49 Great Waterfall
Even though he was no longer being pursued by the demons, Lu Tianzi continued to rush ahead at top speed.
He could feel that the poison suppressant which he casually made out of crushed plants was quickly losing its effect.
This crushed mixture was ultimately just a suppressant, not an antidote.
Even though he seemed perfectly fine at the moment, able to traverse through the forest with ease, Lu Tianzi had in fact already been deeply poisoned by the Lion Hemlock!
It was just that the symptoms were not showing because the poison was temporarily suppressed by the medicinal effect of the the crushed plants.
Once the effects of the crushed plants wore off, the effect of the poisonous gas would kick in all at once!
Depending on the amount of poison that had accumulated within his body by then, Lu Tianzi might even be rendered completely incapable of moving.
Before that happened, Lu Tianzi definitely had to escape this region that was shrouded in the poisonous gas!
Not just that, but he also had to find a safe spot that was out of sight of any wild beasts.
After all, only when he was in a safe place would Lu Tianzi be able to fully concentrate on expelling the poison that had already accumulated in his body.
The cutting sound of wind filled his ears as Lu Tianzi traversed through the dense forest of the mountain, heading further and further into the depths of Crimson Mountain.
As he moved along, Lu Tianzi was cautiously scanning the area ahead of him with just a strand of his perception.
Even though he was already being cautious about it, sending out a strand of his perception could still expose his location to any wild beasts with greater perceptivity in the vicinity.
However, Lu Tianzi had no choice but to do so.
The clock was ticking down on him after all.
If Lu Tianzi were to accidentally run into any wild beasts at the moment, then even if he managed to defeat them, his escape from the poisonous gas would still be delayed.
Since that was the case, then he would definitely try to actively avoid them if possible!
As for those wild beasts with greater perceptivity, they were relatively rare. Lu Tianzi could do nothing about it other than pray that there were none around at the moment!
Fortunately for him, this gamble of his paid off well.
Lu Tianzi's progress up the mountain was astoundingly fast even though he had to switch directions a couple of times, dodging multiple potential encounters with wild beasts that had been lying in his path.
If he had ended up being tangled with these wild beasts, then Lu Tianzi was sure that he would definitely have taken a lot longer to cover the distance that he did!
But after a while, Lu Tianzi still decided to change his strategy.
He rampantly swept out his perception in all directions, as though he was a lighthouse in the middle of the sea.
But this was definitely not him trying to attract wild beasts to himself. Rather than that, Lu Tianzi was simply trying to detect any minute differences in the concentration of poisonous gas in the air around him.
By now, the suppressant effect of the crushed plants was about to wear off, and he could no longer afford to care about lying low!
The only thing on his mind right now was to get out of this death zone of poisonous gas as soon as possible. Otherwise, he would definitely end up dead in the wilderness of the mountain, with little chance of anyone ever finding his corpse!
There!
Lu Tianzi was overjoyed as he rushed decisively towards a direction.
He burst out of the dense vegetation and directly leapt over a wide mountain stream, landing on the other side of the bank.
By constantly heading in the direction where the poisonous gas was at a lower concentration, Lu Tianzi had finally managed to break escape from the poisonous gas!
But it was simply from one source of danger to another.
Even before his feet landed on the wet soil, Lu Tianzi had already felt multiple presences lock onto him. They were currently positioned just slightly downstream of his point of exit.
This distance between them was one that could be closed in an instant!
Frost Fang Wolves!
They looked just like regular wolves, with blue fur and a silver stripe running down their backs. However, they were far more dangerous than their more common counterparts, topped with an innate ability to cause their preys' body temperatures to plummet drastically with just a single bite. This would slow their preys' movements, effectively setting them up for the killing blow.
Though that was the case, the first bite was usually already more than enough to seal the deal.
When fully grown, their adults possessed battle strength that equalled a Peak Essence Building realm martial artist.
To the current Lu Tianzi, Peak Essence Building realm opponents should no longer pose a threat.
However, Frost Fang Wolves hunt in packs.
Right now, what Lu Tianzi needed the most was to find a spot where he could safely expel the poison within him.
If he stayed and fought, Lu Tianzi definitely had to make sure to kill them all before the poison effect kicked in. Alternatively, he had to make sure that all of them had retreated by then.
Otherwise, should he lose his strength halfway through the battle and became unable to move, the Frost Fang Wolves would definitely pounce at such a huge opening.
At that time, he would have no other choice but to end up as food for the Frost Fang Wolves!
Seeing the dozens of wolves before him, Lu Tianzi truly had no confidence of settling this quickly. After all, the effect of the suppressant was going to expire soon!
In that case, the only feasible choice was to run!
Like an arrow that had just been released from its bow, Lu Tianzi shot upstream at top speed.
Lu Tianzi could not help but to curse in his heart.
Since the night before, after their ambush on the demons failed terribly, he seemed to have been spending most of the time trying to escape from his pursuers.
When would this finally end?!
Seeing the human figure flee immediately after seeing them, the Frost Fang Wolves' primal hunting instincts immediately kicked in.
Give chase!
Even without any need for communication, all of the Frost Fang Wolves simultaneously sped after Lu Tianzi!
They were already used to the terrain in this area, easily weaving through the obstacles of nature as they locked onto Lu Tianzi, snarling in threat as they pursued!
On top of that, despite only having strength that equalled a martial artist at the Peak Essence Building realm, the Frost Fang Wolves were actually slowly catching up to him!
Before this, when he swept past the area with his perception, Lu Tianzi had naturally noticed some wolf-like beasts by the stream.
However, he had been too preoccupied with detecting the density of the poisonous gas that he failed to investigate the wolves in greater detail.
Who knew that they would end up being such powerful wild beasts?
By failing to investigate the wolves further and finding a safer point to exit the layer of poisonous gas, Lu Tianzi had now ended up wasting even more time!
Just thinking about this point made him feel extremely depressed.
Even though Lu Tianzi had already escaped from the layer of poisonous gas, he had no choice but to once again spread out his perception in all directions, searching for something that he could use to escape from the Frost Fang Wolves!
But how could that be so easy?
There was simply nothing that he could use in the surroundings!
Just as he was about to reach his limit, Lu Tianzi finally arrived at the base of a great waterfall.
Water was smashing down from a height of at least a hundred metres, sending up a huge cloud of white mist that perpetually shrouded the bottom. The thunderous splashing of water easily drowned out the sound of the wind as Lu Tianzi approached, relentlessly assaulting his eardrums.
There was no longer any time left for him, the suppressant effect of the crushed plants was about to wear off in just a few moments!
Gritting his teeth in unwillingness, Lu Tianzi decided to take one final gamble.
He leapt off the bank of the stream, heading straight into the waterfall!
He was no wild beast expert. But at this juncture, Lu Tianzi could only pray in his heart that the Frost Fang Wolves were not swimmers.
The icy cold water slammed against Lu Tianzi's body, threatening to send him straight into the deepest depths of the plunge pool. Had he not been a martial artist, this impact alone might have been sufficient to knock him unconscious!
However, Lu Tianzi was not just a martial artist, but his body had been refined by both Spiritual and Slaughter Essence within his body, actually making it far tougher than a normal martial artist's!
This allowed Lu Tianzi to easily withstand the impact, safely passing through the sheet of falling water without any issue. After which, instead of falling into the water below, his two feet actually landed on solid ground.
This was a cave hidden behind the waterfall, impossible to be seen from the outside due the huge cloud of white mist at the base of the waterfall!
Had he not been actively sweeping out with his perception, even Lu Tianzi would not have realised that there was this secret world hidden behind the waterfall.
This was the perfect spot for Lu Tianzi to expel the poison within him!
The cave was deep and stretched far into the darkness.
His survival instincts had taught him that whenever he arrived at a cave in the wilderness, the first thing to do was to make sure it was safe. That included checking to see if there were any wild beasts already residing within.
But just as Lu Tianzi was about to take his first step and venture deeper into the cave, the crushed mixture of the plants completely lost its suppressant effect!
Lu Tianzi's eyes widened in shock as his body suddenly lost all its strength, crashing into the ground like a lifeless puppet!
This was the full effect of the poison from a Lion Hemlock.
With how long Lu Tianzi had spent within the region shrouded by the poisonous gas, he had already accumulated enough toxins within his body to completely immobilise him!
The fact that he managed to survive till this point was already considered an extremely fortunate matter. Had it been anyone else, they would never have left the poison region alive after spending as much time as he did within the region.
Lu Tianzi naturally understood this fact, and could only feel relieved in his heart that he had met Uncle Ye back in Ivory Rock City.
Now all that was left was for him to refine the poison within him, slowly purging it from his body bit by bit!
But at this moment, Lu Tianzi suddenly heard a menacing snarl that caused all the hair on his back to stand.
Lu Tianzi immediately swept his perception behind him, and what he saw instantly expelled all the feelings of relief in his heart, promptly replacing them with feelings of horror!
This cave was truly perfectly hidden from the outside, but there was just one problem.
The Frost Fang Wolves had been pursuing Lu Tianzi all the way from downstream, and they had seen with their own two eyes that Lu Tianzi rushed into the waterfall. Thus, they definitely knew where he was at the moment!
His gamble had failed to pay off after all.
These Frost Fang Wolves had not even hesitated for a moment before diving straight into the plunge pool, enduring the impact of the waterfall as they chased right after him.
From that, it was clear that all of them were excellent swimmers!
And now that Lu Tianzi had lost all his physical strength, he was unable to even turn around to take a look at them, much less defend himself!
If the Frost Fang Wolves decided to attack him at this moment, then he could only accept his fate.
This was truly a hopeless situation that Lu Tianzi had no solutions for!