The Heavenly Court is gone, I don't want to be a True Lord.

Zuo Qi called Da Hong over from the shore, hoping to use the dog's sense of smell to see if he could find some more water ghosts.

Just as the two entered the water, Xu Feng and his companion arrived.

Look at the footprints left on the ground.

Xu Feng's expression changed slightly. Someone was coming; it was indeed no longer safe here.

The companion was no longer reluctant to part ways.

Although river caves that can harbor water ghosts are hard to find, the consequences of being discovered by the government are even more serious.

The two did not enter the river cave, but instead began digging behind it.

Soon, a strange incense burner came into view. An unusual fragment was embedded in its inner wall, like a mirror, reflecting a grand hall that looked like a celestial palace.

Looking at the images reflected in the fragments, the two felt a little more at ease.

"That demon's lair should have been recorded; we can just move it to another location."

As the incense burner was moved, the river cave inexplicably trembled slightly.

"Brother Feng, I'm going to get the Fiery Demon Scales from the river cave. You take the treasure back first."

Xu Feng nodded. To suppress a water demon's lair, besides the precious incense burner in his arms, he also needed the essence of a demon with high fire element cultivation.

There are also four fierce demon scales in this river cave, each with thirty years of cultivation, so they cannot be easily discarded.

Xu Feng had no objection and nodded in agreement.

……

At this moment, Zuo Qi, who was in the river cave, was leading Da Hong in a search for traces of the water ghost.

However, after exploring all the water caves connected to the river cave, they found nothing, not even a few fish, but they discovered more traces of human activity.

It was as if all living beings here had been driven away.

Zuo Qi felt there was an 80% chance that a water demon's lair was hidden here, but he didn't know the rules for the lair's appearance.

If there were no traces of human activity, he would definitely be keeping watch here. Even if he didn't have the strength to destroy this water demon's lair for the time being, he would still have to figure out the pattern of the lair's appearance.

Just as they were about to head back, Big Red suddenly became excited and roared at a rock wall on the right side of the river cave.

Zuo Qi rushed over, and Da Hong began digging in the soil, making the water increasingly murky.

Soon, they unearthed a large scale from the pit. It was jade-like in texture and gave off a warm feeling.

Most importantly, it belongs to the fire element!

[An unknown demonic artifact, dropped by a demon over twenty years old upon its death, essential for cultivating fire-based fundamental techniques and martial arts.]

Zuo Qi was greatly encouraged and became even more certain that the water demon's lair here was related to human intervention, and might even have been attracted by someone through some means.

"Good job, Da Hong! Keep searching!"

Soon, Da Hong found four fierce demon scales in the four directions of the river cave.

Just as Zuo Qi picked up the last fiery scale.

Suddenly, a whirlpool appeared at the bottom of the river cave, like a black hole emerging from the water.

Countless streams of water were sucked in; the suction was so strong that Da Hong almost got swept in if she wasn't careful.

Zuo Qi quickly grabbed it. Fortunately, he was incredibly strong. Zuo Qi used his Heavenly Eye to observe it for a while, but couldn't see anything unusual.

It's like a typical river cave bottom collapsing.

Seeing that the whirlpool was getting bigger and bigger, Zuo Qi stopped looking and quickly pulled Da Hong into a water cave.

After a while.

The heads of a man and a dog emerged from the surface of the Liang River.

Upon reaching the shore, Zuo Qi looked towards the river cave, where a tremendous buzzing sound came from, and the entire river cave instantly collapsed downwards.

The water ghosts and demon nests in this river cave were definitely deliberately set up by someone.

Immediately, I was struck by a realization: the Stone family!

He quickly turned around and was about to rush towards the stone house.

……

The middle-aged man holding Xu Feng's medicine was Shi Tou's neighbor and was very familiar with Shi Tou's father.

When they arrived at Shi Tou's house, they didn't see anyone. The neighbor said that someone from Nankou Bay had taken Shi Tou's family to the city for medical treatment.

The two families were close neighbors, and the middle-aged man didn't think much of it when he heard this. He figured the Shi family had nowhere to stay in the city and would probably come back that night.

He went to the kitchen on his own, as if he were back in his own home, and began to prepare medicine for Shi Tou.

"This medicine smells strangely good..."

……

With a whoosh.

A small pebble flew out from nowhere, like a dart, and landed instantly at Zuo Qi's feet, causing the ground to explode.

Zuo Qi steadied himself, dodging the hidden weapon, and his gaze instantly turned fierce.

Looking up, they saw a figure standing on a large tree about ten feet away.

The other person's face was covered with a black cloth, but his clothes were very simple, like an old farmer who had just returned from plowing the fields.

"Kid, there are some things you can't take. You've managed to get out of the Water Ghost River Cave, so you've got some skill. Come with me."

Zuo Qi smiled. "Are you talking to me?"

"Of course, you are so young and have a bright future ahead of you. I value talent and am willing to give you a chance. Hand over the item, and you might be able to survive."

The man in black stood on the tree, looking down at the tree. His blood surged, creating immense pressure that caused the branches and leaves to tumble and sway.

"Then let me see..."

Zuo Qi took a step forward, his blood and qi surging rapidly. His muscles bulged abruptly as his blood and qi surged, and his already tall figure exuded a strong sense of oppression.

"What gives you the right to be so arrogant!"

boom!

In an instant, the ground beneath Zuo Qi's feet exploded, and the halberd pressed down on the ground with all its might. His entire body seemed to be launched out, covering a distance of more than thirty meters in almost an instant!

"die!"

The man leaped high into the air, raised his halberd, and swung it down with great force.

The immense kinetic energy from the extreme speed, combined with Zuo Qi's enormous and astonishing strength, made the halberd seem capable of splitting mountains in two.

The man in black's expression changed slightly, and his voice suddenly became sharper, "Three rounds of training!"

He was shocked. Zuo Qi was only twenty years old, but he had already reached the third level of cultivation. Even when the Xu family was at its peak, the successors of each branch were no more than this.

He quickly raised his arms, and swirling vortexes appeared around his body. His palms moved constantly in the air, sometimes up, sometimes down, sometimes left, sometimes right!

He narrowly avoided Zuo Qi's halberd, and then, as if using the terrifying wind emanating from the halberd, wrapped his fists around it and attacked upwards.

This move…

Zuo Qi's expression shifted slightly; it was the martial arts technique used by the Xu family members he had encountered outside the dock that day.

The person in front of me is also a member of the Xu family!

Bang bang bang!

With three consecutive punches, the man in black managed to knock down the heavy force accumulated in Zuo Qi's halberd.

The man in black felt slightly relieved. "Not bad strength, but it's a pity that he only has brute force. His martial arts skills are too poor, and his foundation is also very weak. What a pity."

His tone was sarcastic, as if he saw through all of Zuo Qi's tricks.

Zuo Qi's face showed fury, as if he didn't care about anything, and he swept his halberd horizontally through the air.

"I told you, your weapon skills are terrible."

The man in black continued to mock them.

A hand, like a serpent emerging from its hole, reached out silently.

Just as the man in black was about to use the same trick again, repelling the halberd with the sudden force of the Falling Shadow Fist, his arm moved, and a chilling aura suddenly burst forth.

One punch!

The man in black's expression changed drastically, and he quickly swung his arm to block.

boom!

Ripples of miasma exploded in the air.

The man in black coughed up blood and staggered backward, his arm muscles caved in, drooping down, revealing countless tiny red dots.

He was terrified and tried to retreat quickly.

But Zuo Qi caught up with him.

Then came a cacophony of dull thuds, like raindrops.

Zuo Qi only attacked and did not evade, his left hand in a fist and his right hand in a palm, the halberd constantly rotating between his hands.

The man in black took three punches, and felt his arm go numb, and his blood and energy sluggish.

Mysterious martial arts techniques!

How could such a person appear here?

Lost in thought, he was suddenly grabbed by the arm by Zuo Qi, and with a burst of force, he was flung high into the air and slammed down.

Boom!

The large tree next to him, which he was sharing a room with, suddenly had its branches and leaves flying everywhere, as if it had been struck by something terrifying.

Upon landing, Zuo Qi stepped on the man in black's chest.

"Now? Is there anything else you'd like to say?"

The man in black stared at Zuo Qi with a venomous look, a trickle of black blood suddenly spilling from the corner of his mouth.

Zuo Qi's expression changed slightly. As if remembering something, he reached out and broke the other person's arm, then pinched their cheeks.

He remained expressionless upon seeing the cavity in his back molar.

Hiding poison in the molars, that's quite a skill.

He crouched down and quickly searched around; he was shockingly poor.

With a muffled groan, he found a place to dump the corpse and took Da Hong to Shi Tou's house.

……

What relieved Zuo Qi was...

The Stone House was quiet.

It seems Sun Bao and his men have already returned to the fish market.

Just as I was about to leave, Big Red suddenly barked towards the kitchen.

Zuo Qi went in to take a look.

A middle-aged man was lying on the ground with congealed black blood between his mouth and nose, while something seemed to be cooking on the still warm stove.

Open your heavenly eye, and you will discover the truth and the treasures.

[Blood poison, a complex poison composed of multiple deadly toxins, is fatal upon contact with blood; those who have not practiced it for more than three times will certainly die.]

Quit your mouth!