When Zhang Yong crossed the wall, he emerged in another place.
The sky was still gray, but the area was surrounded by green trees. The atmosphere seemed completely normal, yet Zhang Yong felt something unsettled.
Immediately, his crimson blood-red eyes flashed as he looked up at the sky. "Hmm, so that's it. This time it's the Law of Strength. I imagined it would be more savage."
Nevertheless, Zhang Yong's gaze shifted towards a spot 200 meters behind the trees. Three purple snakes, fourth-order beasts, Poison Horn Serpents.
Zhang Yong did not move immediately; instead, he quietly observed the three snakes.
He pressed his feet against the ground and charged towards the three snakes. Raising his left fist, he struck the head of the first snake, killing it instantly.
Zhang Yong looked at the glove on his left hand; there were hard spikes on the finger joints, which increased penetration power and ensured instant death.
Clenching his left hand into a fist, Zhang Yong smiled. "Brother Qing Feng truly understands my fighting style. This is good."
The other two snakes didn't have enough time to process what happened to their companion, but their instincts made them perceive the danger immediately.
In a flash, they quickly retreated, moving in a zigzag arc while opening their mouths to reveal long fangs.
Zhang Yong charged towards the snake on his left, pulled his fist back, and punched forcefully.
His fist collided with the snake's body, shattering its internal bones before it even realized what had happened.
There was no scream or resistance, just a snake's body lying motionless on the ground.
The last snake, after seeing its two companions perish in less than seconds, began to retreat cautiously.
"Xiao Hong!"
With Xiao Hong appearing on Zhang Yong's shoulder, it roared mightily. Its roar transformed into sonic waves, and the snake's body contracted on the ground.
Zhang Yong approached it and patted its head. "Good snake, good snake, hehe."
Zhang Yong jumped onto the snake's head and commanded, "Come on, start patrolling."
The snake, despite its deep fear, had no choice but to obey Zhang Yong.
Its massive body trembled for a moment, but it soon began to crawl quietly through the dense forest, carrying Zhang Yong on its head.
Zhang Yong sat cross-legged, activating the Eternal Dream Reality technique. His mental energy became much purer. Zhang Yong was certain of one thing: there were sixth, seventh, and even eighth-order beasts in this place.
The Path of Strength was one of the three Paths of Beasts. In fact, this naming originated from the three legendary beasts from the story of humanity's ancestors.
The Ruling Lion represented the Path of Domination, dominating other beings and forcing them to submit.
The Bloody Qilin represented the Path of Strength, spending its entire life seeking power.
The Golden Crow represented the Path of Transformation, transforming to become the sun in the very myths.
Therefore, since this world supported the Path of Strength, it wouldn't be strange to find even ninth-order beasts here. And if that were true, it would be a significant problem.
Zhang Yong slowly opened his eyes, his gaze sharper. So far, since entering this world, one week had passed. He spent three days in the Land of Poison and four days trapped in the illusion. Or so it should be after calculating the hours, as there was no cycle of day and night, only a gray sky, no sun or moon, and no morning or evening.
While the snake crawled through the forest, Xiao Hong's skill was about to run out, and soon Zhang Yong would have to walk on his feet again, which was extremely annoying... to say the least. He somewhat missed his wings; with them, he could travel between heaven and earth comfortably.
The snake suddenly stopped. Its body trembled slightly, and its tongue began to flicker cautiously.
Zhang Yong pointed cautiously. "Stop for a bit."
Zhang Yong jumped off the snake's back and landed on the ground. He looked ahead and took a few steps before feeling something on his cheek.
He calmly raised his hand and touched something thin and sharp at the same time. It was a thin, sharp black thread, resembling a spider's web but much harder, like steel wire.
'This...'
In the next moment, he heard a tearing sound in the air before the snake's body suddenly rose from the ground.
"Hssss—!"
The snake roared fiercely, twisting as it tried to resist, but dozens of black threads wrapped around its massive body, pulling it tightly.
Zhang Yong looked up and saw a giant spider the size of a house, hiding among the massive trees. Its eight eyes glowed with a dark red color, and its fangs dripped with green poisonous liquid.
But what was more interesting wasn't the spider itself... but the man standing on its back.
"I didn't expect someone to barge into my territory like this, and none other than the man Brother Xin told us to kill, the man chosen by Long Yulang, right?"
The man wore a black cloak embroidered with golden threads. He stood indifferently, looking at Zhang Yong, then smiled a cold smile.
"Don't tell me he made everyone an enemy for me," Zhang Yong said indifferently. Just how ridiculous must a person be to fight over a girl?
He shifted his gaze toward the snake being strangled among the black threads. "You, release my mount immediately."
The man on the spider's back didn't respond directly, but he tapped his finger. The threads tightened around the snake even more, causing its massive body to tremble in pain.
"Oh, it seems this snake is important to you," the man smiled slyly. "But don't worry, everything will end here."
Zhang Yong glanced at the surrounding environment. The black threads weren't just spider webs; they covered the trees and rocks as if forming an invisible barrier, meaning any miscalculated move could lead to falling into a trap.
'Complete domain control... reminds me a bit of Tang San,' Zhang Yong thought, then returned his gaze to the man, noticing a faint aura surrounding him. This man was from the Path of Domination.
Zhang Yong looked at the man on the spider's back, his red eyes flashing coldly. He sighed lightly. "You're dead."
The man on the spider's back smiled, then raised his hand lightly. Suddenly, the air around them vibrated! The black threads covering the trees and rocks began to move and close in on Zhang Yong.
In the next moment, dozens of threads shot at a frenzied speed toward Zhang Yong, coiling around him. If the threads closed on an ordinary person, they would be cut in half.
Zhang Yong pressed his feet against the ground and charged toward the spider above.
"Quick reaction, but can you avoid this?"
With a soft sound, the man tapped again, and waves of intertwined black threads shot out from the spider's back.
At the same time, the spider opened its mouth, spraying a stream of green poisonous liquid toward Zhang Yong.
Zhang Yong compressed the air beneath his foot and changed direction quickly. But the space he jumped into wasn't sufficient. The spider's web appeared behind him again, as the webs enveloped the entire area.
"If I can't get close, then I'll attack from a distance." Zhang Yong raised his hand, and a pistol appeared in it. He fired a shot toward the man.
Bang!
The bullet pierced through the air at high speed, heading directly toward the man's head. However, at the last moment, the black threads surrounding him lifted like a woven curtain, forming a dense shield in front of him.
Tssss—
The bullet pierced several layers of threads but slowed down until it stopped completely before reaching its target and fell to the ground.
"Tsk…" The man on the spider's back sneered, looking at the bullet that stopped before reaching him. "This is weak."
Zhang Yong glanced at the pistol in his hand, then waved it slightly before it disappeared from his hand and returned to storage. He raised his head toward the man and said calmly,
"Good, I wanted to test the strength of your defense."
Zhang Yong raised the Death Dagger, and immediately, Death Qi surged to envelop it. Instantly, Zhang Yong threw the dagger toward him at extreme speed.
The man sneered when he saw the dagger coming toward him, but he wasn't careless. He tapped his finger again, and the black threads gathered in front of him to form a sturdy barrier.
Tsssssh!
The Death Dagger pierced the barrier as if it were air and didn't stop until it was about to touch his neck.
The man's pupils dilated for a moment, but before the dagger pierced his body, he tilted his head and dodged it.
At the same time, Zhang Yong compressed the air and leaped to stand on a tree branch. A faint smile formed on his face as he saw how the man dodged the Death Dagger at the last moment.
"Hehe, so this works."
The man on the spider's back didn't speak, but he placed his hand on his neck where he felt the cold Death Qi pass by. His skin still felt chills. He hadn't expected Zhang Yong's attack to penetrate his barrier so easily.
"No more time for fun, right?" Zhang Yong raised a yellow talisman in his hand and began injecting it with his mental energy.
Mist Talisman.
The talisman vibrated gently before suddenly exploding, releasing dense gray mist that quickly spread throughout the area.
"Hmm?" The man on the spider's back raised an eyebrow but showed no concern. "Do you think the mist will block my vision?" he mocked, then tapped his finger. The black threads began to gather around his body for defense, surrounding him spherically from all directions.
'Clearly, he'll target me within the mist, so why bother trying to fight?' the man thought coldly.
Meanwhile, Zhang Yong moved quickly, jumping between trees. Something gleamed in his hand, or in this case, many things. There were small needles between the gaps of his fingers, coated with Death Qi.
'Swallow's Parting Flight.'
The man raised an eyebrow slightly, but his expression remained cold. "Whatever you're planning, it won't be enough."
But in the next moment, he felt something strange.
Tssss—!
He quickly released his spiritual sense, but before he could pinpoint the source, he felt a tearing in the air around him.
Whoosh!
Dozens of needles coated with Death Qi shot from every direction, moving in unnatural trajectories within the mist. They weren't like ordinary weapons; they seemed to dance freely, changing directions at the last moment, defying any expectations.
When the black threads tried to intercept them, the man suddenly realized that some needles weren't targeting him directly but were manipulating their movement in the air, colliding with each other to bounce off at different angles.
"What is this?!"
He tried tapping his finger again to close the defense, but at the moment the threads gathered around him, several needles suddenly pierced a small gap between them, heading straight toward his body.
"Damn!"
Quickly, the man jumped back, but one needle struck his arm while another scratched his cheek.
Tssss!
As soon as they pierced his skin, Death Qi spread rapidly, leaving a black mark around the wound. Moreover, the wounds began turning purple. The needles were poisoned.
The man's pupils dilated rapidly as he felt the poison spreading in his body. He tried suppressing it using his internal energy, but the Death Qi merged with the poison made it more dangerous.
In that brief moment, Zhang Yong had used his toxic blood to coat the needles, combined with Death Qi to penetrate the defense and Tang San's Swallow's Parting Flight technique, which changes the trajectory of weapons in mid-air. Add to that Zhang Yong's Heavenly Eyes, making the attack lethal enough.
In a flash, Zhang Yong appeared above the Spider Master and sent a crushing punch to his head, dropping the spider in a single strike.
Boom!
The man's body crashed heavily onto the ground, sending thick dust into the air.
As for the giant spider, its back shattered under the force of the fall, and its body trembled before completely stopping.
Zhang Yong landed lightly beside the corpse, wiping the blood off his hand.
Zhang Yong picked up the corpse and took a quick look at its face. He didn't know this man, but it was clear he was a follower of Shen Wanyun.
Tsk, oh, the turn of events. It seems Shen Wanyun had hired everyone to get rid of him.
"It looks like I'll have to settle some accounts soon."
He didn't waste any more time and began searching the corpse. He didn't expect much, but he found some interesting things.
A dark black stone. Zhang Yong bit it and spat it out immediately. "Damn, this thing looks like trash. Yuni, analyze it."
(It's food for the Black Silk Spider.)
Zhang Yong looked disappointed and started searching again. Then he found a spatial bag, but it looked different. He brought it to his forehead and was slightly surprised.
"Huh, a bag for storing living beings? All that's here is... red worms the color of blood. Other than that, nothing interesting."
Then Zhang Yong searched again and took the storage ring from his fingers, searching inside. "Oh, well... extremely poor. All that's here are a few second-grade herbs and... two technique scrolls?"
Zhang Yong searched through the technique scrolls. One was for raising Blood Worms!
'So that's why he kept them. This worm technique is what he uses to enslave beasts. I must admit, this is interesting. As for the second scroll...'
Zhang Yong searched the second scroll before his face turned bored. 'A mental refinement technique. Nothing compares to the Eternal Dream Reality technique, so it's trash.' Zhang Yong threw the second scroll away in annoyance.
If this man were alive, he would have spat blood because this refinement technique was the signature technique of his sect.