Chapter 149: The Eve of the Duel

Within half an hour, the news that Facing Facing Cang Luo would face Ouyang Lie in a life-or-death duel spread throughout the Outer Sect.

Thus, thanks to Ouyang Lie, at least one-third of the ten thousand Outer Sect disciples now knew Facing Facing Cang Luo's name; they were all discussing him, discussing the War Wolf Gang, and discussing why he dared to challenge Ouyang Lie.

Who is Facing Facing Cang Luo?

What is his cultivation level?

How dare he challenge Senior Brother Ouyang?

What grudge do the two hold against each other?

Soon, well-informed individuals dug up Facing Facing Cang Luo's records and revealed his grievances with Ouyang Lie and the Lie Tian Gang.

Facing Facing Cang Luo: twenty-two years old, originally a wandering beggar, brought back to the sect by the Sect Master three months ago and assigned to cultivate in the Outer Sect.

Rumors claimed he was a distant relative of the Sect Master, but this was unconfirmed; he received no special treatment and was merely an ordinary Outer Sect disciple.

He is currently the leader of the small Outer Sect faction, the War Wolf Gang, and owns a wildly popular barbecue shop on Tianmen Street in Xuan Tian Town, earning a fortune daily.

Additionally, Facing Facing Cang Luo possesses a small mechanical carriage of unknown origin.

Cultivation: He advanced from Warrior Stage 3 to General Stage 4 in just three months; ignoring his age, his aptitude could be called excellent.

Battle Record: Three months ago, he defeated Chen Dahu of the Lie Tian Gang despite being at a lower level; two months ago, he defeated Chen Dahu again, drew with Zhang Tao of the Geng 45 Dormitory despite being at a lower level, and later defeated Long Zhantian and Sima Ling, disciples of the Outer Court of Kong Sheng Academy, despite being at a lower level; afterward, he established the War Wolf Gang.

At noon today, Facing Facing Cang Luo, at General Stage 4, engaged Chen Yun, Vice Hall Master of the Black Turtle Hall of the Lie Tian Gang at General Stage 2, in a life-or-death duel, killing him with a single palm strike; his strength cannot be underestimated.

There are also rumors that Chen Dalong, Zhang Zhen, and others of the Lie Tian Gang were killed by Facing Facing Cang Luo; this is one reason Chen Yun sought a life-or-death duel with him, but the greater reason is that the Lie Tian Gang wants to seize the War Wolf Gang's barbecue shop.

From that point on, the Lie Tian Gang officially listed the War Wolf Gang as a target for annexation and declared they would wipe out the War Wolf Gang.

Afterwards, Facing Facing Cang Luo encountered Ouyang Lie, the leader of the Lie Tian Gang, at the Outer Sect Technique Pavilion, engaged him in combat, failed to prevail, and was easily defeated by Ouyang Lie...

The above comprises most of Facing Facing Cang Luo's experiences on the Xuan Tian Gate after being summoned to the Yuan Wu Continent; it is unknown who investigated everything so thoroughly and spread it so widely.

Upon learning of Facing Facing Cang Luo's cultivation journey and battle record, the many Outer Sect disciples expressed utter shock.

Facing Facing Cang Luo's cultivation speed was simply too fast, and his strength extremely formidable; he was basically invincible within his own stage, having lost only to Ouyang Lie so far, with no other defeats.

How did he do it?

Did he cultivate a high-grade technique?

A Earth-grade technique?

Or... a Heaven-grade technique?

It must be; rumors say he is a distant relative of the Sect Master, so perhaps the Sect Master secretly taught him a technique in private.

No wonder he dared to provoke the Lie Tian Gang and challenge Ouyang Lie; he must have some backing.

But wasn't he just brutally beaten by Ouyang Lie? I heard Senior Brother Ouyang stomped him into the ground and humiliated him with just two moves...

Knowing he couldn't win, why still challenge? And a life-or-death duel at that!

Humiliated underfoot, did he lose his temper and go mad from shame?

The crowd debated endlessly, expressing confusion over Facing Facing Cang Luo's actions and believing he was courting death, though a few believed he had hidden trump cards and a chance to win.

Consequently, many factions, including the Lie Tian Gang and the Blood Blade Gang, opened betting pools for the duel between the two, offering odds of 1.1 to 1.3 and 1.9 to 2.5, with bets now open.

Of course, the former refers to the odds for Ouyang Lie's victory, and the latter to the odds for Facing Facing Cang Luo's victory.

Clearly, most people believed Ouyang Lie would win.

This was normal; Ouyang Lie was one of the top ten strongest in the Outer Sect, and even Inner Sect disciples who had just entered the Wu Shi realm might not be his match, let alone Facing Facing Cang Luo at General Stage 4?

Moreover, judging from their clash at the Technique Pavilion, Facing Facing Cang Luo was not even a match for Ouyang Lie for a single round.

Betting on Ouyang Lie to win was what the vast majority did.

This betting pool was large-scale; almost all Outer Sect disciples who knew of the duel participated, and even Stewards placed bets.

Furthermore, the news reached the Inner Sect; many Inner Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters also placed bets and stated they would arrive at noon tomorrow to watch and offer guidance to their Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters in the Outer Sect.

While the entire Outer Sect discussed the life-or-death duel between Facing Facing Cang Luo and Ouyang Lie and placed bets, Facing Facing Cang Luo had already selected his technique and returned to the War Wolf Gang base.

For the Mental Art, since Facing Facing Cang Luo intended to integrate it with the Dragon-Slaying Palm, and he already possessed the Yang-attribute Meiti Shengong and the Thunder-attribute Thunder Qi Art, his choices were limited.

Only seven attributes remained available for Mental Arts: Yin, Water, Fire, Wind, Earth, Wood, and Space.

Among these, Yin and Yang attributes counteract each other and cannot be cultivated simultaneously, as the Lower Dantian cannot store both types of Yuan Force at once; thus, Facing Facing Cang Luo immediately ruled out the Yin-attribute Mental Art.

The Space attribute was too rare; it was said that even the lowest tier was a high-grade Earth-grade technique, so there was no choice there.

Then came the Water and Wood attributes; Mental Arts of these two attributes possessed lower power and served more for recovery and support. Since Facing Facing Cang Luo already had an unlimited supply of attribute-less Yuan Force capable of healing injuries, he ruled out these two.

Finally, only Fire, Wind, and Earth attributes remained as options.

The Fire-attribute Mental Art emphasized power but consumed much energy.

The Wind-attribute Mental Art emphasized speed but had slightly lower power.

The Earth-attribute Mental Art emphasized defense while taking strength into account, but cultivation would slow one's speed.

After weighing the options, Facing Facing Cang Luo chose the Wind-attribute Mental Art named Clear Wind Art.

For Movement Technique, Facing Facing Cang Luo had decided long ago; he chose the Leopard Shadow Leg, cultivated by Chen Dahu and his brother. The Leopard Shadow Leg was both a Movement Technique and a Leg Technique, with formidable power.

For Martial Technique, Facing Facing Cang Luo chose the "Xuan Tian Nine Swords, First Form," which most General-stage disciples chose to cultivate.

The Xuan Tian Nine Swords was the Xuan Tian Gate's signature Martial Technique, a high-grade Heaven-grade technique.

The Xuan Tian Nine Swords, First Form, was the first layer of the Xuan Tian Nine Swords, and even a simplified version, yet still stronger than most mid-grade Yellow-grade Martial Techniques.

Since the duel was scheduled for noon tomorrow, and both the Leopard Shadow Leg and the Xuan Tian Nine Swords, First Form, had specific forms and patterns that could not be mastered overnight,

the only technique Facing Facing Cang Luo could successfully cultivate before then was the Clear Wind Art, which he was currently practicing.

Meanwhile.

In Huaxia on Earth, at the Feng Lin Huo Shan headquarters, the atmosphere was extremely solemn, and personnel were busy.

Minister Li Weiguo stood with a gloomy face at the command platform, staring at the constantly updating intelligence on the central large screen, striving to keep himself from exploding.

Just half an hour ago, Facing Facing Cang Luo's parents and younger sister had gone missing!

According to the final surveillance footage, the three were inside a residential complex provided by the Huaxia government for their housing, preparing dinner before they disappeared.

On the surface, the entire residential compound, inside and out, was sealed off by military forces from various nations; even a single fly attempting to enter would be caught, checked for surveillance devices, and only then allowed to pass.

In secret, on the floors above and below the suite where Facing Facing Cang Luo's family resided, and in the neighboring apartments, were plainclothes agents arranged by Feng Lin Huo Shan of Huaxia, keeping constant watch over every move of Facing Facing Cang Luo's family.

One open, one hidden, they monitored and protected Facing Facing Cang Luo's family, ensuring absolute safety.

Yet, under these conditions of absolute safety, Facing Facing Cang Luo's family had gone missing, and the dozen or so micro-surveillance devices secretly attached to the three individuals by various nations had all lost their signals.

The moment the surveillance devices lost their signals, the various nations broke down the doors, but alas, the people were already gone; judging by the traces at the scene, they had been abducted through the bathroom window.

Outside the window was open sky; Feng Lin Huo Shan analyzed that the abductors had used single-person flight devices to snatch Facing Facing Cang Luo's family, then quickly concealed them before transferring them away via other tools.

Who the abductors were remains unknown for now, but they are undoubtedly one of those few nuclear-armed powers; only they possess the capability and the audacity to abduct people within Huaxia.

Their objective is certainly to use Facing Facing Cang Luo's family to threaten him, to force him to provide intelligence on the Yuanwu Continent.

With the abduction occurring within the country, Huaxia was enraged and dispatched massive military forces to search.

The only thing that can be confirmed now is that Facing Facing Cang Luo's family must still be within Huaxia, still in the Imperial Capital; it is impossible for them to have been transferred abroad so quickly, unable even to get out of the Third Ring Road.

Therefore, Huaxia has sealed off the Imperial Capital; all flights and vehicles are allowed in but not out, and they will dig the earth three feet deep to find Facing Facing Cang Luo's family.

However, since the Imperial Capital is an international metropolis with too many foreign dignitaries, it cannot be sealed off for long, or it would trigger international disputes.

The State Council Committee has set a deadline: Feng Lin Huo Shan must find the people within seventy-two hours, or the blockade must be lifted; by then, finding them would be harder than climbing to the sky.

No, much harder than climbing to the sky; humans have long since flown out of Earth.

Li Weiguo felt immense pressure; after a moment of thought, he said in a heavy voice: "Order: Badaling Expressway... grant passage, strictly inspect all departing vehicles, scan even the fuel tanks for me."

Additionally, closely monitor the surrounding areas; do not let any suspicious activity escape notice."

This is the tactic of leaving an opening when besieging an enemy.

The Imperial Capital can only be sealed for three days; finding the people within three days is almost impossible.

Thus, Li Weiguo decided to open up a route, making the enemy believe there was a way to escape, thereby luring the sheep into the tiger's mouth.

Of course, this carries risks, and the enemy might not fall for it; they might very well wait until the blockade is lifted after three days before attempting to leave.

However, this is the only option available in a situation with no options; an active strike is mandatory.

Li Weiguo pondered for a moment, then added: "Seal the news, monitor the internet; do not let Facing Facing Cang Luo know for the time being..."