Swift and Decisive

The main gate was smashed open by brute force, instantly throwing the residence into turmoil.

Several figures stood in the courtyard, their faces filled with panic.

The moment they saw the Yamen Runners, every one of them changed expression.

The burly man at the front looked grave. Seeing Fang Xing leading the group, he drew a deep breath and forced out a smile. "Lord Fang, what brings you here? What has happened?"

"Lin Hu, you trafficked people and treated human lives like grass. The evidence is conclusive. Today, I will arrest you and bring you to justice."

Fang Xing spoke in an icy tone.

At those words, the burly man's expression stiffened, and the faces of the people behind him changed at once.

They had come first thing in the morning just to arrest them?!

"My lord, this... this must be some misunderstanding."

Coming back to his senses, he immediately spoke.

"Move! Take them all away!" Fang Xing gave the order without another word.

The Yamen Runners behind him immediately charged forward.

Watching the Yamen Runners rush at him, the burly man's face darkened. As they closed in, he instantly unleashed his force. The wind howled as he struck out with his palm.

The men behind him moved as well.

Whoosh—!

At that instant, Fang Xing's figure suddenly vanished. Like a ghost, he appeared before the burly man and took the palm strike head-on.

Yet that palm, powerful enough to shatter metal and split stone, did not affect him in the slightest.

The palm stopped dead an inch from his body.

"Force protecting the body!"

"Transformation Force!"

The burly man's pupils contracted, shock appearing on his face.

"Assaulting an imperial official is punishable by death according to the law!"

A voice rang out. The burly man jolted and immediately retreated, but it was already too late.

Crack!!

With a crisp snap, the burly man's eyes flew wide open. His body was sent flying as if struck by a tiger. He sprayed blood and died on the spot.

A wisp of scarlet entered Fang Xing's body as he turned his gaze upon the others.

"You share the same crime."

Bang! Bang! Bang!!!

A blast rang out. The next moment, several figures were sent flying and slammed heavily into the ground. Blood spurted from their mouths, and they went still.

Everything had happened in the blink of an eye. The Yamen Runners stared at the corpses on the ground. The air seemed to freeze, and a deathly silence descended.

"Transformation Force!"

"He truly reached Transformation Force!"

Chen Shan looked at Fang Xing, his heart churning like storm-tossed seas.

The others had not seen clearly, but he had seen everything.

Force protecting the body was an ability only those at Transformation Force possessed.

Although he had suspected it before, witnessing it with his own eyes still left him unable to believe it.

A nineteen-year-old at Transformation Force—across all of Qingshan, he was absolutely a one-of-a-kind legend.

No wonder...

No wonder he had been confident that he could take them down.

Scarlet entered his body. Fang Xing looked at the corpses without the slightest ripple on his face.

He turned his gaze to Chen Shan. "The criminals have been executed. Seal this place. Leave several men behind to handle the aftermath. The rest will continue the operation."

"Yes!"

Chen Shan immediately came back to his senses. At this moment, he no longer had any doubts.

Transformation Force cultivation!

With such strength, Fang Xing could absolutely wipe out those several forces completely.

Fang Xing walked out of the courtyard. After giving his orders, Chen Shan immediately followed him toward the next location.

The morning passed.

Under Fang Xing's swift and decisive actions, every force on the plan had been executed.

Resistance had been inevitable, but that had also been part of his plan.

So long as they resisted, he had an open and justified reason to strike.

Ninety percent of the martial artists among the planned targets had been killed.

The small and mid-sized criminal forces had been completely uprooted.

The gains had been quite good as well.

South City, Lin'an Ward.

Outside a large residence, Fang Xing appeared with a group of Yamen Runners.

"My lord, are we really going to move against them?"

Standing at the entrance, Chen Shan looked somewhat hesitant.

They had not even finished clearing out multiple criminal forces in one sweep, yet Chen Shan had never expected Fang Xing to set his sights on the Red Gang.

The Red Gang was a major gang.

A giant force second only to the five great powers.

The Red Gang's leader, Lin Yan, was a Transformation Force martial artist.

Although Fang Xing was also a Transformation Force martial artist.

Could they truly take them down?

This was not one of those small or mid-sized gangs.

"Why can't we? I am responsible for maintaining public order. These cancers must be removed."

Fang Xing's expression remained calm.

Chen Shan fell silent.

"If they are left alone, they will only bring disaster upon the people. You draw a salary from the court, so you must bear this responsibility."

Fang Xing spoke, leaving Chen Shan speechless.

Seeing Fang Xing's composed expression, the unease in his heart settled somewhat.

"I will obey your orders without fail, my lord."

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Shan charged forward first and directly smashed open the residence gate.

Fang Xing stepped into the residence, followed by several Yamen Runners.

"Big Brother, this is bad! The authorities have brought men and forced their way in."

Inside the residence, the door to a study opened, and a bearded burly man hurried anxiously inside.

At the desk, a long-robed middle-aged man of around forty frowned upon hearing him.

"The authorities?"

He looked somewhat surprised. Looking at the bearded man who had entered, he rose to his feet. "What is going on? Why would the authorities come to our door?"

"I... I don't know. They've already surrounded the place," the bearded man said in a panic.

Hearing that, the middle-aged man knitted his brows tightly. "Who is leading them?"

"It's Fang Xing."

"Word just came in that he has wiped out several forces in one breath."

"The leaders of several forces all died by his hand."

"He must have come for us."

"Fang Xing... Heh, this Chief Constable is certainly throwing his weight around." The middle-aged man's face darkened.

"Big Brother, what do we do?" the bearded man asked anxiously.

"Don't panic yet. Let's go meet him." The middle-aged man spoke and headed out of the study.

Seeing this, the bearded man hurried after him as they left the study together.

The residence's main hall.

Fang Xing stopped and looked at several figures, his gaze settling on the middle-aged man at the front.

Lin Yan of the Red Gang.

He was at the early stage of Transformation Force. He looked refined and elegant, but in truth, he was ruthless and vicious.

No one who could sit in a position second only to the five great giants was a harmless lamb.

Fang Xing had seen him once during the New Year festivities.

"Lord Fang, you have brought so many men here. May I ask what this is about?"

Lin Yan spoke with a genial smile, utterly composed and without the slightest panic.

But the expressions of the people behind him were grave.

"Lin Yan, you treated human lives like grass, secretly trafficked salt and iron, forcibly seized innocent women, and plotted murder. Today, I have come under orders to arrest you."

Fang Xing's face was stern, each word ringing out with crystal clarity.

In an instant, the smile on Lin Yan's face froze. His eyes locked tightly onto Fang Xing.

Time itself seemed to stand still at that moment.

Chen Shan's nerves tightened, and he unconsciously clenched the saber at his waist.

The other Yamen Runners looked equally grim.

Faced with the aura of a Transformation Force martial artist, a trace of fear rose instinctively in their hearts.

If Fang Xing had not been standing before them, their legs would likely have already gone weak.

"Lord Fang, could this be some misunderstanding? I am a law-abiding citizen."

Lin Yan looked at Fang Xing, breaking the silence as he forced out a smile.

"If I had no evidence, would I have come to your door in person?"

Fang Xing spoke as he stepped forward.

"Surrender without resistance. This is your only way out."

"Take them all away!"

Fang Xing suddenly gave the order. Several Yamen Runners immediately advanced with sabers drawn, fully on guard.

Chen Shan's heart pounded wildly, nearly leaping into his throat. His grip on his saber tightened unconsciously.

"Lord Fang, are you truly determined to deny me even this much face?" Lin Yan's face turned cold as an invisible aura spread outward.

"You dare threaten me? What are you?"

"Confess your crimes. That is your only path!"

As he spoke, Fang Xing stepped forward and extended one hand.

Seeing this, Lin Yan clenched his fists, and a faint red glow emerged.

The temperature in the air abruptly rose several degrees.

Hiss—!

A layer of red light covered his fist as he threw a punch at astonishing speed.

The punch was swift as lightning.

But in Fang Xing's eyes, it was a little slower. His ability to perceive the slightest detail caught every trace of it. He shifted his body slightly, and the punch brushed past him with exquisite precision.

"What?"

Lin Yan's pupils suddenly contracted when his punch missed.

At such close range, how had he dodged it?

"Assaulting an imperial official adds another degree to your crime!"

A cold voice suddenly rang by his ear, and a powerful sense of danger surged into his heart.