49: Chapter 49 Initial Shakeup with the Western Poison

The noise of Zuixian Restaurant gradually dissipated, and the lights of Jiaxing city went out one by one.

The reeds by the South Lake rustled in the night wind, and the moonlight spilled onto the shimmering lake surface, casting a cold, silvery glow.

Two disheveled figures, supporting each other, walked unevenly toward the ferry landing by the lake.

It was Chen Shuanglei and Mei Chaofeng, who had escaped from Zuixian Restaurant.

Both of their martial arts had been crippled, their Nine Yin Internal Energy had completely dissipated, and they were stumbling as they walked.

Chen Shuanglei's bronze mask was long gone, revealing a scarred face, his eyes filled with unwillingness and fear.

Mei Chaofeng's complexion was even more withered, her pitch-black fingernails had turned gray-white, and the Nine Yin Skeleton Claw that once made people tremble in fear could no longer even kill a chicken.

"Where can we go?" Mei Chaofeng's voice was hoarse, carrying a hint of trembling.

She had dominated the Jianghu for over a decade and had never been this wretched before.

"Let's go to the desert," Chen Shuanglei said in a low voice.

"It is far from the Central Plains, and no one will find us there. From now on, we will hide our names and never step into the Jianghu again."

Mei Chaofeng nodded, a flash of regret appearing in her eyes.

If it weren't for their greed back then, stealing the Nine Yin Manual and escaping from Peach Blossom Island, they wouldn't have ended up in this state today.

Just then, a cold, eerie laugh suddenly came from overhead.

"Want to leave? It's not that easy!"

Before the words fell, two figures descended from the sky like large birds.

The leader was an old man in white clothes, with a high nose and deep eyes, his expression sinister, and a green venomous snake wrapped around his waist. It was West Poison, Ouyang Feng.

Standing beside him was a youth in brocade clothes, handsome in appearance with a frivolous look in his eyes; it was his nephew, Ouyang Ke.

Seeing West Poison, Chen Shuanglei and Mei Chaofeng's faces turned pale instantly, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.

They knew the ruthlessness of West Poison; falling into his hands today meant it was likely they were doomed.

"Mr. Ouyang," Mei Chaofeng forced herself to stay calm and cupped her hands, "I don't know why you have stopped us, what advice do you have?"

"Advice?" West Poison sneered, staring at them with sinister eyes, "I ask you, where is the Nine Yin Manual?"

Mei Chaofeng's heart sank; West Poison had indeed come for the Nine Yin Manual.

She quickly said, "Sir, you are joking. We haven't had the Nine Yin Manual for a long time."

"The manual was retrieved by our Master years ago. We only had a few remaining fragments, and even those were destroyed by that stinking Daoist just now."

"Nonsense!" West Poison shouted sharply, releasing the pressure of the Grandmaster Realm Middle Stage from his body.

Black, cold, and chilly Qi surged out from his body, the ground instantly froze with a layer of white frost, and the surrounding reeds rattled as they froze.

His green venomous snake suddenly raised its head, flickering its tongue and making a "hissing" sound.

Countless colorful venomous snakes crawled out from the reed marshes, surrounding the two, and where the snake tongues swept, the grass instantly withered and turned black.

"I found out a long time ago that the second volume of the Nine Yin Manual has always been in your hands!"

"If you don't hand over the manual today, I will let you taste the feeling of being bitten by ten thousand snakes!"

Mei Chaofeng's face was deathly pale, she gritted her teeth and said in a low voice, "We really don't have the manual now! Even if you kill us, it's useless!"

"Since you refuse to hand it over, then there is no use for you."

A flash of murderous intent flickered in West Poison's eyes. His right hand formed a claw, his fingertips glowing with a dark green toxic light, and he lunged straight at Mei Chaofeng with a bone-chilling, fishy wind.

He had long seen that Mei Chaofeng was the leader of the two; if he killed her, he wasn't afraid that Chen Shuanglei wouldn't confess.

This claw was as fast as lightning; before the claw wind arrived, the ground had already been corroded by the toxic energy into five deep finger holes.

Chen Shuanglei wanted to save her, but because his martial arts were completely lost, he was too late.

Mei Chaofeng closed her eyes in despair.

Just then, a calm voice suddenly sounded:

"Benefactor, why must you kill them all?"

A moon-white figure moved horizontally three feet like a ghost, blocking just in front of Mei Chaofeng.

He flicked his right hand gently, and a faint, transparent Qi energy rose in his palm, forming a Taiji Phantom about half a foot in size.

West Poison's poisonous claw grabbed solidly onto the Taiji Phantom. With a soft "chi" sound, the dark green toxic energy melted instantly like ice and snow meeting the sun, while the fierce claw force was led by the Taiji Phantom to turn in a circle and was deflected to the side.

"Crack!"

A willow tree as thick as a bowl was hit by the residual force and snapped in two, the broken end pitch-black as ink, still emitting wisps of black smoke.

Zhang Sanfeng stood with his hands behind his back, his moon-white Daoist robe fluttering in the night wind, his expression calm, as if he had just brushed away a fallen leaf.

"It's you!" Mei Chaofeng opened her eyes, seeing Zhang Sanfeng's back, her eyes filled with disbelief.

West Poison withdrew his hand, his fingertips slightly numb.

He looked at Zhang Sanfeng with sinister eyes, seeing that his Aura was unremarkable, like an ordinary Daoist who knew no martial arts.

He couldn't help but sneer, "Where did this wild Daoist come from, daring to interfere with my, West Poison's, affairs? I advise you to get lost, otherwise, I'll feed you to my snakes along with them!"

"This poor Daoist is Zhang Sanfeng, traveling the world," Zhang Sanfeng said calmly.

"The two of them have lost their martial arts and can no longer do evil. This poor Daoist has already promised to spare their lives."

"Spare their lives?" West Poison laughed loudly, his laughter filled with disdain and cruelty.

"There is no one that I, West Poison, want to kill who can be saved!"

"Since you are looking for death, I will break your bones first, then pull out your tendons, and let you know the consequences of meddling in other people's business!"

Before the words fell, West Poison suddenly squatted down and pressed his hands on the ground.

With a muffled "boom," the ground instantly cracked with spiderweb-like fine lines centered on him.

His muscles bulged, his white clothes moved without wind, and he looked like a giant toad ready to strike, spraying two streams of white Qi from his mouth and nose, condensing into a persistent mist in the air.

"Toad Kung Fu!"

West Poison shouted in a low voice, his feet kicked the ground violently, and his whole body shot out like a cannonball.

His palms carried the force of thousands of jun, striking straight at Zhang Sanfeng's chest.

The palm wind howled, the air was compressed to make a sharp explosion sound, and the black toxic energy condensed into a giant toad phantom, opening its bloody mouth and biting fiercely at Zhang Sanfeng.

A lion hunting a rabbit still uses its full strength. This strike condensed West Poison's full ten percent power, revealing his Grandmaster Realm Middle Stage strength.

He was confident that even Master Qiu Chuji, the leader of the Seven Masters of Quanzhen, would be beaten into a pulp by this palm.

Zhang Sanfeng's expression remained unchanged; he took a half step forward with his left foot and slowly drew circles with his hands.

He intended to understand the martial arts of the Legend of the Condor Heroes World, so he controlled his output of Internal Energy.

This time, he didn't hide the traces of Taiji; the transparent Qi in his palm suddenly expanded, forming a Taiji Phantom about a zhang in size, the Yin and Yang fish slowly rotating, emitting a flawless Pure Yang Dao Rhyme.

"Taiji Cloud Hands."

He softly spat out the four words and gently guided with his hands.

West Poison's fierce and unmatched palm power crashed into the Taiji Phantom, like a clay ox entering the sea, instantly decomposed into countless tiny air currents, flowing along the rotation trajectory of the Taiji.

That hideous toad phantom also gradually distorted and dissipated in the rotation of the Taiji.

Not only that, the Taiji Phantom also carried a powerful guiding force, dragging West Poison's figure to stumble forward three steps, almost falling to the ground headfirst.

"What?!" West Poison was shocked, quickly stabilizing his figure, and looked at Zhang Sanfeng in disbelief.

He had dominated the Jianghu for decades and had seen countless experts, but he had never seen such strange martial arts that could completely neutralize his Toad Kung Fu and even counter-guide his figure.

"A bit interesting." A flash of gravity appeared in West Poison's eyes, and he no longer dared to have any slight contempt.

His figure swayed, and he used the Spirit Snake Fist, his arms twisting and swinging as if they had no bones, the angles were extremely tricky.

Sometimes stabbing from unimaginable directions, sometimes suddenly turning, like two venomous snakes flicking their tongues, every move attacking Zhang Sanfeng's vital points.

The fist shadows were heavy, carrying thick toxic energy, and wherever they passed, the air stirred up a faint green mist.

The surrounding reeds touched the green mist and instantly withered and rotted.

Zhang Sanfeng stepped on the Bagua footwork, his figure walking among the fist shadows as if strolling in a courtyard.

His left hand was still using Taiji Cloud Hands, while his right hand used Wudang Cotton Palm, the palm techniques as soft as water, constantly neutralizing West Poison's force.

Although the Spirit Snake Fist was strange and changeable, it could never touch the corner of his clothes.

"Clang, clang!"

West Poison's fist wind hit the stones nearby, splashing countless sparks, and the hard bluestone was beaten into powder.

But Zhang Sanfeng remained unscathed, and even his Daoist robe was not touched once.

After fighting for more than twenty rounds, West Poison became more and more alarmed.

He felt that every one of his moves was like hitting cotton, with force but no place to use it, and instead, he was led by the opponent's Taiji Force, causing his blood to churn and his Internal Energy to become chaotic.

"Stinking Daoist, stop playing these soft tricks!" West Poison shouted angrily and suddenly changed his move.

His fingers formed swords, ice-blue cold light glowing at his fingertips, using the Bone-Piercing Acupoint Method.

The finger wind was sharp and bone-piercing, carrying a cold Internal Energy that could freeze Meridians, pointing like a rainstorm at the thirty-six vital points of Zhang Sanfeng's body.

This was a unique skill of Baituo Mountain; once hit, the Meridians would be frozen by the cold Internal Energy, resulting in lifelong disability.

Zhang Sanfeng's eyes narrowed, his right hand danced quickly, using the Taiji Chaos Ring Technique.

Countless Taiji vortices of different sizes were generated at his fingertips, like rotating gears, catching West Poison's finger wind one by one.

The ice-blue finger wind hit the transparent vortices, making a "hissing" sound and instantly being twisted into fragments.

"Thirty rounds, Benefactor Ouyang, it's time to end this."

Zhang Sanfeng spoke calmly, his Aura suddenly changing.

The previous roundness and restraint disappeared instantly, replaced by a majestic and upright, fierce Aura.

He withdrew his Taiji soft force, clenched his right hand into a fist, and then pushed it out slowly.

"Town Mountain Iron Palm!"

With a soft shout, his palm suddenly glowed with dazzling golden light.

The Pure Yang Dao Rhyme condensed into a three-foot-large golden palm print, carrying the power to burn mountains and boil the sea, and slapped fiercely toward West Poison.

Where the palm wind passed, the air was ignited, making a "crackle" explosion sound, and the surrounding cold toxic mist was instantly purified, while those venomous snakes made shrill hisses and fled in all directions.

West Poison's expression changed drastically; he never expected that this Daoist, who had been using soft martial arts, could actually use such a fierce and domineering palm technique.

He dared not neglect, once again channeling his Toad Kung Fu, and met it with his palms.

"Boom!"

The golden palm print and the black toad phantom collided fiercely, erupting with blinding white light.

A terrifying shockwave spread in all directions with the two as the center, the zhang-high reeds were uprooted and flew all over the sky.

The ground shook violently, and the water of South Lake was shaken into water columns several zhang high, like a torrential rain.

West Poison felt an irresistible Pure Yang giant force coming, his arm bones made a "clacking" sound, as if they would break at any moment.

He groaned, his body flew backward like a kite with a broken string, falling heavily three zhang away, and a mouthful of blood sprayed out, dyeing his white clothes red.

"Puff!"

West Poison struggled to get up, only to find that the Internal Energy in his body was chaotic, and the cold toxic energy was invaded by the Pure Yang Dao Rhyme into his Meridians, burning his internal organs with unbearable pain.

He looked up at Zhang Sanfeng, his eyes filled with shock and dread.

"Yin and Yang combined!" West Poison exclaimed.

He didn't expect this Daoist's martial arts to be so powerful, combining hardness and softness, changing as he pleased.

"Benefactor Ouyang, can you go now?"

Zhang Sanfeng stood with his hands behind his back, the golden palm print gradually dissipated, and his Aura returned to the previous calmness.

West Poison gritted his teeth, knowing that he couldn't get any advantage today.

He glared fiercely at Zhang Sanfeng and shouted sharply, "I, West Poison, will remember today's hatred!"

After speaking, he gave a look to Ouyang Ke, turned into a streak of white light, and disappeared into the night.

Those venomous snakes also followed and burrowed into the reed marshes, disappearing without a trace.

Not until West Poison's figure completely disappeared did Zhang Sanfeng withdraw his Aura.

Just now, while fighting West Poison, he first used basic Taiji martial arts to probe, figuring out the yin-toxic and strange path of West Poison's martial arts, then switched to the fierce Town Mountain Iron Palm, using Pure Yang Internal Energy to defeat West Poison in one fell swoop.

In the process of neutralizing West Poison's toxic energy, his internal Pure Yang Dao Rhyme was further tempered, faintly having a qualitative improvement.

A warm current surged from his Dantian and flowed through his whole body.

Zhang Sanfeng clearly felt that he had a natural immunity to all poisons in the world, and no toxin could invade his body again.

At the same time, his Pure Yang Dao Rhyme also gained a power to overcome evil, which had a natural restraining effect on yin-evil martial arts.

[System Prompt: The host successfully neutralized the poisonous attack of West Poison, Ouyang Feng, the Pure Yang Dao Rhyme was tempered, and gained permanent traits [Hundred Poisons Immunity], [Pure Yang Overcoming Evil]!]

[[Hundred Poisons Immunity]: Immune to all mortal poisons in the world, and also has a certain resistance to immortal and demonic level toxins.]

[[Pure Yang Overcoming Evil]: Causes 30% extra damage to yin-evil, ghostly, Demonic Path techniques and creatures, and is immune to most yin-evil curses.]

"Thank you, Daoist, for saving our lives again!"

Chen Xuanfeng and Mei Chaofeng walked to Zhang Sanfeng, knelt on the ground with a "thump," and kowtowed deeply to him three times.

"If it weren't for you, Daoist, we two would surely have died today. We will never forget your great kindness."

"Get up." Zhang Sanfeng raised his hand to help them up.

"It is a great virtue to correct one's mistakes. Be good people from now on."

"We will remember your words, Daoist."

Mei Chaofeng took out a yellowed small booklet from her bosom and handed it to Zhang Sanfeng with both hands.

"Daoist, this is the remaining fragment of the second volume of the Nine Yin Manual, which we stole from Peach Blossom Island back then."

"It's useless for us to keep it, so we will give it to you, Daoist. We hope you can use it to benefit the Jianghu."

Zhang Sanfeng took the small booklet, it felt slightly cool in his hand, and it still carried a faint ink fragrance.

He flipped through a few pages, and it was indeed the content of the second volume of the Nine Yin Manual, recording the cultivation methods of evil arts like the Nine Yin Skeleton Claw, Heart-Destroying Palm, and some secret techniques for healing and acupoint striking.

[System Prompt: Obtained the fragment of the second volume of the Nine Yin Manual, Martial Arts Foundation + 10%!]

[Legend of the Condor Heroes World Origin recognition increased to 20%!]

Zhang Sanfeng put the small booklet away and looked at the two, saying, "Don't worry, I will keep this manual properly."

"If you have nowhere to go, you can go to Wudang Mountain to stay. This poor Daoist will establish a sect there in the future, and you should be able to live out your lives in peace."

"Thank you, Daoist." Chen Shuanglei and Mei Chaofeng bowed again, then turned and boarded the small boat by the lake.

The small boat slowly sailed away from the ferry, disappearing into the vast night.

Zhang Sanfeng stood by the lake, watching the direction the boat disappeared, lost in thought.

West Poison actually knew in advance that the Nine Yin Manual was in the hands of the Black Wind Twins and also planned the explosion incident at Zuixian Restaurant. Behind this, I am afraid it is not as simple as just snatching the manual.

He looked up toward the northwest, a flash of bright light in his eyes.

"West Poison, Wanyan Honglie... It seems that this Legend of the Condor Heroes Jianghu is even more complicated than I imagined."

The night wind blew, and the water surface of South Lake rippled layer by layer.