Chapter 359: Qinglong Society

"Big Brother, what does the Gang Leader want with me? Could you tell me a little bit?"

The young man called "A Xing" was surrounded by Axe Gang lackeys on all sides. Seeing that escape was hopeless, he simply tried to strike up a conversation with the lackey closest to him.

But this lackey had a cold expression and ignored him, as if he hadn't heard a thing.

A Xing was thick-skinned and didn't feel embarrassed; he turned to ask another lackey, but was met with the same cold face.

When he asked a third person, that man pressed a gun against A Xing's head and said viciously, "Damn it, if you make another sound, I'll blow your head off."

"I won't, I won't." A Xing decisively admitted defeat. After saying this, he covered his mouth tightly with his hands and shook his head vigorously.

Before long, the group had entered "Night Shanghai." It was currently business hours; the place was filled with bright lights and colorful decorations, bustling with people coming and going. Among them were many beautiful women wearing cheongsams with high slits, revealing their thighs.

A Xing had dreamed of entering Night Shanghai. Seeing this scene, he walked around and looked, like a country bumpkin who had never seen the world entering the city.

"Don't just stand there like a fool, keep moving, the Gang Leader is still waiting." A lackey gave A Xing a shove.

A Xing came back to his senses and swallowed hard. The Axe Gang Leader was a truly big shot; if he stomped his foot, the entire Great Shanghai would tremble. For a nobody like him, if the other party wanted to deal with him, it would be no different from crushing an ant.

The long corridor was covered with soft carpet, and at the end was a very wide door with golden rings on it shining brightly.

When A Xing pushed open this door with a nervous heart, he saw the Axe Gang Leader.

The Axe Gang Leader was about the same age as him, and he didn't look tall and mighty, nor vicious and sinister.

He was dressed in a black suit, wearing a tie, and his long hair was groomed meticulously. The whole person possessed a bearing like a Heavenly Human, as dazzling as the sun—but this was not the warm, gentle sun that gave people comfort in winter, but a scorching sun that roasted the earth and radiated infinite light and heat.

"He is the one-in-a-million martial arts genius."

Sitting to the side was also an old man in a long gown, who likewise possessed an indescribable style and demeanor. It was just a pity that in front of the Axe Gang Leader, he seemed to dim, and for a moment, A Xing didn't even notice him.

Yu Liancheng nodded and smiled as he beckoned to A Xing: "Handsome, come here. Yes, you, stop looking around."

The originally nervous A Xing hurried over, nodding and bowing: "Little brother A Xing, greetings to the Gang Leader. My admiration for the Gang Leader is like the surging river, continuous and endless, and like the flooding of the Huanghe..."

Yu Liancheng raised his hand, interrupting A Xing's flattery, and turned to Wang Jianglong: "This person is the one-in-a-million martial arts genius, and he has practiced the world's number one palm technique, the 'Tathagata Palm'. His future is truly limitless; he will be a pillar of our Qinglong Society in the future."

"Really?" Wang Jianglong frowned. With his keen eyes, he hadn't discovered anything unusual about A Xing, other than his Qi and Blood and physique being a bit stronger than an ordinary person's.

"Gang Leader, although I have practiced the Tathagata Palm, I was deceived by a beggar, and I've just been practicing blindly in my spare time." A Xing explained hurriedly.

Although he didn't know how the other party knew he had practiced the ten-dollar-a-book Tathagata Palm, he had been fooled by that hateful Old Beggar. He had practiced it since he was a child, but apart from having amazing recovery power, it had no other use.

If the Gang Leader thought he had great skills and asked him to go kill and set fires, that would be a tragedy.

Yu Liancheng waved his hand and said: "Seeing is believing; why don't you carefully examine his meridians and dantian? Perhaps you might have an unexpected harvest."

"Fine!" Wang Jianglong was decisive. He raised his palm and pulled the screaming A Xing over, his massive True Qi immediately roaming through the other's limbs, bones, meridians, and acupoints.

Before long, Wang Jianglong raised an eyebrow, showing a look of surprise: "This kid's internal True Qi is very pure and vigorous, at least twenty years of cultivation. It's just a pity that many of his meridians are not yet opened, and he doesn't seem to know how to drive the True Qi, causing it to be like scattered sand, leaking throughout his body instead of flowing and circulating within the meridians."

Yu Liancheng nodded. Although he hadn't checked A Xing's body like Wang Jianglong, he had vaguely guessed the reason.

As for A Xing himself, he was completely bewildered.

Yu Liancheng looked at A Xing and said: "Show me your Tathagata Palm."

A Xing looked hesitant; his Tathagata Palm was just a child's game, wouldn't it be a joke to perform it?

The Advisor on the side used his master's power to bully others: "You there, hurry up and perform it, or watch out for being hacked to death by axes."

A Xing's body trembled, and he hurriedly said: "Okay, okay, Gang Leader, don't be impatient, I'll perform it right away, right away."

Having said that, he exhaled, took a stance, and performed a set of palm techniques with shouts and grunts. Although he hadn't practiced this set of palm techniques for a long time, when he performed it, he remembered every move and style clearly, as if it were branded into his bones.

However, worried about being hacked into meat paste, he was too panicked, so it was inevitable that the performance was a bit distorted. Added to that was his serious and solemn expression, and the combination gave people a sense of comedy.

"Ha..." The Advisor had just laughed out loud when he was slapped on the head by Yu Liancheng, and he hurriedly covered his mouth again.

Wang Jianglong stared intently at A Xing's figure. This set of palm techniques looked comical, but in the eyes of a Grandmaster of the Martial Dao like him, he finally understood how exquisite and powerful it was, worthy of the reputation of the world's number one palm technique.

"Gang Leader, the Tathagata Palm is finished."

Before long, A Xing withdrew his palms, his back already soaked with cold sweat. Performing a set of palm techniques in front of the Gang Leader was more tiring than being beaten up by someone.

"This Tathagata Palm..." Yu Liancheng's eyes flashed. A Xing's nine styles of Tathagata Palm were indeed the same set as the one left behind by Long Jianfei, but they seemed to have some differences. The specific differences were hard to explain for a moment, so he asked again: "Do you remember the breathing routes and the techniques for applying force for this set of palm techniques?"

A Xing shook his head. He could barely remember the moves in the manual, but the text on it had long since been forgotten completely.

"Then come over here and look into my eyes."

As A Xing walked over, Yu Liancheng met his eyes, his Mental Secret Technique activated, and his eyes were like the deepest night sky.

At the same time, he hooked his hand onto A Xing's meridians, absorbing the True Qi roaming inside the other's body.

With both methods combined, plus the palm technique A Xing had just performed, Yu Liancheng quickly obtained the version of the Tathagata Palm that A Xing had practiced. Although not completely accurate, it was very close.

"Sure enough..." Yu Liancheng's eyes flashed, vaguely sensing the peculiarity of this version of the Tathagata Palm; it was by no means as simple as he had imagined.

"What is it?" Wang Jianglong asked suspiciously.

"Nothing." Yu Liancheng shook his head.

Wang Jianglong said: "This kid is not only a one-in-a-million martial arts genius, but he also possesses a peerless divine art, plus that pure and deep Internal Force; his future achievements will not be below mine. It's just that wanting to open the meridians is not an easy task. As he is now, he has a treasure mountain but cannot enter it."

"That is simple."

"Simple?"

"Indeed." Yu Liancheng looked at A Xing, who had regained his senses, and said: "Do you want to join the Axe Gang?"

A Xing nodded hurriedly: "I do, I dream of it. Gang Leader, although my Tathagata Palm isn't much, I am daring and willing to fight, and I am loyal and righteous..."

"That's enough. As long as you take one punch from me, not only will I let you join the Axe Gang, I will also make you a Hall Master, with a hundred lackeys under you, calling the wind and rain, with money and beauties, not one less." Yu Liancheng said indifferently.

"Thank you, Gang Leader, thank you, Gang Leader." A Xing was ecstatic and bowed repeatedly.

But when he looked up, he found the Axe Gang lackeys in the room looking at him as if he were a dead man.

"This Gang Leader looks like a pale scholar, how powerful can he be? Can he kill me with one punch? Damn it!!!" Just as A Xing was secretly amused, Yu Liancheng had already raised his hand and punched out, breaking the airflow.

Boom!!

Under this punch from Yu Liancheng, the airflow collapsed in layers, and the entire space seemed to have caved in. The scattered energy was stirred by this punch and gathered toward it, making the power of this punch even more fierce and peerless. The masculine Qi on the fist gathered and did not disperse, like a volcano about to erupt.

All the fist power was bound into a massive and indestructible force, which was unleashed along with the punch.

Under this punch, mountain rocks shattered and rivers changed their course.

Let alone a mere mortal body of flesh and blood; would it not be beaten into meat paste in an instant?

A Xing revealed a look of terror; he was enveloped by the peerless momentum of the punch, and let alone escaping, he could not even move.

And this punch kept expanding before his eyes, finally filling his entire field of vision, slamming straight toward him.

Before the fist even arrived, the fierce fist-aura had already struck his face, causing A Xing's bones to rattle and his skin to burst into cracks, as if he were about to be blasted into minced meat the very next moment.

Boom!!

This punch was without any bells or whistles, landing solidly on A Xing's chest, sending him flying horizontally like a meteor, crashing through a wall, and as he rolled onto the ground, he was already a bloody mess, unrecognizable, with his breathing weak to the extreme. But if one listened carefully, one would notice that this breathing was fine, long, and continuous, impossible to sever.

"Advisor." Yu Liancheng sat back down.

"I am here." The Advisor did not care to wipe the cold sweat from his face and hurried to Yu Liancheng's side.

Yu Liancheng said: "Carry that kid out and find the best doctor to treat him."

The Advisor widened his eyes and said in disbelief: "But isn't he already dead?"

"I told you to go, so go; don't talk so much nonsense."

"Yes, yes, yes."

After the Advisor and the group of Axe Gang members left, Wang Jianglong frowned and said: "Wasn't the strike a bit too ruthless? Although it can help that kid open his meridians and acupoints, if he can't pull through, he'll lose his life."

Yu Liancheng said: "Rest assured, he is a martial arts prodigy, and he has already practiced the Tathagata Palm for twenty years; plus, with professional medical rescue, it is impossible for him to die."

"I hope so," Wang Jianglong said.

"When the time comes, the Qinglong Society will have another expert sitting in command, and even if I leave Great Shanghai, you will be able to maintain the situation," Yu Liancheng said indifferently.

Wang Jianglong sighed and said: "The current situation is one of unprecedented decline for China; the national strength of Dongying is almost entirely superior to the Central Plains. If they want to complete their goal of a snake swallowing a dragon, this Great Shanghai will inevitably be targeted. In a situation where technology, military power, and weaponry are all lagging behind, only martial power is not inferior to Dongying..."

Yu Liancheng said indifferently: "That is why I decided to establish the Qinglong Society and let Senior Wang help look after it. No matter how the situation changes in the future, the importance of this Great Shanghai is self-evident."

That day, the reason Yu Liancheng was able to persuade Wang Jianglong not only to leave his two disciples behind but also to have Wang Jianglong himself join the newly created "Qinglong Society" was that he produced evidence he had already collected, proving the wolfish ambitions of Dongying; if the Central Plains were careless, they would be doomed beyond redemption.

Yu Liancheng did not intend to participate too much in this war; in that great trend where dragons and snakes rise from the land, great men would naturally step forward.

However, since he had come to Great Shanghai, he had to do something to prepare for the future.

The Chinese martial arts world is full of experts and has a long heritage. And the combat power of an expert must never be underestimated.

Therefore, Yu Liancheng established the Qinglong Society.

The purpose was to recruit experts, let them cast aside sectarian prejudices, and form an army composed of top-tier experts; whether for assassinations or head-on conflicts, they could shine brilliantly.

"But before that, we must sweep away all opposing forces and let the Qinglong Society unify Shanghai. The concessions, the National Government, and the Crocodile Gang..."

Crocodile Nightclub!

Headquarters of the Crocodile Gang!

The Crocodile Gang is another gang, besides the Axe Gang, that can cover the sky with one hand.

"Damn it, the goddamn Axe Gang; one day I will definitely wipe you all out." In a spacious private room, the boss of the Crocodile Gang was cursing.

"But... but Boss, that person is really powerful; he simply isn't human," a lackey said timidly.

"Hmph, no matter how powerful, so what? I have already found out the whereabouts of the Ultimate Killer Fire Cloud Cthulhu from back then. As long as I invite him to come out of seclusion, I guarantee that the bullshit Yu Liancheng will die a death beyond death."

The Crocodile Gang boss snorted coldly, his expression unkind.

A few days ago, he led his lackeys to ambush the Axe Gang, but the result was heavy casualties. That new boss of the Axe Gang was truly formidable, his martial arts nearly like sorcery.

If they hadn't run fast, I'm afraid there would be no Axe Gang left in Shanghai.

Bang bang bang!!

Just at this moment, heavy collision sounds and screams suddenly came from outside the door, the main gate was shattered with a boom, and several lackeys were beaten inside.

Immediately following, two figures stepped into the private room.