The poison dart was upon him in an instant.

"Child's play," the elder sneered. "Don't show off your meager skills before a master."

He didn't retreat. Instead, he advanced, tilting his head to dodge the poison dart by a hair's breadth. Then, his five fingers formed a claw, striking straight for Xu Ke's heart.

"Claw Skill?" Xu Ke's expression turned grave. This elder's True Qi is sharp and his aura is ferocious. He's a ruthless one.

But as the elder charged, Xu Ke didn't back down. Instead, he whipped out a small knife and hurled it at the old man.

The elder laughed in amusement. "Just how many Hidden Weapons do you have tucked away in those clothes?"

"None of your damn business," Xu Ke retorted. Planting his feet, he drew power from the ground and sent a fist flying toward the elder's stomach.

CLANG.

The elder snatched the flying knife right out of the air with his Claw Skill. He could tell this one wasn't poisoned.

He tossed the knife aside and sneered, "I'd like to see how you hide your weapons when summer comes."

His other hand wasn't idle, either; it shot out to grab Xu Ke's fist.

At that moment, Xu Ke moved like an agile fish, twisting his body to dodge. He followed up with a Groin Kick aimed at the elder's lower body.

"Despicable!" the elder roared.

He wasn't a Henglian Martial Artist; his lower body was quite vulnerable. He had no choice but to halt his attack and dodge Xu Ke's strike.

Seeing this, Xu Ke pressed his advantage, punching straight for the elder's throat.

"Arrogant!" Dodging the Groin Kick, the elder smirked in contempt.

It was true that reaching the Postnatal Late Stage at his age made Xu Ke a genius, but that didn't mean he was qualified to launch a frontal assault on him. This was suicide.

The elder met Xu Ke's fist with his palm, intending to seize it and finish him off.

PENG.

Fist met palm.

The elder's expression changed. "What?"

Xu Ke's True Qi surged from his fist directly into the elder's body.

How is this possible? Is this really the True Qi of someone in the Postnatal Late Stage? The elder was incredulous.

In that instant, because the elder had underestimated the strength of Xu Ke's True Qi and hadn't used his full power, Xu Ke seized the opportunity.

He instinctively recoiled.

But in the next moment, Xu Ke landed a vicious kick straight to the elder's groin.

CRACK.

The elder could almost hear the sound of eggs being crushed.

"AAAAARGH!" the elder shrieked, his eyes practically bulging from their sockets.

The pain… It was excruciating.

The agony made him realize he couldn't retreat. To retreat now would be the end of him. Xu Ke had kicked him; he had to return the favor. So, drawing on his power as an Innate Maestro, the elder clawed for Xu Ke's throat.

If this claw landed, Xu Ke would undoubtedly lose. Then I'll settle the score for that Groin Kick.

An Innate Maestro was indeed an Innate Maestro.

After landing the kick, Xu Ke had planned to immediately pull out the Poison Dart left by Sun Luo and shoot it at the elder's face. But what met him was the elder's Claw Skill.

Damn it… Xu Ke cursed inwardly, forcing himself to stop and twist away.

But the elder's move was faster than he had anticipated.

SCRAPE.

Since Xu Ke had already twisted, the claw missed his throat and only caught his shoulder.

But that's enough… No one can withstand my Claw Skill.

The elder exerted his strength fiercely.

"AGH…!" Xu Ke cried out as blood instantly gushed from his collarbone.

But the elder's pupils contracted. It didn't shatter? Is this Xu Ke actually a Henglian Martial Artist?

"You old bastard," Xu Ke gritted out, "You talk way too much."

"Young man," the elder said, his expression venomous, "you should learn some manners."

But as he responded, the elder's expression suddenly changed. A searing pain was spreading from his lower abdomen.

He instinctively looked down.

A Poison Dart was sticking out of his abdomen, having struck him without him noticing.

"What?!" The elder's soul nearly fled his body in panic. He immediately let go of Xu Ke and stumbled back several steps. Wincing in pain, he pulled the dart out. "How can you still be firing Poison Darts?"

"Go ask your mother," Xu Ke sneered, also backing away to create distance.

In the past few exchanges, he had landed a Groin Kick on the elder, but the old man's Claw Skill had also left him with a minor injury.

If it weren't for my decent Henglian skills allowing me to endure the pain and fire that dart… if it weren't for him being not quite at the Innate Mid Stage, lacking an unbreakable Protective True Qi… this would've been a major loss.

The poison Xu Ke concocted acted fast. The elder was already feeling dizzy. "Using poison... Kid, you truly are despicable."

Xu Ke wiped the blood from his collarbone and shot another Poison Dart. "Then I'll continue to be despicable."

So an Innate Maestro bullying someone weaker isn't despicable? But Xu Ke couldn't be bothered to engage in a war of words.

Seeing the Poison Dart flying at him, the elder hastily dodged. "Hold on."

"Hold on? Screw that." Xu Ke flung the rest of his Poison Darts without hesitation.

THUD, THUD, THUD.

All of them missed, except for one that struck the elder's thigh, only to be deflected by his Protective True Qi before it could pierce deep.

Xu Ke sighed inwardly. A starving camel is still bigger than a horse, after all. Even while poisoned, this guy can dodge that many darts.

Seeing Xu Ke cease his attack, the elder grew smug. "What, not throwing any more?"

"Because there's no need," Xu Ke said coolly.

"No need? I think you've run out!" the old man scoffed.

Just as Xu Ke was about to speak, the old man suddenly charged forward in a bizarre fashion, his claw once again aimed at Xu Ke's face.

Xu Ke instinctively backed away.

But at that moment, a voice suddenly echoed from behind him. "Is this kid really that troublesome?"

Xu Ke's expression changed, his heart seizing with panic.

It's a trap!

Before he could react, a fist slammed squarely into his back.

BANG.

Xu Ke collapsed.

Seeing Xu Ke fall, the elder finally let out a sigh of relief and halted. "Troublesome? What do you mean, troublesome? I was just creating an opening for you."

"What if he had more Poison Darts and you got hit again? That wouldn't have been good, would it?"

A middle-aged man walked out from behind Xu Ke, his face full of disdain. "Just a piece of Postnatal Late Stage trash."

The middle-aged man exuded the fluctuations of a cultivator at Innate Great Perfection.

"Trash?" the elder scoffed, looking at the unconscious Xu Ke on the ground. "If you were the one intercepting him alone, you'd probably be dead by now."

"Tch." The middle-aged man looked resentful at the elder's scorn but didn't retort.

The elder leaned against a wall for support. "That should keep him quiet. Take him back, and have someone come detoxify me. This kid's poison has made me incredibly dizzy. If it weren't for my strong True Qi, I wouldn't have been able to hold on."

The middle-aged man stooped down beside Xu Ke. "Tsk, tsk. Who would've thought that the 'pretty boy' from the rumors would be strong enough to push you this far."

The elder shook his head. "He's skilled in Henglian techniques and Hidden Weapons, and his True Qi is incredibly strong. It's no wonder he could kill Ouyang Shuang. If President Yuu hadn't warned me to be cautious and told me to recruit you—an assassin skilled in surprise attacks—for this ambush, it's hard to say who would have come out on top."

Although they didn't know that Xu Ke had already advanced to the Innate Middle Stage, the news that he had killed Ouyang Shuang was solid. After Wang Yu found out, he had specifically sought out two people to deal with Xu Ke, just to be safe.

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