Strike First

"This time, there are quite a few fat sheep. Eldest Brother is coming to oversee things himself, and he'll be here soon. Have you two, Scarface and Black-faced Fatty, finished your preparations?"

Ding Lao'er, dressed in yellow and built like a bear, sat imposingly in the inn's main hall, questioning the Scar-faced Big Man standing beside him, whose build was no less imposing than his own.

Scarface replied with a grin, "Don't worry. I've checked out every one of them. There aren't any experts above the Da Dou Shi level."

"Mm. We already slipped Muscle-softening Powder into their food, and we didn't miss the cups in their rooms either." The Black-faced Fatty, sitting cross-legged on the table, answered in a muffled voice.

"Are you sure there really aren't any Da Dou Shi or above? Muscle-softening Powder isn't that effective. Have you forgotten what you said last time? And what happened then..." Ding Lao'er frowned at Scarface.

"Can you stop bringing that up? That was just a mistake! I already told you, it was because of his Cultivation Method."

Seeing Ding Lao'er bringing up that incident again, just like the Black-faced Fatty had during the day, the Scar-faced Big Man showed displeasure.

It was just one mistake. Why did they have to bring it up every day?

"Hehehe, Scarface, you cost us several brothers last time. Don't misjudge things again this time and repeat the same mistake."

The Gaunt Man at the side giggled, rubbing salt into Scarface's wound.

"Shut your filthy mouth. Have you forgotten the lesson from last time?" Scarface clearly had little patience for the Gaunt Man. It was obvious the two did not get along well. "Or do you think your Blood Shadow Claw is tougher than my fists now? Want to challenge me?"

The Gaunt Man sneered and was just about to say, "You..."

"Enough! Stop arguing!"

A Gaunt Old Man, thin as dead wood with loose hair draped over his shoulders, arrived at the doorway leaning on a Pitch-black Metal Crutch. His voice was low and hoarse.

The Gaunt Man, who had been ready to trade verbal blows with Scarface, immediately fell silent, none of his previous arrogant, troublemaking swagger remaining.

The others also stopped making any noise. The hall became somewhat cold and quiet until the old man sat at the table and Ding Lao'er opened his mouth, warming the atmosphere again.

"Eldest Brother."

"Mm. Are the preparations complete?" The old man first gave Ding Lao'er a slight nod, then turned to Scarface and asked.

"They're ready."

"Gather everyone. Follow the usual Rules and begin." Unlike the others, the old man did not waste words and directly announced the start of the operation.

Upon hearing this, the others nodded and were about to stand when they caught the smell of something burning.

Along with it came waves of curses and shouts from between the upper floors and the Courtyard.

They could vaguely hear people shouting, "Fire!"

Hearing the cries, everyone in the hall changed expression slightly. Their targets tonight had all woken up!

"Damn it, who started the fire?!" Scarface stood up and immediately began cursing.

"Maybe someone discovered our operation." Ding Lao'er spoke with a grave expression.

Who knew that as soon as he finished speaking, the Gaunt Man retorted, "Could it be that you made too much noise in the Courtyard just now and drew someone's attention? I told you long ago to Be Careful. Heh heh, now look at this. We've got so much extra trouble."

Ding Lao'er clenched his fists and ignored him, looking toward the calm-faced Gaunt Old Man.

He made up his mind to teach that guy a good lesson after this job was done.

"Fine. So we've been discovered. It's not a Big Event. Scarface, Fatty, Lao'er, take your men and capture them directly." The old man's tone was as calm as still water, as if he did not take the matter seriously at all.

"Before they take Detoxification Pills, go quickly and return quickly. Mm, send a few men to put out the fire as well." After saying that, the old man closed his eyes to rest.

To him, this really was no Big Event. So what if those people had awakened? In such a short time, their strength could not recover. Could they possibly withstand his people?

The Gaunt Man failed to stir up trouble and could only let the matter drop resentfully.

Seeing this, the others said no more. They each led a group of men toward their designated targets, leaving only the Gaunt Old Man behind to guard the main hall.

Not Long After Scarface and the others rushed upstairs, Killing Sounds and the clang of weapons came from above.

In the shadows of the main hall.

Under his black robe, Xiao Ming stared fixedly at the gaunt figure in the center of the hall.

"This person isn't hiding his Aura at all. He's probably... a Five-Star Great Dou Shi! No wonder he's so fearless."

Xiao Ming pondered. This inn was thriving with business. During the day yesterday, apart from the group that had been captured, he had seen another twenty or thirty people in the hall.

Those who dared stay at this inn were likely travelers passing through Green Rock Town, outsiders like him who had some confidence in their own strength.

Strength symbolized status. Thus, many people on the Dou Qi Continent never concealed their Aura when traveling. Of course, concealing it was not very useful anyway, because it would be exposed the moment they fought, unless they had a Cultivation Method to hide it.

Displaying one's strength also earned the respect of Others, so why hide it? Some were even afraid people would not know their realm and directly embroidered their level onto their clothes.

This custom had been popular across the Dou Qi Continent for a long time and showed no sign of fading.

Through his observations during the day, Xiao Ming had discovered that among the twenty or thirty people who had checked in alongside him, there were quite a few Dou Shi, but aside from himself, there were no other Da Dou Shi.

With the strength of a Five-Star Great Dou Shi, the Gaunt Old Man would make it difficult for those people to resist even if they had not been drugged with Muscle-softening Powder.

Besides the old man, Ding Lao'er was also a One Star Great Dou Shi. The Scar-faced Big Man was a Nine Star Dou Shi, while the Black-faced Fatty and the Gaunt Man were Seven-Star Dou Shi.

There were also several Dou Zhe subordinates.

"The old man is four stars above me. I can only strike first. Otherwise, once his men finish dealing with the people upstairs, things will become far more troublesome. I just hope those upstairs aren't foolish enough to all be drugged."

Narrowing his eyes as he stared at the old man, Xiao Ming's thoughts raced.

Since he had decided on a Sneak Attack, Xiao Ming intended to hit him hard, preferably making this Human Trafficker lose the ability to resist in an instant.

His mind reached out to Ling, which remained in his Qi Cyclone Inside the Body. Two flames suddenly leaped from his hands, one Ethereal Blue and one pink.

Xiao Ming suddenly clapped his hands together, merging the two flames between his palms into a Blue-Pink Flame.

Separating his palms, Xiao Ming's ten fingers formed a series of highly agile hand signs. In a brief moment, he changed them more than twenty times before finally settling into a strange gesture: his five fingers were relaxed and straight, palms facing upward, his right ring finger hooked over his left ring finger, his right little finger hooked over his left little finger, and his left thumb pressing down on the nail of his left ring finger.

As his fingers moved, the Blue-Pink Flame had already formed into a Pink-Blue Seal. Dou Qi surged through Xiao Ming's Meridians like a raging flood, and waves of abundant power filled his entire body.

As he poured the mobilized Dou Qi into the Pink-Blue Seal, it rapidly expanded.

At the same time, the Heaven and Earth Energy around Xiao Ming was swiftly drawn into the seal.

Three Flame Ethereal Seal!

At last, Xiao Ming shouted inwardly. The instant the shout fell, he fiercely thrust his palm forward, sending the massive seal crashing down toward the Gaunt Old Man in the hall.

"Who is it?!"

Sensing a powerful Aura, the old man abruptly turned and roared, only to see a terrifying seal hurtling toward him.

Xiao Ming's movements had seemed incomparably complicated, yet he had completed them in an extremely short time. The Three Flame Ethereal Seal did not suffer from the clumsiness its massive size suggested.

As a result, by the time the Gaunt Old Man reacted and sensed the danger, the seal had already reached him. It was clearly too late to dodge.

Feeling the burning, destructive energy contained within the seal shooting toward him, the old man lost his earlier composure. A trace of helpless terror emerged in his heart.

This power was simply too immense. He even had a faint intuition that if he were struck head-on by that Blue-Purple Seal, he would likely be reduced to ashes.

"Where the hell did this guy come from?!"

Cursing inwardly, the Gaunt Old Man could only hastily hold his crutch across his body. Dou Qi poured into it frantically as though it cost nothing, and Green Dou Qi rapidly seeped from the crutch, forming a Green Barrier around him.

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