Long Chen struck like lightning, his aura exploding out and a flame blade appearing in his hand which he slashed down.

Feng Hai was completely startled. He saw that the tiny little nick on his shoulder had already turned black and he had lost feeling in his shoulder.

The stench coming from it was what had finally alerted him that Long Chen’s arrow had been coated with a terrifyingly powerful poison. He had just been stalling this entire time.

Most frightening of all, that poison had spread completely silently. He hadn’t even sensed it. If he hadn’t smelled that rotting smell, he would still be clueless.

Long Chen struck him in the midst of his confusion and fury. Without having even the time to examine his wound, he attacked with his longsword.

BOOM!

What appalled Long Chen was that the moment his flame blade collided with that longsword, his flame blade directly broke down. “Is this the strength of the mid Tendon Transformation realm? How powerful!”

Feng Hai didn’t dare reserve anything at this point anymore. Using his full force, with one slash he destroyed Long Chen’s flame blade, and now a second stab was piercing towards Long Chen.

Pressure shot out of the sword, making it so Long Chen was unable to dodge. He could only receive it head-on. A green light enveloped the longsword, marking it as a powerful Battle Skill.

Long Chen knew that he had to use his full strength at this moment. A mid Tendon Transformation realm expert was too terrifying. He immediately summoned his divine ring and his FengFu Battle Armor.

He also brought out the blue flame in his body and condensed it into a huge blue blade. Runes fluctuated over it.

When the flame blade collided with the longsword this time, Long Chen was forced back a hundred meters, but his flame blade didn’t collapse again.

Each time his flame blade collapsed, it would require him to use up a great deal of his flame energy. Condensing a new flame blade used up a great deal of spiritual qi.

Furthermore, this time, Feng Hai also was forced back over thirty meters by Long Chen’s full force strike.

He could sense his physical power sharply dropping. That was the effect of the poison, and so he hastily swallowed an antitoxin pill.

But he was horrified to realize that his antitoxin pill was completely unable to cure the poison and it continued to spread. Although it had slowed down a great deal, he wouldn’t be able to endure it for long.

“Bastard, hand over the antidote!”

“What are you talking about?” Long Chen put his hand to his ear, acting as if he hadn’t understood.

“If you hand over the antidote, I’ll spare your life,” offered Feng Hai angrily.

“You’re lisping too much; I can’t understand what you’re saying. Can you talk a bit calmer?”

“Bastard, you’re asking for it!”

How could Feng Hai still not understand that Long Chen was just purposely drawing out the time? He furiously brandished his longsword at Long Chen, trying to kill him.

Long Chen’s flame blade danced in the air. He mostly tried to avoid head-on strikes, borrowing his force to fall back. He was not a match for a mid Tendon Transformation expert.

Split the Heavens was a final trump card. If he used it but was unable to kill Feng Hai, he would definitely die.

Currently, Feng Hai was already poisoned. As time passed, Long Chen would gain more and more of an advantage. Rather than taking a risk, it would be better to fight while delaying as much as possible. His chance of coming out on top would increase more that way.

Long Chen fought and retreated at the same time, saving as much energy as possible. The two of them ended up traveling over three hundred miles in this manner.

Feng Hai roared, realizing that the poison in his body had already invaded his organs. If he still didn’t obtain the antidote, he would definitely die.

Inside, he cursed himself for trying to be clever at first. If he had instead attacked Long Chen right at the beginning, how could he have ended up in this state?

If this continued, he would end up both failing his mission and dying. He really was frantic now.

He took out a medicinal pill and threw it into his mouth. That pill immediately suppressed the poison.

That was a kind of precious poison suppressing pill. Its purpose wasn’t to cure the poison but to suppress the poison’s eruption.

That kind of suppression was like trying to hold back a flood. As the water grew higher, the dam would eventually break. When that happened, the poison would erupt and he would immediately die.

If he hadn’t been forced to this point, Feng Hai would definitely not consume such a pill. Taking this poison suppressing pill meant that if he couldn’t obtain the antidote shortly, he would definitely die.

But for the moment, he no longer needed to focus his energy on keeping the poison back and could fight with his full force.

“Die!” Feng Hai roared and his speed exploded. He arrived in front of Long Chen in just the blink of an eye, slashing down with his sword.

Long Chen was startled, hastily raising his flame blade. But this time, his flame blade completely broke down. Feng Hai’s sword tip cut across his forehead, leaving behind a bloody cut.

If he hadn’t thrown his head back at that last moment, his head would have been cut in half.

Long Chen took a deep breath and summoned all the spiritual qi he had been keeping in reserve, another flame blade appearing in his hands.

“Split the Heavens!” All of his energy poured into his sword. That huge flame blade slashed down in an unstoppable manner.

Feng Hai’s expression changed, obviously not expecting Long Chen to be able to release such a powerful attack. This attack actually gave him a feeling of mortal danger.

“Falling Leaf Slash!” Feng Hai shouted and his longsword once more lit up. A cold Sword Qi swept over Long Chen’s flame blade.

BOOM!

Space almost broke apart under that intense collision. Long Chen was sent flying back a whole mile under that terrifying force, vomiting out blood.

“The mid Tendon Transformation realm really is too powerful.” That was the first time Long Chen felt such powerlessness. He saw that his own attack had only forced Feng Hai back without causing any injuries. He once more charged back at him, pointing his longsword at him.

“Hand over the antidote and I’ll spare your life!”

Long Chen almost rolled his eyes. It was already such a time, but he still said such idiot words. Would anyone possibly believe him?

He was just about to mock him when he suddenly noticed that there was a large ‘boulder’ behind Feng Hai. It was slowly beginning to move.

Long Chen rejoiced inside. This time, he had been saved. But he still put on a sensible expression. “Unless you make an oath, I’ll never hand over the antidote. Don’t get any crafty ideas either. My storage ring is filled with thousands of medicinal pills. You’ll be long dead before you can find the right antidote.”

“Fine, I swear. If I renege my promise, let me die,” swore Feng Hai hastily.

Just now he really had been thinking of killing Long Chen and searching for the antidote, but he gave up that idea when he heard what Long Chen had said.

If that was true and he had that many medicinal pills, how could he possibly find the antidote? If he ate the wrong pills, wouldn’t he die even faster?

“No, that oath isn’t harsh enough. I require a poison oath[1].” Long Chen shook his head. He saw that the boulder behind Feng Hai had already slowly risen up and stealthily released eight long and hairy legs.

Long Chen knew that to be the Stony Devil Spider, a third rank Magical Beast. It was a true master of concealment. It was covered in veined patterns that made it look just like a boulder, making it appear just like part of the background.

Even walking right past it, it would be difficult to notice it. Most terrifying of all was its incredible patience.

Sometimes it would hide for months or even years for prey to show up before it stealthily crept out.

Now, the Stony Devil Spider had already stood upright and crept just right behind Feng Hai. Its movements were extremely light without the slightest sound.

Feng Hai had still yet to realize death was right behind him. Since Long Chen wanted him to make a solemn oath, he shouted, “I, Feng Hai, swear that if Long Chen gives me the antidote that cures my poison, I won’t kill him. If I break my oath, let my intestines be pulled out, let lightning strike me down, and let me die without a burial.”

Seeing Long Chen just staring blankly at him, Feng Hai hastily demanded, “Now it’s fine right? Hand over the antidote!”

Long Chen impatiently urged on the incredibly slow Rocky Devil Spider inside. He couldn’t drag this out forever.

“Cough, about that… that’s still not good enough. Can’t you make it more solemn and poisonous? You also know this is something that relates to my life. I need more reassurance,” said Long Chen slowly.

“Bastard, are you still trying to stall for time until the poison erupts? Fine, then I’ll just kill you right now and search on my own.” Feng Hai furiously raised his longsword.

“Hey, hey, hey, fine! I’ll hand over the antidote.” Long Chen knew he couldn’t delay anymore.

He threw over a jade bottle to him. “The antidote is inside. It’s made specifically to counter your poison. Take it. But your poison has infected you too deeply, and you’ve also consumed that poison suppressing pill, causing even more poison to store itself in your blood. You need the matching antitoxin crystal to cure it.”

Long Chen then handed the Silver Centipede’s crystal core to Feng Hai.

When Feng Hai touched that crystal core, he immediately felt the poison in his body change. It no longer crazily attacked his organs, filling him with relief.

At the very least, he had found an antidote for his poison. This crystal core should be enough to save his life.

He hastily consumed the medicinal pill that Long Chen had given him as well. Although he was no alchemist, he had a definite skill in identifying medicinal pills. He knew this was an antitoxin pill.

Seeing that Rocky Devil Spider continue moving like an elderly senior, Long Chen angrily cursed inside. Could it not speed up?

But then when he saw its head slowly stretch out and it opened its mouth, revealing two long poisonous fangs, he finally sighed in relief.

Seeing that it was finally about to attack, Long Chen almost wept from joy.

“What kind of thing is this?” Feng Hai eyed the fist-sized crystal core.

“Swallow in one gulp,” sighed Long Chen.

“Tch, how am I supposed to swallow this in one gulp? Are you asking me to choke to death?” raged Feng Hai

That crystal core was the size of a fist, and no matter how big a person’s mouth was, it was impossible to swallow it. Even if you could fit it through your mouth, it wouldn’t go down your throat.

“I wasn’t talking to you, but to that thing behind you.” Long Chen pointed pitifully behind him.

Feng Hai’s expression changed and he quickly turned around. But before he could, a sharp pain came from his back as a three-meter-long fang pierced through his body.

[1] A ‘poison oath’ is a real term in Chinese, meaning a solemn promise. There is no poison in a poison oath; it’s simply a very serious oath.