Chapter 109: Waiting for a Rabbit to Come Along?

Xu Zhong dashed off at full speed.

But in the next moment, the world seemed to turn upside down; stars flashed before his eyes.

When he finally landed and steadied himself, a sword was suddenly pressed against his neck.

Cold sweat poured down Xu Zhong’s face, his heart pounding so fiercely it felt as if it would leap from his mouth.

Fortunately, Zhou Yang had no intention of killing him immediately and released his hold.

What on earth was going on?

Before Xu Zhong could make sense of the situation, he saw Zhou Yang press his palm against Xu’s lower dantian, infusing spiritual energy that clashed with Xu’s own. In an instant, it transformed into chains that bound him tightly, rendering him immobile.

Then Zhou Yang pried open Xu Zhong’s mouth and shoved a black pill inside, speaking coldly, “This is the Red Crow Pill, a poison. Without an antidote within three days, you will surely perish.”

At the same time, he began to explain the effects of the Red Crow Pill.

Every double-hour, the poison would cause the blood within to boil unbearably for a quarter of an hour.

Each time, the blood’s temperature would rise further until the heart could no longer bear it, resulting in death from heart failure.

Fear filled Xu Zhong’s eyes as he stared at Zhou Yang.

“As long as you obey me, the antidote will come naturally after three days,” Zhou Yang said, coughing up clots of blood, his figure visibly weakened.

A brief silence stretched into an entire double-hour.

Both men waited—one for the poison to take effect, the other for it not to.

They locked eyes without looking away.

Zhou Yang had suffered grievous injuries; his breath was faint, his strength leaking away. The innate energy within his dantian continuously seeped out, leaving him weaker by the moment.

Behind him lay the body of the monstrous dragon that had pursued him, piled like a small mountain.

Blood cascaded down like a waterfall.

Zhou Yang bathed in the dragon’s blood, nurturing his wounds.

About an hour later, the poison within Xu Zhong began to flare.

His body felt as if aflame, pain unbearable. At that moment, Zhou Yang snapped his fingers, flicking a pill into Xu Zhong’s secret fiery storage. Instantly, the searing agony was eased.

“I did not lie. The Red Crow Pill is truly poison. I trust you won’t do anything foolish now,” Zhou Yang said.

Xu Zhong panted heavily, drenched in sweat, still unable to recover from the pain that burned not only his flesh but his very soul. Both yin and yang aspects of his being suffered intense torment.

He nodded and asked, “You’re not killing me. What do you want me to do?”

“I need you to attract Qi Refiner cultivators from the outside world, just as you did today.”

Zhou Yang spoke calmly, though beneath the calm was unmistakable frailty. If not for the Red Crow Pill, Xu Zhong might have been tempted to try to kill him outright.

At this moment, Xu Zhong harbored similar thoughts.

After all, where there is poison, there is an antidote.

Perhaps that antidote was on Zhou Yang himself.

Xu Zhong’s eyes darted thoughtfully.

“Trying to kill me outright?”

His expression betrayed his thoughts almost plainly.

Zhou Yang sneered, “Look around this cave.”

Only then did Xu Zhong take in the surroundings.

This newly excavated realm was filled with lanterns hung closely, no more than twelve meters apart.

Xu Zhong employed his spiritual perception.

The flames within the lanterns were no ordinary candles—they burned with Samadhi True Fire.

The light cast by the true fire diffused into a misty incense-like aura, intermittently entering Zhou Yang’s body through his pores.

A closer look revealed that the wicks were not ordinary but formed of souls, and the lamp oil was no common fuel but undying spiritual light.

Each lantern was a living being.

There were thirty-six such lanterns.

Yet it was clear Zhou Yang wanted him to see more than just the lanterns.

Xu Zhong focused intently.

He then saw that each lantern contained a formation flag.

Endless swirling yin energy circulated within, emitting strands of power that pierced through lantern after lantern, permeating the entire cave and ultimately converging upon Zhou Yang.

Thus, invisible threads as fine as hairs surrounded Zhou Yang, each carrying an overwhelming flow of yin energy like a roaring river.

Xu Zhong sensed that if he acted, he would have to avoid these white threads, lest they slice him into pieces.

He restrained his thoughts.

“You are clever,” Zhou Yang smiled faintly. “To heal my wounds, I’d need at least 120 Qi Refiners at the True Essence stage to refine pills. But if you can bring Qi Refiners at the Materialization stage, then only thirty are needed. If you want to hasten my recovery, you could even find ten Outer Realm or three Equalization stage Qi Refiners.”

Then he smiled wryly, “Though I doubt you’ll seek out higher-stage Qi Refiners for me—that would only hasten your death.”

Their gazes met, each knowing what the other was contemplating.

“Because we both know, once I recover, your death will be near.”

As he spoke, Zhou Yang shook out the skin and bones of the Golden Crow from his alchemical cauldron.

His soul attempted to escape, but Zhou Yang trapped it in a bottle.

Under the dim candlelight, Xu Zhong could see the intricate fibrous membranes on the Golden Crow’s skin, the hidden acupoints, and faint spiritual energy coursing within.

Zhou Yang crafted a lantern from the Golden Crow’s skin as the lamp body, using its bones as the frame, and sealed them together with his own fresh blood as glue. Then he exhaled a breath of innate energy.

In an instant, the lamp body and frame merged flawlessly, cycling the dual energies of yin and yang in constant flux between shadow and illumination.

He took out the Golden Crow’s skull, now refined into a lamp cup.

Using great spiritual power, Zhou Yang separated the soul from the undying spiritual light in the bottle.

He fused the undying light into lamp oil, then rolled the "three souls and seven spirits" into a wick.

The wick was placed into the lamp cup, soaked with lamp oil, and ignited with the Samadhi True Fire.

Suddenly, faint screams of the Golden Crow echoed in Xu Zhong’s ears.

A fragrant scent wafted from the lantern.

This thirty-seventh lantern was hung in an empty spot.

“This will be your fate!” Zhou Yang said with a smile.

Xu Zhong remained expressionless.

He simply watched Zhou Yang, curious about the injury that forced him to seek Xu Zhong’s aid.

“No need to look further; the wound is at the back of my head!” Zhou Yang said, turning around.

Xu Zhong then saw the injury.

A sword wound pierced through the Baihui acupoint on his crown, extending upward and downward, splitting Zhou Yang’s body in half.

At the wound, thick sword energy flowed like a waterfall inside him, cascading from his head to the tailbone, cycling endlessly without pause.

Through that wound, Xu Zhong could even see Zhou Yang’s internal body.

His body was in a half-human, half-dragon state.

His heart and kidneys were those of a dragon, the rest remained human.

Because his heart was a dragon’s heart, his blood was dragon blood.

This dragon blood coursed through his body like a true dragon coiled within, radiating a supreme, masculine energy.

Yet the dragon within his kidneys was entirely different—it was the utmost yin and softness.

Yin and yang in perfect balance, the cycle unceasing.

Following the waterfall inward, Xu Zhong saw Zhou Yang’s soul also split in two, as was his internal spirit.

Such a sword strike was truly terrifying.

Xu Zhong tried to memorize the sword intent, aiming to deduce its composition and learn to wield it himself.

His sword heart shone as brightly as the sun, imprinting every aspect of the sword in his mind.

This sword was strange.

It seemed to have no origin or destination.

It existed between reality and illusion, in a hazy state.

How was such a sword wielded?

“Could it be like the blade from the Thunder Ancestor’s palace—coming from the past?”

This sword resembled that blade.

But obviously, the monstrous dragon could not have unleashed such a sword.

“He put the wound right before my eyes,” Xu Zhong murmured. “Perhaps he wants me to find a way to break this sword.”

His thoughts scattered.

Zhou Yang turned around at that moment.

Xu Zhong suddenly saw a dazzling sword light burst from his heart, making the waterfall more majestic.

“He clearly escaped, yet doesn’t seek other Zhou family Qi Refiners, instead hiding here to lick his wounds. Perhaps this sword cut his bloodline; he doesn’t want to drag others down.”

The sword could not have originated from the fiery secret storage.

Because the fiery secret storage symbolizes purity; if it were tainted, it would mean falling into demonic ways.

If not the heart, then only the blood remained.

At that thought, Xu Zhong seemed to vaguely locate the sword’s source.

“How is this sword triggered from the bloodline?”

Xu Zhong felt a headache coming.

This sword was too mysterious for his foundation to analyze, much less imitate.

“What do you see?” Zhou Yang asked.

Xu Zhong shook his head.

“Looks like you can’t kill me after all,” Zhou Yang smiled.

“Who says I can’t!” Xu Zhong pointed to his secret storage.

In the next moment, a golden pill Dao Tree revealed itself.

“If you force me too far, I’ll risk my life to take you down with me,” Xu Zhong said coldly. “Don’t doubt my resolve—I’m capable of that.”

“I never doubted your resolve,” Zhou Yang scoffed. “But your golden pill can’t destroy my Outer Realm. Even if I die, I can come back to life.”

“And if you die, you’re truly dead.”

“After you die, I can even plant your golden pill Dao Tree into my own Outer Realm, to anchor yin, form the foundation of time, and thereby enter the Inner Realm.”

Zhou Yang grinned faintly.

“And you, unable to kill me, instead gift me opportunity.”

Hearing this, Xu Zhong laughed wildly.

“If you had that ability, you wouldn’t be playing this waiting game with me.”

“Smart people are hard to fool,” Zhou Yang chuckled. “But if I’m pushed to the brink, I’d do something as crazy as you.”

“So before that happens, you best satisfy me.”

Zhou Yang licked his lips and said, “I’m hungry. Go find me something to eat.”