Chapter 179: with translation of chapter title translation

Bai Gui Lao Jiu was slain.

The half-dragon man Qiang Ye who killed him has already moved into the Blood Curved Blade headquarters.

The chief of the Blood Curved Blade, Lao Dao Feng, is currently meeting with Qiang Ye, and all the high-ranking members of the Blood Curved Blade are present.

Rumors spread like an undercurrent beneath the sea, howling throughout the entire Serpent Cave, and then quickly transmitted to the other stone chambers of the Black Serpent Domain.

Upon hearing this news, all great and small powers were shaken.

Although Bai Gui Lao Jiu wasn't strong, he wasn't exactly an easy opponent either; hearing that he was instantly killed?

The Blood Curved Blade has gained such a fierce general…… the Golden Dead Spirit is probably in trouble.

Pitch black, inside Shibao built from massive stones mixed with molten iron, Wu Tie stood tall and chest out before Lao Dao Feng.

The chief of the Blood Curved Blade, Lao Dao Feng, is a senior Life Pool Realm expert who has controlled the Blood Curved Blade for three or four hundred years.

He is not tall, but extremely muscular, bald, with a large hooked nose, thin lips, and triangular eyes; his appearance fully matches the outward traits of a ruthless tyrant.

A nine-foot-long blade, extremely curved, almost semicircular, blood-colored curved blade hovers above Lao Dao Feng's head, silently rotating slowly.

The blade's edge is dense with sawteeth and barbs, each sawtooth and barb flickering with tiny blood-colored runes, sinister and gloomy, exuding a strong smell of blood.

Undoubtedly, this is a murderous weapon that has slaughtered countless. Moreover, judging by its forging technique and the ancient aura it exudes, it should be an ancient treasure, not a product of contemporary smiths.

To be frank, contemporary smiths' skills are far inferior to those of ancient smiths.

They have lost far too much of their forging heritage.

Lao Dao Feng widened his eyes, Blood Light flickering in his pair of pale red pupils; after sizing up Wu Tie from head to toe for a while, he laughed in a hoarse voice: "Qiang Ye? I don't care about your background or what you've done before… you killed Bai Gui Lao Jiu, which proves you're formidable."

He lightly clapped once, and Lao Dao Feng said in a deep voice: "I like formidable young fellows…… so, first I'll give you a settlement fee befitting your strength, also counting as payment for killing Bai Gui Lao Jiu."

Several iron dwarves panted heavily as they pushed a pile of gold bricks up on a small four-wheeled cart.

The exquisitely cast gold bricks are square; stacked together, they form a perfect cube one meter in length, width, and height.

A whole cube of extremely high-purity gold bricks is a fortune.

Then several dwarf maidens came forward, each holding a tray carved of warm jade, with thirty-six stalks of sixth-grade Primordial Grass on each tray.

Then six slender, lovely maidens walked up timidly, lowering their heads and cautiously standing behind Wu Tie, not even daring to breathe loudly.

Wu Tie smiled.

He put away the gold bricks, put away the Primordial Grass, and nodded firmly: "These six girls are also mine? Hmm, Tang Qi didn't lie to me—indeed, there's money, Primordial Grass, and beautiful women…… hehe."

Seeing Wu Tie accept these things so openly, Lao Dao Feng also smiled with satisfaction.

He nodded and said softly: "Now you're one of us; I want to know, what is your cultivation level……"

Wu Tie said calmly: "Chonglou Realm, first heaven."

Lao Dao Feng's mouth corner twitched fiercely, and the faces of the high-ranking members of the Blood Curved Blade in the hall also turned extremely strange.

"Chonglou Realm, first heaven?" Lao Dao Feng slowly exhaled, then said in a deep voice: "Then let me see your strength…… is the draconic race's talent really that outrageous? Within our Blood Curved Blade, we also have a few individuals with exceptionally strong bones, specialists in body refinement."

A burly figure nearly 3.5 meters tall, pitch black all over, with faint golden stripes hidden beneath his dark skin, golden stripes condensing on his chest into an odd bull-head totem, a bull-tribe strongman rose and stepped forward to stand before Wu Tie.

"Niu Man, chief of the Blood Curved Blade's Dare-to-die Corps." Niu Man looked at Wu Tie and said in a deep, resonant voice: "I'm very formidable; since childhood I activated the Wu Earth Magic Ox bloodline, and upon reaching Chonglou Realm I comprehended the Great Strength Divine Magic, the Mountain-Splitting Earth-Splitting method, the Overturning Seas method, the Shifting Stars method…… all are various great strength divine abilities."

He slammed his hands together hard against his chest.

With a tremendous boom, the entire Shibao shook.

Niu Man stared at Wu Tie, his eyes flashing with a belligerent feral light, unusually excited as he said: "Inside the Blood Curved Blade, including the boss, we're all a bunch of weaklings…… no one dares to match strength with me…… you, dare or not?"

Wu Tie sensed Niu Man's aura; this guy is also Life Pool Realm, but his aura far surpasses that of Bai Gui Lao Jiu.

Wu Earth Magic Ox bloodline?

And he comprehended so many great strength divine abilities?

Evidently, this guy laid a solid foundation when he reached Chonglou Realm, making him far stronger than Bai Gui Lao Jiu or that waste Sun Zuo.

Wu Tie grinned and nodded: "Well then, let's compare strength."

Lao Dao Feng and the high-ranking members of the Blood Curved Blade all had grim expressions, as Niu Man actually said they were all weaklings……

"Don't bother with scoundrels." Lao Dao Feng glanced at the high-ranking officials present and sighed.

Niu Man extended a hand toward Wu Tie and burst out laughing.

Wu Tie also extended a hand toward Niu Man, and their palms clamped together firmly.

Subsequently, their arms simultaneously swelled rapidly, veins bulging like monstrous snakes beneath the skin, accompanied by a 'crack-crack' sound, jets of hot air shot up from their heads, and the entire floor beneath their feet—cast from molten metal mixed with rock—suddenly shattered.

With a series of 'crack-crack-crack' sounds, circular cracks spread across the floor in rings; then large fissures spread like a spiderweb in all directions, and in the blink of an eye the hall's floor shattered into countless tiny fragments.

The cracks burst out of the hall and spread across the ground surrounding Shibao.

The land outside the hall trembled slightly, the visible ground rippling like water in concentric circles.

Wu Tie and Niu Man used no mana or any divine techniques, merely pitting pure physical strength against each other.

After receiving the blessings of the Wa tribe's ancestral spirits through an empowerment that consumed astronomical resources, Wu Tie's increase in mana cultivation was negligible; any further gain would merely be one more level of Chonglou Realm, so his realm hardly improved at all.

However, his body had been tempered to a terrifying degree, especially his bones and tendons, which underwent tremendous change.

Originally, only the first and second segments of his left index finger's bone had transformed, completely becoming the same material as that broken bone fragment.

After the empowerment, the bones of Wu Tie's entire left arm underwent the same mutation.

Consequently, the strength of his bones and tendons throughout his body surged dramatically.

The greatest improvement was that Wu Tie's pure physical strength had reached approximately one billion catties.

Without using any divine techniques or auxiliary arts, pure brute strength alone reached one billion catties.

Wu Tie and Niu Man clenched their hands tightly, ten fingers intertwining violently, veins bulging high on the backs of their hands; their palms deformed and changed color—Wu Tie's palms turned completely crimson, while Niu Man's palms grew somewhat pale.

The entire Shibao shuddered violently, wave after wave of terrifying force surging through their bodies into the earth, shaking the fortress's foundations to pieces.

Lao Dao Feng couldn't help but rise to his feet, his eyes wide with shock as he stared fixedly at the clasped hands of Wu Tie and Niu Man.

Niu Man's divine power is unstoppable throughout the Serpent Cave; one man can hold off two or three fellow Life Pool Realm experts attacking together. With his strength, he could completely replace Lü Tanglang Tang Qi and become the hall master of the War Hall.

It's only because his mind is too simple, simple to the point of stupidity—he can't even handle the simplest tasks—so Lao Dao Feng reluctantly made him the captain of the Dare-to-die Corps, leading a group of equally simple-minded killers whose sole job is to fight and kill.

Niu Man's strength is something even Lao Dao Feng dare not confront directly.

And Wu Tie, surprisingly, matched Niu Man blow for blow in pure brute strength?

Of course, Niu Man didn't use any divine abilities; if both used divine powers, Wu Tie would definitely not be a match for Niu Man.

Even if they both mastered various power-boosting divine techniques, Niu Man at the Life Pool Realm using the Great Strength Divine Magic would absolutely have a greater strength increase than Wu Tie at the first level of the Chonglou Realm using the same Great Strength Divine Magic.

Therefore, in terms of combat power, Wu Tie should not be a match for Niu Man……but this is still astonishing.

"Another mighty general!" Lao Dao Feng laughed loudly, clapping vigorously.

He was very pleased with Wu Tie's performance; he is only at the first level of the Chonglou Realm for now, but once he cultivates to the Life Pool Realm, he might even surpass Niu Man. After all, everyone agrees that the Dragonfolk's talent is inherently superior to that of the Ox Clan.

The Blood Curved Blade now has one more mighty general; its influence in the Great Serpent Cavern will surely become stronger.

Lao Dao Feng was about to call off the match between Wu Tie and Niu Man when both let out a loud roar, forcing out the last bit of their physical strength.

The palms of both simultaneously emitted a loud sound of joint friction.

Everyone watched as the flesh on both palms was kneaded like mud, oozing from between the fingers, a large amount of blood spattering, and the palms became a bloody mess, no longer resembling human hands.

The bones of both palms slammed together hard, each gripping the other in a hard clash.

Wu Tie's finger bones remained unmoved, while Niu Man's right hand finger bones cracked several times as Wu Tie crushed them all at once.

Niu Man let out an unbearable cry of pain, he stared in shock at Wu Tie and roared hoarsely: "I surrender… ancestors, your bones are so hard."

Wu Tie immediately released his grip, panting, he looked at his right hand, blurred with flesh and exposing large patches of bone, took out the freshly gathered sixth‑grade primal grass, grabbed over ten stalks and shoved them into his mouth, chewing vigorously before swallowing.

Niu Man did the same; he also took out a large heap of primal grass and swallowed it whole without bothering to chew.

Vast medicinal power surged within their bodies; their physical strength was tremendous, and their bodily functions had become astonishingly strong. As the medicine took effect, one could see the flesh on their right hands churning, the wounds healing rapidly.

Under everyone's gaze, Wu Tie's wound healed much faster than Niu Man's, proving that in terms of bodily function, Wu Tie at the Chonglou Realm is even more formidable than Niu Man at the Life Pool Realm.

Without a doubt, Wu Tie's physical foundation is far stronger than Niu Man's.

If Wu Tie could cultivate to the Life Pool Realm……

A glint of cold light flashed in Lao Dao Feng's triangular eyes as he stared deeply at Wu Tie, then he exhaled sharply—no matter how strong the foundation, it's still just a Chonglou Realm cultivator; no matter how great the physical strength, it's fine, fine, he's only a Chonglou Realm.

Especially, the stronger the physical foundation, the more solid it is laid, the slower the cultivation speed to the Life Pool Realm—a fact all cultivators know well.

Given Wu Tie's current condition, reaching the Life Pool Realm would take at least several hundred years.

During those several hundred years, there's no need to worry that he would disrupt the power structure of the Blood Curved Blade too much……what a fine shock troop he would make, and paired with Niu Man……heh, just imagining that scene is delightful beyond words.

"Truly, it brings immense joy." Lao Dao Feng smiled with a refined, scholarly air.

Hardly had his words fallen when the entire Shibao collapsed with a Boom, huge stones crashing down.

Lao Dao Feng laughed heartily and pointed upward; the blood‑colored curved blade spinning above his head instantly transformed into a blade wheel a hundred zhang in diameter, the blood‑colored blade wheel spinning rapidly, and the huge stones falling from above vanished upon entering it, leaving no trace.

This curved blade was like a bloody maw, swallowing all the huge stones and sand in one gulp, not spitting out even a speck of residue.

"I am very happy, our Blood Curved Blade has gained another mighty general." Lao Dao Feng said loudly: "Seeing how strong Brother Qiangye is, I think letting him serve as Vice Hall Master of the War Hall—what do you all think?"

The entire Shibao was reduced to rubble in the span of just a few sentences, all the debris swallowed clean by Lao Dao Feng's blade wheel.

The senior members of the Blood Curved Blade nodded in praise, thinking Lao Dao Feng's arrangement could not be more appropriate.

Wu Tie grinned, walked up to Niu Man, and threw a heavy punch at his chest.

Niu Man also cheerfully gave Wu Tie a punch to the chest: "Finally a real man, not like this bunch of weaklings……hahaha, from now on we brothers will team up, beat anyone who displeases us."

Niu Man laughed especially brightly, vigorously hugging Wu Tie's shoulders and shaking them.

Wu Tie also patted Niu Man's shoulders a few times, then went before Lao Dao Feng, slammed his right hand hard into his chest, and said in a deep, muffled voice: "Then, let's do as the Great Chieftain wishes. Hehe, haha. Provided with food, money, and all these good things—hehe, coming to the Great Serpent Cavern, we indeed came to the right place."

Lao Dao Feng smiled until his eyes narrowed to slits, walked up to Wu Tie, reached out, and carefully rubbed Wu Tie's right palm.

To actually crush Niu Man's hand bones in a straight‑on strength test—this physique truly is terrifying.

Lao Dao Feng was about to praise him when a werewolf rushed in with a blur, shouting: "Boss, over at the Gold Nether, a blond‑blue‑eyed pretty boy has arrived, saying his name is Duo Li Ya……he wants to see you, Boss."

Wu Tie raised his eyebrows.

Duo Li Ya?

That pretty boy who claims to have mastered the art of prophecy?

Wu Tie's heart felt a bit gloomy; this guy had earlier directly exposed that Wu Tie was the one seeking revenge against the Golden Dead Spirits.

This time, I won't be seen through by him again, will I?