Mid Niu Jiao Mountain, within a secluded forest—

  Zhao Heng waved away the buzzing flies swarming around him, shifted his numb legs, and stared at the empty mountain path in front of him with a puzzled expression.

  "What’s going on? Why haven’t they shown up yet?"

  Zhao Heng’s inal pn was to circle around the side of Niu Jiao Mountain to the back, setting up ambushes along the way. Once he was ready, he would appear on the mountain path eg the front and back hills, luring Liu Hong and his group into his traps.

  Acc to his calcutions, Liu Hong and the others should have arrived here by now after failing to find him on the front mountain.

  Yet, after waiting for aire hour, there was still no sign of them.

  "Could they have lost my trail? Or did they run into a Tier-3 Mystic Beast on the way a wiped out? Or maybe…"

  Zhao Heng’s thoughts raced, sidering various possibilities.

  "Could those guys still be lying in ambush at the base of the mountain, waiting for me to e down?"

  After going through numerous potential sarios in his head and waiting a while longer, Zhao Heng finally decided to ge his strategy.

  He would start colleg materials on the back mountain and use the opportunity to monitor for any signs of his pursuers. If he spotted them, he could thehem into his traps.

  It seemed Zhao Heng’s luck was in his favor.

  In just half a day, he mao gather several materials o refihe Boempering Pill. Although he entered a few Tier-1 Mystic Beasts, they were easily dealt with.

  By evening, as the sky began to darken, Zhao Heng found a cealed tree hollow to use as shelter.

  He blocked the entrah loose stones, spread some hay to make a mat, and took out a roast chi from his bag. Pairing it with some still-warm wine from his fsk, he enjoyed a hearty meal.

  The warmth of the food and drink spread through his body, filling him with a sense of fort and te.

  After eating his fill aing out a satisfied burp, Zhao Heng sat cross-legged and begaating.

  Meanwhile, oher side of the mountain—

  By a damp and chilling mountain stream, a few figures huddled in the er of a rocky valley.

  The biting cold wind howled through the area, occasionally apanied by eerie wolf howls in the distance.

  The bination of hunger, exhaustion, and the stant threat of mystic beasts left fear written across their faces.

  One of them couldn’t hold bay longer and muttered, shivering, "Liu Steward, where do you think Zhao Heng has gone? And don’t fet the demonic cultivators from Hehua Sect—they’re probably still hunting us. Add to that the mystic beasts on this mountain… And with our provisions lost, maybe we should sider heading back down the mountain?"

  "Shut up!"

  Liu Hong, who was sitting cross-legged in the er, snapped coldly.

  Uhe pale moonlight, his face looked as though it was covered in frost, his expression grim and dark.

  Liu Hong was in a terrible mood.

  When he had set out that day, his pn was to quickly take care of Zhao Heng. He didn’t expect to lose Zhao Heng’s trail, and things had only gone downhill from there.

  On the the mountain, they had been ambushed by demonic cultivators from the Hehua Sect.

  For some reason, the moment they heard his he demonic cultivators charged at him like mad dogs.

  Fortunately, their stro members were only at the ninth level of the Body Refi Realm. Despite being outnumbered, Liu Hong and his group mao repel them.

  Liu Hong thought that ohey had fended off the Hehua Sect’s forces, they could resume their search for Zhao Heng without issue.

  But to his dismay, the Hehua Sect had more than one ambush waiting for them. Along the mountain trail, they entered numerous traps—and worse still, a Bone Refi Realm cultivator from the Hehua Sect had joihe fray.

  Liu Hong and his subordinates fought fiercely, narrowly esg the encirclement. They eventually found this rocky valley as a temporary hiding pce.

  To make matters worse, much of their gear and provisions had been lost during the battles.

  Now, uo ve to hunt mystic beasts at night, they could do nothing but ehe cold and hunger.

  Recalling the day’s events, Liu Ho an overwhelming sense of frustration, anger, and helplessness.

  He let out a long breath, his gaze sweeping over his battered group. **"It’s too te to desd the mountain now. We’d risk running into mystic beasts, not to mention those Hehua Sect sdrels.

  "We’ll rest here for the night. At first light, we’ll find some food, recover our strength, and resume searg for Zhao Heng."

  Though his subordinates wao protest, they had no choice but to nod relutly.

  Elsewhere, in a hidden cave on Niu Jiao Mountain—

  The flickering light of a fire illumihe cave, where a group of fierce-looking men and women in gray-bck robes had gathered.

  At the ter stood a one-eyed, bald man, his pierg gaze sweeping over the group.

  "Brothers and sisters!" he barked in a harsh tone. **"The Hehua Sect has been in dee for far too long. Now, uhe leadership of our You Master, we have the ce to recim our flory!

  "The Yuhua Sect has gooo far—killing our disciples and insulting our sect. We must strike bad show the world that the Hehua Sect is not to be trifled with!"

  "Strike back! Make them pay!" the crowd roared in agreement.

  Someone asked, "Senior Brother, what are our steps?"

  The one-eyed man’s gaze turned icy. **"That steward, Liu Hong, may be formidable, but we have numbers on our side.

  **"We’ve already blocked the path down the mountain, and our sentries are stationed across the front peak. They’re surrounded.

  "Tomorrow at dawn, we’ll unch a full-scale search. We’ll crush them and send a message to anyone who dares to insult the Hehua Sect!"

  The m—

  Zhao Heng emerged from his tree hollow, feeling refreshed and energized after a night of rest.

  After hiding the entrao his shelter, he spent the m bing the back mountain for herbs.

  Yet, despite his efforts, he still found no trace of Liu Hong or his group.

  "Seriously? How are these guys so slow? They couldn’t catch up with a steaming pile of dung!" Zhao Heng muttered to himself, a mix of exasperation and amusement.

  He sidered venturing into other areas to search for them but decided against it, wary of potential ambushes. Instead, he resolved to stay on the back mountain and tihering resources while keeping a.

  Three days passed.

  Thanks to his exceptional strength, Zhao Heng scoured the outer areas of the back mountain, colleg over half the ingredients needed for the Boempering Pill. He also killed more than a dozen Tier-1 Mystic Beasts, making signifit progress.

  Yet, to his frustration, there was still no sign of Liu Hong’s group.

  "By now, they should’ve expaheir search to the back mountain after not finding me on the front peak. Why hasn’t that happened?"

  The situatio increasingly strange.

  After some hesitation, Zhao Heng decided to head toward the front mountain to iigate.

  Moving cautiously, he followed a steep, hidden trail toward the front peak, using his Qi Observation Teique to stay alert for any movements or traces.

  Before long, Zhao Heng began to notice signs of a struggle—trampled ground, broken branches, and scattered footprints.

  Following the trail further, he came across several corpses.

  Most of them were dressed in gray-bck robes, their appearance marking them as demonic cultivators. Among them, however, were two disciples from the Yuhua Sect’s Servants’ Peak.

  Both sides bore the marks of fierbat, with grievous injuries evident on their bodies.

  Curiously, their belongings had not been looted, suggesting that the battle was still ongoing rather than having cluded.

  Pieg together the evidence, Zhao Heng quickly deduced what had happened.

  Liu Hong’s group hadn’t been avoiding him; they had been locked in a bloody flict with another party on the front mountain—likely the Hehua Sect.

  "What terrible luck for Liu Hong. Of all the people to run into, it had to be his enemies."

  Still, Zhao Heng couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement.

  "The e and the cm are at each other’s throats… and I’m the fisherman poised to reap the bes."

  An opportunity like this to capitalize on the chaos was not something Zhao Heng would let slip through his fingers.

  Zhao Heng followed the trail of the fighting parties, trag their movements while sging for spoils along the way.

  As he progressed, he discovered numerous corpses of bck-dividuals. Most of them had purple lips and darkened foreheads, clear signs of having been poisoned.

  This made Zhao Heng wary. He quickly took precautions against poison and tinued his pursuit.

  After trag them for seven ht li (miles), Zhao Heng had reaped a siderable haul from sging the battlefield.

  When he approached a clearing in the woods, the sounds of g ons and furious bat reached his ears.

  Hiding behind a rge boulder and some wild grass, Zhao Heng peeked out. He saw two groups locked in intetle about ten zhang (thirty meters) away.

  One group sisted of seven individuals, all dressed in gray-bbat attire. The roup had only four, each wearing the uniform of the Yuhua Sect’s servant disciples.

  Although the Yuhua Sect disciples were outnumbered, the seven gray-cd fighters seemed to have been poisoheir movements were sluggish, causing them to fall back repeatedly.

  Within moments, the four servant disciples overwhelmed and killed all seven oppos.

  The leader of the group looked at the fallen enemies and couldn’t hide his excitement.

  "Liu Steward’s poison is incredible! These demonic scum barely had any bat strength."

  Another person replied, "Enough talk! Let’s go help Liu Steward finish off that Hehua Sect leader, then we find Zhao Heng."

  A third chimed in angrily, "Right. We’ve suffered so much because of that brat Zhao Heng. When we find him, we’ll skin him alive and make him wish he were dead!"

  The four were practically seething with rage, bming all their ret misfortunes on Zhao Heng.

  As they prepared to move to another battlefield and sprioward the other side of the clearing—

  "Whoosh!"

  From a dech of grass, a bde fshed like lightning, striking with sudden fieress.

  One of the four disciples, a Body Refi Realm warrior at the eighth level, was caught off guard. The bde pierced his throat, and blood sprayed out like an arrow.

  The attack was so abrupt that the remaining three disciples instinctively retreated, staring at the patch of grass in shock.

  "Who’s there?"

  The grass parted, revealing a young man in bck clothing with a lean build. His bright, dark eyes gleamed as he stepped out, holding a blood-stained short bde.

  With an i expression on his face, he looked at the three disciples and said, "Senior brothers, were you looking for me?"

  The moment the three saw the young man’s face, their pupils tracted sharply in shock.

  "Zhao Heng!"

  But after the initial shock, murderous i filled their eyes.

  "You brat! You actually dare show yourself!"

  "Brothers, let’s kill him! Then this mission will be a plete success!"

  The three immediately lu Zhao Heng. Their movements were swift and precise, revealing that all three were at the ninth level of the Body Refi Realm.

  For this operation, Liu Hong had not only e personally but had alsht his most trusted ae subordinates, aiming to ensure Zhao Heng’s death without any slip-ups.

  Though they were aware of Zhao Heng’s ing, their fiden their ninth-level Body Refi abilities made them fearless. Even against a Bone Refi cultivator, they believed they could hold their own in a fight.

  Fag the bined assault of the three, Zhao Heng instinctively adopted a cautious stance.

  He moved deftly, his feet shifting smoothly to trol the battlefield. With his fists ready to block from all sides and his bde poised to ter, he kept powdered lime and Soft Tendon Powder at hand, prepared to use any means necessary.

  However, after just a brief exge of blows, Zhao Heng realized something peculiar.

  The strength of his oppos was mediocre at best.

  Their movements, while quick, felt clumsy pared to his own agility. They couldn’t even touch the hem of his clothing.

  Seeing that the trio was already showing signs of exhaustion, Zhao Heng decided to stop holding back.

  Activating his Boransformation Steps, his figure became a blur, weaving like a ghost through the three of them.

  His short bde, the Bck Gold Leopard-Head Dagger, gleamed with a dark light as it sshed through the air, leaving a trail of blood in its wake.

  In one fluid motion, he slit the throat of one oppo. As his bde passed through, he spun it around and drove it into the chest of a sed disciple.

  The sed disciple let out a muffled groan, his eyes widening in disbelief. Even as the light faded from his gaze, his hands desperately g to Zhao Heng’s bde.

  The third disciple seized the moment to strike, eling all his strength into a powerful palm strike aimed at Zhao Heng’s face.

  This was ary-level palm teique, but the raw force behind it was impressive.

  Zhao Heng, however, remained unfazed. He raised his left hand and tered with a punch.

  The punch was simple yet robust, carrying an unstoppable momentum.

  "Crack!"

  The sound of bones snapping echoed as Zhao Heng’s punch shattered the disciple’s wrist, dispersing the force of the palm strike.

  But Zhao Heng’s punch didn’t stop there—it tinued forward like a onball, smming into the disciple’s chest.

  "Boom!"

  The disciple was sent flying several meters, blood spurting from his mouth. His chest caved in, and his lifeless body hit the ground with eyes wide open.

  In the blink of an eye, a Body Refi Realm warrior at the eighth level and three at the ninth level were all sin by Zhao Heng.

  The entire exge sted no more than a few dozehs.

  After finishing the fight, Zhao Heng calmly pulled his dagger from the chest of the sed disciple. As he wiped the blood from the bde, he muttered to himself:

  "All of them were at the ninth level of Body Refi… Why were they so weak? Well, at least I didn’t o waste my lime powder."

  [--------------------------------------------]

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