I Can Strengthen Infinitely

Chapter 420 - 275: Wuyang Zhenren (Part 2)

"Strange, this snake demon is clearly dead, so why is it still capable of producing such great power?" Qin Yuesheng wondered to himself, then wrapped his body in Profound Celestial True Flame and walked over to the serpent’s corpse.

The serpent’s head had already been chopped apart by Qin Yuesheng, and those streams of ice were pouring out of the broken gap at its head. Qin Yuesheng grabbed both ends of the wound and tore forcefully.

With that, a wide gaping crack was ripped out by Qin Yuesheng.

Inside the crack, a pale blue glow flickered brightly, radiating an intense allure.

"What’s this?" Qin Yuesheng reached out and grabbed, pulling that blue light straight out of the crack—it turned out to be a pale blue, beast hide the size of an Eight Immortals table, tattered and broken.

This beast hide was fused with the serpent’s blood, which formed the icy streams that Qin Yuesheng saw.

"How could such a thing ever grow inside an ordinary snake? Anyone can tell this is a foreign object. The serpent must’ve discovered it somewhere, then accidentally swallowed it," Qin Yuesheng thought to himself.

From this, it could be deduced that the serpent’s ability to spit icy mist must have come directly from this ice-blue beast hide.

Qin Yuesheng used his Star-Picking Hand to snatch it up, grasping it in his palm.

[Yes/No—Disassemble ’Profound Nether Golden-Eyed Beast Hide (Fragment)’]

The moment Qin Yuesheng touched it, he felt a bone-chilling cold in his palm, and frigid energy surged wildly into his body, pressing straight toward his chest and heart channels.

Qin Yuesheng instantly activated Primordial Yang Skill, using Primordial Yang power to flush all that invading cold straight out of his body.

Gazing at this ice-blue beast hide, a sudden inspiration flashed in Qin Yuesheng’s mind, and he couldn’t help but laugh: "I was just worrying that I had nothing to use as a sheath for the Celestial Fire Blade, and here you are, right on time! Let’s see if you’re up to the task."

Carrying the beast hide over to the Celestial Fire Blade, Qin Yuesheng drew the blade and wrapped it directly with the hide.

As the hide enveloped it, the Celestial Fire Blade’s red glow instantly dimmed and its temperature dropped—its power forcibly suppressed by the ice-blue beast hide.

"This Profound Nether Golden-Eyed Beast truly is formidable—just the power of a mere fragment of hide is enough to effortlessly subdue the Celestial Fire Blade infused with celestial fire." Qin Yuesheng mused in his heart.

All these years living in Jiangnan, he had never even heard tales of such a creature as the Profound Nether Golden-Eyed Beast. It must be incredibly rare, or else why wouldn’t even the books record its name?

With the hide as a wrap, as long as he added restraints, Qin Yuesheng could now carry the Celestial Fire Blade with him anywhere—a major problem solved.

With the serpent slain, everyone in the fortress finally breathed a sigh of relief, and their respect for Qin Yuesheng grew even deeper.

"I’ll leave this serpent for you all—make some serpent stew, it’s bound to be excellent," Qin Yuesheng said to the surrounding water bandits.

Then, he picked up the Celestial Fire Blade and went to find Sanhuang.

On Liu Xian’s end, battle had already broken out with Cao Mengda. Right now was Sanhuang’s chance to take advantage of the chaos and rise to power. For now, Qin Yuesheng planned to stay close by Sanhuang; if anyone dared send experts to assassinate him, he could handle them right away.

Killing external-forging Martial Artists was no loss. Killing Inner Strength experts would earn him Inner Strength Pills—a tidy profit.

...

Though Wu Bao’s faction wasn’t as strong as Cao Mengda’s, he did have several seasoned elders who had retired from the Great Tang Gunpowder Bureau. Their assistance brought Wu Bao enormous aid on the battlefield.

It was thanks to these gunpowder weapons that Wu Bao could fight Cao Mengda’s side to a standstill. But aside from direct army assaults and siege defense, covert assassination and sneak attacks were also crucial in war.

If you managed to assassinate the enemy’s top general, countless troubles could be avoided and the opposing army defeated without a fight.

Pingchang City, base of Wu Bao’s camp.

Recently, Wu Bao had been utterly exhausted. Cao Army’s relentless aggression placed enormous pressure on him; every night he had to stay alert for assassins sent by Cao Mengda. Both body and mind were drained, and much of his hair had turned white.

If this continued, Wu Bao absolutely wouldn’t last long—he’d be fallen to Cao Mengda’s army for certain.

Luckily, Liu Xian, evidently disgusted by Cao Mengda’s conduct, provided some balance to the three-sided stalemate. If only two forces remained, there’d be no one else to fight but you.

Liu Xian proactively sent troops to attack Cao Mengda, relieving Wu Bao of much pressure.

Wu Bao, dressed in red armor, sat behind his desk. In the past few days, he’d lost five cities, and ten thousand soldiers—his heart ached terribly.

As he was reading the war report, four people suddenly entered from outside—three men and one woman. One of the men was a Daoist.

Seeing these people arrive, Wu Bao immediately rose to greet them, overjoyed: "Master Daoist, you’re finally back! Heaven hasn’t doomed me yet!"

Liu Xian had the support of the Yellow Turban Immortal Sect, Cao Mengda had backing from the White Lotus Saint Sect, and Wu Bao’s willingness to openly rebel came from his own powerful alliances.

The four in front of him hailed from Morning Star Cave atop Five Fingers Peak in the Central Plains. The Daoist in the robe was Wuyang Zhenren; the rest were his disciples.

Wuyang Zhenren’s magic was profound and powerful, his techniques long since won Wu Bao’s admiration. That was why Wu Bao had invited him as his backer—only with such support did Wu Bao gain the courage to rebel.

Some time ago, Wuyang Zhenren and his group had to leave on some matter, and soon after, Cao Mengda launched his punitive expedition—piling stress upon Wu Bao.