Chapter 27

"Hmph, I'll gladly accept the demon core of this iron-backed bear and the treasures in the cave!"

Lu Qingfeng gave a sinister smile, wiped the blood off his fine knife, and then his expression suddenly changed as he darted to the side.

But he was still a step too slow. With a light swish, a cold blade sliced through, his arm flew up, blood splattered, and the long knife clattered to the ground.

"Ah!"

Already heavily drained, his pale face turned green. Lu Qingfeng, shocked, clutched his blood-soaked severed arm. "You... you didn't die?"

"Hehe, if I were dead, how could I see such a thrilling scene?"

He Kongming smiled at Lu Qingfeng, the torn shirt on his chest revealing a patch of green scales.

"You... Senior Brother He, Great Master He, don't... don't kill me, all of this is yours!"

With a thud, Lu Qingfeng fell to his knees, sobbing pitifully.

"Alright!"

He Kongming's lips curled, and he lunged at Lu Qingfeng, but his expression suddenly changed to one of terror as he was thrown back. "Fire Thunder Bombs!"

"Die!"

Lu Qingfeng, with a fierce expression, raised his remaining arm, and two pitch-black spheres shot out. They collided in the air, first sparking, then bursting into a towering inferno.

Boom!

A deafening explosion shook the area, a hurricane swept through, flames and smoke billowed, and sand and rocks flew everywhere, instantly enveloping a radius of several dozen feet.

Cough, cough!

After a full teacup of time, a figure slowly rose from the gradually clearing smoke and dust. It was He Kongming.

However, he was no longer as graceful as before. His blue clothes were completely torn, the green-scaled armor that had blocked the iron-backed bear's claw was now riddled with cracks, and his fine steel sword was nowhere to be found.

"You actually hid Fire Thunder Bombs and didn't use them earlier. It seems you planned this all along!"

Stepping up to the mangled corpse, He Kongming crossed his arms and kicked it fiercely, finally stomping its head to a pulp.

Now, the dust settled, the scene was a mess, and He Kongming, in a wretched state, stood before the trap, frowning deeply, seemingly pondering how to pull the massive body of the iron-backed bear up.

With his arm blown off, he couldn't possibly do it.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a gray figure darted out, as light as a swallow, but filled with murderous intent, striking He Kongming's back.

"What?"

He Kongming, a ninth-layer realm martial artist, though heavily injured, sensed the attack just in time. He turned around and slapped it away with his left palm.

Peng!

Palm met fist, and He Kongming was thrown back, landing on the other side of the trap, rolling a considerable distance.

"Die!"

Having landed a blow, the gray figure didn't stop. It leaped over the trap and struck again, a roar like a tiger's growl echoing faintly.

"You didn't die?"

Seeing the attacker, He Kongming's face changed drastically, but with the wind of force rushing at him, he had no choice but to counter with his palm again.

Peng! This time, He Kongming was prepared, but he still staggered back several steps, his heavily injured body forcing him to kneel, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

From what he knew, Li Chen had a strong resistance to poisons, but he had studied Li Chen for over a month and knew that Li Chen had no resistance to muscle relaxants.

No matter how much he thought about it, he wouldn't have known that Li Chen had never taken the pill he gave him, sliding it into his sleeve as he pretended to take it.

"Thanks to Senior Brother He's care, how could I die so easily?"

Li Chen smiled coldly, his feet moving swiftly, and he lunged again.

If you don't kill a tiger, it will surely come back to haunt you!

Even a lion hunting a rabbit uses all its strength!

Facing a cunning and vicious person like He Kongming, any carelessness could cost him his life. Therefore, Li Chen would not give him a chance to catch his breath.

"Murdering an inner disciple, do you know it's a capital offense?"

He Kongming, fighting for his life and seeking an escape, shouted fiercely.

With his heavily injured body, he had no chance against Li Chen at full strength.

After a few exchanges, rapid and heavy punches rained down on He Kongming, sending him flying like a rag doll. He landed with a thud, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Die!"

Li Chen roared, leaped up, curled his knees, and hugged his shins, slamming down on He Kongming's chest and abdomen.

With a dull crack, He Kongming's eyes bulged, and he spewed blood all over Li Chen, his body convulsing before his head lolled to the side, lifeless.

"Phew!"

Taking a few deep breaths, Li Chen slowly rose, looking at He Kongming's sunken chest, and clenched his fists tightly.

At this moment, the humiliated youth truly rose!

...

"A second-stage demon core, indeed extraordinary!"

Holding the crystal core, no larger than a longan but much smoother than a first-stage core, Li Chen's face showed delight.

What he regretted was that the iron-backed bear in the trap was heavily poisoned, rendering its flesh useless. Otherwise, its heart's blood would have been an excellent ingredient for medicine.

The bear's extremely strong hide, Li Chen had no suitable tools to skin, so he had to give up. After searching the remains of He Kongming and the others, he found only a few bottles of high-quality Qi-gathering pills, and the other scattered treasures were few and not very valuable.

"It seems they exhausted all their resources to hunt this iron-backed bear, but in the end, it benefited me!"

Li Chen gathered everything into a leather bag and threw the bodies and scattered weapons into the trap to bury them.

Thud, thud!

He stomped the ground fiercely, grabbed the leather bag, and darted into the stone forest. The weapons were top-notch, but taking them out might expose him, so he couldn't be too greedy.

The scene was a mess, and it was hard to tell that several ninth-layer realm experts and a second-stage initial demon beast were buried underground. With the bear's severe poisoning, it wouldn't take long for the bodies to turn into pus.

After a short while, following the marks on the ground and the surrounding stone walls, Li Chen found a large cave. The entrance was smooth, worn down by frequent entry and exit.

He threw a few stones inside to test for danger, then lit some dry branches with a fire striker and ventured in.

It was not as dark and damp as he imagined, but rather very dry, with soft dry grass covering the ground. The only sound in the cave was the rustling of Li Chen's footsteps.

Carefully extinguishing the sparks, he didn't want to turn into a "fire person" here.

"Nothing?"

Walking around, Li Chen was extremely disappointed. His enthusiasm for treasure hunting was greatly dampened. Apart from a few scattered bones, there was nothing else in the cave.

This second-stage iron-backed bear seemed to have no interest in collecting treasures like other demon beasts.

Thud!

Frustrated, he kicked a stone, which flew far away, rolling and echoing.

"There's a way in!"

Li Chen's eyes lit up, and he turned around, moving his torch closer.

The torchlight revealed a cave entrance. He had circled clockwise, and the entrance was not facing into the cave but directly ahead from a large rock.

The dark cave and flickering light made it easy to miss. If not for the stone reflecting off the rock and landing in the cave, he might have missed it.

Quickening his pace, Li Chen rushed into the cave, but he was suddenly startled, his hair standing on end, and he quickly retreated without hesitation.