"Hahahaha, die!" Bai Qi roared wildly, never sparing Dong Yan a second glance. What skill could a man possess who initially only dared to stay far off, launching flying daggers?

"Big Brother," the injured fat man called out urgently.

"A'Yan, don't be reckless," the silver-haired middle-aged man also grew anxious. They all knew that among the four, Dong Yan was the weakest in terms of raw power; he only led because he was cunning and ruthless. In terms of sheer strength, either Da Pang or Er Pang could easily defeat this Dong Yan.

Yet, Dong Yan charged forward as if possessed.

"Hahahaha!" Bai Qi held his spear with both hands, ready to run Dong Yan through.

Just then—

A flash of chilling cold crossed Dong Yan's eyes. A long, black tubular object suddenly emerged from the sleeve of his right hand, and he violently pressed one of the indentations on its side.

Whoosh!

Several phantoms shot out from the mouth of the black tube, moving at a terrifying, astonishing speed.

Bai Qi's face shifted: "Not good!" The nameless hidden weapon was too fast; he only had time to swing his spear, managing barely to brush against one of the phantoms.

"Thief, die!" Bai Qi felt sharp pain in his left arm and right leg, followed quickly by numbness. Enraged, he roared, intent on killing Dong Yan.

But Dong Yan turned and fled: "If you're not afraid to die, chase me!"

Once poisoned, the more violently one moved, the faster the blood flowed, and the faster the toxin would spread. Bai Qi could only stand frozen, not daring to move. Meanwhile, Dong Yan was clearly not trying to escape, remaining about ten zhang away. His gaze swept over Er Pang’s corpse and then settled on the purplish-gold pouch tied to Old Li San’s leg.

That bag contained pure purple-gold!

"Come on, if you come, I'll kill you," Bai Qi violently pressed the pressure points on his left arm and right leg, simultaneously tearing off strips of cloth from his garments and tightly binding them near his shoulder on the left arm and around his thigh, trying to halt the flow of blood.

The silver-haired middle-aged man immediately grabbed Er Pang's corpse.

"Commander!" a loud shout rang out. Teng Qingshan and Tian Dan finally appeared.

"Let's go!" Dong Yan gritted his teeth and charged directly onto his horse.

The silver-haired man also placed Er Pang's body on a horse, and Da Pang mounted up as well. This group immediately spurred their steeds into a gallop. Dong Yan and his men possessed fine horses capable of covering a thousand li in a day, and this burst of speed left Teng Qingshan and Tian Dan watching their retreating silhouettes.

In terms of raw speed, Tian Dan might not have kept up. However, Teng Qingshan could have.

But...

Teng Qingshan had no intention of revealing his strength just to vent Bai Qi’s anger.

...

Galloping hard, Dong Yan and his companions were in agony.

"Little brother, little brother!" Da Pang wept, his pain evident.

Dong Yan gritted his teeth: "It’s my fault, all mine. If I had brought out the Ghost Spirit Needles sooner, Er Pang wouldn't have died!" When Er Pang was in mortal danger, Dong Yan hadn't had time to retrieve the needles; he could only use flying daggers to block, but he couldn't save him.

"Big Brother, it’s not your fault! You simply didn't have time to save Er Pang; I could only watch too," Da Pang suffered terribly.

"A'Yan, don't be too sad! Though Er Pang is dead, thankfully he left sons behind, so his lineage isn't broken," the silver-haired man sighed. "Now, let's take good care of his two boys."

"Yes," Dong Yan considered briefly. "Uncle, we can't stay in Huafeng City any longer! We must return immediately, gather our wealth, and leave Huafeng City, leave Jiangning Commandery at once!"

"Hmm?" The silver-haired man started in surprise.

"Big Brother, we are just going to abandon the men we worked so hard to gather in Huafeng City?" Da Pang looked at Dong Yan. Their subordinates were all locals, men with families. Asking these common folk to roam the world with them was simply impossible.

"Cut losses where necessary; why dwell on it! If we could carve out a domain in Huafeng City, we can fare even better elsewhere! Furthermore, that bastard from the Guiyuan Sect—I, Dong Yan, swear I will take his life someday!" Dong Yan spat out through clenched teeth.

"If he's hit by the Ghost Spirit Needles, he won't die?" the silver-haired man inquired.

"Hmph. If he's indecisive and lets the poison spread, he's dead. But if he's ruthless enough with himself, he might live. At worst, he'll be crippled!" Dong Yan sneered. "Even if he’s crippled, for killing my brother, I will personally end him." With that, Dong Yan and his group sped back toward Huafeng City.

By noon that day, Dong Yan and his party, taking their children and families, quietly slipped out of Huafeng City to continue their quest across the world.

"Commander, are you alright?" Tian Dan kept asking.

Teng Qingshan noticed the pouch on the leg of the corpse nearby, revealing specks of purplish-gold. Teng Qingshan was secretly startled; it was indeed purple-gold: "No wonder Bai Qi tried to act secretly; it was to swallow this purple-gold without the sect knowing." Teng Qingshan immediately reached out, untied the pouch, and placed all the purple-gold inside.

"Teng Qingshan, what are you doing?" Bai Qi snapped.

"This purple-gold was smuggled out by this man, so it must be taken back," Teng Qingshan replied calmly.

Bai Qi ground his teeth, filled with bitter hatred! What had he sought by secretly chasing down that middle-aged man alone? Was it not this very purple-gold? But now that Teng Qingshan and Tian Dan had discovered it, he had no chance to claim it all. Unless... he could kill both Teng Qingshan and Tian Dan. But he knew Teng Qingshan's true strength too well.

He would rather fight those four men ten rounds than fight Teng Qingshan once.

Not only did he fail to get the purple-gold, but he was also poisoned.

Truly, trying to steal a chicken only to lose the bait.

"Tsk, tsk! Commander Bai Qi, Brother Tian Dan, this pouch of purple-gold must be at least ten jin, perhaps even more. " Teng Qingshan held up the small cloth bag in admiration. Purple-gold is significantly heavier than gold for the same volume. This was also why the legendary 'Heavenly Sword' of the Qinling Heavenly Emperor required over a hundred jin of purple-gold.

After all, a standard fighting sword weighs only a few jin.

But the 'Heavenly Sword' weighed over a hundred jin.

A small cloth bag holding ten jin of purple-gold made sense.

"Ten jin of purple-gold?" Tian Dan exclaimed. "That’s equivalent to a thousand jin of gold, or a million taels of silver! That's immense wealth! Our Guiyuan Sect’s purple-gold mine only yields about dozens of jin a month. These people truly have methods to steal ten jin and not be discovered."

Taking just one jin a month from the source, the Guiyuan Sect wouldn't even notice, as mining output couldn't be exactly the same every month.

"Ten jin!" Bai Qi felt even more pained. A Commander's stipend was high, one thousand taels of silver a month, but after normal expenses, Bai Qi only saved three to five thousand taels a year. It would take him a century to accumulate a million taels.

"Sir!"

"Sir, what happened here?" Several guards approached from a distance and asked respectfully.

"Commander, can you still walk?" Tian Dan asked worriedly.

"You two," Bai Qi pointed to two of the guards, barking orders, "Help me up the mountain!"

The two guards felt helpless but had no choice but to obey, supporting Bai Qi.

Teng Qingshan glanced at Bai Qi, whose face was pale and clearly showing distress.

After walking about twenty zhang, Bai Qi urgently shouted, "Hurry, let me sit down, quickly!"

The two guards were momentarily stunned.

"Get lost," Bai Qi impatiently waved his right hand, knocking the two guards aside. He immediately sank to the ground, violently tearing open the trousers on his right leg.

Riiip!

The entire trouser leg tore away.

"What!" Teng Qingshan and Tian Dan’s faces changed drastically. Bai Qi's entire right leg was swollen in a ring, completely blackened.

"What poison is this?" Tian Dan gasped.

"This poison is incredibly fierce," Bai Qi had initially thought he could use his Inner Strength to hold it back, but who knew that even after blocking his own pressure points and using tied cloth strips, it only slowed the spread, unable to stop it? "Tian Dan, do you two know what this poison is? Do you know any antidote?"

Tian Dan shook his head.

Teng Qingshan also shook his head.

Teng Qingshan did not fear poison!

Because the 'Core' Teng Qingshan cultivated involved absolute control over his body. In his previous life, Teng Qingshan could control blood flow, slow his heartbeat, and so on. Now, his control was even greater: he could command his muscles, fascia, bones, and internal organs. His body could instantly grow several inches taller or shorter.

He could even control localized areas, halting the flow of vital energy and blood for short periods.

This poison relied on blood circulation to spread. If the blood didn't move, the poison couldn't spread throughout the body. This was one reason why SS-rank experts in his former world were so terrifying. Inner Strength masters, despite their power, relied on their Neijin; their control over their own muscles and sinews was vastly inferior, let alone controlling the circulation of blood.

...

Teng Qingshan himself wasn't afraid, but he couldn't help others.

"Commander, the poison is spreading faster and faster," Tian Dan urged, feeling a tightness in his chest as the blackened area on Bai Qi’s thigh visibly crept toward his groin.

Bai Qi roared, "Do you have a knife?"

"No."

"I have a dagger," one of the nearby guards called out.

"Give it to me," Bai Qi immediately took the dagger from the guard and sliced open a wound on his thigh. Blackish blood immediately poured out.

In an instant, Bai Qi began to curse: "It's completely numb! What poison is this? Bloodletting is useless." Bai Qi clearly felt the toxin relentlessly advancing; once it reached a vital point, he would surely die. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead, and his whole body trembled slightly.

Slash!

He tore his upper garment as well. His left arm was now also blackened and swollen.

"What to do, what to do? I can't die, I can't die!" Bai Qi trembled with anxiety, dripping cold sweat.

"Commander, if you delay any longer, there will be no cure," Tian Dan shouted.

Bai Qi jolted, looking at his swollen, blackened thigh and left arm. Gritting his teeth, he suddenly brought his dagger down violently!

Slice! Slice!

His thigh and left arm were completely severed!

The fresh blood flowing from the severed wounds was vividly red.

"Aaaargh!" Bai Qi let out a scream of agony.