Just as the burly man was about to pierce through Zhang Yang’s back—

A long spear thrust in forcefully from the right.

The burly man’s expression changed as he felt the cold glint of the spear tip. If he insisted on killing Zhang Yang, he too would be pinned dead by this spear.

Without hesitation, he chose to pull back, twisting at the waist.

The long spear missed.

Zhang Yang dove to the ground. He rolled several times to put distance between himself and the burly man before getting back to his feet, a look of lingering fear on his face.

The burly man stood firm once more.

He ignored Zhang Yang, his eyes fixed on a lovely figure not far away.

Every Martial Artist in Qinghe County knew that Huwei Arts Hall had a Female Martial Artist at the Yijin Pass who was skilled with a spear. This must be her.

Xiao Qiaoniang held a seven-foot-long spear behind her back, her killing intent formidable, no less than any man’s.

A mocking sneer tugged at the corner of the burly man’s mouth.

This woman had an extremely deep relationship with that disciple from Huwei Arts Hall who had gone to the Divine Mansion Sect. It was even highly likely that she had already been taken into his bed. If he could capture Xiao Qiaoniang, today’s objective would be considered accomplished.

His thoughts raced, and the burly man quickly made his decision.

He grabbed the twin hammers from his waist and smashed them ferociously toward Xiao Qiaoniang.

Xiao Qiaoniang remained calm and composed. She moved her feet lightly to increase the distance between them while simultaneously thrusting her long spear at the burly man like a viper striking.

The two were soon locked in battle.

In just a few moments, Xiao Qiaoniang and the burly man had already exchanged more than thirty blows.

The more the burly man fought, the more alarmed he became. He had only ever heard of Xiao Qiaoniang’s reputation as a Female Martial Artist, but he had always looked down on her. After all, the world of martial arts was a man’s world.

But now that they were actually trading blows, he discovered that Xiao Qiaoniang was terrifyingly strong.

Not only was her spear technique flawless, but her combat skills even surpassed his own.

Another twenty moves passed.

Xiao Qiaoniang spotted an opening in the burly man’s defense and pierced his abdomen with a single thrust of her spear.

She pulled the spear out.

Blood gushed from the man’s abdomen. He staggered back several steps, clutching his wound, his face deathly pale.

He was no match for the woman before him.

Just then, Chu Yuan, Old Xue, and Lu Xiangtao appeared behind Xiao Qiaoniang.

Xiao Qiaoniang rested her long spear on the ground, showing no intention of pursuit.

The burly man was, at best, a lackey sent to kick down the door. The real trouble was yet to come.

Suddenly, the members of the Flying Eagle Gang surrounding the Martial Arts Hall’s entrance parted to form a path, and a young man walked out unhurriedly.

When Chu Yuan saw this young man, a look of dread appeared on his face.

This was none other than the current de facto leader of Flying Eagle Castle, Ji Hanming.

At a street corner not far from Huwei Arts Hall, a man in a bamboo hat had been watching the commotion.

If anyone could see the face beneath the hat, they would recognize him as the Gang Leader of the Iron Saber Gang, Tie Tu!

However, compared to his previous domineering presence, Tie Tu’s face now bore a hint of desolation.

Everyone in Qinghe County thought he was in seclusion.

But the truth was, he had already fought Ji Hanming—the very man now standing in Huwei Arts Hall—and had been defeated. Utterly crushed, in fact.

If he weren’t still of some use to Ji Hanming, he would already be dead.

Tie Tu gazed at Huwei Arts Hall with a complicated expression.

Flying Eagle Castle was on the rise, clearly intending to unify all of Qinghe. Today it was Huwei Arts Hall’s turn to be destroyed; it wouldn’t be long before the Iron Saber Gang was next.

He had met Ji Hanming before.

Back then, he had only seen him as an ambitious but naive junior, no match at all for his elder brother, Ji Jiutian.

But upon meeting Ji Hanming again, the man was like a completely different person.

His temperament, his methods—everything about him sent a chill down the spine of an old Jianghu veteran like himself.

’Too terrifying... ’

An opponent like that could make one lose all sleep and appetite.

Ji Hanming, having walked into the Martial Arts Hall, glanced at the people inside.

The reason he was making a move on Huwei Arts Hall was, of course, to find bait.

And Bai Yuan was the fish about to take the hook.

As long as he could lure Bai Yuan to the prepared location, the rest could be left to Zhou Tao.

At the thought of his impending revenge,

Long Ao grew so excited his hands began to tremble. He licked his dry lips.

He wouldn’t let these people die so easily. Not before he killed Bai Yuan, at least.

...

「Elsewhere.」

After pleasuring himself with ten people in one go, Zhou Tao finally climbed out of bed, satisfied.

He glanced at the sky outside the window and figured it was about time.

An excited look appeared on Zhou Tao’s face.

’What’s playing with women compared to the thrill of killing?’

’Not to mention, the one about to die by my hand is a True Disciple of the Divine Mansion Sect, a first-rate genius.’

’Long Ao should have the bait ready by now.’

’I should head to the arranged location and make some preparations.’

’Even though that True Disciple named Bai Yuan is only at the Blood Refining Pass, I still need to be fully prepared. I can’t let him escape.’

Zhou Tao pushed open the red lacquered gates and stepped onto the street.

His residence was located at the base of the city wall, so there weren’t many passersby, only a handful of people.

The fat on Zhou Tao’s body jiggled as he walked.

Just as he was about to turn the corner of an alley—

A sudden, loud BANG echoed through the air.

In almost the same instant, a thumb-sized bloody groove appeared on Zhou Tao’s corpulent stomach, blood seeping from it.

Zhou Tao flew into a rage. His massive body moved with incredible agility as he demolished a nearby courtyard wall with a single punch.

Behind the wall stood a young man—it was Bai Yuan.

That’s right. The information circulating outside was all a smokescreen he had created. In truth, he had returned to Qinghe County long ago.

The abnormality of Flying Eagle Castle had caught his attention.

Therefore, he had been secretly tailing Ji Hanming. Thanks to his powerful hearing, he knew every detail of the plan between Ji Hanming and Zhou Tao.

He had appeared here specifically to intercept and kill Zhou Tao.

The loud bang from before was, of course, his flintlock pistol.

But he hadn’t expected Zhou Tao’s fat to be the best shield; the shot hadn’t even broken through his defenses.

Of course, he had already modified this pistol.

An ordinary person, no matter how fat, would have been taken down by one shot. The key was the energy that covered Zhou Tao’s body. That was the real reason he could ignore the pistol.

Bai Yuan tossed the pistol aside and drew the long saber from his back.

He bent his knees slightly, gripping the handle with both hands.

Zhou Tao bore down on Bai Yuan like a mountain of flesh. The Jianghu believed his specialty was the hammer, but in reality, his trump card was a hard-body Cultivation Technique.

His layers of fat were also a result of this technique.

Impervious to blades and spears, immune to water and fire.

His physical body was his strongest weapon. A mere Blood Refining Martial Master could never breach his defense.

Therefore, the best course of action was to crush the young man before him with his own body!

The savagery on Zhou Tao’s face intensified.

Bai Yuan seemed not to see Zhou Tao lunging at him, still maintaining his two-handed grip on the saber.

The next instant!

He finally moved.

The long saber drew an arc in the air like a bolt of white silk.

Saber Skill: Mountain’s Return!

When Zhou Tao saw Bai Yuan’s brilliant, breathtaking strike, the hair on his body stood on end. A tidal wave of mortal danger nearly suffocated him.

But the strike was too fast; he had no chance to dodge.

He gritted his teeth, deciding to take it head-on with his body.

With his hard-body technique at the Entering the Realm level, there were few in all of Huanglong Prefecture who could kill him.

The long saber finally made contact with Zhou Tao’s body.

But what happened next terrified Zhou Tao to his very soul.

The long saber completely ignored his hard-body technique, slicing his body in two at the waist as if cutting through tofu, without making even the slightest sound.

’What a terrifying saber technique!’

This was Zhou Tao’s final thought.

He had practiced martial arts for decades and had seen countless saber masters.

But he could swear that he had never in his life seen such a brilliant and stunning strike. Not even in the Divine Mansion Sect could one find its equal!

THUD!

Zhou Tao’s body, split in two in mid-air, landed on the ground with a thud.

He couldn’t be more dead.

The Ghost-faced Man, Zhou Tao, a nightmare of the Jianghu for a generation, had been killed just like that.

Bai Yuan sheathed his long saber. His trembling fingertips revealed that the feat had not been as effortless as it looked.

That last strike was, of course, his self-created saber skill, Mountain’s Return.

That single strike had completely drained all the energy from his body, even sapping his physical strength.

It looked like a single strike, but it was still a life-or-death moment.

If that strike had failed to kill Zhou Tao, he would have been the one to die.

Mountain’s Return merely compressed the time of a life-or-death battle into a single move.

In truth, Zhou Tao’s death was not unjust. Who told him to practice a hard-body technique? It was perfectly countered by Mountain’s Return.

The strike Bai Yuan had developed was a combination of the Blood Tiger Saber, the Tiger-Crane Form, and the Three Axes of the Woodcutter. It represented the ultimate in killing power.

’It’s only natural that it’s strong.’

Bai Yuan bent down, cut off Zhou Tao’s head, and turned to leave.

The commotion attracted the attention of passersby. When a woman saw Bai Yuan walk out carrying a bloody head, she fainted on the spot.

...

「Huwei Arts Hall.」

"Ji Hanming, what is the meaning of this?"

Chu Yuan stepped forward, shielding Xiao Qiaoniang.

As the de facto master of Huwei Arts Hall, he had no choice but to be the one to step up at a time like this.

Old Xue was barely holding on to his Yijin Pass cultivation thanks to Bai Yuan’s medicine. The white-haired old man, Lu Xiangtao, still had some strength, but he was no match for his younger self. As for Xiao Qiaoniang... she was, after all, only a woman.

Besides, if anything happened to Xiao Qiaoniang, he had no idea how he would face Bai Yuan.

"The meaning?"

A slight smile played on Ji Hanming’s lips, as if he had thought of something amusing.

The reason Long Ao was able to take over Ji Hanming’s body was that Ji Hanming had joined the Celestial Heart Sect back when he was still at the Huwei Arts Hall in Qinghe County.

Both the Celestial Heart Sect and the Soul-Chasing Tower worshiped the Demon God.

However, by worshiping the Demon God, the Celestial Heart Sect gained a bizarre ability: the Demon Seed.

A person implanted with a Demon Seed would gradually become a vessel. Upon the host’s death, the soul of the one who planted the seed could enter the vessel, completely erasing all of the host’s prior consciousness.

Not everyone could become a vessel, but as it happened, Ji Hanming had just such a constitution.

Was it good fortune, or misfortune?

Long Ao felt that he treated this body quite well.

The original Ji Hanming had desperately clawed his way up for the sole purpose of killing his own father, Ji Chang.

As Ji Chang’s illegitimate son, he blamed all the cold indifference he had suffered in his youth on his irresponsible father.

So, he wanted to become strong and kill his father with his own hands.

Now, Long Ao had not only tortured Ji Chang to the point where death would be a mercy, but he had also thrown in Ji Jiutian for good measure.

’Ji Hanming should be thanking me on the Yellow Springs Road.’

Long Ao, occupying Ji Hanming’s body, looked toward Chu Yuan.

’Back when I was at Huwei Arts Hall, this kid hadn’t even joined yet.’

’Old Xue’s judgment is getting worse and worse.’

Long Ao shot a contemptuous glance at Old Xue, who stood behind Chu Yuan.

He felt no sentiment for Huwei Arts Hall. It was all just business.

The last of Long Ao’s patience vanished. He took a step forward, intending to capture all of them alive, then chop off their limbs and turn them into human swine.

Just as he was about to make his move, something suddenly fell from the sky and landed squarely on the top of his foot.

Long Ao looked down. When he saw what was at his feet, he sucked in a sharp breath of cold air.

Because the thing that had landed on his foot was Zhou Tao’s head!