Not Even Worthy to Carry His Shoes

As a Protector of the Ascending Heaven Pavilion, Niu Meng was filled with disdain. A Dou Wang? Not even qualified to lick his boots. Let alone a Dou Wang—even if a Dou Huang expert came, they would only be worthy of carrying his shoes.

"Since you broke the rules, leave your lives behind."

Niu Meng mercilessly slammed his palm down. In an instant, everyone from the Wolf Head Mercenary Group, except the second captain Gan Mu, was crushed into pulp.

They did not even have time to scream before they had already entered the cycle of reincarnation once more.

Gan Mu's face was splattered with blood and flesh. His expression was horrified, his lips trembled, and his legs went weak without warning. With a thud, he fell to his knees.

"Senior... I was wrong. I'll never dare do it again. Mu She was the one who sent me. If I had known it was you, Senior, this junior would never have dared come here."

Gan Mu wept, "Please spare me. I'll never dare do it again."

Li Xiao strolled leisurely out of the valley. Looking at Gan Mu, whose face was smeared with tears and snot, disgust rose in his heart.

A dignified Nine Star Dou Zhe, the second captain of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group—countless innocents had died by his hand. Why had he never considered their pleas for mercy?! "Pavilion Master." Niu Meng cupped his hands in salute.

Gan Mu wiped his eyes and hurriedly knelt before Li Xiao, bursting into tears once more. "Senior, I really was wrong. That bastard Mu She made me come. He said he wanted to avenge He Meng. I originally refused, but Mu She threatened me with my eighty-year-old mother and forced me to come attack you."

"I truly was wrong."

"So you're a great filial son, then?" Li Xiao sneered inwardly.

"Yes, yes!" Gan Mu nodded repeatedly as if he had seized a lifeline. "I have an eighty-year-old mother above me and children below me still crying for food. They cannot live without me."

Gan Mu knew that as long as this man spared him, he would not die today. That Dou Wang seemed to hold this man in great respect.

If all else failed, he could capture him as a hostage. With a Dou Wang expert serving as his bodyguard, this man had to be some young master from the royal family or a great clan. He could even make a fortune from this opportunity.

At that thought, Gan Mu's lips curved upward, as though he were already imagining himself lounging happily atop mountains of gold and silver.

However, Li Xiao had already seen through Gan Mu's schemes. He could not be bothered to waste words on such a minor character, so he simply looked at Niu Meng and said, "Kill him."

"What??" Gan Mu snapped out of his fantasy, his face instantly twisting with ferocity. "Brat, since you show no mercy, don't blame me for being ruthless! Die!"

The moment he finished speaking, Gan Mu shot into the air like a spring. His right palm clenched into a fist and smashed viciously toward Li Xiao's chest.

Yet Li Xiao looked utterly disdainful and allowed Gan Mu's fist to land on him.

A dull bang rang out.

Niu Meng roared, "Beast! You dare attack the Pavilion Master! You're courting death!"

"You don't have the chance anymore." Gan Mu chuckled.

But suddenly, Gan Mu felt that something was wrong. By all reason, even He Meng, an Eight Star Dou Zhe, might not have been able to withstand his punch. Yet this man was completely unharmed.

What was more, Gan Mu's expression changed once again. In an instant, excruciating pain flooded his entire body. The crisp cracking of his bones sounded especially clear in the silent night. His previously ferocious fist had seemed to strike steel, and the bones in his hand shattered at once.

Gan Mu was also sent into a boil of churning blood and qi by the recoil of his own hidden force. He crashed heavily to the ground, howling in agony.

Do not forget, this was within the territory of the Ascending Heaven Pavilion. Let alone a mere Dou Zhe, even an expert in the Dou Di Realm could not harm a single hair on his head.

The pain of shattered bones and torn sinews spread throughout Gan Mu's body. As the saying went, the ten fingers were connected to the heart. His finger bones had been crushed to pieces, his meridians burst inch by inch, directly affecting his Qi Cyclone. With just one strike, he had been completely crippled.

Furious, Niu Meng grabbed Gan Mu by the head and smashed it viciously into the ground. Before long, Gan Mu's skull had caved in, his brains splattering out. He was dead beyond doubt.

Anyone who spoke disrespectfully to the Pavilion Master had to die. Anyone who dared attack the Pavilion Master would have their entire clan exterminated!

Li Xiao slowly turned around and said, "The Wolf Head need not exist."

Watching the Pavilion Master's departing figure vanish, Niu Meng swiftly stepped through the air and headed straight for the headquarters of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group.

For a time, screams rang out without end. Within only a few breaths, every expert of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group, led by Mu She, was killed.

Even at the moment of death, Mu She and the others did not know who had killed them...

The next morning, the Golden Rooster Crows.

After the Wolf Head Mercenary Group was destroyed, Niu Meng brought over the wealth they had accumulated over many years. Yet it amounted to only a little over two hundred thousand Gold Coins, along with a few Dou Skills Cultivation Methods. They were poor beyond belief.

Li Xiao briefly sorted through the junk Niu Meng had brought back. He tossed all the useless items into the system's recycling function. Although they could only be exchanged for a small amount of Gold Coins, every little bit counted, so he naturally could not pass up the chance to accumulate more.

In the end, he barely managed to obtain three hundred thousand Gold Coins. Looking at the few decimal points that had increased in the system, he felt rather helpless. It seemed that only the Auction could bring him a large amount of Gold Coins.

However, there were still six months until the Auction. He wondered whether he could break through to the Dou Shi Realm during that time.

After arranging the internal affairs of the Ascending Heaven Pavilion, Li Xiao resolutely entered its highest floor. Cultivating here could be described as advancing by leaps and bounds each day, but one had to endure the immense baptism of Dou Qi throughout the entire body until it reached saturation.

No one could become fat in a single bite, and cultivation was no exception. Though his speed of advancement had increased, the Dou Qi within his body needed to be compressed in order to form a higher-level Qi Cyclone.

Only then could he advance to the Dou Shi Realm.

As the Pavilion Master cultivated with all his might, Linglong and Niu Meng took charge of security around the Ascending Heaven Pavilion. If anyone wished to disturb the Pavilion Master, they would suffer the full-force attacks of two Dou Zong experts.

Presumably, no one would be foolish enough to provoke the Ascending Heaven Pavilion at the cost of their life.

Time passed in the blink of an eye.

Before he knew it, half a year had quickly gone by.

Many experts had already gathered outside the Ascending Heaven Pavilion. Quite a few Dou Huang experts had also arrived. After hearing of this matter, they had rushed over eagerly to see for themselves. If it truly was as extraordinary as the rumors claimed, they also wanted to auction for some useful items.

Inside the room on the highest floor.

Li Xiao let out a heavy breath of turbid air. After half a year of cultivation, he had reached the Nine Star Dou Shi level and was only one step away from becoming a Da Dou Shi.

He had broken through to the Dou Shi Realm just half a month after entering this place. Yet in order to become stronger and cultivate High Level Dou Techniques, Li Xiao had resolutely remained here.