Morning, in the backyard of the w.a.n.g Clan, w.a.n.g Chong swallowed the Tiger Bone Divine Pill that he bought from Six-fingered Zhang.
Kachacha!
The crisp sound of bones cracking sounded all over w.a.n.g Chong’s body. A huge mist suddenly billowed within the acupoints all over his body. Roar! The roaring of a tiger echoed, and w.a.n.g Chong finally reached Tiger Bone 3-dan!
“The effects of this pill is indeed much better than the one before!”
w.a.n.g Chong was delighted. He could clearly sense the rise in his strength. More importantly, his root bone cultivation had finally reached Tiger Bone 3-dan, the peak of the Tiger Bone realm. His strength, endurance, stamina, and burst power would improve by leaps and bounds.
Boom!
w.a.n.g Chong’s palm struck down, crus.h.i.+ng a fake hill into dust. The extent of destruction was much greater and grander than before, and dense smoke billowed into the surroundings.
Even so, w.a.n.g Chong didn’t feel much of an ache on his hand despite the ma.s.sive force he had just exerted. This was the effect of his enhanced physical resilience and tolerance to pain from the rise in his root bone cultivation.
“Time to test my speed!”
w.a.n.g Chong’s eyes lit up and his gaze swiftly swept across the surroundings. There were quite a few trees in the w.a.n.g Family Residence, and a sizeable number of birds were attracted to it as a result.
Some of the maids even used the remaining snacks in the residence to feed them, thus bringing in even more canaries.
Soon, w.a.n.g Chong’s eyes fell on a light-vented bulbul which was jumping gleefully on the branch of a plum blossom tree not too far away.
“This will be it!”
Energy gushed through w.a.n.g Chong’s body. w.a.n.g Chong smiled faintly, and in the next instant, boom! A huge shock wave burst into the surrounding, and the vague roaring of a tiger could be heard. As though a ferocious tiger descending from the mountains, w.a.n.g Chong charged forward swiftly.
Qiu qiu!
Sensing danger, the light-vented bulbul immediately flapped its wings to flee, but it was still a step too late. A long, slender, but powerful arms stretched forward, and a hand closed swiftly on it. However, after a light touch, the hand opened up once more.
Flop flop flop!
Frightened, the light-vented bulbul hurriedly escaped from w.a.n.g Chong’s fingers and flew into the skies.
“Hehe, the physical exhaustion from a burst is much lower than before.”
w.a.n.g Chong’s chest rose and fell slightly for a short moment as he watched the light-vented bulbul fly into the distance. A slight smile of satisfaction crept onto his lips.
When he last used this technique, he had expended nearly all of his energy. Even though a significant amount of his stamina had been sapped this time as well, it was less than a third of the previous time.
This was the difference between Tiger Bone and Panther Bone. The endurance, stamina, and Origin Energy expenditure were at two different levels.
“Young master, young master! …”
Just as w.a.n.g Chong was immersed in delight, Meng Long suddenly rushed in anxiously, panting heavily as soon as he came to a stop.
“Young master, young master, he has appeared! The person you mentioned has appeared! He’s currently at a location not too far from Zhou Ji Charcoal Wine Brewery!”
“What!”
Hearing those words, w.a.n.g Chong’s heart immediately jolted violently. He abruptly turned his head to look at Meng Long.
…
Meng Long stuttered in agitation, resulting in his words to be unclear. Even so, w.a.n.g Chong was able to roughly comprehend what was going on by his description. Under w.a.n.g Chong’s orders, the w.a.n.g Family Residence guards had been camping around the Eastern City’s Zhou Ji Charcoal Wine Brewery and Zhou Wen.
They were only instructed to observe the surroundings, and if they noticed anything peculiar, they were to report to w.a.n.g Chong immediately. However, more than a dozen days had pa.s.sed, but there was no news at all.
But today, an unknown elderly suddenly appeared in the vicinity of Zhou Ji Charcoal Wine Brewery. Meng Long and the others didn’t know whether this man was the one whom w.a.n.g Chong was looking for, but this was the only news they had received during this period of time.
“You all are referring to him?”
w.a.n.g Chong glanced at the figure several dozen zhang away. He was a white-haired elder dressed in black, and lying with his face flat on the floor, his breathing was extremely faint.
(~30m)
Quite a few people had pa.s.sed him by, but not a single one spared him a proper glance, needless to say, offer him a helping hand. It was as though the old man lying on the streets was isolated from the entire world.
“He’s the one! Our brothers have looked into the matter yesterday, and within several li of this location, no one has any impression of this elder. It is as though he appeared out of nowhere. On top of that, he seems to be injured. He woke up for a moment in the morning, but he soon lost consciousness!”
“I instructed one of the brothers approach him, and he caught the faint scent of blood from him. However, remembering young master’s order to not act recklessly, we didn’t dare to get too close.”
Standing behind w.a.n.g Chong, Meng Long reported with a hushed voice.
Falling into contemplation, a slight frown marked w.a.n.g Chong’s forehead.
w.a.n.g Chong couldn’t tell for sure whether the man lying on the floor was the ‘Demonic Emperor Old Man’ or not. There was simply too little information on him.
In his previous life, Zhou Wen seemed to reluctant to talk about the Demonic Emperor Old Man, and so, there was no way for w.a.n.g Chong to ascertain the appearance, distinctive traits, and dress up of him.
Without all of these, it would be difficult for w.a.n.g Chong ascertain who was the real one.
Regardless, even though w.a.n.g Chong couldn’t confirm the other party’s ident.i.ty, there was one thing that he was certain of. The old man before him wasn’t an ordinary person.
At the very least, it was impossible for an ordinary old man to still be living after sustaining such severe internal injuries!
“Let’s go! Given his current condition, he won’t survive for long!”
w.a.n.g Chong said. He hurriedly walked over to the old man who was lying by the wall. The other party was in a terrible state. Even if he wasn’t the Demonic Emperor Old Man, w.a.n.g Chong couldn’t bear to stand idly by the side and leave him be.
This wasn’t him.
“Wait a moment, young master!”
Taken aback, Meng Long hurried forward as well.
Even from a distance, w.a.n.g Chong could already catch the faint scent of blood.
“This man’s injury might even be worse than how Meng Long and the others described!”
w.a.n.g Chong frowned slightly.
Even though the old man had tried his best to conceal his wounds, based on w.a.n.g Chong’s experience and cultivation from his previous life, as well as his familiarity with all kinds of blade wounds, he could tell with a single glance that the old man had been stabbed from the back.
“It must be an attack from someone familiar. Otherwise, it’s impossible for the stab to land so accurately.”
The thought flashed through w.a.n.g Chong’s head as he examined the unconscious old man. When facing a strong enemy, even if one was unable to dodge entirely, one would still attempt an evasive maneuver. It shouldn’t be possible for a sword to strike so accurately and cleanly on one’s vital.
Only when one was backstabbed by a close kin would such a sight occur.
“I wonder what this elder’s background is. No ordinary man would be able to survive such a situation.”
w.a.n.g Chong thought.
There were a few gathering locations for expert mercenaries in the surroundings, and w.a.n.g Chong knew of at least three of them. It was possible that the other party might have come from one of these gathering locations.
However, his breathing was too chaotic and weak, making it difficult for w.a.n.g Chong to determine the origin of the other party.
“Bring some food and water. Also, call some men here to bring him to the closest Charity Hall.”
Glancing backward, w.a.n.g Chong immediately instructed. At the same time, he stretched out his hands in an attempt to turn the other party over.
Weng!
Words couldn’t start to describe how abrupt the situation was. Just as w.a.n.g Chong was about to turn him over, a sudden twist occurred. The ‘unconscious’ white-haired elder suddenly opened his eyes, and embedded within his cold gaze was fearsome killing intent that shook even one’s soul.
“d.a.m.n!”
w.a.n.g Chong’s heart froze, and a strong sense of danger immediately gripped him. He swiftly pushed himself backward in an attempt to retreat from this old man.
But before he could widen their gap, a withered but powerful hand grabbed w.a.n.g Chong’s wrist firmly, as though an iron plier.
“Who in the world are you?”
The old man questioned sharply with a frosty expression. Under the other party’s grip, w.a.n.g Chong could only feel his arm turning numb, and the strength in his body seeped away from him. Before this elder, he found himself being unable to exert even the slightest bit of strength.
“You!”
w.a.n.g Chong was astonished. Staring at the old man before him, his entire body suddenly felt completely weak, and he couldn’t even find the strength to open his mouth. This situation far surpa.s.sed any expectations he had.
The aura of this elder was extremely weak, and w.a.n.g Chong should have been able to push him down easily. Yet, despite his cultivation that had just reached Origin Energy Tier 7, he found himself devoid of any strength to retaliate.
Through some unknown method, that grip on his wrist seemed to have sealed his strength and his Origin Energy.
Klang!
At the same moment, the crisp sound of metal sounded in the air.
“Let go of our young master!”
“Old man, what in the world do you want?”
“Hurry up and release the young master. Otherwise, don’t blame us for getting nasty!”
…
Drawing his sword, Meng Long immediately gestured for the guards to surround the old man. At this moment, his complexion was indescribably awful. To think that they were still thinking about saving this old man a moment ago! In the blink of an eye, this old fellow had already made a move on the young master, leaving him shocked and infuriated. If not for fear of the young master’s life, he would charge forward and slay this old man at this very instant.
“Ah!”
The pa.s.sers-by also exclaimed in shock upon catching a glimpse of the sight. They hurriedly walked away, as though avoiding a plague.
“Hmph! If any of you dare to approach, be prepared to collect your young master’s corpse!”
Callousness flashed across the face of the elder. He exerted slightly more strength in his grip, and w.a.n.g Chong immediately grimaced in pain. It felt as though countless ants were biting all over his entire body, and cold sweat dripped from his forehead.
“Old man… What… are you trying to do?”
Amidst the excruciating pain, w.a.n.g Chong could only utter powerlessly.
“Hmph! Young man, do you think that I am blind? Those stationed in the surroundings are your men, and these people have been here at least four times already!”
“You are looking for something, right? Speak! Did that b.a.s.t.a.r.d send you here?”
At which, the elder’s grip tightened further, and a powerful killing intent burst forth from his eyes.
At that very instant, from the other party’s gaze, w.a.n.g Chong understood his current plight.
If he were to answer incorrectly, this man would kill him without any hesitation, even if he had to do it before such a huge crowd within the capital!
For experts like the old man, w.a.n.g Chong’s existence was no different from an ant. Killing an ant was nothing more than an insignificant feat, and there was no need for guilt or hesitation to do so.
“This man… is the Demonic Emperor Old Man!”
Cold sweat gushed down w.a.n.g Chong’s body. Under such dire situation, it suddenly became obvious to w.a.n.g Chong whom the other party was!