The Martial Saint rose to power starting as a substitute bridegroom.

It was Sun Lu.

Li Yuan knew she had been watching from the tree for a long time, but he didn't point it out.

"I have fought against many powerful martial arts school disciples. In Tiger Might Martial Arts School, only my master and senior brother can consistently defeat me. If you can beat me, you can at least be ranked in the top ten among internal strength martial artists."

As soon as Sun Lu landed, she uttered this long string of words in a crisp voice, her eyes fixed on Li Yuan without blinking.

Li Yuan's heart skipped a beat. Well, another one who's obsessed with war.

He kept a cold face the whole way and didn't say a word, but when it came time to exchange ideas, he suddenly became eloquent.

Sun Lu's eyes lit up.

She had the idea of ​​a duel as early as when they first met, but she deliberately restrained herself and acted reserved because of her uncle, Fatty Sun's, instructions.

She had been peeking from the tree and saw the fierce fighting below, and she couldn't hold back any longer.

A notification panel quietly appeared.

【Dragon Form Fist (Beginner): 190/200】—>【Dragon Form Fist (Beginner): 200/200】

【Dragon-Style Fist (Minor Mastery): 0/200】

Li Yuan glanced at the sky, then bent down to untie the horse's reins: "Let's not fight anymore, it's getting late."

Sun Lu felt a hundred claws scratching at her heart, and an inexplicable anger surged up.

"Is it impressive to beat your own subordinates? Your few moves are nothing but fancy tricks. They're enough to bully your subordinates and establish your authority. But if you encounter a real master, hmph, you'll be finished. Are you scared?" Her voice was as clear as jade chimes, but she was unforgiving and pressed on relentlessly.

Li Yuan opened his mouth: "I..."

"What do you mean, 'what do you mean, 'what do you mean, '!" Sun Lu had long forgotten her uncle's instructions, revealing her true, unruly nature and not giving Li Yuan any chance to speak.

Her small mouth smacked like popping beans: "Don't think that being silent makes you an honest person? I've seen plenty of people like you, all honest and kind on the surface, but actually full of bad intentions and schemes."

"You've misunderstood..."

"I have no misunderstanding. It's not wrong for you to want to establish your authority, but bullying a few subordinates is not a sign of competence."

"I don't……"

"No explanation needed!"

Li Yuan frowned: "Can you please listen to me properly...?"

"What are you listening to!"

Sun Lu moved.

Without any warning.

His right leg snapped open like a taut bowstring, his toes touched the ground, and he transformed into a wisp of green smoke, darting forward in an instant.

As he approached the third step, he swung his left leg high and slashed down sharply from above, the trouser leg scraping the air with a short, sharp sound, as if a sharp axe had come down on his head.

Li Yuan was caught off guard and it was too late to retreat. He could only lower his waist, stand on his horse, cross his arms and raise them to form an iron gate.

Bang!

The leg bone and arm bone collided solidly, and the dull thud, accompanied by the tremors of flesh, echoed outwards.

He swayed, the blue bricks under his feet creaked and cracked, and a surge of force shot up his arm, making him let out a cold breath through his teeth.

"Hmph, nothing special." Sun Lu sneered, her eyes full of contempt.

Li Yuan gritted his teeth, about to rush forward to retaliate, when suddenly a strong wind arose all around.

Egg-sized pebbles were swirled into the air, chiseling and pounding against the trees.

Everyone panicked, and the horse neighed incessantly.

"Find cover!" Li Yuan glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw a dark shadow, as thick as a bucket, rise abruptly from the bushes. "Watch the horses!"

But it was too late.

The dark figure suddenly extended several meters, snatched up a chestnut horse with lightning speed, and dragged it into the depths of the bushes in the blink of an eye.

"My horse!"

With a startled shout, Sun Lu kicked off the bushes with her toes, and the long sword at her waist was suddenly drawn. She charged into the bushes like an arrow.

Bang!

Almost simultaneously, Sun Lu's figure was sent flying like a kite with a broken string, crashing to the ground and spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Li Yuan felt a sudden, inexplicable unease.

This feeling of excitement was all too familiar.

Yes, that's it.

The pulsation of that primordial evil energy within my body back at the Linjiang Wharf is exactly the same as it is now.

Just then, the gale suddenly stopped, and all around was deathly silent.

The feeling was so subtle and indescribable—like a moment of peace before a bloody storm was about to break.

Li Yuan was not the only one who noticed this sign.

Everyone froze in their tracks, their eyes fixed intently on the thicket.

Under the distant, dim sky, flocks of birds took flight in alarm.

A strange rustling sound came from afar, like the sound of chewing with extreme fineness, or like a venomous snake flicking its tongue.

At the same time, a strong, fishy stench wafted over, growing ever stronger.

boom!

The bushes collapsed like a crumbling wall, and then a huge, black creature shot out.

Li Yuan's heart tightened suddenly, and his left eyelid twitched violently.

Almost without thinking, he instinctively stepped back.

"beat!"

Liang Bai's loud roar woke everyone up.

In an instant, darts, hidden arrows, and concealed weapons—everything that could be thrown was unleashed at the giant snake, as if it were free.

At this point, no one dared to keep anything to themselves.

Li Yuan steadied himself before he could see clearly—it was a huge, black serpent, six or seven zhang long, with scales the size of bronze mirrors that were cold and gleaming with a chilling black light. Its pupils were like two pools of congealed, dark red blood, exuding a terrifying aura that could make one's heart tremble and soul fly away.

Even though I had prepared myself somewhat beforehand, I was still horrified when I saw the true face of this monster.

The primordial evil energy within him was completely different from the excitement he felt when encountering the rat demon.

At this moment, it exhibited a kind of timid and trembling clarity, as if it had its own consciousness and was shrinking into a ball because of fear.

All weapons and hidden weapons that struck the giant snake's scales were instantly deflected, leaving not even a scratch.

A suffocating despair hung heavily over everyone's hearts.

The giant snake raised half its body high, the scales on both sides of its head flipping outwards, faintly revealing the dark red membrane beneath. It was extremely fast, and its strength was terrifying.

With a single twist of its body, it swept its tail across the ground, sending Luo Bin and Kang Yan, who were closest to it, flying sideways.

Click!Click!

Even from a great distance, the crisp sound of bones cracking could be clearly heard.

The faces of the remaining few turned deathly pale in an instant.

The giant serpent's crimson eyes slowly locked onto Li Yuan, and the corners of its mouth strangely turned up slightly, forming a mocking arc that looked exactly like a contemptuous provocation.

"Dark Force... Not bad." A hoarse, deep thought, as if countless scales were rubbing together, resonated directly in Li Yuan's mind, rather than entering through his ears. "I didn't expect that after just a few days, you would have reached the Dark Force realm. Hehehe... However, your flesh and blood smell even better now."

hum!

The giant snake suddenly opened its blood-red maw, bringing with it a damp, cold, and foul wind, and went straight for Li Yuan's head.

It's so fast that there's almost no process.

A gaping maw loomed over his head, its forked, scarlet tongue almost touching his forehead.

Its mouth revealed sharp, white teeth, and its throat was a dark, gaping hole, with thick, toxic saliva seemingly churning deep within.

Li Yuan did not back down.

Retreat would mean completely losing the initiative.

With such a monstrous creature pouncing after a long period of preparation, exposing one's back meant certain death.

He twisted his waist sharply, his whole body like a fully drawn bow that snapped open in an instant, barely dodging the snake's bite that could have swallowed half a person.

A foul wind brushed against my cheek, and a few strands of hair, cut by the strong wind, drifted down.

In that fleeting moment as they passed each other, Li Yuan suddenly snapped back.

The right fist, which had been poised for a long time, rose from below like a dragon emerging from the abyss, aiming straight for the lower jaw of the giant snake.

Bang!

The dull thud felt like it had struck a piece of flesh and blood, rather than a piece of cold, wet, and slippery hard armor.

A terrifying recoil force, carrying a bone-chilling cold, spread upwards along the fist.

The giant snake's head was slightly raised by the punch, and a trace of pain flashed in its crimson vertical pupils, but more so, it was enraged by the offense.

Its enormous body reacted incredibly quickly.

With a sudden twist of its thick neck, the head that had been swung away used the force of the rotation to bite down again with an even more ferocious posture!

At the same time, the snake's tail, hidden among the smoke and fallen leaves, suddenly twirled, like a thick iron whip, sweeping across Li Yuan's waist.

The withered branches and fallen leaves were swept into the air by the strong wind, lashing against the surrounding tree trunks with a crackling sound.

A pincer attack from above and below!

Li Yuan's steps were rapid, and he pushed the Xiao Cheng movement technique of the "Dragon Form Fist" to its limit.

People move like startled deer in the forest, flashing around in a small space.

The snake's bite missed, and it crashed heavily onto the boulder, sending rocks flying everywhere.

The snake's tail swept past his back and slammed into the beech tree, cracking the bark and sending wood chips flying. The entire tree, unable to withstand the violent shaking, crashed down.

Do not engage in prolonged combat.

Li Yuan's mind raced.

This snake demon's physique was far too powerful, and its scales were terrifyingly tough.

When ordinary internal force is applied, most of the force is either deflected or directly resisted.

Even with all my strength, my punch barely caused it any pain.

If you were to be struck head-on by it, or if its thick, long body were to wrap around and tighten around you, your bones and muscles would likely be broken instantly.

Since the scales were difficult to move, there was no time to think about the dark red membrane beneath them.

The giant serpent's attack roared in once more. This time, it was faster and more ferocious.

"Watch out!" everyone exclaimed in unison.

Sun Lu's heart sank: "It's over, what a pity! That kid was a promising talent, and he's gone just like that..."

Unexpectedly, Li Yuan advanced instead of retreating.

Facing the overwhelming darkness and stench, he stomped his feet hard on the ground, the decaying leaves exploding with a roar, and his figure shot forward like an arrow, managing to slip through the most dangerous and unbelievable gap directly to the side of the snake's mouth.

He could feel the cold scales brushing against his back, the chill penetrating his spine.

In that fleeting moment of passing by, Li Yuan's right fist suddenly shot out like a venomous snake emerging from its hole—no, it was like a dragon's horn suddenly appearing—from below, using a variation of the move "Dragon Horn Hanging the Moon," he concentrated all his momentum and twisting power into one force, and blasted it all towards the dark red membrane on the side of the giant snake's head.

puff!

This sound was completely different.

It was no longer a muffled sound, but a rough, tearing sound, like thick leather being torn apart.

Where the fist landed, the leather beneath the scales caved in deeply, and a warm liquid, saturated with a strong, fishy smell, gushed out.

At the same time, the Yuan Sha Qi within his body no longer wavered or hesitated, but suddenly condensed at the tip of his fist. With the solidity of this punch, it poured into the giant snake's body like a syringe.

Awooo—!

A scream unlike any of those of a snake rose into the sky, a mixture of pain and a furious rage that had been thoroughly enraged.

The snake suddenly contracted its body, gathering its strength once more, preparing to launch an even more ferocious attack.

However, at that moment, the enormous body suddenly stopped.

The raging anger surging in his crimson vertical pupils slowly dissipated, replaced by a complex expression of confusion and shock.

"Kid, you actually practiced that!"

A thought, sharp and grating like the friction of scales, crashed directly into Li Yuan's mind.

Li Yuan could clearly sense the restlessness and unease in its tone.

that?

Could it be referring to the "Yuan Sha Gong"?

Clearly, the primordial evil energy that had just been forcibly injected into the giant snake was making it extremely uncomfortable.

Li Yuan sighed inwardly, "What a pity."

It seems that the dosage of this Yuan Sha Cold Poison is still far from sufficient; otherwise, that attack just now should have been fatal.

But now, his internal energy is almost depleted, and he can only rely on his own fists and feet to fight back.

The serpent's body was afflicted by a cold poison, causing its massive body to stiffen and become sluggish, making it difficult for it to unleash its full offensive power.

"Fine, I'll go back and recover first, then I'll settle the score with you later!"

Whoosh!

The large snake turned and darted into the bushes, rapidly moving through the dense, dark forest, disappearing in an instant.

At the edge of the bottomless pool, the giant snake suddenly burst out of the water.

The snake coiled and twisted, transforming into a robust young man seven feet tall.

Behind his ear on one side of his cheek, the blood had already congealed into a dark red shard of ice.

"Yuan Sha Gong?" He was covered in black scales, exhaling a long breath of cold air, and muttered, "I underestimated that kid..."

……

On the other side, everyone finally caught their breath and let out a long sigh of relief.

"A snake demon? Old Liang, could this be the strange beast you were talking about?"

"I can't quite say...it just doesn't seem quite right..."

"We really owe a debt of gratitude to Li Xun today. Otherwise, we... sigh..."

Sun Lu finally breathed a sigh of relief, her body went limp, and she collapsed onto the grass, blood still trickling from the corner of her mouth: "Kid... Brother Li, why didn't you act sooner... What a pity for my horse..."

your sister!

Li Yuan didn't want to pay any attention to it.

The group quickly tidied themselves up, and fortunately, their injuries were not too serious.

Luo Bin and Kang Yan were not seriously injured, but they suffered minor injuries and could no longer ride horses.

Li Yuan then ordered Liang Bai and Zeng Yi to each carry one person on their backs, secure them firmly with ropes, and spur their horses to hurry towards Linjiang City.

Entering the city before dark should not be a problem.

He and Sun Lu escorted the carriage and continued towards Qianjiabao.

"Don't you feel that the area outside the city is particularly dangerous?"

Sun Lu plopped down on the cart floor next to Li Yuan without any hesitation.

"I've been with a few hunting teams before, so I know a bit about the situation outside the city... However, this is the first time I've ever seen a beast of this caliber. This is truly unusual; to run into such a ferocious creature in broad daylight. I've never heard of such a powerful beast lurking in this area."

"..."

Sun Lu took out a piece of dried meat from her bosom, took a few bites, and said while chewing, "What I said earlier was just to provoke you, don't take it to heart."

His tone sounded quite sincere, not like he was being fake.

"It's alright," Li Yuan said calmly.

Sun Lu raised her hand and patted his shoulder: "Brother Li, you're not bad. Your skills and courage are top-notch among those I've fought."

Li Yuan: "..."

The two engaged in a half-hearted, disjointed conversation.

As the outline of Zhengjiabao drew closer, more carriages and horses appeared on the official road, and the eerie and oppressive atmosphere gradually dissipated, making Li Yuan feel a little more relaxed.

Shortly after, the two escorted the carriage through the fortress gate and handed over the goods to an old steward who was waiting there.

Beside the old manager stood a young man dressed as a waiter. Although he had deliberately disguised himself and kept his head down and remained silent, his eyes were clear, his posture was straight, and his breathing was even and powerful, faintly revealing an overwhelming aura of a powerful figure.

Li Yuan felt that this waiter was quite extraordinary, so he couldn't help but pay more attention to him.

I had some guesses in my mind.

As Li Yuan and Sun Lu took their leave and turned to leave, the old steward opened the wooden box. When his gaze fell upon the "waiter" beside him, his expression suddenly held a hint of awe and inquiry.

Li Yuan had a slight thought in his mind, but he didn't say anything.

Rumor has it that Qian Feng, the number one man in Linjiang, was seriously injured. Upon closer examination, it should be the work of that giant snake from earlier.

However, while that giant snake was indeed terrifying, Qian Feng's cultivation level, above the Transformation Realm, was certainly not to be underestimated. How could he have been injured to such an extent? It was truly incomprehensible.

The two exchanged two fast horses with the old steward, and galloped back along the same route, one in front of the other.

Without any further obstacles along the way, they finally returned to the city just before the city gates were about to close.

However, one thing always made Li Yuan suspicious: the calm and tranquil atmosphere inside Qianjiabao and the nonchalant attitude of the Qian family.

After Qian Feng was seriously injured, the Qian family's share of the business in Linjiang City was completely wiped out. How could they still maintain such a good mood?

Such magnanimity, unmoved by external gains or losses, is truly admirable.

But could there be another side to the story?

Li Yuan frowned slightly, and a bold guess gradually surfaced in his mind—to bide one's time and conceal one's abilities?

Who wouldn't want to take back what they've lost?

It seems that things are about to get very turbulent in Linjiang City.

Upon returning to his post to report, Fatty Sun grinned from ear to ear.

Upon learning that one of his brothers had been injured, he specially distributed more money to him.

Li Yuan kept three hundred taels for himself and distributed the rest among his brothers.

Everyone was overjoyed, having earned nearly a year's salary in a single day, and naturally no one complained.

With the martial arts exam just around the corner, Li Yuan dared not relax in the slightest.

As the moon rose above the willow branches, he took the "Minor Nourishing Essence Powder" given to him by Fatty Sun, and began practicing the "Azure Dragon Entangling Silk Technique" move by move in his own courtyard.

【Azure Dragon Entangling Silk Technique (Beginner): 70/200】