Huang Brothers

Zeng Fan stared grimly at the three men opposite him. The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind it. He had never expected to become someone else's easy pickings. The situation was extremely unfavorable for him. Every muscle in his body tensed as Spiritual Energy roared through his veins. He had to stall for time and recover as much as he could.

With that thought, Zeng Fan slowly spoke: "Brothers, we'll give up the Body Tempering Fruit. Just let us leave, all right?"

Of the three, the men on the left and right both turned to the one in the middle. It seemed he was the leader. After hearing Zeng Fan, the man smiled. "Of course. When traveling outside, no one wants to cause unnecessary trouble. This Body Tempering Fruit was planted by us three Huang Brothers. We originally planned to come harvest it today, but you killed the Scorpion Tiger guarding it. How are we supposed to settle that?"

"Bullshit. Every word is a fart." Zeng Fan cursed inwardly. There was no way this thing had been planted by them. He wasn't deaf; he had heard the delight in their voices just now. He could only find a way to deal with one of them first. Keeping a smile on his face, Zeng Fan continued, "Of course, of course. What kind of compensation do you want? We'll certainly satisfy you."

"What do I want? Hmm... Of course, I want your lives! Second Brother, Third Brother, attack!" Huang Da smiled as he gradually drew closer to Zeng Fan. Then his smile abruptly twisted into a savage grin, and he shouted toward his brothers. The three brothers had accidentally discovered the Body Tempering Fruit earlier. Since it was not yet ripe and the Scorpion Tiger was there, they had left it alone for the time being. They estimated that it would ripen within a few days, so they had hurried over to harvest it.

Unexpectedly, they heard the sounds of battle as soon as they approached. They crept closer and discovered Zeng Fan and the others dealing with the Scorpion Tiger. Naturally, they were delighted to see someone else doing their work for them. While building up their Spiritual Energy, they drew the Spirit Breaking Arrows they had kept in reserve.

The three brothers had only three of these arrows between them. They could pierce the skin of someone in the Body Tempering Realm, and with good luck, kill them outright. They had originally planned to ambush Zeng Fan and Wang Ying and kill them directly, then leave the two women alive to enjoy themselves. Unexpectedly, their attack had been dodged.

But that did not matter. Zeng Fan was stalling for time—why wouldn't they do the same? Now that they had closed the distance, there were two at the Major Accomplishment of Body Tempering Bone, while one of their opponents was injured in the shoulder. They had complete confidence. All three brothers were at the Major Accomplishment of Body Tempering Bone, which was more than enough to deal with these two. The other two women were no threat.

Hearing Huang Da's shout, the other two nodded with savage expressions. They split in two directions: one charged toward Zeng Fan, while the other two rushed at Wang Ying. Their plan was for both of them to attack with all their strength and eliminate Wang Ying first, then surround and kill Zeng Fan with all three of them.

Seeing the two men rush toward Wang Ying, Zeng Fan turned and shouted at Yao Ling'er, "Go help Wang Ying hold them off! I'll deal with this one!"

Yao Ling'er had already recovered from her shock. She knew this was a life-or-death moment, so she nodded at Zeng Fan. Though her face was deathly pale, she forced her Spiritual Energy into motion and went to reinforce Wang Ying.

Wang Ying also knew that this was the moment to fight for his life. While Zeng Fan had been stalling them with conversation, he had already used his teeth and right hand to temporarily bind the bloody wound on his shoulder. Hearing Zeng Fan's roar, madness appeared on Wang Ying's face. All the Spiritual Energy in his body began to howl as he charged toward the two brothers. He knew he could only gamble on Zeng Fan defeating his opponent before he was beaten, then coming to support him. Only then would there be a sliver of hope. Four figures rapidly collided.

Zeng Fan turned his head, drew a light breath, and watched Huang San rapidly approach. A cold glint flashed through his eyes. The time to fight for his life had come.

Huang San charged toward Zeng Fan. He knew that his task was not to fight Zeng Fan to the death. As long as he could hold Zeng Fan back and prevent him from going to support the others, he would have succeeded. Once his big brother and second brother dealt with the other two, they would be the ones laughing last.

With that thought, Huang San did not attack with all his strength. He swept his right leg toward Zeng Fan. Zeng Fan raised his elbow to block. With a light impact, Huang San was shocked to find that Zeng Fan had remained rooted to the spot and directly withstood the blow without shifting his body. This proved that the other man's strength surpassed his own.

"How is that possible?" Huang San was baffled. Only after closing in did he sense that Zeng Fan was merely at the Major Accomplishment of Body Tempering Bone, yet his strength was in no way inferior to someone at the Full Completion of Body Tempering Bone like himself.

"This man must die!" The killing intent in Huang San's eyes grew even more intense. An opponent who could cross a minor realm and still overpower him—if he let him escape, that man would surely return for his life before long.

Huang San stopped hesitating and attacked with all his strength. Spiritual Energy surged through him, and the skin covering his body seemed to turn black. He charged at Zeng Fan again and threw a punch. Zeng Fan met it with his own fist. The instant they collided, Huang San felt that Zeng Fan's strength was unexpectedly several degrees weaker than before.

"What an opportunity!" Huang San did not hesitate. He twisted around and threw another punch. Zeng Fan was blasted straight into the air and tumbled across the ground several times. "When you're down, I'll take your life!" Spiritual Energy rapidly gathered in Huang San's leg as he drove a vicious kick toward Zeng Fan. Just as it was about to strike, Zeng Fan suddenly sprang up from the ground. His body slipped aside like a swimming fish, dodging Huang San's attack, while his clenched fist smashed toward Huang San's head.

Huang San tilted his head and dodged. He was just about to retreat when something suddenly flew out from Zeng Fan's fist. Before Huang San could react, a cloud of powder had already enveloped his face.

"Ahhhhh!" The instant the powder covered him, Huang San let out an uncontrollable scream. White smoke rose from the ground where the powder landed. Huang San could endure the pain in his skin, but most importantly, he couldn't see anything! Covering his face, Huang San screamed. Though he could not see, he heard a whistling sound approach, followed by agonizing pain in his abdomen. His scream abruptly cut off. He felt as if that punch had nearly knocked his gallbladder out.

Huang San lay curled on the ground, struggling to stand. A foot had already appeared above his neck, then stamped down viciously.

"Crack!" The sound of breaking bones rang out. Huang San felt the bones in his neck snap. His entire body rose uncontrollably into the air, and then he knew no more.

"One down." Beside Huang San's corpse, Zeng Fan breathed heavily. To eliminate Huang San quickly, he had already poured out all his strength. The packet of powder had been prepared earlier by Yao Ling'er at his request. He had originally wanted it as a precaution in case fellow disciples harbored evil intentions, but he had ended up using it here.

To keep Huang San from noticing, Zeng Fan had deliberately weakened his strength. When Huang San struck him and sent him tumbling, he had secretly taken out the powder, then used it before delivering the killing blow. The black skin Huang San had displayed at the beginning must have been some kind of killing move meant to strengthen his body. After the powder disrupted his Spiritual Energy, it vanished when Zeng Fan attacked. Combined with Zeng Fan's strength, which surpassed that of his realm, this had allowed him to succeed in one stroke.

"Third Brother!" A voice filled with pain and intense killing intent came from the other battle. Zeng Fan turned his head. Huang Da and Huang Er stood there, while Wang Ying lay on the ground, his life or death unknown. His left arm was nowhere to be seen, and Yao Ling'er had also collapsed unconscious on the ground.

There was some blood at the corner of Huang Er's mouth, likely caused by Wang Ying's final counterattack. Huang Da's aura had weakened slightly, but he showed no obvious injuries.

Zeng Fan knew he could only rely on himself now. Wang Ying had done all he could by injuring Huang Er with his life on the line, and Yao Ling'er no longer had the strength to fight. He exhaled softly, and the smell of rust entered his nose.

"Die!" Huang Da and Huang Er charged at Zeng Fan, furious. They had never expected Huang San to be killed in such a short time. The pain of losing his brother spread through Huang Da's heart. He had already begun regretting why he had not personally held Zeng Fan back while sending Huang Er and Huang San to deal with Wang Ying. Now, only sacrificing Zeng Fan's head to his brother's spirit in heaven could ease his agony.

"Come on!" Zeng Fan's muscles suddenly tensed. He drew a deep breath, and three figures rapidly closed in.