Chapter 242: Chapter 179: Will He Win?

With so many Mixed Poisons, plus the “Love That Can Stretch and Contract at Will” formed from interwoven Gang Qi, the Black Fog was also filled with countless Poison Spider Webs. Who could possibly withstand that?

The main issue was the sheer number of Exotic Poisons. The “Five Poison Creatures” alone comprised five different types of toxins.

The Martial Dao experts outside might be able to resist several of these Exotic Poisons, but they weren’t experts who had delved deep into the Poison Dao. There would inevitably be an Exotic Poison they couldn’t handle.

Furthermore, there was another very important question to consider.

Even if they resisted all the poisons and passed through the Poison Domain, would they have any strength left to fight?

They’d probably be as worn out as a dead dog, completely useless in a fight.

Of course, to form such a Poison Domain, Zou Feng had spent a long time preparing, from conceiving the idea to silently moving around and spreading the poison.

He had even been forced to stop and rest midway to recover, as the True Man State left him weakened afterward.

It took him nearly half an hour just for the Poison Domain to take its initial shape.

Thus, this move had too long of a wind-up. It was naturally impossible to use in a situation that required an immediate fight.

But once it was successfully deployed and the Poison Domain was fully formed, even a Fourth Grade expert would have to take one look, clasp their hands, and say, “Farewell!”

The situation unfolded just as Zou Feng had expected. After the Poison Domain formed, a truly important figure did indeed arrive.

It was none other than Divine Doctor Xue, the so-called Lingnan Saint Hand—the very person Zhang Yinxiu had wanted to seek treatment from when he thought he had contracted a strange illness.

Previously, a group of military experts and Jianghu heroes had been helpless against the Poison Domain, so they had spent a great sum to hire Divine Doctor Xue, who happened to be staying in Jiangnan Prefecture City.

They had thought victory was assured with Divine Doctor Xue on the case. But after the Lingnan Saint Hand walked up to the Poison Domain, frowned, and observed it for a good while, he actually turned around, clasped his hands, and said, “Farewell.”

Then he immediately returned the payment he had just received and swiftly departed.

He left the crowd of experts staring at each other in dismay, ultimately able to do nothing but gaze at the poison and sigh.

Thus, Zou Feng’s question left Fu Zhouchen speechless, and he immediately considered this worst-case scenario.

“Why have you gone silent?”

“Why haven’t the people outside come in? Don’t you have any clue?”

“Answer me!”

Zou Feng’s last question was a sudden roar, making Fu Zhouchen tremble all over.

The next moment, Zou Feng appeared before Fu Zhouchen like a ghost.

A sinister, vicious grin played on his lips. He extended a poisoned claw, intending to inflict even more agonizing torture on Fu Zhouchen while his heart and spirit trembled, forcing him to reveal Yuwen Zheng’s hiding place.

Fu Zhouchen was truly terrified now. Knowing that Zou Feng was about to torture him with some bizarre method again, his voice unconsciously took on a weeping tone as he begged for mercy, “No… don’t come any closer… AAAAAH…”

But as it happened, Zou Feng’s “poisoned claw” did indeed stop mid-air.

It wasn’t because he felt any pity for the wailing Fu Zhouchen, but because Xiaolv had suddenly flown over.

“You found him? Excellent!”

Although Zou Feng was here interrogating Fu Zhouchen, he hadn’t let Xiaolv remain idle. It had been searching everywhere for Yuwen Zheng.

After all, the Yuwen Mansion had too many secret rooms and hidden underground passages for use in emergencies.

The first thing Zou Feng had done was find the secret passages. He had collapsed them with a palm strike and then sealed them with poison gas, so he was certain Yuwen Zheng couldn’t escape.

Now that Xiaolv had located Yuwen Zheng’s position, Zou Feng naturally lost interest in continuing to interrogate Fu Zhouchen. He immediately swooped down and followed Xiaolv.

Fu Zhouchen, who could only watch this unfold, still harbored a sliver of hope.

’The Young Master is a Martial Scholar, after all,’ he mused. ’And the Top Scholar of his year. He also has many powerful Magical Artifacts, Elixirs, and so on.’

’So, facing this Poison Cultivator, he’s not actually without a fighting chance.’

’His choice to hide and wait for a chance to escape was the result of strong persuasion from loyal retainers like us.’

’After all, unless it was absolutely necessary, we couldn’t let the Young Master take such a risk.’

’If Yuwen Zheng were to be injured, it could affect his chances in the upcoming competition for Martial Champion Scholar. That’s a consequence no one can afford.’

’In short, the Young Master, with his potential to become the Martial Champion Scholar, definitely has the power to fight back. It might not even be impossible for him to turn the tables and kill this Poison Cultivator.’

Just as these thoughts ran through his mind, the sounds of fighting—shouts and cries—erupted in the distance, immediately followed by a series of violent explosions.

Fu Zhouchen’s heart tightened. He realized that this battle, one that could decide the future of the Yuwen Family, had begun.

’Young Master, you have to win!’

’He will win!’

With great difficulty, Fu Zhouchen twisted his head, trying to get a clear view of the battle. Unfortunately, the poison had weakened him to the point that even his vision was affected, and he couldn’t see what was happening.

The sounds of fighting and explosions didn’t last long.

In about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, all the noise gradually faded away.

But Fu Zhouchen could still faintly hear what sounded like someone coughing up blood.

He couldn’t be sure who it was, but the battle had clearly been decided.

’The winner is the Young Master! It must be the Young Master!’

’How could the future Martial Champion Scholar of the Great Yan Dynasty possibly be shaken by a Poison Cultivator from an unorthodox path!’

Fu Zhouchen gritted his teeth, his bloodshot eyes staring fixedly in the direction Zou Feng had just left.

The next moment, a figure like a giant bat in the night leaped high into the air and landed back on the roof.

In his hand, he held a half-dead young man.

Fu Zhouchen trembled all over. His eyes widened, filled with utter despair.

“Young—Master—!!”

The future Martial Champion Scholar was now beaten to a pulp, a trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth, his expression a mask of incredulous terror.

He wasn’t just defeated; his entire spirit had been broken. He had completely collapsed.

To put it bluntly, even if Zou Feng let Yuwen Zheng go now, and even if Yuwen Zheng could recover from his injuries in a short time, his dream of becoming the Martial Champion Scholar was over.

Physical wounds could be healed, but the trauma to his spirit was not so easily mended.

No matter how exceptional Yuwen Zheng’s Talent was, he had ultimately never suffered a single setback, nor was he an expert who had fought his way up from the bottom.

This first encounter with a truly formidable Poison Cultivator had branded despair and the ensuing fear deep into his soul.

For a long time to come, Zou Feng would be the nightmare that made him jolt upright in bed, drenched in sweat.

Of course, that was assuming Yuwen Zheng lived to see another day…

As for Zou Feng, the reason it had taken so much time was that he couldn’t use his True Man State again for the moment.

After all, he had just used it while setting up the Poison Domain. Although he had replenished his energy with White Jade Spider Poison, forcing himself to use it again so soon would likely result in severe internal injuries.

Otherwise, Yuwen Zheng would probably be questioning his very existence even more.

“Young Master, Young Master, how are you…?” Fu Zhouchen was truly the Yuwen Family’s loyal dog; even at a time like this, he was still worried about his young master’s condition.

Unfortunately, the completely broken Yuwen Zheng could no longer remain calm. The moment he saw his family’s Chief Instructor, he instinctively started crying for help, “Uncle Fu Zhou, save me! Save me—”

Fu Zhouchen had watched Yuwen Zheng grow up. At this moment, his heart felt like it was being twisted by a knife.

“Don’t be afraid, Young Master… The Master… The Master will definitely save you!”

Annoyed by their clamor, Zou Feng flicked his hand, delivering several slaps through the air that instantly silenced them both.

“Noisy!”

’It was clearly Yuwen Shuo who started this mess, forcing me to act,’ Zou Feng thought. ’Then Yuwen Boxi had to go and escalate things, capturing the brothers of the Hongxing Gang along with the Miss, preparing to execute them.’

’And now, after all their fuss, they’re making me out to be the great villain…’

“Alright, you two should have a way to contact Old Thief Yuwen immediately. Tell him what’s happened here.”

“If he wants the antidote, he’ll release my people!”

Zou Feng hadn’t slaughtered everyone in the Yuwen Mansion. The innocent servants and maids were certainly spared.

But all the people Old Thief Yuwen truly cared about had been afflicted with the Exotic Poisons Zou Feng administered.

In the short term, if Yuwen Boxi wanted to save them, his only hope was for Zou Feng to provide the antidote.

Furthermore, to get his most promising son, Yuwen Zheng, back, he would naturally need a sufficiently valuable bargaining chip…

PS: Shamelessly begging for double monthly tickets!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep