The Red Fish Gang, Annihilated Today!

In the narrow mine tunnel, sword qi crisscrossed.

Li Qingyi's dual swords moved at extreme speed, weaving an impenetrable net of blades in the air that firmly trapped Lu Chen.

Every thrust carried a sharp screech as it tore through the air.

Yet Lu Chen stood like a boulder that had weathered a thousand years, unmoved by wind or rain.

He pushed Iron Cloth Shirt to its limit, every muscle taut as iron, his skin taking on a dark cyan hue.

For strikes he couldn't dodge, he simply took them head-on with his arms and back.

Clanging impacts rang out without pause.

Though fresh wounds piled up and blood soaked his clothes, Lu Chen's gaze remained terrifyingly calm.

He was observing.

Watching Li Qingyi's sword patterns, her breathing, her openings.

The more Li Qingyi fought, the more alarmed she grew.

Her Red Fish Sword Dance consumed vast inner qi, relying on a single burst of momentum for a quick victory.

But this monster before her, clearly only at the Flesh Refining Realm, had skin and flesh absurdly tough, with astonishing stamina—as if he never tired.

Even when cut by sword qi, his movements showed no hesitation, only growing fiercer.

"Damn it! Are this brat's insides made of iron too?"

Li Qingyi's heart churned with anxiety, and her breath faltered for an instant.

In that instant.

Lu Chen caught it.

"Now!"

His eyes turned cold, and his arms, which had been guarding his chest, suddenly swung wide.

Ignoring the sword thrust aimed at his heart, he lunged forward a step, crashing his entire body into Li Qingyi's embrace.

It was a mutual-destruction tactic!

Li Qingyi's face drained of color. She tried to pull her sword back to defend, but it was too late.

The longsword pierced Lu Chen's left chest, sinking three inches before being locked tight by tough muscle and ribs.

Agony surged through him, but Lu Chen didn't even grunt.

Seizing the moment the blade was caught by his flesh, his right hand, pitch-black and wreathed in terrifying Vibrating Force, shot out like lightning.

It clamped onto Li Qingyi's right wrist, the one gripping the sword.

Crack!

Stone Crushing Palm's Vibrating Force erupted.

Li Qingyi screamed in pain as the bones in her wrist shattered instantly. The longsword clattered to the ground.

"You lose!"

Lu Chen barked coldly, his left hand following up to seize her slender neck.

Overwhelming force pressed down. Li Qingyi struggled to breathe, her strength draining away. Her face flushed crimson, legs kicking wildly, but she couldn't break free from Lu Chen's vice-like grip.

Her other sword slipped from her hand, useless.

The fight was over.

The once-arrogant Red Fish Gang Leader now dangled in Lu Chen's grasp like a chicken awaiting slaughter.

Lu Chen pulled the sword from his chest; blood spurted out.

He casually tapped a few acupoints to stop the bleeding, then stared coldly at Li Qingyi.

"Don't... don't kill me..."

Li Qingyi forced out the words with difficulty, her eyes full of terror and pleading.

She was the exalted Gang Leader, a beauty courted by many. She didn't want to die in this damp, dark mine tunnel.

"If you want to live, tell your people outside to back off."

Lu Chen's voice was hoarse. He held Li Qingyi in front of him as a shield, retreating step by step toward the mine entrance.

In the corner, Wang Xiaoliu and the others saw this and erupted in thunderous cheers.

"We won! Leader Lu won!"

"He captured the Red Fish Gang Leader alive! Unbelievable!"

They supported each other, sticking close behind Lu Chen.

Outside the mine tunnel.

The Red Fish Gang members crowded around the entrance, anxiously waiting for news from inside.

"The Gang Leader's been in there so long, why no movement?"

"Don't worry, our Gang Leader's a Meridian Connecting Realm expert. Picking off a few stragglers is like reaching into a bag for him."

Just then, heavy footsteps echoed from inside the cave.

Everyone's spirits lifted as they all turned toward the cave entrance.

But when the figure emerged from the darkness, they were all stunned.

Lu Chen was drenched in blood, like a demon from hell, one hand gripping Li Qingyi by the neck, holding her in front of him like a shield.

And their invincible Gang Leader—now disheveled, face twisted in pain, arms hanging limp—had clearly been crippled.

"Gang Leader!"

"Let the Gang Leader go!"

The Red Fish Gang members erupted into chaos. Some wanted to charge forward but held back, afraid to act rashly.

"Nobody move!"

Lu Chen bellowed, his fingers tightening slightly.

Li Qingyi immediately let out a pained moan, her eyes rolling back.

"Anyone who takes one step forward, I'll crush her throat!"

Lu Chen's gaze swept the crowd, icy cold. That fierce killing intent cowed the hundreds of Red Fish Gang members into stillness.

"Back off! All of you, back off!"

Dragging Li Qingyi, Lu Chen led Wang Xiaoliu and the others, step by step, toward the exit.

As the two sides remained deadlocked—

Suddenly, earth-shaking battle cries rang out from afar.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The dull beat of war drums sounded, and a black banner bearing the character "Chen" snapped in the morning light.

"It's the Black Water Gang! The Black Water Gang's main force is here!"

Someone screamed in terror.

On the hillside, a dark tide of men surged forward like a flood.

At the lead was a man in a brocade robe, exuding authority—none other than Black Water Gang Leader Chen Wanli.

Beside him, War Hall Master Zhao Tieshan gripped his Ghost Head Saber, murderous intent blazing.

"Lu Chen! Well done!"

Zhao Tieshan spotted Lu Chen holding Li Qingyi hostage at a glance, his face lighting up with joy as he roared like a bell.

"Brothers! The Red Fish Gang Leader has been captured alive by Lu Chen! Kill them all! Spare no one!"

"Kill—!"

The Black Water Gang's morale soared as they charged like wolves and tigers into the already panicked Red Fish Gang.

In that moment, the outcome was sealed.

With their Gang Leader captured and no one to lead them, the Red Fish Gang's morale collapsed instantly.

Facing the Black Water Gang's all-out assault, they couldn't mount any effective resistance. They threw down their weapons and scattered in every direction.

What had been a evenly matched battle turned into a one-sided slaughter.

Lu Chen let out a breath of relief and tossed the limp, boneless Li Qingyi to Zhao Tieshan, who had rushed over.

"Mission accomplished."

As soon as he said that, his body swayed, nearly falling.

That last fight had drained too much of his strength, and his injuries were severe.

"Good lad! You've got some nerve!"

Zhao Tieshan caught Lu Chen, looking at the horrific wounds on his body with a mix of admiration and concern. "Go rest for now. Leave the rest to us!"

Lu Chen nodded, stepped aside, and found a rock to sit on.

He watched the battlefield.

Blood stained the earth red; screams rose and fell.

The Red Fish Gang, once so arrogant in Nujiang County, had become history that day.

And the turning point of it all was him capturing Li Qingyi alive.

A thrill of control, of holding life and death in his hands, welled up inside him.

This was the power that strength brought.

As long as you were strong enough, you could rewrite the battle, decide the fate of countless lives.

An hour later.

The battle was completely over.

Red Fish Dock had been reduced to rubble, corpses of Red Fish Gang members scattered everywhere.

The Black Water Gang had won a decisive victory.

Inside the hastily erected Central Army Tent.

Chen Wanli sat in the seat of honor, an undisguised joy spreading across his face.

His longtime nemesis had finally been wiped out; from now on, Nujiang County would belong solely to the Black Water Gang.

"Lu Chen, step forward and receive your reward!"

Chen Wanli looked at Lu Chen standing below, growing more pleased the longer he gazed.

This young man possessed not only astonishing martial talent but also a boldness and ruthlessness beyond ordinary reach.

He was a promising talent worth cultivating.

"This subordinate is here."

Lu Chen suppressed the pain from his injuries, stepped forward, and knelt on one knee.

"In this battle, you have rendered the greatest merit!"

Chen Wanli declared in a clear voice. "If you hadn't ventured deep into the Tiger's Den and captured Li Qingyi alive, throwing the enemy's morale into chaos, taking Red Fish Dock would have cost us a far heavier price."

"A reward of a thousand silver taels! One major merit recorded!"

"Furthermore..."

Chen Wanli pointed at Li Qingyi, who was bound tightly and kneeling to the side, a faint, suggestive smile on his face.

"This woman may have lost, but she's still a Meridian Connecting Realm expert, and not bad-looking to boot. Since ancient times, beauty has matched the hero. Lu Chen, I bestow this Li Qingyi upon you!"

"Whether you kill her or keep her, make her a servant or a bed-warmer, it's entirely up to you!"

At these words, the other leaders inside the tent cast envious and jealous glances his way.

Li Qingyi!

She was the famed beauty of Nujiang County, the lofty Gang Leader of the Red Fish Gang.

And now she had become Lu Chen's personal property, his to toy with as he pleased.

That sense of conquest was something no man could refuse.

Hearing this, Li Qingyi's delicate frame trembled violently. She lifted her head and glared at Lu Chen, her eyes filled with humiliation and despair.

She wanted to bite off her tongue, but a cloth wad had been stuffed into her mouth, denying her even death.

Lu Chen turned his head and looked at this once-arrogant woman.

Her clothes were disheveled, her hair in disarray. Though bedraggled, it only added a touch of tragic beauty.

Especially those eyes, brimming with hatred, which could stir a man's desire to conquer.

But Lu Chen's gaze remained clear.

He was thinking.

What use was a woman whose martial arts had been crippled to him?

A bed-warmer? An outlet for frustration?

Those were things the weak indulged in.

What he wanted was to grow stronger, to achieve immortality, to seize control of his own fate.

This woman surely possessed something more valuable than her body.

Lu Chen touched the scar on his chest—the one Li Qingyi had left behind.

The wealth of a Meridian Connecting Realm expert...

His eyes fell on the delicate embroidered pouch at Li Qingyi's waist, and on her fingers, which she had guarded tightly even in captivity.

Something seemed to be hidden there.