Chapter 153: Killing the Tiger

"Are you certain Zhang Mingze is truly dead?!"

In the Chief Administrator's office within the Administration Building, Gu Zhenhui asked with a look of astonishment.

The secretary nodded to him:

"My lord, it is absolutely certain. Many people saw with their own eyes that the Green-Faced Ghost snapped Zhang Mingze's neck in the middle of the street!"

"Haha!"

Gu Zhenhui let out a rare, hearty laugh.

Afterwards, he fell into deep thought: "So, is it truly the Green Origin Fist Stronghold that is disrupting the situation?"

The secretary replied: "That should be the case; after all, that Great Dragon Head has even taken action."

"No."

But Gu Zhenhui shook his head, "If it were truly the Green Origin Fist Stronghold wanting to deal with the Tiger Blade Gang, they shouldn't have jumped out to kill people again after the fake Green-Faced Ghost was captured, and they are killing people from both sides simultaneously."

The secretary asked in confusion: "Then what exactly is this Green Origin Fist Stronghold trying to do?"

Gu Zhenhui narrowed his eyes: "There is another possibility. The Green Origin Fist Stronghold sensed that we intended to move against it, so this time it chose to cooperate with the Green-Faced Ghost, and all of this is being orchestrated by this Green-Faced Ghost."

The secretary was startled: "Is this Green-Faced Ghost that formidable?"

"Zhang Mingze underestimated him, and now his corpse is already cold."

Gu Zhenhui shook his head, then commanded:

"Have Cheng Bi take men to the Green Origin District, and order the people from the Inspection Court to withdraw."

"My lord, the one leading the team in the Green Origin District is Qian Hengjun from the Third Battalion; I fear he will not obey orders obediently."

The secretary reminded him cautiously.

Gu Zhenhui smiled: "Zhang Mingze is already dead; does the Inspection Court still dare to attack the Green Origin Fist Stronghold? Wu Yihua is a smart man; even if I don't speak, he will order his men to withdraw."

The secretary understood; Gu Zhenhui wanted to take the initiative to show goodwill toward the Green Origin Fist Stronghold.

"After the Inspection Court's men withdraw, have Cheng Bi find a way to contact that Great Dragon Head and say that I would like to have a chat with her."

"Yes."

The secretary received the order and left.

A few minutes later, Gu Zhenhui received detailed intelligence on today's battle.

When he learned that the Green Origin Fist Stronghold's Great Dragon Head had actually managed to hold the upper hand while being surrounded by a group of experts from the Stop-Conflict Court, he could not help but frown, feeling a sense of apprehension.

It was only after the Tiger Blade Gang proposed cooperation this time that he learned from them that the former special lecturer of the Martial Arts Hall, Hao Yi, was actually a Dao Foundation realm powerhouse, and also the senior martial brother of the Green Origin Fist Stronghold's Great Dragon Head.

Now it seemed that the strength of that Great Dragon Head was even greater than that of Yan Yichen from the Stop-Conflict Court, and with the addition of a Dao Foundation realm senior brother, the strength of the Green Origin Fist Stronghold was no longer weaker than the Tiger Blade Gang.

However, Gu Zhenhui still decided to unite with the Green Origin Fist Stronghold to deal with the Tiger Blade Gang together.

No matter how formidable the Green Origin Fist Stronghold was, as long as they did not intend to rebel, the threat they posed to Gu Zhenhui as Chief Administrator was ultimately limited.

But the Tiger Blade Gang was different; they truly had the potential to completely hollow out Gu Zhenhui's authority!

Of the six courts in Xingcheng, Gu Zhenhui only had full control over the Supervision Court and half of the Internal Affairs Court.

The Stop-Conflict Court had stood on the side of the Tiger Blade Gang from the beginning, and now the Inspection Court had also fallen into the hands of the Tiger Blade Gang.

The remaining Judicial Court and Justice Court were the focus of contention between the two sides, and for the time being, neither could do anything to the other.

From this, one could see the pressure the Tiger Blade Gang brought upon Gu Zhenhui; he could not command the two most important armed institutions in the region, so how could he, as Chief Administrator, be expected to stand firm?

In recent years, many of the policies Gu Zhenhui proposed had failed to pass, and more and more officials dared to feign compliance with his orders; how could he not hate the Tiger Blade Gang?

If the Tiger Blade Gang was not eliminated, he, as Chief Administrator, would sooner or later become a laughingstock!

"Draft an order from the Chief Administrator!"

After finishing all the intelligence, Gu Zhenhui said solemnly:

"Have the City Guard Army mobilize, with Wei Ge leading the team personally, to go to the Wuguang District to suppress the unrest. The reason is that thieves are using grenades and firearms within the city; to ensure the safety of Xingcheng, capture all troublemakers, and if any dare to resist, execute them on the spot!"

Upon hearing this, the secretary was struck with horror and looked up sharply at Gu Zhenhui.

The City Guard Army was the armed force responsible for city defense; they usually guarded the city gates and almost never participated in affairs within the city.

The City Guard Army was independent of the six courts and directly under the jurisdiction of the Chief Administrator, and could be considered the Chief Administrator's personal troops.

However, the City Guard Army's military pay and provisions were paid for by local finances, so this unit could not truly become anyone's personal troops; they merely obeyed the orders of the Chief Administrator.

After taking office, Gu Zhenhui had firmly held onto the City Guard Army, replacing almost all the core members with his own confidants.

As long as he remained in his position for a single day, this unit would do as he said!

The Supervision Court, after all, did the work of secret agents and was relatively weak in direct combat.

With both the Stop-Conflict Court and the Inspection Court standing on the side of the Tiger Blade Gang, the City Guard Army had become the only armed force Gu Zhenhui could rely on.

Now that he was going to deploy the City Guard Army, it was equivalent to playing his trump card.

"My lord, but the Wuguang District is a bustling commercial area with a large flow of people; starting a battle there, I fear..."

The secretary looked at Gu Zhenhui cautiously.

Gu Zhenhui turned around and looked at him with a sinister gaze.

The secretary's body trembled; he dared not say another word and hurried away to convey the order.

Inside a drill ground in the west of the city.

A muscular man with his upper body bare, muscles knotted, and his body covered in scars was fighting a black tiger over two meters tall with his bare hands!

The size difference between the man and the beast was immense, yet it was the black tiger that was being beaten back step by step.

The muscular man suddenly made a flexible turn, circled behind the black tiger, grabbed its two hind legs, exerted force, and directly lifted the black tiger, which weighed over a thousand catties, spinning it around in place before throwing it away fiercely!

Bang!

The black tiger fell heavily into the sand, creating a large pit.

It quickly crawled out of the pit and shook its body, shaking off the dust, appearing to be in no serious trouble.

However, the look the tiger gave the muscular man not far away clearly carried fear; it no longer dared to pounce.

"No good, next time I need to increase the dosage for this beast; it's too fragile!"

The muscular man pointed at the black tiger not far away and said.

"It is because you, my lord, are too mighty."

The group of City Guard soldiers watching from the sidelines shouted one after another.

This was the garrison of the Xingcheng City Guard Army, and the black tiger on the drill ground was a third-grade superior exotic beast, with strength comparable to a Martial Master!

And the one fighting the black tiger with his bare hands was the Garrison Commander of the City Guard Army—Wei Ge.

The City Guard Army belonged to the military official system; the Great Lan Dynasty's civil and military official systems were separate, though military officials were also divided into eighteen ranks just like civil officials:

Leading ten men made one a Squad Leader, thirty men a Flag Leader, one hundred men a Platoon Commander, and three hundred men a Garrison Commander.

The Xingcheng City Guard Army had over three hundred men, so Wei Ge was the Xingcheng Garrison Commander, an eighth-rank military official.

In terms of rank, he was not as high as Li Lei, the First Battalion Commander of the Inspection Court, but his actual status was comparable to the head of any of the six courts!

"My lord!"

A City Guard soldier suddenly ran into the drill ground, knelt on one knee, and said to Wei Ge:

"The Chief Administrator has ordered you to immediately lead your troops to the Wuguang District to suppress the unrest!"

"Suppress the unrest?"

Wei Ge turned sharply to look at the messenger, "Suppress what unrest?"

"The Chief Administrator says that there are rebels in the city using grenades and firearms to harm civilians, fearing a threat to the city defense of Xingcheng, so he wants you to lead troops into the Wuguang District to suppress the unrest, capture all rebels, and if any dare to resist, execute them on the spot!"

"Good—"

Upon hearing this, Wei Ge let out a loud shout, the sound like thunder, echoing throughout the drill ground and making everyone's ears buzz!

"Hahahaha!"

He laughed, "The Chief Administrator is finally going to make a move against the Tiger Blade Gang; I have been waiting for this day for a long time!"

After speaking, he extended his right hand, and a powerful suction force erupted from his palm.

The next second, a massive straight-blade sword nearly two meters long was sucked from a weapon rack over ten meters away and landed in Wei Ge's hand.

Wei Ge gripped the sword with both hands, let out an angry roar, and charged toward the black tiger not far away with terrifying killing intent!

This black tiger had been beaten by Wei Ge for years and had long since developed a psychological shadow; later, it could only be provoked into ferocity by taking drugs to have the courage to fight Wei Ge.

At this moment, the drug's effect had worn off, and with Wei Ge revealing such terrifying killing intent toward it for the first time, this third-grade superior exotic beast actually forgot to resist entirely, sitting and waiting for death.

That massive straight-blade sword was shrouded in a layer of black light and produced a huge suction force, pulling the black tiger forward.

In the end, the black tiger seemed to have crashed into the blade itself; a flash of black light appeared, and a huge tiger head flew high into the air.

"Skin it, dismantle its bones; I want to eat tiger meat tonight!"

Wei Ge pointed at the black tiger corpse on the ground and said.

Then he turned around, shouldered the straight-blade sword, and waved his large hand:

"Form up, move out!"

【Level: Level 9, 23%

Blood Soul: 32 units + 67%

Blood Soul Skills: Blood Rage, Blood Fiend

Transformation Skill: Blood Demon】

In a room, Li Fei, having already deactivated his 'Blood Demon State', was smearing cockscomb blood he had just taken from a live chicken onto his body while checking the status of the Myriad Blood Bead within his body.

In today's battle, he had been hit by arrows, struck by bullets, slashed by blades, blown up by grenades, and finally took the full force of Yang Xuan's Wood-Attribute Qi.

Coupled with the consumption from using Blood Soul skills, he had used up nearly 70 Blood Soul units in total!

Yet the energy absorbed was only a little over 20%, showing that after reaching Level 9, the energy required for the Myriad Blood Bead to upgrade was even greater.

If he hadn't unlocked the transformation skill, Li Fei would have chosen a different fighting style, using Nether Spring Poison as his tactical core, and would not have deliberately tanked so much damage as he did before.

This tactical choice was primarily to test the power of the transformation technique, "Blood Demon."

The result left Li Fei very satisfied!

The "Blood Demon State" is indeed extremely powerful, but after entering the "Blood Demon State," Li Fei consumes 5 Blood Souls every minute, and he can choose to terminate it at any time.

The transformation technique can only be used when the total amount of Blood Souls is below 50%, so even without using Blood Soul techniques, Li Fei's "Blood Demon State" can only be maintained for ten minutes.

And if he consumes more Blood Souls to use Blood Soul techniques, the duration he can maintain it becomes even shorter.

Of course, as the number of Blood Souls continues to increase in the future, the duration of the "Blood Demon State" will also rise accordingly.

"I'm becoming more and more like a boss in a game, even having a second-stage transformation. I wonder if I'll unlock new transformation techniques later, maybe a third-stage or fourth-stage transformation?"

Li Fei thought with a smile.

In the future, he could say to people: "You can't even see my second stage, and you call yourself a powerhouse?"

Besides testing the power of the "Blood Demon" transformation technique, Li Fei also gained a great deal in his martial arts realm from today's battle.

After killing Zhang Mingze, his thoughts became clear, the mental barrier in his heart was further broken, his intent power was strengthened once again, and the steel armor implant in his body received feedback immediately, entering a period of rapid growth once more.

Li Fei had already taken a large amount of elixirs, and he only needed his body to absorb and digest the medicinal power of the steel armor implant; he estimated that he would then be able to officially step into the late stage of Body Breaking!

After finishing applying the rooster blood, Li Fei completed the "trace removal work."

The courtyard he was in was one waiting to be rented out, and it had been unoccupied for a long time.

Before killing Feng Zhenshan, he had "scouted the location" in advance, finding several such long-vacant courtyards within the city, and then temporarily kept the live chickens he bought in these courtyards.

Afterwards, before every action, he would check if there were any issues with the live chickens hidden in these places, confirm his escape route, and ensure he could escape to the location in time to use the rooster blood to remove traces, thereby avoiding being tracked by magic arts.

About ten minutes later, Li Fei, having changed into a different set of clothes, reappeared on the main street.

At this time, he had changed into the clothes of the Martial Arts Hall, and just in case, he had hidden his Level 3 protective suit and Nether Spring poison in another place, not carrying them on his person.

"Boss, one bowl of beef noodles, please."

Li Fei found a random noodle shop on the side of the street, walked in, and sat down.

At this moment, the noodle shop's stalls were almost full of people, and they were all discussing the previous commotion:

"What exactly happened over there? There were guns and explosions?"

"And quite a few people died!"

"I heard people say it seems like the Tiger Blade Gang is killing people."

"The Tiger Blade Gang again! I really hope the heavens strike a bolt of lightning and blast those bastards to death!"

"Do you think that Green-Faced Ghost who killed the seven corrupt officials will go and kill people from the Tiger Blade Gang?"

"It's possible."

"I really hope there are more heroes like the Green-Faced Ghost."

"."

Li Fei listened to the crowd's discussion, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.

Just then, a van with a blue military flag drove past the street outside the noodle shop.

Then came the second, the third...

"Are these cars from the Inspection Court?"

"No, they should be the City Guard's."

"Even the City Guard has been mobilized; I wonder how big the trouble is today?"

"."

Li Fei watched the City Guard van passing by outside, lost in thought.

The number of people in the City Guard is about the same as the Inspection Court, and the weapons and equipment used by both sides are also similar, but their combat effectiveness is different.

Those who enter the Inspection Court are all ordinary people; even if they are agile after training, they still fall into the category of ordinary people.

But the City Guard is different; every martial officer inside is at least a Body Breaking realm martial artist!

Even if they use the same guns, firearms can exert greater power in the hands of a martial artist.

Li Fei learned from Shangguan Xiao that the Garrison Commander of the Xingcheng City Guard, Wei Ge, is a Qi Transformation realm peak martial artist who practices strength; besides the three Dao Foundation realm powerhouses and that ancestor of the Chen family whose life or death is unknown, the person with the strongest strength might be Wei Ge.

That is to say, the other party is very likely one of the top five experts in individual combat power in all of Xingcheng!

Of course, Shangguan Xiao also specifically mentioned Yu Hu; she felt that this Tiger Blade Gang leader might have been hiding his true strength all along, and his real combat power is far stronger than what he has shown, but no one has seen Yu Hu make a move in recent years, so it's impossible to determine exactly what his strength is.

Not long after the City Guard's cars drove past, intense gunfire rang out again in the distance.

After Li Fei finished his beef noodles, he found a place with a public telephone and called Shangguan Xiao.

Calculating the time, this martial aunt should have safely returned to the Qingyuan Fist Stronghold by now.

Sure enough, the call was answered quickly:

"Who is this?"

"Martial Aunt, it's me."

"How are you? Are you badly hurt? I have some excellent wound medicine here; do you need me to send it to you?"

Shangguan Xiao's concerned voice came from the other end of the phone.

Li Fei looked down at the two wounds on his arm that were almost completely healed:

"Martial Aunt, I'm not really hurt, please don't worry."

"You must not push yourself."

"Don't worry, Martial Aunt, I know my limits."

"Alright. Just as you guessed, the Chief's side did indeed send someone to find me; they probably want to join forces with me."

"What does Martial Aunt think?"

"I don't like the Tiger Blade Gang, but I don't find the Chief's faction pleasing to the eye either."

Shangguan Xiao said very directly.

Li Fei laughed upon hearing this: "Then there's no need to join forces."

"What are your thoughts?"

Shangguan Xiao asked from the other end of the phone.

(End of this chapter)