"Iron Bone Technique"

After all, Yu Zhe had endured half a year at a martial arts school and spent another two years scraping by in the Golden Dragon Gang. His reactions were not slow.

Instinctively twisting around, he raised both arms in panic, trying to shield his head and face.

However, it was too late!

A gray shadow, like a vicious eagle folding its wings in the ninth heaven before swooping down soundlessly, tore through the night in an instant.

Talons like terrifying blades, carrying scalding blood and qi, exploded beside his ear.

"Crack!"

The tooth-aching sound of bones shattering 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 sinister, vicious angle.

His knuckles hooked inward, locking onto the gap in Yu Zhe's shoulder blade, then yanked hard!

"Aah!"

A shrill scream rang out.

Yu Zhe's entire right arm immediately drooped limply.

Without giving him time to react,

Shen Xiuhan stuck to him like a shadow. His left hand seized Yu Zhe's Adam's apple with unerring precision, five fingers tightening like iron hooks.

"No, spare..."

Murderous intent flashed explosively in Shen Xiuhan's eyes as his five fingers suddenly clenched!

"Squelch!"

With a horrifying muffled crack, the fragile throat cartilage, like a dead branch, was crushed and burst apart.

The plea for mercy stopped abruptly.

Yu Zhe clawed desperately at the iron-hook-like hand around his throat, making wet, gurgling sounds as air leaked out.

Gradually, his body crumpled to the ground as though all strength had been drained from it. His legs twitched twice before he utterly lost all signs of life.

Shen Xiuhan stood beside the corpse, his chest rising and falling slightly, but his eyes were thoughtful.

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

"Looks like 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, since you dared set your sights on Momo, you didn't die unjustly."

He crouched down and began searching the corpse.

A moment later, about five taels of silver lay in his hand.

"Not bad. Quite a haul."

A flash of pleasant surprise crossed Shen Xiuhan's eyes as he tucked the silver into his clothes.

No wonder the Golden Dragon Gang was willing to keep collecting interest year-round from the fish market and docks of West Market, even if they had to hand over half to the White Family.

This business without capital really did bring in money fast.

Shen Xiuhan unceremoniously pocketed the silver.

Then his gaze fell upon the wound in the corpse's throat, and his brows drew together slightly.

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

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

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

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

Crack!

Crack!

Several successive sounds of bones breaking echoed through the night.

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

He concealed the claw marks of Heavenly Mystic Eagle Force completely.

After finishing all this, Shen Xiuhan lifted Yu Zhe one-handed. With blood and qi surging through him, he sped toward the Golden Dragon Gang's headquarters.

Wild Shrine Ward.

Tian Residence.

Tian Erhu had a dream.

In the dream, an iron-cast hand clamped tightly around his throat.

He struggled desperately, but he 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 as he abruptly sat up.

He instinctively touched his neck. His hand came away covered in 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 thoroughly driven away his sleepiness.

He threw on a thick short jacket, rolled out of bed, and stepped into the courtyard.

The night wind was like a knife, yet Tian Erhu seemed not to feel it.

He planted himself in the courtyard, sinking his legs into a horse stance like an old tree spreading roots through the earth.

Then he stretched out his arms and began practicing a set of fierce, solid stance techniques, matching his movements to a special breathing rhythm.

Looking across the entire Golden Dragon Gang, Tian Erhu had not yet broken through the Blood Gate, but when it came to genuine skill, he absolutely ranked among the best of the underlings.

It could even be said that apart from Gang Leader Gao Fu and Gao Fu's adopted son who had stepped into Bright Force, few in the gang dared pound their chests and claim they could defeat him for certain.

Tian Erhu, an ordinary man, possessed such astonishing combat power 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 forceful, focusing on tempering the body, and was divided into two realms:

The first was called "Copper Skin";

The second was called "Iron Bone."

Tian Erhu's innate physique was terribly poor, yet he displayed exceptional talent in hard arts that tempered flesh and skin.

After three years of bitter training, he had finally brought the Copper Skin realm of this technique to the entry level.

The flesh all over his body had become as tough as cowhide. Though he was still far from truly impervious to blades and spears, and sharp weapons could still draw blood,

the fists and kicks of ordinary gang members, even wooden clubs and iron rulers smashing into him, greatly dulled the pain and could not injure his muscles or bones!

For that very reason, whenever gangs fought bloody battles, Tian Erhu always charged at the front, rampaging about like a humanoid beast.

This had earned him considerable renown within the Golden Dragon Gang and won Gao Fu's high regard.

"Whew..."

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

For some reason, the iron hand from his dream—the hand that seemed capable of crushing anything—flashed through his mind, filling him with inexplicable irritation.

"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 rest.

The instant he turned around!

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

"Who's there?! Get out!"

There was not a word of reply.

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

A gray-robed figure burst violently from the shadows!

Five fingers, like iron hooks forged from refined steel, carried scalding blood and qi as they transformed into 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!

He had spent years licking blood from the edge of a blade, and his reaction was lightning fast. The muscles all over his body tensed, while a faint bronze sheen emerged across his skin.

Rather than retreating, he advanced. Turning his body and dropping his shoulder, he slammed forward like a crazed iron bull, crashing ruthlessly into the black shadow!

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

Relying on the defenses of the Iron Bone Technique, even a martial artist who had only just learned the basics would have several ribs broken on the spot by that blow!

Yet the black shadow merely tapped the ground with the tip of a foot, rising like a flying swallow and sweeping over his head.

At the same time, its right hand reached downward!

A sharp, piercing whistle tearing through the air exploded beside Tian Erhu's ear.

This is bad! A Bright Force martial artist!

The pain of his scalp being ripped by the forceful wind made Tian Erhu's expression change wildly!

The opponent's movement technique was too fast. He had no time to change moves and could only lower his head, trying to take the blow head-on with his hard skull.

"Squelch!"

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 the top of his head, obscuring half his vision.

"Eh?"

The black shadow gave a soft cry of surprise, seemingly astonished.

It had clearly not expected this brute, who had not entered Bright Force, to possess such a hard skull.

He had taken a blow from Heavenly Mystic Eagle Force head-on, yet his skull had not been ripped open outright.

But the killing move in the shadow's hand did not pause in the slightest!

It kicked off empty air, wheeling back like a hunting eagle, and closed in again at an even more terrifying speed!

Tian Erhu endured the excruciating pain as he staggered backward, shouting urgently:

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

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

His right hand reached for the small of his back. A short blade slid from its sheath and, in an incomparably treacherous upward thrust, stabbed viciously toward the black shadow's abdomen!