Han Zheng wore a Monkey Face Mask and lounged against the eaves of a three-story building in the Three Harmonies Gang, gazing down at the slaughter below.
He had only just entered the Xiantian Mortal Transformation Realm and had yet to fight a true Xiantian martial artist. He lacked experience in combat within the Innate Realm.
The life-and-death battle between the three below could provide Han Zheng with exactly that experience.
The Three Harmonies Gang's three Innate Realm leaders all came from humble origins. They generally knew very few martial arts, perhaps even fewer than Han Zheng.
Martial artists from the lower ranks were just like that: they trained one Innate martial art until the day they died.
Yet that had its benefits. Since that martial art was their sole trump card, whether it was Gao Kaiyuan or Cao Bin, they had brought their Shattered Jade Hand and Eight Snake Strikes to a level of near-divine mastery.
As time passed, Gao Kaiyuan gradually began to show signs of losing ground.
Though his Shattered Jade Hand restrained Cao Bin, Cao Bin bore the hatred of losing his son. He simply ignored his own injuries in his determination to kill Gao Kaiyuan.
Jiang Tai's Solar Palm Technique was broad and forceful. Every palm strike required Gao Kaiyuan to meet it with his full strength, draining him enormously.
After a hundred exchanges, Gao Kaiyuan's inner force was nearly exhausted, and a faint sheen of sweat had appeared on his brow.
Seizing the moment, Cao Bin's left hand shot out with a Poisonous Snake Dagger, like a spiritual serpent flicking out its tongue, stabbing straight toward Gao Kaiyuan's throat.
Cao Rui had used this move before, but he had been nowhere near as fast as Cao Bin.
Gao Kaiyuan's pitch-black left hand suddenly clenched around the dagger and snapped it hard, actually wrenching it straight from Cao Bin's grasp.
However, Cao Bin's other Poisonous Snake Dagger had somehow already plunged beneath Gao Kaiyuan's ribs. The poison entered his body, and Gao Kaiyuan instantly felt as though his entire body were burning. His blood and inner force were continuously evaporating.
At that moment, Jiang Tai's palm came crashing down, both palms faintly glowing red.
Gao Kaiyuan met it with a palm. Shattered Jade Hand and Positive Sun Palm collided, but Gao Kaiyuan, who had originally overwhelmed Jiang Tai in strength, spat out a mouthful of blood and was sent flying.
Yet Gao Kaiyuan was not blasted straight to the ground.
Instead, he borrowed Jiang Tai's palm force to fly several zhang away, then turned and fled the instant he landed.
For a moment, neither Cao Bin nor Jiang Tai reacted.
Gao Kaiyuan's entire foundation was still in the Three Harmonies Gang. Was he really just running away like this?
No one had expected Gao Kaiyuan to be so decisive.
A strange glint also appeared in Han Zheng's eyes atop the eaves.
This Gao Kaiyuan truly was someone remarkable. He could pick things up and set them down.
A foundation was important, but life was more important.
As long as one lived, one had everything.
Without life, one had nothing at all.
The logic was simple, yet some people simply could not see through it.
If Han Zheng had not interfered, then judging by the Three Harmonies Gang's current state, in a few years, once Cao Bin could no longer fight and Jiang Tai was no match for Gao Kaiyuan, the gang would sooner or later fall into Gao Kaiyuan's hands.
Unfortunately, there were no ifs.
Gao Kaiyuan would not live to see that day!
Han Zheng leaped from the roof and chased after Gao Kaiyuan.
Seeing Gao Kaiyuan flee, Cao Bin hurriedly moved to pursue him.
But he suddenly stopped, then spat out a mouthful of jet-black blood.
He already had old injuries. Just now, having attacked with all his strength, he had been unable to suppress the poison within his body. Now his poison art had begun to backlash.
"Chase him! Gao Kaiyuan cannot be allowed to live!"
Jiang Tai saw that someone wearing a Monkey Face Mask had already gone after Gao Kaiyuan, and he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
In truth, until just a moment ago, he had still been wary of that mysterious person, uncertain of the other party's intentions.
But now that he saw him pursuing Gao Kaiyuan to kill him, his true goal must indeed have been this. He had not lied, and Jiang Tai could finally rest easy.
"Don't worry, Big Brother. Gao Kaiyuan will not survive."
Jiang Tai picked up the Poisonous Snake Dagger Gao Kaiyuan had seized and handed it to Cao Bin.
Just as Cao Bin instinctively reached to take it, Jiang Tai suddenly drove the dagger into Cao Bin's chest!
Cao Bin never could have imagined that Jiang Tai would strike to kill him at such a moment. He had not the slightest bit of guard up.
"Why? Why!?"
Blackish-red blood gushed from Cao Bin's mouth in great mouthfuls.
Jiang Tai released the dagger and took a step back, his expression blank. "What you and Second Brother wanted, I naturally wanted as well.
"The Three Harmonies Gang was established by the three of us together. There is no reason you two can fight for it while I cannot."
Cao Bin gave a miserable smile. "Rui is already dead. Gao Kaiyuan is dead too. My poison art's backlash means I do not have much longer to live.
"Even the moment you agreed to help, I had already decided that after killing Gao Kaiyuan, I would retire and let you take full control of the Three Harmonies Gang.
"Why couldn't you wait a little longer? All your rivals are dead. What are you still afraid of?"
Jiang Tai replied blandly, "If power is not in your own hands for even one day, can it still be called power? Big Brother, I have waited for so many years. I cannot wait any longer."
The poison art in Cao Bin's body erupted completely. He coughed out a mouthful of black blood and lost all signs of life.
The Three Harmonies Gang had risen through the united efforts of three brothers, and it had also been destroyed by brothers turning against one another.
Meanwhile, Han Zheng had kept close behind Gao Kaiyuan, yet he had never managed to catch up.
Though Gao Kaiyuan was injured, he had somehow retained a sliver of strength and fled quite quickly.
In the end, he even escaped beyond the city, with Han Zheng close on his heels.
Gao Kaiyuan had been struck by poison arts. The longer he fled, the more severely his blood and inner force were eroded.
Sure enough, after leaving the city by several li, Gao Kaiyuan could no longer run.
He spun around abruptly and panted. "Who exactly are you? Black Stone County does not seem to have an Innate martial artist like you.
"Could you be an outside helper Cao Bin brought in? Whatever benefits Cao Bin promised you, I will pay double!"
Han Zheng gave a strange laugh. "No matter how many benefits you offer, they cannot buy Gao Kaiyuan's life!"
As his words fell, the Wild Goose Feather Saber left Han Zheng's sheath, slashing toward Gao Kaiyuan with chilling Killing Intent!
The veins on Gao Kaiyuan's hands bulged, and they seemed to transform into pitch-black ghost claws, swelling by a full circle.
When saber and palm collided, they actually rang out with the clanging sound of weapons striking each other.
Yet the Killing Intent on the Wild Goose Feather Saber sent a sudden chill through Gao Kaiyuan's body.
"A method for condensing Killing Intent? A demonic-path martial artist?"
His opponent's strength was not particularly great—only at the early Xiantian Mortal Transformation Realm, having merely forged Bronze Skin Iron Bones.
Under normal circumstances, Gao Kaiyuan could have dealt with him in a few moves. But now, he had to suppress the poison within himself while fighting fiercely. He could only grow weaker as the battle dragged on.
He could not delay!
A fierce glint flashed through Gao Kaiyuan's eyes. His blood surged and boiled throughout his body as nearly half his blood strength poured into those Shattered Jade Hands.
His hands, which had been bulging with veins and radiating a black hue, instantly turned blackish-red, becoming even more terrifying.
The Blood Fiend Saber descended once again. This time, Gao Kaiyuan actually grabbed the Wild Goose Feather Saber in one hand.
No matter how the blade cut down or how the Killing Intent erupted, Gao Kaiyuan did not move an inch.
"Die!"
Gao Kaiyuan gripped the saber with one hand and punched directly at Han Zheng's chest with the other.
Han Zheng formed a fist seal with one hand. His blood and inner force suddenly boiled and erupted, imposing as a vajra, subduing demons and exterminating evil!
The Vajra Demon Subduing Seal crashed down. At the collision, Han Zheng felt an immense force strike him and staggered backward.
After all, Gao Kaiyuan was at the Late Xiantian Mortal Transformation Realm. His Mercury Blood Silver Marrow was incomparably powerful, coursing through his body like lead and mercury.
With such formidable blood strength suddenly erupting, Han Zheng simply could not withstand it now.
Gao Kaiyuan flung the Wild Goose Feather Saber away. One hand reached upward for Han Zheng's throat, while the other became a palm blade and jabbed toward Han Zheng's chest.
Shattered Jade Hand was not merely a tough-body martial art that tempered the hands; it was also an exceedingly profound grappling art.
Han Zheng had been blasted backward, but he visualized Dragon Elephant Strength in his mind. As his inner force and blood boiled, his center of gravity sank, like a dragon-elephant stomping upon the earth. His entire body dropped and stabilized in an instant, landing with a muffled boom.
His arms were like a white ape swinging its limbs, smashing down again and again.
His fist force came thick and fast like a torrential storm. The instant it collided with Shattered Jade Hand, a piercing series of thunderous explosions erupted.
Han Zheng used the colossal strength of the dragon-elephant to suppress and anchor his body, while the White Ape Through-Arm Fist borrowed that force to bombard relentlessly. In his hands, the two martial arts unexpectedly seemed to complement one another.
"White Ape Through-Arm Fist! You are Li Jingzhong's disciple, Han Zheng! You actually entered the Xiantian Mortal Transformation Realm!?"
The instant he saw the White Ape Through-Arm Fist, Gao Kaiyuan finally understood who stood before him.
He had only heard Han Zheng's name today, yet now they were already fighting to the death here.
"So I've been recognized."
Han Zheng tilted his head. With the Monkey Face Mask on, the gesture made him look even more comical.
"So you killed Ma Gui and Wang Xiong, and you killed Feng Yuan too!"
A chill suddenly ran through Gao Kaiyuan's entire body.
When he had examined Wang Xiong's corpse, he could tell that Wang Xiong and his opponent had likely been evenly matched. They must have exchanged at least ten moves before Wang Xiong was killed.
How much time had even passed? Yet Han Zheng had already been able to kill Feng Yuan, who was at the Peak Acquired Stage.
And now he stood here, having entered the Xiantian Mortal Transformation Realm, to take Gao Kaiyuan's life!
What kind of monster had he provoked?
Gao Kaiyuan suddenly thought of something. "How did you know Cao Bin and Jiang Tai were coming to kill me? How were you able to lie in wait at the Three Harmonies Gang beforehand?"
Before Han Zheng could answer, Gao Kaiyuan gritted his teeth and said, "You killed Cao Bin's son! And you incited Jiang Tai to attack me too!"
He had already felt that something was amiss.
He had repeatedly warned Deng Bao that clashing with Cao Bin was fine, but Cao Rui absolutely could not be killed. Otherwise, it would become a feud that would not end until one side died.
And Jiang Tai.
Gao Kaiyuan knew his third brother's nature better than anyone.
He was indecisive in action, with the heart of a thief but not the courage.
Of course Jiang Tai wanted control of the Three Harmonies Gang too, but he neither had the nerve nor the strength to contend with Gao Kaiyuan.
Yet his own subordinate had somehow killed Cao Rui, and Jiang Tai had joined Cao Bin in dealing with him. All of this had been plotted and instigated in secret by the man before him.
Gao Kaiyuan had still been letting his men investigate at an unhurried pace, intending to find this person.
But it turned out that the other party had already been lurking in the shadows, plotting to kill him for who knew how long.
Thinking of this, Gao Kaiyuan gave a miserable smile.
He had been in the open while the other party had been in the dark. Having been schemed against for so long, no wonder he had lost so miserably.