Rise from a Low-class Family to Martial Artist-Chapter 180 - 47: First Clash with the Snake Monster (Part 2)

"Forget it, I’ll study it later. For now, I’ll practice my lightweight skill."

After playing around with the Snake Shadow Bow for a while, Lin Chen placed it on a green stone in the mountains. With a light tap of his right foot, he leaped up onto a tree branch like a light swallow, disappearing from sight within a few breaths.

Once Lin Chen’s figure vanished, a black shadow emerged from the darkness. As he gazed at the Snake Shadow Bow on the green stone, a greedy gleam appeared in his eyes.

He had finally found the Flood Dragon Ying Bow. For this bow, he had taken great risks to sneak into the Liang territory, losing ninety percent of his power in the process.

But compared to the gains from acquiring the Flood Dragon Ying Bow, all these sacrifices were worth it.

The foolish martial artists of Raozhou Prefecture thought the bowstring was made from snake tendons, not knowing it was actually made from the dragon tendon of a thousand-year Flood Dragon.

This bow was crafted five hundred years ago by a martial arts powerhouse who slew a Flood Dragon, extracting its tendons which were then refined through secret techniques into a bowstring to be passed down to future generations.

However, the descendants of this martial artist were not strong enough, and their family fell into decline. Afraid that the treasure would arouse envy and bring disaster upon their family, they publicly claimed the bowstring was made from the main tendon of a hundred-year-old snake.

Teng Shu knew about this because the family had once colluded with the Demon Race, which was intolerable to the Liang dynasty. They fled to the Zheng Kingdom, but the Flood Dragon Ying Bow was left behind in Liang.

After the family fled to the Zheng Kingdom, they fell into further decline and eventually revered him as their protector, allowing him to learn about the Flood Dragon Ying Bow. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Upon learning about the bow, he was tempted.

Teng Shu was from the Snake Race. To him, the bowstring of the Flood Dragon Ying Bow was a supreme treasure. If he were to devour and refine it, his power would increase severalfold.

Thus, he first sent members of that family to infiltrate Liang. After years of effort, they finally discovered that the Flood Dragon Ying Bow was in the Treasure Vault of the Military Affairs Department.

The Treasure Vault of the Military Affairs Department was heavily guarded, but the department did not restrict guards from revealing what treasures were inside.

Many martial artists who had been inside would often use this as a talking point, sharing with others what treasures were in the department’s Treasure Vault.

For the Military Affairs Department, not requiring visitors to keep secrets served a simple purpose — letting everyone know about the treasures inside gave them the motivation to complete their assessments.

Having confirmed that the Flood Dragon Ying Bow was indeed in the Grade-C Treasure Vault of the Military Affairs Department and was considered the Snake Shadow Bow, Teng Shu made his move.

He decided to cooperate with the Lian Family, never expecting that the fool Lian Cheng would let others get ahead, and furthermore, they were discovered by the Raozhou Prefecture.

To ensure Lian Cheng could enter the Treasure Vault, he gave him thirty drops of essence blood, which were enough to increase Lian Cheng’s power by fifty percent. According to his estimate, Lian Cheng wouldn’t even need to exert himself fully to win the county competition, as long as he didn’t expose power far beyond his realm, Raozhou Prefecture would not possibly detect it.

"A useless fool who ruins things and deserves to be annihilated."

Teng Shu felt no emotional stir over the eradication of the Lian Family, only anger that it caused him to lose years of cultivation while fleeing for his life.

Upon learning from Lian Cheng that the Snake Shadow Bow likely ended up with Lin Chen of Poyang County, he followed the river to Poyang Lake. Unexpectedly, after coming ashore and randomly capturing a commoner, he managed to find out Lin Chen’s whereabouts.

Now, he even saw the Snake Shadow Bow he had longed for, as if heaven itself was aiding him!

"Once I finish refining the Flood Dragon’s tendon, I shall return for revenge and slaughter all the humans of Raozhou."

Teng Shu refrained from touching the bow on the green stone, suppressing his urgency, as he not only wanted to take the bow but also kill Lin Chen.

If not, once Lin Chen returned and discovered the Snake Shadow Bow missing, he would definitely search for it. And considering the martial artists of Raozhou Prefecture were currently hunting for him, without enough time, they might catch up to him.

Only by killing Lin Chen could he buy himself a few two-hour periods for escape. By then, even if the martial artists of Raozhou realized, they wouldn’t be able to catch him.

The green stone stood over one zhang tall. Teng Shu planned to circle behind it, lying in ambush there, to kill Lin Chen with a single strike when he returned.

Despite his greatly decreased power, he was still capable of dealing with an Opening the Acupoints martial artist, especially in an ambush scenario.

Just as he circled to the back of the green stone, the few remaining scales on Teng Shu’s body suddenly bristled.

Bang!

A terrifying palm wind rushed towards him. Teng Shu never would have thought that someone was lying in ambush beneath the green stone.

Already injured, his perception had deteriorated even more than his power. Moreover, he would never have expected anyone to hide behind the stone, leading him to fall into the trap.

Could it be that those Grade-Entering martial artists from Raozhou Prefecture already knew his intentions and conspired with Lin Chen to set a trap for him?

This thought flashed through his mind in an instant, filling Teng Shu with terror!

At the same time, the palm strike landed on him, causing a few more of his remaining scales to drop off.

Receiving such a blow actually slightly lessened the cold fear in Teng Shu’s heart. Though the impact was uncomfortable, he saw the face of his ambusher clearly.

Lin Chen!

Upon realizing that it was Lin Chen who ambushed him, Teng Shu actually breathed a sigh of relief.

This wasn’t a scheme plotted by those Grade-Entering martial artists of Raozhou Prefecture but rather Lin Chen having discovered him, intentionally leaving the sight under the guise of practicing lightweight skill, then stealthily returning to ambush behind the massive rock.

What keen insight!

Despite the shock, Teng Shu felt a sense of delight knowing it was only Lin Chen he was facing, for there was nothing to fear about him.