“My three thousand Qilin Guards can be found everywhere you can think of. They’ve been following me the entire time from the imperial capital. Who’s picking a fight with who? You know who you picked a fight with? This is this kingdom’s blade, shield, claws and fangs… We go where the heavens call us, and we hunt those heaven wants us to hunt without failure.”
The sole survivor from Evil Spirits’ pursuit team – presumably their leader – dropped onto his knees, not even daring to look up at the warriors in black.
“Excellent. Bow to our kingdom’s ace. Tell your master,” Long Zaitian patted the survivor on the head, “this is how you make mincemeat.”
The leader of Evil Spirits’ team waited for Long Zaitian was way out of sight then looked back to see his fallen brethren bathing in their own blood.
***
“Hehehe, good, good. This old one hasn’t had to use Five Elements Divine Palms in over a decade. You’re the first worthy opponent in a long time. That said, it is a surprise…” Poison King rubbed the blood on his mouth onto his hand, not coughing despite his internal injury. The red dot in his palm was a sign that his poison was working against him. “Hehehe, it’s a surprise to learn that Five Elements Divine Palms is now so laughable in this generation.”
“You are being too modest, Elder.” Dugu had a victorious smile on as part of his ruse to mislead opponents into thinking he was getting arrogant and, therefore, careless. “Five Elements Divine Palms is mastered using five different venoms through a combination of the five elements that counteract each other. Should one’s internal energy be inadequate and impure, they wouldn’t last one strike. You can say that it’s considered one of the best palm styles for internal style pugilists.”
“Hmph, are you just gloating now?”
“This one would not have the audacity to undermine the skills you used to build your reputation. This one was merely lucky.”
“Hehe, you beat this old one with sheer luck, huh? Remarkable. Remarkable.”
Poison King zipped over to Dugu in the blink of an eye and threw a committed palm strike for the first time in his match against Dugu as pulling punches wasn’t going to cut it, enhancing the lethal factor with two highly-toxic poisons that he supplied Abels with to help the latter train.
Dugu hooked his arm in order to catch Poison King’s strike without the sting. Alas, Poison King powered through, forcing Dugu to halt the attack with his own palm strike.
“Haha, you didn’t expect t-” Poison King cut his celebration short when he felt all of the force he sent through Dugu’s arm come back as a juiced-up version, compelling him to let go and retreat: “Y-you!”
“Thank you for sharing your experience, Elder. Did you want to continue this?”
Poison King turned his scowl into a sneer: “Don’t get cocky, young man. Are you implying that you are going to let this old one go?”
“This one does not mean to make sport out of you in any capacity. This one is merely busy with taking care of his master.”
“I see. In other words, you are letting this old one go?”
“Not exactly,” Dugu responded with a smile. “We are taking umbrage to your actions today and will be sure to pay you a visit in Nanjiang. When we do drop in, I, Dugeye, and you will be in separate worlds thereafter.”
Although startled for a second, Poison King scoffed, “Dugu Ye. Hah, Dugu Ye. Surprise, surprise, hahahaha.” He made a dash for the woods while laughing and left the scene as fast as he could.
Dugu returned to Emperor Yuansheng and relayed, “Please forgive your subject for letting the enemy escape.”
“There is nothing to blame you for? Everything is unfolding according to Constable Ming’s predictions. Long Zaitian should have completed his assignment by now,” Emperor Yuansheng stated.
“Brother Ming truly is a born to be a strategist.”
“Next… is Abels.”
Poison King pulled over to catch his breath after running five kilometres, gasping blood out as he staggered on his feet due to his world spinning: “I was careless… I never expected to run into him. I would’ve brought my two babies along if I knew he was coming.”
Poison King took serious damage in his second exchange with Dugu, when Dugu reversed the flow of poison back to Poison King, and Poison King had to keep up the bravado, or he’d already be dead.
”What luck, running into the hidden dragon with the highest chances of becoming one of the Ultimate Three, rank three Hidden Dragon, Night Cicada.”