The entry for cultivating immortality states that after dying a hundred times, I attained immortalit

Jiang Bai rolled over and sat up, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve.

The spit of blood he just coughed up was forced out by his reverse flow of poisonous spiritual power. It looked horrifying, but it didn't actually damage his core.

"My acting skills are passable."

Jiang Bai walked to the corner of the wall, leaned against it, and slowly closed his eyes.

[Killing Intent Perception] Fully activated.

The world as perceived suddenly changed.

It is no longer a visual alternation of light and dark; instead, it is a variety of clear "images".

Jiang Bai's breathing gradually became long and even.

He remained motionless, like a stone sunk into a deep pool, waiting quietly.

Time passed by, second by second.

Suddenly, the [Killing Intent Perception] tightened abruptly!

coming!

A malevolent aura, carrying the stench of wild beasts, emanated from outside the courtyard wall, quickly scaling it and landing inside.

That malice wasn't purely murderous intent; it was more like the chilling feeling of a predator locking onto its prey.

Jiang Bai opened his eyes and quietly adjusted his posture in the shadows.

He reached his right hand to his waist, where a dagger coated with snake venom was tucked. He had used the remaining half-bottle of snake venom from earlier that day to temporarily treat it.

He reached into his clothes with his left hand and grasped a small paper package.

Inside was a powerful anesthetic powder he had prepared using several herbs. It was potent, but its effect was reduced for cultivators at the third level of Qi Refining, so it had to be used only in critical moments.

The sound of prying came from the window.

The window bolt was pried open from the outside, and then the window crack was pushed open a hand's width.

Several colorful shadows slid in first.

It's a snake.

Three venomous snakes, each as thick as a baby's arm, had scales that reflected an eerie metallic sheen in the moonlight.

One stripe is crimson like blood, another is emerald green like jade, and the third is interspersed with black and white rings.

As soon as they landed, they raised their heads, rapidly flicking their tongues, and swam toward the bed.

Snakes sense their prey primarily through heat and scent.

Jiang Bai held his breath and simultaneously circulated his poisonous spiritual power to suppress his body temperature to a level slightly lower than the surrounding environment.

This is a little trick recorded in the "Poisonous Miasma Technique". It was originally used to conceal one's aura and evade pursuit, but it is perfect for deceiving poisonous snakes now.

Sure enough, three venomous snakes slithered to the edge of the bed, circled the blankets twice, and seemed somewhat confused.

Just then, a figure flashed past the window.

A man in black jumped in. He was of medium build, dressed in tight black clothes, and his face was covered with a black cloth, revealing only a pair of narrow eyes.

He had a bulging leather pouch hanging from his waist, the contents of which were unknown.

He held a piccolo in his right hand and a curved knife in his left.

When the man in black saw three poisonous snakes circling the empty bed, he immediately realized he had fallen into a trap!

But it was too late.

Jiang Bai suddenly sprang up from the shadows in the corner!

With a flick of his right hand, the poisoned dagger transformed into a streak of blue light, piercing straight for the vital spot of the crimson venomous snake!

"Pfft!"

The dagger pierced the snake's body, and the crimson venomous snake writhed violently twice before going limp and motionless.

"court death!"

The man in black let out a low growl, brought his piccolo to his lips, and blew out a few sharp syllables.

As if receiving a command, the remaining two venomous snakes suddenly changed direction and pounced on Jiang Bai!

At the same time, the man in black also moved, his curved blade flashing coldly as it slashed straight at Jiang Bai's neck!

Instead of retreating, Jiang advanced.

The emerald green venomous snake pounced first, opening its fangs to bite Jiang Bai's calf.

Jiang Bai dodged to the side, simultaneously raising his left hand and sprinkling a small amount of poison powder at the snake's head.

This is a paralyzing toxin extracted from decaying grass and miasma, and it is extremely effective against snakes.

The emerald green venomous snake inhaled the venom powder and its movements immediately slowed down.

Just then, a black and white ringed venomous snake attacked from the side, and the man in black's scimitar slashed down from the front!

Caught between two attacks, the [Killing Intent Perception] system issued a frantic warning.

Jiang Bai "saw" the trajectory of the venomous snake's attack and also "saw" the angle at which the curved blade slashed.

He could even sense that the man in black had used seven-tenths of his strength in that strike, leaving three-tenths room for a change of move, and could turn into a horizontal slash at any moment.

At the critical moment, Jiang Bai made a seemingly foolish move.

He lunged forward, rolling almost flat on the ground towards the man in black's feet!

This action completely caught the man in black off guard.

Logically speaking, when faced with an attack from both sides, a normal person would choose to dodge backward or to the side to create distance. Who would willingly run into the enemy's arms?

In that moment of distraction, Jiang Bai had already rolled to the feet of the man in black, a thin needle now appearing in his right hand.

This was the same thin, dark blue needle he used during the market raid; he always carried it with him.

"puff!"

The thin needle pierced the man in black's ankle!

"Ugh!"

The man in black felt the pain, and one of his legs buckled, but he was experienced in combat. He immediately slashed down with his curved blade, and at the same time, he played his flute again, ordering the two venomous snakes to come back to his aid.

Jiang Bai, however, used the force of the roll to crawl between the men in black's legs, and when he stood up, he was facing away from the men in black.

He didn't turn around, but instead channeled all his poisonous spiritual power and pushed his palms forward!

The only attack move in the first level of the "Poisonous Mist Technique" is the Poisonous Mist Barrier!

A wisp of dark green mist shot out from Jiang Bai's palm, quickly spreading out and covering an area of ​​three zhang in radius.

The fog is not highly toxic; its main function is to interfere with vision and paralyze the senses. However, it is a deadly interference for venomous snakes that rely on their sense of smell and heat.

The two venomous snakes rushed into the fog, immediately lost their bearings, and began to spin around aimlessly.

The man in black inhaled a small amount of the poisonous mist and felt a slight dizziness. He immediately held his breath and swung his knife to dispel the mist in front of him.

Just as his vision was obscured by the fog, Jiang Baidong moved.

He pushed off with his feet, and his body shot out like an arrow to the left of the man in black.

That was the direction in which the man in black's center of gravity unconsciously shifted after he received the needle in his ankle.

Hearing the sound of the wind, the man in black immediately swung his sword horizontally.

But Jiang Bai had already sensed the attack.

He suddenly ducked as he charged forward, the blade grazing his scalp and severing a few strands of hair. His right fist, imbued with all the poisonous spiritual power, slammed into the black-clad man's left rib!

"Snap!"

The sound of bones breaking was clearly audible.

The man in black groaned, spitting out blood, and staggered from the punch.

Jiang Bai, once in power, was unforgiving.

He suddenly ripped open the packet of anesthetic powder that he had been holding in his left hand and flung it toward the man in black's face!

The pale yellow powder exploded in the air.

Caught off guard, the man in black inhaled most of it and immediately felt numbness in his limbs, and his spiritual energy also circulated slowly.

"You...you poisoned me..." The man in black's voice was hoarse, his eyes filled with terror.

Only then did he realize how bizarre the fighting style of this kid who was only at the first level of Qi Refining was.

They don't play by the rules, their moves are insidious, and their use of poison is impossible to defend against.

Jiang Bai did not answer.

He moved forward expressionlessly, extending two fingers of his right hand. Poisonous spiritual energy condensed into a dark green blade at his fingertips, which he fiercely stabbed towards the man in black's throat.

The man in black tried to block, but the anesthetic had already taken effect, making him a beat too slow.

"Pfft!"

A fingertip pierced the throat.

The man in black stared wide-eyed, clutching his neck with both hands, blood gushing from between his fingers.

He staggered back two steps, bumped into the wall, and slowly slid to the ground.

Even in death, he couldn't understand how a beast tamer at the third level of Qi Refining could die at the hands of a mere first-level Qi Refining kid.

The two venomous snakes slithered around in the mist for a few moments. With their owner dead, they lost control and instinctively tried to escape.

Jiang Bai stepped forward and killed them with a dagger.

Jiang Bai stood there, slightly out of breath.

The series of movements just now seemed smooth and effortless, but in reality, they were extremely taxing.

He had very little poisonous spiritual energy left in his dantian, and his arms were aching from forcibly activating the spiritual energy.

But he didn't have time to catch his breath; he quickly walked to the body of the man in black and squatted down to search it.

First, he pulled the leather pouch off his waist, opened it, and found several small bamboo tubes containing different snake medicines, snake-attracting incense, and a booklet titled "Basic Snake Taming Techniques".

Then, he reached into his clothes.

I touched a hard object.

Jiang Bai took it out and, by the moonlight, saw that it was a black iron token with three wave patterns engraved on the front and the character "Li" on the back.

"As expected, they are from the Li family."

He put away the token and continued the search.

They felt something else hidden in the lining of the man in black's inner shirt.

It was half a yellow paper talisman, as if it had been torn in half.

The talisman is covered with intricate patterns, and although it is incomplete, it can still be identified as a type of communication talisman.

Most importantly, a line of small characters was written in cinnabar along the edge of the talisman; although only half of it remained, some of the content was still legible:

"...After it's done, same place...30%..."

Only the right half of a single character remains at the signature.

That's the right half of the character "长" (cháng).

Jiang Bai stared at the incomplete character and guessed it.

In the Jiang family of Ping'an County, only one person can use the character "长" (Chang) as a signature abbreviation—the Great Elder.

"The usual place... 30%..."

He carefully folded up half of the talisman and tucked it into his pocket.

This is the biggest takeaway tonight: irrefutable evidence of the Grand Elder's collusion with foreign enemies.

They searched the other pockets of the man in black and found more than a dozen low-grade spirit stones, as well as a small porcelain bottle containing three pills. The pills had a refreshing and invigorating scent, so they were probably for use as an aid in cultivation.

Take them all.

After doing all this, Jiang Bai stood up and looked around the room.

The traces of battle must be dealt with, but not completely erased.

He wanted the clan elders to see that a fight had taken place here, but he couldn't keep too many of his own secrets.

After a moment's thought, he walked to the window, used the black-clad man's curved knife to make several cuts on the window frame, and then sprinkled some snake blood on the ground. He then dragged the black-clad man's body to the center of the room and arranged it in the position of someone who had fallen after a fight.

Finally, he walked to the door, took a deep breath, and shouted with all his might:

"An assassin—!"

The sound carried far into the quiet night.

Almost simultaneously, hurried footsteps and shouts rang out in the distance.

In no time, the courtyard gate was smashed open.

The clan elder led four members of the enforcement team in, their weapons drawn and their expressions wary.

When they saw the scene in the room, they were all stunned.

The corpses of three venomous snakes, the corpse of a man in black, signs of a struggle all over the ground, and Jiang Bai standing by the door, pale-faced and disheveled.

"What happened?" The clan elder quickly stepped forward.

"There was a night attack." Jiang Bai pointed to the corpse of the man in black. "He used animal taming techniques; he must be from the Li family. I fought back desperately and managed to kill him."

The clan elder knelt down beside the man in black to examine him.

When the black cloth covering the face was torn off, his brows furrowed.

"Li San, the beast tamer of the Li family."

The elder clearly recognized the man. "Third level of Qi Refining, specializing in snake manipulation. Did you kill him?"

Jiang Bai nodded and handed over the Li family token: "It was found on him."

The clan elder took the token and examined it, his expression growing increasingly grave.

He stood up and instructed the law enforcement officers behind him: "Clean up the scene, remove the body, and investigate all clues."

"yes!"

Four law enforcement officers immediately took action.

The clan elder pulled Jiang Bai into the courtyard and asked in a low voice, "How did you kill him? You're only at the first level of Qi Refining."

"Use poison."

Jiang Baizao prepared his explanation: "I practice the Poisonous Miasma Technique, so I have some resistance to poison. He attacked me first with a poisonous snake, and I pretended to be poisoned. When he got close, I suddenly attacked him, using a poisoned dagger and anesthetic powder to succeed."

This explanation makes sense; in battles between poison cultivators, the difference in their cultivation level is often less important than the methods they use to kill.

A moment of carelessness can easily lead to disaster.

The clan elder stared at Jiang Bai for a few seconds, finally nodding: "Be careful next time. The Li family dared to launch a night attack on a member of the Jiang family; this matter is not over."

After saying that, he turned and walked into the room to supervise the law enforcement officers in cleaning up the scene.

Jiang Bai stood in the courtyard, watching the busy crowd, his right hand clenching gently inside his sleeve.

"Elder..."

He silently recited the name in his heart.

The first enemy has been dealt with.

Next up is your turn.