Chapter 190 : Third Grade!
Chapter 190: Third Grade!
Behind the black-clad man, the other two in black turned to look at their last companion, but he didn’t move, as if he hadn’t heard the words.
“Why don’t you go?”
The black-clad man turned back and stared at the weakest companion with an amused expression. “I killed your wife, and now I give you an even more beautiful woman in return. What, you’re still not satisfied? This is Yuhaitang, the third-ranked beauty on the Supreme Beauty List, and the legitimate daughter of the Yu Family. A rare gem like this—I haven’t even had the chance to play with her…”
Deng Ziyang’s blood-red eyes held no emotion. Without a word, he walked toward Yuhaitang. When he was about a zhang away, he suddenly extended his hand and pushed.
An invisible force of energy lifted Yuhaitang, who was sitting on the ground, and pushed her straight to Chen Ming’s side.
The black-clad man looked puzzled. “Deng Ziyang, what are you doing? That day I killed your wife, and you endured it. Why today have you decided not to endure?”
Deng Ziyang turned around, drew his blade, and spoke in a hoarse voice, “Zhu… today is the day you die.”
As he spoke, a drop of bright red blood seeped from the center of his brow. Instantly, a strange force field spread out, locking that black-clad man in place.
“Blood Bead!”
When the black-clad man saw the bright red drop, his eyes flashed with intense heat. “I knew it—it really was on you! But Lord Pang didn’t believe me…”
The other two black-clad men also had eyes filled with greed, as if that drop of blood had a deadly allure.
Deng Ziyang ignored them. Another drop of bright red blood seeped from the center of his brow and flew straight toward Gao Chen’s corpse on the ground.
Once the blood drop merged into Gao Chen’s body, in moments, the corpse shriveled up and turned into powder. That drop of blood grew even brighter, flying back into Deng Ziyang’s brow.
In an instant, the aura within his body surged rapidly.
“Two drops!”
The black-clad man looked shocked, then burst into laughter. Space around his body twisted violently, even causing the Blood Bead to tremble.
With a splurt, he finally broke free from the restraint and reached for the Blood Bead, which was violently trembling, trying to shake off his grip.
“Obedient now… you’re mine!”
The pale red energy shield around the black-clad man trembled as well. Clearly, suppressing the Blood Bead was taxing for him.
Gradually, the Blood Bead was finally subdued.
He turned his head toward Deng Ziyang, not rushing to strike, eyes filled with mockery.
At this moment, Deng Ziyang had stabilized. After the Blood Bead absorbed all of Gao Chen’s cultivation and essence, it temporarily granted him the strength of a Third Grade.
The black-clad man asked, “Why not go all the way and break through to Third Grade? I can wait.”
Deng Ziyang’s eyes revealed intense hatred as he spoke coldly, “Before you kill me, you won’t be able to refine the Blood Bead. You have to suppress the Blood Bead while guarding against those two. How much strength do you have left?”
The black-clad man laughed loudly. “Such a poor trick. Trying to sow discord between me and my junior brothers?”
Deng Ziyang said quietly, “Senior Brother Zhu, you know better than anyone how important the Blood Bead is to disciples of the Blood Demon Sect. Without it, they’re merely food for the Envoy, likely to be drained of all cultivation at any time. But with the Blood Bead… they become Demon Heirs. It’s their only chance. Do you think… they’ll be tempted?”
The atmosphere on scene suddenly turned strange.
The two black-clad men said nothing, their eyes flickering, thoughts unknown.
The black-clad man’s smile didn’t waver. “Even if you three join forces—so what? I am a First Grade! Killing you is effortless.”
…
Elsewhere, seeing them turning on each other, Yuhaitang didn’t hesitate. She picked up Chen Ming, planning to escape while there was a chance.
The moment she touched Chen Ming’s body, she was stunned to find that within him, a shocking transformation was taking place.
This was…
Her hand was bounced off. That blazing energy had even scorched her hand red.
Inside Chen Ming’s body, it was as if magma was roiling.
No doubt about it—this was genuine Astral Origin!
Yuhaitang’s heart surged with waves of shock. “How is this possible?”
He had broken through to Fourth Grade just over half a month ago.
During this time, he had been healing her and Su Zhining, with no time for cultivation, constantly depleting his internal qi.
Under normal circumstances, this kind of depletion would harm one’s vitality.
Yet Chen Ming wasn’t harmed at all—on the contrary, his cultivation kept growing. Every few days, it surged again. And now… he was directly breaking into Third Grade.
Or rather, half a foot had already stepped into Third Grade!
At this moment, the qi inside him was undergoing a remarkable transformation, evolving into Astral Origin.
Despite her shock, Yuhaitang’s first instinct was to protect Chen Ming.
At such a crucial juncture, no one could be allowed to interfere.
That female disciple of Heaven’s Path Alliance had forced a breakthrough to Third Grade, only to have her meridians shattered. If not for Chen Ming, she would already be dead.
Thinking of this, Yuhaitang nervously watched the four Blood Demon Sect fiends as they turned on each other.
Finally, someone couldn’t hold back.
A fierce battle was on the verge of erupting!
The one who struck first was Deng Ziyang. With the power stolen through the Blood Bead, he now possessed the strength of a Third Grade. His opening attack was full force—a long blade cleaved toward “Senior Brother Zhu”.
That blade carried the same Astral Origin as Gao Chen’s earlier attack. Yuhaitang felt chills down her spine. The Blood Demon Sect’s methods were truly vile. Even after Gao Chen died, all his cultivation had been stolen.
No martial artist could accept having their hard-earned power taken by force.
Everyone in the Blood Demon Sect deserved death!
“Senior Brother Zhu” didn’t dodge the strike. He simply raised a hand and slapped lightly.
With a bang—
The massive blade aura shattered completely.
He said flatly, “You don’t understand the power of a First Grade.”
As he spoke, he slapped again.
Deng Ziyang tried to dodge, but in an instant, a palm formed of Astral Origin struck his chest, slamming him into the wall.
The stone wall behind was blasted into rubble.
A total, crushing defeat.
“Senior Brother Zhu” revealed a hint of satisfaction in his eyes and said, “How was that?”
“Hm?”
Suddenly, his figure shifted to the side, and a longsword silently pierced out from behind, slashing across his shoulder and finally injuring him.
“Junior Brother Wang, Junior Brother Zheng, why must you seek death?”
His voice carried a note of anger.
It was the two companions behind him who had struck. Their strength was far beyond that of Deng Ziyang—one was a Second Grade, the other a Third Grade.
The two said nothing, simply attacking “Senior Brother Zhu” with all their might.
Originally, with his strength, it would have been effortless to kill the two of them. But now, most of his power was being used to suppress the Blood Bead. More critically, his spiritual consciousness had been affected, making many techniques unusable.
For a time, he was actually unable to kill the two.
He shouted angrily, “Fools, Deng Ziyang has already escaped!”
Even so, the two showed no intention of stopping.
They both knew that stopping now meant death—this ruthless “Senior Brother Zhu” would never let them off. Once he recovered, he would use the cruelest methods to torture them to death.
Just like how he had driven Deng Ziyang step by step into a hopeless situation.
...
【You have slain an LV73 enemy. Gained 350,000 experience points.】
After killing Gao Chen, Chen Ming didn’t hesitate at all and increased the proficiency of the incomplete 《True Art of Five Elements》 to the seventh level.
Instantly, the qi inside his body underwent a transformation, his entire internal force converting into Astral Origin.
The entire process lasted several minutes.
Thankfully, Deng Ziyang had bought him time, allowing him to break through successfully.
【Level: 70】
【Current Points: 174896】
【Cultivation Methods: 《Iron Horse Stance》 (Fifth Level Perfection), 《True Art of Five Elements (Incomplete)》 (Seventh Level 1/10000000)】
【Martial Skills: Three Talents Fist (Mastery), Eight Trigrams Saber Technique (Mastery), Zhuang’s Flying Knife (Mastery), Swallow Returns Sword Technique (Mastery), 《Vermilion Bird Sword Technique》 (Mastery), 《Phoenix Dances Through the Nine Heavens》 (Third Level 1322/300000)】
【Secret Arts: Disguise Technique (Mastery)】
“Finally, Third Grade!”
Chen Ming opened his eyes and immediately saw Deng Ziyang being slammed into a stone wall.
Not good!
He raised his hand, using Astral Origin to pull Deng Ziyang over. A quick examination revealed that he was severely injured, barely clinging to life.
Chen Ming immediately pressed a hand to his back, channeling Astral Origin from 《Profound Wood True Art》 to heal him.
With his other arm, he picked up Yuhaitang and fled at once.
He was well aware that even though he had just broken through to Third Grade, it was still far from enough to contend with a First Grade.
Those who reached the First Grade were never weak. They were all geniuses among geniuses—even in the Blood Demon Sect, which took shortcuts, it was the same.
Even if he managed to kill that First Grade expert by luck, the price would be unimaginable. With so many experts and schemers in this cave, now was not the time to fight to the death.
Chen Ming continued healing both Yuhaitang and Deng Ziyang simultaneously.
However, after reaching Third Grade, the power of Profound Wood Astral Origin was on another level. In no time, he pulled Deng Ziyang back from the brink of death.
Soon, he noticed the Astral Origin he injected into Deng Ziyang’s body was being absorbed.
Deng Ziyang awoke, looked at him, and said with a sigh, “After so many years, I never thought our reunion would happen here.”
Chen Ming said, “When you turned on them just now, I knew—you’re still the same chivalrous Deng Ziyang.”
If Deng Ziyang hadn’t bought him time just now, he might not have succeeded in advancing to Third Grade.
Even if he had advanced, facing a First Grade, a Second Grade, and a Third Grade, escaping with Yuhaitang would’ve been nearly impossible.
In that situation, Deng Ziyang had no chance of winning. It was practically suicide. But still, he had stepped forward without hesitation.
“What a chivalrous man indeed!”
Suddenly, a mocking voice came from ahead.
Why are there people everywhere?
Chen Ming cursed inwardly, came to a halt, and looked forward. There stood a brocade-clad young man with a face like carved jade. Whether it was his looks or his demeanor, there was something familiar about him.
Soon, he remembered who he resembled—Jiang Shihua!