Whoosh!
A streak of saber light appeared abruptly before the Li Family Great Elder's arm, from an extremely strange angle.
It sliced through the air, tracing an inscrutable path as it struck toward the Great Elder's arm in an almost impossible manner.
"How could this be...?"
The Li Family Great Elder couldn't understand how that slash had been unleashed!
His skill was limited. His fist technique had barely reached great accomplishment, and he knew even less about saber techniques.
With his shallow understanding, he simply couldn't comprehend Liu Chu's mastery of the saber, gained from cultivating three saber techniques at once!
In truth, Liu Chu had already anticipated the Li Family Great Elder's punch.
With two perfected martial techniques and one mastered technique bolstering him, his combat skills had reached a state of consummate perfection.
Every time he struck, he had already calculated how to deliver the next slash!
He was, in effect, calculating five moves ahead!
Since he had been willing to risk everything to kill the two Tendon Refining Realm martial artists first, he had naturally already considered how to deal with the Li Family Great Elder's sneak attack.
At that moment, if the Li Family Great Elder's punch had advanced just a few more inches, his arm would undoubtedly have been severed by a single slash!
"Damn it!!"
The Li Family Great Elder had no choice but to pull back his fist.
Liu Chu seized the chance to catch his breath. Tightening his grip on the saber in his hand, he charged at the Li Family Great Elder once more.
The eight streams of Blood Vitality within him surged like roaring flood dragons, bursting with abundant power. Through his perfected saber technique, his ferocious force erupted in a series of dazzling slashes, each unleashed with a distinctive method of exertion!
Having lost his two allies, the Li Family Great Elder grew more and more alarmed as the battle wore on.
Faced with Liu Chu's unfathomable saber technique, he could only barely withstand the attacks. He was completely suppressed and reduced to defending himself.
Even so, after just a few exchanges, he was still struggling to keep up. One slash struck his chest, sending him stumbling backward, drenched in blood.
Having landed a successful blow, Liu Chu was like a flood dragon bursting from its abyss. His saber came down swift and domineering, giving his opponent not the slightest chance to catch his breath.
He unleashed several more fierce slashes, killing the Li Family Great Elder on the spot!
"The Li Family... is finished!"
As the Li Family Great Elder fell, only one thought flashed through his mind.
The Li Family was finished!
After offending such a mysterious saber genius, the Li Family had little chance of surviving—unless their opponent was overflowing with compassion!
But Liu Chu was no softhearted saint. Even before killing those three men from the Li Family, he had already considered storming the Li Family's home himself.
Now that he had killed the Li Family Great Elder and the other two, his resolve to storm the Li Family grew even stronger!
Just then, footsteps suddenly surged outside.
A figure rushed in. It was none other than Han Qi.
"Is the leader unharmed?"
Han Qi hurried into the hall. When he saw the three corpses on the floor, his pupils shrank abruptly, and he asked with concern.
"I'm fine. Just a few mosquitoes got in."
Liu Chu shook his head.
As soon as he finished speaking, several more figures rushed in. They were all hall masters of the Black Dragon Gang.
When they saw the bodies on the floor, their faces filled with fear. They hurriedly knelt and pleaded, "This subordinate deserves to die! We failed to protect you and let the leader suffer a fright!"
Liu Chu gazed at the hall masters who had rushed to protect him, his expression distant, as if he had returned to the day he stormed the Green Tiger Gang alone with nothing but a saber.
Back then, a group of hall masters had also come to protect their leader. The difference was that he had been the intruding assassin.
Times had changed, and their roles had been reversed. He was now the gang leader, while the assassin was someone else!
"Everyone wants power, but without strength, holding power means facing danger at any moment..."
Liu Chu silently reminded himself.
Without strength, he might have met the same fate as the Green Tiger Gang's leader tonight!
"Leader, these people..."
Han Qi asked with a frown.
Liu Chu shook his head and waved at them. "I'll handle this. You may leave."
"Yes!"
Though they were curious, none dared say more. They all withdrew.
"The Li Family!!"
Seated in the tiger-skin chair, Liu Chu stared at the bodies in the main hall, a cold glint flickering in his eyes.
"Against a power like the Li Family, the Black Dragon Gang doesn't stand a chance. The Li Family has several Tendon Refining Realm martial artists, as well as Bone Refining Realm experts..."
Liu Chu fell into thought.
Though the Black Dragon Gang seemed imposing, its business was actually quite small, and the entire organization was worth less than a thousand taels of silver.
The gang had only one Tendon Refining Realm martial artist—Liu Chu himself. The other six or seven hall masters were merely Skin Refining Realm martial artists.
By comparison, the Li Family had two Bone Refining Realm experts and several Tendon Refining Realm martial artists. The number of their Skin Refining Realm martial artists was unknown.
"Looks like I'll have to use you!"
Liu Chu sighed softly. He walked to a secret chamber in the hall and looked at the fish-scale armor stored neatly inside.
This suit of fish-scale armor had been hidden away by the Green Tiger Gang leader for some critical moment. He didn't wear it in ordinary times.
It was bulky and heavy. Wearing it all the time would have been uncomfortable!
"Great Jin's laws forbid privately keeping armor. The penalty is death!"
Liu Chu gazed at the armor glinting with cold light, his expression unusually calm.
Under Great Jin's laws, anyone caught privately keeping armor was guilty of a capital crime!
In practice, however, many martial powers kept some armor hidden away. They just differed in how much.
"Armor is nearly useless against Bone Refining Realm experts, but it can protect me from Skin Refining Realm martial artists and from the slashes of swords and sabers wielded by Tendon Refining Realm martial artists..."
Liu Chu carefully donned the armor.
Great Jin banned armor but not sabers, and banned crossbows but not bows!
An ordinary person wearing armor could easily take on ten opponents at once. They wouldn't even need to fear Skin Refining Realm martial artists.
Even so, this was the only suit the Green Tiger Gang leader had dared to hide away!
One-on-one against the Li Family's Bone Refining Realm experts or Tendon Refining Realm martial artists—or even against three or four of them—Liu Chu wouldn't fear them in the slightest.
But if dozens or hundreds swarmed him all at once, he could only hope to evade the attacks of the Tendon Refining and Bone Refining Realm experts.
"When swords and sabers come slashing from every direction like a raging tide, even with my exquisite saber technique, I can't block them all!"
"Unless I break through to the Middle Three Grades and reach the Neizhuang Realm, perhaps I could take on a hundred men. Or I could cultivate a body-tempering technique to strengthen my defenses."
"Of course, if my saber technique advances further, that might work too."
Liu Chu thought, "But compared with those three options, wearing a suit of armor is much easier!"
After putting on the fish-scale armor and pulling a loose black robe over it, Liu Chu belted on his saber and stepped out of the Black Dragon Gang.
Before leaving, he told Han Qi to dispose of the bodies in the hall.
The Li Family, beneath the hazy night sky.
In front of the family patriarch's hall, one armed family martial artist after another stood ready, swords and sabers in hand.
Inside the hall, the Li Family patriarch and several elders calmly sipped tea, waiting for news of victory.
"Patriarch, he's just the leader of a gang and a mere Tendon Refining Realm martial artist. Do we really need such a large defensive force?"
One elder blew on the tea in his cup and laughed.
"Exactly. With the Great Elder's Bone Refining Realm cultivation, there's no way he could fail to deal with a Tendon Refining Realm martial artist!"
Another elder nodded, looking completely at ease. "What's more, two Tendon Refining Realm martial artists went with him. There's no way anything could go wrong. Patriarch, you're being far too cautious."
The Li Family patriarch didn't take offense at their complaints. He agreed with their assessment as well.
After taking a sip of tea, he smiled faintly. "It never hurts to be cautious. Besides, haven't I still left our hidden bows, crossbows, and armor unused?"
"Hahaha, Patriarch, you're joking! Why would a mere Tendon Refining Realm martial artist be worth using our armor and crossbows against?"
The two elders shook their heads and laughed.
The armor and crossbows the Li Family kept hidden were their trump cards, meant to be used in times of crisis. What right did a mere Tendon Refining Realm martial artist have to make them bring those out?
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