It's You!

Han Zheng, wearing the Monkey Face Mask, leaned against the eaves of a three-story building in the Three Harmonies Gang, gazing down at the slaughter below.

He had just entered the Xiantian Mortal Transformation Realm and hadn't yet fought a true Xiantian martial artist, lacking combat experience in the Innate Realm.

The life-and-death battle among the three men below happened to provide Han Zheng with some insight.

The three Xiantian gang leaders of the Three Harmonies Gang were all rough-and-tumble types, with very few Martial Skills among them—even fewer than Han Zheng possessed.

That was the way of martial artists from humble origins: they trained a single Xiantian martial art until death.

But the upside was that this one martial art was their only trump card, so whether it was Gao Kaiyuan or Cao Bin, their Shattered Jade Hand and Eight Snake Strikes were both honed to near perfection.

As time wore on, Gao Kaiyuan began to show signs of faltering.

Though his Shattered Jade Hand countered Cao Bin, Cao Bin was driven by the blood feud of his son's death, ignoring his own injuries in his relentless pursuit to kill Gao Kaiyuan.

Jiang Tai's Solar Palm Technique was bold and unrestrained; with every palm strike, Gao Kaiyuan had to go all out to defend, draining his strength rapidly.

After a hundred exchanges, Gao Kaiyuan's internal energy was nearly exhausted, and a faint sheen of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Seizing the moment, Cao Bin's left hand shot out with the Poisonous Snake Dagger, like a snake flicking its tongue, straight for Gao Kaiyuan's throat.

Cao Rui had used this same move before, but his speed was far inferior to Cao Bin's.

Gao Kaiyuan's pitch-black left hand suddenly clenched the dagger and twisted hard, actually wrenching it from Cao Bin's grasp.

But Cao Bin's other Poisonous Snake Dagger had already slipped unnoticed into Gao Kaiyuan's ribs. The poison entered his body, and Gao Kaiyuan instantly felt a burning sensation all over, his blood and internal energy steadily evaporating.

At that moment, Jiang Tai's palm came down, both hands faintly glowing red.

Gao Kaiyuan met it with his own palm, Shattered Jade Hand clashing against Solar Palm Technique. The man who had once overpowered Jiang Tai now spat out a mouthful of blood and flew backward.

Yet Gao Kaiyuan didn't crash to the ground.

Instead, he used the force of Jiang Tai's palm to launch himself several zhang away, then turned and fled the moment he landed.

Cao Bin and Jiang Tai were both caught off guard.

Gao Kaiyuan's entire foundation was still in the Three Harmonies Gang—was he really just running like that?

No one expected Gao Kaiyuan to be so decisive.

A flicker of surprise crossed Han Zheng's eyes from the eaves.

This Gao Kaiyuan was truly something—able to let go when it counted.

A foundation was important, but life was more so.

With life, everything was possible.

Without it, there was nothing.

The logic was simple, yet some people just couldn't see it.

If Han Zheng hadn't interfered, given the state of the Three Harmonies Gang, in a few years Cao Bin would be too broken to fight, Jiang Tai couldn't beat Gao Kaiyuan, and the gang would eventually fall into Gao Kaiyuan's hands.

But there was no "if."

Gao Kaiyuan wouldn't live to see that day!

Han Zheng leaped, chasing after Gao Kaiyuan.

Over there, Cao Bin saw Gao Kaiyuan escaping and hurried to give chase.

But he abruptly stopped, coughing up a mouthful of pitch-black blood.

He already had old injuries, and his full-force attack had failed to suppress the poison in his body; now the toxic technique was backfiring.

"Go after him! Don't let Gao Kaiyuan live!"

Jiang Tai saw a man in a Monkey Face Mask pursuing Gao Kaiyuan and breathed a sigh of relief.

Truth be told, until that moment, he'd been uneasy about the mysterious man, unsure of his motives.

But seeing him chase Gao Kaiyuan now, it seemed that was indeed his real goal—no lies there—and Jiang Tai could relax.

"Don't worry, big brother. Gao Kaiyuan won't survive."

Jiang Tai picked up the Poisonous Snake Dagger that Gao Kaiyuan had snatched and handed it to Cao Bin.

Just as Cao Bin instinctively reached for it, Jiang Tai suddenly drove the dagger into Cao Bin's chest!

Cao Bin never imagined Jiang Tai would strike him down at a time like this; he had no guard up at all.

"Why? Why!?"

Thick, dark-red blood gushed from Cao Bin's mouth.

Jiang Tai released the dagger and stepped back, expressionless. "You and second brother had your reasons, and so do I.

The Three Harmonies Gang was built by the three of us. There's no reason you two can fight for it and I can't."

Cao Bin gave a bitter smile. "Rui'er is dead. Gao Kaiyuan is dead. My toxic technique is backfiring, and I don't have long to live.

Even when you agreed to help, I'd already decided that after killing Gao Kaiyuan, I'd retire and let you take full control of the gang.

Why couldn't you just wait a little longer? All your rivals are dead—what are you still afraid of?"

Jiang Tai said flatly, "Power that isn't in your own hands isn't power at all. Big brother, I've waited too many years. I can't wait any longer."

Cao Bin's poison art finally took full effect. With a wuh, he spat a mouthful of black blood and went completely still.

The Three Harmonies Gang rose from three brothers working in unison, and fell to brothers turning on each other.

Meanwhile, Han Zheng had been keeping close on Gao Kaiyuan's heels the whole time, but never managed to catch up.

That bastard Gao Kaiyuan, though wounded, still had a shred of strength left—he fled fast.

In the end, he bolted straight out of the city, and Han Zheng chased right after.

Gao Kaiyuan was poisoned; the longer he ran, the more his inner qi and blood essence eroded.

Sure enough, a few li outside the city, Gao Kaiyuan couldn't run anymore.

He spun around abruptly, panting, and said, "Who the hell are you? Black Stone County doesn't have a Xiantian martial artist like you.

Don't tell me Cao Bin brought you in from outside? Whatever he's paying you, I'll double it!"

Han Zheng let out a strange laugh. "No amount of payment can buy your life, Gao Kaiyuan!"

As the words fell, the Wild Goose Feather Saber in Han Zheng's hand slid from its sheath, carrying a chilling Killing Intent as it slashed toward Gao Kaiyuan.

The veins on Gao Kaiyuan's hands bulged, his fingers suddenly turning into pitch-black ghost claws, swelling a size larger.

Saber and palm clashed, ringing out with a metallic clang like weapons colliding.

But the Killing Intent on the saber sent a sharp chill through Gao Kaiyuan's whole body.

"A technique for condensing Killing Intent? A demonic path martial artist?"

The opponent's strength wasn't that great—early Xiantian Mortal Transformation Realm, just having tempered Bronze Skin Iron Bones.

On a normal day, he could finish him in a few moves. But now, suppressing the poison in his own body while fighting meant he was only getting weaker.

He couldn't drag this out!

A ruthless glint flashed in Gao Kaiyuan's eyes. His blood essence surged and boiled, pouring nearly half of it into his Shattered Jade Hand.

His hands, once bulging with black veins, turned a ghastly black-red, even more horrifying.

The Blood Fiend Saber fell again. This time, Gao Kaiyuan caught the blade outright in his palm.

The saber's edge bit down, Killing Intent exploded—but Gao Kaiyuan didn't budge an inch.

"Die!"

One hand gripping the saber, the other drove straight at Han Zheng's chest.

Han Zheng formed a fist seal with one hand, his qi and blood essence erupting in a blaze, momentum like a Vajra, subduing demons and slaying evil!

The Vajra Demon Subduing Seal crashed down. On impact, a tremendous force slammed into Han Zheng, sending him stumbling backward.

Gao Kaiyuan was, after all, Late Xiantian Mortal Transformation Realm, with Mercury Blood Silver Marrow—his blood essence was immense, flowing through his body like liquid lead.

When that kind of power suddenly exploded, Han Zheng couldn't withstand it.

Gao Kaiyuan flung the Wild Goose Feather Saber away, one hand reaching for Han Zheng's throat, the other turning palm into a blade, stabbing at his chest.

The Shattered Jade Hand wasn't just a body-tempering martial art for the hands—it was also an extremely advanced grappling technique.

Han Zheng was sent flying, but in his mind, he visualized the Dragon Elephant Strength. His inner qi and blood essence sank like a dragon-elephant stomping the earth, his center of gravity dropping instantly to steady himself. He landed with a dull thud.

His arms swung like a white ape flinging its limbs, hammering down in rapid succession.

Fists fell like a storm, dense as wind and rain, clashing against the Shattered Jade Hand with a sharp, explosive crackle.

Han Zheng used the Dragon Elephant Strength to anchor his stance, then borrowed the White Ape Through-Arm Fist's momentum to barrage wildly—the two techniques actually complemented each other in his hands.

"White Ape Through-Arm Fist! You're Li Jingzhong's disciple, Han Zheng! You've broken into the Xiantian Mortal Transformation Realm!?"

The moment he saw the White Ape Through-Arm Fist, Gao Kaiyuan finally realized who this was.

He'd only heard the name today, and now here they were, locked in battle.

"Busted."

Han Zheng tilted his head. The Monkey Face Mask made the gesture look even more ridiculous.

"So you killed Ma Gui and Wang Xiong. And Feng Yuan too!"

A chill ran down Gao Kaiyuan's spine.

When he'd examined Wang Xiong's corpse back then, he could tell the opponent was about evenly matched with Wang Xiong—it took at least ten exchanges before he killed him.

How long had it been? And now he'd killed Feng Yuan, a Peak Acquired Stage martial artist.

And now here he stood, having stepped into the Xiantian Mortal Transformation Realm, coming for his 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, and set up an ambush at the Three Harmonies Gang?"

Before Han Zheng could answer, Gao Kaiyuan ground his teeth. "You killed Cao Bin's son! And you provoked Jiang Tai into attacking me!"

He'd felt something was off before.

He'd warned Deng Bao over and over—conflict with Cao Bin was fine, but never kill Cao Rui, or it would be an irreconcilable blood feud.

And Jiang Tai...

He knew all too well what kind of person his third brother was.

Indecisive in action, with a thief's heart but not a thief's nerve.

Of course he also wanted to control the Three Harmonies Gang, but he lacked both the guts and the strength to contend with him.

Yet now his own men had killed Cao Rui, and Jiang Tai had sided with Cao Bin against him—all of this had been secretly orchestrated and incited by the man before him.

He had still been having his men investigate the other party at a leisurely pace, trying to track him down.

But in the end, the man had already been plotting in the shadows for who knows how long to kill him.

At this thought, Gao Kaiyuan gave a bitter smile.

He was in the open while the other was in the dark, schemed against for so long—no wonder he had lost so miserably.