Chapter 151: Chapter 148: Ballistic Sword Qi! One-Shotting a Tier Two Demon Beast
A glint appeared in Wang Meng’s eyes.
Without a second word, he hefted his Giant Axe and followed.
The two moved in tandem, one high and one low.
One cleared a path on the ground while the other scouted from the canopy, their coordination seamless.
Ten minutes later, they arrived at a low-lying area concealed by thick vines.
Han Feng dropped silently from the canopy.
He reached out and pushed aside the vines before him.
"Shhh—"
He turned his head and made a hushing gesture to Wang Meng, who had just caught up.
Wang Meng immediately lightened his steps, held his breath, and crept closer.
He followed Han Feng’s gaze.
In the next second, his breath caught in his throat.
Before them was a natural spring, less than three meters in diameter.
The water was a strange, milky white.
Wisps of chilling air emanated from its surface.
Around the spring grew five strange-looking plants.
Four of them looked like daffodils carved from blue crystal, their petals translucent and emitting a soft, pure spiritual glow.
And in the very center, surrounded by the others, was a small plant only a palm high.
The plant was a deep blue all over, with a translucent, thumb-sized fruit at its tip.
A faint ring of mist swirled around it, giving it a dreamlike, illusory appearance.
In Han Feng’s Spiritual Vision, the energy fluctuations emanating from that plant were so pure it was staggering!
"Is that... a Tier Two Lower Grade Spirit Plant, a Cold Pool Lotus?"
Wang Meng’s Adam’s apple bobbed.
He finished the sentence in a nearly inaudible whisper.
"And those four next to it are Tier One Upper Grade Companion Water Spirit Grass... Holy shit, we’re rich!"
This single Cold Pool Lotus was worth at least three hundred Spirit Coins!
Add in the four companion Spirit Plants, and the total value was several times greater than what we earned from wiping out that entire nest of Wind-Split Leopards!
Wang Meng’s eyes instantly reddened.
Veins bulged on the hand gripping his Giant Axe, and he subconsciously started to rush forward.
An icy hand clamped down on his arm like an iron pincer.
It yanked him back forcefully.
"Not so fast."
Han Feng’s voice was completely calm.
"Where there’s treasure, there’s a Guardian."
His gaze went past the Spirit Plants, locking onto an unremarkable-looking green rock beside the spring.
To Wang Meng’s eyes, it was just a rock.
But in Han Feng’s Spiritual Vision, it wasn’t a rock at all.
It was a massive, coiled-up concentration of energy, radiating a cold killing intent!
As if sensing the presence of intruders, the "rock" moved.
SPLASH!
The water erupted as the creature unfurled its massive body.
It was a giant lizard, nearly four meters long!
Its body was covered in scales like blue-black ice, and a row of jagged bone spikes ran down its spine like a saw.
A pair of earthy-yellow, vertical pupils locked onto the two uninvited guests, devoid of any emotion.
"HISSS—"
The giant lizard flicked its forked tongue and let out a low hiss.
A visible, frosty-white mist sprayed from its mouth.
The green grass on the ground instantly withered and froze solid.
"Fuck! Peak of Tier Two Early Stage, an Iron-Backed Water Lizard!"
The wild joy that had just appeared on Wang Meng’s face was instantly replaced by a bone-chilling terror.
The palm gripping his Giant Axe was slick with cold sweat.
"This beast is a goddamn fortress! Its Defense Power is ten times more insane than a Wind-Split Leopard’s!"
"Even upperclassmen in the Meridian Passage Realm have to hack at its back armor for ages with a Tier Two Spiritual Artifact just to break through!"
"And its cold venom is lethal on contact! It can freeze your blood into ice shards!"
Wang Meng subconsciously shuffled back half an inch.
His voice trembled.
"Fengzi, fall back! We have to fall back now!"
"This thing is way out of our league! The amount of Qi Blood we have isn’t even a snack for it!"
This wasn’t cowardice. It was the hard-won wisdom of every Martial Artist who struggled to survive in the wilds, bought and paid for with blood.
Challenging a Defense-Type Demon Beast above your tier was a death wish.
"If we run now, it will pounce immediately."
Han Feng shook his head, his tone as calm as if he were merely stating a fact.
"Two legs can’t outrun four."
He released Wang Meng and unhurriedly reached for his waist.
The rugged "Sand Python" pistol was now in his palm.
Wang Meng was completely dumbfounded when he saw the gun.
"Are you crazy? You think you can scratch it with that piece of junk?"
"Even with a Spiritual Energy Armor-Piercing Bullet, hitting that shell of its will do nothing but make a PING!"
"Who said I was aiming for its back?"
Han Feng’s voice was soft, yet it carried an unquestionable confidence.
He opened the cylinder, confirming the two Tier Two Spiritual Energy Armor-Piercing Bullets within.
The tips of the bullets were engraved with an Armor-Piercing Rune he had personally optimized.
The Iron-Backed Water Lizard clearly didn’t take these two humans with their weak Qi Blood seriously.
It took heavy steps, its thick tail dragging a deep furrow in the ground.
It was enjoying the sight of its prey trembling before it.
It was waiting.
Waiting for the moment these two little bugs turned to flee before launching its lethal pursuit.
Han Feng raised his gun.
He didn’t aim, nor did he make any unnecessary movements.
In his Perception, the entire world instantly slowed down.
In his Spiritual Vision, on the behemoth’s seemingly indestructible Energy Armor, there was a faint, almost negligible energy node located three inches below its neck.
It was the hub for the circulation of its entire body’s Qi Blood.
The nerve center connecting its brain to its massive body.
Its one and only fatal point.
Han Feng adjusted his breathing.
The Qi Blood Power of his Perfection Realm body roared to life, following the Profound Mysterious Technique of the Sword Control Technique.
Immense power surged through the meridians in his arm, pouring entirely into the cold frame of the gun!
Spiral Force, imbued!
Sword Intent, locked on!
In his eyes, this was no longer a gun.
The frame was the spine of a sword.
The trigger was the handguard.
And the small bullet in the chamber was his poised sword tip, ready to pierce through everything!
The Iron-Backed Water Lizard seemed to sense a mortal threat, one that originated from the depths of its soul.
Its lazy vertical pupils suddenly contracted into dangerous slits!
It snapped open its huge maw, furiously gathering its bone-chilling venom.
At the same time, it twisted its body, attempting to tank the blow with its toughest part—its back!
Too late.
THWUMP.
An extremely muffled sound, like a sharp blade sinking into flesh.
There was no muzzle flash, no smoke.
Only a ripple in the air, invisible to the naked eye, flashed from the muzzle and vanished.
The bullet, wrapped in a highly compressed Spiral Sword Qi, was like an invisible beam of sword light.
With incomparable precision, it drilled into the single white spot beneath the giant lizard’s neck.
The scales, harder than steel, were as fragile as paper before this strike.
The terrifying Spiral Force carried by the bullet exploded violently the instant it entered the creature’s body.
It churned the lizard’s fragile internal organs into a bloody paste.
The Iron-Backed Water Lizard’s massive body abruptly stiffened.
From its open mouth, the deadly venom it had gathered spewed out as a spray of black blood mixed with chunks of its internal organs.
The next moment, its massive head drooped lifelessly.
Its hill-like body crashed to the ground.
It kicked up a cloud of dust and debris.
One shot, one kill.
The entire process was incredibly fast and eerily quiet.
Wang Meng was still frozen in his stance, his Giant Axe raised, ready for a desperate fight to the death.
He was petrified on the spot, his eyes wide as saucers.
"It’s... just... gone?"
He had seen Han Feng use a gun before.
He had even personally witnessed him shoot through an Evil Cultist’s Shield.
But this was an Iron-Backed Water Lizard!
The Iron Armor that gave even Meridian Passage Realm Martial Artists a headache!
Han Feng lowered the gun; its barrel was still warm.
He didn’t even bother to blow away the nonexistent smoke from the muzzle.
"Yes, it’s taken care of."
His tone was flat, as if he had just casually crushed a bothersome bug.
Wang Meng stiffly turned his head, looking at Han Feng as if he were a prehistoric Fierce Beast in human skin.
"Fengzi... was that... not a bullet in your gun? Was it the Sword Qi of a Grandmaster?"
Han Feng just smiled and put the gun away.
"Don’t just stand there gawking. Let’s get to work."
"The smell of blood will attract other trouble soon. We can’t stay here long."
Hearing the words "get to work" was like a jolt of electricity to Wang Meng’s body.
He snapped back to his senses.
"You got it! Leave all the rough stuff to me!"
He charged over as if he’d been shot full of adrenaline.
He pulled professional dissection tools from his backpack, his technique distressingly skillful.
First, he made a precise incision along the white line on the lizard’s belly, avoiding the tough scales.
From the pile of stinking entrails, he pulled out a fist-sized Tier Two Demon Core.
Next, he collected its heart blood and skinned the priceless, intact lizard hide.
The entire process was smooth as silk, taking less than five minutes.
Meanwhile, Han Feng walked over to the spring and took out a special Jade Shovel.
He carefully dug up the five Spirit Plants, keeping their roots and the surrounding soil completely intact.
As the Cold Pool Lotus landed in his hand, a refreshing, cool energy rushed up his arm and straight to the crown of his head.
It instantly calmed his agitated Qi Blood, which had been churning from his explosive burst of power.
After packing up all their spoils, the two retreated from the bloody scene without a moment’s delay, disappearing deep into the dense jungle.
