Assassination

Bai Ze lay on the bed, secretly circulating the Turtle Breathing Technique to hold his breath, one hand quietly reaching for the longsword beside him.

He had only cultivated it to perfection for Talent Points before; its sole use was holding his breath. He had not expected it to prove so useful at such a critical moment.

More than ten minutes later,

the lead black-clad man glanced into the room. Feeling that the time was right, he pushed open the door and walked inside.

Seeing Bai Ze lying motionless on the bed several steps away, he snorted coldly and mocked, "I gave you a chance before. Since you insisted on courting death, you can't blame anyone else."

"You lot, cut off his head and bring it back. We'll claim our reward from the Hall Master."

"Yes."

After hearing this, the black-clad men on either side raised their steel sabers and stepped forward. Just as they were about to strike,

a sword cry rang out. A flash of white light swept past, slicing open both their throats, and Bai Ze sprang into the air and landed atop the bed.

He gripped his longsword tightly and pointed it ahead, staring at them with icy eyes.

Expressionless, he said, "Scarface, I knew you wouldn't let this go. I didn't expect you to take this long to come."

"But since you've delivered yourselves to my door, don't blame me for showing no mercy."

The moment he heard the man's voice, he had recognized him.

He had known that Scarface would never let the matter rest after failing to recruit him. Murder was the best solution, so Bai Ze had long been on guard.

"Kill!"

Scarface did not waste words. He raised his steel saber and charged forward, clearly determined to kill Bai Ze this time.

Bai Ze shot forward, his longsword flickering like a venomous snake darting out its tongue as it struck straight for his opponent's vital points.

Scarface's steel saber, meanwhile, opened and closed in broad, sweeping arcs, as though splitting heaven and earth. Together with the two black-clad men at his side, every move was aimed at taking a life.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

After exchanging several moves, the speed of Bai Ze's sword erupted once more. With his Sword Drawing Technique, he drove straight for Scarface's throat.

Although Scarface had reached the peak of the Bone Refining Realm, he found it difficult to evade such a sudden attack.

"Ah!"

"Damn it!"

Scarface instantly grabbed a subordinate at his side and used him to block the strike amid the man's disbelieving gaze.

Then he kicked the man away, sending him crashing through the window as he leaped outside.

Bai Ze's expression did not change at all as he watched the corpse fly toward him. He sidestepped it, drove his sword through the other man's throat, then sprang after Scarface.

Scarface had only taken a few steps and was about to flee when a white figure flashed overhead and blocked his path.

Seeing Bai Ze barring the way ahead, he forcibly stopped.

He gripped his steel saber and watched Bai Ze warily, threatening in a cold voice, "Bai Ze, I didn't expect you to have hidden yourself so deeply. But don't forget, I am a trusted confidant of Hall Master Wang of Snake Hall."

"If you know what's good for you, move aside. Let's pretend none of this ever happened. When I return, I'll even put in a few good words for you before the Hall Master."

"Otherwise, when the blame comes down, a hundred lives still won't be enough for you."

Bai Ze sneered when he heard this. He did not answer, merely gripping his longsword and stabbing forward.

Trying to use the Hall Master of Snake Hall to threaten him now—wasn't that a little too late?

Although he was still far from being a match for the Hall Master of Snake Hall, that did not mean he feared him.

Besides, Bai Ze was now the Deputy Hall Master of Leopard Hall. If they wanted to move against him, they would have to take the Black Panther and Scarred Leopard brothers into account.

But Bai Ze would never place his own life in someone else's hands.

One thing was certain now: Scarface had absolutely no chance of leaving alive.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Amid a storm of Blade Light Sword Shadow, Bai Ze pressed forward step by step.

Although his opponent was at the peak of the Bone Refining Realm, one minor realm above him,

under Bai Ze's Seven Wind Chasing Swords at Great Accomplishment, he was forced into a frantic defense, several wounds already added to his body.

Just then, Bai Ze's longsword trembled. Like lightning, a flash of white light streaked past, slipping through the steel saber's defense and piercing straight into Scarface's throat.

Scarface spat blood from his mouth, one trembling finger pointing at Bai Ze as if he still wanted to say something.

Bai Ze suddenly pulled out his sword, and blood gushed forth.

Scarface clutched his throat and collapsed to the ground with unwillingness in his eyes. After twitching a few times, he stopped moving.

At dawn,

Bai Ze had already cleaned everything up. As for Scarface and the others' corpses, they had been buried beneath the large tree in the courtyard—fertilizer, if nothing else.

After practicing the Seven Wind Chasing Swords several times, he sat down on the stone bench nearby.

Seeing that the proficiency of Seven Wind Chasing Swords had increased by another 2%, he was quite satisfied.

He muttered to himself, "With my current talent, I can bring the Seven Wind Chasing Swords to perfection in five or six days at most."

"But if I want to break through to the peak of the Bone Refining Realm, or even the Viscera Refining Realm, I'll need a large number of Bone Forging Pills. As long as I have enough, I can definitely break through within three months."

"Damn it, I'm really poor. The five of them together only had a little over thirteen hundred taels of silver."

Looking at the Silver Notes he had just obtained, Bai Ze's face showed some helplessness.

After all, if he wanted to break through quickly, he needed a great deal of money, and he clearly did not have enough right now.

Since that was the case, he would muddy the already murky waters of the Black Tiger Gang even further, so that he could fish in troubled waters.

There was another reason as well: he wanted to keep the Hall Master of Snake Hall too busy to care about his side, buying himself more time to develop.

Just as Bai Ze was about to make his move, someone sent by the Black Panther arrived.

Bai Ze said expressionlessly, "I understand. I'll go over immediately."

"Yes."

After the lowly lackey who had delivered the message left, Bai Ze sank into thought. He had not expected the Black Panther to summon him so suddenly.

As for what exactly it was about, he would only know after going there.

A short while later,

Bai Ze entered Leopard Hall's headquarters and met the Black Panther and Scarred Leopard brothers.

When the Black Panther saw Bai Ze, he laughed heartily and said, "Little Bai, you're here. Sit, don't stand on ceremony."

"Thank you, Hall Master."

"Hey, why call me Hall Master? You're Leopard Hall's Deputy Hall Master now too. We're brothers from now on. Just call me Old Leopard, or Brother Leopard."

"Then, Brother Leopard."

"That's more like it. Sit, sit."

Bai Ze put on a respectful appearance and carefully sat down.

Though the Black Panther appeared friendly toward him now, Bai Ze knew that the man was extremely cruel and would stop at nothing to achieve his goals.

Whenever his subordinates made even the slightest mistake, the lightest punishment was broken hands or feet; the heavier punishment was losing their lives outright.

There had even been a time before when someone said the wrong thing and was overheard by him. He sent people to pull every tooth from that man's mouth before throwing him onto the street.

That was precisely why Bai Ze was especially cautious when facing the Black Panther.

After Bai Ze sat down, the Black Panther actually began chatting and laughing with him, as though he had summoned him merely to discuss trivial matters.

Yet the more it was like this, the more vigilant Bai Ze became.

Sure enough,

at that moment, the Black Panther changed the subject and said seemingly casually, "Oh, right. I heard Scarface from Snake Hall has been looking to cause you trouble lately. Is that true?"

"There have been a few minor frictions."

Hearing this suddenly brought up, Bai Ze nodded without hesitation.

At the same time, his mind raced. He had already wanted to make the Black Tiger Gang's waters even muddier, and this was clearly an opportunity.

For that reason, Bai Ze recounted how Scarface had tried to recruit him earlier, adding a little oil and vinegar to the story.

Naturally, he concealed what had happened the previous night and said nothing about it.

After hearing this, the Black Panther's face gradually darkened. He slammed the table hard and roared, "Damn it, what the hell is that loach Fatty Wang? If it weren't for me back then, would he have what he has today?"

"Don't worry. This matter absolutely won't end like this."

"If he dares send anyone over again, just chop them to death for me. I'll shoulder anything that happens."

"Yes."