Three Grandmasters?

"Were they the ones who ordered this?"

Tang Jie stared at the three people in the distance. He knew these bandits were nothing more than expendable cannon fodder hired by them. Their purpose was to see whether Tang Jie had lost his ability to fight after being poisoned. The result was obvious: even deadly poison could do nothing to Tang Jie, whose cultivation was profound.

"Big Brother, it looks like the Reverse Blood Powder is useless against this brat. We'll have to face him head-on." The third of the Du Tang Three Fiends, Du Ying, spoke with solemn excitement in his eyes.

"Mm. Use the Hua Gang Pills." Du Meng, dressed in black with a scar on his head, nodded slightly.

The three of them each took a black pill from their robes and swallowed it in one gulp.

The Hua Gang Pill was an elixir they had obtained from the Medicine King Sect. Its effect was simple: it overdrew one's potential, allowing a supreme martial artist to advance another step and briefly refine Qi into Gang, granting the cultivation of a grandmaster!

In truth, the greatest difference between a supreme martial artist and a grandmaster lay in their cultivation. True Qi and Gang Qi were entirely different concepts. The Hua Gang Pill could allow a supreme martial artist to temporarily possess grandmaster-level combat power!

"Crack, crack, crack!"

As the three took the Hua Gang Pills and the medicinal power began to take effect, their bones let out a chain of cracking sounds. The True Qi within their bodies circulated at high speed, gradually condensing into Gang Qi.

"Let's go pay him a visit."

Feeling the incomparably powerful strength within their bodies, vicious light spurted from the three men's eyes as they slowly walked toward Tang Jie.

Tang Jie also calmly walked toward them. His tall figure carried a heavy, oppressive force as he crossed over corpse after corpse scattered across the ground.

"What astonishing auras!"

Within the grounds of Qingshan Temple, Tang Tianhao and Du Jue both changed expressions slightly. They had sensed three auras, each of which gave off an extreme sense of danger, like three savage beasts!

Du Jue and Tang Tianhao supported themselves as they stood and came to the doorway. They saw the corpses and severed heads strewn across the ground, as well as the black-clad Du Tang Three Fiends in the distance.

"The Du Tang Three Fiends!"

Tang Tianhao's expression tightened when he saw the three men.

The Du Tang Three Fiends were wanted criminals, all of them supreme martial artists. Tang Tianhao had once seen their wanted portraits. The three men had highly distinctive appearances and could be recognized at a glance.

"Something's wrong with these three... Their auras are no weaker than Tang Jie's. They're Martial Arts Grandmasters!" Du Jue said, his expression turning solemn to the extreme. The air around Du Meng and the other two warped faintly, as if being scorched by flames. That was the Gang Qi within their bodies, which had surged to the point that they could barely control it!

Three Martial Arts Grandmasters? Tang Tianhao's heart clenched, and he became deeply worried.

As for Du Jue, he had recognized the leading Du Meng as the very man who had disguised himself as a hunter earlier.

"Was he the one who poisoned us?" Du Jue's teeth ached with hatred. He knew Du Meng must have pretended to be in danger to lure him away, then taken the opportunity to poison the water bucket, which was why all three of them had been poisoned.

Du Jue wanted to go over and help, but the lingering poison had yet to clear, leaving him with no fighting strength. All he could do was hope that Tang Jie could handle them.

"Who are you? Why do you want to harm us?" Tang Jie looked at the three men before him, completely ignoring the auras emanating from their bodies.

Du Meng smiled faintly. "We are the Du Tang Three Fiends. As for why we want your lives, it's naturally because you've been wanted, and the bounty is quite high. Kill you and your father, take your heads to the authorities, and the warrants will be revoked. I've made myself clear enough, haven't I?"

"I see." Tang Jie nodded. He and Tang Tianhao had been wanted, and there were no walls in the world that did not let wind through. Even though they had been quietly cultivating at Qingshan Temple, they had still been found. These three men wanted to take their heads and claim the bounty.

"Big Brother, let's do it! I can't wait to twist this brat's head off!"

The burly Du Li, one of the Three Fiends, had muscles knotted across his body and veins bulging. The medicinal power of the Hua Gang Pill had reached its peak, causing his strength to surge while making his emotions grow extremely violent. He could hardly wait to vent it all!

"Go! Kill this brat!" The medicinal power had reached its pinnacle, and Du Meng had no intention of wasting any more time. He immediately gave the order to kill Tang Jie swiftly.

Tang Jie was a Martial Arts Grandmaster, but with the help of the Hua Gang Pills, the three of them had likewise temporarily gained the cultivation to refine Qi into Gang. They refused to believe that three against one could possibly end in defeat!

"Bang, bang, bang!"

The burly Du Li walked toward Tang Jie one step at a time. Each time his foot came down, it left a one- or two-inch-deep footprint in the earth. The clothes he wore bulged under the surging Gang Qi, like a layer of armor, filled with a hard, solid texture—as though the cloth were tougher than metal.

The martial art Du Li cultivated was Iron Cloth Shirt. This art was much like Golden Bell Shield, and both belonged to defensive external-hardening arts. Iron Cloth Shirt was no easier to cultivate than Golden Bell Shield. It required prolonged body tempering. Once mastered, it gave the practitioner profound inner power and resilient skin, as if he had donned a layer of iron clothing.

When hard, it could withstand blades and spears. When soft, the body became as yielding as cotton. Even attacks from oxhide whips and cudgels could be easily dispersed, leaving the bones and muscles completely unharmed!

Now, under the effects of the Hua Gang Pill, Du Li's cultivation rivaled a grandmaster's. His Iron Cloth Shirt was more than ten times stronger than before. As his Gang Qi circulated, iron-colored light shone across his body, as though he had put on a layer of tough iron armor.

"I'll take his blade head-on. The moment he draws it will be the moment he dies!"

Du Li thought silently. Before coming, they had already investigated Tang Jie and knew that his blade techniques were formidable. They had even witnessed them firsthand. Their strategy was simple: one of the three would draw Tang Jie's blade, while the other two attacked from the flanks and killed him in one stroke!

And the only one confident enough to receive Tang Jie's blade head-on was naturally Du Li, who cultivated the Iron Cloth Shirt!

Du Li believed that with the help of the Hua Gang Pill, he could refine Qi into Gang. He might not be able to defeat Tang Jie, but taking one of Tang Jie's blades would be effortless.

Du Jue and Tang Tianhao watched the scene nervously. They knew Tang Jie's strength, but the three men before them had somehow caused their cultivations to soar. All three were now grandmaster-level. Even Tang Jie might not be able to handle being outnumbered three to one. One careless move, and he would meet defeat and death.

"Why haven't you drawn your blade yet?"

Du Li approached Tang Jie with complete concentration. He had already closed to within three meters of Tang Jie. His brow furrowed tightly, because he knew Tang Jie could kill an enemy with his blade within three meters. Yet Tang Jie still had not drawn?

"I don't know what method you used to refine Qi into Gang, but I'll make you understand... what a gap is!"

Tang Jie stared at Du Li, who had approached within three meters. His voice was utterly calm, carrying the faintest trace of coldness. It was confidence—confidence in his own strength, confidence that even when facing three Martial Arts Grandmasters, he could still win!

"This brat..." Du Li's eyes narrowed, and a ferocious look appeared on his face. He could no longer stand waiting for Tang Jie to draw his blade. Choosing to attack first, he stamped his foot against the ground and shot forward like a cannonball, opening his arms to bearhug Tang Jie. He was completely confident in his Iron Cloth Shirt and did not defend at all!

However...

Boom!

Suddenly, dazzling golden light burst from Tang Jie's body. The void trembled violently as an unimaginable, surging force erupted, causing Du Li's charging momentum to falter slightly.

The dazzling golden light stabbed Du Li's eyes with pain. Then he saw a horrifying sight: Tang Jie's entire body had turned golden, just like the Golden-Bodied Arhat from myth and legend!

Boyhood Art. Boyhood Golden Body!

It was as if endless power surged within Tang Jie's body. His hand pressed against the hilt, and he drew his blade in an instant. A frigid blade light flashed and vanished, dyed gold by the surging Gang Qi around Tang Jie.

"Slash!"

The blade light sliced across Du Li's chest. Silently and without a sound, the Iron Cloth Shirt he had been so proud of failed to display the slightest effect before being cleaved apart. Du Li felt as if he were soaring through the clouds. His severed upper body flew up under the momentum of his forward lunge, passed over Tang Jie's head, and then crashed to the ground!

"Wh... how could this be?"

Du Li propped himself up with both arms and turned his upper body around. He stared blankly at Tang Jie, who seemed not to have moved at all, and at the lower half of his body, which had collapsed limply before Tang Jie!

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