Ambush

Laiyang City lay in the northwest of Lanzhou, surrounded by mountains on all sides. To be honest, it was a mountain city. It was difficult for outsiders to get in, and just as difficult for those within to get out.

The Black Dragon Mountain Range was like a giant dragon coiled across the land, its winding body splitting all of Lanzhou. It was both a barrier and an obstacle.

There were many small cities like Laiyang, all ideal places to live in seclusion. Few people would cross the perilous Black Dragon Mountain Range to reach them.

But if Shen Fan wanted to leave, he had no choice but to cross the Black Dragon Mountain Range. Even with his current strength, he could very well run into danger. But there was no other way. If he wanted to seek out martial arts techniques of a higher level, he had to leave.

There was no one he needed to say goodbye to. Shen Fan simply slung a bundle over his back and left.

Once outside the city gates, Shen Fan chose a direction and set off.

But after he left, several vendors suddenly gathered together and whispered among themselves. Then a carrier pigeon took flight from their hands.

The pigeon flew swiftly across the sky before landing in the hand of a Black Clad Man.

After taking the message, Wang Wu and the others read it carefully.

"Hahaha, brothers, time to get to work! Some fool who doesn't know when to quit is heading out again. Let's send him on his way!"

"Hahaha, well said, big brother! Instead of letting these guys get eaten by Demonic Beasts in the mountains, they might as well die by our hands and add to our merits!"

The dozens of black-clad men present, each radiating murderous intent, laughed among themselves.

These men were forces secretly recruited by the City Lord's Mansion. Their only task now was to make sure no Martial Artist ever left Laiyang City!

After half a year, City Lord Huang Ling was finally about to bare his fangs.

"Third Brother, take a few men and go give this freedom-loving little bird a proper welcome!"

"Sure thing, big brother. I'll go have some fun, then?" Zhang San readily agreed.

He'd been waiting here for so long that he was practically growing fur. Every day was mind-numbingly dull. Now that someone had finally shown up, he would have volunteered even if Wang Wu hadn't asked.

Zhang San led five black-clad men in the direction Shen Fan had taken, while the others stayed behind on standby.

Zhang San himself was a Viscera Refining expert, and even the weakest of the men he'd brought along had reached Muscle Refining. An ordinary Martial Artist wouldn't stand a chance of surviving.

Besides, the report they'd received hadn't mentioned that the newcomer was a powerful fighter. That meant he was probably just some nobody who couldn't make it in Laiyang City!

With that in mind, Zhang San had no worries at all. He leisurely blocked the only road Shen Fan could take out of the mountains.

Before long, Zhang San spotted a tall, handsome young man sprinting toward them. The speed of his strides was impressive.

"Stop right there!" one of the men in black shouted.

Shen Fan frowned, but stopped all the same. As he looked at the men before him, he suddenly sensed that something was wrong.

The unease in his heart only grew stronger when he noticed the weapons behind them.

Still, he forced himself to ask, "May I ask what you gentlemen want?"

"Want? Hahaha! Third Brother, look at this kid. He's pretty polite. Tell me, should I leave him in one piece later, just to show him how polite we are around here?"

One of the black-clad men laughed without a care. But Zhang San, standing behind him, shook his head. "Kid, running into us today is your bad luck. Be more careful in your next life!"

He gave a signal, and the black-clad men nearby understood at once. They immediately surrounded Shen Fan from several directions.

"Kid, prepare to die!"

A black-clad man at the Bone Forging level struck first. The others stayed alert, though they were clearly a little relaxed. They could all see that Shen Fan was still young.

And a young man hadn't been practicing martial arts for long, which meant his martial arts realm couldn't be very high.

With a Bone Forging expert making the first move, this should be a sure thing!

Everyone thought it would go that way. But Shen Fan sighed, tossed his bundle aside as he eyed the puny weakling charging at him, and vanished from their sight.

A chill ran down their backs.

"We're done for. We've run into an expert!" Their hair stood on end in an instant, but it was already too late. Shen Fan at the Bone Forging level could have beaten these nobodies with ease—yet he had already surpassed Bone Forging.

At the Viscera Refining level, he had no idea how strong he'd become. All he knew was that he could hardly feel any sense of danger inside the martial hall anymore.

He'd even sneaked close to the place where Hall Master Zhang Longyun was in seclusion, only to find that Zhang Longyun's aura wasn't all that strong either.

Of the men before him, only the "Third Brother" leading them was worth a second look. The rest were trash!

In a few flickers, Shen Fan was back where he'd started. But the men who'd surrounded him had stopped in their tracks, staring at him with wide eyes.

Blood slowly trickled from their eyes, ears, noses, and mouths. Without a single cry, they fell stiffly to the ground!

Zhang San had sensed trouble and bolted long ago. But Shen Fan wasn't in the least bit worried. Watching Zhang San run farther and farther away, he smiled faintly.

"Think you can get away? How naive!"

As soon as Shen Fan finished speaking, he vanished from the spot, moving so fast that the naked eye could barely follow him.

Over the past six months, Shen Fan had practiced all kinds of highly effective techniques: those with powerful attacks, those with strong defenses, those that increased speed, and those that improved stamina. He had truly learned it all.

After mastering these techniques, Shen Fan had naturally become a well-rounded fighter.

At his current speed, no one could catch him unless they had also mastered a light-body technique.

Zhang San clearly hadn't. Though he was faster than an ordinary Viscera Refining fighter, before Shen Fan he was still as slow as a snail.

Zhang San suddenly heard a gust of wind roar past his ear. He turned to look, and the figure that seemed as terrifying as a Demon was standing right before him.

Terrified, Zhang San dropped to his knees and grabbed Shen Fan by the leg.

"Great sir, spare my life!"

"Tell me everything you know, and I may spare you," Shen Fan said coolly.

Seeing a chance to live, Zhang San clung to it with all his might. Before long, he had confessed everything he knew.

That included who he was, where he came from, and the mission he was carrying out.

Looking at Zhang San's utterly earnest expression, Shen Fan discreetly pulled his leg free.

"City Lord Huang Ling? So you've finally lost patience!"

From Zhang San, Shen Fan learned of City Lord Huang Ling's plans. It seemed Huang Ling's desire to rule Laiyang City alone had never waned over the past six months.

He had secretly contacted Kaishan Martial Arts School and taken Chang Yuchun under his wing, then used Kaishan Martial Arts School to steadily weaken the other martial halls.

By now, Kaishan Martial Arts School had absorbed nearly a third of the disciples from the other martial halls. Combined with the City Lord's Mansion, it could stand against the other three major martial halls.

And that was without City Lord Huang Ling lifting a finger. But could that really be the case? Huang Ling alone could take on nearly every powerful fighter in Laiyang City.

But by now, Huang Ling had already brought nearly half of those fighters under his control. How could the rest possibly stand against him?

So Huang Ling had chosen to make his move: seal off Laiyang City, ambush any Martial Artist trying to leave, and trap them all inside like turtles in a jar.

If nothing unexpected had happened, Laiyang City was probably already engulfed in fighting. And if nothing unexpected happened, the martial halls might well disappear from Laiyang City altogether.