Hall Master Lu, From Now On, My Life Is Yours!

Lu Hao yanked the key from Chen Xuan's waist.

At that moment, Shi Kang hurried over to Lu Hao. "Brother Hao, Han Zheng is about to die. Do you want to go take a look?"

Lu Hao followed Shi Kang into the room.

Han Zheng lay on the floor. Someone had found some clothes to cushion his head and raise it slightly. Blood flowed continuously from the wound in Han Zheng's neck.

When Han Zheng saw Lu Hao enter, his gaze was complicated.

More than ten days ago, Lu Hao had misappropriated the gang's protection fees. Back then, Han Zheng could have crushed him as easily as an ant.

Yesterday, Lu Hao had gone to negotiate with the Water Serpent Gang and killed Zhou Zhennan of the Second-Layer Gate-Breaking Realm, along with Liu Zimu of the Third Gate-Knocking Realm. At the time, Han Zheng had not felt much about it. He had believed that he still held the upper hand against Lu Hao.

But today, Ma Xiaotian and Xiong Kaishan had defeated him within a few moves. Though he had not seen Lu Hao kill those two, Lu Hao must have won. Otherwise, Lu Hao could not possibly be standing here now. In terms of strength, he had actually fallen behind Lu Hao.

Chen Xuan, whom Han Zheng had always regarded as a trusted confidant, had not only betrayed the Black Tiger Gang, but also stabbed him. The one who had saved the entire Everjoy Hall Branch at the critical moment was Lu Hao, whom he had once looked down on.

Lu Hao looked at Han Zheng.

He had not expected Han Zheng to keep his back straight and refuse to surrender even when the Golden Saber Gang attacked. He was a real man after all.

Lu Hao looked at Han Zheng. "Hall Master Han, do you have any final wishes?"

Han Zheng slowly opened his mouth. His voice was weak and broken as he said, "The branch... the brothers... You must... treat them well..."

After saying that, Han Zheng's head tilted to one side. He closed his eyes, and his breath was gone.

Lu Hao said to Shi Kang, "Give Hall Master Han a proper burial!"

Lu Hao then took out the key he had found on Chen Xuan and questioned the Black Tiger Gang members.

"Do any of you know what this key on Chen Xuan was for?"

At that moment, one gang member spoke up. "Hall Master Lu, once, when Chen Xuan came out of his room, I saw him tying this key around his waist."

Lu Hao went to Chen Xuan's room, pushed open the door, and found a wooden chest beneath Chen Xuan's bed.

Lu Hao stepped forward and inserted the key. As expected, it was the key to this chest.

When he opened the wooden chest, he found dozens of silver ingots inside, each worth ten taels. After counting them carefully, there were a total of three hundred taels of silver.

As deputy hall master of the Everjoy Hall Branch, Chen Xuan only received twenty taels of silver per month. These silvers had most likely been skimmed and embezzled from the gang.

On the other side of the chest lay a beast-hide map.

Lu Hao took the map and unfolded it. The words "Green Ox Mountain Map" were written on it. Green Ox Mountain lay north of Bluestone City. He had no idea where Chen Xuan had obtained this map.

Upon closer inspection, the map appeared to be incomplete. It only showed the southern side of Green Ox Mountain.

Still, the map was quite detailed. Several paths up the mountain, along with some demon beast dens, had been marked with circles of red cinnabar.

The two largest circles were labeled "One-Horned Azure Wolf Nest" and "Ironback Bear Den." Several other places were marked with red question marks in cinnabar.

Lu Hao studied the map several more times and thought to himself, I wonder how strong this One-Horned Azure Wolf and Ironback Bear are. I can find an opportunity to ask around. And I have no idea what those places marked with red question marks are, either.

He folded up the map, tucked it into his clothes, and walked out of the room.

When he reached the courtyard, Lu Hao beckoned to Shi Kang. "Kangzi, come here."

Shi Kang hurried over.

"Kangzi, how many brothers did we lose in that battle just now?"

The excitement on Shi Kang's face immediately vanished.

"Brother Hao, eleven brothers died in that battle, and more than a dozen were injured."

After hearing that, Lu Hao pointed inside the room.

"There are three hundred taels of silver in Chen Xuan's room. Go get it. Distribute the silver to the dead and injured brothers according to the old rules. Then take another ten taels and buy some meat and good wine to reward the brothers!"

Shi Kang had several gang members clean up the courtyard and distributed silver to the dead and injured gang members.

Afterward, Shi Kang took ten taels of silver and brought two gang members with him to purchase wine and meat. He left around one hundred and sixty taels of silver for Lu Hao.

Lu Hao returned to the room and closed the door.

He sat down in a chair and summoned the deep-blue system panel.

[Skill: Black Tiger Fist Technique (Grand Mastery)]

[Progress: +50]

...

[Skill: Black Tiger Fist Technique (Perfect Mastery)]

[Detected unassigned proficiency points: 1301 points. They can be converted into an equal number of Black Tiger Stance Art proficiency points. Convert?]

Lu Hao's heart leaped with joy. When they had raided the Azure Robe Branch Hall of the Golden Saber Gang, the Black Tiger Fist Technique had still been six hundred points away from Perfect Mastery. He had not expected that his fight with the Golden Saber Gang just now would not only bring the Black Tiger Fist Technique to Perfect Mastery, but also grant him over thirteen hundred additional proficiency points.

What delighted him even more was that after the Black Tiger Fist Technique reached Perfect Mastery, its proficiency could actually be converted into Black Tiger Stance Art proficiency. This was far faster than practicing the Black Tiger Stance Art round after round by himself.

He immediately gave the command in his mind: Convert.

[Skill: Black Tiger Stance Art (Grand Mastery)]

[Progress: +1301]

[Current Progress: 1368/2000]

[Qi-Blood in body: 12/30]

Lu Hao activated the Equipment Slot again and absorbed the Qi-Blood from the chicken meat. As streams of warmth surged from his dantian to every limb and bone, his Qi-Blood became full once more.

The wound in his left shoulder, where Diao Xiaolin's longsword had pierced through it, had also healed. But when he tried to raise his left arm and move it, piercing pain shot through his shoulder blade.

Lu Hao frowned.

The injuries he had sustained in his previous two fights had only been minor. After replenishing his Qi-Blood, the wounds had healed completely as well.

But this time, Diao Xiaolin had pierced through his left shoulder. Though the flesh had healed, the tendons and bones inside had not recovered.

This meant that the system could only rapidly heal minor injuries. If the injury was severe, it could not recover quickly. It seemed that in future fights, he should avoid vital areas as much as possible.

With his current injuries, he feared he lacked the strength even if he wanted to practice the Black Tiger Fist Technique.

Fortunately, his Black Tiger Fist Technique had already reached Perfect Mastery. Further practice would no longer increase its proficiency.

Now, he only needed to focus his energy on practicing the Black Tiger Stance Art.

Practicing the Black Tiger Stance Art also required strength in his arms, but both the force and frequency were far lower than when practicing the Black Tiger Fist Technique.

His most urgent task now was to quickly train the Black Tiger Stance Art to Perfect Mastery and break through into the Martial Artist Realm.

At that moment, Shi Kang knocked on the door outside. "Brother Hao, the wine and meat are back."

Lu Hao got up and left the room, joining the more than sixty remaining Black Tiger Gang members at the training ground.

Lu Hao walked to the table, grabbed a roasted chicken leg and took a few bites, then began raising cups with everyone.

Just as the drinking was reaching its peak, one gang member suddenly began to cry.

That gang member carried his bowl of wine over to Lu Hao.

"Hall Master Lu, I've been in the gang for three years, but I've never seen any hall master treat the brothers this well."

"Every brother who died received ten taels of silver in death compensation!"

"Hall Master Lu, from now on, my life is yours! If you tell me to go east, I will never go west!"

"I toast you!"

As soon as his words fell, every gang member in the courtyard turned to look at Lu Hao in perfect unison. They all raised their wine bowls and shouted together, "Hall Master Lu, we toast you!"

Lu Hao took in everyone's reactions, raised his bowl and clinked it with theirs, then drained the wine in one gulp.

While the Black Tiger Gang members drank themselves merry, Diao Xiaolin had already fled back to the Mighty Escort Bureau.

He staggered to the door of Chief Escort Yu Wei's room and pushed it open.

Diao Xiaolin looked at Yu Wei. "Uncle Yu, I want to learn the Blood Fiend Sword Art and break through to the Martial Artist Realm as soon as possible."