Chapter 701 702: The Zhou Family Gets Ripped Off

"What?"

Everyone from the Zhou family was startled. They all scrambled to roll up their sleeves, their eyes instantly filling with horror and boundless terror.

On their arms, patches of cyan spots had appeared. While Zhou Yuetian's were only the size of rice grains, the spots on the others had grown to the size of a baby's fist, a jarring and terrifying sight.

"Impossible! This is impossible!"

Fear filled the faces of the Zhou family members; none of them could believe what they were seeing.

At that moment, it wasn't just the Zhou family; people from the other factions hurriedly rolled up their sleeves as well. As it turned out, aside from the Zhou family, everyone else was perfectly fine, showing no changes at all.

"What in the world is happening?" Zhou Yuetian murmured, his face stunned. "My Profound isn't stagnating at all. My blood and energy are flowing smoothly, and there's nothing unusual with my Profound Sense. How could I be poisoned? How could this be…"

Ye Xuan sneered. "This Bone-Rotting Spirit Miasma doesn't act on the Profound, Profound Sense, or Profound Sea. It acts directly on the human body, invading from the hair, then the skin, the muscles, and finally the bones and marrow. It spreads extremely quickly, so of course you won't see any changes when observing your Profound Sense and Profound."

"Furthermore, the Bone-Rotting Spirit Miasma has another characteristic: its rate of invasion accelerates. It might take an hour to start invading the hair, then perhaps half an hour to move from the hair to the skin. But from the skin to the muscles, it might only take fifteen minutes, and from the muscles to the bones and marrow, it could be just a few breaths."

"Now that physical changes have appeared, it means the miasma has already penetrated your skin. You most likely have less than thirty minutes to live."

Ye Xuan's words made everyone from the Zhou family gasp, their faces overcome with boundless horror.

"Antitoxic Pills! Quick, take the Antitoxic Pills!"

The members of the Zhou family had lost all their initial arrogance. They scrambled to pull out all sorts of Pills, swallowing them down before sitting cross-legged and frantically circulating their Profound to expel the poison.

The cyan spots on Zhou Yuetian's body faded rapidly. Though they didn't disappear completely, they became faint enough to be almost invisible. However, the spots on the other Zhou family elders showed no signs of shrinking at all.

"Ancestor, save us!"

"Ancestor, what should we do now?"

"I don't want to die, Ancestor!"

The Zhou family elders all cried out in terror, like helpless children.

Zhou Yuetian's expression was also incredibly grim. He could feel that he had only managed to suppress the poison, not expel it.

He turned to Ye Xuan and said in a heavy tone, "Master Xuan Ye, I implore you to save my Zhou family's disciples."

"Yes, Master Xuan Ye, please save us!"

"We beg you, Master Xuan Ye."

The Zhou family elders chimed in, pleading for help.

Ye Xuan said coolly, "I already offered you a solution. It's a shame you didn't take it. What can I possibly do now?"

"No, Master Xuan Ye, you must have a way, right?"

"Yes, Master Xuan Ye, you even defeated Master Rongyang of the Soul Master Tower. You can definitely do it!"

The experts from the Zhou family had lost every trace of their arrogance and pride. They were nothing but a panicked, terrified mess.

"Actually, it's not that there's no way to save you," Ye Xuan said, pondering.

A look of joy appeared on the faces of the Zhou family experts.

But then they heard Ye Xuan continue with a sneer, "But what's in it for me to save you?"

Zhou Yuetian gritted his teeth and said, "Master Xuan Ye, as long as you save my Zhou family's elders, I will agree to your previous condition."

"'The previous condition?'" Ye Xuan shot him a scornful look. "How about this: I can give you the Antitoxic Pills, but I want seventy percent of your Zhou family's gains from this mysterious land."

"What? Seventy percent? That's too much! Impossible," Zhou Yuetian said angrily.

'Seventy percent of the harvest meant his Zhou family would only get to keep thirty percent. That was as good as saying Ye Xuan would be taking almost everything they found.'

Ye Xuan narrowed his eyes and said in an icy voice, "It seems you still don't grasp the situation, sir. Since that's the case, you'll have to forgive me for being powerless to help. Patriarch Xiao, everyone, let's go."

"Ancestor!"

"Master Xuan Ye…"

The Zhou family elders immediately cried out in terror. Their Ancestor could suppress the poison, but they couldn't.

The memory of how Zhou Jun had died sent a chill down the elders' spines.

"Fine. I agree."

Zhou Yuetian's face was ashen. Finally, with a helpless grit of his teeth, he agreed to Ye Xuan's demand.

'The ones who came to this mysterious land were the elites of the Zhou family. If they all died and he was the only one left, the family's core strength would be completely wiped out.'

Ye Xuan smiled faintly. "Good that you've agreed. Hmm, let's see... I've calculated that the treasures your Zhou family has obtained in this mysterious land are three Muyan Flowers, two Tier Eight Spirit Medicines from earlier, and five types of Tier Seven materials. So, for now, just give me two Muyan Flowers, one of the Tier Eight Spirit Medicines, and three of the Tier Seven materials."

"You…" Zhou Yuetian's face turned ashen. He hadn't expected Ye Xuan to know so clearly what treasures his family had obtained.

But since he had already agreed, he couldn't back out now. For the sake of the elders, he had no choice but to hand over the Muyan Flowers and other Spirit Medicines he had only just acquired.

Ye Xuan accepted them with a smile before handing over four Pills. "Here are four Antitoxic Pills. Each of you takes one, and the Bone-Rotting Spirit Miasma poison will be neutralized."

The four of them didn't dare to delay. They hurriedly swallowed the Antitoxic Pills. Sure enough, after just a few breaths, the cyan markings on their bodies quickly receded. A moment later, the spots had vanished completely.

Only then did Zhou Yuetian and the others breathe a sigh of relief. But toward Ye Xuan, they felt not the slightest bit of gratitude.

'Seventy percent of the harvest! His Zhou family had come here, already lost two elders, and now had to give away seventy percent of their gains. They were basically just working for Ye Xuan at this point.'

'If I wasn't leaving them a sliver of hope to keep them motivated to gather more Spirit Medicines,' Ye Xuan sneered inwardly, 'I wouldn't have even left them the thirty percent.'

The group quickly set off once again.

But after what had just happened, no one from any of the major factions dared to look down on Ye Xuan anymore. Even Qiu Yuan from Lingkong Cave looked at Ye Xuan with a gaze full of apprehension.

Meanwhile, Patriarchs from major powers, like Long Yuan, tried to get closer to Ye Xuan from time to time. After witnessing the previous scene, none of them knew when they might need his help next.

The most relieved of all were the Xiao, Lin, and Xu families. Even though they had given up thirty percent of their gains, they now had a much better chance of surviving any dangers they encountered.

Another hour passed. The various factions once again obtained many treasures, and everyone was beaming with joy.

Only the Zhou family's faces remained incomparably gloomy.

Aside from the poisonous fog, there seemed to be no other dangers in the dense forest.

Just as everyone was starting to relax a little, a shadow suddenly drifted out from behind a patch of trees and came face-to-face with Ye Xuan's group.

Everyone was immediately startled, their internal power instantly coalescing. It was a green monster about two or three meters tall, emerald green all over, with sharp angles, resembling a giant mantis.

Its forelimbs were particularly bizarre, resembling a pair of green war scythes that emanated a bone-chilling cold. Its small green eyes were locked onto the group, radiating a shocking Evil Qi.

"Don't make any sudden moves," Long Yuan ordered in a low voice, his words transmitted to everyone.

'This was the first Demon Beast they had encountered in the forest. In his opinion, it was best to avoid a fight if possible.'

The memory of the terrifying King of Gravel made everyone's hair stand on end.

Unfortunately, the green mantis-beast clearly had no intention of showing Long Yuan any respect. The moment his words faded, the beast transformed into a black streak of lightning, its forelimbs viciously slashing toward Yu Xiuneng, the Sect Master of the Langxie Sect, who stood at the front.

"So fast!" Yu Xiuneng exclaimed in shock. What shocked him even more was that his protective layer of Profound couldn't withstand a single blow. CRACK! The Profound shattered, and the scythe-like forelimbs were instantly before his face.

At the critical moment, Yu Xiuneng let out a low growl. A brilliant light erupted from his right hand. CLANG! Blade met palm. The radiant light on Yu Xiuneng's hand was sliced in two by the green blade. A spray of blood bloomed in the air as a shallow gash opened on his hand. At the same instant, however, Yu Xiuneng's palm slammed hard against the mantis-beast's chest.

BOOM!

Yu Xiuneng and the mantis-beast were sent flying back at almost the same time.

A palm print nearly a foot deep appeared on the mantis-beast's chest. Amidst a series of CRACKLING sounds, the indentation bulged, and moments later, the palm print vanished, leaving the injured area as smooth as a mirror.

'Such a sharp attack, and such terrifying defense,' Yu Xiuneng thought, his expression changing. Then his gaze hardened, and he attacked again with full force.

RUMBLE!

A fierce gale erupted, and shockwaves radiated in all directions.

This mantis-beast was clearly not as terrifying as the King of Gravel. The crowd intentionally kept their distance from Yu Xiuneng, wanting to see the true strength of this mantis-beast.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Under Yu Xiuneng's furious assault, deep palm prints appeared all over the mantis-beast's body, sending it flying backward. CRACKLE! Even as it flew through the air, the palm prints on its chest began to recover.

"Unified Profound Slash!"

Yu Xiuneng's face was grim. With a great shout, he channeled his Profound, and a white ring of light suddenly appeared in his hand. The ring spun rapidly, hurtling forward with a piercing shriek.

CLANG!

The mantis-beast raised its blades to block. The force of the impact sent a creaking sound through its body as the sharp ring of light cut straight through, blasting a huge gash in its waist. The immense force tore its entire torso in two.

"This is…"

To everyone's astonishment, the mantis-beast's severed torso was as smooth as a mirror. There were no internal organs, no flesh and blood—it was like a green Gemstone that had been sliced in half.

WHOOSH!

The upper and lower halves of the severed mantis-beast pressed together. With a wriggle, they rapidly fused back into one. Then, it once again swung its sharp limbs, slashing at Yu Xiuneng.