Stronger by Killing

As soon as the words fell, the hall was instantly plunged into a deathly silence—so silent you could even hear the faint crackling of the charcoal fire.

Luo Huaiyang slowly put down the wine cup in his hand, his false smile fading, his voice cold: "Lord Gu, are you saying you didn’t come here with sincerity today?"

"Heh," Gu Zhan gave a soft laugh. "And did you come with sincerity?"

As soon as the words left his lips,

Gu Zhan suddenly grabbed the hand of Red Lady, who was massaging his legs. With a gentle shake, a trace of fine powder spilled from her meticulously maintained, amber-like nails.

In an instant, the faces of everyone in the hall changed dramatically.

Red Lady, even more so, turned ghostly pale with fright, her tears brimming as she stammered pitifully: "L-l-lord, I... I don’t know anything, I really don’t, it wasn’t me..."

Gu Zhan gently lifted Red Lady’s chin, gazing at her stunningly beautiful, rain-drenched, pitiable face. He smiled softly and said in a tender voice, "I understand. It’s got nothing to do with you."

Red Lady gave a breath of relief, still trying to please: "Thank you, lord, thank you!"

Gu Zhan smiled as he stroked her cheek, cupping her face and speaking in a gentle voice: "Don’t be foolish, why are you thanking me? After all, you also..."

Before the words finished,

Gu Zhan gave a slight twist—"crack!"—

Red Lady’s neck snapped. Blood trickled from the corner of her lips, her eyes full of disbelief, and her body went limp, collapsing to the ground.

With a clatter,

at the exact moment Red Lady hit the floor, a dagger dropped from her sleeve.

Gu Zhan picked up the dagger, scornfully looking at Luo Huaiyang and the others, sneering: "This is your trick? And you think you can deal with me? You..."

The dagger turned into a streak of flowing light,

as if ripping apart space itself, shining coldly, and shot straight as a killing ray toward Luo Huaiyang.

Luo Huaiyang’s pupils contracted, his body leaning slightly back to dodge the strike, but to his shock, in the next instant he saw the flying dagger suddenly change course at a bizarre downward angle, stabbing right for his face.

In that instant,

a flash of panic crossed Luo Huaiyang’s eyes,

and he immediately thrust out his palm,

vast True Qi roaring out as a palm seal,

the seal in the air, five fingers slightly curved, trying to seize the speeding dagger.

"Bang!"

The dagger smashed into the palm seal,

with a thunderous boom, the seal shattered,

then—"pu chi"—

the dagger plunged straight into Luo Huaiyang’s palm, blood spraying everywhere,

his arm yanked back by the force, nailing it into the wall behind him.

"Hiss!"

Luo Huaiyang gritted his teeth, stifling a groan of pain.

This clash, seemingly varied, in fact happened in a mere instant,

In the eyes of the people in the hall,

all they saw was Gu Zhan toss the dagger—and in the next instant, Luo Huaiyang’s arm was nailed to the wall.

"Lord Luo!"

"Protect Lord Luo!"

"..."

In a flash, the hall was thrown into chaos.

"Shing shing shing..."

The sound of countless weapons being drawn echoed. In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen figures surged into the hall, each exuding a terrifying aura, True Qi surging wildly.

Over a dozen Innate Martial Artists,

most of them Middle Innate Experts, with two or three Great Innate Experts among them. At the same time, a large squad of swordsmen burst in from outside.

"Gu Zhan!"

Luo Huaiyang pulled his hand free from the wall, the dagger still embedded in his palm, not daring to remove it. With his other hand, he pressed his wounded wrist, cold sweat beading on his forehead as he said in a harsh voice: "The drug in Red Lady’s hand was not a deadly poison, only an aphrodisiac. I had no intention to kill you!"

Gu Zhan toyed with his wine cup, laughing quietly: "No intention to kill me? Or just hadn’t decided yet? It’s true, an aphrodisiac— a beauty trap. If I agree to be your dog in the future, you give me a woman to watch and restrain me; if I refuse, the aphrodisiac can become a deadly poison, and the beauty a killer. Isn’t that so?"

Luo Huaiyang’s voice was icy: "That’s the rule in Pingyang City. Gu Zhan, I know your cultivation is deep, but in the end, you are only one man. Do you truly think you can suppress the whole city by yourself? Since you’ve come here, you must abide by the rules—either join us, or die. There is no third way!"

Gu Zhan let out a soft laugh, and said, "Suppressing this city has never been what I wished for, but rather...

To suppress the entire Martial World!"

Before the words fell,

Gu Zhan suddenly kicked the table flying,

violent True Qi wrapped the table and smashed it straight at Luo Huaiyang.

Immediately, a Great Innate Martial Artist blocked in front of Luo Huaiyang, long saber drawn and, in a flash, slashed the table apart.

"Boom!"

The table split in two, flying to either side.

Yet, in that instant,

from behind the table exploded a torrent of surging Saber Qi, like the Milky Way cascading from the Ninth Heaven—blinding fast, thunderous, unstoppable.

The Great Innate Expert at the Innate Seventh Layer trembled minutely,

and, the next moment,

a red line appeared on his forehead, spreading instantly across his face,

and then—"bang,"

his body split in half, blood bursting like mist, exploding in all directions.

"Go! Kill him!"

Luo Huaiyang’s face was dark, he shouted angrily.

In a flash, the Innate Experts swarmed with killing intent, the swordsmen from outside screaming as they rushed in.

On the other side,

Zuo Yang and four other Embroidered Uniform Guards, all Innate Experts, exchanged a look and together rushed to the hall entrance, blocking the swordsmen’s way.

Inside the hall, True Qi raged violently,

a dozen Innate Martial Artists besieging Gu Zhan alone,

a storm of blades and shadow, the clash of metal unending,

spurts of blood flying like rain,

Gu Mo’s face expressionless, his body radiating golden light, the Horizontal Saber in his hands stripping the lives of expert after expert, blood splattering madly like a torrential downpour,

a dozen Innate Experts besieged him, yet it was he who dominated and suppressed them all single-handedly.

On the other side, Luo Huaiyang’s face was grim,

watching the battle at the heart of the hall, while, surrounded by officials, he withdrew swiftly toward the back door.

"Summon the men at once—Gu Zhan must die tonight!"

Inside Qingfeng Building, signal flares shot into the sky one after another, instantly lighting up half the night, white snow reflecting the glow, while drifting snowflakes shimmered like fireflies in high summer.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The signal flares exploded in all shapes and colors, and, in that instant,

outside Qingfeng Building, suddenly, like a tide, hordes of armed martial world men appeared, sealing off all the surrounding streets, not letting even water through.

They were all members of the major gangs of Pingyang City.

At their head were all the city’s martial world bosses—figures of great renown.

In the midst of the fireworks filling the sky,

the bosses strode forward,

spotting Luo Huaiyang surrounded by officials, one chuckled: "Lord Luo, so the negotiations broke down?"

Luo Huaiyang said in a heavy voice: "Gentlemen, this man is too ambitious—he can’t be tamed."

At that, everyone looked toward Qingfeng Building—just in time to see, inside the shadowy hall, headless corpses flying one by one from the windows.

"Then just pick a new Thousand Households."