Martial Dao: Peace by Force

Chapter 337: Chapter 189: Murder and Arson! Obtaining a Qi Refining Technique

The stiffness spread up from his feet, as if invisible vines were sprouting from the soles of his feet, coiling around his body inch by inch... then suddenly tightening!

The tall, fat man’s expression twisted in shock. His entire body seemed to be frozen in place by some mysterious force. His eyes bulged wide, his pupils trembling violently, and his mouth hung open, trying to scream but unable to make a sound.

He could feel his heart pounding, his blood rushing, and his Qi circulating wildly within him, but he couldn’t move—not even a finger.

’What the fuck... This is actually a curse!!!!’

’Holy shit! Who the hell is this guy?’

The moment the curse took hold, the fat man understood. This Feng Jiuchen fellow was probably no ordinary Demon Cultivator!

’Downright sinister!’

In the instant the fat man’s body went rigid, Feng Jiuchen stepped forward.

He came to a stop before the tall, fat man, less than an arm’s length away.

He could see the fat man’s trembling eyes, which seemed to be screaming for mercy.

But it was too late.

Feng Jiuchen swung his sleeve.

It arced from left to right, tracing a line across the fat man’s neck.

For a split second, an incredibly fine, brilliant white light flared from the edge of his sleeve.

The white light was so blinding that, for an instant, the tall, fat man’s pupils became two white pinpricks.

Then the white light vanished, as if it had never been there at all.

And then...

The tall, fat man’s head hit the ground.

THUD. The head rolled twice across the ground before coming to a stop, face-up. Its eyes were still open, its mouth still agape, its expression frozen from that final, rigid moment.

Even in death, he couldn’t understand... why was this guy so damn sinister!

”Cough!”

Feng Jiuchen let out a cough.

It was a little hoarse.

He’d sustained some internal injuries. He’d been rocked by the force of the tall, fat man’s counterattack while activating his Talismanic Magic, and his Five Viscera and Six Bowels felt as if they’d been wrung out by hand.

He had also activated his Techniques multiple times, consuming so much Qi that he felt like a sputtering oil lamp about to be extinguished.

His body swayed, and for a moment, he looked like he might fall.

He reached out to steady himself on a nearby rock, pressing his palm against its surface. His face was pale, his lips were dry, and he looked as if he had just been dragged from the water.

”Damn it, I almost got taken out by a scrub.”

Feng Jiuchen cursed with a grimace, quickly took out a Medicine Pill, and swallowed it. A wave of fear washed over him as he waited for his complexion to improve.

In Huangliang, everyone was afraid of dying in this godforsaken place.

Because you could die an obscure, meaningless death.

What’s more, if he’d been killed by a couple of scrubs, he’d be too ashamed to ever show his face again if word got out.

He rubbed his chest, where a dull ache still throbbed.

Hearing footsteps, Feng Jiuchen looked up.

Wan Ze was approaching at a quick pace. His clothes were bloodstained, but it wasn’t his blood; it was from the short, skinny man.

”Are you okay?” Wan Ze asked with concern.

”I’m fine. That fight just took a lot out of me,” Feng Jiuchen said, waving his hand to show he was alright.

He took a deep breath to compose himself, then crouched down beside the tall, fat man and began to loot the body.

His movements were swift and practiced.

Soon, Feng Jiuchen found a Storage Ring. It was jet-black, its surface covered in intricate Runes.

”Doesn’t look half-bad.”

Feng Jiuchen yanked the ring off the fat man’s finger and weighed it in his palm. Then, he channeled his Qi and forcibly shattered the imprint inside the ring.

Once it was broken, he sent his consciousness probing into the ring’s interior.

And then... his expression soured.

”I went through all that trouble for this?”

”You’re out here working as a Tribulation Cultivator, and you’re still poor as dirt? Goddamn it, I took a huge loss!”

Grumbling and cursing, Feng Jiuchen started pulling things out of the ring.

One Low Grade Spirit Crystal, a bottle of Elixir Pills with unknown effects, a stack of blank Talisman Paper, and a few changes of clothes.

That was it. No Cultivation Techniques, no Magical Artifacts, nothing of any value.

Feng Jiuchen rummaged through the contents for a long time. After confirming he hadn’t missed anything, he sighed and shoved the junk back into the ring.

Then he went back to searching the fat man’s body, patting down the lining of his clothes, the soles of his shoes, his belt... He didn’t miss a single potential hiding spot.

After searching for a bit, he actually managed to find a Cultivation Technique on the tall, fat man’s body.

The booklet wasn’t thick, maybe ten pages at most. Its cover was dark blue, and on it, a complex pattern was drawn in silver lines. It looked like two snakes intertwined, head to tail, forming a circle.

There were no words on the cover, only the pattern.

Before opening it, Feng Jiuchen closed his eyes and prayed silently. ’Please, oh please, let this be worth some money! It has to be! I’ll trade my senior brother’s life for it! I’m begging you!’

He then flipped it open.

It was a defensive-type Dharma Seal.

After all, he’d just seen the man use this Dharma Seal himself... It wasn’t anything particularly profound.

Feng Jiuchen’s last sliver of hope died. He looked utterly dejected.

”Two broke-asses! Unbelievable!”

He flipped through a couple of pages, confirmed it wasn’t damaged, then looked at Wan Ze and held up the booklet.

”You want this thing? It’s a defensive Dharma Seal...”

”Let me see.” Wan Ze took the booklet.

The moment his fingers touched the cover, a cool sensation spread from his fingertips.

Wan Ze raised an eyebrow slightly.

[Magic Sense +100%]

A data panel popped up in his vision, a pale blue screen of light that vanished in a flash.

’An unexpected bonus?’

”What is it?” Feng Jiuchen asked, concerned.

Wan Ze snapped out of his daze and looked down at the booklet in his hand.

The pattern on the cover was hard to make out under the light of the Red Moon, but the way the lines flowed and intersected was unlike any Runes he had seen before.

He flipped open the cover. A line of small text was written on the first page.