Chapter 199 - 197: "Demon Elephant"?

Chapter 199: Chapter 197: "Demon Elephant"?

The echoes of two gunshots trembled in the winter air.

Fu Juemin tossed the pistol back to the man beside him, his tone flat. "Go get it."

The man nodded and, without another word, sprinted toward the spot where the dark shadow had fallen.

Behind him, his attendant, Big Cat, silently drew near, a faint question in his eyes, but Fu Juemin showed no intention of explaining.

He simply pulled a lighter from his overcoat pocket, lit a cigarette, and waited quietly by the car.

Before long, the Qinglian Gang member he’d sent out returned, dangling a bloody mess from his hand. He didn’t dare get too close. "Young Master, I only found this."

Fu Juemin casually tossed away the cigarette he had only taken a single drag from, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the man’s hand.

It was an owl, with a gruesome bullet hole in its chest and another in its head. Strangely, a mass of black, parasite-like tendrils writhed within its thoracic cavity. Where its skull was shattered, a small red light blinked with a steady rhythm.

The man reached out and dug a tiny, intricate metal component, smeared with brain matter and blood, from the owl’s skull.

The blinking red light came from this thing.

"Young Master!"

Big Cat’s gaze turned icy, and he took a step forward.

He clearly recognized it—

in all of Shenghai, only the Westerners possessed this kind of "technology" that could fuse living creatures with machinery.

They had encountered it once before, downriver on the Su River, during the hunt for the Iron-Maned Demon Boar.

Fu Juemin’s expression, however, remained untroubled. He only said lightly, "Take this to Aunt Ding and have her look at it."

Big Cat nodded, had someone secure the mechanical component and the owl’s corpse, then turned and hurried back to Ink Garden.

It was obvious this was an "eye" sent by Luo Zhengxiong to monitor him. It would have been stranger if Luo Zhengxiong had made no move against Ink Garden after the battle at the headquarters.

But this move... it seemed a little small.

Fu Juemin had been prepared for a second or even a third wave of powerful enemies. And yet, all that came was a "monitor" hidden in a flock of birds?!

’Are his follow-up measures still on the way, or... is there some other reason?’

Fu Juemin’s eyes flickered. He thought for a moment, then said, "Forget it, we’re not going out today."

Seeing Xu Xinyi’s face fall—she had been waiting in the car for ages—he shook his head with a hint of resignation and gave another order.

He sent someone to the Wenhe Theater to have them bring a film projector and reels over to set up a private screening right in Ink Garden.

Only then did Xu Xinyi’s eyes curve into happy crescents.

For the next three days, Fu Juemin didn’t leave the residence. He spent his days with Xu Xinyi and his nights immersed in the training chamber.

On the third day, the snow began to melt, and a bone-chilling cold settled in for the night.

Great gusts of cold wind poured in from the training chamber’s skylight, but before they could descend, they were driven away by a powerful wave of heat from the center of the room.

Fu Juemin stood in the center of the room, dressed in a loose silk training uniform. His Qi Blood, as thick as mercury paste, churned at full force, radiating waves of heat. He was like a steel furnace with molten lava flowing within.

The density of his Qi Blood had long surpassed the standard for Great Success in Tongxuan. He was only two steps away from the Gratitude Sensing Realm: Opening the Hidden Acupoints and Quenching Perception.

The purpose of the first step was to unearth the hidden "Qi Sources" deep within the body as much as possible. Upon completion, the quality and quantity of his Vitality would undergo another leap.

When undertaking this step, most Martial Artists proceeded as if walking on thin ice, taking years to do so with extreme caution, terrified of damaging their meridians.

Fu Juemin, however, had no such concerns. He unleashed his Qi Blood, letting it repeatedly surge through his entire body like the great tides of the Huangling River crashing against a dam.

One by one, his meridians and acupoints were forcibly blasted open. As for the minor hidden injuries left behind, he didn’t even need to call upon the vortex of Innate Primordial Qi; the Pure Body he’d attained from mastering the Pharmacist Skill was enough to heal them naturally.

The efficiency of his method was astounding. A single night’s work was equivalent to a year, or even several years, of an ordinary person’s painstaking effort.

During the process of flushing the acupoints, his hands were not idle. From time to time, he would pick up a Poison Pill—the size of a longan fruit and strangely vibrant in color—from the Copper Disc before him and swallow it.

This was the Inner Cultivation Method of the Five Aggregates Profound Slaughter Technique. Fu Juemin wanted to quickly master the "Guardian Palace Poison Seed."

For the Five Phases Poison Seed of the Five Aggregates Profound Slaughter Technique, because naturally poisonous geckos were so rare, the Lizard Form could originally be substituted with the Spider Form.

But since Fu Juemin had already obtained a Guardian Demon Soul, he naturally wouldn’t deign to use a mere substitute.

He had spent vast amounts of silver coins, ordering the forces of the Qinglian Gang to search relentlessly for highly venomous geckos. At the same time, he secretly refined Poison Pills for his cultivation by mixing bee venom, spider venom, and other poisons with the gecko toxin. His progress was quite good.

’Once I’ve gathered the Five Poison Five Phases and the Five Beasts Five Phases, or I level up the Dragon Elephant Skill to Perfection... and then open the Four Souls, I’ll have no reason to fear Luo Zhengxiong.’

Fu Juemin endured the violent poison ravaging his body and the agony of his Qi Blood blasting through his acupoints, all while replaying his battle with Luo Zhengxiong over and over in his mind.

Under a solitary lamp on a cold night, inside the silent, empty training chamber, Fu Juemin was like a hibernating beast, silently undergoing the process of shedding old claws as new ones grew.

Time passed, second by second. The only sounds echoing in the training chamber were the low rumble of rushing Qi Blood and Fu Juemin’s slow, deep breaths.

Suddenly, his eyes flew open!

In the dim room, it was as if an invisible wave of air had exploded outward.

"They’re here!"

A sharp glint flashed in Fu Juemin’s eyes.

Ever since discovering Luo Zhengxiong’s surveillance method outside Ink Garden, he had spent the last three days activating [Yao Ling] to "listen in" on the entire estate whenever he had a free moment, waiting for a potential "opponent" to arrive.

He had waited a full three days, and now, finally, they had come.

Within his [Yao Ling] perception, Fu Juemin clearly "saw" a dark figure slip into Ink Garden like a nocturnal bat, its Body Technique uncanny and silent.

Everywhere it passed, guards and servants collapsed with muffled thuds. In an instant, it had killed seven or eight people.

It moved through the grounds as if they were completely deserted.

"It seems... there’s no aura of a Demon Fiend?"

Fu Juemin’s brow furrowed slightly. He was surprised not to sense the slightest trace of a Demonic Fiend’s aura from the person. The intruder felt more like a pure Martial Artist.

A very strong one, though. Judging by their methods, their strength had likely reached the Gratitude Sensing Realm.

’But barging in to kill in the middle of the night... it doesn’t matter if they’re human or Demon. Perfect. I’ve been wanting to see how the Great Success Dragon Elephant Skill fares against a Martial Artist of the Gratitude Sensing Realm anyway...’

Hoooo—

He exhaled a turbid breath, which shot out like a white arrow.

Fu Juemin turned around, his face calm.

He pushed open the doors of the training chamber. The cold moonlight, like liquid mercury, spilled across his tranquil face.

He moved in a straight line, silently streaking out.

One thousand meters, five hundred meters, one hundred meters...

Upon entering a hundred-meter radius of his target, Fu Juemin activated [Shadow Control], his figure rapidly dissolving into the shadows of the night.

Ten meters!

Fu Juemin erupted into motion!

K-KRAK, KRAK, KRAK—

[Soft Bone] activated! His well-proportioned frame suddenly shot up and swelled, muscles coiling like dragons.

Deep within his Consciousness, the majestic Dharma Form of a Buddha, entwined by a Dragon and an Elephant, instantly manifested, blazing with light!

The terrifying aura he had kept restrained was now fully unleashed, exploding outward! A viscous, almost tangible, invisible mass of air erupted from his body. The surrounding grass and trees flattened, and the dust and pebbles on the ground trembled and levitated.

A golden light flowed in the depths of Fu Juemin’s eyes. He raised his arm and pushed his palm forward.

Infinite Seal Technique!

In that instant, the countless air currents around him began to churn violently. The air within the small bamboo grove where he stood was brutally seized and compressed, transforming into a stagnant, heavy, invisible sea!

The moment his Palm Momentum was unleashed, it was like pushing a massive, transparent, terrifying "Grinding Disc." The air shrieked with the groans of dragons and the trumpeting of elephants, as if it couldn’t bear the strain!

K-KRACK! K-KRACK! K-KRACK—!

For a moment, it was as if a Category 10 hurricane had passed through. The green bamboo stalks in its path were crushed by immense force, snapping and flying away in droves!

Only in the instant before Fu Juemin’s Palm Momentum reached it did the invading dark figure seem to realize the danger with a shudder of horror!

In that moment, its back felt as if it were being pierced by thousands of steel needles, and the thick shadow of death enveloped its heart.

It turned in horror, only to see its pupils reflect a giant palm emerging from the endless darkness, rapidly filling its entire field of vision!

Under the crescent moon, two figures clashed and separated in a flash!

BOOM—

Fu Juemin landed steadily. Behind him, the dull thud of a body smashing through a rockery resounded.

He turned slowly. The moonlight spilled down from behind him, stretching his figure and casting a long, deep shadow.

At the end of the shadow, a figure lay amidst the rubble. One of its shoulders was caved in, its face was covered in blood, and it was staring at him, its eyes filled with horror and disbelief.

’Still a bit too far.’

The thought flickered through Fu Juemin’s mind.

Ten meters was a bit too far to initiate the attack. Combined with the astonishing presence of the Infinite Seal Technique, it had given his opponent just enough time to react at the last moment. Though they failed to dodge completely, they had managed to shift just enough to protect their heart, taking the blow on their left shoulder instead.

However, it didn’t matter.

Fu Juemin’s face was expressionless as he stepped forward, preparing to deliver the final blow.

But just then, the figure on the ground suddenly looked at him and growled, his voice a mixture of terror and gritted-teeth hatred, "Dragon Elephant Wisdom... Demon Elephant Ji Shaotong!

You... you’re still alive?!"

’Demon Elephant... Ji Shaotong?’

Hearing this, Fu Juemin froze, his expression blank. His feet unconsciously paused.

The dark figure seized the moment of his hesitation, springing up from the ground and pushing its Body Technique to the absolute limit. Without a backward glance, it fled frantically toward the exit of Ink Garden.

Fu Juemin didn’t give chase immediately. Instead, he watched the figure’s desperate retreat under the moonlight, his eyes flickering. Gradually, slowly... his expression grew stranger and stranger.

"Did he just... mistake me for Uncle Tong?"

"However..."

Fu Juemin rubbed his smooth chin, then mused aloud thoughtfully:

"That might not be a bad idea..."

As if he’d thought of something extremely interesting, he let out a soft chuckle. Then, a series of faint cracking sounds issued from his skeleton, and the muscles on his face rippled like water...

A few breaths later, bearing a completely new face, his figure flickered and melted into the night like a phantom, pursuing the fleeing shadow at an unhurried pace.