The man with the horse face was named Ma Fugui. He and Xu Sheng came from the same sect, and the two often called each other brothers, frequently gathering to indulge in drinking, gambling, and other vices.
His reason for dealing with Xu Hei wasn't because someone else arranged it, nor was it for some nonsense like avenging Xu Sheng.
It was because there were two items in Xu Sheng's cave dwelling that required Xu Sheng's token to access.
Not many people knew about Xu Hei killing Xu Sheng. Yun Yan and Xiao Ran wouldn't speak carelessly, and Ma Fugui only found out because he was curious about Xu Sheng's absence, asked Meng Hao, and greased some palms with a fair amount of spirit stones. But he also didn't reveal it to others to avoid suspicion about his motives.
Even when his gambling friends asked about Xu Sheng's whereabouts, he claimed ignorance.
"I hope Ye Kong doesn't fall into the trap. It'd be best if he dies outside, that way I can get his storage bag," Ma Fugui thought to himself, confident that his plan was flawless and that he had set up multiple contingencies, leaving his opponent with no chance of survival.
At this moment, Xu Hei was deep within a cave, sitting cross-legged. His sword stood by his side, its surface pollution slowly dissolving into countless strands of black mist, floating within the Demon God Cauldron.
The Demon God Cauldron could refine anything under heaven and earth, even removing heavy oil pollution, transforming it into pure power.
Moreover, this time he hadn't activated it; the Demon God Cauldron was operating and refining on its own, which was intriguing.
"The pollution from the ancient beast... Could the Demon God Cauldron also be a product of that era?" Xu Hei speculated.
However, although the Demon God Cauldron could refine the pollution, the process was extremely slow, taking a full hour to complete.
Xu Hei felt his cultivation level had increased slightly.
The pollution, once refined, turned into wisps of black smoke, lingering within the Demon God Cauldron. This smoke was harmless to Xu Hei, seemingly under his control at will.
With a thought, Xu Hei caused the black mist to form a thin line, which emerged from the cauldron and attached itself to the sword's blade.
However, it only lasted a few breaths before the black line faded and disappeared.
"Is it because there's too little of it?" Xu Hei frowned.
The thin line formed from the pollution was quite powerful but could only be maintained for a few seconds.
"Perhaps I can try storing it in the Ten Thousand Poison Gourd," Xu Hei mused.
Without delay, Xu Hei took out a barrel of freshly collected heavy oil, intending to pour some out and use the Demon God Cauldron to refine it, testing the effect.
But just then, Xu Hei was startled, quickly putting away the heavy oil, his eyes cold as he stared outside the cave.
At that moment, a shadowy figure was rapidly descending from above at the cave's entrance. Xu Hei's divine sense quickly scanned and retracted to avoid detection.
"Someone actually came down here, are they here to collect the corpse?"
Xu Hei's eyes flickered as he guessed some of the reasons.
The mastermind was certain he wouldn't easily fall into the oil well and might dig a hole to hide. In this way, although Xu Hei would still be doomed, his body would remain intact.
Xu Hei simply lay on the ground, motionless, and swallowed a Breath Suppressing Pill, reducing his aura to the lowest point, as if he were dead.
Before long, a sneaky figure appeared at the cave entrance.
This person was a slave, thin as a skeleton, with shifty eyes and graying hair, his cultivation at the late Core Formation stage.
Among those captured, he was considered a top expert, but with a restriction seal in his body, he could exert less than a tenth of his strength.
However, this person was also cunning. After gaining Ma Fugui's trust, he had secretly broken the restriction, swapping it with a self-imposed seal on his cultivation.
He could release the seal whenever he wished.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have become Ma Fugui's confidant.
The skinny man stood at the cave entrance, observing the towering butcher figure, who was entirely black, clearly heavily polluted.
His eyes flickered, and after a moment, he didn't rush in but instead took out an oil barrel, swung it around a couple of times, and then threw it towards the butcher.
He then shouted, "Explode!"
The oil barrel traced an arc, landing near the butcher, about to explode.
Suddenly, the butcher opened all his eyes, and a terrifying repulsive force acted on the oil barrel, pushing it back. It was Xu Hei's full-powered Gravity Technique!
The oil barrel returned along its original path, flying back to the skinny man's front and exploded violently.
Shattered iron pieces flew everywhere, shaking the surroundings, and the explosion created an open area at the cave entrance.
However, not a drop of oil appeared.
It was just an empty barrel, a trick to successfully rouse Xu Hei.
"He's pretending to be dead!"
The skinny man's expression changed, and without a word, he turned to flee.
In such a narrow area, he couldn't throw heavy oil to blow someone up; one wrong move and he could trap himself, getting polluted by the heavy oil.
But he was also cautious, worried that the opponent wasn't completely dead, so he devised this plan for safety.
Even though he estimated there was over a ninety percent chance the opponent was dead, as long as there was a ten percent risk, he had to test it.
Unexpectedly, the opponent was indeed alive and capable of counterattack!
The man returned to the cave entrance, grabbed a rope, and swiftly ascended with astonishing speed.
Xu Hei's face was grim as he floated up, gathering his strength. With a loud shout, he shot forward like an arrow, reaching an extreme speed.
"Ever-changing Fish and Dragon!"
At this moment, Xu Hei's speed reached an unprecedented level.
The Ever-changing Fish and Dragon technique had reached the sixth level!
A low-grade dragon clan secret technique, the sixth level was enough to affect space, traverse formations effortlessly. Wherever Xu Hei passed, even space began to distort.
This cunning person had used an empty oil barrel to trick Xu Hei, making him furious. Against such a cultivator, there was no need for flashy tactics; sheer power was the right way.
"Dare to trick me, damn it, I'll kill you!"
Xu Hei's heart surged with killing intent.
Hou Siping felt a chill down his spine, his hair standing on end, and during his escape, he unhesitatingly released the seal.
Then, he swallowed a pill given by Ma Fugui, the Explosive True Pill, fully refining it to restore his combat power as quickly as possible.
Releasing the seal only restored his cultivation, but his true essence was still empty; he needed time.
"This guy is only at the early Core Formation stage, yet his speed is so fast!"
"No, there's not enough time, I can't escape! My true essence hasn't recovered, and I can't face him head-on. I must think of a way!"
Hou Siping's eyes flickered as he quickly calculated, his mind racing with thoughts. In an instant, he stopped fleeing and formed several hand seals, quickly imprinting them on the surrounding stone walls.