As his teammates fell one by one, Qin Xiaotian howled, "Zhang Lie, I'll kill you!"

A blinding golden light emanated from Qin Xiaotian's body. Amidst the swirl of genetic energy, he morphed into a gigantic gold pangolin, the effect of a superior-grade transformation-type soulshard!

Zhang Lie's eyes widened. A transformation-type soulshard was rare enough, let alone a superior-grade one. It would be sure to fetch a good price if he were to auction it off.

Unfortunately, it wasn't a human-type lifeform, so the transformation would render one incapable of using genetic techniques. Otherwise, its price would definitely rise at least a hundredfold.

Qin Xiao must like his cousin quite a bit to have sent him such a rare soulshard… Well, I'll thank him for the kindness in advance! Zhang Lie ignored the fuss Qin Xiaotian was making, treating the soulshard in Qin Xiaotian's hand as though it already belonged to him.

By the cave entrance, Qin Xiaotian’s claws swiped at the air around him, forcing even those mutated-grade venombane scorpions lurking around him to retreat. The next moment, he grabbed Wang Xiaohua. His scales began to twist rapidly, as though he were a golden drill. With a tremendous grinding sound, he burrowed into the earth.

Except for the four transformed lifeforms, the remainder of Qin Xiaotian's team quickly ran into the hole he had created. Fang Qiong, Zhou Ming, and the other two hunters prepared to cancel their transformations and followed suit.

The transformation had drained them of much of their genetic energy, and their constant exposure to the poisonous mist was making them muddleheaded.

Right after Fang Qiong and Zhou Ming made it into the burrowed hole, however, Zhao Ping and Zheng Cang, who had transformed into the vine asp and crysturtle respectively, felt their transformations break involuntarily and their soulshards forcibly recalled.

Neither of them had enough genetic energy to maintain their transformation any longer. Before the two of them could recover from the shock, the wave of scorpions engulfed them.

"Damn it! Hurry, we have to run!" Fang Qiong and Zhou Ming had no choice but to collapse the entrance to the underground hole.

Thus ended the fight between the venombane scorpions and Qin Xiaotian's team. Both sides had suffered massive losses.The once-idyllic glade had been covered in a layer of scorpion carcasses, along with the blood of eight hunters.

Qin Xiaotian's thirteen-person team had shrunk by more than half. Furthermore, the surviving hunters were all poisoned, and Zhang Lie had no intention of letting them leave safely. Qin Xiaotian had declared a blood feud between them, and neither of them would rest easily before the other was dead.

However, Zhang Lie wasn't in much of a hurry. The poison in the scorpions' blood was slow-acting, but its effects were particularly difficult to dispel. He was certain that Qin Xiaotian and the others wouldn't be able to find an antidote in the short term.

After a few minutes, when the scorpions had finally retreated, Zhang Lie walked over to the eight corpses and began collecting his spoils. None of their flesh or bones remained, and the soulshards in their soulspace had naturally vanished with them. 

All Zhang Lie could recover were their weapons. A spear, three polearms, and four blades: the weapons of the eight deceased hunters were quickly thrown into Zhang Lie's potbellied-toad pouch.

Subsequently, he activated his galewolf soulshard and [Rippling Walk], then ran out through the cave, chasing after the remnants of Qin Xiaotian's team. The moment he returned to the waterfall, Zhang Lie discovered something amiss. There were no traces of upturned ground near the tunnel entrance or the lakeside. Even by the nearby forests, Zhang Lie couldn't see any fallen trees or disturbed soil. Given Qin Xiaotian's condition, he could hardly be so careful as to avoid detection.

In that case... Zhang Lie turned around and ran back into the venombane glade. Evidently, knowing that Zhang Lie would chase after him, Qin Xiaotian had burrowed deeper into the forest rather than out beyond the cave. Unfortunately for him, Zhang Lie was an experienced hunter, and saw through his trick immediately.

Deep within the glade, by an upturned heap of soil, Qin Xiaotian, Wang Xiaohua, Fang Qiong, Zhou Ming, and another hunter slumped against the ground. At Qin Xiaotian's feet was all manner of empty potion bottles.

"Damn it, none of these antidotes are working!"

After swallowing another dose of antidote, Qin Xiaotian began to shout in frustration. His genetic energy was slowly being sapped away, and the extremities of his body were slowly falling into paralysis.

"Xiaotian, what do we do? What do we do?! Are we going to die of poison?" Wang Xiaohua trembled as she held back her tears. In the end, Wang Xiaohua was only a young woman. When faced with the prospect of death, how could she remain calm?

Of course, the other hunters were much the same way.

Hearing Wang Xiaohua's words, Fang Qiong, who had suffered the brunt of the scorpions' attack, squeezed his insensate palm. Clutching onto a forlorn hope, he asked, "Captain, could it be that the antidote just hasn't taken effect yet? All your antidotes are top-tier, after all!"

"The apothecary you bought all these antidotes from surely wouldn't sell us fake potions, would they?" Zhou Ming suggested.

Qin Xiaotian waved his arm in frustration. "No, these antidotes work fine. The poison is just too tricky to deal with!"

Fang Qiong couldn't help but groan. "To think we were tricked by a weakling like him!"

"Wang Xiaohua, it's all your fault! If not for you, Qin Xiaotian wouldn't be fighting against this fellow in the first place. You've killed everyone!" Zhou Ming's despairing accusation made Qin Xiaotian glance thoughtfully at Wang Xiaohua.

However, it was only one glance. After all, he understood quite well that he was the one who had brought them all to this juncture.

On the other hand, Wang Xiaohua, indicted by Zhou Ming, suddenly shouted, "That's right! Zhang Lie! We just need to find him! While we were fighting, the poisonous mist spread all over the glade, but Zhang Lie wasn't affected! He must either have the antidote or know some way of avoiding the poison!

"Xiaotian, we just need to go find Zhang Lie! As long as we promise him some resources, I'm sure he'll give us the antidote!"

The other hunters' eyes brightened, but then they looked toward her as though she were an idiot.

"What's the matter? Are you all too prideful?" Wang Xiaohua asked, confused.

This time, none of the other hunters bothered to look at her. She was a sheltered orchid in a greenhouse, and clearly didn't understand the true nature of the dimensional world.

As she felt her body slowly seizing up, Wang Xiaohua began to cry. "Xiaotian, I'm begging you, can't we ask Zhang Lie for help?"

"Xiaohua, you're too naive! We gain nothing from asking him except for revealing the fact that we've all been weakened. But you don't have to worry too much—given my cousin's reputation in the dimensional world, he might give us a shameful beating, but he wouldn't dare take our lives.

"As for the poison in our bodies, after circulating my genetic energy a few times, I've found that it only has paralytic properties. At worst, we'll be stiff for a few hours. The purple powder that we saw on that fellow should be the key to avoiding the scorpions' poison.

Furthermore, the fact that we're now deep within the glade rather than out by the waterfall means that it'll take quite a while longer to find us. As long as we make it through the next few hours, we can still beat him!"

Qin Xiaotian was exceedingly patient with Wang Xiaohua, not only dissuading her from her inane decision, but also giving her hope to live. 

"Really? Xiaotian, this poison isn't lethal?" Despite Qin Xiaotian's patient explanation, Wang Xiaohua still seemed quite doubtful, causing Fang Qiong and Zhou Ming to let out twin glares of impatience.

They were about to mock her—while their mouths could still move—when they heard a chuckle from the distance.

"Haha, of course it's true. Qin Xiaotian, it looks like you're not an idiot after all! In that case, shall we have a little talk?"

Zhang Lie appeared from a distance.

"Zhang Lie!" Fang Qiong, Zhou Ming, and Wang Xiaohua all exclaimed in shock.

Qin Xiaotian, on the other hand, lying on the ground with his four limbs all but paralyzed, knew that he'd lost. Rather than panic, however, he smiled coldly. "Alright, you win. What do you want from me?"

Zhang Lie's face warped in greed. "Soulshards, all the soulshards in your soulspace!"

"You're a little greedy, aren't you? You're sure you want my soulshards?" Qin Xiaotian's simmering anger was reflected in his words.

Zhang Lie retrieved the spear he had picked up from one of his teammates' carcasses, then pointed it at Qin Xiaotian. "Are you threatening me?"

"Consider it a warning. Most of my soulshards are from my cousin. How do you think he'll react when he finds that you've got them all?"

"Qin Xiao, you mean? I'd like to spar with him if I get the chance. That reminds me, didn't you claim you were going to give me a beating?"

Zhang Lie's face was calm, but Qin Xiaotian could see the pale blue energy emanating from his body, as well as the spear pointed directly at his chest, its tip glinting.

And even though he knew he had to remain calm, Qin Xiaotian shuddered. "No, wait! I'll give you my soulshards, all of them!"