Jinsha Gang's Shock and Rage: More Experts?

Having completely offended and made an enemy of Xiao Tian, the entire Cheng family wore expressions of worry. When it rains, it pours—the Jinsha Gang alone was already suffocating pressure, and now with a petty villain like Xiao Tian added to the mix, it truly seemed heaven was cutting off all paths to survival.

And all of this, Zhou Qiming, who had returned home, knew nothing about; he was already immersed in training the Earth Fiend Legs.

"Once I get the basics of this leg technique down, my speed and evasive ability will skyrocket."

He still had leftover Brute Ox Skin Grinding Paste on hand, and after restocking a large batch of medicinal herbs and ginseng from the Cheng family, Zhou Qiming's resources had piled up deep. For now, he didn't need to scramble for cultivation materials.

"Copper Skin doesn't seem to be the limit yet—let me try grinding and accumulating further!"

Zhou Qiming could clearly feel that as the Iron Cloth Skill advanced toward perfection, his skin membrane grew tougher, as if it were shedding its copper hue and returning to simplicity, transforming toward white.

This was the level of Jade Skin, a legendary pinnacle achievement said to be attainable only by great experts from noble families and sects!

Skin grinding was the first major hurdle of the Body Tempering realm, representing a martial artist's foundation. Only by building the outer skin membrane thick and solid enough could it bear the force of the muscles.

The skin membrane was the water tank, and the force was the water inside—how could a tiny tank hold an ocean!

Zhou Qiming wasn't satisfied with Copper Skin; he wanted to push this first major hurdle to its absolute limit.

As for the second major hurdle, Muscle Cultivation, he had already generated force ahead of time. Once he stepped into Muscle Cultivation, he would immediately be at Muscle Cultivation Perfection, so there was no need to rush breaking through.

"Pushing one thing to the extreme—that's what martial arts is all about!"

[Iron Cloth Skill Mastery 89%!]

After a real battle, he had barely practiced his fists for a while, and the Iron Cloth Skill's progress had surged by over ten percentage points.

Watching the real-time feedback on the panel, Zhou Qiming grew more excited and immersed the more he trained. This feeling of putting in effort and getting results, with no need to worry about bottlenecks, was too satisfying!

Outside Jinshui Town, in Hongye Village, stood the Jinsha Gang's main headquarters. At this moment, it was brightly lit and heavily guarded, with sounds of card games and drinking games spilling out.

Inside the hall, a group of core members gathered before Vice Gang Leader Jin Buhuan.

Heavenly Firm Hall's Hall Master Li Qing laughed: "Brother Jin is still too cautious. A tiny Cheng family is nothing—I'll take my men right now and wipe them out. Let's see what Iron Clothes Martial Arts School dares to say."

The various Incense Masters and Elites below chimed in, dismissing the town's forces entirely.

"With Hall Master Qiu personally leading, the Cheng family is finished this time."

"Hope that old bastard Yuan Tieyi knows what's good for him. With his old bones, how much strength does he have left? Not worth sticking his neck out for a disciple."

"The Cheng family doesn't even have a Bone Forging realm cultivator. Just storm their gates—who dares to offend our Jinsha Gang?"

The crowd ate and drank, as if they could already see the Cheng family bowing and begging for mercy. And swallowing up the Cheng family's Medicine Shop was just the beginning of their ambition.

With Gang Leader Sha Heihu in seclusion, charging toward the Tendon Transformation level, the entire Jinshui Town would soon be the gang's prize!

If it weren't for the need to watch out for Yuan Tieyi, that Martial Master, several of their halls would have already bloodied the town long ago. There was no need for all these underhanded tricks—everything was just to test how much Iron Clothes Martial Arts School was really worth.

Jin Buhuan sat at the head, raising his wine cup with a smile:

"Brothers, don't rush. Everything must prioritize the gang leader's matters. Before Big Brother emerges from seclusion, let these ants scurry around a bit longer."

Big Brother Sha Heihu had already accumulated years in the Bone Forging realm. A few days ago, after defecting to the Hantian Army, he received a bottle of Dragon Blood as a reward from King Chaotian—an excellent treasure for tempering the Great Tendons.

If you can't find the book title, try searching by author—maybe it just changed names!

Once his fascia transformed into Dragon Tendons, he would be an extremely powerful existence even among the Tendon Transformation level. Little Jinshui Town couldn't possibly stop the gang's rise.

"The Vice Gang Leader is wise!" No one objected to Jin Buhuan's steady strategy.

Suddenly, a low-ranking gang member rushed in panicked: "Report! Hall Master Qiu, he—!"

"Oh, is Brother Qiu back? Quickly, prepare a Welcome Feast for him." Jin Buhuan nodded with a smile.

Calculating the time, the Earth Fiend Hall should have completed its mission. A hundred Cheng family guards weren't even enough to warm up a Bone Forging realm cultivator.

But the Jinsha Gang's disciples were usually too tightly controlled. Having finally gone out to kill and burn, they'd naturally let off some steam. A little delay was normal.

Letting the underlings vent pressure ensured long-term stable operations—Jin Buhuan understood that well.

"No, no! The Cheng family's herb gathering team has returned to town. Hall Master Qiu's whereabouts are unknown!"

The messenger was drenched in cold sweat, still unable to believe what he had seen outside the town. The Cheng family had returned in triumph, their convoy laden with spoils. It was clear that Qiu Yun must have failed—he was likely already dead.

"What?! How is that possible!" Li Qing shot to his feet, utterly incredulous.

As a fellow Hall Master, he had often sparred with Qiu Yun in training. Even he would find it troublesome to deal with the speed of the Earth Fiend Legs.

But the strongest the Cheng family had was only a Muscle Cultivation Martial Artist. How could they have survived Qiu Yun's hands? There had to be something fishy.

"Are you kidding me? Did Hall Master Qiu defect?"

"With his strength, dealing with the Cheng family should have been a piece of cake?"

"Hall Master Qiu always followed the gang leader's orders to the letter; he'd never slack off for fun. He must have run into a powerful enemy!"

The crowd buzzed with discussion. If even the Earth Fiend Legs' user could meet with misfortune, just how terrifying was the enemy's strength? Had they provoked a Tendon Transformation realm martial artist!

Jin Buhuan's face darkened like water. Just a moment ago, they were preparing to raid the town and plunder the Cheng family, and now they received this shocking bad news.

After Sha Heihu entered closed-door seclusion, he had handed everything over to Jin Buhuan. If Qiu Yun died and they couldn't even swallow up a single Cheng family, wouldn't that make him look utterly incompetent?

"Troublesome."

Jin Buhuan's eyes flickered. At his level of strength and status, it had been a long time since he'd faced a difficult problem. Usually, sending his underlings was enough to wipe away any eyesores.

Qiu Yun's disappearance was the lesser issue. The real headache was that King Chaotian's adopted son, Chao Yun, had gone with him.

If Chao Yun were to die here at the Jinsha Gang without anyone knowing the truth, even the gang leader wouldn't be able to bear the Hantian Army's interrogation and wrath!

"Investigate. Search the mountains immediately. I want him alive or dead. I want to see who's behind this attack on our gang!"

Jin Buhuan, shocked and furious, immediately gave the order. Skilled fighters from every hall entered the mountains to search and assist the brothers of Earth Fiend Hall.

"It must be the Cheng Family's doing. I'll go wipe them out right now!" Li Qing felt a chill of shared danger and wanted to stand up for Qiu Yun.

"No. Don't stir up more trouble for now. The challenge we issued to the Cheng Family is hereby canceled. No one is to harass the Cheng Family's merchant caravans without orders."

Jin Buhuan quickly stopped him. Until the truth came to light, the Jinsha Gang couldn't afford any more losses.

Although the incident at Earth Fiend Hall was certainly connected to the Cheng Family's convoy, and they were clearly in the know, if this turned out to involve some mysterious powerhouse they couldn't afford to offend, things would get messy.

Jin Buhuan was shrewd and always thought of the worst-case scenario. He had already prepared for the possibility that the Cheng Family's herb-gathering team was backed by a Martial Artist at the Tendon Transformation Realm!