38: Chapter 38 A Decisive Strike!

"Bang!"

Jiang Hanzhou's fist grazed White Jade Dragon's horrified and distorted cheek, the violent wind from the punch acting like a physical hammer, slamming fiercely into the junction of his cheek and neck.

"Crack!"

The crisp sound of bone cracking rang out, and White Jade Dragon was sent flying diagonally like he had been struck by a charging rhino. He crashed into the cabin wall, leaving a human-shaped indentation in the thick wooden boards. Blood sprayed from his mouth, and his left shoulder collapsed; clearly, his clavicle was shattered.

The arrogance and hypocrisy on his face were instantly replaced by boundless fear, his eyes filled with disbelief.

In a single encounter, with only the wind of a punch grazing him, his cultivation at the Early Stage of the Burning Viscera Realm, combined with his family's protective inner Qi, was actually so vulnerable?

"young master of the gang!" the surrounding White Dragon Gang members exclaimed, but even faster was that shadow following like a ghost.

Having repelled White Jade Dragon with one punch, Jiang Hanzhou's figure didn't stop for a moment. He spun around with the momentum, his right hand opening with five fingers splayed. His Qi and blood remained hidden and unreleased, yet they carried a shrill whistle that tore through the air as he clawed toward the purple-robed middle-aged man, whose sleeves were already billowing as he prepared to act!

"What gall!"

The purple-robed middle-aged man's voice was hoarse and unpleasant, his grayish-green pupils shrinking. He hadn't expected the opponent to be so decisive and ruthless, attacking without a word, and with such appalling speed and power.

He didn't dare to take the blow head-on, his body twisting strangely like a boneless snake as he slid backward, while simultaneously waving both sleeves violently!

"Sshhh!"

A cloud of grayish-green poison mist gushed out as if it were alive, smelling sickly sweet yet carrying a stench of rot, instantly filling the bow of the ship. Within the mist, several specks of deep blue light, almost invisible to the naked eye, flickered. These were the "Confusing Spirit Gu" he had meticulously cultivated, specifically designed to break a Martial Artist's protective Qi and blood, bite into the nerves, and drive people mad.

"Mere child's play."

Jiang Hanzhou snorted coldly, his forward momentum undiminished. Facing the poison mist and Gu insects rushing at him, he didn't even make a Move to block or dodge.

At the very moment the poison mist reached his body and the Gu insects were about to pounce—

"Boom!"

It was as if a dormant volcano within his body had suddenly awakened!

The Dragon Subduing and Tiger Taming Skill operated at full power, and the longan-sized, dark-gold flowing Blood Pill in his Dantian shook violently!

Qi and blood, as majestic as a surging river and as condensed as mercury paste, exploded outward!

It didn't dissipate, but rather constructed a scorching and majestic invisible furnace within three feet of his body!

"Sizzle—!"

The moment the grayish-green poison mist touched this pale-golden Qi and blood furnace, it was like boiling water poured on snow, making a violent corrosive sound before quickly dissipating into nothingness.

Those few specks of deep blue "Confusing Spirit Gu" didn't even have time to let out a cry. They struck the Qi and blood barrier and, with several soft "poof" sounds, exploded into clumps of foul-smelling blue-black liquid, which were then completely evaporated and purified by the supreme yang and supreme firm Qi and blood!

The dao bone was newly formed, and his Qi and blood were extremely pure and yang, naturally suppressing all forms of evil and yin poisons!

"What?!" the purple-robed middle-aged man cried out in horror. His invincible poison mist and Confusing Spirit Gu hadn't even managed to scratch the opponent's skin?

In the instant his mind was severely shaken, Jiang Hanzhou had already pierced through the remaining poison mist and closed in on him!

Without using any complex Moves, it was still a simple, direct punch to the center!

As the punch went out, wind and thunder faintly appeared, and a low sound of a tiger's roar echoed in the air!

The purple-robed middle-aged man was scared out of his wits. He specialized in using poison and controlling Gu, so direct combat was not his strength. In his haste, he could only cross his arms in front of his chest, grayish-green sinister Qi and blood surging as he tried to endure the blow.

"Bang!"

"Crack! Crack!"

Fist and arms collided. The purple-robed middle-aged man felt an irresistible, primordial force strike him. The bones in both his arms shattered instantly, and he was sent flying like a ragdoll, slamming hard against the ship's gunwale. He vomited a large mouthful of foul blood mixed with fragments of internal organs, his aura instantly withering.

All of this takes a long time to describe, but in reality, from the moment Jiang Hanzhou launched his attack to injuring White Jade Dragon, breaking the poison mist, and severely wounding the purple-robed middle-aged man, only two or three breaths had passed!

Only now did the dozen or so Iron Bone Realm elites of the White Dragon Gang manage to react. Roaring with a mixture of shock and fury, they brandished water-dividing thorns, hook sickles, and other weapons, lunging from all directions. The wind whistled as they moved, showing they were quite well-organized and clearly well-trained.

Jiang Hanzhou's eyes were indifferent as he scanned these fierce-looking gang members.

He took a slight breath, his chest expanding slightly, his abdomen sinking, and the bones and muscles in his throat vibrating slightly.

The next moment—

"Begone."

A low shout, like a tiger roaring in a deep ravine, was not loud, yet it carried a majesty and ferocity that pierced straight through to the Soul!

[Dragons Roar and Tigers Howl · Tiger's Roar] at the Minor Achievement stage was, at this moment, used for group combat for the first time!

"Buzz—!!!"

A pale-golden sound wave centered on Jiang Hanzhou suddenly spread out!

The air vibrated violently like water ripples!

The dozen or so Iron Bone Realm gang members who were lunging forward suddenly froze in place!

In their perception, that low shout was like a Nine Heavens thunderbolt exploding in their minds, or like a primordial beast roaring in their ears!

The indescribable terrifying pressure and vibration power acted directly upon their spirits and Qi and blood!

"Pfft!" "Thud!" "Ah—!"

The screams rose abruptly and then stopped suddenly.

The dozen or so people were as if their bones had been simultaneously removed. Bleeding from their seven orifices, their eyes glazed over and their weapons fell from their hands as they collapsed onto the deck one after another like dumplings falling into a pot, fainting instantly.

Some were even on their last breath, clearly not long for this world.

The vast deck of the fast ship was instantly cleared, leaving only Jiang Hanzhou standing alone in the center, along with the heavily injured and slumped White Jade Dragon and the purple-robed middle-aged man, as well as a few terrified helmsmen and sailors in the distance.

White Jade Dragon struggled to prop up his upper body. Looking at his men lying all over the ground, their fates unknown, looking at the dying purple-robed middle-aged man, and then looking at that demon-god-like figure walking slowly toward him, boundless fear finally submerged him completely.

"You... who exactly are you?! I am the young master of the White Dragon Gang! If you dare to kill me, the White Dragon Gang will surely fight you to the death, chasing you to the ends of the earth to tear you into ten thousand pieces!"

He roared with bluster, trying to use the White Dragon Gang's reputation to scare the opponent off.

Jiang Hanzhou didn't stop. He walked up to him and looked down, the gaze behind his mask as cold as ten-thousand-year-old ice.

"White Dragon Gang?" His voice was flat, yet it carried bone-chilling killing intent. "Trafficking women and children, colluding with evil cults, harming the common people... Do you people even deserve to live in this world?"

White Jade Dragon's pupils shrank. The opponent actually knew?!

He suddenly remembered his father's recent warnings and the gang's secrets, and a chill rushed from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head:

"Are you... from the government? Or... were you invited by that bitch Shen Hongxiu?!"

Jiang Hanzhou wasted no more words. He raised his right hand, Qi and blood swirling between his fingers, with faint Tide phantoms and the forms of a dragon and tiger circulating.

It was the Fusion of the Layered Wave Palm Concept and the Perfection of [Tidal Shadow Thousand Hands]!

Dozens of palm shadows, difficult to distinguish between real and illusory, instantly enveloped White Jade Dragon, blocking all his paths of retreat.

White Jade Dragon was scared out of his wits. At the moment of life and death, he burst forth with all his potential, suddenly drawing a pair of dark steel double maces from his waist. With a fierce shout, the Evil Flood Dragon Wave Surfing Art within his body operated frantically, his Qi and blood turning into a phantom of salty black waves as the double maces lunged like two venomous flood dragons emerging from the sea, biting toward the sky full of palm shadows!

"Evil Flood Dragon Overturns the River!"

This was his ace-in-the-hole killing Move. The strangling force of the double maces was enough to crack stone tablets; even a Middle Stage Burning Viscera Realm expert would not dare to take it head-on.

However—

"Clang! Crack!"

The palm where Jiang Hanzhou's true body was located reached its target first, striking with unerring precision at the weak point where the double maces met!

Boundless, matchless immense force, mixed with layers upon layers of endless hidden strength, exploded forth!

White Jade Dragon's tiger's mouth split open, and the double maces flew from his hands, spinning as they fell into the pitch-black river.

His entire body's Qi and blood were completely scattered by this palm strike. His chest felt as if it had been hit by a heavy hammer, and his vision went black.

The second palm followed immediately, silent and soundless yet fast as lightning, imprinting itself right in the center of his defenseless chest.

"Pfft—!"

White Jade Dragon's body shook violently, and his chest visibly caved in, emitting a series of tooth-aching sounds of shattering bone.

His eyeballs bulged, and blood mixed with fragments of internal organs gushed from his mouth and nose as his life force rapidly drained away.

"You... you dare to kill me... the White Dragon Gang... will never let you off..." He stared deathly at Jiang Hanzhou, a wheezing sound coming from his throat.

Jiang Hanzhou looked down at him, his voice clear and cold as it spread across the silent river surface:

"It is exactly the White Dragon Gang that I am killing."

As his words fell, he raised his foot and stepped down heavily on White Jade Dragon's throat!

"Crack!"

The muffled sound of the throat bone shattering ended the evil and short life of this young master of the White Dragon Gang.

On the other side, seeing White Jade Dragon's death and Jiang Hanzhou's gaze sweeping over, the purple-robed middle-aged man was scared out of his wits. He forced his last bit of strength to roll toward the gunwale, wanting to jump into the water to escape.

"Want to leave?"

Jiang Hanzhou glanced over and flicked his toe. An iron spike the thickness of a child's arm, used for securing cables and scattered on the deck, flew into the air and landed in his hand.

His arm muscles instantly tightened, and pale-golden Qi and blood wrapped around the iron spike like flames, rendering it into a streak of dark-golden light.

Twisting his waist and swinging his arm, he threw it out!

"Swoosh—!"

The iron spike tore through the air with a piercing shriek, like a meteor crossing the sky, drawing a straight and lethal trajectory through the night!

"No—!" The purple-robed middle-aged man only had time to let out a short, shrill scream.

"Pfft!"

The iron spike, carrying a thousand jin of force, pierced through his heart with unerring precision, pinning him firmly to the hard ship's side!

The purple-robed middle-aged man's body twitched twice, his head slumped, and his grayish-green pupils quickly dimmed as his breath was cut off.

Jiang Hanzhou stepped forward and quickly searched the bodies of White Jade Dragon and the purple-robed middle-aged man.

From White Jade Dragon's waist, he untied a jade plaque carved with a ferocious white dragon and made of warm-textured jade. From his inner pocket, he found a small leather map recording some of the White Dragon Gang's docks and secret posts.

From the purple-robed middle-aged man's bosom, he searched out several small bottles with poison labels and a fragment of a Poison Manual written on some kind of sinister parchment.

He collected these along with the credentials representing the Hundred Refinements Workshop contract.

Then, he grabbed the corpses of White Jade Dragon and the purple-robed middle-aged man, walked to the ship's side, and tossed them into the rolling river water like trash.

Next, he did the same with those unconscious or dying White Dragon Gang elites, throwing them into the river one by one.

Having done all this, he glanced at the few sailors and helmsmen who were slumped in the corner, shivering with fear, but ignored them.

With a flicker of his body, he leapt back near the wreckage of his own small boat that had been smashed. Tapping his toe on a large piece of driftwood on the water's surface, he used the force to soar into the air, throwing himself toward the dark mountain forest on the opposite bank like a night owl, disappearing in a few bounds.

The river wind wailed, blowing away the faint scent of blood.

Only two unmanned White Dragon Gang ships remained, swaying gently with the waves, and the residual bloodstains on the deck told the story of the brief and cruel slaughter that had just occurred.

...

The next day, a piece of shocking news, as if it had grown wings, quickly swept through the Three Rivers Estuary waters with Old Stork Bay as the center, spreading toward Flying Fish City, Linjiang Prefecture, and even further away.

The White Dragon Gang's young master "White Jade Dragon" Bai Shiyu, along with his guards and a mysterious Guest Elder, were boldly killed on the river near Old Stork Bay last night, their bodies sunk into the great river!

The perpetrator, calling himself "Li Feiyu," had an unknown identity and unfathomable strength, suspected to be a top expert in the Burning Viscera Realm. He acted with ruthless decisiveness and left behind the declaration: "It is exactly the White Dragon Gang that I am killing."

As the news spread, the Three Rivers Estuary was shaken!