36, I'm Doing This Out of Respect for Hong Qigong

Elder Peng was shocked. He never expected his trump card, the "Mind-Control Technique," to be completely useless. His palms, which were blasting forward halfway, hurriedly changed moves, clamping inward, attempting to trap Lu Chen's long sword.

His reaction was indeed extremely fast, as expected of a master, but to use his hands to clamp a sword so hastily...

Lu Chen estimated that this chubby Elder Peng, who looked exactly like a pampered rich man, had probably gone a long time without fighting for his life because of his high status and having too many Beggar Gang disciples to command.

He likely made the first move today simply because he saw Lu Chen was young and thought he could bully a junior with his superior cultivation.

Thinking this, Lu Chen simply twisted his wrist slightly. The sword body, which was thrusting forward, rotated slightly as well, changing from vertical to horizontal.

As a result, Elder Peng's palms, which were clamping towards the center and slapping towards the sword body, heavily struck the sword's edge.

Clang!

With a crisp sound, Elder Peng's palm force was truly formidable. The Steel Sword was actually snapped in two by his bare hands.

But the price was also tragic.

He fearlessly struck the sword's edge with his bare palms. Under the heavy impact, his own palms also broke off from the middle. Both his left and right hands were left with only bare half-palms and a lonely thumb...

Blood splattered, and the severed hands flew off with the broken sword. Elder Peng's face contorted, and he let out a scream of agony:

"Ah! My hands..."

At this time, he hadn't landed yet and was still lunging forward with inertia, but the pain of his severed hands disrupted his True Qi, causing his body to lose control on the spot. So, what was originally a fierce aerial lunge instantly turned into a crashing fall.

Lu Chen looked regretfully at the half-broken sword in his hand.

This was the first sword he ever owned, and Rong'er had bought it for him. He had also used it to pass Huang Yaoshi's test and achieve his first kill in life, making it very memorable.

With a light sigh, he shifted a step to the side, avoiding Elder Peng's out-of-control plummeting obese body.

Bang!

Elder Peng fell headfirst onto the ground, getting completely disoriented and even knocking out a front tooth.

"Elder!"

The few Beggar Gang Clean-Clothed Faction disciples who had been surrounding Elder Peng earlier were utterly shocked. They never expected that Elder Peng, who had been so imposing and aggressive a moment ago, would be so miserably sprawled on the ground the next, with even his hands severed. They immediately cried out in alarm.

On the other side, Cao Song, Shen Qingshi, and the others who had just exchanged a few moves with Huang Rong and Li Mochou heard the cries, stole a glance, and were also greatly astonished. They never expected that just as they were starting to fight, Elder Peng, whom they regarded as their biggest backer, had already fallen!

That was a Nine-Bag Elder of the largest gang in the world!

The Beggar Gang, with over 100,000 disciples, only had four Nine-Bag Elders in total. Their status in the martial world was comparable to the Seven Freaks of Quanzhen, and they commanded far more disciples than the Seven Freaks of Quanzhen. How could he be so easily defeated?

Under the shock, Cao Song and the others' movements inevitably became chaotic.

How could Huang Rong miss this opportunity? Her Azure Adamantine Sword unleashed a storm-like rapid attack, alternating between Maiden of Yue Swordplay, Falling Blossom Swordplay, and Jade Flute Swordplay. With a few soft pops, three Hanshui Gang experts immediately lay dead on the ground. "Black-Clothed Scholar" Shen Qingshi also had his wrist struck by a sword, his iron fan fell to the ground, and he cried out as he rapidly retreated.

Huang Rong pursued relentlessly, her body moving like a gust of wind.

Shen Qingshi fiercely flicked his sleeve, shooting out a handful of iron caltrops, wildly scattering them at Huang Rong. Huang Rong circled her Azure Adamantine Sword, unleashing a peacock-like bright blue sword light that swept away all the incoming iron caltrops.

Following this, she flicked a finger, and a copper coin shot out, hitting Shen Qingshi squarely in the knee.

Shen Qingshi cried out in pain and stumbled, falling backward. Before he even hit the ground, Huang Rong had already flashed past him, her sword edge lightly slicing across his neck, leaving behind a crimson line of blood.

While Huang Rong seized the opportunity and easily succeeded here, Li Mochou was also rapidly growing in battle on the other side.

Previously, when dealing with a few henchmen in the inn, she was even forced to disrupt her rhythm by their desperate fighting style. Now, however, relying on the Ancient Tomb Sect's Movement Technique and swordplay, she was effortlessly suppressing the Hanshui Gang's First Boss, Cao Song, and three Hanshui Gang experts.

At the same time, she also understood the shortcomings of her own swordplay, realizing that the Ancient Tomb swordplay was somewhat lacking in killing power.

So, she used her sword in her right hand and sent out needles with her left. The tiny silver needles were impossible to guard against. First, the eyes of three Hanshui Gang experts were blinded by her needles, and then she easily finished them off with her sword.

Following that, the First Boss, Cao Song, also had a needle in his left eye, crying out as he raised his hand to cover his eye. Just as his hand touched his eye, Li Mochou delivered a finishing blow with her sword, piercing his throat.

"I killed someone!"

Looking at Cao Song and the others lying at her feet, blood gushing out, Li Mochou felt a dryness in her throat and her hands trembled slightly.

Earlier, when she and Huang Rong broke the ambush, although she had shot blind many Hanshui Gang members with flying needles, she hadn't killed anyone. This was her first time truly taking a life, and she felt a significant shock in her heart for a moment.

However, thinking of Lu Chen, who was about the same age as her, and the calm and composed look on his face when he wielded his sword, fighting and raining down blood, Li Mochou couldn't help but take a deep breath, suppressing the emotions in her heart. With a tight face and pursed lips, she tried her best to appear calm and composed, putting one hand behind her back and lightly flicking her long sword with the other hand, shaking off the blood drops from the tip of the sword, and cleanly sheathing her sword.

Well, although her imitation was quite good, her expression was still a bit too tense, lacking some natural ease.

The scattered Hanshui Gang members around, seeing Elder Peng fall and their two bosses and several branch leaders also perish, where would they dare to stay? They immediately scattered, shouting and screaming.

However, those few Beggar Gang disciples did not dare to abandon their elder and bravely said to Lu Chen:

"Your Excellency has severely injured Elder Peng. We hope you will be merciful and not harm Elder Peng's life!"

Lu Chen had been paying attention to Huang Rong and Li Mochou's battle and felt relieved when he saw them both achieve great victories. At this time, he was reviewing his fight with Elder Peng.

Recalling the momentum of Elder Peng's attack, judging from his Movement Technique, palm force, and the swift reaction of withdrawing his move to clamp the sword, if he hadn't been so arrogant and insisted on jumping up to fight, but had been a bit more steady and fought seriously with his feet on the ground, and perhaps used a weapon he was good at, he might have been considered a decent opponent, capable of fighting Lu Chen for a while.

However, for some reason, Elder Peng insisted on jumping up to show off...

You don't know "Flying Dragon in the Sky," what are you showing off?

Lu Chen felt he had learned another lesson:

Be steady in battle.

Especially during life-and-death struggles, when you shouldn't show off, absolutely do not show off randomly.

Otherwise, no matter how high your martial arts, you might be caught with a weakness and taken down in one move.

As he was pondering, he heard the Beggar Gang disciples talking. Lu Chen glanced at them.

"What did you just say?"

Caught by his gaze, the scalps of those Beggar Gang disciples immediately tingled. After a moment of hesitation, they still spoke up:

"Elder Peng is a Nine-Bag Elder of our Beggar Gang..."

Lu Chen frowned and said, "So?"

One of the Beggar Gang disciples took a deep breath and spoke seriously:

"If a Nine-Bag Elder violates gang rules, even the Gang Leader must convene all the elders and Eight-Bag Disciples to discuss the punishment. They cannot be dealt with arbitrarily."

Lu Chen nodded:

"Those are the Beggar Gang's rules, right? I understand. But..."

He swung his broken sword, and with a shink, he severed Elder Peng's neck.

After cutting him down, he said with a puzzled look:

"I'm not a Beggar Gang disciple, am I? The Beggar Gang's rules don't apply to me, do they?"

Although his words were impolite, in his heart, he felt that this was actually a sign of respect for Hong Qigong.

After all, even though Hong Qigong had a chivalrous heart, he was bound by gang rules, making it so troublesome to deal with an elder. It was better for him to do it for him.

"..."

Those Beggar Gang disciples were dumbfounded, completely astonished that he had killed Elder Peng so decisively!

"This person associated with villains like the Hanshui Gang who commit evil deeds and harm the common people. He ruined the Beggar Gang's reputation and deserved to die. I believe if the Beggar Gang Leader knew what this person did, he would also clean house."

Lu Chen said indifferently.

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