"What? Even Chao Yun has gone missing? This is troublesome!"
Sha Heihu finished reading the battle report submitted by his subordinate, and his brows immediately knitted tight.
He had never expected such a major incident to occur in the gang during the several months he had been in secluded cultivation.
Qiu Yun's strength was not weak. Relying on the speed of his leg techniques, even if he encountered an enemy who had just broken through into the Tendon Transformation Realm, he still had a chance to escape.
The most troublesome of all was Chao Yun. Although that brat was far too arrogant and he had disliked him for a long time, Chao Yun was the adopted son of King Chaotian.
The Sky Shaker Bandits were currently at the height of their momentum, having even beaten several surrounding county towns until they could not fight back. Luoshan County was also in grave danger. If King Chaotian remembered this adopted son, the Jinsha Gang would likely have to suffer his wrath.
"What are all of you good for, you useless trash?"
Sha Heihu's fury exploded, and internal energy surged through his body, radiating an overwhelmingly powerful might. With a sweep of his hand, he ordered, "From this day forth, absorb the Blacksmith Shop, Haolai Restaurant, and the other factions. Anyone who resists is to be killed without mercy."
Right now, only by bathing the town in blood and sending these resources and factions to the Hantian Army to curry favor with King Chaotian would they have a chance of escaping disaster.
The Righteous Army had to solve huge problems of food, clothing, daily necessities, and supplies transportation if it wanted to contend with official forces like the Luoshan Army. The Blacksmith Shop could forge armor and crossbows, while the restaurant chefs could serve as army cooks. All of them were essential to the army!
"The gang leader is brilliant! I'll get right on it!" Jin Buhuan hurriedly accepted the order and went down to arrange the various halls and assign their tasks. They would seal off Jinshui Town overnight, ensuring that not even a bird could fly out.
At that moment, the Qingfeng Hall Master returned from outside. Seeing that Sha Heihu had emerged from seclusion, he was instantly overjoyed:
"Congratulations on breaking through, Gang Leader. Xiao Tian is dead."
A Martial Artist in the Tendon Transformation Realm might not necessarily be able to rise to the position of one of the Five Great Heavenly Generals in the Sky Shaker Bandits, but among leaders such as the Myriad Commanders, he could still establish himself firmly. Everyone was heartened by Sha Heihu's breakthrough.
"Xiao Tian? Well done."
Sha Heihu nodded, neither pleased nor displeased. From his subordinate's report, he had also learned of Xiao Tian's identity. His talent was quite good; no wonder he had become the Iron Clothes Martial Arts School's last disciple.
Yuan Tieyi alone had been difficult to deal with. If Xiao Tian had been allowed to mature as well, who knew what trouble that would have caused? Jin Buhuan had finally grown a brain and done something worthwhile.
However, Xiao Tian was merely at the Minor Bone Forging Accomplishment level. The gap between him and Sha Heihu, who was in the Tendon Transformation Realm, was already like the distance between heaven and earth. Sha Heihu did not take him seriously.
Seeing that the gang leader did not ask further, Yang He tactfully made no claim to credit. After hesitating, he still said worriedly, "Reporting to the gang leader, I just encountered a mysterious Martial Artist. His movement techniques and body-hardening skills were extraordinary. I was no match for him."
Yang He also suspected that the mysterious person who had killed Xiao Tian was very likely the person behind the Cheng Family—the ruthless man who had silenced Hall Master Qiu.
Sha Heihu let out a cold snort and swung the Black Tiger Blade in his hand. Wave after wave of majestic force cleaved through the air, splitting the ground before Yang He for three or four zhang.
"My Black Fiend Skill has reached mastery. With fifty years of Internal Force and the Body tempering realm of the Tendon Transformation Realm, who can withstand a single slash from me?"
Sha Heihu was extraordinarily domineering. Being questioned about his strength by subordinates like Yang He left him extremely displeased.
He had specialized in the Black Fiend Skill ever since he began Skin Grinding, giving him a deep foundation of Internal Force. Although his realm was only the Tendon Transformation Realm, if one truly counted his strength, he would not fear even an ordinary Martial Artist at the Viscera Training and Strengthening level!
"To practice martial arts without practicing cultivation is to end up empty-handed in old age." This referred to internal cultivation. The further one progressed in cultivating internal techniques, the greater the benefits, and they could not possibly be compared with external hard-training skills such as the Iron Cloth Skill.
"The gang leader's might is invincible! The Hantian Army will surely have a seat for you!"
When they saw Sha Heihu reveal this display of power, the people below were both shocked and delighted. Jin Buhuan, in particular, felt his scalp go numb. The gang leader's internal cultivation had grown increasingly unfathomable. Fortunately, he had not made any treacherous moves while Sha Heihu was in secluded cultivation.
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Sha Heihu's Tendon Transformation Realm had already completely suppressed the town. Now that his internal cultivation had also reached mastery, he was simply not someone Yuan Tieyi, Xiao Tian, or the others could contend with.
In an instant, people from the various halls went out carrying torches and sealed off Jinshui Town's main roads.
Meanwhile, the Iron Clothes Martial Arts School was bleak and deserted. Yuan Tieyi had learned of his disciple's death at the first opportunity, and he was utterly shocked and grief-stricken.
"Which Hall Master did he offend? Who could kill Tian'er in just two or three moves? This grudge..."
Yuan Tieyi stared at Xiao Tian's cold corpse in the courtyard. His eyes were bloodshot and his hair had turned white, as though he had aged twenty or thirty years. This grudge would probably never be avenged!
He had suffered hidden injuries when he fled the County Town, leaving his strength less than half of what it had been at his peak. Even if he fought to the death and erupted with Tendon Transformation-level battle prowess, he could at most trade his life for Jin Buhuan's.
Moreover, Sha Heihu had already been unfathomably powerful before entering seclusion. He might now have reached Minor Tendon Transformation Accomplishment. He was not someone a Martial Master with declining Blood Qi like Yuan Tieyi could measure.
Yuan Tieyi was dejected and despondent, his heart utterly dead. Even when he had been defeated and driven from Luoshan County, and when his martial arts school had been kicked out by its peers, he had never been this despairing. Now his most talented disciple was dead, yet he could not avenge him. His heart felt as though it were being twisted apart.
"Tian'er, I was the one who harmed you. I only wanted to give you the best resources and let your brilliance shine, but that was what provoked the Jinsha Gang's jealousy."
Yuan Tieyi embraced the corpse and wept bitterly. After reflecting on everything, he felt that his indulgence and doting had caused Xiao Tian's premature death. If he had listened to his second disciple Cheng Yu's advice and suppressed Xiao Tian a little, perhaps things would not have turned out this way.
Who could have imagined that Xiao Tian had still been hosting a celebratory feast at Haolai Restaurant that afternoon, basking in boundless glory, with everyone believing he could lead the Iron Cloth Skill's reputation back into Luoshan County's Martial Master circles—only to be struck down that very night!
"Master, please restrain your grief."
"The Jinsha Gang is harboring wild ambitions. Master, you absolutely cannot show any weakness at a time like this and let the villains take advantage of it."
"Second Senior Brother warned us long ago. The Jinsha Gang has colluded with the Sky Shaker Bandits, and now they're probably going to move against our martial arts school!"
Everyone tried to comfort Yuan Tieyi, but none could conceal their fear. When the sky fell, the tall had to hold it up—and Master Yuan was the pillar of heaven now.
At that moment, Cheng Yu also hurried back to the martial arts school. At a glance, he saw Xiao Tian's gruesome death and could not help sighing. Back then, his master had refused to take in Zhou Qiming, whose Root Bone was poor, and had instead chosen to invest in Xiao Tian. In his view, that had unquestionably been a mistake.
No matter how good one's talent was, if one did not know how to keep a low profile and rein oneself in, one would end up like Xiao Tian, dying violently in the street. As for Zhou Qiming, he had also encountered a hall master of the Jinsha Gang, yet he had managed to lead the Cheng Family's group out alive. Afterwards, he had not sought repayment for the favor, hiding his merits and leaving his name unsung.
"Master, the Jinsha Gang's various halls have already brazenly sealed off the town. We must band together for warmth and absolutely cannot be broken through one by one."
Cheng Yu stepped forward to report, his eyes full of expectation. At present, only Yuan Tieyi had enough influence to rally the other factions in town and organize a joint defense.
If the Muscle Cultivation and Bone Forging experts of the various Lineages coordinated and resisted with all their might, they could still struggle with the Jinsha Gang for a while. Perhaps they could hold out until reinforcements arrived from the County Town's authorities.
While everyone was panicked and at a loss, several more disciples rushed into the courtyard.
"This is bad! The Xiao Family Patriarch tried to flee with his relatives, but the Qingfeng Hall wiped them all out before they even left the city!"
The bloody news struck everyone like a thunderbolt. Not a single member of the Xiao Family had survived. Their property and resources had all been looted. With Sha Heihu's emergence from seclusion, the Jinsha Gang had completely stopped pretending and revealed its vicious claws.
Anyone could imagine the Xiao Family's despair and collapse. Once Xiao Tian, their backbone, had died, those who remained in Jinshui Town would sooner or later be devoured by the other factions. Fleeing to the County Town would merely mean exchanging their current death for a quicker one.
"They couldn't even protect your family. What use am I as your master?" When Yuan Tieyi heard the terrible news, his self-reproach deepened. He had never expected the Jinsha Gang to be so ruthless.
Before colluding with the Bandit Army, they had only collected protection money from the town once every other year and occasionally extorted some benefits. Their violence had remained within controllable bounds. Now, however, they were clearly determined to bathe Jinshui Town in blood.
His disciple's bones had not yet grown cold, yet his family and blood relatives had already been wiped out by the Qingfeng Hall. This made the master feel disgraced and deeply guilty.
"You can still escape through the Secret Passage. As for your master, I'm already an old man. I'll simply be buried here along with the martial arts school." Yuan Tieyi waved his hand and dismissed his disciples.
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