"Chief Escort Du, the moment you opened your mouth, you ordered me to release them. Wouldn't that make me, Jiang Dali, a laughingstock? How would I explain it to all my brothers?"
Jiang Dali looked at the furious Du Dajin and laughed silently. Still seated in his large chair without rising, he sneered, "Our Black Wind Stronghold is a peaceable mountain stronghold that does business with its doors open.
When your Dragon Gate Escort Agency passed through our territory, I personally came forward to collect some toll fees, only to be treated like a beggar by some blind fool.
So I seized a shipment from your Dragon Gate Escort Agency. That was also according to the rules.
Yet you, Chief Escort Du, first sent men to secretly kill my people, then sent men up the mountain to fire hidden arrows. Isn't that against the rules?"
Du Dajin coldly scrutinized Jiang Dali. Instead of growing angrier, he laughed. "It seems Great Mountain Lord Jiang is determined to twist right and wrong today and make trouble for my Dragon Gate Escort Agency?
I know the full story of what happened back then.
Our Dragon Gate Escort Agency has traveled north and south for over twenty years. We understand the rules of the trade.
Didn't my men give your Black Wind Stronghold plenty in tribute back then? Yet you still resorted to dirty tricks and robbed our escort shipment. How was that following the rules?"
"Hahaha."
Jiang Dali abruptly rose to his feet. His mountain-like, powerful body radiated an oppressive force as he said coldly, "A mere fifty taels of silver isn't even enough to cover one meal and a round of drinks for this stronghold master. Chief Escort Du, do you look down on your Dragon Gate Escort Agency, or do you look down on me, Jiang?"
"That's right! Are you looking down on our stronghold master?"
"What the hell is the Dragon Gate Escort Agency? How dare they look down on Black Wind Stronghold?"
Jiang Dali's domineering response stirred the mountain bandits into a feverish frenzy. Some hot-blooded simpletons immediately stood up and shouted in outrage.
The players exchanged looks and could only join in the shouting, all while lavishly flattering Jiang Dali.
With over a hundred people yelling together, an immense uproar instantly rose across the mountain, like mountains calling and seas roaring.
As for Jiang Dali, standing amid the crowd, he carried the imposing air of one call bringing a host of followers.
The escorts and porters from the Dragon Gate Escort Agency all grew tense, their hands gripping their weapons.
All at once.
The atmosphere turned taut as drawn bows.
Du Dajin snorted coldly, his voice suppressing the entire crowd. His face dark as iron, he glanced at the Bronze Bull in the distance and narrowed his eyes. "Young man, watch your words. You can't make a name for yourself in the martial world through brute force alone. Release my men now, and I can leave you a path to live."
"Hehehe." Jiang Dali lowered his eyelids and chuckled. "Chief Escort Du, how about we make a wager?"
Du Dajin asked, "What do you want to bet?"
Jiang Dali said calmly, "I've long heard that Chief Escort Du is a senior of the martial world. You studied under Shaolin's Zen Master Yuan Ye for twelve years before completing your training, mastering two great Shaolin arts of internal and external cultivation.
I'm merely a bandit chief and have never learned any peerless techniques.
If I can force Chief Escort Du to use your Shaolin techniques today, then the grievance between you and Black Wind Stronghold will be written off. You will also remain at Black Wind Stronghold for two days, have some drinks with this junior, and exchange a few moves. How about it?"
Du Dajin laughed angrily in a deep voice. "You fear that I'll easily subdue you once I use Shaolin techniques, so you're deliberately trying to provoke me?"
Jiang Dali sneered. "All martial arts under heaven come from Shaolin. Of course it would be a lie to say I'm not afraid. But Chief Escort Du, you've roamed the martial world for so many years, and only your Repeating Steel Darts have made you famous. There's no mention of Shaolin techniques.
I'm quite curious. Is it because your skills are lacking and you don't wish to display them, or are you simply so formidable that no one has ever forced out your techniques? I'm about to find out."
"Hahaha. What an arrogant Black Wind Stronghold Master. And if you fail to force out my Shaolin techniques, then what?" Du Dajin laughed coldly.
Jiang Dali raised one hand in invitation. "If I fail to force out your Shaolin techniques today, this stronghold master will not only release your men, but also slit his own throat in apology."
"What?" Du Dajin was startled, cold glints flashing repeatedly in his eyes. "Good, very good! You truly don't know the immensity of heaven and earth. Then come!"
Whoosh—
He abruptly flicked his arm and drew two steel darts. With a snap of his wrist, they shot through the air. Though the two darts were launched at once, their trajectories were entirely different. The one on the right whistled through the air with astonishing speed, while the one on the left dipped diagonally downward, advancing somewhat slower.
At the same time he fired the darts, Du Dajin charged forward, throwing a single fist straight and fiercely at Jiang Dali.
Yet Jiang Dali also flicked his wrist. Willow-leaf blades shot out like venomous bees, whistling through the air as cold flashes danced everywhere and the sound of tearing wind erupted.
With two sharp clangs, two willow-leaf blades struck Du Dajin's steel darts and knocked them off course.
The remaining willow-leaf blades continued onward, attacking Du Dajin from several angles.
"You also possess such exquisite hidden-weapon techniques."
Du Dajin's expression changed slightly. His body suddenly turned, and he spread his five fingers, sweeping his sleeve as though plucking the strings of a zither.
Several willow-leaf blades were instantly redirected and sent flying elsewhere.
He roared and rushed to Jiang Dali's side like a horse leaping across a stream. His fists twisted and turned before blasting out like cannonballs. A deep burst of fist wind and force rang out in the air as his attack slammed into Jiang Dali, who did not even try to evade.
Bang!
The ground beneath Jiang Dali's feet seemed to tremble. In that instant, he appeared to transform into some demonic fiend. The muscles throughout his body swelled grotesquely to more than twice their size, veins bulging as though about to burst. His knotted physique turned blue-black in an instant, as if forged from steel and iron.
Du Dajin felt as though his fist had struck a block of refined steel. His knuckles throbbed faintly with pain as his expression changed. "A hard external Iron Cloth Skill?"
"Your punch is decent too. It's just a little lacking in force. You almost hurt me." Jiang Dali nodded approvingly.
"Impossible! You've actually cultivated the Iron Cloth Skill to such a level?"
Du Dajin knew the force behind his punch. It could crack a wall, and if it struck a human body, it would certainly shatter bones. Yet Jiang Dali had not even felt pain.
"Nothing is impossible. Try taking one of my punches too!"
Jiang Dali moved slightly, and his sinews and bones erupted with explosive cracks. His limbs and spine drew taut like a fully pulled bow. With a swing of his left fist, he suddenly punched out.
The simple Four Directions Fist, empowered by the strength enhancement of the Iron Cloth Skill, came down like a tiger descending a mountain, its fist wind terrifying.
Du Dajin's expression changed. He felt as though the air around him had been forcibly squeezed away, and a suffocating pressure bore down on him from the front.
Unwilling to yield, he roared and circulated his internal energy, throwing out a punch to meet it.
Bang!
Their fists collided heavily.
The packed yellow earth beneath their feet violently split apart.
"I—"
Du Dajin's face abruptly flushed red. His body trembled lightly, but he forcefully drew in a breath and suppressed it, then continued exchanging punches.
Bang bang bang, bang bang bang!
In an instant, fists and palms clashed as the two exchanged more than a dozen rounds of attacks. Like two savage beasts plowing through the field, they stomped the ground until dirt sprayed and burst everywhere, making the crowd's expressions change.
The longer Du Dajin fought, the more shocked and furious he became.
Jiang Dali, in his Iron Cloth Skill state, was even tougher and more resilient than a wooden training dummy. His skin and flesh were hard, his defense absurdly strong, and his strength immense.
Not only had Du Dajin failed to do anything to Jiang Dali after more than a dozen exchanges, but the impacts had left his Qi and Blood churning and his fists aching as though his bones were about to crack.
This clearly could not continue.
At the same time, he understood Jiang Dali's intention.
His opponent was clearly trying to force him to use the Shaolin technique, Demon Subduing Palm.
When Demon Subduing Palm was used, its palm force was exceptionally soft and faint, following a gentle path. It was a famous soft-palm art.
This kind of palm technique specialized in breaking hard external skills.
If he used Demon Subduing Palm now, he could definitely reverse the situation.
But if he did, he would have effectively lost.
Before you continue