Too Monstrous

That afternoon, Zhang Yu took Wen Hua with him and followed Sima Rui to the Black Tiger Gang headquarters.

Li Mazi, peak Bright Force, former captain of the Black Tiger Gang's Fifth Squad. After Gang Leader Li Xiong died, nearly two months of bloodshed had left the Black Tiger Gang's experts either dead or fled, with only him remaining.

The Black Tiger Gang was currently under Li Mazi's temporary management.

When he saw Zhang Yu, fury appeared on his face. The Black Tiger Gang had once been the third-largest gang in Boundless City. They had strutted about with their noses in the air wherever they went. Yet because of Zhang Yu, in just two short months, the Black Tiger Gang had become what it was now.

"Lord Sima, it was him..."

"Shut up!" Sima Rui shot Li Mazi a glare.

Li Mazi's heart jolted, and his voice cut off abruptly.

"Gather the people who remain in the gang. I have something to say," Sima Rui said.

"Yes!" Li Mazi hurried off to summon them.

Before long, all the remaining members of the Black Tiger Gang had gathered in the main hall.

The gang had once numbered over a hundred. Now, only nineteen remained. Of them, Li Mazi was the sole martial artist; the other eighteen were ordinary people.

Sima Rui did not waste words. He directly announced that Zhang Yu would become the Black Tiger Gang's gang leader.

Buzz...

Voices of opposition immediately rose in the hall.

"Lord Sima, the Black Tiger Gang became like this because of him. Gang Leader Li may very well have been killed by him. I refuse to accept him as gang leader!" Li Mazi roared, forcing himself to speak.

"That's right, we refuse!" Someone immediately echoed him.

Sima Rui said nothing, merely turning to look at Zhang Yu.

Without a word, Zhang Yu strode over to an artificial rockery in the courtyard. It stood roughly two zhang tall.

He activated the martial intent of Shattering, then threw what appeared to be a feather-light punch at the rockery.

There was no boom—indeed, not a single sound.

Zhang Yu withdrew his fist and turned to look at Li Mazi and the others. At that moment, their faces were filled with confusion. "What did that mean?"

The next second, Zhang Yu lightly stamped the ground.

Crash!

The once-intact rockery instantly collapsed into fist-sized pieces of rubble. Nearly every single stone fragment was the same size. That was the truly terrifying part.

It showed that Zhang Yu's control over his strength was exquisite down to the finest detail.

Hiss...

At the sight, Li Mazi and the others sucked in sharp breaths. Even Sima Rui stood dumbfounded, before a shiver of terror ran through him.

He would not have been able to take Zhang Yu's punch.

At that moment, he felt a trace of relief. Luckily, he had not torn all ties with Zhang Yu.

"I will be the Black Tiger Gang's leader. Who objects?" Zhang Yu's gaze swept across Li Mazi and the others. Everyone his eyes passed over lowered their heads, not daring to meet his gaze.

"If no one objects, I will announce an appointment. From this moment onward, Wen Hua will serve as deputy gang leader of the Black Tiger Gang. From now on, his words are my words. Do you understand?" Zhang Yu said coldly.

Li Mazi and the others remained silent.

"Answer me. Or do you have objections to the orders of your gang leader?" Zhang Yu's voice was icy as he took a step toward them.

Whoosh!

Li Mazi and the others felt an overwhelming pressure crash down on them, and sweat instantly streamed down their backs.

Thud!

Someone could no longer bear Zhang Yu's pressure and dropped to his knees. Then came thud, thud... Other than Li Mazi, all eighteen of them knelt.

Zhang Yu stared at Li Mazi, cold light flickering in his eyes as killing intent stirred within him.

He had neither the energy nor the patience to run a gang. Wen Hua was suited to the position. Wen Hua possessed the destiny of loyalty that reached the skies, a sacred body born for gang life. His strength was simply insufficient for now, so Zhang Yu needed to establish his authority for him.

Seeing the killing intent in Zhang Yu's eyes, Li Mazi knew he could resist no longer. With a thud, he fell to his knees. "We obey your command!"

"We obey your command!"

"Greetings, Gang Leader!"

"Greetings, Deputy Gang Leader!"

After settling Li Mazi and the others, Zhang Yu left the Black Tiger Gang headquarters. He handed all remaining matters over to Wen Hua. When it came time to purchase medicinal herbs later, he would also send Chu Qingwen over.

Leave professional matters to professionals. Wen Hua had been born with a sacred body for gangs.

When making one's way in the world, one had to value loyalty to win people's trust and make them willingly follow.

Wen Hua's destiny was loyalty that reached the skies.

As for doing business and making money—Chu Qingwen's family had been merchants for generations.

Zhang Yu would not do something as foolish as having an amateur direct an expert.

With that matter arranged, he devoted himself to guiding and urging Niu Mancang's cultivation in the rear courtyard. Even in a great martial city like Hidden Cloud City, he had not seen many people with special physiques. Although Niu Mancang's Feral Ox Physique ranked sixty-ninth among the seventy-two Earthly Baleful Physiques, Zhang Yu believed that once it was fully developed, its power would be immeasurable.

Bang!

Bang!

Covered from head to toe in Body-Shattering Ointment, Niu Mancang repeatedly slammed himself into a profound iron pillar. A single box of Body-Shattering Ointment cost three thousand taels of silver, yet Zhang Yu had bought ten boxes for him without even blinking.

A large pot beside him also simmered with medicinal soup for an Iron Shirt bath, one pot each day.

As for second-rank demon beast meat, Niu Mancang was allowed to eat as much as he wanted every day, with no limit.

Zhang Yu spared no expense in pouring resources into Niu Mancang. At the same time, every day he set aside one shichen to temper Niu Mancang's body with his own Shattering Intent, shattering the medicinal potency within his body and driving it into his bones.

Li Yue, Zhao Dun, and the others were endlessly envious.

Niu Mancang had long been moved beyond words. Any words felt far too light. He could not repay even with ten lives the kindness his master Zhang Yu had shown him. All he could do was cultivate even more desperately.

Of the twelve shichen in a day, Niu Mancang spent ten cultivating.

With unlimited resources invested and Niu Mancang's life-and-death hard training, the proficiency he returned to Zhang Yu each day rose from sixty points to one hundred and thirty points.

Two months later.

Niu Mancang's weight had risen to five hundred jin, and he stood nearly one zhang tall.

That day, while he was soaking in the medicinal bath, a golden light suddenly emerged from his body. Then, the medicinal liquid in the entire pot was instantly absorbed, turning into clear water.

Niu Mancang's body began undergoing an earth-shaking transformation.

He felt the second shackle on his body break open. A surging power appeared from nowhere and began nourishing his body.

The strength accumulated in the flesh and blood throughout his body slowly compressed into his bones, while the bones themselves contracted. The pain pierced his heart and bored into his bones.

"Ahhh!"

He could not help screaming.

"Mancang, endure it! You are forging iron bones. Because of your Feral Ox Physique, you may even forge a higher grade of golden bones." Zhang Yu appeared beside the pot, looked at the faint golden glow emerging from Niu Mancang's body, and shouted to him.

Niu Mancang, who had been screaming loudly, heard Zhang Yu's voice and thought of all Zhang Yu had done for him. He gritted his teeth and stopped screaming.

Master has treated me so well. What is this little pain? I can't disgrace Master. Ahhh... Niu Mancang cried out in his heart.

His five-hundred-jin body slowly shrank, and his three-meter height also decreased.

About two shichen later, the transformation finally came to a complete stop. Niu Mancang, sitting in the pot, was now covered in a faint layer of golden light.

His three-meter height had been forcibly reduced to two meters. The huge fatty had become normally built, even slightly lean, with muscles all over his body like blocks of iron.

His weight had not decreased. Instead, it had increased, rising from five hundred jin to six hundred and fifty jin.

As Niu Mancang stood there, he gave off an overwhelming sense of powerful pressure. Ordinary people could not breathe if they stood within one zhang of him, seized by a feeling of suffocation.

Zhang Yu glanced at the system panel.

[Name: Niu Mancang]

[Realm: Dark Force]

[Technique: Iron Shirt at Perfection, Copper Skin and Golden Bones]

[Feral Ox Physique Development: 30%]

So it really was golden bones. No wonder he looked thinner and smaller, yet his weight had increased, Zhang Yu thought to himself.

"Mancang, test the strength you gained after your breakthrough."

"Yes, Master!"

Niu Mancang charged toward the profound iron pillar used for training.

Bang!

Buzz!

With a thud, the profound iron pillar buried deep in the ground was knocked over, and the spot where he had struck it was bent and deformed.

Hiss...

Li Yue, Zhao Dun, and the others looked as though they had seen a ghost. That was a profound iron pillar as thick as a man.

He had bent it.

Too monstrous!