Renowned Throughout the Prefecture

Night fell.

Linjiang Prefecture.

In the northwest corner of the prefectural city lay a vast district of courtyards.

A ghostly figure, like a specter lurking in the dark of night, wove freely among the courtyard walls, drifting in and out.

As the figure flickered, it barely stirred even the whisper of wind, and in a flash arrived at a great residence in the very heart of the courtyard district.

This was the Longjiang Gang's stronghold.

Within Linjiang Prefecture's city, dragons and snakes were mixed together, and people of all trades and all walks of life gathered. Gang forces were numerous; the gangs with names people could actually list numbered no fewer than a hundred.

And even among so many gangs, the Longjiang Gang's power and reputation ranked in the top three.

Or, more accurately, its infamy.

The Longjiang Gang controlled several small and medium-sized docks and warehouse districts on the outskirts of the city. Merchant ships that came and went, moored and unloaded cargo, had to pay a hefty "protection fee" if they lacked a powerful backer.

At the same time, it seized territory throughout the city on a large scale, collecting "peace money" from the shops and vendors within its turf.

In addition, the Longjiang Gang's main sources of income were still usury, brothels, gambling dens, and doing dirty work for certain aristocratic clans and powerful families.

Yan San of the docks, strengthened by several whole levels.

Hong Yuan spread both arms, like a great bird beating its wings into flight, and skimmed lightly toward the main house as this thought surfaced in his mind.

In truth, it was not strange.

The lofty aristocratic clans and great houses blooming in brocade, the meritorious nobles and military families, and the filthy gangs of the lower orders were merely two sides of the same coin.

Where were there so many good men and faithful women?

If they wanted to maintain their extravagant pleasures, their methods were much the same. It was merely that the aristocrats and dignitaries still wanted a bit of face, so they wrapped it in a gorgeous layer of packaging.

As for why Hong Yuan had appeared in the prefectural city, it was all because during the days of forging the weapon, he always needed to find something to do. He could not waste time for nothing.

Whoosh!

His figure leapt into the air as if riding the wind, drifting toward the courtyard where the main house stood.

Hong Yuan's body was still in midair when his ears caught a continuous stream of sharp "chi chi chi" sounds slicing through the air.

Crossbow bolts!

More than a dozen crossbow bolts rang out from overhead and all around him, aimed straight at Hong Yuan's vital points. In an instant, he had fallen into an extremely dangerous situation.

No path forward or back, no way to dodge!

Just as he was about to be shot into a hedgehog by the powerful crossbows, his sleeve suddenly flicked, unfurling as gently as a cloud.

What unfurled was not a cloud.

It was light—blade light!

A strip of icy blade light spat from Hong Yuan's sleeve. It was a narrow, long-edged curved saber, and the moment it fell into his hand, it was as if a crescent moon had risen in the black night.

The cold, clear, chilling crescent lit up. Blade light whirled with force, and in a sudden sweep, it swallowed all dozen-plus incoming crossbow bolts.

Only crisp "pu pu pu" sounds rang out without end as the crossbow bolts turned into fragments and splinters, scattering and spraying across the courtyard.

Clap! Clap clap!

"Good! Very good!"

What rose along with the sound of clapping was a hoarse voice, grating like a night owl. "Worthy indeed of the 'Flying Yaksha,' who shook the prefectural city with his name in so short a time. That eyesight, that lightness skill, that saber art... you do have some weight to you. You are worthy of the preparations I, Li Jiao, made for you!"

Whoosh!

At that moment, torches also flared up on the surrounding rooftops.

In the firelight, sounds of people dropping to the ground rang out all around. Altogether, eight burly men with fierce, capable auras closed in.

They held powerful crossbows, already loaded with bolts.

The clear breeze stirred the torches, and half the courtyard wavered between brightness and shadow beneath the swaying firelight.

Two figures walked out from the main house.

One of them was about forty years old. He was not tall, but he was extremely sinewy and solid, his skin dark as a piece of iron billet tempered again and again.

A ruthless glint showed in his eyes as he stared at Hong Yuan with a cold smile.

This man was none other than the leader of the Longjiang Gang, Li Jiao!

The other man was short, his looks ordinary, but his narrow eyes held an evil cast. His hands were tucked inside his wide sleeves as he watched the scene with keen interest.

"So this is the 'Flying Yaksha.' I wonder what his true face looks like. Is he really as terrifying as the yaksha of legend?"

"Brother Cao, there's no need to be impatient. Once this thief is taken down in a moment, you can look however you like," Li Jiao said flatly.

Hong Yuan paid no mind to the eight crossbow-wielding men surrounding him. He looked straight ahead and said, "Li Jiao, you knew I would come looking for you?"

"Heh heh!" A hoarse laugh issued from Li Jiao's throat, his gaze mocking. "You 'Flying Yaksha' started from Wushan County and fought your way through county after county, challenging experts from every road. A few days ago you arrived in the prefectural city, and in just these few short days, you've taken down the masters of six martial halls, three gang leaders, and two experts from powerful families. Among them, any who had some evil name to them ended up either dead or crippled once they fell into your hands!"

"With a name as great as mine, Li Jiao's, would you leave me out? If I didn't make some preparations, wouldn't that teach you to look down on me?"

Li Jiao's gaze grew colder and colder. "If you don't want to suffer, Li advises you to surrender without a fight. Li is a man who loves and cherishes talent. With your martial arts, if you're willing to serve me, this gang leader will let bygones be bygones."

Between his words, Li Jiao had already regarded the other party as a bird in a cage, a turtle in a jar.

He had reason to be confident.

Aside from the eight crossbowmen in the courtyard, and himself, Cao Gang beside him was an evil-path expert who had fled to his estate. Supposedly, he had raped and murdered the wives and young ladies of several great clans, leading those clans to join hands in putting a bounty on him, forcing him to flee for his life.

To rope in this Cao Gang, Li Jiao had paid an enormous price.

But it was worth it.

This Cao Gang was an expert on the same level as him; both had reached the stage of "hard and soft working in harmony, release and withdrawal at will."

And that was not all. Throughout this great residence, Li Jiao had also hidden nearly a hundred agile good hands in ambush. All he needed to do was clap his hands and have the torches lit.

That group of subordinates would receive the signal and swarm in to kill!

Hm?!

Li Jiao furrowed his brow. His heart gave a jolt, and he suddenly felt that something was wrong somewhere. He abruptly clapped his hands again.

The clear sound of clapping rang out in the night, carried by the wind, spreading into the distance.

But Li Jiao's face stiffened, as if someone had viciously slapped him across it, turning livid.

Cao Gang's slightly narrowed eyes also abruptly widened as he stared at Hong Yuan in astonishment.

"If you're trying to summon that group of subordinates of yours, I advise you to save your strength. Or I can send you down to meet them right now."

Hong Yuan's gaze fell on the curved saber in his palm, and he gave a light laugh.

"Impossible. Brother Cao and I were both very vigilant. That was nearly a hundred people. Even a Master of Minute Subtlety couldn't possibly kill them without making a sound..."

Aside from disbelief, what Li Jiao felt more was pain—heartache!

Those nearly hundred men were his true core, men who had tempered their strength year after year. Even if not every one of them could fight ten men at once, they could at least tangle with three or five ordinary people.

Losing so many men could not even be described as a great injury to his vitality. It was as if one of his hands and one of his legs had been severed.

Once word got out, other forces would probably move in at once to take advantage of the opening and try to swallow his Longjiang Gang whole.

Whether Minute Subtlety could do it, Hong Yuan did not know.

But for him, it truly was not difficult. The talent of Clear Eyes Through the Nether, that powerful perception that revealed every hair and fiber within three zhang, turned this so-called ambush directly into a joke.

If the other party had lit torches, Hong Yuan would have had to spend some effort sneaking in.

Yet they insisted on setting an ambush, on launching a surprise attack, without the slightest light. That completely became Hong Yuan's home ground. He easily slipped behind group after group of people; with a sweep of his curved saber, he harvested life after life.

Everything was silent and soundless in the dark night.

"The long night is endless, and I still have many things to do. If Gang Leader Li has no further questions, then I'll send you on your way now. Don't keep your brothers waiting too long!"

Hong Yuan flicked the blade with a bent finger. A clear, crisp ding rang out, as if opening some signal.

"Loose arrows!"

Li Jiao shouted fiercely, killing intent overflowing in his eyes. "Kill him!"

There was no need to worry whether the Longjiang Gang would be robbed while the fire burned afterward. If he did not kill this Flying Yaksha now, what future would there even be?

Powerful arrows went whoosh whoosh, tearing through the air and reaching him again in the blink of an eye.

The curved saber in Hong Yuan's palm slanted upward. With a chi, it split an arrow apart. Before the arrowhead had even fallen, the body of his blade struck it, sending it shooting out with lightning speed to pierce through a crossbowman's throat.

Immediately after, the saber-light turned. Hong Yuan's entire body seemed enveloped within it, and he suddenly flashed to the side of two crossbowmen. The rest of the sharp arrows missed in an instant.

The curved saber wheeled. Amid crisp sounds like splitting silk, two crossbowmen's heads soared into the sky, and at the same time, Hong Yuan vanished again.

A biting gale rushed straight at their faces.

Li Jiao and Cao Gang instantly felt a chill across their faces. A black shadow had already reached right before them, and the curved saber hacked down.

"You really think this gang leader is afraid of you?"

A pair of water-dividing spikes abruptly appeared in Li Jiao's hands, tearing through the air with incredible speed. Amid sharp whistling, the water-dividing spikes collided with the saber edge, and a string of sparks exploded at once.

Amid the flickering sparks, Li Jiao's expression changed.

The other party's strength was very great, and his saber technique was very fast.

But it was far from the imposing might he had expected from a top expert capable of silently killing a hundred good hands!

Cao Gang, standing on the other side, also moved his feet. His movement technique was extremely strange, as if he were a snake suddenly darting up.

His hands, gathered within his robe sleeves, were slender and deathly pale, changing rapidly—now palm, now finger—hissing as they moved, like two venomous snakes flicking their tongues.

One hand seemed to coil like a snake, winding toward Hong Yuan's neck. The other turned into a snake's kiss, viciously nailing toward the space between his brows.

"Huh?!"

Hong Yuan was slightly surprised. He had already exchanged blows with many experts, but martial arts with strength transformations as ingenious as Cao Gang's were still few enough to count on one hand.

Cao Gang's two palms were like nimble snakes, shifting through many marvelous postures as they pursued Hong Yuan's dodging figure, the force between fingers and palms swelling and withdrawing unpredictably.

This was the hallmark of the "release and withdrawal at will" level.

The first layer of strength transformation was this: once force had been carried to the fingers or palms, no matter whether the martial artist wanted to withdraw it at that moment, in truth, there was already no chance to take it back.

Force was like floodwater released through an open sluice—there was only striking it out.

But upon reaching the level of "hard and soft in harmony, release and recall at will," one could circulate force between fingers and palm, storing momentum, ready to unleash, like a strong bow drawn to the full, only loosing as the heart wished when it touched the enemy.

Seeing that Flying Yaksha was floundering left and right under Cao Gang's pursuit, his curved saber only occasionally striking back, Li Jiao gripped his water-parting spikes and pounced forward swiftly, joining the encirclement.

He sneered again and again. "I was almost bluffed by you, you dog thief. Your martial arts are only so-so. What ghostly trick did you use to murder that group of my men?"

"Let me guess. Poison? Or some spellcraft?"

As Li Jiao spoke, his hands moved even faster. The pair of water-parting spikes were vicious as scorpions, hissing through the wind, stabbing out in an unbroken chain of killing points.

The three exchanged blows at astonishing speed. Weapons howled through the courtyard, green bricks shattered inch by inch underfoot, and flying shards of stone shot toward the remaining five crossbowmen.

The five men raised the powerful crossbows in their hands, then lowered them; lowered them, then raised them again. They were already watching the fight by the wavering firelight, and with the three moving so fast, they simply did not dare loose bolts recklessly with their eyesight!

Li Jiao and Cao Gang attacked together, only feeling that this battle was hearty and exhilarating, the most satisfying fight they had ever fought in their lives.

And though it was clearly the first time the two had joined hands, the more they fought, the more coordinated they became, as if they were connected like brothers of one body.

They had already completely suppressed their opponent.

A savage grin appeared on Li Jiao's face. His water-parting spikes turned into afterimages, striking swiftly at the many vital points on Hong Yuan's chest as he said coldly, "How much longer can you hold on? Three moves? Ten? Flying Yaksha? Tonight I'll turn you into a dead yaksha!"

"These two's martial paths are somewhat similar, both types that excel at strange and crafty transformations, only Li Jiao leans toward hard force, while the other one inclines toward soft force..."

"Mm, so force can be used like this. Learned something, learned something!"

In Li Jiao and Cao Gang's eyes, Hong Yuan was hard-pressed on all sides, nearly driven into a hopeless strait, about to be captured and killed by the two of them. Yet at this moment, he actually still had leisure to think.

The more he exchanged blows with numerous experts, the faster Hong Yuan's combat experience grew. Earlier, he could only rely on domineering martial arts to pressure enemies into displaying all they had learned.

Now, however, he could guide out an opponent's lifelong martial arts without them even realizing it, which was naturally far more skillful.

"About enough!"

Hong Yuan sighed.

"What? Thinking of surrendering now? Too late! After killing so many of my men, you have only one road left—death!" Li Jiao advanced like the wind.

"No. I only wanted to say that I've seen about enough of your martial arts!"

Hong Yuan's dodging figure abruptly halted. The curved saber in his palm shifted with graceful changes, then suddenly shot upward, turning into a strip of white silk that slashed through the air at Li Jiao's advancing body.

Li Jiao's eyes went cold, astonishment on his face. He did not even have time to think; he only brought the pair of water-parting spikes up before his chest to block.

Hiss!

In an instant, the saber light cut into the gap, severing both of Li Jiao's wrists, then pressed in and curled. A head flew into the sky.

Cao Gang had originally been advancing with Li Jiao, but now his expression changed in horror and his figure froze.

Hong Yuan's saber momentum had not yet ended. Borrowing that remaining force, he spun his body, a surge of power rising from beneath his feet, and he had already rushed nearly a zhang high.

In the next instant, his body hung upside down, head below and feet above. He abandoned the curved saber, the five fingers of his left hand opening and closing, transforming into a palm that fell like a meteor!

Vajra Palm!

This was the present culmination of his own hard-force transformations, fused from the techniques of many martial artists since he had begun crossing hands with experts of every road in Wushan County.

Of course, to Hong Yuan, this was only the embryonic form of a palm art. As his martial arts advanced in the future, it would continuously absorb essences to supplement and perfect itself.

This palm came too fast. Cao Gang's eyes were about to split. His hands had only lifted halfway upward when, suddenly, the palm had already smashed heavily onto the crown of his skull.

Bang!

Amid the sound of brain matter bursting apart, the ground beneath Cao Gang's feet shook violently. Large chunks of green brick were crushed outright, and his two feet sank three cun into the ground in an instant, after which his leg bones exploded apart.

Hong Yuan pressed his palm onto the crown of Cao Gang's head, then used that force to rise again. His legs swept like a whirlwind, kicking out the two fallen water-parting spikes and Li Jiao's head.

The water-parting spikes pierced through the chests of two crossbowmen like sharp arrows, while Li Jiao's head smashed another crossbowman's skull apart!

At this moment, the remaining two crossbowmen were so terrified their livers and guts trembled. One man's crotch went wet in an instant and he collapsed onto the ground on his backside. The other shouted and fled madly away.

Hong Yuan's figure swept forward, arriving in front of the fleeing crossbowman in an instant.

Without even turning his head, he lightly pointed a finger backward. The crossbowman was still running forward, and delivered his own forehead to Hong Yuan's fingertip.

With a light tap, and a soft puff, the crossbowman ran a few more steps, then pitched headfirst to the ground, never making another sound.

Hong Yuan leaped far and plunged into the darkness.

As for the remaining crossbowman, Hong Yuan did not bother with him. His reputation needed a survivor left behind to spread it.

If he wanted to open [Taisui Blessed Land], he could not possibly take the route of hiding and skulking.

As for his current identity as "Flying Yaksha," Hong Yuan had actually not concealed it all that tightly. There would always be a day when it was exposed.

Hong Yuan had not lied to Li Jiao. He really did have quite a few matters tonight, and right now he was off to the next one.

The next day.

Dawn broke.

While the news was still spreading on a small scale through several streets in Linjiang Prefecture City, the report that two major gangs had been wiped out overnight had already thunderously landed before the most prestigious and powerful great clans of the prefecture city, including the Wei Family, Xiang Family, Guo Family, and Yang Family.

Aside from the Longjiang Gang being destroyed, the other gang wiped out was the Long River Society. Its strength was slightly inferior, but that gang leader's martial arts were still above Li Jiao's.

The great families brought in the survivors for careful questioning and sent men to the headquarters of the two major gangs to investigate. Even though these great families had deep power and many experts in their clans, they still felt a certain shuddering fear.

Too ruthless!

Of course, Flying Yaksha had killed quite a few people before this, including several evildoing experts, and his name had already spread through the prefectural city.

The great clans had long since noticed this expert who had appeared from nowhere, and when they saw him stirring up such a storm, they had even entertained thoughts of capturing him or taking him under their wing.

But once this incident happened, the great clans all furled their banners and stilled their drums.

The forces and martial skill of those people before could not compare to the Longjiang Gang and Long River Society, and none of those incidents had made such a huge stir.

In a single night, he had attacked two gangs in succession. Three experts who had reached "release and retract at will" had died, including two gang leaders, and hundreds of thugs had been buried with them!

With such martial skill, such battle achievements, even great clans had to dread him, had to tremble in shock.

The information the great clans uncovered soon spread.

There was no way to hide it at all.

Aside from these clans investigating, the remaining gangs were also all fearing for themselves. The small gangs burrowed even deeper like rats, while the large gangs all pulled back their forces, their leaders summoning their men to their sides and surrounding themselves with tight protection.

Very soon, the entire prefectural city was in an uproar.

The name of Flying Yaksha spread through every street and alley, known to all.

At this moment, Hong Yuan ate breakfast at a large restaurant in the prefectural city, then went to a nearby brothel to wash and change. Only then did he return to Black Iron Town feeling fresh from head to toe.

He lit a stick of incense. This was a superior incense recipe Hong Yuan had purchased in the prefectural city, and its effect was even slightly better than Ten Thousand Miles Cloud Travel. Amid the rich fragrance, Hong Yuan immersed his mind and digested everything he had gained over the night.

After last night's strike, I'll have to slow down. Experts at the second level of transformation probably won't pose much threat to me even if several attack together. Dealing with these people again won't bring much gain either!

I need to find a subtle-mastery grandmaster to test my hand against... Of course, that'll have to wait until the matter at Lanyue Garden is over, until after I kill Wei Zhenzhu.

Amid the curling remnants of incense, Hong Yuan entered meditation and returned to his origin, until a flowerlike beautiful young girl came to his door. It was none other than Xu Qingjing.

"Young Master Hong, the two uncles invite you over. Your Life-Taking Throat-Locking Spear has already been forged."