Chapter 68: Well Done

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...

Ding Hao stepped on Mao Changhai's face and asked, "Tell me, what poison did you give them?"

Mao Changhai said sinisterly, "Senior, you must spare my life if I am to tell you."

Ding Hao replied, "I will spare your life."

"I gave them the Rotting Gut Herb. After taking it, their intestines will rot, and innate experts can last for five days. Without the antidote, they will die within five days."

The disciples all turned pale and shouted, "Where is the antidote?"

Mao Changhai said, "I don't have the antidote. Within five days, you must buy and take the Clear Gut Water, or you will die!"

The subordinates' eyes flashed with murderous intent, and they all said, "How despicable! If it weren't for Master Ding, we would have served you for three days, and by then, we wouldn't have had time to buy the Clear Gut Water. You want us to die!" They all took out their weapons, eager to tear Mao Changhai to pieces.

Mao Changhai crawled behind Ding Hao and said, "Master, you promised to spare my life, save me!"

Ding Hao kicked him away and said, "I promised to spare your life, so I will. But whether you lose your hands, feet, or have your Qi Sea destroyed, I won't interfere!"

The subordinates, filled with hatred, rushed forward and beat Mao Changhai severely, then pierced his Qi Sea with a sword. The notorious man from Yunzhou was now a complete cripple.

...

At the top of the mountain, Chai Jin was hosting a banquet for Han Feixing and Ling Yunxiao. Tang Yuanhao had already entered fasting and did not attend.

In the hall, beautiful waitresses served various dishes, and various songstresses sang, their clear voices echoing.

Chai Jin raised his wine glass and smiled, "It seems the Crown Prince was right; those demon Taoist masters were not targeting our disciples! Today has been peaceful. Come! I propose a toast to the successful joint autumn hunt between the two states!"

Han Feixing said, "The autumn hunt is thanks to Chai's efforts. We salute you!"

Ling Yunxiao also said, "Yes, let's drink to a great success!"

The three of them raised their glasses and drank.

After drinking, they all sat down. Chai Jin smiled again, "Actually, City Lord Ling should drink more! The current top ranker is Tang Yingyu, representing your Wuzhou, Little Prince!"

Han Feixing said, "Old Ling, you're lucky. Both the Little Prince and Chai's heir are on your side. I'm not convinced that Yunzhou has lost."

Ling Yunxiao sneered, "What, are the four counties trying to cheat again?"

Han Feixing said, "You didn't win fairly!"

Seeing them about to argue, Chai Jin quickly said, "City Lord Han, don't be in a hurry. It's only the second day of the autumn hunt. Nothing is set in stone yet. Besides, wasn't Mao Changhai from Yunzhou first yesterday?"

Han Feixing, mentioning Mao Changhai, said with a hint of pride, "Mao Changhai is a notorious figure in Yunzhou! Though he is ruthless, he has some skills. Unlike Wuzhou's disciples, who are like flowers in a greenhouse."

Chai Jin nodded, "I heard Mao Changhai is very cruel to the demon and evil Taoist clans."

Han Feixing said, "Of course, why be polite to those deviants?"

Chai Jin then said, "I wonder how the situation is now." He was concerned about his son's ranking and had someone bring the ranking jade token.

Looking at the jade token, the current top ranker was the Little Prince with 1412 points; second was Mao Changhai with 1109 points; third was Chai's heir with 1088 points.

Han Feixing said, "Congratulations, Chai. Your son is doing well too, a tiger father doesn't have a dog for a son!" In fact, Han Feixing was quite不服, as both the Little Prince and Chai's heir were not from Wuzhou and had cheated to get their points.

In comparison, Mao Changhai from Yunzhou was much cleaner.

Han Feixing then said, "I still have high hopes for Mao Changhai. It's not easy for him to get this far..." At this point, he suddenly thought of a way to put down Ling Yunxiao and asked, "Old Ling, how many points does your top Wuzhou genius have now?"

Chai Jin scanned the list and laughed, "Not in the top twenty!"

Han Feixing's face showed disdain, "The Crown Prince was right! Ding Hao is just a sharp-tongued, useless person!"

"Ha ha." Chai Jin also laughed, thinking of how Ding Hao had forced the Chai family to apologize in public and demanded 2000 yuan stones as compensation, which made him furious.

Ling Yunxiao's face turned red with anger, not knowing what to say.

But at that moment, he noticed the numbers on the jade token in Chai Jin's hand change.

Chai Jin, not noticing, laughed and handed the jade token to a servant.

Ling Yunxiao paused, then suddenly put down his wine glass, "Wait, I think I saw Ding Hao's name!"

Han Feixing laughed so hard that tears streamed down his face, "Old Ling, are you too fond of Ding Hao that your eyes are playing tricks on you?"

Chai Jin also said, "City Lord Ling, are you drunk?"

Ling Yunxiao said, "No, I definitely saw it. Bring it back, let me see again."

Chai Jin grabbed the jade token back and said, "You can look a hundred times, but..." His face turned pale, and he exclaimed, "What's going on? How is this possible?"

Han Feixing, who had been laughing loudly, looked at the jade token and his face changed dramatically. He was completely stunned, not even noticing the wine spilling on his clothes, "How is this possible? How did Ding Hao get to first place? Nonsense! Is the jade token broken?"

"Ding Hao, 1439 points, first place." Ling Yunxiao, who had not expected this either, understood what had happened and raised his wine glass, saying calmly, "It seems my judgment was right. Well done, Ding Hao!"

Han Feixing and Chai Jin, who had just mocked Ding Hao as useless, were now utterly baffled, as if they had been slapped in the face.

The most frustrated was Han Feixing. Originally, he could have said that one of the top three was from Yunzhou. Now, it was clear that Mao Changhai's points had been taken by Ding Hao. The top three were now Ding Hao, the Little Prince, and Chai's heir, all from Wuzhou!

Moreover, Ding Hao was a native of Wuzhou, leaving Han Feixing no room to argue!

Seeing their gloomy faces, Ling Yunxiao couldn't help but laugh and stood up, "Thank you, Lord Chai, for the hospitality. Tonight's wine was delightful!"

While Ling Yunxiao and the others were paying attention to the score changes, another place was also watching the scores.

In the dark forest, a body lay in a pool of blood, the very Chai family judge who had checked the rankings that morning. Standing beside the body were three black-clothed figures. The one in the center, holding the jade token, said, "Ding Hao has been active. He was unknown just now, but now he's first. He must have just fought Mao Changhai, who is second! Notify the Little Prince immediately to search everywhere for signs of battle! You two, go as well!"

"Yes!"

The other two black-clothed figures immediately split up and left. The one standing there, his eyes cold, said, "Ding Hao, I want to see what you did to kill my Bamboo Demon! Despicable! You will pay with your life!"

A demon Taoist master cultivates a demonic plant, not only investing a lot of resources but also a lot of emotion, communicating with it, and even getting a tattoo on their face to make the plant accept them. Elder Miao had spent a lot of effort cultivating three Bamboo Demons, and now one was dead, so he harbored a deep grudge against Ding Hao.

In another part of the forest, Ding Hao kicked Mao Changhai to the disciples who had taken the Rotting Gut Herb, then took Shang Hai into the forest.

"Shang Hai, I'll transfer some points to you. Go to the top of the mountain, complete the task, and then return to Wuzhou to cultivate!"

"But I want to hunt more prey," Shang Hai said, scratching his head.

Ding Hao shook his head, "You are only at the Fifth Stage of Innate. You need cultivation! Only the top ten get rewards. What you're doing here is useless. There's a month until the final exam. You need to improve as much as possible before the final exam!"

Shang Hai nodded, "Master Ding, I understand. I just wanted to practice my combat skills."

Ding Hao said, "Combat skills, you can practice near the border village later. Not here! This autumn hunt has become twisted, with demon Taoist masters involved. I suspect more dangers will come. Leave quickly."

"Demon Taoist masters!" Shang Hai was shocked. All the disciples here were at the Innate stage. If demon Taoist masters came to slaughter, no one could stop them!

"In that case, I'll leave quickly. Master Ding, transfer five points to me."

Shang Hai only needed to complete one task to get a ticket to the final exam, so one point would suffice. He asked for five points for safety.

Ding Hao watched Shang Hai walk up the mountain, then turned back and disappeared into the forest.

In the depths of the dark forest, where the moonlight couldn't reach, Ding Hao sat cross-legged under an inconspicuous stone.

Da Huang, who was reading a book, said, "Why didn't you let me out to help you fight Mao Changhai? I could have saved you half a bottle of Ice Crystal."

Ding Hao shook his head, "No, you are my secret weapon. I won't use you when there are outsiders around."

"Alright." Da Huang said and continued reading the *Xuanpin Zhenjing*.

Ding Hao then emptied Mao Changhai's storage bag and began to sort through the loot. The battle had cost him half a bottle of Ice Crystal, which pained him.

However, his gains were also substantial.

Apart from the 1100 points, Mao Changhai's storage bag contained quite a few items.

First was the ordinary treasure-level dagger, a good item. Although Ding Hao had an ordinary treasure-level finger guard, it was less effective against thick-skinned spirit beasts or body cultivators. A sharp dagger would give him an advantage.

Second were the Blood Qi Pills. Mao Changhai's storage bag contained many of these pills, which could replenish blood and qi. Although cultivators focus on body, meridians, and spirit, blood and qi are also important. However, Mao Changhai had too many Blood Qi Pills.

Ding Hao then took two Blood Qi Pills and noticed another item, "This is..."