Chapter 11: Bloody Battle on the Long Street

Breakthrough!

The Eternal Spring Art really is a turtle art — for anyone else, cultivating it would take over a dozen years to break through a single layer.

Chen Mu doesn't need that — he has Inner Force Cards!

As long as the Inner Force Cards are plentiful enough, even a turtle can run faster than a rabbit!

"Too bad, the battle between the Green Snake Gang and the Blood Wolf Gang only killed three… no, four martial artists."

Three Inner Force Cards, three martial artists.

The skill card recording the Spirit Serpent Step was most likely also picked up from a martial artist.

Because only when paired with inner force can this martial technique unleash its full power.

……

All in all, Chen Mu was very satisfied with this battle between the Green Snake Gang and the Blood Wolf Gang.

On the road back to the city, he used the powerful cards he had picked up one by one, methodically increasing his strength.

He spotted the mass grave from afar and detoured over to take a stroll.

And the result…

【Corpse discovered. Pick up?】

Hm?

Where's the corpse?

Chen Mu looked around but saw no corpse.

He was still over a dozen meters from the mass grave's dumping ground, surrounded by overgrown wasteland — where could…

"Wait, has the soil here been turned?"

Chen Mu's gaze suddenly fell on a patch of ground three meters to his left. He stepped forward, crouched down, and examined it — sure enough, it had been turned.

"A corpse buried underneath?"

"But I was three meters away just now — can I still pick it up from here?"

Chen Mu thought it over, mentally answered yes, and picked up a powerful card.

Then he stood up and headed toward the mass grave.

After some testing, Chen Mu discovered that the pickup range of the function card had truly expanded.

Expanded to four meters!

"Is it because my realm broke through?"

Chen Mu pondered.

Martial Dao Realm, Second Stage of Heaven — pickup range, four meters!

If it's the Sixth Stage of Heaven, the Eighth Stage of Heaven, or even breaking through to Innate — couldn't the pickup range then break past a hundred?

What great news!

Corpses outside the city are usually buried shallowly, but deep pits aren't rare either.

Corpses collected by the government inside the city, Chen Mu can't get close to, and can't pick them up either.

But if the pickup range expands, he could pick them up right through the wall!

……

Back in the city, Chen Mu went to the Great Saber Gang's station in Changping Ward.

The gang war between the Green Snake Gang and the Blood Wolf Gang was over — as expected, the Great Saber Gang was about to make its move.

Sure enough.

He hadn't waited long at the station when Huang Feiyang, who had gone to the Great Saber Gang headquarters for a meeting, returned and gathered everyone.

"Everyone, the gang leader has given the order — we move tonight!"

Huang Feiyang faced the crowd and announced loudly, "Our target this time is to take Changle Street!"

"Take Changle Street! Take Changle Street!"

The gang members below shouted in unison, fired up.

Once Changle Street is taken, the profits to be skimmed will multiply.

When you're in a gang, who isn't in it for the money?

Chen Mu's expression was calm as he stood in a corner, observing the crowd.

Now that Huang Feiyang had become acting boss, he spent even less time at the gang.

If Huang Feiyang officially took the position of boss, Chen Mu wouldn't need to come either.

So.

For both public and private reasons, he had to give Huang Feiyang a hand, to firmly establish his footing in the Great Saber Gang!

……

Night fell.

Great Saber Gang members distributed across the various wards moved out in formation, pouncing on the Blood Wolf Gang.

Huang Feiyang charged at the forefront, leading the Great Saber Gang forces from Changping Ward at the very front.

"Kill!"

"Cut down these damn curs!"

"Wolf cubs, go die!"

……

On the streets, battle cries rose from all sides, blood splashing everywhere.

Huang Feiyang gripped a long saber, his arm muscles bulging, a fierce murderous aura clinging to his body. Wherever his blade pointed, not a single Blood Wolf Gang member could withstand a single slash — either sent flying or with bones cracked and fractured.

Chen Mu, likewise gripping a long blade, followed behind Huang Feiyang.

His Spirit Serpent Steps, now at the realm of complete mastery, let him weave through the crowd with ease—not only dodging the others' attacks, but not even letting a single drop of the splashing blood touch him.

The blade in his hand lashed out from time to time, but the force was ordinary; mostly he was guarding Huang Feiyang's flanks.

With Chen Mu's current strength, if he truly went all-out, a single slash could cleave a man clean in two!

But revealing his strength too early would bring nothing but harm.

The Great Blade Gang was not the Great Blade Sect.

An underground gang—the status of "genius" was no blessing.

Huang Feiyang had warned him of this too, telling Chen Mu to keep it hidden for now.

……

Hush! Hush!

Boom~ Boom~ Boom~!

A shrill whistle of wind suddenly rang out, accompanied by a muffled, strange thud; several of the Great Blade Gang's members screamed, were sent flying, slammed into the wall, and the sound of shattering bones was crystal clear.

But from the Blood Wolf Gang's ranks, a lean, brawny man burst forth, gripping an areca-iron staff, hair wild and loose, and lunged at Huang Feiyang.

"Sun Kui!"

Huang Feiyang's pupils contracted; with a great roar, he swung his long blade up to meet the charge.

Hush~

Slash!

"Clang!"

The long blade and the iron staff collided viciously mid-air, sending a shower of sparks flying.

The next instant, blade-light and staff-shadow flashed in rapid succession.

Huang Feiyang and Sun Kui fell into a brutal, savage melee.

No tricks at all—every strike aimed straight for the other's vital points.

"Mad Demon Staff" Sun Kui, a minor boss of the Blood Wolf Gang.

Back when Xing Yong had been in charge of Changping Ward, the two gangs had clashed for years.

Now that Huang Feiyang was in charge, the momentum was even stronger.

One "Descending-Tiger," one "Mad Demon Staff."

When the two fought, they were evenly matched.

But Chen Mu noticed that, in terms of combat power, Sun Kui was the stronger by far. His Mad Demon Staff technique was not far from the realm of mastery.

The Wu Gong Huang Feiyang had learned at Falling Cloud Martial Hall was not a blade art but a palm art; using a blade required a weapon, and he knew no blade art—yet he could match Sun Kui evenly for two reasons: first, his youth and vigor, his qi and blood flourishing; second, his death-defying fighting style!

Of course, after years in the gangs, knowing how to use a blade faster, more accurately, and more ruthlessly was also key.

If one had to compare, Huang Feiyang was ferocious, was ruthless!

Sun Kui was mad, was wild!

Both of them belonged to the death-defying, life-disdaining style of fighting.

In the end, victory or defeat was a fifty-fifty toss-up.

In the past, when Xing Yong was around, Xing Yong would coordinate with Huang Feiyang to defeat Sun Kui.

Now Xing Yong was gone……

Slash!

Chen Mu's long blade suddenly thrust out at just the right moment; the tip stabbed into Sun Kui's right waist, and with a "spurt" it ripped open a hideous wound, blood spraying.

Sun Kui, whose iron staff had just swept out, shuddered violently, his face going deathly pale.

Hush~

Ignoring his wound, Sun Kui swung his staff at Chen Mu.

Chen Mu, having landed his strike, had long since retreated, putting distance between himself and Sun Kui.

"Slash!"

Huang Feiyang seized the chance and slashed out; the already notched blade, carrying a cold gleam, "spurt"-ed into Sun Kui's chest, hacking out a great spray of blood, breaking ribs, hacking Sun Kui so hard he couldn't stop himself from staggering backward.

Slash slash slash!

Huang Feiyang's hands never stopped; as he closed on Sun Kui, his long blade whipped up a cold gleam and hacked out in a furious, rapid barrage—every cut landing on Sun Kui—and the final slash swept across Sun Kui's neck.

Pfft~!

A pillar of crimson blood sprayed out, and a hideous head flew high into the air.

Before the head could hit the ground, Huang Feiyang reached out, snatched it, and held it aloft; facing the brawling crowd on all sides, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Sun Kui is dead!"

"Sun Kui is dead!" Chen Mu followed right behind, shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Haha~ Sun Kui is dead!"

"Sun Kui is dead!"