Chapter 395: Golden Finger

"Someone's there?" Zu An was startled. "Hey, is it a person or a fierce beast?"

Unfortunately, no matter how much he asked, Mi Li remained silent, clearly having fallen into a deep sleep.

"Sleeping just like that, like a pig!" Zu An grumbled indignantly. She had only mentioned "someone coming" without clarifying, and now, deep in Dragon Concealment Mountain, could it be some kind of fierce beast?

He quietly gripped the Tai'e Sword, his entire body tensing up.

Soon after, a figure appeared not far away—it was a person!

Zu An inwardly cursed his bad luck. Other protagonists usually encountered fairies or beauties in the wilderness, but he ran into an old, ugly man.

The man's clothes were tattered, making him look like a beggar, but his eyes were bright and piercing, indicating he was a cultivator of no low rank.

His disheveled appearance likely stemmed from spending too much time in the mountains without fresh clothes and general unkemptness.

"Hey buddy, just strolling through the mountains?" After a moment's thought, he decided to initiate a greeting. He wasn't the type to judge a book by its cover.

The middle-aged man stared at Zu An for a moment, then burst out laughing. "It truly is a case of finding something without looking for it! Brat, running into me here is your bad luck."

Zu An frowned. "Who are you? Are you sick?"

The middle-aged man exploded in anger. "You made me so miserable, and now you don't even recognize me?"

Wu Di's Rage value +666!

Seeing the name pop up, Zu An suddenly recalled the incident at the clan competition and blurted out, "Oh, you're the one whose mom called him home for dinner?"

Wu Di: "..."

Wu Di's Rage value +999!

Wu Di said grimly, "Because of a single remark from you at the clan competition, I lost to that little girl Chu Chuyan. A dignified sixth-rank like me losing to a fifth-rank! Not only did I become the laughingstock of the entire clan, but I was also exiled to these mountains to gather herbs, exposed to the elements day in and day out, my future completely ruined..."

Thinking of the days he'd endured, his anger festered.

Wu Di's Rage value +1024!

Zu An blinked and instinctively replied, "Well, a sixth-rank losing to a fifth-rank junior certainly *is* something to be ridiculed for."

Wu Di: "..."

He had expected the other party to be afraid, feel remorseful, or at least embarrassed upon hearing his plight.

But he never imagined Zu An would revel in his misfortune.

He felt his lungs were about to explode from fury.

Wu Di's Rage value +444444444...

"You brat, at the clan competition, with so many eyes on us and the Chu clan protecting you, I couldn't do anything. But heaven has seen fit to let me find you in this wilderness, hehehe..." Wu Di's laugh grew colder and colder.

Suddenly, his gaze sharpened, noticing Old Man Mi and Wei Dan nearby, and then the storage bags in Zu An's hand. A glint of greed flashed in his eyes, and his breathing immediately quickened. "Brat, hand over those two storage bags. Who knows, if I'm happy enough, I might just let you live."

Zu An nodded. "Alright!"

With that, he tossed the two storage bags over.

Wu Di was taken aback. He had expected Zu An to refuse or try to bargain, not hand over the items so readily.

This guy doesn't play by the rules.

He had initially worried the storage bags might be booby-trapped, so he focused his guard, coating his entire body with vital energy before cautiously taking them. He turned them over and over, finding no hidden mechanisms.

He suddenly grew excited. "This aura... these are Grandmaster-level storage bags!"

As he spoke, he tried to open them to see what treasures they held. Unfortunately, after several attempts, even summoning flames, he couldn't get them to budge.

So he tucked the two storage bags into his robes and looked back at Zu An. "You brat, I never thought you'd be such a coward, surrendering without even a fight."

Zu An frowned. "What's wrong? Are you going back on your word?"

At the same time, he secretly regretted giving Wu Di the storage bags. He had held a glimmer of hope that Wu Di, being a sixth-rank master from a prominent family and having lived for so long, might know how to open them. But seeing that he was just as helpless, Zu An felt he'd wasted his time.

"So what if I'm going back on my word?" Wu Di sneered, approaching him. "Today, I'll teach you a lesson: don't be so naive when you're out in the world."

Zu An sighed. "Didn't you notice I haven't been scared at all this whole time? Why don't you consider the reason for that? Who's truly naive here?"

Wu Di was startled, immediately stopping and looking around. "Are there Chu clan members lying in ambush here?"

He scanned the area but saw no one. He then snorted. "You almost scared me. I just recently got news that the Chu clan has undergone significant changes; they wouldn't have any spare hands to send to this wilderness."

Seeing Zu An's cold gaze, as if he were looking at a dead man, Wu Di felt intensely displeased. "You brat, today I'll show you that without the Chu clan's protection, you're nothing!"

As he spoke, he extended a large hand to grab Zu An. He had seen Zu An fight before at the clan competition, where he seemed to be barely third-rank. Only an oaf like Yuan Wendong could be careless enough to lose to such a mere youngster.

He, a full sixth-rank, could crush Zu An as easily as squashing an ant.

Seeing Wu Di approach so carelessly to grab him, Zu An was confident he could sever his arm with a single sword stroke.

However, having just completed his upgrade, he wanted to test his strength. Wu Di's cultivation level was neither too high nor too low, making him a perfect sparring partner.

So he put away the Tai'e Sword and met the attack with his own palm.

"This guy is really asking for death!" Seeing Zu An not dodge, a hint of mockery flashed in Wu Di's eyes. A sixth-rank's power was many times greater than a third-rank's; a head-on collision like this would shatter Zu An's entire arm.

Why did the Chu clan choose such a good-for-nothing as a son-in-law? They should've chosen me instead.

The moment their palms met, he instinctively exerted force, intending to break Zu An's fingers. He didn't want a quick victory; he wanted to torture him slowly, bit by bit, to fully vent his hatred.

*Crack!*

A crisp sound of bone breaking echoed, followed by a piercing shriek in the mountain forest.

Wu Di stared at his finger, bent and twisted ninety degrees, his face filled with utter horror.

This... how is this possible?!

"You've been making so much noise from the beginning, acting like a big shot. Are you really a sixth-rank?" Zu An didn't press his advantage, but stood still and asked, puzzled.

Hearing such mockery, Wu Di nearly spat out a mouthful of old blood.

Wu Di's Rage value +458!

At this moment, he had the same doubt: was this guy really only a third-rank?

Did I perceive the world incorrectly?

He dared not be careless any longer. He immediately drew his long blade, and a surge of red flames coiled around it.

Then, with a roar, he slashed towards Zu An. His hands were always balanced, so injuring one didn't affect his ability to wield the blade with the other.

Zu An suddenly remembered the Sunflower Finger technique Old Man Mi had taught him, which he hadn't had a chance to try. This was a good opportunity to practice.

Seeing Zu An extend a single finger to meet his blade, Wu Di revealed a sinister grin. "If I don't sever all ten of your fingers, then my name isn't Wu Di!"

Before blade and finger met, Zu An already felt the scorching heat of the flames on Wu Di's blade.

His heart tightened. Wu Di was a sixth-rank master after all. Although his own strength and speed were almost on par with a sixth-rank, the elemental damage from his opponent was still very real.

A thought flashed through his mind, and he immediately summoned "Blue Mallard," gathering the surrounding water elements and attaching them to his body.

With numerous trees in the mountain forest, water vapor was naturally abundant. Soon, a mass of water elements clung to Zu An, and the sensation of heat significantly diminished.

As the flaming blade drew closer, Zu An's finger moved, directly poking the side of the blade.

Wu Di felt a strange, spiraling force transmit through the blade, almost making him lose his grip on his long saber. The roaring flames on the blade were momentarily scattered, but he quickly remedied it, restoring the fire.

He couldn't help but exclaim in shock, "What kind of skill is that?"

Zu An brought his finger to his mouth and gently blew away a tiny flame from its tip. "This is Kato... *cough cough*, this is my self-created Golden Finger. Pretty impressive, right?"