Chapter 88: Instant Kill

At this moment, Cang Luo’s skin was blood-red, his jet-black hair stirring without wind, his aura overwhelming.

He felt incredibly strong—strong enough to believe he could defeat Zhang Zhen without summoning his beast companion Erha, and easily so.

119!

118!

117!

Cang Luo silently counted down the final seconds of the Body Destruction Art, swiftly closing in on Zhang Zhen while secretly merging the three elemental energies to prepare the Dragon-Slaying Palm.

He wanted a swift end—using absolute power, a Warrior-level cultivation base to crush Zhang Zhen, a General-level cultivator, even kill him, leaving no chance for counterattack.

Only then could he make this ragtag group of the Warwolf Gang truly submit.

He had to make them understand: their boss was immensely powerful, with limitless potential—following him meant meat to eat...

At this moment, the Warwolf Gang members who had scattered in fear moments earlier also noticed Cang Luo’s abnormal state—and then saw Zhang Zhen’s four subordinates.

Two lay on the ground spitting blood; two desperately fled, circling around to hide behind Zhang Zhen, faces filled with terror.

Zhang Zhen, watching Cang Luo rapidly approach, frowned slightly and said, “What’s going on?”

The two behind him exchanged glances; one immediately said, “Boss, he’s too strong—we four together couldn’t match him... and he’s getting stronger as he fights!”

The other, watching Cang Luo about to charge, instinctively stepped back two paces, trembling: “He’s clearly not a General—maximum Warrior Nine Peak—but yet, yet...”

He glanced at Zhang Zhen, hesitating: “But he gives us the feeling... he’s almost as strong as you!”

In truth, he wanted to say Cang Luo was stronger than Zhang Zhen—but he dared not speak it aloud.

Zhang Zhen snorted coldly, silently cursing his four useless men, then without further words, drew his blade and charged straight at Cang Luo.

There was no choice now—deal with him first.

He was about to take the goods and leave when suddenly this happened—this little gang’s boss seemed to have some real strength.

But as long as he wasn’t a General, there was nothing to worry about.

One slash from me and I’ll cut him in half!

“Hah!”

As he ran, Zhang Zhen roared, gripping his blade with both hands, thick earth-yellow aura coalescing along the blade’s edge.

This earth-yellow aura extended the originally four-foot-long greatsword by one foot, making it five feet long—deadly sharp, the aura hissing as it sliced through the air.

After charging a distance, Zhang Zhen suddenly leapt high into the air, swinging his blade downward in a relentless, unstoppable strike toward Cang Luo.

Zhang Zhen’s slash carried overwhelming momentum, nearly splitting the air—he believed if Cang Luo didn’t dodge, he’d be dead for sure!

Beneath the blade, Cang Luo’s eyes were sharp, unmoving, unyielding—he activated his Dynamic Tracking ability, waiting with eerie stillness for Zhang Zhen’s greatsword to descend.

His longsword had long been discarded.

He wasn’t skilled with swords.

He preferred palms.

Dragon-Slaying Palm!

The air seemed to freeze at this moment; the Warwolf Gang members stared wide-eyed, hearts in their throats, watching the two combatants.

In midair, over a zhang high, Zhang Zhen brought his blade down—beneath it, their boss, Cang Luo.

Zhang Zhen roared from midair: “Die!”

As the words left his lips, the blade followed, descending fully.

Cang Luo had been waiting for this exact moment—the three elemental energies for the Dragon-Slaying Palm had fully merged; this was the only chance—only when the enemy was overconfident could the Dragon-Slaying Palm land.

In that instant, the blade descended; Cang Luo pushed his Dynamic Tracking ability to its limit, sidestepping.

Zhang Zhen’s blade nearly grazed Cang Luo’s shoulder—he wasn’t cut by the blade, but the aura sheared off a strip of his sleeve, revealing blood-red skin, veins bulging violently.

In that instant, Zhang Zhen’s face twisted in shock—he thought Cang Luo had insane guts, daring to dance on the blade’s edge? What did he think he was doing? Believing he could fight across realms?

No time to think further—he missed his strike, immediately rose and swept his blade horizontally.

But Cang Luo had already appeared behind him, unleashing the Dragon-Slaying Palm with a palm strike aimed at Zhang Zhen’s unguarded back.

Boom!

The Dragon-Slaying Palm exploded with a muffled thunderclap, kicking up a cloud of dust...

That thunderclap came from both the palm striking Zhang Zhen’s back and Zhang Zhen being slammed into the ground by the force—the dust rose a full person’s height, lingering for a long time.

Cang Luo stepped out of the dust, not even glancing at Zhang Zhen behind him, brushing the dust off his own body, then sprinting swiftly toward Zhang Zhen’s two unharmed subordinates.

Seeing Cang Luo charge, but not their boss, they instantly knew something was wrong—without hesitation, they turned and fled, just as they had done earlier when Cang Luo suddenly turned the tide and they’d fled in panic.

These two were shrewd—they didn’t run far; once out of Cang Luo’s sight, they hid—but didn’t realize Cang Luo’s satellite had seen them clearly.

Cang Luo sneered inwardly—didn’t run? Then wait to die!

He took a deep breath, his body aching terribly—he immediately dissolved the Body Destruction Art; his blood-red skin slowly faded, and Infinite Qi began frantically healing his wounds.

After a moment of regulation, his injuries still hadn’t eased—he’d need complete rest.

Cang Luo, weakly, shouted: “Gather!”

At this moment, the Warwolf Gang members were still staring at the spot where Cang Luo and Zhang Zhen had fought—the dust was slowly clearing, revealing Zhang Zhen lying face-down like a corpse, pale-faced, his back nearly caved in.

But he wasn’t dead—his fingers still twitched, though he couldn’t stand.

At this moment, the Warwolf Gang members stood stunned, utterly speechless.

Zhang Zhen, a General-level cultivator, had just been one-palm-killed by their boss!

How strong was their boss?

Hadn’t their boss still not broken through to General?

Fighting across realms?

Hadn’t Zhang Zhen’s men just said their boss was Warrior Nine Peak? But their boss was Warrior Seven—when did he become Warrior Nine?

While everyone was still stunned, Cang Luo shouted again: “Gather!”

This shout made him cough up a mouthful of blood—he barely swallowed it back.

The Body Destruction Art’s second layer was devastating—but also incredibly powerful.

Beside him, Zhao Ren, the Deputy Boss of Logistics, snapped back to reality instantly and roared louder: “Commanders of the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Black Tortoise, and Vermilion Bird Divisions—assemble your divisions immediately!”

At this order, the four division commanders hurriedly gathered their men; after assembly, none dared look at Cang Luo—they knew their boss was furious, surely blaming them for cowardice.

But Zhang Zhen was a General—were we supposed to charge and die?

Wang Fuhai, the Deputy Boss of Internal Affairs, was also stunned by Cang Luo’s power; now recovered, he too dared not look at Cang Luo—he had also fled in fear.

Only Cang Feng had dared to fight, even knowing he couldn’t win.

Zhao Ren stood slightly behind Cang Luo, face grim—he now realized Cang Luo’s cultivation base was Warrior Nine Peak.

How could this happen so fast?

He’d thought his own breakthrough from Warrior Six to Warrior Seven in half a month was incredibly fast—yet Cang Luo had leapt from Warrior Seven to Warrior Nine even faster!

And he was terrifyingly strong—Zhang Zhen’s four subordinates weren’t weak; each was at least Warrior Eight. Yet he’d fought them one against four, leaving two crippled, two fleeing.

No—he’d started out losing, barely holding his ground, then suddenly exploded—his skin turned blood-red, and his power surged, strong enough to instantly kill them and crush a General-level cultivator like Zhang Zhen.

What was going on?

High-grade technique?

Zhao Ren thought it over—only this possibility made sense: Cang Luo had definitely cultivated a high-grade technique.

This technique was powerful, seemingly able to instantly boost strength—but it lasted only briefly, and the cost was enormous.

Zhao Ren stole a glance at Cang Luo and saw his qi was chaotic, his posture listless...

As if, as if a single palm from behind would kill him instantly.

Realizing this, Zhao Ren’s lips involuntarily curled upward—he glanced at Zhang Zhen and saw him staring at Cang Luo with shock and venomous hatred.

Zhao Ren sneered inwardly—he thought Cang Luo was strong, but also foolish.

He hadn’t killed Zhang Zhen, and let his two subordinates escape—didn’t he fear their revenge once healed?

Didn’t he fear the Lietian Gang’s retaliation?

Zhao Ren believed within days, Lietian Gang members would come for Cang Luo—not necessarily to kill, but to cripple him.

Then, the Warwolf Gang would be his to command...

Cang Luo didn’t know Zhao Ren had discovered the Body Destruction Art’s weakness, nor that he was secretly hoping Cang Luo would be killed by the Lietian Gang so he could seize the Warwolf Gang.

Cang Luo scanned the crowd and said coldly: “Just now, Zhang Zhen attacked Miss Bai Li—yet everyone except Brother Cang and Brother Wang and a few others scattered like rats. You’re nothing but a rabble!”

He turned to one man and said: “If Zhang Zhen had targeted you instead of Miss Bai Li, and everyone scattered like they did just now—would you just wait to die?”

The man addressed was from the Vermilion Bird Division—he wanted to retort: Zhang Zhen was a General—what was I supposed to do, wait to die?—but he dared not speak.

Cang Luo shook his head helplessly: “In the end, it’s still because we’re not strong enough—if we were all Generals, would Zhang Zhen dare rob us?”

Everyone nodded; Cang Luo sighed: “Take the supplies back to the gang base—don’t risk another incident.”

Then he turned to Wang Fuhai and Zhao Ren, solemnly: “Brother Wang, Brother Zhao—I’m entrusting the rest to you. I must return to heal—I may need to enter seclusion for several days.”

“Quickly sell off the supplies, then rent a suitable shop in Xuantian Town—move the barbecue stall plan forward, pick a good day to open.”

Wang Fuhai immediately said: “Rest assured, Boss—I’ll handle it.”

Zhao Ren also said: “Boss, focus on healing—we’ll work our hardest to develop the gang!”

Cang Luo nodded, then added: “Don’t fear Lietian Gang’s retaliation—I’ll take full responsibility.”

After speaking, Cang Luo summoned his beast companion Erha and rode off.

After he left, everyone instantly relaxed, exchanging glances in silence.

Xiang Yunjiao gazed at Cang Luo’s retreating back with worshipful eyes; Yin Mengruo was much the same.

Bai Li Wunai, however, looked crestfallen, cradling the broken spear—cut cleanly in two by Zhang Zhen—in her hands. This spear had been forged by her father himself before he died, given to her as a gift when she joined the Profound Heaven Sect.

Her father was a blacksmith, not a forging master—this spear was merely an ordinary weapon—but she cherished it deeply, carrying it everywhere—yet today, it had been shattered by another’s blade.

Afterwards, the others quietly gathered the scattered supplies, packed them up, and hurried away, afraid of encountering more bandits; not one of them paid any attention to the three half-dead Zhang Zhen.

Cang Luo walked at the rear, frowning at Zhang Zhen and the others—he had wanted to kill them to eliminate witnesses, fearing retaliation from Lie Tian Gang, but gave up when he remembered two had already escaped.

After the Zhanlang Gang members left, Zhang Zhen spat blood and said: “Anyone still alive... come over quickly!”

The thin man, Wang Wei, struggled to his feet and limped step by step toward his boss Zhang Zhen; the other man, more severely wounded, dragged his body slowly forward.

Zhang Zhen glanced at the two and, gritting his teeth in pain, roared: “Where are the other two?”

Wang Wei gasped: “They ran off long ago—but they probably didn’t get far...”

As he spoke, he turned to look back in the direction the two had fled—but the sight froze him to the ground. He scrambled up to run, only to crash face-first into the dirt.

“Think you can run?”

A low, murderous roar echoed behind them—Cang Luo appeared atop Erha.

Erha’s two wolf maws dripped blood, flecked with bits of flesh...