18: Chapter 18 Azure Scales Biting at the Tail, Severed Wrist and Thunderous Strike

Lin Ze stood atop the small black-canopied boat, a corner of his green robe soaked through with blood mist.

The remaining water bandit was nicknamed "Grass-Skimmer."

At this moment, he was kneeling on the deck, crying and begging for mercy while secretly and frantically stimulating the Spirit Beast Pouch in his bosom.

"Exalted Immortal, spare my life!"

"This lowly one is just a bottom-tier scout for the Black Water Gang; it was that One-Eyed Dragon who forced me to come!"

His forehead knocked against the wooden planks.

The sound echoed across the lake, masking the friction of fabric.

Lin Ze was not a bloodthirsty person, but in this world of cultivation, mercy was often a one-way ticket to the Yellow Springs.

"Since you're a scout, tell me, how many more of your people are outside the Hundred Fish Abode?"

Lin Ze asked.

"None... none left. It was just us two brothers who got greedy..."

Just as Grass-Skimmer's words fell.

A malicious light suddenly flashed in the depths of his originally desperate eyes.

He slapped his chest, spitting a mouthful of essence blood onto the dark-gold Spirit Beast Pouch.

"Hiss!"

In an instant, a whistling sound erupted from the pervasive water mist.

It was the "Green-Scaled Water-Line Snake," stimulated by the essence blood.

It had been hiding in the Spirit Beast Pouch, waiting for an opportunity; using the water vapor for a second propulsion, it was so fast that even the Water Wave Perception of the Major Achievement Spirit Net Technique only caught a momentary ripple.

Lin Ze's pupils shrank suddenly. His Perfection-level instincts made him lean back, his whole body drifting toward the lake's surface.

However, that water-line snake was incredibly bizarre.

Puchi.

Lin Ze felt a chill in his left forearm, followed by a piercing, heart-wrenching pain.

After the small snake bit his arm, it actually turned into a pool of foul water and burrowed through his pores, attempting to follow his Meridians to attack his heart directly.

"Hahahaha!"

"Once you're hit by my Green-Scaled Snake venom, even a Late Stage Qi Refining cultivator will turn into a pool of bloody water."

Grass-Skimmer acted as if he were mad, standing up with a poison-dipped dagger appearing in his hand as he lunged at Lin Ze.

In the moment of crisis, there was no fear in Lin Ze's eyes, only calmness.

He could feel the toxin rapidly paralyzing the Meridians in his left arm.

If he didn't handle it decisively, half of his body would go necrotic within three breaths.

"Sever."

Lin Ze gritted his teeth and let out a sharp shout.

He used his right hand like a blade, and the drop of "Limit-Breaking Heavy Water" inside his body instantly went wild.

It transformed into an ice blade, slashing directly at his own left arm.

Puchi.

Blood splattered, only to be frozen in mid-air by the cold magic power.

Lin Ze didn't chop off the entire arm; instead, he sliced off a large chunk of flesh from his left forearm, gouging out the emerald-green venom that had burrowed into his bone marrow.

The piece of flesh containing the venom fell into the lake, making a "chi chi" sound as the floating ice instantly melted.

Lin Ze didn't even glance at the wound; he hooked his right hand back.

"Spirit Net Technique, Heaven and Earth Seal!"

Around the fast boat, countless threads of spiritual power erupted from underwater, locking Grass-Skimmer dead in mid-air.

"How is it possible... you actually dared to strike yourself so heavily?"

Grass-Skimmer looked at the blood-covered youth.

"The path of cultivation is inherently about finding life within death."

Lin Ze made a grasping motion with one hand, heavy water magic power condensing in his palm.

"Perfection-level Water Arrow Technique, Heavy Water Ground-Cleansing!"

This time, Lin Ze held nothing back.

Over ten dark blue light pillars augmented with heavy water instantly blasted that Loose Cultivator, along with the fast boat, into their most primitive atomic form.

Deep within the reed marshes, the small boat drifted quietly.

Lin Ze leaned against the gunwale, gasping for breath.

He took out a bottle of the cheapest Blood-Stanching Powder and sprinkled it on the wound on his left arm; the cool sensation cleared his head significantly.

"Whew... almost capsized in a gutter."

He gave a bitter smile and shook his head, then grabbed the Storage Pouch.

Inside the Storage Pouch:

Twelve Low-Grade Spirit Stones; this was a fortune for the current Lin Ze.

Toxin Essence: three Black Jade Bottles containing concentrated venom, which were the essence of the Green-Scaled Water-Line Snake.

Cultivation resources: several bottles of Qi-Augmenting Pills and Poison-Avoiding Pills commonly used in the Middle Stage of Qi Refining.