Chapter 239: Chapter 158: Tendon Aspect

Chu Lingguang stared at the two packets of medicine on the table.

The two things Feng Zhiwen had said before leaving echoed in his mind.

“Taking this medicine isn’t guaranteed to help you unlock the second-level Dharma Aspect. Many people gain nothing from it but a bout of excruciating pain. They’re tortured to the brink of death, completely unable to discern the response from their own flesh and blood.”

“You have to take both packets at once. Once you swallow it, there’s no turning back. The torment won’t stop until an hour after the effects wear off. Afterward, you’ll need to soak in a medicinal bath for three days just to recover.”

The two packets contained a black powder with a pungent, bitter smell. Each packet held about a spoonful’s worth.

Chu Lingguang took the powder into his hands.

His hands couldn’t help but tremble.

Flesh separating from bone, pain so bad you’d wish for death, tortured to the brink, unable to discern any response from your body.

Feng Zhiwen’s repeated warnings lingered, echoing relentlessly in Chu Lingguang’s mind.

But Chu Lingguang still opened the two packets and held the powder in his palm. He murmured to himself, ’Once I swallow this, not only will I suffer excruciating pain, but I’ll also have to soak in a tub for three days. But if I don’t take it… if I lose to Samba, the situation both my master and I will face will be a hundred times more painful than swallowing this powder now.’

’It’s better to get the pain over with quickly.’

’This powder is for my master, but it’s also for me.’

’No, it’s more for me than anyone else.’

Chu Lingguang stared at the dark powder in his hand, the fear in his eyes gradually replaced by firmness and resolve.

Swallowing this medicine wasn’t just to do his part for Guo Wei; it was to prove himself. He had worked so hard to become the top-ranked fighter in South City, earning fame that resounded through Baiyang County and commanded respect in Liu Family Gully.

Chu Lingguang wouldn’t allow Samba to utterly destroy everything he had painstakingly built, leaving him disgraced and unable to easily earn Favors from others ever again.

Hadn’t he trained day and night, striving to improve, all to make a name for himself and rise above the rest?

If he lost to Samba, how could he possibly establish himself in the Great Yuan Dynasty in the future?

Repaying Guo Wei’s kindness was one thing.

Helping his Second Aunt and Landlord Zhang’s family avoid taxes was another.

But making a name for himself, earning Favor Points from everyone around him until he was unrivaled in the world and achieved immortality—that had been Chu Lingguang’s original goal.

In that moment, to banish his fear, Chu Lingguang confronted his most primal desire.

Repaying kindness was just an excuse.

His true goal was to become stronger!

In that instant, a brilliant light erupted in Chu Lingguang’s eyes. He felt like a wild beast, filled with a craving to take the world for himself.

The black powder in his hand was no longer a terrifying poison that promised excruciating pain. It was one of the Marvelous Elixirs, a key to greater power, worldwide fame, and endless waves of Favor Points.

’Eat it!’

A voice inside him was calling out.

Chu Lingguang opened his mouth and stuffed both packets of powder, paper and all, inside. The pungent taste seemed to transform into that of a perfect leg of lamb, sizzling with fat, freshly roasted, capable of replenishing his Qi Blood.

Desire consumed Chu Lingguang.

He swallowed the two packets of powder, paper and all, then licked the last dark grains from his lips.

Feng Zhiwen was waiting right outside the door.

He planned to inform Guo Wei the moment Chu Lingguang swallowed the powder, then go prepare the medicinal bath himself.

Peeking through the crack in the door, he saw Chu Lingguang transform from cowering and hesitant to a mindless beast, stuffing both packets into his mouth and devouring the powder and paper completely.

At that moment, Feng Zhiwen felt a growing sense of unease.

He was terrified that Chu Lingguang had been pushed too far. If his mind had snapped as a result, he knew Guo Wei would never let him off the hook, and he would never forgive himself.

“Guo!”

He didn’t have time for anything else and ran to inform Guo Wei at once.

ROAR!

When Guo Wei learned that Feng Zhiwen had acted on his own and given the powder to Chu Lingguang—and that Chu Lingguang had already taken it—he became livid with rage. A heaven-shaking Dragon’s Roar and Elephant’s Wail erupted from his very bones, and Feng Zhiwen sensed that Guo Wei had unleashed his sixth-level Dharma Aspect.

It was as if two Primordial Divine Beasts, a giant dragon and a Divine Image, were hidden within Guo Wei’s body.

Before he could even prepare to defend himself, Guo Wei struck with his palm. Feng Zhiwen saw two Divine Beasts roaring at him from within Guo Wei’s palm, suppressing his own Dragon Elephant Power so completely that it couldn’t even stir. He, who had once thought their strengths were nearly equal, felt as if he had been struck by a dragon’s claw and kicked in the chest by a Divine Image.

“BAM!”

His body was sent flying backward.

He crashed through the two walls separating the Inner and Outer Courtyards, his body finally slamming into the large banyan tree at the entrance of the Martial Arts Hall. The great tree teetered on the verge of collapse, and a moment later, the ground was littered with fresh leaves.

Pressed against the banyan tree, Feng Zhiwen forced himself to shout, “Go guard Chu Lingguang! I’ll prepare his medicinal bath!”

Fire seemed to shoot from Guo Wei’s eyes, a dragon and an elephant roaring within his pupils. The terrifying pressure of his aura silenced everyone in the Martial Arts Hall.

Lian Junmiao, Xue Bingsheng, Liu Qingqing, and the others, all jolted from their sleep, felt like lambs to the slaughter, realizing they were sharing a den with a ferocious tiger.

In that moment, Guo Wei was an imposing, mountain-like presence in their eyes. People of status like Du Juan and Liu Qingqing alike felt that Guo Wei could kill them all with a single slap.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep