Chapter 82

Report! Chief, the Liuhe Martial Arts Hall convoy you asked us to watch has already arrived near Long'ao Pass and will enter the mountains soon.

On an unnamed low hill of Erlong Mountain.

Yan Song sat firmly on a tiger-skin chair, listening to a bandit's report from below.

"Finally here!"

Yan Song's eyes narrowed, a cold light flashing in his gaze, "Tell the brothers, get ready—this time, we're pulling off a big one."

"Yes."

The reporting bandit cheerfully took his leave.

Since this Luo Chief came to our Black Dragon Stronghold, our days have been getting better and better.

Not only did he gather the dozens of bandit groups big and small in Erlong Mountain, but he also led us to rob several large merchant convoys from the prefectural city.

Now the brothers on the mountain no longer have to feast one day and starve the next as before—every day we have good meat, every day we can drink.

Aside from lacking wives and children, we're practically happier than the city's elite.

"Big brother, this Wei Yuan of the Liuhe Martial Arts Hall is a peak Tongmai Realm expert—provoking his convoy……"

On the left side of the tiger-skin chair, a middle-aged man who looked somewhat honest wanted to speak but hesitated.

"What's there to fear? Even if Wei Yuan is strong, he's just one man. If he really comes to kill us, won't we still run?

Erlong Mountain's terrain is complex, with mountain gullies and stone caves everywhere—if we just hide in the mountains, could Wei Yuan possibly turn the whole place upside down?" Yan Song, using the alias Luo Zhong, sneered.

"What the big brother says is right—if we can't beat them, can we still not outrun them?

This Erlong Mountain is our old nest—when it comes to fleeing, that Wei Yuan old coot isn't our match, hehe."

On the right side of the tiger-skin chair, a dark-faced man chuckled obsequiously and echoed.

The dark-faced man and the honest-looking man were originally the chief and vice-chief of Black Dragon Stronghold.

Both possessed Inner Strength Great Success strength, slightly weaker than the Black Dragon Stronghold on the neighboring mountain.

That night, the man named Luo Zhong stormed into Black Dragon Stronghold, claiming he wanted to be their chief.

The two dark-faced men naturally refused.

But Luo Zhong's strength was terrifying—he raised his hand and knocked both brothers down, leaving them no choice but to submit.

Afterward, under Yan Song's leadership, Black Dragon Stronghold annexed the other bandit forces in Erlong Mountain, continually growing stronger, and the original two chiefs of Black Dragon Stronghold ceased resistance, becoming utterly subordinate to Yan Song.

"When the time comes, you two will lead men to deal with the Liuhe Martial Arts Hall's medicine convoy—among them, a youth whose strength rivals Inner Strength Great Perfection, I will handle personally." Yan Song instructed.

He had waited for this day for a full month.

This time, he wants Qin Shuo to suffer as Luo Tong did—unable to seek life, unable to seek death, dying in pain and torment.

……

"Junior Brother Qin, it's good you arrived just in time to wipe out the Yuan Clan Brothers' Black Dragon Stronghold—otherwise, with so much medicine in tow, if conflict erupted now, the losses would be disastrous."

On the winding mountain path, Senior Brother Lin Feng and Qin Shuo walked side by side.

After over ten days of arduous travel, we have finally reached the borders of Erlong Mountain.

The last time we passed here, Qin Shuo was merely an Inner Strength Great Perfection martial artist.

Back then, facing Yuan Gang, who possessed the Longxiang Golden Body, he still found it somewhat difficult.

If we meet again now, he is confident a single slap could shatter Yuan Gang's flesh.

Now, he has achieved Small Accomplishment in the Longxiang Golden Body, possessing ten thousand jin of mighty strength.

Even against a Tongmai Small Accomplishment expert like Tian Zhan, he could easily overwhelm him—let alone merely Yuan Gang, who is only Inner Strength Great Perfection.

"When I return to the martial arts hall and Wei Laotou notices I've entered the Tongmai Realm, I wonder what his expression will be?" Qin Shuo secretly felt a hint of anticipation.

Breaking through Tongmai, he and Wei Yuan would belong to the same realm.

Though the gap between them is likely still vast, it is no longer insurmountable.

At the very least, if they truly clash, Qin Shuo is confident he cannot win, but self-preservation should be no problem.

After all, though Wei Yuan's realm is high, he has mastered only one superior killing move of the White Ape Tiangang Saber; the rest are middling martial arts.

But Qin Shuo, besides the White Ape Tiangang Saber, also possesses the Longxiang Golden Body.

This is an absolute-level external cultivation derived from the Martial Saint Divine Ability, its power far surpassing middling martial arts by eighteen streets.

Moreover, once he refines the Longxiang Relic and grasps the true Martial Saint Divine Ability,

even if Wei Yuan is a Tongmai Peak expert who has opened twenty meridians, Qin Shuo dares to clash with him.

"I hope the Awakened Master Jueming of Mingwang Temple truly possesses an item imbued with Vajra Buddha Nature." Qin Shuo's heart brimmed with anticipation.

The Longxiang Golden Body alone is already so formidable, enabling him to overwhelm Tongmai Small Accomplishment Tian Zhan with the strength of Inner Strength Transforming into Qi.

If he refines the Longxiang Relic and attains the true Martial Saint Divine Ability, what immense power would that be?

By then, whether it's the Fang Family or the Song Family, he could simply crush them outright.

Strength is the true way of this world.

With strength, all demons, monsters, ghosts, and worldly sects can be trampled underfoot.

Just as Qin Shuo fantasized about mastering divine ability and returning to the prefectural city to slaughter in all directions, a bone-piercing killing intent surged from ahead.

He looked up and saw, on a small hill over a hundred meters ahead, a middle-aged man standing, holding a great halberd.

The man's two arms were bare, his muscles like coiled dragons, his entire body radiating a wild, domineering aura from head to toe.

His thick black hair flowed in the wind, his eyes sharp and piercing, like a ferocious demonic ape, fixed dead on Qin Shuo.

A dense killing intent emanated from him, startling the convoy's horses into restlessness, refusing to move forward.

"May I ask your esteemed name, sir, and why you block our path?" Lin Feng rode forward, clasped his fists, and inquired.

The wild man gave no reply, instead pulling out a sheet of paper and comparing it carefully.

After confirming he had not mistaken the person, he said nothing more, suddenly stomped his feet, and swung the black great halberd downward at Qin Shuo's head.

"Senior Brother, retreat!"

Qin Shuo, who had been observing the wild man, let out a violent shout, his body already shooting forward like an arrow released from a bow, the cold light of his long blade like a practiced thread as he fiercely hacked at the black great halberd coming down from above.

Boom!

The long blade shattered!

Qin Shuo was shaken backward by an overwhelmingly powerful force, colliding with the horse behind him and sending it flying sideways, smashing into the rocks by the roadside, his brains bursting, one life ended!

"Tongmai Late Stage!"

Qin Shuo's eyes narrowed, his expression turning somewhat solemn.

The strength of the man before him was formidable; under the eruption of his aura, even Qin Shuo's long blade could be shattered—he must be at the Tongmai Late Stage without doubt.

And it was not an ordinary Tongmai Late Stage.

The aura refined to near-substance, even surpassing that of the Song Family Head, Song Tianhao.

Had it not been for his use of the Longxiang Golden Body at the critical moment just now...

That halberd strike would have been enough to cleave him in two.

With such foundation and strength, even in Songyang Prefecture City he should not be a nobody, yet now he has come to ambush and kill him.

Qin Shuo thought it over, then coldly spat out three words: "Fang Yongyuan?"

"Oh? You know me?"

The wild giant raised his eyebrows, seeming to have taken some interest in Qin Shuo.

But soon, that insignificant interest transformed into intense killing intent: "Knowing me, you deserve to die all the more!"

Thud!

Like a furious ape pounding the ground.

Fang Yongyuan stamped his feet, and the ground instantly split apart.

The black iron halberd in his hand came chopping down, devoid of any technique or skill, relying solely on pure strength to crush Qin Shuo and slay him.

"You want to kill me? You're not worthy yet!"

Qin Shuo's face darkened, his body erupting in golden light, dragon chants and elephant roars issuing from within.

A golden sun rose behind him, pouring down brilliant radiance, like a curtain enveloping him.

He swung his golden fist forward in a killing charge, like the Vajra subduing demons, fiercely smashing into the descending black iron halberd.