Chapter 65: Old Man Smoking Pipe

  "You despicable thing, you're actually quite capable, if you hadn't broken through, I wouldn't have been your match, but now..."

  This giant snake launched a relentless attack on itself, also making Hu Gao somewhat angry. Isn't it just robbing you of an elixir? How dare you get angry, if you have a demon core in your body, hum...

  Hu Gao no longer chose to flee, but instead suddenly turned around and charged out. The sword in his hand shot out a series of sharp sword energies, while the surface of the Shadowless Sword also burst forth with a crimson glow that was quite dazzling in mid-air.

  The sword energy gathered on the giant snake's head, making a dull drumming sound. The living snake skin was extremely tough, and Hu Gao's sword energy couldn't break through the giant snake's defense.

  The sword sliced through the void, its blade cutting towards the two sharp fangs in the giant snake's massive jaws.

  The giant snake's forked tongue quivered, letting out a shrill cry, and it opened its mouth to spew out a yellow-green gas that chaotically billowed towards Hu Gao.

  The giant snake spat out a flame toxin mainly composed of sulfur gas. The demonic beasts in the Flame Valley were basically fire-attribute, and under the influence of this environment, their poisons all carried some degree of flame toxin.

  Although they haven't really entered the Flame Valley yet, Hu Gao guessed that this giant snake with flame poison should have run out of the Flame Valley.

  Fortunately, this place has not yet reached deeper into the Valley of Flames, otherwise the giant snake's sulfur spray would immediately turn into a fire spray.

  Hu Gao remembered what Qi Hong had mentioned earlier and as soon as he saw the yellow-green gas spat out by the giant snake, he immediately came up with a countermeasure.

  Wú yǐng jiàn jǐn shèn de sǎo kāi dú qì, hú gāo zhǔn què de duì zhe jù shé de dà kǒu shì fàng le yī gè huǒ lóng shù, rán hòu zài cì yǐ jiàn shǐ chū【qiān qīng zhǎng】, jiàn fēng sǎo chū zhèn zhèn qiáng fēng, dǐ dǎng jí jiāng lái de huǒ yàn.

  English Translation:

  The Wuyin Sword carefully swept away the poisonous gas, and Hu Gao accurately released a fire dragon technique at the giant snake's mouth. Then, he once again used his sword to unleash the [Qianqing Palm], with the sword edge sending out waves of strong winds to resist the incoming flames.

  The giant snake really spewed out flames, and an explosion suddenly occurred in its mouth. It let out a pained hiss, momentarily hesitating its attack.

  He then leaped high and landed on the giant snake's head, grasping the hilt of his Shadowless Sword with both hands, and stabbed heavily at the snake's skull below.

  "Roar!"

  The giant snake's body somehow withstood Hu Gao's full-force thrust, and its massive body suddenly fell to the ground.

  "And this clumsy bear actually dares to snap off this big tree, and now it even wants to attack me..."

  Promoted to the seventh stage of the Condensed Shadow Realm, Hu Gao's aura was surging with excitement. He proudly fought against these two demonic beasts, feeling as if he had returned to his days in the back mountains, wantonly slaughtering demonic beasts with Xiao Wu.

  The giant snake fell from such a high place, and both fangs were blown off, its combat effectiveness was estimated to be almost lost. He couldn't help but look at the ferocious black bear below, only to find that it was staring up at him with a fierce gaze, its two huge paws raised, looking like it was about to launch a fierce attack on him at any moment, which made Hu Gao very unhappy.

  Pong!

  The giant snake's body finally fell to the ground, and Hu Gao also jumped to one side.

  His feet had just touched the ground and he hadn't yet stood firm when a fierce gust of wind came from behind, clearly indicating that the black bear was launching an attack.

  "He actually dares to attack, what a blind fool..."

  Hu Gao couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Didn't this black bear just see me take action against the giant snake? Didn't I already show enough combat power to intimidate it, yet I still need to waste energy and make two more moves?"

  Suddenly, Hu Gao's eyes flickered towards a direction not far away, and his eyes gradually lit up.

  "If you want to slap me to death with your paws, then I'll have a roasted bear's paw for dinner today."

  Hu Gao shouted angrily, the Shadowless Sword stabbed out fiercely, a shocking sword aura slashed out, cutting horizontally from the wrist of the Crazy Black Bear, blood splashing everywhere, and a huge bear palm fell to the ground.

  "Roar!"

  The black bear let out a mournful roar and retreated several steps, its eyes filled with ferocity.

  "Ahhhroo!"

  Just as the black bear was about to go mad, a giant snake not far away had recovered some strength and let out a roar towards him, quickly fleeing in the opposite direction of He Hu.

  "Rooooaaaar!"

  The ferocity in the black bear's eyes quickly retreated, replaced by a wave of fear and dread. The human being in front of him, who seemed so insignificant, was not someone he could confront after all.

  The reminder of the giant snake made him completely regain his senses, without any hesitation, and after a loud roar, he also turned around and followed behind the giant snake in the first time.

  "Although the black bear is a bit stupid, the giant snake is not stupid at all, it actually knows how formidable I am."

  Hu Gao chuckled and glanced in that direction again out of the corner of his eye.

  These two late-stage first-order demonic beasts did not have any demonic cores in their bodies, and Hu Gao didn't want to waste too much energy on them, because he knew that there was still another battle waiting for him.

  He seemed to have defeated the Black Bear and Giant Snake with just a few moves, but every time he drew his sword, the power and mental energy consumed were enormous. The reputation of a first-class late-stage demon beast was not in vain. Even if he broke through to the seventh stage of the Condensed Shadow Realm, he would still have to go all out to kill it.

  "Xiao Wu, tell me about this person's actual strength and cultivation." Hu Gao directly contacted Xiao Wu. "Hmm, also confirm for me again, does this person have any treasures on them?"

  Although it is still unknown what level of cultivation this person has reached, since Xiao Wu did not stop himself from coming over, it means that even if this person's strength is not weak, he has not reached the level where he poses a threat to his life.

  "Boss, you've finally gotten your hands on the fruit. This should be a good thing too. After I take care of this person, I'll try eating it."

  Xiao Wu's words shocked Hu Gao, who thought of throwing him out. This glutton really only remembers to eat at any time.

  Xiao Wu smiled slyly and said, "As for the hidden person, there is only one, a martial artist who has just broken through to the ninth stage of the Condensed Shadow Realm. As for whether he has any treasures on him, hmm... it seems like he has a fire-attribute spirit medicine, but I'm not sure what specific kind it is, he's stored it in a box."

  "Fire attribute elixir?"

  Hu Gaobrow furrowed, somewhat hesitant.

  "Big brother, we don't need to care what it is anymore, let's just grab it first and talk later. This person's strength isn't strong anyway, even if you don't make a move, I can still take him down."

  Xiao Wu smiled slyly: "This person is not a good guy, I can now feel the greedy taste from him, obviously he has his eyes on the fruit you snatched, but also has some reservations and doesn't dare to make a move."

  "We won't grab, absolutely won't grab, we are civilized people!"

  Hu Gao shook his head resolutely, then walked towards the bear's paw and said with a tinge of regret: "I didn't think the Black Bear would run so fast. I thought I could chop off its other paw to roast and eat together. Looks like now I can only have one."

  “……”

  Xiao Wu was clearly a bit unaccustomed to Hu Gao's sudden change in topic and simply shut his mouth, not responding.

  "Alas, this bear's paw is indeed hard as steel. Ordinary swords and knives would definitely be unable to cut through it. I reckon even the lower and middle-grade artifacts of the Human Realm wouldn't be able to cut through it either. Tsk tsk, the defensive power of a demonic beast is truly terrifying."

  Hú Gāo Jiǎo picked up the palm of the Black Bear with a calm and collected expression, using his Wú Yǐng Sword to cut it open. Under his control, the sword sliced through the meat as if it were cutting tofu, piece by piece.

  "My Shadowless Sword is still sharp! As a top-grade human artifact, it's indeed worthy of its reputation. Stealing it was truly a wise decision!"

  Hu Gao's self-satisfied muttering filled the air...

  "Shadowless Sword, isn't this the treasured sword I lost last year? How did it end up here?"

  Hú Gāo was leisurely cutting the bear's paw, when an old man with a full beard walked out of a nearby thicket, holding a pipe in his mouth, with wisps of smoke rising from his whiskers, giving off an air of elegance and refinement. But upon seeing Hú Gāo's Wú Yǐng sword, it was as if he had seen a long-lost brother, his eyes wide with excitement, almost to the point of tears.

  "That's right! This is indeed the Shadowless Sword that I lost last month!"

  "Huh? Who are you? This Shadowless Sword is clearly mine, how did it become yours?"

  Hu Gao looked at the old man with a puzzled expression, his voice filled with doubt. At the same time, he also sized him up and discovered that not only was the old man holding a short pipe in his mouth, but there was also a long pipe hanging from his waist, and his chest was bulging with something messy, which should be the fire attribute spirit medicine that Xiao Wu had mentioned.

  This spiritual herb is valued by a 9th rank Condensing Shadow Realm martial artist, its value must be extraordinary. If it's further refined into a pill by an alchemist, its value...

  "You little thief! It's you! Last time I thought you were a decent young man, but it turns out you stole my Shadowless Sword and ran away!"

  The old man with a pipe looked at Hu Gao's face and revealed an expression of sudden realization, scolding.

  "This Shadowless Sword was clearly bought by my grandfather just half a month ago, and you're saying it's yours that got lost? You even want to force me to return it and call me a sword thief? Old man, do you still have any face?" Hu Gao protected the Shadowless Sword, furious.

  "You little thief! Still trying to talk your way out of it, I've been looking for you for a month now, don't think that just because you've changed your appearance I won't recognize you!" The old man with the pipe yanked down his pipe and glared at Hu Gao, shouting, confirming the fact that Hu Gao had stolen the sword.

  "I've never even seen you before, how could I have stolen your sword?" Hu Gao said with a look of sudden understanding, followed by anger.

  "Oh, you're a robber! Hmph, do you think I'll back down? Don't think that just because you're older, you're impressive. I'm not afraid of you!"

  "Wow! What a hard-mouthed little kid! See how I'll deal with you today!" The old man with the pipe spoke, not forgetting to take a fierce puff of his old smoke, and his mouth was filled with a burst of blue smoke, looking extremely angry.

  At the same time, he was also mobilizing his yuan force, bursting out with the momentum of the ninth stage of the Condensed Shadow Realm, step by step approaching Hu Gao.

  This person's yuan energy is strong and concentrated, not dispersing, with an aura that is awe-inspiring. It's not something that a ordinary cultivator of the Nine Stages of Condensing Shadows can compare to. I estimate that he is a true adventurer...

  As he watched the man walking towards him, Hu Gao's blood slowly began to boil. He had finally met a true master! The feeling this person gave him was just like when he first met Lang Xiong, the aura that burst out from the Elder of the Judgement Pavilion!

  "Little guy, you must hand over the Shadow Sword. Also, the Red Tassel Fruit you just snatched away is something I had my eyes on. You didn't get my consent before picking it, so return that as well. If you do, maybe I'll go easy on you."

  Although his mouth was saying polite words, his tone had a cold killing intent leaking out, which meant that no matter whether Hu Gao handed over the Wuyin Sword and the Red Tassel Fruit or not, it would be equally dangerous in the end.