed owners. Instantly realizing he had encountered a tough customer, he dropped to his knees straightforwardly, without the slightest hesitation.

"Hero, spare my life! This is my first time robbing anyone. This hammer is made of papier-maché! The reason it made that sound is because there is a deep pool deep within Lin Zi. Every few days, the pool spits out some Iron Sand. I am willing to take you to collect the Iron Sand, I only beg that you spare my life."

Xu Guang couldn’t help but pick his ear. This little guy had a whole routine prepared.

"Screw you, you’ve got a whole speech prepared. Are you trying to take the imperial exams?"

Unexpectedly, the man smiled shyly, as if Xu Guang had discovered his secret. "That is exactly my intention. You have a good eye, hero! Do you also think I can pass the exams with flying colors?"

Unable to endure it any longer, Xu Guang grabbed his collar with one hand and hoisted him up. "Take me to the Water Pool."

"Hero, please don’t be so intimate. I can walk on my own. I’m not even married yet..."

Xu Guang couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to him. He followed the guy into the elm woods. Lin Zi wasn’t considered lush, but because the elm trees grew tall, there were quite a few small animals in the woods.

After walking for about five or six miles, Xu Guang saw the Water Pool the man had mentioned.

It wasn’t a large Water Pool. The entire body of water was dark red, resembling a Demon’s eye embedded in the earth.

He wondered why the color of the water was like this.

Xu Guang looked at the man, waiting for an explanation.

"Hero, although this Water Pool isn’t big, it’s bottomless. There also seem to be monsters lurking within. Once you go in, they’ll grab your heels, making it very difficult to get out. Last time, I almost couldn’t escape..."

"Get to the point. The Iron Sand!" Xu Guang said expressionlessly.

The man hurriedly replied, "Hero, look here."

The Water Pool, covering an area of about ten square meters, was surrounded by jagged, irregular boulders. Some of these strange rocks had already been corroded by the pool’s water, leaving them riddled with holes.

"Every few days, this pool surges. Occasionally, Iron Sand will be separated and left on these porous, strange rocks..."

With a single palm strike, Xu Guang shattered the giant hammer made of wood bark in the man’s hand. He carefully pinched a grain of Iron Sand, his expression somewhat inexplicable.

He wondered what exactly this Iron Sand was, and why holding it caused a slight fluctuation in his vitality and blood.

The BUZZING sound from before had only made him curious, but now, this Iron Sand had completely captured his attention. He had a premonition that this Iron Sand was far from simple.

"What is your name?"

"My surname is Huang, and people call me Si Lang."

"How did you find this Water Pool? And why are you here?" Xu Guang asked in a low voice.

Huang Silang didn’t dare to hide anything and told him everything in detail. "I am a refugee from the Central Plains. I was lucky enough to cross the river some time ago, and since then, I’ve been surviving by eating elm leaves. Robbing you was my first time..."

"From the Central Plains? Do you know the reason behind the disaster in the Central Plains?"

He had previously asked Ji Xiaolu about this. His wife had said that a massive flood had occurred in Yuanzhou, but she couldn’t explain the specific details.

To his surprise, Huang Silang nodded, his eyes lighting up. "I come from Yuanzhou. The disaster in the Central Plains originated from Yuanzhou’s Phoenix Fairy City. At the time, I was doing honest business in the city. Somehow, the sky turned black, and then I saw a rift open in the sky, and an overwhelming flood poured down.

"That scene was truly apocalyptic. The sun and moon lost their light, and the world was turned upside down..."

As he spoke, his words carried an intense, lingering fear, as if he had witnessed something unimaginable. He used every idiom he could think of to describe it.

Xu Guang frowned deeply. He wondered if a rift had really opened in the sky, raining down a flood.

This sounded just like a storyteller’s tale.

Xu Guang didn’t quite believe it, but Huang Silang spoke with extreme certainty. Coupled with those prophecies from the Yellow Heaven Sect, it left him feeling unsettled.

With a solemn expression, he asked, "Has no one else come by while you’ve been here?"

Huang Silang nodded. "Hero, you are the first person to come to this Lin Zi in half a year."

Xu Guang didn’t ask any further questions. This was likely all Huang Silang knew. He reached out, placed a hand on Huang Silang’s shoulder, and said gently, "Thank you."

Suddenly, Huang Silang’s expression drastically changed. "You!"

"Relax, don’t be nervous. It will be over soon. Difficulty breathing is normal."

Huang Silang let out a HEH HEH sound. His entire body seemed to shrink, growing smaller and smaller in Xu Guang’s grasp.

BANG!

The sound of tearing fabric echoed out as human skin exploded. An even smaller, blood-drenched body darted out from within, fleeing into the distance.

Xu Guang’s expression remained unchanged. He threw the dagger in his hand, transforming it into a Black Shadow.

SQUELCH.

The tiny, blood-covered figure instantly crashed to the ground. After convulsing for a moment, it lay motionless.

Xu Guang calmly walked over, a hint of joy on his face.

He never expected to encounter an Abnormal Person robbing the road on his way home. He didn’t know what Huang Silang’s Bloodline Power was, but according to the theories surrounding the Bloodline Power of Abnormal People, the more outwardly apparent the mutation, the more powerful it was.

Huang Silang’s mutation didn’t seem to be a dominant trait. He hoped it would give him a pleasant surprise.

He crouched down and placed his hand on Huang Silang’s corpse.

A moment later, he stood up and left.

Killing Huang Silang wasn’t purely because he had tried to rob him. It was also due to what he had said during their conversation. Xu Guang had clearly passed through the elm woods just a few days ago, yet Huang Silang claimed he hadn’t met anyone. The man was obviously lying.

Furthermore, in the trees not far from Tan, several skeletal corpses were clearly hanging.

Not to mention, his Heroic Level Combat Power was not just an empty title.

Xu Guang naturally didn’t trust him. Moreover, right before he had prepared to leave, Huang Silang had leaked killing intent!

Before leaving this place, he left behind a Messenger Owl, intending to have it help him collect the Iron Sand. He felt that this Iron Sand would be of great use.

However, he was currently in a rush to return and break through to Refining Viscera, so he could only wait until later to check the Wastewater Pool.

As for the Searcher, with Refining Viscera imminent, once he successfully achieved Breaking the Realm, he would go kill Han Qing. He didn’t want to wait a single moment longer. To ensure nothing went wrong, he chose to search for a method to kill Han Qing.

***

Upon returning home, Ji Xiaolu immediately busied herself boiling hot water to help Xu Guang wash up.

"Brother Guang, did everything go smoothly on this trip?"

Xu Guang hugged the beautiful woman in his arms, his eyes filled with a bit of emotion. "It went fairly smoothly. Soon, I will be able to give you all a good life."

Hearing this, Ji Xiaolu paused, somewhat surprised. "A good life? Is our life right now not good?"

In her mind, they currently had plenty to eat and drink at home, and the people from the Feiyun Guard would occasionally come by to deliver delicious food. Their life was already very good.

Xu Guang patted her bottom, his tone somewhat unexplainable. "In this world, what truly counts as a good life?"

Ji Xiaolu rested her head on Xu Guang’s shoulder, her voice soft and gentle. "I don’t understand these things. I’ll just listen to Brother Guang."

The next moment, Xu Guang suddenly stood up, carried Ji Xiaolu in his arms, and walked toward the inner room.

"Call me Husband!"

Midnight.

Xu Guang opened his eyes, a trace of excitement within them. He hadn’t expected Huang Silang to provide such a massive surprise.

Bloodline Power - Painted Hide!

This was an incredibly bizarre Bloodline Power. Its function was very simple and straightforward. As long as one peeled off a person’s skin, smeared their own blood on their body, and then draped the human skin over themselves, they could consume their vitality and blood to transform into another face. Furthermore, after donning the human skin, they would gain a portion of the skin’s original owner’s strength.

It was a deeply eerie and cruel Bloodline Power.

It could practically allow a person to completely change their identity!

Xu Guang’s expression changed slightly. Even before breaking through to Refining Viscera, his Combat Power had already undergone a transformation.

[Xu Guang, Combat Power: Bone Forging Realm Transcendent Level]

He wondered about this Transcendent Level. Did this mean that his fighting strength was capable of killing enemies across realms?

Xu Guang pondered deeply.

The night was as deep as water. Xu Guang released a Messenger Owl, having it drop a secret letter at the City Guard’s Mansion.

Inside, he had detailed his speculations. The Yellow Heaven Sect’s attitude toward the Han Family was very ambiguous. He also wrote down what Song Tao had said about seeing people from the Han Family privately meeting with members of the Yellow Heaven Sect. He wrote everything out one by one, without hiding a single detail.