Chapter 73

Chapter 73: Bottleneck-Breaking Pill
“We are about to enter Ten Thousand Fathoms Gorge. Everyone, be on your guard!”

Chen Tian Dong’s voice was carried by the wind into the ears of everyone in the caravan.

In this tense atmosphere, with wind howling like cries and cranes, the caravan slowly entered the area of Ten Thousand Fathoms Gorge.

The peaks on both sides of Ten Thousand Fathoms Gorge were not literally ten thousand fathoms high, but they still rose into the clouds, grand and steep. Walking between them, one could feel a heavy pressure coming from heaven and earth.

[No wonder Chen Tian Dong is so careful. This really is a good place to set an ambush.] Yu Zhao thought to herself.

As soon as the thought formed in her heart, the next moment the weather suddenly changed. The sky, which had been clear, turned dark. Thick black mist spread quickly from the distance toward the position of the caravan.

“Watch out! Enemy attack!”

Chen Tian Dong’s shout had just sounded when the two men in Yu Zhao’s carriage suddenly moved.

The man with the bulbous nose punched through the carriage roof and leaped out. The triangular-eyed man pulled out a sharp dagger and pointed it at Yu Zhao, threatening her: “If you want to live, don’t move!”

Yu Zhao cooperated and nodded.

On the other side, the black mist had already completely covered the sky above Ten Thousand Fathoms Gorge. The land fell into darkness, and a gloomy wind howled.

“Chen family brat, hand over the Bottleneck-Breaking Pill, and this old man will spare your lives!”

An aged voice drifted over from who knew where.

Standing at the very front of the caravan, Chen Tian Dong felt bitter inside. He had guarded against so many things, but in the end he still could not stop the news from leaking out.

Yu Zhao raised an eyebrow.

The Bottleneck-Breaking Pill was a third-grade spirit pill. After taking it, a cultivator at the late stage of Foundation Establishment could break through to the Golden Core stage, but there was a thirty percent chance of failure.

In the Cultivation World, pills that helped break through bottlenecks were extremely popular.

A single Bottleneck-Breaking Pill could be sold for at least five hundred mid-grade spirit stones, and even then it would be in short supply.

Yu Zhao did not know how many Bottleneck-Breaking Pills the Chen family caravan had, to make a Golden Core cultivator lower himself to come and rob them.

“Senior, the Chen Clan does not have any Bottleneck-Breaking Pills. Senior must have misunderstood.” Chen Tian Dong shouted.

“Chen family brat, since this old man could set up an ambush here, that means I already know about the Bottleneck-Breaking Pill. If you refuse to hand it over, none of you will walk out of this Ten Thousand Fathoms Gorge alive.”

Chen Tian Dong’s face turned completely dark.

The other side had clearly come for the Bottleneck-Breaking Pill. There was no way to hide it now.

“Grandpa, why waste words with them? Just kill them all!”

The one speaking was the bulbous-nosed man who had jumped out of the carriage. He stood on the roof of the middle carriage, looking down on everyone with a face full of ferocity.

The triangular-eyed man cackled when he heard this: “Elder Brother, you can kill the others however you like, but the woman who rode with us has to stay!”

The corner of Yu Zhao’s mouth twitched.

She was not angry because of what the triangular-eyed man said. She was just surprised that these two men, each with their own special kind of ugly looks, were actually blood brothers.

The bulbous-nosed man glanced in Yu Zhao’s direction and nodded: “Second Brother is right. We can bring her back and use her as a furnace.”

“The last one was too useless. We played him to death in just two years. I hope this little lady can last longer.”

The two of them loudly discussed as if no one else was there, and in just a few casual sentences they had already decided Yu Zhao’s life and death.

Yu Zhao, however, sat calmly in the carriage as if she had not heard anything.

“Chen family brat, this old man will ask you one more time. Are you handing it over or not?!”

“Hand it over or not!”

“Not handing it over!”

The deep voice echoed again and again in the gorge.

Several Chen Clan guards at Mid Foundation Establishment turned pale, and their bodies began to sway.

Gritting his teeth, Chen Tian Dong said: “Even if we hand over the pill, you still won’t let us go. We might as well fight to the death! Brothers, kill, kill, kill!”

“Kill, kill, kill!”

All the Chen Clan people shouted together.

Right after that, the guard who had been driving Yu Zhao’s carriage flipped off the driver’s seat. His scabbard flew out, and with a flash of cold light, his long blade slashed diagonally toward the triangular-eyed man.

The other guards also charged toward the bulbous-nosed man.

However, the triangular-eyed man and the bulbous-nosed man did not show any fear at the sudden attack. They did not even bother to move, and only watched the charging guards with smiling faces.

“Overestimating yourselves!”

The old man let out a furious shout. The blades in the guards’ hands felt like they had struck something extremely hard. They suddenly shattered from the middle.

Then their blades moved on their own, suddenly kicking back with force.

The hilts slammed into their chests. Many guards were thrown backward at once and fell to the ground, letting out cries of pain.

Chen Tian Dong and the guards all stared in horror.

At that moment, a black-robed old man slowly stepped out from within the black mist.

The triangular-eyed man and the bulbous-nosed man both flashed to his side, standing one on each side of him.

“Black-Robed Elder!”

Seeing the man’s clothes, Chen Tian Dong cried out in shock.

The Black-Robed Elder smiled with pride and said: “That’s right, it is this old man.”

At that moment, Chen Tian Dong knew the situation was hopeless and beyond saving.

The Black-Robed Elder had become famous long ago. His Black Mist Grand Art had buried countless bones. Most importantly, he had already been a Mid Golden Core stage cultivator fifty years ago. Crushing them would be no harder for him than crushing ants.

Chen Tian Dong took a square wooden box from his robe and said: “Senior, the Bottleneck-Breaking Pill is here. Please, Senior, spare our lives. My Chen Clan will surely reward you heavily!”

Greed flashed across the faces of the triangular-eyed man and the bulbous-nosed man. When they looked at each other, there was wariness and caution in their eyes.

They were both at Mid Foundation Establishment, but there was only one Bottleneck-Breaking Pill.

Of course they both wanted to keep the pill for themselves.

The two of them could not help feeling restless.

The Black-Robed Elder laughed loudly: “Good, good. Bring the Bottleneck-Breaking Pill here!”

Seeing that the Black-Robed Elder had not agreed to his request and only kept urging him, Chen Tian Dong’s heart sank.

But in front of the Black-Robed Elder, he had no room to bargain at all.

The cruel law of the strong eating the weak was shown here in the Cultivation World to the fullest.

Chen Tian Dong let out a long, turbid breath and walked step by step toward the Black-Robed Elder with heavy feet.

“I think this Bottleneck-Breaking Pill would be more suitable in my hands.”

All of Chen Tian Dong’s attention was focused on the Black-Robed Elder, so he did not react in time. The Bottleneck-Breaking Pill in his hand was suddenly snatched away.

When he looked again, he saw that at some point Yu Zhao had appeared beside him. She was playing with the square wooden box that held the Bottleneck-Breaking Pill.

He stared at Yu Zhao, dumbfounded.

“You came for the Bottleneck-Breaking Pill too?”

Yu Zhao shook her head and said: “No, but I think I can be.”

For a moment, Chen Tian Dong did not know what to say.

Yu Zhao’s cultivation level was the same as his, only at Late Foundation Establishment. With what could she compete with the Black-Robed Elder for this Bottleneck-Breaking Pill?

The other side was even planning to drag her back home as a furnace. Had she still not figured out the situation?

The Black-Robed Elder was also stunned for a moment by Yu Zhao’s actions. Then he flew into a rage. His black robe surged wildly with the fluctuation of his spirit power.

“Wait!”

Yu Zhao suddenly raised her hand and shouted.

The Black-Robed Elder’s imposing aura paused. In a cold, gloomy voice, he said: “What, you want to leave a few last words?”

“No. I want to say that I can give you the Bottleneck-Breaking Pill. But you have two grandsons. Which one of them am I supposed to give it to?”