Chapter 391: Senior Brother

Chen Cheng held nothing back in this strike. It was unequivocally the most powerful attack he could muster at his current Realm.

The dark spear shaft left a white streak in the water—an interwoven blur of afterimages and ripples. The sound of the parting water was almost a piercing whistle, as if it were tearing through the air itself.

The man’s eyes shot open.

But at such close range, before he could even fully open them, the spear tip was already at his chest.

He instinctively raised his hands, his reactions and speed both incredibly fast.

However, his fingers barely brushed the cold spear shaft; he had no time to grab it or parry.

In the next instant,

the Profound Iron Spearhead pierced his chest, exited straight through his back, and pinned him to the sand several yards away.

As the spearhead tore out of his body, it brought with it a spray of pulverized flesh, blood mist, and bone fragments.

He slowly lowered his head to look at his chest.

What he saw wasn’t a round hole the width of the spear shaft, but a gaping, pot-sized cavity that had been completely shredded by fine barbs.

His chest, heart, lungs, spine, and back were all gone. All that remained of his ribs were shattered stumps jutting out from the ruined flesh on either side.

He lifted his head in disbelief, looking in the direction the spear had come from.

Unfortunately, he saw nothing.

Until he was certain the man had stopped breathing, Chen Cheng would remain hidden behind a large boulder, refusing to show himself.

His mouth opened and closed, a string of blood bubbles gurgling up from his throat. His eyes were fixed forward, his pupils filled with unwillingness and shock.

One breath.

Two breaths.

His body twitched twice before his upper torso slumped limply, nearly folding over his lower body.

A moment later,

Chen Cheng finally emerged from behind the boulder.

He quickly looted the corpse, securing the three treasures connected by his Mental Gravity. Then, he surged forward, retrieved his Profound Iron Long Spear with one hand, and vanished into the darkness ahead.

Behind him, he left a dark trail of drifting, pulverized flesh and tattered cloth.

That darkness came from the flesh, which was rapidly turning black.

And that pulverized flesh was the result of the Dragon-Binding Rope he had wound around the spear.

For that strike just now, Chen Cheng had not only used his full strength but had also coated the spearhead with a potent poison and wrapped the Dragon-Binding Rope around the shaft.

That was why, when the spear shaft passed through the man’s chest, it didn’t just create a puncture wound. Instead, the countless Profound Iron Thorns on the rope tore the flesh apart, causing horrifying, almost explosive, damage.

Of course, the potent poison hadn’t gone to waste either.

It wasn’t just the shredded flesh that was blackening and decaying; the entire corpse was rapidly blackening, rotting, and festering from the wound outward, disintegrating in the current.

It was the perfect way to destroy the body and erase all traces.

After a while,

disciples from the Sea Courtyard began to arrive at the scene one after another.

The elite disciple from Python Pavilion who had fled while vomiting blood was among them.

His face was still pale as he explained what had just happened to a few of the leading Core Disciples.

He gestured as he spoke, his lip movements urgent and clear.

“Senior Brothers, I’m absolutely certain… That man is Xia Yan, a top-level fugitive of the Yunlei Royal Family and a traitor to the Immortal Bone Sect!”

“They say he stole a Supreme Treasure from the Immortal Bone Sect. Not only is the official family after him, but the Immortal Bone Sect is looking for him too. Even the Yunlei Commerce Association has put an astronomical price on his head!”

“Cut the crap. Where is he?!”

one of the Sea Courtyard’s Core Disciples demanded, his expression grim and his lips moving with tight force.

“I… I don’t know…”

The injured elite from Python Pavilion shook his head, his Adam’s apple bobbing. He then silently retreated to the back. ‘If they can’t find the man,’ he thought, ‘I’m of no use to them.’

“Find him!”

The lead Core Disciple commanded with a sharp wave of his hand, his lip movements fierce.

“I want him found, dead or alive!”

The group quickly spread out and began their search.

They parted every patch of seaweed and checked every crevice in the rocks, leaving no potential hiding spot unsearched.

However,

it wasn’t long before

distorted howls echoed from all around.

Many of the disciples who had spread out had come into contact with the potent poison diffused in the water. Their skin immediately swelled up, red and searing with pain. Some clutched their arms, others their legs, thrashing and struggling in the water with faces twisted beyond recognition.

Fortunately, the poison had been greatly diluted by the current and wasn’t instantly fatal.

The poisoned disciples surfaced one by one, taking out and swallowing the Antidotes they carried.

The wealthy ones thought nothing of it, but as for the disciples who weren’t as well-off, while the Antidote eased their physical pain, their hearts ached terribly over the expense.

“We can’t search anymore!”

The lead Core Disciple also surfaced, his brow tightly furrowed and his voice filled with rage.

“Immortal Bone Sect… Xia Yan! That insidious, treacherous, despicable bastard! He’s poisoned this entire area! We’re done for today… But I’ll settle this score with him sooner or later!”

…

Tonight was destined to be chaotic. Chen Cheng gave up on the idea of roaming and picking off targets, deciding to return to Guan Lan Pavilion early.

The journey back was smooth; he didn’t encounter anyone else.

He didn’t rush ashore, instead finding a secluded spot near the bank.

By the light of the moon, he examined the three treasures he had just acquired.

The first was a Profound Iron Short Saber. It was as long as his forearm and half a palm wide. The blade was a dark, somber black, without the slightest glint of cold light, looking utterly unremarkable.

However, when Chen Cheng gripped it and casually swung it at a nearby rock,

the boulder split as easily as tofu. The cut surface was as smooth as a mirror, without a single rough edge.

“…It’s a good saber.”

Chen Cheng examined it for a moment, but felt little joy.

‘This saber is about as sharp as my own Profound Iron Dagger. There’s not much point in keeping it, and it could easily expose me.’

With this in mind, he acted without the slightest hesitation. He dove back underwater, hid the Short Saber beneath a massive reef, and then moved several large and small rocks to cover the spot completely.