When Heaven wants to destroy a man, it first makes him mad

Of the forty-nine wards in Changning Prefecture, Joyful District is the poorest. Yet, it is not entirely a slum; at the very least, it boasts one street that is quite decent, known as Happy Forest.

As the name suggests, Happy Forest is a place for people to find pleasure. On this small street, there are over a hundred gambling dens, taverns, brothels, and inns.

This single street is enough to support dozens of members of the Flying Eagle Gang; without it, the Flying Eagle Gang would likely have pulled out of Joyful District entirely.

The Flying Eagle Gang feels it is a losing proposition to fight to the death with the Green Bamboo Gang over such a destitute place.

At this moment, inside the Drunken Moon Pavilion, the largest brothel in Happy Forest, Liu Sandao is squinting his eyes, enjoying a massage from two girls while listening to his subordinates report the situation. His life is quite comfortable.

Liu Sandao is over thirty this year. Having spent more than a decade in the pugilistic world to reach the position of a minor leader, it has not been easy.

Although the position he holds today was not obtained in the most honorable of ways.

But this is the pugilistic world. Even though these low-level gang members are the most basic of martial artists, there is one rule that is universal: the winner is king.

While Liu Sandao is fierce and ruthless—having earned his moniker "Liu Sandao" by killing a member of a rival gang with three slashes in his very first fight—he is not a martial artist. He does not possess even a shred of internal strength.

It is precisely because of this lack of strength that he spent over a decade struggling at the very bottom of the Flying Eagle Gang.

However, this was not without its benefits; at the very least, he built a wide network of connections at the bottom of the Flying Eagle Gang and maintained some rapport with the minor and major leaders above him.

Otherwise, after he framed Su Xin, what would have awaited him was not this position as a minor leader, but punishment under gang law.

"How is Brother Chen doing over at the gambling den?" Liu Sandao asks indifferently, toying with a pair of iron balls in his hand.

He learned this habit from Tie Wuqing, the Chief Constable of the East Twelve Wards of Changning Prefecture, and he feels it gives him an air of authority.

The subordinate looks miserable. "Brother Chen has already lost over a hundred taels at the gambling den, and just a moment ago, the den lent him another hundred."

Liu Sandao waves his hand dismissively. "Whatever he loses, put it on my tab. Tell Old Huang at the gambling den that his protection fee for next month is waived."

The subordinate says cautiously, "But the monthly protection fee for the gambling den is only fifty taels, and Old Huang said that when the Green Bamboo Gang was in charge, the fee was only thirty taels."

"Bang!"

Liu Sandao slams the iron balls in his hands onto the floor, instantly causing the two girls behind him to turn pale with fright.

"It's under my jurisdiction now!"

Liu Sandao's face is full of ferocity.

"Go back and tell Old Huang that from now on, the monthly protection fee is raised to two hundred taels! If he doesn't pay, there's no need for his gambling den to stay open!"

"Yes, yes! I'll go tell him right away!" The subordinate immediately runs outside.

He doesn't know why, but ever since becoming a minor leader, the usually amiable Third Brother Liu has changed so much.

Liu Sandao picks up the iron balls and lies back on his chair to knead them again, but before he can settle, a clamor erupts outside the door.

"What's going on?" Liu Sandao asks, displeased.

"Big Brother! Lao Wu is dead!" A gang member with a scar on his face runs in, his voice choked with sobs.

"What happened? Didn't Lao Wu go out with Lao Si? Was it the people from the Green Bamboo Gang?"

Liu Sandao pushes everyone aside and sees Lao Si at the entrance of the Drunken Moon Pavilion, carrying the body of Lao Wu, who was killed by Su Xin's sword, his eyes staring blankly at him.

"How exactly did Lao Wu die?!"

Although he has many subordinates, most joined after he became a minor leader; the only ones who have truly followed him loyally for years are these five brothers.

"Third Brother! It was Su Xin who killed Lao Wu!"

"Su Xin!" Liu Sandao hates hearing that name more than anything else right now.

Although pugilistic gangs are looked down upon by the righteous martial arts world, they still value loyalty.

The position Liu Sandao obtained by framing his own brother is secure, but he inevitably faces gossip.

"Impossible! Su Xin was beaten by the Green Bamboo Gang until he was barely breathing. Even if he isn't dead, he should be close to it. How could he have killed Lao Wu?"

Lao Si says miserably, "It's true! Su Xin killed Lao Wu with only one strike! No! You can't even call it a sword; it was just a piece of scrap iron! He also said that you owe him, Third Brother, and that he will come to collect it from you personally!"

Hearing this, Liu Sandao feels a chill rush to the top of his head.

Glancing around, Liu Sandao shouts, "What the hell are you all looking at? Get the hell out of here!"

The onlookers inside the Drunken Moon Pavilion immediately shrink back.

"Go and invite Brother Chen over."

Brother Chen, whose real name is Chen Dao, is in his forties. Although he is just an ordinary member of the Flying Eagle Gang, his other identity is that of the adopted son of Third Master Hu, one of the thirteen major leaders of the Flying Eagle Gang.

His Iron Sand Palm technique is a true inheritance from Third Master Hu, and ordinary minor leaders are no match for him.

This time, Liu Sandao spent hundreds of taels on food, drink, prostitutes, and gambling to host Chen Dao, all to get him to put in a good word with Third Master Hu so that his position would be more secure.

The subordinate brings Chen Dao over, but Chen Dao sits in Liu Sandao's previous seat with an impatient look and asks, "What is it? I was having a great time gambling over there."

Liu Sandao ignores Chen Dao's rudeness and instead smiles apologetically. "Brother Chen, it's like this: one of my men was killed, dead in a single strike, so I wanted you to take a look and see what kind of strength that person has."

"Someone from the Green Bamboo Gang?" In a place like Joyful District, there wouldn't be people from other gangs; the only possibility is the Green Bamboo Gang, who just lost a major battle against them.

"No, it's one of our own from the Flying Eagle Gang." Liu Sandao looks embarrassed.

"One of our own? Damn it, you can't even control your own men?"

Chen Dao frowns at Liu Sandao, then suddenly remembers something and asks in surprise, "Is it that Su Xin? The Su Xin whose position you stole?"

Liu Sandao nodded awkwardly; after all, betraying one's brothers was a deed that sounded better than it felt.

Chen Dao shrugged indifferently. Regardless, he was just taking money to resolve problems for others.

Lao Wu's corpse was hoisted up, and Chen Dao crouched down to begin a careful examination.

Upon seeing the sword wound at Lao Wu's throat, Chen Dao's pupils constricted instantly.

"Brother Chen, how is it? Can you tell anything?" Liu Sandao asked hurriedly.

"An expert! A sword expert!" Chen Dao said in a deep voice, his tone no longer carrying its previous laziness.

"A fatal strike, the blade precisely severing the windpipe without even a millimeter of deviation. This person's control over the sword has reached a terrifying level. When this Su Xin was under your command before, was he this strong?"

Liu Sandao looked blank. "The kid was indeed a good fighter back then. Don't let his delicate looks fool you; he had a fair amount of strength. Plus, he was ruthless and reckless, easily taking on three burly men at once. But I've never heard of him knowing how to use a sword."

"That's strange. This kind of technique is impossible to execute without over a decade of immersion in swordsmanship." Chen Dao sat up, fiddling with Liu Sandao's two iron balls.

"Could it be that this Su Xin has learned internal energy?" Liu Sandao suddenly asked.

Chen Dao scoffed, "Do you think just anyone is qualified to learn internal energy? Only true Houtian realm martial artists possess internal energy. In our Sand Eagle Gang, only the Gang Leader and the three Hall Masters are Houtian realm martial artists.

Where do you think this is? This is Changning Prefecture, not Shengjing City where martial artists are a dime a dozen. People like us are, at best, just drifters in the martial world. Internal energy? Have you been listening to too many storytelling performances?"

Liu Sandao smiled obsequiously, "It is my own ignorance, Brother Chen. Then, do you have the confidence to deal with this Su Xin?"

"No matter how fast or accurate a sword strike is, what does it matter? Power is the foundation! Five hundred taels of silver, and I will handle this Su Xin for you. At the same time, I will report to my foster father that Su Xin colluded with the Green Bamboo Gang, clearing your name of the rumors about framing your brothers." Chen Dao said while playing with the iron balls.

"Deal! I'll go prepare the silver right now!" Liu Sandao gritted his teeth and agreed.

Compared to silver, his life was more important. Five hundred taels was a lot, but by squeezing the various shops in Happy Forest a bit harder, he could scrape it together in a month.

"Straightforward! Liu Sandao, you will soon realize that these five hundred taels of silver were well spent."

Chen Dao dropped the iron balls and stood up. On the surface of the pure steel balls, five distinct finger indentations were clearly visible!

What was Su Xin doing at this moment? He was eating steamed buns.

Just as he arrived at Happy Forest, he felt hungry again, so he found a roadside stall and ordered several baskets of small steamed buns to eat.

Martial artists have abundant blood and qi, so their appetites are large. Furthermore, since Su Xin had just started practicing internal energy, he needed to digest the essence of food to refine it into internal force.

For some experts, eating a whole cow a day is normal, though they are also capable of going a month without food or drink.

After finishing the buns, Su Xin suddenly remembered he still had one draw opportunity left for the day.

With a thought, Su Xin appeared within the system space.

"System, I still have one draw opportunity today, right?"

The system replied, "Correct, the host has one remaining Primary Draw opportunity. Would you like to proceed?"

"Draw," Su Xin said without hesitation.

Although this Primary Draw was somewhat lackluster, if his luck exploded and he happened to draw a cultivation technique or a martial skill, that would be great.

However, Su Xin was clearly not shrouded in a halo of luck this time; the pointer on the wheel bypassed the cultivation techniques and landed on the pills section.

"Tsk! A bit different from what I imagined. It would have been better if it were a weapon."

The sword Su Xin was currently using was still that piece of scrap metal, which was quite pathetic.

The silver he took from Lao Si could buy a refined steel longsword, but those were all common goods, and using them felt no different from the scrap metal.

"Congratulations to the host for drawing one Primary Inferior Qi Nourishing Pill. Rating: half a star."

Su Xin's mouth twitched. A Primary Qi Nourishing Pill, and an inferior one at that—it didn't sound like anything good just by the name.

Emerging from the system space, the Primary Inferior Qi Nourishing Pill appeared in Su Xin's hand. It wasn't spherical but an irregular lump, looking rather unreliable.

Su Xin opened his mouth and crunched it down. Instantly, he felt the internal force within his body double.

Don't think that doubling is a lot; Su Xin had only been practicing internal energy for a single day, so the internal force in his body was only a tiny thread. Even if it doubled, it was still just a tiny thread.

All in all, this Primary Inferior Qi Nourishing Pill could only increase the amount of internal force Su Xin had cultivated in a day—better than nothing, but barely.

Just as he stood up, the system's voice echoed in Su Xin's mind: "Task system activated. Issuing task. Novice Task: Kill Liu Sandao within three days and become a minor leader of the Flying Eagle Gang. Task Reward: 10 Villain Points, one Primary Inferior Qi Nourishing Pill. Failure Penalty: Loss of one arm."

"The failure penalty for a novice task is this severe? But the task itself seems simple enough."

Su Xin tossed down a piece of silver and headed straight toward Happy Forest.