Chapter 70: Blood Wolf Annihilated! Unified East District!

Is Li Xiangyang weak?

Not weak.

He has cultivation at the Ninth Layer of Postnatal, and his "Shatter Gold Palm" is masterful—few in the Outer City can match him.

But no matter how powerful the palm technique, you must first land the hit!

With the Peak-Level "Spirit Snake Step," and at close range, Chen Mu shifted—and Li Xiangyang barely registered it.

Being able to defend passively was already his fastest reaction.

He couldn't launch an offensive at all.

In short:

Chen Mu punched him back, kicked him flying—he passed out in one word.

Fast!

Fast enough that Li Xiangyang could only defend.

Of course, the Postnatal Ninth Layer's strength was also crucial.

At this realm, physical strength reaches nine thousand jin!

Chen Mu's own strength, due to his Cross-Refined One-Ding Body, exceeds ten thousand jin.

The kick that sent Li Xiangyang flying used nine thousand jin.

Only with speed, strength, and combat experience combined could Chen Mu defeat Li Xiangyang with a single punch and kick—seemingly effortless, yet perfectly precise!

…

"Boss, mighty!"

"Boss, strongest!"

"…"

In the silence, the Knife Path Gang members who followed Chen Mu cheered wildly.

The next moment…

"Kill them!"

The Inspector Hall's chief's eyes gleamed; he drew his blade and charged at the Xue Lang Gang members, shouting excitedly, "Kill them! Destroy Xue Lang!"

Whoosh~

Others perked up, drew their blades one after another, and charged after him, attacking the panicked Xue Lang Gang members.

"Destroy Xue Lang!"

"Knife Path First!"

"Kill~!"

"…"

Puff! Puff~

The dozen or so Xue Lang Gang members who followed Li Xiangyang resisted for barely two strikes before all died horribly.

Even the unconscious Li Xiangyang was not spared—"Puch, puch" a few times, he died under a flurry of blades.

【Corpse detected. Collect?】

"Yes!"

…

With over a dozen cards in hand, Chen Mu opened his mouth, but ultimately chose silence.

The Knife Path Gang members did nothing wrong.

With Li Xiangyang defeated, killing him now means Xue Lang Gang has no Postnatal experts left!

At this moment, striking with full force to annihilate Blood Wolf Gang will make Knife Path Gang the sole dominant force in the East District!

Monopolizing a district is every Knife Path Gang member's wish.

Just like the Hunger Tiger Gang in the South District and the Flying Dragon Gang in the North District—when one gang dominates, monthly pay and status both rise.

Originally meant to fight over "Drunk Moon Pavilion," it turned into an attack on Blood Wolf Gang.

Plans can't keep up with change.

Destroying Xue Lang benefits both Chen Mu's position and "Guan Tong's" position.

Chen Mu naturally wouldn't stop it.

The only concern is Xue Lang Gang's backer—the Inner City Liu family—coming to settle accounts.

But such matters are for the Gao family to handle.

With Xue Lang Gang gone, the Gao family gains more.

Gao family members arrived soon after.

As Knife Path Gang fully launched its gang war, slaughtered all Blood Wolf Gang high-ups, and left the survivors hiding in fear, Gao Zhengyang of the Gao family approached Chen Mu.

No—more accurately, Chen Mu's persona as "Guan Tong"!

"Who told you to destroy Xue Lang?"

Upon meeting, Gao Zhengyang's face darkened and he rebuked, "Do you know how many favors the Gao family gave the Liu family just to keep them from coming after you?"

"Sorry, but the arrow is already on the string—I had no choice."

Chen Mu, speaking as Guan Tong, bowed deeply in contrition, "I've caused Third Master trouble! A small token—please accept it."

Chen Mu took five silver notes of a thousand taels each from his sleeve and offered them with both hands to Gao Zhengyang.

These silver notes were all Guan Tong's private stash; Chen Mu didn't take any from Guan family's home. Guan Tong had stored over sixty thousand taels total in Knife Path Gang's headquarters and his two private residences—Chen Mu had stored them all in his Palm Space.

"Hmph~"

Gao Zhengyang gave a cold snort, silently pocketed the silver notes, and spoke coolly, "Don't let it happen again."

"Yes, yes, thank you, Third Master Gao." Chen Mu bowed with tearful gratitude.

"The Blood Wolves are gone. From now on, the Great Knife Gang will dominate the East District alone. Good. I've come here today for a task that needs your attention."

"Please, Third Master, give your order!" Chen Mu bowed respectfully.

"Within half a month, find me twelve boys born at noon on the Summer Solstice, aged six to nine."

Gao Zhengyang said sternly, "Remember—the birth time must be exactly at noon! Twelve boys, not one less! If you can't gather them in the city, go outside the walls! In half a month, I want to see them! Understood?"

"... Understood."

Chen Mu replied respectfully, his heart filled with astonishment.

Summer Solstice? Noon?

The time of greatest yang in the year, the time of greatest yang in the day?

Gather twelve boys born at the peak of yang, aged six to nine.

What is he planning?

Cultivating a demonic art? Or refining pills?

Any demand like this—collecting a certain number of boys or girls—never ends well.

Either cultivation of a demonic art, or pill refinement!

In the past, the Gao family had tasked Guan Tong with many dirty deeds, including murders—but never before had they searched for children born under such specific conditions.

'Has the Gao family allied with the demonic path?'

'Or is Gao Zhengyang personally cultivating a demonic art?'

Chen Mu had not forgotten: there were followers of the Long Life Cult in Nanyun Prefecture.

To cultivate using human lives or kill to refine pills—only the Long Life Cult would do such things in Nanyun Prefecture!

'Is the Gao family, or Gao Zhengyang himself, tied to the Long Life Cult?'

If this were confirmed, the Gao family would be finished.

'Kill Gao Zhengyang?'

The thought flashed through Chen Mu's mind.

Gao Zhengyang was also at the ninth layer of Postnatal cultivation—but Chen Mu was confident he could take him down.

The problem was, killing Gao Zhengyang didn't guarantee he'd retrieve the memory card.

On the contrary, killing him would alert the enemy.

Who knew if Gao Zhengyang had told anyone else before coming to the Great Knife Gang that he was meeting "Guan Tong"?

Of course, "Guan Tong" was his disguise—even if discovered, it had nothing to do with Chen Mu; he could simply stop appearing as "Guan Tong."

But this involved the Long Life Cult—this couldn't be rushed!

As always: wherever Long Life Cultists appear, anyone could be captured, used as ingredients!

Better to proceed cautiously.

Chen Mu did nothing—only followed Gao Zhengyang.

After eliminating the Blood Wolves, Chen Mu obtained five Inner Strength cards, seven Strong cards, three Cultivation cards, two Skill cards; the rest were either Physical Strength or Energy cards—modest gains.

But if he followed Gao Zhengyang, found the Long Life Cultists, and discovered their base in Nanyun Prefecture, it would be entirely different.

Once the base was confirmed, he could inform Zhao Fuzhou and have the Town Martial Bureau launch an assault—then the cards would surely pour in.

Too bad.

For three straight days of following Gao Zhengyang, he gained nothing.

Well, not entirely nothing.

At least he confirmed one thing: Gao Zhengyang's request for "Guan Tong" to find twelve boys born at noon on the Summer Solstice was a personal mission!

Over three days, Gao Zhengyang returned home and never mentioned the matter to anyone else in the Gao family.

If the Gao family were involved, they would have spoken of it.

Day four, day five, day six...

In the blink of an eye, he had followed him for ten days—and still found no one secretly meeting Gao Zhengyang.

Then, on the twelfth day, in the morning, Gao Zhengyang finally acted strangely.

He rode out of the city, heading toward Xuan County, one of the nine counties under Nanyun Prefecture.

Upon arriving in Xuan County's town, Gao Zhengyang headed straight for a courtyard.

Chen Mu used his "Listen to the Wind" skill to lock onto the courtyard from afar, staying outside the alley instead of approaching.

But then...

"Fool! You didn't even notice you were being followed!"