All-class Gu Immortal

Chapter 173 Taking stock of the spoils: Second-tier Wind and Thunder Boots! (Bonus chapter for monthly votes)

"Me! How could I lose to Wei Sheng's apprentice?!"

Mu Renjie's eyes were filled with resentment, and the light in his eyes quickly dimmed.

He couldn't understand how Zhou Qing's strength could improve so dramatically in such a short time.

He is not willing!

If he hadn't fought Wei Hongyu for so long, expending so much of his energy and true essence; if he hadn't been injured before; if he had been more careful; if he hadn't chosen to betray his sect...
Mu Renjie's vitality was rapidly drained away by the erosion of the cold air.

Scenes from the past flashed through my mind like a revolving lantern.

He was poor and destitute in his youth. He and his friend Wei Sheng left home to become disciples of the Five Poisons Sect. Wei Sheng joined the White Cloud lineage, while he joined the Five Poisons lineage.

Under his master's influence, he became a rival of Wei Sheng.

In his youth, he devoted himself to rigorous training; in his early adulthood, he was full of vigor and ambition, earning the titles "Poison Demon" and "Ghost Hand," becoming renowned as the two unparalleled masters of the Five Poisons Sect. By his prime, he was already a figure of great renown. However, after Wei Sheng gained the favor of the Five Poisons Ancestor, Wei Sheng gradually caught up with and surpassed him in cultivation. As his master's lifespan drew to a close and his vitality declined, the name "Ghost Hand" gradually became subservient to "Poison Demon."

His master's advanced age, his desire to become stronger, and his unwillingness to fall behind led him to choose betrayal during a meeting with a high-ranking member of the Witch God Cult.

When he saw the undisguised ambition in the eyes of Wei Sheng's disciple Chen Hong, he knew his chance had come.

Everything went smoothly according to plan, but he never expected that his mentor, who treated him like a father, would try to keep him by desperate means, which ultimately led to Wei Sheng severely injuring him.

"Wei Sheng, I am ultimately inferior to you. Even in teaching disciples, I am not as good as you."

A look of relief suddenly appeared on Mu Renjie's face. The disciple who had once lured his friend to betray the sect was now dying at the hands of his friend's disciple. Perhaps this was a good ending.

"Master, I wish I could do it all over again. I promise I won't."

In his final moments, Mu Renjie recalled the disappointed expressions on his teachers' faces and their earnest teachings. He, too, had once been his master's pride, a future leader of the Five Poisons Sect, and a peerless genius with the potential to achieve the Three Flowers Gathering at the Top.

"He's smiling?" In a daze, Zhou Qing seemed to see a smile on Mu Renjie's face.

Only after Mu Renjie's heart stopped beating and his blood and qi stopped flowing did Zhou Qing step forward to check on his condition.

"What is he laughing at?"

After confirming that Mu Renjie was dead, Zhou Qing was puzzled.

thump!
At that moment, a muffled thud came from behind Zhou Qing.

He turned around and saw Wei Hongyu sitting down in the courtyard, looking completely dejected.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Qing quickly stepped forward.

"Ah Qing?" Wei Hongyu felt the terrifying chill emanating from Zhou Qing's body and couldn't help but shiver.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Qing quickly severed his fusion with the Ice Fiend Gu, and the cold energy within his body rapidly subsided and disappeared.

At the same time, Zhou Qing felt a sense of emptiness in his body. His true essence was depleted in both his dantian and yuan qiao, and an unprecedented feeling of weakness filled his entire body.

Although it seemed that he killed Mu Renjie in just a few moves, he used all his strength, squeezing out every last bit of power from his body, whether it was the sneak attack or the final strike.

If he hadn't practiced body-refining techniques, he probably wouldn't be able to stand up right now.

"Senior Sister, take a moment to regulate your breathing." Zhou Qing took out a healing and qi-stabilizing pill and fed it to Wei Hongyu.

Wei Hongyu was weak and listless, and didn't even have the strength to lift her hand.

"Aqing! Quickly give Mingcheng the Jade Essence Pill. He was hit by the Blood Explosion Powder and is seriously injured. If he is not carefully recuperated, he may drop in cultivation level. The pill is in the brocade pouch in my bosom!"

"Excuse me." Zhou Qing glanced at Wei Hongyu's bulging chest, reached into her front, and found a palm-sized brocade pouch among the two full mounds, which he pulled out.

A blush rose to Wei Hongyu's face.

Zhou Qing took out a porcelain bottle from the brocade pouch, poured out two green pills the size of mung beans, fed one to Wei Hongyu, and the other to Wei Mingcheng.

He then put Mu Renjie's body into his storage space, helped the two siblings to another abandoned thatched hut to recuperate, and lit firewood to keep warm.

He himself was also adjusting his breathing on the side.

"We shouldn't stay here any longer. Let's go back to Heishan Town first!"

A moment later, once the two had stabilized somewhat, Zhou Qing immediately went to Zhongliu County, rented a horse-drawn carriage, picked them up, and headed towards Heishan Town.

Sitting on the warm blankets in the carriage, Wei Hongyu's condition had improved considerably, but Wei Mingcheng had fallen into a coma.

However, Zhou Qing examined his body and found that he was just exhausted. He had multiple tears in his muscles and meridians, but after taking the Jade Essence Pill, there was always a force protecting his heart and dantian, so if he rested properly, he should be able to recover.

After the three of them drove the carriage back to the alley where the back gate of Baiyun Martial Arts School was located, Zhou Qing first carried Wei Mingcheng off the carriage and quickly returned to the side room in the backyard.

Immediately afterwards, he returned to the back gate and saw Wei Hongyu get off the carriage with unsteady steps and walk towards the backyard.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Qing picked her up without saying a word and quickly walked towards her room.

After escorting Wei Hongyu into the room, Zhou Qing put her on the ground. "I'll go ask Xu Lin to make some ginger soup. Change your clothes first before drinking it to avoid catching a cold."

Zhou Qing had just changed Wei Hongyu and Wei Mingcheng's soaked outer clothes, but it was still inconvenient to change their underwear.

"Thank you so much. If you hadn't arrived in time today, Mingcheng and I would both have..." Wei Hongyu said softly. "Senior Sister, you're being too polite! Without your help, I wouldn't have been able to refine the Ice Fiend Gu in time. I should be the one thanking you!" Zhou Qing said solemnly.

"Let's rest first. There may be more to this matter. Nobody knows if Xiao Kang and Mu Renjie have a backup plan."

"Mm." Wei Hongyu nodded.

Zhou Qing first went to Wei Mingcheng's room next door to change his wet clothes and lit some silver charcoal in the room to keep warm. Then he went to the kitchen and instructed the cook to boil a large pot of ginger soup and boil more water.

After Wei Hongyu and Wei Mingcheng drank the ginger soup, he returned to his room, took a hot bath, changed his clothes, and then released Mu Renjie's body to examine the spoils of the trip.

He rummaged through Mu Renjie's arms and found the leather bag Gu that Mu Renjie always carried with him.

Open the leather bag and pour out all the contents.

Ignoring the bottles, jars, and silver notes in front of him, Zhou Qing's attention was immediately drawn to a strangely shaped golden longsword. The sword was serpentine, with a snake's tongue at the tip.

At that moment, a line of text appeared in Zhou Qing's line of sight.

You have acquired a new divine weapon—the Golden Serpent Sword.

[Divine Weapon: Golden Serpent Sword]

[Rank: Tier 2 (Fragmented)]

[One of the three-tier Five Poison Divine Weapons, forged from the Radiant Sun Golden Crystal that absorbed the essence of heaven and earth, as well as the flesh and bones of the Golden Crown Serpent King]

[Conditions for Mastery: Both arms are intact, you have mastered a sword stance, and your swordsmanship is superb]

[Palm Control Effects: Golden Serpent Sword Aura (Tier 2), Breaking Force and Severing Qi (Tier 3)]

"No wonder Mu Renjie suddenly stopped using the Golden Serpent Sword just now." Zhou Qing looked at the information on the Golden Serpent Sword and suddenly realized that he had frozen Mu Renjie's right arm with the Ice Soul Mystic Light, so he couldn't use the Golden Serpent Sword. Otherwise, it would have taken him a lot more effort.

Sure enough, a sneak attack is the best strategy.

Zhou Qing put away the Golden Snake Sword. Although the Golden Snake Sword looked to be of high quality, he had no intention of learning swordsmanship again.

It could be given to Wei Hongyu, who, in addition to palm techniques, also practices swordsmanship.

The Ice Fiend Gu was able to be refined so quickly thanks to Wei Hongyu's great help.

Without the arduous battle between the siblings, defeating Mu Renjie would not have been an easy task for him.

Xiao Kang's cultivation technique was countered by the Ice Fiend Gu, and the Ice Fiend Gu was at a higher level than him, which is why he was able to defeat it so easily.

Mu Renjie is a veteran Qi and Blood Wolf Smoke Realm expert. His attributes are not restrained by the Ice Fiend Gu. Judging from the power he displayed last time, it is clear that even if he is injured, he is not someone that a Qi and Blood Grandmaster can withstand.

This time, we managed to get through the crisis without any major incidents.

Once he has digested the results of this battle, his strength will reach an even higher level.

Mu Renjie's corpse alone could be used to cultivate Gu worms or to refine a fiendish corpse, thus creating a powerful ally.

A powerhouse at the Qi and Blood Wolf Smoke Realm is practically invincible in this area of ​​the county.

“This also seems to be a divine weapon.” Zhou Qing looked at the white boots on Mu Renjie’s feet and took them off.

The next moment, a line of text appeared in his field of vision.

You have acquired a new divine weapon – the Wind and Thunder Boots.

[Divine Weapon: Wind and Thunder Boots]

[Grade: Second Grade]

The boots, forged from the skin and flesh of a Thunder Gecko and the feathers of a Wind-Winged Bird, absorbed a trace of heavenly lightning power, causing them to mutate.

[Conditions for Mastery: Both legs intact, and agility at its peak]

[Palm Control Effects: Swift Wind Step (Tier 2), Thunder Step (Tier 2), Nine Manifestations of Wind and Thunder (Tier 3)]

“No wonder Mu Renjie’s movement skills are so terrifying.” Zhou Qing’s gaze sharpened.

He rarely encountered martial artists with better agility than him. The second-tier Gu Master he had met before was only faster than him in terms of burst speed over a straight distance.

When he faced Mu Renjie last time, he was suppressed in every way. Even when he released the Wood Spirit Corpse and used all his methods, he was no match for him.

This person's movement technique has reached an unparalleled level, and with these second-tier divine weapons, the Wind and Thunder Boots, which enhance his speed, probably no one of the same tier can catch up with him.

Zhou Qing only managed to catch up with Mu Renjie, who was severely injured and exhausted of his true essence, by using the flight ability granted by the Ice Fiend Gu.

This was his first complete second-tier divine weapon, not a damaged one.

"These Wind and Thunder Boots should belong to me!" Zhou Qing's face lit up with joy. The Ice Fiend Gu could fly, but it consumed too much true essence and could only be used in critical moments.

These Wind and Thunder Boots, once worn, allow for a sudden burst of speed that most people simply cannot react to.

When paired with the Ice Fiend Gu, it's perfect for a sneak attack.

(End of this chapter)