Chapter Seventy-Eight: Paralyzing Venom

Seeing Chu Xiner rise, Xiao Wenzi paused his bloodsucking and transmitted his voice joyfully, “Xiner, your cultivation has recovered.”

“Yes, quite well. Xiao Wen, have you gotten enough blood? If there’s no issue, let’s deal with these two corpses and leave quickly,” she replied with a smile, transmitting her thoughts though her heart was filled with questions—now was not the time for idle talk.

“Almost done. Master, you take the spoils, I’ll handle the bodies,” Xiao Wenzi responded, fully aware that lingering here was unwise. While transmitting his reply, he took the storage pouch from Shi Yan’s waist and tossed it to Chu Xiner. Then, he exchanged for a Demon Fire Talisman, infused it with demon energy, and sent it flying toward the unlucky fellow’s corpse.

A roar resounded as flames engulfed Shi Yan’s body, reducing it swiftly to ashes.

Meanwhile, Chu Xiner took Huang Yipeng’s storage pouch, wielded her magical artifact to tear him apart until nothing remained but a pile of minced flesh—her hatred clearly ran deep.

At that moment, Xiao Wenzi flew over with spread wings, producing a fiery red talisman that transformed into a fireball, enveloping Huang Yipeng’s remains.

“Let’s go, Xiao Wen,” Chu Xiner said. Save for a few traces of battle, there was nothing left to show that corpses had ever existed. She nodded with satisfaction and called Xiao Wenzi back into the Spirit Beast Pouch, then mounted her escape light and sped away into the distant sky.

Boom, boom, boom—

Half an hour later, in a remote mountain valley, the young woman manipulated her mid-grade magical artifact to hack at the storage pouch before her. She watched as it disintegrated into ashes with a thunderous sound, finally allowing a relieved smile to bloom across her pretty face.

Storage pouches contained spatial laws; when the pouch was destroyed, everything inside was obliterated as well.

Within the Greenleaf Sect, elite disciples possessed life tokens that would alert the elders if the disciple died while out training, prompting them to send elders to hunt the murderer.

Huang Yipeng’s uncle was none other than the sect’s steward elder. If her calculations were correct, Huang Bing was likely already on his way.

A late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator was not one to be trifled with. In terms of speed, Chu Xiner would never match him, let alone contend with his unfathomable techniques.

Fortunately, this place was over a thousand miles from Greenleaf Sect; even with Foundation Establishment escape light, it would take some time to arrive.

Chu Xiner had taken Huang Yipeng’s storage pouch specifically to create the illusion of murder for treasure. She never intended to keep it for herself.

After all, that fellow’s wealth was not greater than hers, and if there was a spiritual imprint she didn’t know about, it would spell disaster.

Now, having destroyed it with brute force, Chu Xiner could finally breathe easy.

With one hidden danger eliminated, she proceeded to use Dust Removal and Clear Water techniques to wash away the smell of blood, then changed into fresh robes and quickly set off in a chosen direction.

She also packed away her original, torn dress into her storage pouch.

Chu Xiner was shrewd and clever; her chosen path was calculated—a wide detour toward the southwestern Tian Nan mountain range, northwest of the Misty Marsh, exactly opposite her original target, the Blackrock Forest.

By normal logic, Huang Bing, upon discovering the site of Huang Yipeng’s death, would assume the murderer fled away from Greenleaf Sect.

He would pursue fruitlessly, and when he returned to search, Chu Xiner would already be long gone.

Indeed, several hours later, a streak of light hovered above the forest where Huang Yipeng died, revealing a thin, gloomy-faced elder with black hair—Huang Bing, Yipeng’s uncle.

Upon hearing of his nephew’s broken life token, Huang Bing left the sect immediately, but with so few clues, it took a long time to find the scene.

Staring at the scorched earth, the ashes scattered by mountain winds, and the lingering traces, Huang Bing gritted his teeth. “Such ruthless scoundrels! Not only did they kill for treasure, but they destroyed Peng’er’s corpse so thoroughly...”

Though he could not determine the killer’s identity, it was certainly someone at Foundation Establishment; otherwise, with his own talisman treasures, even several peak Qi Refining cultivators would not have threatened Huang Yipeng.

On his way here, he found no trace of cultivators of equal rank. Clearly, before the killer struck, Yipeng must have revealed his identity, but the murderer showed no scruples in slaying him.

Of course, the killer was not entirely without caution. The meticulous destruction of the corpse was meant to leave no clues, and he would not foolishly flee toward Greenleaf Sect.

After his anger faded, Huang Bing quickly sorted his thoughts and shot southeast in pursuit.

Having flown at full speed all day, evening found Chu Xiner lodging at a town inn. Her cultivation was long depleted, and beneath her veil, her delicate face betrayed exhaustion.

But after so long without being questioned by sect elders and with nearly a thousand miles between her and the mountain forest, Chu Xiner knew she was temporarily out of danger.

She dismissed the servant who brought tea and instructed him not to disturb her. Then, she sat cross-legged on the bed and began breathing and cultivation.

Within the Spirit Beast Pouch, Xiao Wenzi withdrew his demon sense, tapped the system exchange page, and a pill of primal essence appeared before him. He extended his proboscis to suck it in and swallow it.

During the young woman’s flight, he had exchanged for the seventh layer demon qi cultivation method of the Blood Spirit Art, and had already replenished the red hearts spent.

After so much contemplation, Xiao Wenzi had thoroughly mastered the technique, though his cultivation was only at the mid-sixth layer, not needing the seventh layer method yet.

Now, while Chu Xiner cultivated and the inn posed no danger, he seized the chance to advance his own cultivation.

With a top-grade demon-gathering pill assisting him, Xiao Wenzi believed it would not be long before his next breakthrough.

Moreover, the seventh layer of the Blood Spirit Art contained no new attack or defense spells, but it did record a method for refining a paralytic venom.

Mosquitoes naturally carried venom; for example, when he sucked blood, even without deliberately injecting it, the toxins on his proboscis could cause itching and discomfort.

This venom refinement method involved absorbing the essence of several poisonous herbs, refining and merging them within the body to upgrade his venom into a paralytic variant.

Once successfully cultivated, it could numb a cultivator’s body and soul.

Its effects remained uncertain, but its key was injecting the venom into the enemy, allowing it to spread via blood and numb their body and daze their spirit.

In high-level cultivator duels, protective shields were usually raised, or advanced defensive talismans and treasures activated. It was not easy to paralyze them this way, making the secret technique seem quite useless.

But never forget, Xiao Wenzi excelled at ambush. He needed his targets alive to absorb more blood and exchange for system coins. Paralytic venom was simply tailor-made for him.