Inside the Black Dragon Gang, Liu Chu practiced his blade technique. His blade momentum was fierce and ruthless, roaring like thunder as flashes of cold light swept over the entire hall.
"Come in!"
Liu Chu suddenly stopped practicing and called toward the hall entrance.
"The gang leader's strength has increased greatly. You could hear my footsteps from so far away."
Han Qi entered the hall, looking at Liu Chu in surprise as he remarked.
"Heh, when there's no one else around, you don't have to be so formal."
Liu Chu looked at Han Qi and smiled.
"I'm used to it."
Han Qi felt a little helpless, too. After spending so long in the Black Dragon Gang, switching between the two forms of address had become a bit of a hassle.
So when they were alone, he simply called Liu Chu "gang leader." That way, he wouldn't have to keep switching back and forth.
"By the way, gang leader, we've found the person you asked us to look for!"
Han Qi didn't dwell on the forms of address and immediately reported the news.
"Oh? That fast?"
Surprise crossed Liu Chu's face.
Han Qi smiled. "Our Black Dragon Gang now rules the former Golden Fish, Wild Wolf, and Qinghu gangs. We have plenty of men and control a vast territory. Finding one person in the city naturally isn't difficult!"
"Excellent!"
Liu Chu's gaze sharpened, killing intent flashing past and vanishing.
Clang!
His long blade slid into its scabbard, concealing its icy killing intent.
"Master, your blade isn't fast enough, nor fierce enough!"
Liu Chu murmured softly.
"Lead the way."
He gestured to Han Qi.
"Yes!"
Han Qi led Liu Chu toward their target. Before they left the gang's territory, he asked, "Should we bring some men? We've got the numbers now. We could overwhelm him..."
Liu Chu shook his head. "Our opponent is very strong. Having more men may not help. I'm enough on my own. Bring a few men who know how to handle things cleanly, and have them collect the bodies."
"Collect the bodies!"
Han Qi's heart jolted. As expected, the gang leader had a fearsome presence.
But after witnessing Liu Chu's abilities, he knew the man had every right to be so imposing!
Not long ago, he'd killed the Wild Wolf Gang leader with six strikes—a truly fearsome feat. Now that his strength had increased even further, who knew what level he'd reached?
In front of a dilapidated temple.
"Here of all places?"
Liu Chu looked surprised. He hadn't expected someone like Gu Hualong, a Bone Refining expert, to choose a place like this over an inn.
"Now this is more like the jianghu..."
Alongside his surprise, a few other thoughts stirred in Liu Chu's heart.
"This man seems like a jianghu expert. He's probably avoiding inns to hide his whereabouts, so he chose a remote, run-down temple like this."
Han Qi smiled.
He'd spent several years in the Golden Fish Gang, and had a little more experience in the jianghu than Liu Chu. He wasn't surprised, and even offered a reasonable guess.
"That's for the best. We won't risk hurting any innocents."
Liu Chu nodded slightly. Just as Han Qi had guessed, Gu Hualong was indeed a jianghu expert. And because he wanted to seize Yang Wenhuai's Jinding Technique through underhanded schemes, he naturally didn't dare reveal where he was staying.
That's right. Gu Hualong and his disciple were the targets of this trip!
Perhaps Yang Wenhuai still felt some affection for their old friendship and couldn't bring himself to kill Gu Hualong.
Or perhaps, as the saying went, "the older a jianghu veteran grew, the smaller his courage became," and he didn't dare fight Gu Hualong to the death.
In any case, he'd chosen to let Gu Hualong go, hoping that after his plan failed, he would willingly give up his attempt to seize the Jinding Technique and leave on his own.
But Liu Chu wasn't that naïve. He'd injured Gu Hualong's disciple and ruined his plan to seize the Jinding Technique. There was no telling whether Gu Hualong would hold a grudge over it.
Liu Chu knew well enough that the first to strike had the advantage!
Having a Bone Refining expert set his sights on him would be enough to leave him unable to eat or sleep in peace!
At that moment, Gu Hualong was inside the dilapidated temple, tending to the disciple Liu Chu had injured.
"I'd thought that Lin Bei was the only one in the Dragon Tiger Martial Arts Hall worth worrying about. If I poisoned him, Yang Wenhuai would have no choice but to obediently hand over the manual!"
Gu Hualong's face was livid, his expression shifting between dark and uncertain. "Who'd have thought the Dragon Tiger Martial Arts Hall had another Tendon Refining expert hidden away—and one so extraordinary that he could defeat you with a single move..."
"This disciple was at fault!"
The short-haired young man hurriedly tried to rise and admit his mistake.
"It's fine. I can't blame you for this. His strength truly was beyond our expectations. I didn't expect him to be so powerful that he could take one of my palm strikes head-on. He's probably close to Bone Refining."
Gu Hualong shook his head and pressed the short-haired young man back onto the crude wooden bed.
A flash of murderous intent crossed his eyes. "It seems we can only wait a while longer. Once he thinks we've admitted defeat and lets down his guard, we'll strike again and cripple him!"
"Master, there's something I don't understand."
The short-haired young man's gaze suddenly flickered. "Since M-Master and your senior brother have a grudge against the Lingjian Sect, why don't we just ask the Lingjian Sect to act? Wouldn't that make getting the manual easy?"
Gu Hualong frowned and shot him an unhappy look. His disciple was quite strong, but he was arrogant and not very bright.
I hope this crushing defeat changes his nature.
Gu Hualong thought that his disciple had talent, and was even a cut above him. He'd never experienced failure, which was why he'd grown so arrogant.
Perhaps this defeat could knock the arrogance out of him, teach him to keep his brilliance contained, and make him less boastful.
He patiently explained, "Yang Wenhuai's grudge against the Lingjian Sect comes from the fact that a Jinding Sect disciple had a blood feud with them. I'm a Jinding Sect disciple too, though I was expelled..."
"In any case, if we ask the Lingjian Sect for help, Yang Wenhuai will certainly die. But the Lingjian Sect probably won't give me the Jinding Technique."
"Worse, I'm a former traitor to the Jinding Sect. The Lingjian Sect might not only refuse to recognize me—they might kill me on the spot as a warning to others!"
He looked at his disciple and spoke earnestly. "Traitors never meet a good end, no matter the time or place. I never wanted to betray the Jinding Sect back then."
"If that daughter of the Third Elder hadn't toyed with my feelings and caused me to make a terrible mistake—to accidentally kill her—I wouldn't have left the Jinding Sect!"
"Even after the Jinding Sect sent people to hunt me down several times and tried to purge the traitor from its ranks, leaving me on the brink of death again and again, I never thought of betraying my sect!"
"Even the backup plan I've put in place now has nothing to do with the Lingjian Sect!"
Gu Hualong spoke with sincerity.
Though he was a traitor, he hadn't truly wanted to betray the Jinding Sect. And he certainly didn't want his disciple to become a traitor like him.
Otherwise, all his painstaking efforts to teach his disciple would have come to nothing, wasting half a lifetime of effort!
The short-haired young man seemed to understand, though he didn't dare bring up the Lingjian Sect again.
"Who's there!"
Gu Hualong's gaze sharpened. Sensing unusual movement outside the temple, he hurried to his feet to investigate.
The short-haired young man saw his master's grave expression, struggled to his feet, and followed him out to see what was happening.
The two emerged from the temple and saw Liu Chu and several gang members surrounding the dilapidated building.
"It's you!"
The short-haired young man gritted his teeth at the sight of Liu Chu, his anger blazing as he glared at him with hatred. "Good, good! You could've taken the road to heaven, but you chose to barge through hell's gate!"
"Young people really don't know the immensity of heaven and earth!"
Gu Hualong's expression relaxed somewhat. He'd thought Yang Wenhuai had brought men to surround him.
He wasn't afraid of Yang Wenhuai, but the two of them were evenly matched, and he didn't want to fight him to the death.
Especially since they were on Yang Wenhuai's turf. Yang Wenhuai might even be able to call on one or two experts.
He hadn't expected it to be Liu Chu, a Tendon Refining martial artist. What a false alarm!
Before you continue