"Iron Bone Technique"

Having endured half a year at a martial arts school and spent another two years running with the Golden Dragon Gang, Yu Zhe's reactions were not slow.

He instinctively twisted aside and raised both arms in panic, trying to shield his head and face.

However, it was too late!

A gray shadow, like a vicious eagle silently diving from the nine heavens with its wings tucked in, instantly tore through the night.

Fingers and claws like terrifying blades, carrying scorching blood and qi, exploded beside his ear.

"Crack!"

The teeth-gritting sound of shattering bone was especially piercing.

Shen Xiuhan's blood and qi surged like a rushing river, all of it pouring into his right arm.

He unleashed the move Mei Shuangfeng had used during the day—Stone-Splitting Tendon-Severing!

His five fingers drilled into Yu Zhe's right shoulder acupoint at a venomous, tricky angle.

His knuckles hooked inward, locking into the gap of the shoulder blade, and he yanked hard!

"Aah!"

A shrill scream rang out.

Yu Zhe's entire right arm immediately drooped limply.

Giving him no time to react.

Shen Xiuhan stuck close as a shadow, his left hand accurately clamping around Yu Zhe's Adam's apple, five fingers tightening like iron hooks.

"No, spare..."

Killing intent flashed fiercely in Shen Xiuhan's eyes as his five fingers suddenly clenched!

"Squish!"

With a bone-chilling muffled crack, the throat cartilage, as brittle as a dead branch, was crushed and burst apart.

The plea for mercy stopped abruptly.

Yu Zhe clawed at the iron-hook hand around his throat, making wet, gurgling sounds.

Gradually, his body collapsed to the ground as if all strength had been drained from it. His legs twitched twice, then he lost all breath of life.

Shen Xiuhan stood beside the corpse, his chest rising and falling faintly, while his eyes turned thoughtful.

"This man held no low position in the Golden Dragon Gang. He counted as a capable fighter, yet when he faced me, he had no power to fight back—not even time to react..."

"It seems the gap between ordinary people and martial artists is even greater than I imagined."

Shen Xiuhan looked down at the corpse by his feet and gave a cold snort.

"Still, for daring to set your sights on Momo, you did not die unjustly."

He crouched down and began searching the body.

A moment later, he had roughly five taels of silver in his hand.

"Not bad. A fine haul."

A flicker of pleasant surprise passed through Shen Xiuhan's eyes as he tucked the silver into his clothes.

No wonder the Golden Dragon Gang was willing to keep operating year-round in the West Market fish stalls and docks, collecting interest even though they had to hand over half to the White Family.

This business without capital truly brought in money fast.

Shen Xiuhan unceremoniously pocketed the silver.

Then his gaze fell upon the wound at the corpse's throat, and his brows furrowed slightly.

The claw marks of Heavenly Mystic Eagle Force were too distinctive. If he simply left the body in the street, someone might follow the trail straight to him.

"I heard there is a gang in Xuanhua Ward called the Turbulent Wave Gang. They have their eyes on the Golden Dragon Gang's territory, and the conflict has been quite fierce..."

Shen Xiuhan's thoughts raced, and a plan sprang to mind.

He abruptly rose to his feet, lifted his right leg, summoned the blood and qi within him, and stomped viciously down on Yu Zhe's neck!

Crack!

Crunch!

Several successive sounds of broken bone echoed out.

Shen Xiuhan stomped several more times, until the entire neck bone was thoroughly mangled, making it look as though it had been smashed apart by some blunt weapon.

The claw marks of Heavenly Mystic Eagle Force were completely concealed.

Once he had finished, Shen Xiuhan lifted Yu Zhe with one arm. Blood and qi surged through him as he sped toward the Golden Dragon Gang's headquarters.

Wild Shrine Ward.

Tian Residence.

Tian Erhu had a dream.

In the dream, a hand forged of iron gripped his throat tightly.

He struggled desperately, but it was like an ant trying to shake a tree. The iron claw tightened and tightened until his throat bone was crushed alive.

"Hah!"

On the bed, Tian Erhu's eyes flew wide open, and he abruptly sat up.

He instinctively touched his neck. His hand came away slick with cold sweat, and even the bedding beneath him had been soaked through.

"Damn it... it was a dream..."

Tian Erhu let out a long breath and swallowed with lingering fear.

The nightmare had driven away all his drowsiness.

He draped a thick short coat over himself, rolled out of bed, and stepped into the courtyard.

The night wind cut like knives, yet Tian Erhu seemed not to notice.

He stood firm in the yard, sank his legs, and dropped into a horse stance as rooted as an old tree.

Then he stretched out his arms and, in rhythm with a special breathing pattern, began practicing a set of fierce, solid stance exercises.

In the entire Golden Dragon Gang, Tian Erhu might not have opened the blood gate, but when it came to true skill beneath his hands, he absolutely ranked among the best.

It could even be said that aside from Gang Leader Gao Fu and Gao Fu's adopted son who had stepped into Manifest Force, few in the gang dared thump their chests and claim they could certainly defeat him.

Tian Erhu possessed such astonishing combat strength despite having an ordinary body entirely because his younger brother Tian Ping'an, who had served in the army in his early years, had secretly taught him a military body-tempering hard art.

It was called the Iron Bone Technique.

This martial art had an extraordinary origin, derived from a secret military hard art of the Dragon Cavalry Army, one of Great Qi's five main armies.

The entire technique was broad and sweeping, focused on tempering the physique, and divided into two realms:

The first was "Bronze Skin."

The second was "Iron Bones."

Tian Erhu's natural aptitude was abysmal, but in hard arts that tempered flesh through relentless beating, he displayed exceptional talent.

After three years of bitter training, he had finally reached the entry level of the "Bronze Skin" realm.

His flesh was tough as cowhide. Though he was far from truly impervious to blades and spears and would still bleed when faced with sharp weapons.

Ordinary gang members' fists and kicks, even wooden clubs and iron rulers smashing into him, greatly lessened the pain and could not injure his tendons or bones!

That was why Tian Erhu always charged at the very front in every gang battle, rampaging like a humanoid ferocious beast.

It had also earned him considerable renown within the Golden Dragon Gang and Gao Fu's deep regard.

"Phew..."

After completing the set of hard-art exercises, Tian Erhu's entire body was faintly warm. He exhaled and withdrew his stance.

For some reason, the iron hand from his dream, that hand which seemed capable of crushing everything, flashed through his mind, stirring an unprovoked irritation in his heart.

"Forget it. I'm scaring myself. Why think so much about it..."

Tian Erhu shook his head and turned, intending to return to his room and continue resting.

The instant he turned!

Tian Erhu's burly body suddenly froze. He whirled around and stared at a corner of the courtyard, shouting harshly.

"Who's there?! Get out!"

There was not a single word in reply.

What answered him was a ghostly afterimage that ripped through the night!

A figure wrapped in a gray robe burst out from the shadows!

Five fingers like iron hooks forged from refined steel, carrying scorching blood and qi, became a blue-black blur that shot straight for Tian Erhu's throat!

"You're courting death!"

Tian Erhu flew into a rage, savage light blazing in his eyes!

Having lived with a blade's edge at his throat for years, he reacted with incredible speed. The muscles throughout his body tightened, and a faint bronze luster emerged beneath his skin.

Rather than retreating, he advanced. He turned his body and lowered his shoulder, charging at the black shadow like a maddened iron bull!

This move had been nearly invincible for Tian Erhu in past gang bloodbaths.

Relying on the defense of the Iron Bone Technique, even a martial artist who had only just learned the basics would have several ribs broken on the spot if struck by it!

Yet the black shadow merely tapped its toes against the ground, rising like a flying swallow and sweeping over his head.

At the same time, its right hand reached downward!

A piercing whistle that tore through the air exploded beside Tian Erhu's ear.

Not good! A Manifest Force martial artist!

The pain of the force-wind tearing his scalp made Tian Erhu's expression change drastically!

The opponent's movement technique was too fast. He had no time to change moves and could only duck his head, trying to withstand the attack with his hard skull.

Squish!

Five fingers drilled into his scalp like iron nails, gouging out five bloody finger holes!

"Hiss... damn it!"

Tian Erhu sucked in a cold breath from the pain. Blood streamed down from his head, covering half his vision.

"Hm?"

The black shadow let out a soft sound of surprise.

It clearly had not expected this reckless brute, who had yet to enter Manifest Force, to possess such a hard skull.

He had taken a strike of Heavenly Mystic Eagle Force head-on, yet his skullcap had not been ripped open on the spot.

But the killing move in its hand did not pause in the slightest!

It kicked off the air beneath its feet and, like a predatory eagle wheeling back, closed in once more at an even more terrifying speed!

Enduring the agonizing pain, Tian Erhu staggered backward while shouting urgently.

"May I ask which friend this is? I am Tian Erhu of the Golden Dragon Gang. If there is something to say, we can..."

Before he could finish, a venomous killing intent suddenly erupted in Tian Erhu's eyes.

His right hand reached behind his waist. A short blade slid from its sheath and stabbed viciously upward from below, straight at the black shadow's abdomen.