Robbing Was Still Faster

To celebrate Niu Mancang's mastery of Copper Skin Iron Bones and his becoming a Dark Force martial artist, Zhang Yu gathered everyone for dinner that evening.

Wen Hua had returned as well. For the past two months, he had thrown himself wholeheartedly into the Black Tiger Gang, constantly reorganizing it. He truly was blessed for gang life; in only two months, he had made the Black Tiger Gang's underlings willingly acknowledge him as their boss, Li Mazi included.

Loyal enough to blot out the sky, he genuinely treated the rank-and-file gang members as brothers. With Zhang Yu's approval, he began spreading Black Tiger Fist and Thirteen Gale Blades throughout the Black Tiger Gang, winning the fervent support of its lowest-ranking members.

Wen Hua could now command a hundred responses with a single call in the Black Tiger Gang, whose membership had grown to more than a hundred people.

They had resumed purchasing medicinal herbs half a month ago, but the results had been less than ideal.

Of the Black Tiger Gang's original twenty percent share of medicinal herbs, fifteen percent had been snatched away by the Ghost Alliance and the Broadsword Gang, while the remaining five percent had been seized by the Green Snake Gang and the Iron Fist Gang.

These past few days, Wen Hua had been locking horns with the Green Snake Gang and the Iron Fist Gang, hoping to take that five percent back.

During dinner, Wen Hua envied Niu Mancang greatly, but he knew he had his own mission. Deep down, he enjoyed managing the Black Tiger Gang.

After three rounds of wine and five flavors of dishes.

Slightly drunk, Wen Hua cupped his fists toward Niu Mancang. "Senior Brother, let's spar. Let Junior Brother experience what Copper Skin Golden Bones is like. I cultivate the Iron Shirt alongside my main art, but I've never managed to touch the threshold of Copper Skin."

Wen Hua's Clearwind Stance Art had broken through its bottleneck, allowing him to cultivate Bright Force, but the Iron Shirt he cultivated alongside it had never reached its own threshold, leaving him stuck at this step.

Niu Mancang looked toward Zhang Yu, his eyes asking for permission. Zhang Yu gave a slight nod.

The group headed into the courtyard.

Niu Mancang sank into a horse stance. "Junior Brother, come at me as you please."

"Senior Brother, take this." Wen Hua wasted no words, striking Niu Mancang's chest with a Clearwind Palm.

Bang!

Niu Mancang's body did not budge in the slightest.

Bang! Bang! Bang...

Wen Hua threw another six palms in succession. His movements were graceful, his angles tricky, and his strikes unbelievably fast. He had already grasped thirty percent of the true essence of Clearwind Palm, but against Niu Mancang's Copper Skin Golden Bones, it was like scratching an itch. He could not shake him at all.

"I won't fight anymore. Senior Brother's hard-body art is probably not something even a Force Transformation martial artist could easily shake," Wen Hua said admiringly.

"Master, recently, the gang has been fighting the Green Snake Gang and the Iron Fist Gang. Li Mazi and I have fought their martial artists several times. There have been wins and losses on both sides, and we have never been able to reach an agreement. Could Senior Brother step forward and intimidate them?" Wen Hua looked at Zhang Yu.

Zhang Yu nodded. "Yes. Man Cang, accompany Wen Hua tomorrow. Follow all his arrangements."

"Yes, Master!" Niu Mancang hurriedly bowed in acknowledgment.

"Thank you, Master!" Wen Hua said, his face beaming.

"Don't put all your energy into the Black Tiger Gang either. You cannot slack off in cultivation," Zhang Yu reminded Wen Hua.

"Yes, Master!"

The next morning, Wen Hua and Niu Mancang first went to the Black Tiger Gang, gathered Li Mazi and the others, then marched in grand force toward the Iron Fist Gang.

Shi Lie, the Iron Fist Gang's leader, was at Half-Step Dark Force. A year ago, his attempt to break into Dark Force had not fully succeeded, but he had not been injured either. He had broken through half the bottleneck, and his strength far surpassed that of someone at the peak of Bright Force.

Three days earlier, he had broken Li Mazi's right arm.

The Iron Fist Gang and the Green Snake Gang were both small gangs. Shi Lie only dared disregard Wen Hua because he had reached Half-Step Dark Force.

"Shi Lie, you old bastard! Come out and die!" Li Mazi stood before the Iron Fist Gang's gates, hurling curses.

Three days ago, Shi Lie had broken his arm and humiliated him viciously. He had been holding in a bellyful of rage ever since.

A moment later, Shi Lie emerged from the Iron Fist Gang. Seeing Li Mazi, he snapped, "Li Mazi, you're courting death. Three days ago, I spared your life out of respect for Gang Leader Wen. You still dare come here to throw your life away today?"

Li Mazi wanted to continue cursing, but Wen Hua stopped him.

Wen Hua stepped forward, looked at Shi Lie, and cupped his fists. "Gang Leader Shi, I only have one question today. Are you returning that five percent share of medicinal herbs or not?"

"Our share of medicinal herbs was won back with the lives of our brothers. Gang Leader Wen thinks he can take it back with one sentence? There is no such logic under heaven," Shi Lie replied, his attitude as hard as ever.

"So you won't return it." Cold light flashed in Wen Hua's eyes.

He had been wrangling with Shi Lie for some time now and had long run out of patience. If he had not been unable to defeat him, he would have secretly slaughtered him already.

Seeing the cold gleam in Wen Hua's eyes, Shi Lie said disdainfully, "Gang Leader Wen, I know the Sima Family stands behind you, and that you are Zhang Yu's prized disciple. But the Iron Fist Gang and the Green Snake Gang have powers behind us too. There are rules governing the shares of medicinal herbs in Boundless City, and you cannot afford to offend the people who made those rules."

"Not only can you not afford to offend them—even your master, Zhang Yu, cannot afford to. I advise you to take your people and get the hell out. If I lose my patience in a moment, I'll break all your legs." Shi Lie's face was full of arrogance.

"You dare insult my master? Die!" Niu Mancang, who had been standing to the side, immediately flew into a rage upon hearing Shi Lie disparage Zhang Yu. He attacked at once.

He used no particular technique. He stepped forward and swung his large hand down toward Shi Lie's head.

Shi Lie had noticed Niu Mancang long ago. His body was forged of iron, and the powerful pressure radiating from him made him impossible to overlook.

Thus, the moment Niu Mancang moved, Shi Lie moved as well. He neither dodged nor retreated. Instead, he stepped forward into a bow stance, gathered all the strength in his body into his right fist, and drove it straight toward Niu Mancang's chest.

After throwing the punch, a smile of certain victory appeared on Shi Lie's face.

His attack traveled in a straight line, while Niu Mancang's arm swung downward in an arc. Moreover, he was faster than his opponent.

Shi Lie was certain that his punch would land on Niu Mancang's chest first. He had complete confidence in its power.

Bang!

Just as he had calculated, his fist struck Niu Mancang's chest first. Yet the scene he had expected—blood spraying from Niu Mancang's mouth as his body flew backward—never appeared.

Niu Mancang stood utterly motionless.

"How is this possible?" The confidence on Shi Lie's face turned to shock. He was Half-Step Dark Force, and that punch had contained all his strength. Splitting steles and cracking rocks would have been effortless—so why had it caused no reaction when it landed on his opponent?

Unfortunately, he would never know the answer in this lifetime, because Niu Mancang's palm struck his head immediately afterward.

Splurt!

Shi Lie's head shattered like a watermelon, red and white spilling all over the ground.

"Senior Brother, show mercy..." Wen Hua had not even finished the last word when he saw Shi Lie killed by a single palm strike.

He did not dwell on it. Instead, he immediately and decisively gave the order to massacre the gang. "Kill!"

That day, with Niu Mancang's help, Wen Hua went all the way and left no room for retreat, leading his men to massacre both the Iron Fist Gang and the Green Snake Gang.

The moment Niu Mancang killed Shi Lie, they had offended the people who made the rules. Since they had offended them anyway, Wen Hua did not hesitate. He went down the dark road to its end, wiping out the Iron Fist Gang and the Green Snake Gang as quickly as possible.

That afternoon, cartload after cartload of gold, silver, treasures, medicinal herbs, and grain were transported to Zhang Yu's residence. They were the wealth the Green Snake Gang and Iron Fist Gang had accumulated over more than a decade.

Last time, when Zhang Yu secretly killed Li Xiong, he had not obtained the Black Tiger Gang's wealth. This time, Wen Hua had caught the Green Snake Gang and Iron Fist Gang off guard, and most of the two gangs' wealth fell into his hands.