Snowy Night: Death Leg Technique

Li Yang's Flying Dagger Mastery was a marvel even in the underground world across the globe. Whether it was assassination organizations among underground forces or terrorist groups, the name "Little Li Flying Dagger" was an absolutely intimidating golden signboard.

Since joining Security Bureau Group 9, Li Yang had carried out thirteen missions: nine relatively ordinary missions, three C-class missions, and one top-tier A-class mission. He had become the third person in Security Bureau Group 9's history to successfully complete an A-class mission.

Security Bureau missions were divided into ordinary missions and relatively special missions. The targets of these special missions were enemies with extraordinary abilities. Missions were graded according to the enemy's strength!

That successful A-class mission was the true reason Li Yang's reputation had spread through major international underground forces.

That mission had been to kill a Golden Flower-ranked ninja from Japan's Twin Flowers, one of the world's three major assassination organizations, who had secretly infiltrated China. A Golden Flower-ranked ninja was an Innate Stage assassin. Ninjas were the most troublesome opponents, and the terror of an Innate Stage ninja was beyond imagination. Yet in the end, a flying dagger had been lodged in that ninja's throat!

From then on, the underground world—foreign terrorist groups, assassination groups, and even powerful criminal syndicates—all knew that Shanghai, China, had a top expert from the Security Bureau: Little Li Flying Dagger!

No one knew how profound this "Little Li Flying Dagger's" cultivation truly was, nor did anyone know his real name. Those criminal syndicates only barely knew that his flying dagger was the Little Li Flying Dagger from ancient China, famed for "never missing its mark"!

Little Li Flying Dagger, never missing its mark. The name alone made some of those great forces tremble in fear!

But who knew that this "Little Li Flying Dagger" was merely a young man at the very bottom, one who had only just achieved Qi-Sense Resonance?

With such low cultivation, he had already gained such fame. What would happen when his cultivation rose in the future?

Li Yang himself had already passed the best age for cultivating internal energy. His meridians had taken shape, so he had long decided to start with physical strength and improve his abilities from there.

The Dragon Fang Special Forces were China's ace special forces unit, and their combat skills were naturally first-rate. Li Yang was one of their best, but he had never been satisfied with his own combat skills, because he believed they were far from enough.

Li Yang still remembered that conversation he had once had with Tan Jin, the eldest of the Tan Family Five Brothers in the Shanghai unit of Security Bureau Group 9.

"Big Brother Tan, what kind of combat skill is the most formidable? What kind has the greatest killing power?" Li Yang asked Tan Jin.

Upon hearing this, Tan Jin had immediately said with a grave expression, "The most formidable? The greatest killing power? Only combat techniques gradually forged between life and death, when people unleash their life potential in order to survive, are the most formidable. Combat techniques born between life and death are true combat skills! And such combat skills naturally possess the greatest killing power as well."

Li Yang's eyes had immediately lit up. He too felt that Tan Jin made sense.

Seeing Li Yang's expression, Tan Jin had smiled. "The Underground Boxing Ring. Yes, the Underground Boxing Ring. Its combat skills are fighting techniques born on the edge of death. Before entering the ring, these fighters are crazily squeezed dry, challenging the limits of the human body time and again. They kick wooden stakes with their legs, even kick stones and iron pillars with their feet. Again and again, they perform squats under loads of several hundred kilograms. Every time they fail to meet the quota, they face brutal punishment, even death. The death rate in training is as high as fifty percent.

Li Yang, do you know? Once these fighters enter the Underground Boxing Ring, their material lives improve, but their death rate rises even higher. Every slaughter on the stage is a matter of either you die or I perish. The death rate in Underground Boxing Ring matches is as high as seventy percent. Not even one person may be able to leave the Underground Boxing Ring alive and well in three years! The combat skills forged in such an environment absolutely exist for killing people! Their attacking power is utterly horrifying. They are also the most lethal!"...

Li Yang's blood boiled as he listened. A death rate as high as seventy percent—just thinking about the combat skills forged through such slaughter was enough to stir the blood. Those were absolutely combat skills for killing!

From that day onward, Li Yang began learning the Underground Boxing Ring combat skill known as the Death Leg Technique.

Li Yang entered the testing area and saw the Five Elements Brothers, along with Sister Yan, the boss lady, cultivating quietly to one side.

A huge man whose physique could rival Hei Yan's suddenly lashed out with his right leg. The air seemed to compress as a shriek rang out. His right leg produced layer upon layer of afterimages before crashing with a boom into a sandbag made from a new type of polymer material!

"Big Brother Tan, how much energy did the test reach?" Li Yang walked up to the huge man and asked with a smile.

Tan Jin turned to Li Yang and smiled. "Hehe, I tested it just now. Not bad—I finally crossed the five-hundred-crystal threshold! Oh, right, Li Yang, come test yourself. Let's see how much energy you have in your body now." (P.S.: crystals are a unit of energy!)

"Big Brother, not bad. You actually broke through five hundred crystals. Impressive indeed. But you're always talking about that Underground Boxing Ring. Hmph, can that compare with our Chinese martial arts? I advise you to cast aside this so-called Death Leg Technique as soon as possible. Properly cultivating our Tan Family Leg Technique is the true foundation!" A fellow with completely dyed red hair, clearly a delinquent youth at a glance, shook his head and lectured in the tone of an elder. This was Tan Huo, the fourth of the Tan Family Five Brothers.

"Ah Huo, that's not right. The Underground Boxing Ring's combat techniques are definitely not as simple as you imagine. If you fought a top Underground Boxing Ring fighter to the death, and the energy within your bodies was about the same, hehe, I reckon you wouldn't even be able to take one move from him." Tan Shui, the third of the Tan Family Five Brothers, spoke with animated brows and lively eyes, while his legs flew out in kicks, sweeping viciously into the specially made sandbag.

A man who appeared somewhat wooden said to Tan Shui, "Third Brother, Chinese martial arts have a long and unbroken history. I think you and Big Brother should abandon those Underground Boxing Ring leg techniques early and properly learn our Tan Family Leg Technique. Our Tan Family's Linked Leg Force is unfathomably profound. With even a little achievement, you can enter Security Bureau Group 11! Big Brother, Third Brother, let me ask you both: which of you has reached the third level of Linked Leg Force?" This was Tan Mu, the second of the Tan Family Five Brothers.

Tan Jin said, "Second Brother, our Tan Family Leg Technique is indeed unfathomably profound, but Linked Leg Force requires internal energy as support. Therefore, cultivating the Underground Boxing Ring leg techniques does not conflict much with cultivating Linked Leg Force. Besides, the energy I tested is now the highest among us brothers, which also proves that my method is effective. Hehe..."

Tan Jin, the eldest of the Tan Family Five Brothers, and Tan Shui, the third of the Tan Family Five Brothers, both believed that the Underground Boxing Ring's combat skills were worth adopting and should be learned.

Tan Mu, that wooden-looking man, was the second of the Tan Family Five Brothers. Tan Huo, that delinquent youth with dyed red hair, was the fourth. The two of them firmly believed that learning the Tan Family Leg Technique was better!

As for Tan Tu, the fifth of the Tan Family Five Brothers, he had no opinions whatsoever. Ask him anything, and he would answer, "Whatever," "More or less," or "It's all the same!" Thus, he was the only one among the five who had not chosen a side!

The Tan Family Five Brothers had another name: the Five Elements Brothers. Their names had been arranged according to metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Their father had probably feared trouble back then, so he had given them names that were so simple and easy to remember!

The woman cultivating quietly nearby, dressed entirely in blazing red, suddenly opened her eyes. Seeing Tan Jin praise his own high energy, she immediately snorted disdainfully. "Tan Jin, is five hundred crystals really so high? In this base, Hei Yan and I are both higher than you! In terms of true attack power, Li Yang is the strongest among us."...

Tan Jin could not help but smile bitterly. Sister Yan was the boss lady of the base and extremely competitive. She was always pressuring that playboy Tian Lin and the Tan Family Five Brothers! Yet toward Li Yang and Hei Yan, Sister Yan had an entirely different attitude!

Hei Yan had the highest energy in the base, already exceeding eight hundred crystals. As long as he worked a little harder and broke through the Postnatal Stage to reach the Innate Stage, Hei Yan would become an expert of Security Bureau Group 11.

Li Yang, meanwhile, was the member with the strongest attack power in the base.

Although his energy was only around eighty crystals, Li Yang's unfathomable Flying Dagger Mastery was no trifling matter. Even if Hei Yan attacked, he would not be a match for Li Yang's unpredictable, ghost-and-god-defying Flying Dagger Mastery. After all, Hei Yan had not reached the point of being impervious to blades and spears, and Li Yang's flying daggers contained true qi, making them more powerful than bullets.

Moreover, Li Yang's flying daggers were so freakish that they could change direction while flying forward. Just thinking about it made people feel terrified.

After Li Yang and Hei Yan came Sister Yan. Though Sister Yan was a woman, her Six Extremes Pure Yang Technique had reached the third level, and the energy within her body had reached six hundred crystals. She truly stood above the Tan Family Five Brothers.

"With so many people here, as the team leader, I should remind you all that the date for the Security Bureau Group 11 assessment has been set." Meng Tian, captain of the Shanghai unit of Security Bureau Group 9, looked at Li Yang and the others with a smile.

At once, everyone looked toward their team leader, Meng Tian.

Everyone wanted to enter Security Bureau Group 11, because entering it not only meant becoming guardians of the nation, but also meant they could marry. Only after entering Security Bureau Group 11 could they truly have families of their own and live like normal people.

Because Security Bureau Group 11 members were the Security Bureau's trump card and were not deployed lightly, usually going out only once a year, they could live like normal people.

Meanwhile, Security Bureau Group 9 handled ordinary terrorist activities and other major incidents. Only when Group 9 members could not resolve something would those Group 11 experts take action.

Security Bureau Group 9 handled every major matter, and they had to train for more than six hours every day. Since they often trained and carried out missions, the state, in order to keep Security Bureau Group 9 members' identities confidential, had forcibly stipulated that Group 9 members could not marry. Of course, the members had known this rule before joining Security Bureau Group 9.

Li Yang had known this before joining Security Bureau Group 9, but he had not cared at the time. After all, marriage had also been forbidden in the Dragon Fang Special Forces where he had previously served; only after leaving the military could one marry.

But... after joining Security Bureau Group 9, he had met Jiang Xue—a girl who made his heart stir, a girl with whom he had sworn vows as enduring as mountains and seas.

Thus, what Li Yang longed for most was entering Security Bureau Group 11, then living together with Jiang Xue. But because of Security Bureau Group 9's rules, he could not be with Jiang Xue now. He could only hide his identity and speak with her over the phone.

Xue, wait for me. I will definitely pass this assessment!

Meng Tian glanced at everyone and said, "Headquarters will send two members of Security Bureau Group 11. Together with me, there will be three of us. The assessment will begin at eight in the morning on the twentieth. In this final month, all of you must work hard!"

"Yes!" Fire blazed in every member's eyes. The Tan Family Five Brothers and Sister Yan were different from Li Yang. They had been trained since childhood, and for decades their goal had been to enter Security Bureau Group 11. One could well imagine their feelings at this moment.

Everyone silently took a deep breath, their expressions turning solemn one after another.

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