The maid Emily Hayes stared wide-eyed, her face full of despair and terror.

Yet she was unable to make a single sound.

Just like a few days ago, under Blake Turner's green, icy mist, her limbs were once again frozen.

Even her thoughts, due to the infiltration of the frigid aura, could not turn.

“Wretched maid, once I kill that fool, I’ll come back and slowly finish you off!” In the depths of Blake Turner’s cold eyes, cruelty and depravity gleamed. “He’ll die first, then you, and after that, the entire Yu family will accompany you both.”

One by one, green fire dots the size of rice grains, like green fireflies, suddenly condensed at the tips of his ten fingers.

The green lights released a chilling, icy aura, swirling around the pavilion where Ethan Brooks cultivated, like evil spirits seeking a crack to slip inside.

“Last time didn’t work, so this time, you’ll die for me again!”

Sensing the flow of the cold light with his spiritual power, Blake Turner’s heart was filled with intense killing intent. He knew very well that if Ethan Brooks survived again, the Han Yin Sect would never forgive him.

He had reached the Profound-Breaking Realm only by relying on a “Green Flame Fire” technique bestowed by the Han Yin Sect. This spiritual art was not of a high grade and had many side effects; it was not even on the same level as the technique cultivated by Ashley Reed.

But for him, it was already the best spiritual art he could obtain, and he cherished it greatly.

For the sake of the Lin family, and to avoid disappointing the Han Yin Sect, he was willing to do anything to obtain the spiritual materials needed for the next stage of cultivating “Green Flame Fire.”

Suddenly, his expression changed drastically!

……

Chapter 9: Counterattack

For no apparent reason, Blake Turner felt an unbearable itch all over his body!

Moreover, this itch didn’t seem to be on the surface of his skin, but deep within his flesh and blood!

Instinctively, he scratched at his skin, but it had no effect whatsoever.

“How strange.”

He muttered to himself, then tried to mobilize his vital energy from his middle dantian to resolve the itch within.

Those at the Profound-Breaking Realm could open the so-called “Mystic Gate” in the middle dantian, allowing them to condense life energy—vital blood power.

The middle dantian, located in the chest cavity, connected to eight extraordinary meridians, enabling the refined vital blood power to be channeled through these meridians into the flesh and organs, tempering the body.

Only when a cultivator reached the Profound-Breaking Realm, with abundant and vigorous life energy, could the limit of their lifespan be reversed once more.

Below the Profound-Breaking Realm, whether mortal or cultivator, one could at most live a little over a hundred years.

But once one stepped into the Profound-Breaking Realm, lifespan could be greatly extended—living several decades or even a hundred years longer was easy.

As one’s realm advanced and life energy improved, even more years could be gained; living a thousand or even ten thousand years was possible.

“Ah!”

Attempting to use the vital blood power of his middle dantian to soothe the itch within, Blake Turner suddenly let out a low howl.

The howl was abruptly cut off!

Covering his own mouth, Blake Turner was horrified to discover that at the instant he opened his middle dantian, tiny foreign objects had rushed along the eight extraordinary meridians and instantly invaded his middle dantian!

The sea of vital blood condensed in his middle dantian suddenly surged with violent waves!

His vital blood instantly went out of control!

Indescribable agony erupted from his middle dantian and rapidly spread throughout his body!

The flow of his blood accelerated several times over, and his vital energy rampaged like a wild horse, causing him unbearable pain.

Blake Turner could no longer maintain the casting of “Green Flame Fire.”

Cold sweat broke out all over his body. He curled up, trembling as he slowly crouched down.

“Ugh—ah!”

From between the fingers covering his mouth came a beast-like, death-throes wail, shrill and full of terror.

Before his pain-clouded consciousness faded, he suddenly saw the tightly closed door of the pavilion being gently opened by someone.

In the moonlight, a figure both familiar and strange strolled leisurely toward him.

That person wore a faint, indifferent smile at the corner of his lips, and the light in his eyes was as bright as the cold moon hanging high in the night sky!

“Ethan Brooks!”

Staring at that figure, even in the midst of agony, Blake Turner found it hard to believe.

The newcomer was the very “foolish young master” whom he had always wanted to murder since entering the Yu family—and whom he thought he had already succeeded in killing!

Yet now, the “fool” who should have died long ago in his mind was not only alive, but the look in his eyes made even the ruthless Blake Turner feel a chill of unease.

“How could I possibly fear this fool?!”

Blake Turner panted heavily, his pain-stricken face suddenly replaced by a ferocious, savage expression. “It must be because my vital blood is out of control, and the bizarre pain I’m suffering is making me feel this strange emotion!” he consoled himself inwardly.

“The toxin of the Turtle Blood Pill is even more potent against Profound-Breaking Realm cultivators with their Mystic Gate open.”

After speaking, Ethan Brooks glanced deeply at the Emily Hayes frozen by the cold aura. From his experience, the cold had not penetrated Emily Hayes’s internal organs, which meant Blake Turner did not intend to kill her immediately, but had other motives.

After pondering briefly, he understood and made up his mind.

“The Turtle Blood Pill corrupts and destroys vital blood power. When the middle dantian, which stores and refines vital blood, is infiltrated by the pill’s toxin, the poison can spread through the eight extraordinary meridians to the five viscera and six bowels in a short time. Tsk tsk, that stabbing pain will only grow stronger!”