Upon hearing this, Chu Qinghe gave a soft "hmm".

The character cards in the system only last for one hour, not indefinitely.

When using the character card, Chu Qinghe can instantly master all of Ximen Chuixue's martial arts and even his sword intent.

However, once the character card expires, all related information will disappear; it cannot be retained.

But who knows, Chu Qinghe might have a master-level wood carving now!

Therefore, Chu Qinghe's current thoughts are very simple.

Before the character card expires, try to squeeze out as much value as possible from this "Ximen Chuixue Character Card".

For example, Ximen Chuixue's "Proud Snow Sword Intent".

After pondering for a while, Chu Qinghe picked up a piece of wood and began to immerse himself in the wood carving.

Seeing Chu Qinghe's actions, Qu Feiyan and Xiao Zhao exchanged a glance, their expressions both somewhat strange.

Just a quarter of an hour ago, Chu Qinghe was standing on Bright Peak with his sword, but now he's in this forest carving wood.

This action left the two women both bewildered and speechless.

Half an hour later, with a surge of true energy, a fiery red figure appeared before the three of them.

Who else could it be but Dongfang Bubai?

When they saw Dongfang Bubai, Qu Feiyan and Xiao Zhao, who were squatting on the ground playing Go with mud, both stood up.

"Sister Dongfang!"

In response to the two women's greetings, Dongfang Bubai nodded slightly, then turned his gaze to Chu Qinghe, who was currently engrossed in the wooden carving.

Seeing Chu Qinghe's calm expression, Dongfang Bubai felt a slight sense of relief.

He then looked at Qu Feiyan and asked, "Has he been carving wood ever since he came down here?"

Upon hearing this, both Qu Feiyan and Xiao Zhao nodded in agreement.

Seeing this, Dongfang Bubai said nothing, but stood still and waited quietly.

However, at that moment, a system notification suddenly popped up in front of Chu Qinghe.

[Ding, the Ximen Chuixue character card has been used up.]

The moment the system notification popped up, a distinct fluctuation of true energy suddenly emanated from Chu Qinghe's body.

As this true energy dissipated, Chu Qinghe's own true energy fluctuations changed repeatedly, dropping from the early stage of the Grandmaster realm all the way down to the early stage of the Innate realm.

Seeing Chu Qinghe's cultivation level plummet, the three women all focused their attention on him.

After confirming that Chu Qinghe was completely unharmed, Dongfang Bubai shook his head and said, "I've never heard of this secret technique of yours before. It can actually increase your cultivation level so much in such a short time. Aren't you sure this secret technique won't have any negative effects on you?"

Chu Qinghe said lazily, "It just means we won't be able to use it for a long time."

As he spoke, Chu Qinghe sighed, "It's a pity, though, that we couldn't keep them here."

As he spoke, Chu Qinghe's tone was filled with deep regret.

Hearing what Chu Qinghe said, Dongfang Bubai said, "Indeed, letting Pang Ban go back is somewhat like releasing a tiger back into the mountains."

However, after Dongfang Bubai spoke, Chu Qinghe shook his head.

"It's not like they're being released back into the mountains; they probably won't be able to use their martial arts skills anymore."

Upon hearing this, Dongfang Bubai, Qu Feiyan, and Xiao Zhao all looked at Chu Qinghe with puzzled expressions.

But the next second, as if realizing something, he asked, "You just poisoned me again?"

Hearing Dongfang Bubai's words, Chu Qinghe nodded slightly.

"It will take effect in about half an hour after it draws blood. The last sword strike should have hit all three of Pang Ban's men. So, it should take about half an hour for it to take effect."

Chu Qinghe has never liked trouble.

The best way to avoid trouble is to solve it.

Even for ordinary martial artists with low cultivation levels, once they determine that someone is an enemy rather than a friend, Chu Qinghe would probably feel uneasy leaving the other party alive, let alone experts like Pang Ban, Kumārajīva, and the Golden Wheel Monk who are at the Grandmaster and Great Grandmaster levels.

If these three people are allowed to continue causing trouble, Chu Qinghe probably won't be able to sleep soundly.

This is why Chu Qinghe ultimately used acupuncture needles to stimulate acupoints.

Improving one's strength and injuring Pang Ban and a few others is only the first step.

The real method was to add poison to the illusory sword energy earlier.

In other words, Chu Qinghe's sword was enchanted.

Qu Feiyan asked curiously, "What was the purpose of the poison you used at the end, young master?"

Chu Qinghe said calmly, "It's nothing, it's just that once you circulate your true energy, it will bring excruciating pain, like your intestines being torn apart."

Upon learning the effects of the poison administered by Chu Qinghe, Xiao Zhao weakly remarked, "Unable to circulate true qi, no wonder the young master said it's equivalent to crippling martial arts."

Chu Qinghe shrugged in acknowledgment, but after a moment, he sighed.

Unfortunately, Chu Qinghe doesn't have many special poisons at the moment. Otherwise, he would have preferred to use a stronger poison to kill the person directly.

"It seems we'll have to actively collect some special poisons later on, otherwise it will be troublesome if we don't have them when we need them."

"What a pity about the 'Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill'! It just slipped away right in front of me."

Dongfang Bubai was unaware of Chu Qinghe's melancholy at this moment, but he couldn't help feeling a little alarmed.

The more Dongfang Bubai learned about Chu Qinghe's poisoning methods, the more alarmed he became.

Just like today, someone like Pang Ban, who was at the late stage of the Grandmaster realm, could be said to have been killed by Chu Qinghe's meticulous planning at every step.

Even before leaving, he was tricked by Chu Qinghe.

Dongfang Bubai believed that if he were standing opposite Chu Qinghe, even if he knew Chu Qinghe's poisoning methods, he would probably have difficulty defending against Chu Qinghe's unpredictable and mysterious poisoning techniques.

Today's update is 15,000 words long. I'm begging for subscriptions and data support!

(End of this chapter)