Cultivators in general had no lack of enemies.
It was even more so the case when they followed the devil path.
And for a vicious devil cultivator like Zhan Damian, who practised the path of cannibalism, his own peers would shred him to pieces if given the chance. After all, many of them were humans.
Only two things were deterring them from killing him.
Firstly, the orders of Qin Houzi, which forbid internal conflict.
Secondly, old Zhan's personal strength. Despite currently being reduced to the fifth level of Qi condensation, the man could very well match those at the late stages.
So, even if they disliked him, none of them displayed open hostility towards him. None, except Han Mu.
Their conflict dated way back even before old Zhan joined the Qin bandits.
Han Mu had encountered the notorious Man-eater Zhan Damian when the latter was still in his prime. Out of admiration, he had asked him and his master to join the Qin bandits. Han Mu thought that if he could bring these powerful cultivators to the Qin bandits, Qin Houzi would heavily reward him.
Unfortunately, old Zhan didn't even spare him a glance and told him to scram.
Feeling ashamed, he challenged Zhan Damian. Han Mu couldn't last ten moves. One of his fingers was severed and eaten by old Zhan on the spot. The only reason he was spared, was due to his connection with Qin bandits.
So, after old Zhan's downfall, he was one of those who gloated the most. Every now and then, he would insult old Zhan.
As for old Zhan, he was uninterested to respond to him. Having trodden a path of blood and bones, his mental state was far greater than most people. Mere words couldn't shake his state of mind.
Similarly, Tianlong who assumed old Zhan's identity didn't respond to the latter's occasional insults. However, just because he could endure, didn't mean he liked them…
"He came at the perfect time. I was just thinking about how to deal with old Zhan's lack of cultivation resources." Tianlong gave a kind smile.
Han Mu didn't put much thought into it. On many occasions, he had said much worse. Today's matter was hardly serious.
To him, old Zhan had lost all of his previous confidence. He took his lack of response as a sign of cowardice.
Currently, Han Mu was guiding someone to a cave. Since old Zhan's time was already over, he had bought the person here. The token could be easily exchanged, and the doors didn't need to open multiple times.
"You creep, what are you looking at? Hmph! quickly, hand over the token!"
The person who had reserved the pond looked at them with an amused expression.
Giving his signature smile, Tianlong pulled out the token from his sleeve and extended it towards Han Mu. However, he didn't hand it over but just held it between the thumb and forefinger of his right hand.
Han Mu frowned at his strange gesture. Looking at him coldly, he stepped forward to take the token.
Just as his hands were about to reach it, Tianlong flicked his thumb. It sent the token tossing up in the air.
It went up high in the air, almost touching the ceiling. As it spun around, its shiny surface would reflect the light from the torches.
Instinctively, both Han Mu's and the other person's eyes subconsciously followed the token.
In that split second, a cleaver appeared in Tianlong's other hand. With an emotionless look, he swung it at Han Mu.
"Aargh!!"
A shrill cry ran out in the dead silence of the place.
Han Mu's body had a large diagonal gash from one side of his waist to the opposite shoulder. Blood flowed out of it incessantly and stained his robe.
"Old Zhan!!! Have you gone mad?"
Pain, intense pain assaulted him. Han Mu moved back anxiously while screaming in a voice filled with rage, hatred and fear.
"Hm, he's not dead?" Tianlong felt astonished. Looking at the blood trace in the edges of the cleaver, he raised his eyebrows in surprise.
He lightly sniffed it and directly licked the blood clean from the edge. "Oh, so he has already reached the golden body stage?" The token came back to him as he secretly rejoiced in his heart. "Good, very good! Now I can research my body refining aspect from him!" He looked at Han Mu as if he was looking at a treasure.
Meanwhile, as the other two men saw his action, they felt chills up their spine.
"He… He wants to devour me!" Han Mu immediately assumed the worst. He felt cold in his heart and anger flashed in his eyes.
If not for his body refining, that sudden attack would have been immediately killed!
Murderous intent flickered in his eyes. He never imagined that old Zhan, who never responded to his insults would suddenly retaliate so viciously. But since the old Zhan had wanted to kill him, he couldn't let him go.
Even if he couldn't kill the other, he would at least cripple him. Since the old Zhan attacked him first, there would be no breaking of rules either.
"At mere fifth level of Qi condensation, you want to kill me? Heh, none of your attacks can put even a scratch in my golden skin." The large wound opening on his torso started closing up as he stepped forward with a cold smile on his face.
His skin shone with a golden glow, indicating his body refining cultivation. But unlike Tianlong who started with his blood refining, Han Mu started with refining his skin tissues – The Diamond carapace realm!
Humans were usually weaker in physique than most demonic races. Thus, their body couldn't handle the massive amount of blood energy bought by the Blood surging realm. So unless someone was born with a naturally strong physique suitable for body refining, they would train their skin tissues first. This was far easier than refining the blood and would strengthen the body for blood refining.
Not only would their defence become incredible, but even if their skin was split open, it would close itself in an instant. The fast regeneration ability and impenetrable skin of the Diamond carapace realm cultivators made them look like immortals in the eyes of others.
It was divided into four stages – Iron skin, Silver skin, Golden skin, and Diamond skin.
Tianlong was outwardly expressionless, but inwardly he was very cautious. Most of his combat experience had been garnered by hunting demonic beasts. He had rarely fought with actual cultivators.
Although he had won his fight against old Zhan, the bone treasure left a deep impression on him. He understood that his victory was supported by his superior battle skills and higher spiritual energy reserves. Fighting against cultivators was vastly different from fighting against the beasts.
Beasts didn't possess the craftiness of cultivators, neither did they had a multitude of magical treasures. They were much simpler and usually tried to brute force their way out of combats.
Han Mu wore brass knuckles in both of his hands. Four thorns were sticking out of them which shone with a strange purple glow. Raising his fist high up in the air, he punched towards Tianlong.
A golden purple fist image rushed towards Tianlong. It made a deafening boom after crashing with Tianlong's cleaver.
He was impersonating old Zhan, so he couldn't display his wind skills or ridiculous speed. Fortunately, he saw the fighting style of old Zhan while soul searching, which gave him a general idea about the old Zhan's combat style. Although not perfect, he was able to imitate it up to a certain extent.
The other person was dumbstruck as he saw the two of them suddenly fighting. The actions happened so fast that he barely had any chance to react. He quickly distanced himself from the two madmen and stood far away. Although it was dangerous, observing two powerful cultivators fighting was very beneficial for him.
Han Mu and Tianlong's clash was immediately sensed by a lot of people, including the middle-aged guard. Upon reaching the venue, their expressions soon turned strange.
"So this day finally came huh? This Han Mu is too hateful and couldn't get over his loss, repeatedly provoking old Zhan. Heh, there's only so much a man can endure."
Meanwhile, Han Mu frowned when he saw how easily the other blocked his fist attack. He let out a cold snort and closed the distance between them.
Body refiners barely had any spells, all of their power came from their flesh itself. Hence, most opponents tried to distance themselves while fighting against them.
To his surprise, old Zhan did the exact opposite and took a step forward. He felt intense humiliation and thought old Zhan was deliberately looking down on him.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
His brass knuckles clashed with the cleaver, creating sparks with every hit. Han Mu sent punches after punches towards Tianlong who was only defending himself the cleaver. He wasn't used to fighting with such a wide weapon, especially at such a close range.
Han Mu's eyes flickered when he saw that. His right fist glowed with a golden purple light as he punched towards his face. The blinding light acted as a cover for the other fist. It came silently from below and headed straight towards his heart.
Tianlong used the blunt side of the cleaver to block the glowing fist. Keeping that glowing fist occupied, he twisted his body at a tricky angle and closed in on him. The action made the other fist go past his waist. The energy from it rushed towards the nearby wall and created a small explosion.
Boom!
"Let me return the favour." Taking this opportunity, he used clenched his own fists. His veins bulged and popping sounds rang out in his body as he violently jabbed Han Mu's stomach.