Origins

In the darkness, two burly men traded blow after blow with dull thuds. It looked fierce, yet Lu Shan only felt his fists and legs bog down, as though every stance and move had been foreseen by his opponent.

Li Qi seemed able to predict the future, always intercepting his attacks midway and leaving him unable to unleash his full strength!

His fighting techniques were ineffective, his strength was inferior, and he could not even break the skin of the man before him. Under such a disadvantage, Lu Shan swiftly fell, his arms broken by Li Qi and his ankles crushed beneath Li Qi's foot.

All around them, apart from Li Qi and Lu Shan, there was not another person in sight.

"Whew..." Li Qi wiped the mixture of blood and sweat from his forehead, feeling slightly nauseated.

It was not because of killing people. He had no particular feelings about killing—neither excitement nor especial disgust. But to put on a savage appearance and frighten off those boatmen, he had bitten several mouthfuls of raw flesh. The bloody stench filling his mouth made his stomach churn.

On top of that, he had taken several heavy blows. Even with the thick hide granted by the Ox-Strength Technique, his internal organs had been jolted, and his skin had split open. His injuries were not severe, but they certainly were not light either.

If those twenty-odd boatmen had truly been willing to risk their lives and form up to surround him, he might really have fallen here.

Fortunately, even after some degree of training, a rabble was still a rabble.

"Shan Dazhuang, you really took a hard fall this time. Well? Are you convinced?" Li Qi sat down, maintaining the Ox-Strength Technique as he spoke to Lu Shan.

"Pah!" Lu Shan spat, but his hands and feet hurt so badly that even this glob of phlegm lacked force. It did not even fly half a meter before landing on his own stomach.

"Li Qi, you bastard are sly and treacherous. Do not dream of making me admit defeat!" he cursed.

"But a loss is a loss, and I accept it. Yet you killed so many people while sparing me alone, breaking my hands and feet instead. Let me tell you, if you want to humiliate me, keep dreaming!" He struggled as he roared at Li Qi.

"Enough. What's wrong with me? Who wants to humiliate you?" Li Qi shook his head. Why would he humiliate Lu Shan for no reason?

He had kept him alive only because he had a few questions.

"You're crippled now. Answer a few questions, and I'll let you go back. You won't have to die here. You've been a gang leader for so long; you should have some savings. Go back and recover. Though you'll be lame and unable to lift anything with your hands, you probably won't starve to death. So? Deal?" Li Qi said bluntly.

"You and I both know that although we've fought each other for so long, we've both kept our word. I wouldn't be deceiving you at a time like this. So, are you willing?" Li Qi sat beside him and spoke thus.

"What do you want to ask?" Though Lu Shan had not lowered his guard, his tone softened somewhat.

"You definitely aren't a boatman. Where did you come from?" Li Qi asked first.

"Heh, listen to you talk. Are you a boatman, then?" Lu Shan sneered. With difficulty, he shifted himself and leaned his back against a rock. "The pot calling the kettle black. You suddenly appeared three years ago, dressed strangely, weak enough that you couldn't even truss a chicken, with not the slightest trace of cultivation. Were your Three Innate Treasures smashed by someone before you were thrown into Li Prefecture?"

Hearing this inexplicable term, Li Qi's expression immediately sharpened.

He knew he had gambled correctly.

But this was not the time to reveal weakness, so Li Qi shook his head. "Why are you asking so much about me? I'm the one asking questions now."

"Heh." Lu Shan gave a cold laugh, but did not ask anything further.

"You still haven't answered me. Where did you come from?" Li Qi pressed.

"Song Kingdom. A deserter." Lu Shan answered impatiently. "Back then, the Tang Kingdom attacked the Song Kingdom. The whole country fell; generals did not dare fight, soldiers did not dare advance. So I fled, following the Li River all the way to Li Prefecture."

Li Qi suddenly understood.

So that was it. Now it all made sense.

Whether it was his military manner or that morale-dependent battle formation from before, Lu Shan had likely learned it all in the army.

But upon further thought, something still seemed wrong.

"No. If you were a deserter from the Song Kingdom, then with your skill, how could these two boatman gangs possibly contend with you? Shouldn't they have been swallowed up long ago? Take the battle formation you used today, combined with your fighting techniques—shouldn't you have won ages ago?" Li Qi frowned.

"You think I didn't want to? If it weren't for you, I would've swallowed the Wave-Pushing Gang and the Water-Horse Gang long ago!" Lu Shan glared. "The Mighty Gang is the youngest gang. Six years ago, I fled here alone and built the Mighty Gang with my own two hands. My cultivation method came from the strength-training methods of the Song Kingdom's rank-and-file army. Cultivating it also trained one in battle formations. After enduring in silence for four years, I finally saw results—but then you appeared, forcing me to keep accumulating strength."

The more Lu Shan spoke, the angrier he grew. "If it weren't for you, this place would have been under my control two years ago!"

Hearing this, Li Qi thought it over carefully.

That was indeed true!

When he had first arrived here, the Mighty Gang had often encroached upon the other two gangs. But at the time, to protect himself, he had devised a strategy of vertical and horizontal alliances. He joined forces with the Water-Horse Gang and resisted several rounds of suppression. Then, using the terrain and the Wave-Pushing Gang's advantage in water-based cultivation methods, he had blocked the Mighty Gang several more times.

Presumably, after that, Lu Shan realized he could not easily take them down with his current strength. So he had hidden the formation away, intending to use it as a killing move?

That was why, when he had the chance to obtain a technique, he had launched his plan without hesitation.

Yet he had never expected Li Qi to learn the Ox-Strength Technique in a single day, then swiftly organize a counterattack.

Thinking about it... Lu Shan seemed rather unlucky.

But if Lu Shan had not been unlucky... then Li Qi would have been the unlucky one.

"Then your formation—" Li Qi tentatively began.

"Dream on! Even if you kill me here, I will never teach it to you!" Lu Shan erupted in curses, his reaction violent.

Come to think of it, in this world, cultivation methods were things people would never pass on even in death. Unless one joined an organization and proved loyalty, formed a master-disciple relationship, or exchanged on equal terms, obtaining another person's cultivation method was harder than climbing to the heavens.

Just look at the Water-Horse Gang and the Wave-Pushing Gang. They had nearly been driven to death, yet neither side had exchanged cultivation methods.

To them, they would probably rather be destroyed than pass them on to outsiders.

"Sigh, fine. You're crippled anyway, and after today, the Mighty Gang's people will probably scatter in all directions. Take care of yourself, then," Li Qi said.

Then he stood and crushed Lu Shan's head beneath one foot.

Spare him a way to live?

What a joke. One look showed this man was brimming with ambition. Even crippled, he could not be trusted! If Li Qi truly let him go, what if he returned someday and killed him instead!?

Li Qi kept his word most of the time, but that did not mean he would pay with his own life for the sake of keeping it.

Having eliminated the future threat, it was time to go back and consider how to deal with the authorities.