Yongle Ward Is Yours

Luo Zhen was stronger than Su Xin had imagined.

Su Xin guessed he had already opened at least seventy acupoints and was close to breaking through to the Post-Heaven Mid-Stage!

"Kid, no wonder Dai Chong died at your hands. He certainly didn't die in vain." Luo Zhen's eyes held a hint of admiration.

Although he had Su Xin on the back foot, Su Xin's defense was still watertight, and he was only slightly disadvantaged.

Considering Su Xin's age, Luo Zhen had no reason to feel proud.

He had been practicing martial arts longer than Su Xin had been alive, yet after dozens of exchanges, he still hadn't taken him down. There was nothing glorious about that.

By now, Luo Zhen's fighting spirit had been roused. He let out a loud shout and thrust the Refined Iron Spear in his hands forward. The spearhead darted out five times in a small area, like a flood dragon emerging from the sea, snapping at Su Xin!

"Six Harmonies Soul-Locking Spear: Hidden Dragon Emerges from the Sea!"

The clang of metal rang out. Su Xin retreated several steps, his hands already numb.

This was the first time he had seen anyone train their spear arts to such a level.

In Su Xin's eyes, the system would rate Luo Zhen's spear technique at most one star, not even as advanced as his Great Sumeru Sword Style.

But Luo Zhen had truly mastered the technique, with a proficiency level close to one hundred percent.

Su Xin had always paid little attention to proficiency, but today he had seen just how terrifying one hundred percent proficiency could be.

Setting aside the difference in their internal energy, Luo Zhen's one-star Six Harmonies Soul-Locking Spear was still enough to completely suppress Su Xin's one-and-a-half-star Great Sumeru Sword Style.

Now Su Xin understood why the system offered one-time consumables.

A martial skill with one hundred percent proficiency was worlds apart from one with only five percent.

"Nine Heavens Thunder Fall!"

Luo Zhen shouted and leaped into the air. The Refined Iron Spear in his hands seemed to turn into thunder as he slammed it down toward the ground.

Su Xin dodged aside. The spearhead plunged into the Blue Stone Tablet beneath them, and the five-finger-thick stone shattered with a crash!

"Now!"

Su Xin hurled the heavy greatsword straight at Luo Zhen, then gripped the slender sword at his waist and rushed toward him along the spear's path.

Luo Zhen turned his head to dodge the greatsword and immediately retreated, holding the spear in one hand.

The longer the weapon, the greater its reach; the shorter the weapon, the closer the danger. Those who used long weapons feared being forced into close quarters most of all.

Luo Zhen's spear trembled as he struck, but Su Xin clung to him like a maggot to bone, forcing Luo Zhen to pull the spear back and hold it crosswise in front of himself.

Even Huang Bingcheng could see that Luo Zhen had made a foolish move.

A long weapon's advantage was its reach. Now that Luo Zhen was holding the spear across his body to defend himself, he couldn't properly wield the weapon that was taller than a man, and he had completely lost his range advantage. When he swung the Refined Iron Spear sideways, it looked incredibly clumsy!

But they weren't the ones facing him. How could they know the pressure Luo Zhen was under?

Jing Wuming's Fast Sword was the purest kind of killing sword: one strike to take a life, one move to decide the outcome.

Su Xin held his Sword Guidance in reserve. The killing intent and menace it gave off made Luo Zhen's heart pound wildly, as if Su Xin's sword could stab out at any moment.

If Su Xin had attacked directly, Luo Zhen wouldn't have been so nervous. But Su Xin had hidden that deadly strike in his hand. It was infuriating.

The sword that hadn't left its sheath was the strongest sword!

Unable to withstand such immense pressure, Luo Zhen had no choice but to hold his spear crosswise and defend.

The tide had turned. Su Xin didn't waste another moment. In a flash, Luo Zhen saw a glint of sharpness in his eyes as Su Xin's Left-Hand Sword stabbed toward his chest from a strange and treacherous angle!

Luo Zhen yanked his spear back and shifted his grip to its middle, then swept it horizontally forward. If it hit, the Refined Iron Spear's tremendous force would smash Su Xin's head to pieces!

Huang Bingcheng cried out in alarm, but Li Huai let out a long breath and said, "Boss has won."

"Hm?" Huang Bingcheng turned to look at Li Huai in surprise.

At that moment, in the instant Huang Bingcheng turned around, the fight had already ended.

Luo Zhen hadn't smashed Su Xin's head with his spear, and Su Xin hadn't stabbed Luo Zhen in the chest.

At the last moment, Luo Zhen had bent backward in a bridge-like dodge. The slender sword had only slashed his clothes.

Looking at the tear across his chest, Luo Zhen gave a wry smile. "I say, kid, couldn't you have dodged? I said we were only fighting to decide the winner. Why did you have to fight as if it were life or death?

"If I hadn't dodged just now, the result would've been me smashing your head while you killed me with your sword."

Su Xin shook his head. "No, you're wrong. My sword was faster than yours."

Luo Zhen smiled wryly and shook his head. "All right, you win. Yongle Ward is yours."

With that, Luo Zhen slung his spear over his shoulder and led his men away without hesitation. As he turned, he muttered, "Are all young people this fierce these days? Incredible."

"Boss is mighty!" Huang Bingcheng shouted in celebration, and the other gang members joined in.

They had only ever heard of generals settling a battle with a duel in storytelling performances. They never expected to see it happen in real life.

And to rookies like them, who had only just started learning martial arts, Su Xin's fight with Luo Zhen had been spectacular.

After cheering, Huang Bingcheng went over to Su Xin and asked in confusion, "Boss, did that guy really leave? He has six or seven hundred men under him. He could easily swallow us up, but he's leaving just because he lost one fight? Could there be a trap?"

"Don't worry. Luo Zhen's goal is simple: he doesn't want to fight a pointless battle. I may have only a little over a hundred men under me, but if he wants to take us down, he'll have to lose a mouthful of teeth and may even end up with both sides badly wounded.

"He's a simple man, and an idealist. That's why he can only be a chief. With his strength, he could even compete to become the Green Bamboo Gang's third deputy leader.

Su Xin strongly disapproved of Luo Zhen's way of thinking. He treated his men like brothers and shouldered everything for them, but in the end, all he could raise was a bunch of deadweight.

If Luo Zhen died, his men would scatter like monkeys when the tree fell, and their lives would be even worse than before.

Besides, by acting this way, he was clearly building a faction within the Green Bamboo Gang. The old gang leader would never promote him for that.

With Luo Zhen's temperament, he could only ever be a chief. Even that was only because he was strong and showed no sign of rebellion.

"Old Huang, send people to take over Yongle Ward. I'm going back to rest." Su Xin tossed the slender sword in his hand to Huang Bingcheng.

The clash with the Refined Iron Spear's tremendous force had long since numbed Su Xin's hands, and the web between his thumb and forefinger had even split. Now that the fight was over, he didn't even have the strength to hold his sword.

"Leave it to me, boss." Huang Bingcheng thumped his chest in assurance and had Li Huai escort Su Xin back.

This was a critical moment in the gang war. If an assassin from the Green Bamboo Gang suddenly appeared, Su Xin would be in trouble in his current condition.

The odds were very low, but they couldn't afford to take chances.

When he got home and saw that Xin'er had already gone to sleep, Su Xin didn't disturb her. Instead, he went to sleep in the side room for the night.

That day's fight had given Su Xin more than just combat experience. He had even opened another acupoint along the way.

"During a fight, blood flows faster and internal energy is used more frequently. At the Postnatal Realm, this kind of high-intensity battle can even lead to breakthroughs faster than bitter cultivation."

Now Su Xin understood why Third Master Hu and the others, despite being so old, hadn't even broken through to the Post-Natal Initial Realm.

One reason was their poor aptitude. Another was that they had spent years living in comfort and rarely fought anyone. Naturally, relying on bitter cultivation alone brought little progress.

Early the next morning, while Su Xin was still asleep, he heard a rapid pounding at the door. He could faintly hear Huang Bingcheng's voice outside.

Su Xin glanced at the sky. It was only just beginning to grow light. Huang Bingcheng wouldn't have come to wake him at this hour unless something serious had happened.

He put on his clothes and opened the door. Huang Bingcheng stood there with dark circles under his eyes. The moment he saw Su Xin, he hurriedly said, "Boss, something's happened! Our people got into a fight with Tang Taihe!"

Su Xin frowned. "What happened? Take your time. And who is this Tang Taihe?"

Huang Bingcheng caught his breath, then slowly explained what had happened.

Tang Taihe was a junior chief under Third Master Hu, one of the men Third Master Hu trusted most. He had more than two hundred men under him.

After Su Xin left, Huang Bingcheng and the gang members had split up to take over the whole of Yongle Ward.

A few gang members had gone to claim the territory near Shunyi Ward, only to find that Tang Taihe and his men had already occupied it.

Their boss had risked his life fighting Luo Zhen to seize that territory, and now you just waltz in and take it while watching from the sidelines? How could the world be so unfair?

The gang members went to confront them, only to be beaten up by Tang Taihe and taken prisoner.

After hearing about it, Huang Bingcheng hadn't dared tell Li Huai, afraid his hot temper would lead him to kill someone. Instead, he brought his men to find Su Xin.

Tang Taihe alone was nothing to worry about, but Third Master Hu stood behind him. That made this something Huang Bingcheng had to handle carefully.

After hearing Huang Bingcheng's account, Su Xin's lips curled into a cold smile.

So they really thought he was made of clay, that just any stray cat or dog could come and take a kick at him.

"Old Huang, don't worry about the territory for now. Gather everyone. I'd like to see just what kind of remarkable man this junior chief, my most valued sworn father's, really is."