"Nine Nether Force has arrived," Hong Tianbao told Li Xiang.
"Nine Nether Force..."
Li Xiang repeated the three words silently, a flicker of mockery deep in his eyes.
More than a month had passed since that promise was made in Blackwater Ancient Town.
Throughout that month, the prize that should have been his had failed to arrive. Instead, on a dark, windy night on the river, several well-trained Death Soldiers bearing City God Headquarters tattoos had slipped silently into his cabin.
If his true fighting strength had not far exceeded what any First Realm Martial Cultivator should possess, he would have been cut to pieces and thrown into the river to feed the fish. He certainly would not have lived to see the next sunrise.
Rather than deliver this manual, the people at City God Headquarters would probably prefer to check whether my corpse has gone cold.
"Master, I'll go greet the visitor from City God Headquarters."
City God Headquarters was a colossus beyond the mortal world, one that had endured since the Sacred Dynasty.
Its foundations ran as deep as the roots of a towering ancient tree, penetrating both Yin-Yang Worlds.
Even knowing that one of its Powerful Elders had sent assassins after him, he understood that until he had the absolute strength to topple that tree, any open resentment or fury would be nothing but the helpless barking of a weakling.
Staying alive and hiding his edge was the only truth.
Hong Tianbao glanced at Li Xiang's face from the corner of his eye, seeming to sense the emotions suppressed beneath it. But he asked nothing and said nothing.
A Martial Cultivator's path had to be carved out with his own fists and blade. Swallow an injustice today, and what came back up someday would be knives.
"Go