by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
He took out a thin thread from his spatial ring. That was black silk, and despite its thinness, it was extremely sturdy. Just one thread of it could withstand half a ton of force. Most adventurers would also keep a bit of it on hand.
Whether it was to use as a rope or to make a snare, it was extremely convenient. The most popular thing about it was that it was made from black silkworms that were raised by humans, so it could be bought cheaply.
Long Chen looked around and nodded in approval. The black silk’s color was not easy to notice against the background.
He found a short bush around the size of an egg and gently pushed on it, feeling a good elasticity. He lightly twined the black silk around the bush.
By tying it back with the black silk, the bush was just like an arm ready to pitch. Once it lost the force of the black silk, it would immediately shoot forward.
Long Chen did all of this extremely carefully. The slightest mistake might make a large enough noise to attract Marquis Ying.
But thinking about the result of this trap if it worked, this little danger was definitely worth it.
He finished setting up his ‘slingshot’. Looking around the vicinity, he saw both sides were covered by thorny thistles and there was only one straight path through this area.
While people were rushing, they would naturally choose the easiest path. So this was the ideal spot to place the trigger.
Putting up several obstacles around his slingshot to protect it, he confirmed the distance. No matter how Marquis Ying arrived, he would definitely step upon a certain root.
He took out the horned beetle and bound one of its legs with the black silk. Placing it on top of a large tree, the beetle began to slowly crawl, but it wasn’t randomly crawling around. It was crawling up to a spot ten meters up on the tree.
That was because Long Chen had placed a petal from a Butterfly Orchid there. That was a kind of medicinal ingredient. That petal contained a very rich sweetness.
It was also the favorite food of the horned bull beetle. Although that petal was half withered, with the beetle’s amazing sense of smell, it immediately noticed it and began to crawl over to it with all its might.
Its speed was extremely slow though. It only managed to reach there after the time it took for an incense stick to burn.
But just as it was preparing to eat its favorite food, Long Chen picked up the pitiful fellow and pulled it away.
Long Chen made some calculations and tied a knot over the beetle, keeping it in place. That knot had a small loop in it. If that loop was touched, then the knot would immediately loosen, releasing it.
After carefully setting up all these preparations, he placed a small stone on the other side of the black silk. He confirmed everything was set.
Once the beetle crawled up to the Butterfly Orchid’s petal, it would activate and release the knot, causing the stone to fall to the ground.
Long Chen once more looked over his trap from start to end. A strange smile appeared on his face. He found a large leaf and then sneakily hid behind a large tree.
He watched for a moment as the beetle continued according to its original route, crawling towards the petal. But due to it now pulling along a stone, its speed had slowed down a bit.
Long Chen nodded and quietly retreated. Now there was only one tiny crucial item remaining. As for whether the trap would succeed, that would depend on Marquis Ying. He stealthily disappeared deeper into the forest.
An hour later, Marquis Ying, who was searching for any of Long Chen’s tracks, suddenly heard a strange sound, the sound of a stone rolling.
That sound was extremely quiet, but within the keen listening ears of Marquis Ying, it was practically a thunderclap.
Marquis Ying didn’t even think about it before rushing over. He was just like a wild gale, and three or four miles was instantly traversed.
That sound had definitely not been natural. He knew it was the sound of someone accidentally tripping on a stone.
Within this silent forest, other than him, the only one who would make such a noise was Long Chen.
Thinking of Long Chen, flames of fury rose inside him. Last night, he hadn’t gotten the slightest bit of sleep and hadn’t even had time to rest his wounds.
Those damn beasts had become enraged and continuously attacked him. Although they were unable to pose any danger to him, they had troubled his internal injury.
It was impossible for a medicinal pill alone to completely heal his injury. He had to combine it with spiritual qi in order to recover. But he hadn’t had any time or opportunity to do so.
He was forced into being unable to maintain his peak combat ability, causing him to feel a great sense of unease. So he urgently needed to kill Long Chen and return to the capital to recover.
In just a couple of breaths’ time, Marquis Ying arrived at where the sound had come from, but there was no sign of Long Chen anywhere. Under a tree was the rock that had made the noise, and it seemed the rock had writings on it.
Marquis Ying looked over the surroundings and his expression became ugly when he saw no sign of Long Chen. He knew that he had most likely been played.
He slowly walked over to that rock, wanting to know what Long Chen had wanted to show him. He had just walked a couple of steps when he suddenly stepped on a string that activated the short bush not far from him. A ball of something wrapped in a green leaf shot towards him.
Marquis Ying coldly laughed and raised his sword, slicing that ball in half.
“Hmph, you little insec-”
He hadn’t expected that the moment his sword touched that ball, the ball exploded, filling the air with juice.
Due to that happening so fast and being so close, Marquis Ying was unable to get away in time and was completely drenched by that juice. An incomparably disgusting smell filled the air.
Some of it had also gotten into his mouth, so now his mouth was also full of that disgusting stench. Marquis Ying hastily retreated, his first thought being that it was poison.
But although that thing had been incomparably disgusting, it didn’t have traces of poison in it. His spiritual qi was circulating completely normally.
Now that he had time, he noticed that the rock on the ground had flipped over to reveal the following words:
“Just a small gift which is unworthy of you. Originally, I wanted to send you a large lump, but recently my stomach hasn’t been feeling well. Please forgive my helplessness.”
Looking at the words, Marquis Ying’s face suddenly turned completely white. Looking at the sticky residue left on his clothes, his stomach began to heave and he vomited.
“LONG CHEN!!!”
Marquis Ying’s incredibly angry roar practically blew apart the clouds above him. It caused the entire forest to shake, and countless birds and beasts were frightened into flight.
Long Chen was on a distant tree watching those birds. He smiled heartily. He had finally released some of his anger at being chased like this.
Ever since that day, Marquis Ying’s face became even darker and Long Chen became even more careful, not daring to set up such a trap again.
If he ended up making a slight mistake when setting it up, he would definitely be doomed. That small trap had been to relieve his anger and to increase his self-confidence.
Since he had managed to do that, it wouldn’t be smart to set something like that up again. Only by being careful could he survive. He didn’t want his hard-worked advantage to be reversed.
One fled while one chased. Eight days quickly passed by. Over that time, Long Chen fled during the day and recuperated during the night after using all kinds of different techniques to hide from the wild beasts.
Due to the assistance of his medicinal pills, Long Chen’s recovery was extremely quick. His right hand’s meridians had almost completely recovered. His internal injuries had also nearly healed.
Ever since the first night where he had drawn over many beasts, Marquis Ying had become smarter and also r
ested during the night. He would jump up into a high tree, using the time to rest and heal his wounds. His efficiency was also very fast.
This continued up until the ninth day. Long Chen was crossing a small stream when he sensed a strange movement above his head.
Looking up, his expression greatly changed. Crap, I’m screwed.
Chapter 80 Final Showdown
On the ninth day, Long Chen’s expression suddenly changed.
There was simply a monkey at the top of a large tree. It wasn’t very large, but its throat was extremely thick. It was looking at Long Chen guardedly.
Long Chen immediately didn’t even dare to move a muscle. He couldn’t help but feel endless regret. Having played around with Marquis Ying with that ‘gift’ before, he had actually grown too careless.
That monkey was just an ordinary beast. It didn’t have any attacking strength, but it was precisely this monkey which caused Long Chen to enter a huge crisis.
That monkey was a beast that liked to live in large groups. This part of the forest was obviously their territory, and that monkey should be a sentry.
As soon as they sensed intruders or danger, they would immediately let out a loud howl to alert their comrades.
Long Chen hadn’t been paying enough attention to his surroundings and ended up running into their territory. He immediately realized he had made an inexcusable mistake. He began to slowly retreat, showing that he was leaving immediately.
But it was already too late. That monkey let out a loud howl from atop that tree, its voice immediately spreading out dozens of miles.
Long Chen’s expression sunk. If he had been in range, he definitely would have immediately crushed that monkey in anger.
The entire forest began to echo with more alarmed calls.
Long Chen’s pupils suddenly shrank. In the distance, a figure was rushing over straight towards Long Chen.
He could now see Marquis Ying whose eyes were brimming with killing intent. Now that Marquis Ying had already found him, running would be useless.
Long Chen directly gave up any thoughts of escaping. Since he was already found, other methods were now useless. The only option left was to risk his life.
“Long Chen, if I don’t turn your bones to ashes then I won’t be surnamed Ying!” Marquis Ying arrived in just the blink of an eye.
The current Marquis Ying’s eyes were practically about to spit flames. Each one of the past eight days had felt like a year. In particular, that gift, which Long Chen had sent him, had caused the extremely immaculate Marquis Ying to almost want to kill himself.
Although he hadn’t eaten a thing in the last eight days, he was still constantly vomiting. It seemed as if he wanted to even vomit out all of his stomach contents.
In fact, at this time, Marquis Ying’s hatred of Long Chen had already surpassed his hatred for Long Tianxiao. Seeing Long Chen standing right in front of him now, his body was incessantly quivering. As for the reason for that, perhaps only Marquis Ying knew it.
“Whether or not you’re surnamed Ying has nothing to do with me. I’m not your dad.” Long Chen shook his head. The broadsword once more reappeared in his hands.
Words had no meaning anymore. Having been on edge constantly over the past few days, his heart had actually calmed down now that he was facing Marquis Ying.
He sensed that his current state had already reached his previous peak, so there was nothing to fear. It even seemed as if his cultivation realm had increased a level.
That was an extremely mysterious feeling. He couldn’t clearly explain it. But under Marquis Ying’s constant pursuit, the scent of death had never been far. He felt as if he had transformed after that experience.
“Hahahaha, are you provoking me now in the hope of me giving you a quick death? Stop dreaming. I’ll make it so you live a life worse than death, a life that will make you regret ever being born in this world.” Marquis Ying’s face was extremely sinister.
“I don’t need to provoke you. How was the taste of the gift I sent you last time?” Long Chen asked lightly.
Hearing the word ‘gift’, Marquis Ying’s face immediately whitened and his stomach once more began to heave.
“I’ll kill you!” Marquis Ying angrily shouted, and his sword sliced through the air towards Long Chen.
Long Chen had long since been prepared. He also sent his sword slashing forward.
BANG! Long Chen was sent back a dozen of steps before being able to stabilize himself. His blood and qi were in an upheaval inside.
Looking at Marquis Ying, he saw that he had only taken three steps back. He sighed; Tendon Transformation experts truly were a huge level above.
His current strength had recovered to over ninety percent, but he was still not an equal match for Marquis Ying. Even in terms of his brute strength, he was completely outmatched by Marquis Ying.
That was a clear difference. That was also why amongst the countless cultivators in Phoenix Cry, Marquis Ying was at the absolute apex.
On the other side, Marquis Ying’s eyes narrowed when he saw that Long Chen was actually able to block his blow. Alchemists truly did have ample preparations; when Long Chen had fled back then, he had already been halfway dead. But now he had mostly recovered.
It was obvious Long Chen had consumed quite a few medicinal pills. But as for Marquis Ying, he wasn’t an alchemist and his cultivation base was too high for most medicinal pills to work on him, so effective medicinal pills were extremely rare treasures for him.
This caused intense envy inside of him. If he was also an alchemist or had such medicinal pills, how would it be possible for him to have still not yet recovered to seventy percent even after all these days?
Thinking of that, Marquis Ying felt that the heavens truly were unfair. Within the same generation as him was Long Tianxiao who had completely suppressed him, making it difficult for him to stand out.
And then Long Tianxiao had an amazing son who had become a Pill Adept at a young age and was also a shockingly talented genius in terms of the martial path.
Compared to Long Tianxiao, he was an absolute failure. His eyes reddened and green veins exploded out on his body. Coldly shouting and raising his sword, Sword Qi filled the air and shook the heavens.
Long Chen took a deep breath. The current Marquis Ying was acting like a madman. Now that he was using his full strength to attack, Long Chen would be unable to block him.
Touching his ring, he took out two medicinal pills. He threw one of them into his mouth and swallowed it.
The other one was rubbed along his broadsword using his Spiritual Strength. Marquis Ying had been able to see him swallow a medicinal pill, and he assumed that Long Chen was using it to heal injuries.
But the second medicinal pill had been hidden and silently spread across the broadsword’s back. It had been impossible for Marquis Ying to see.
Marquis Ying’s sword was already crashing down upon him. Long Chen roared and also slashed out.
In terms of sword techniques, Marquis Ying could play around with Long Chen as much as he wanted to. But the broadsword in Long Chen’s hands was so long that it was a perfect counter to such a thing. So, Marquis Ying’s exquisite techniques were completely useless.
BOOM!
The two swords collided and there was a huge explosion. A faint red gas immediately spread out and enveloped an area of thirty meters. The two of them were both swallowed by it.
“AHHH!”
That red gas invaded Marquis Ying’s body and he immediately let out a miserable scream. His exposed skin felt as if hot iron was branding it and the intense pain was simply unbearable.
Not only that, but the red gas seemed to come alive and was doing its best to force its way into his body through his skin. Even though he had reacted at the very first moment and stopped breathing it in, it was absolutely useless.
And that red gas also possessed an extremely terrifying corrosive nature. Blisters were quickly appearing on his skin. His flesh was r
otting at a speed he could see with his naked eye.
“You used poison?” asked the shocked Marquis Ying angrily.
“What do you think?”
Long Chen coldly laughed, but he also wasn’t that well off. The poison pill refined from the Heart-Rot Grass was extremely powerful. Even he himself was unable to block it.
Although he had taken an antitoxin pill, he was unable to completely defend against that poisonous gas. His body was also harmed and turned red as if he was being boiled.
But he was still better off than Marquis Ying. That antitoxin pill allowed him to not have to worry about the poisonous gas corroding his heart. That was the most terrifying aspect of the poison pill refined from Heart-Rot Grass.
That poison pill was his strongest life-saving measure. Marquis Ying truly was too powerful, so he had had no choice but to use it.
Marquis Ying angrily roared and tried to send a full force attack at Long Chen. But his expression greatly changed; just as he began to circulate his spiritual qi, the poisonous gas that had just entered through his skin suddenly spread throughout his body quickly and then went straight for his heart.
This completely terrified Marquis Ying. If such a powerful poison invaded his heart, even he, a Tendon Transformation expert, would not be able to live for more than a few moments. He hastily took out a medicinal pill from his ring and swallowed it.
When Long Chen saw that pill, his expression changed. He hadn’t expected Marquis Ying to possess such a medicinal pill.
Just from its luster and the fragrance being emitted from it, Long Chen could identify that pill to be a Snow Toad Yaowan[1].
The Snow Toad was an extremely rare Magical Beast. It didn’t have a crystal core like other Magical Beasts. All its essence was focused on its Neidan[2].
The Snow Toad was also a kind of poisonous beast. A matured Snow Toad was a second rank Magical Beast. The poisonous mist it spat out could immediately cover an area of hundreds of meters.
That poisonous mist was able to poison other Magical Beasts to death and cause all vegetation to wither away. It was extremely frightening. But it was precisely because its poisonous gas was so powerful that even it was unable to endure it. Thus, its Neidan was used to help it survive even its own poison.