The man who appeared was a Daoist priest, perhaps in his forties, his face as severe and cold as chiseled marble. He wore a simple green robe, but his long, narrow eyes, now squinted into slits, held a chilling glint—the look of a predator. A palpable, suffocating pressure rolled off him in waves, instantly identifying him to Jiang Dao. A Spirit Eradicator. The Golden Wing Tower had a weapon like that on retainer.
"Well, this is interesting," Jiang Dao mused, a cold smile spreading across his lips. "To think they could even get a Spirit Eradicator involved. The Golden Wing Tower has more clout than I gave them credit for."
"Reverend Shangguan, kill him! Now!" the Tower Master shrieked, his body trembling with uncontrollable fury. "I want his flesh rendered in a frying pan!"
Reverend Shangguan's gaze sharpened, his focus absolute. "You're no monster," he declared, his voice cutting through the tension. "You're a martial artist."
He was right, of course. Monsters and spirits were wreathed in a deathly yin energy, a signature a Spirit Eradicator could spot a mile away. Jiang Dao, however, was a furnace of raw yang, a blazing inferno of pure, masculine power.
"That I am," Jiang Dao confirmed, his smile turning into a terrifying grin. "And you, old man? Are you sure you want a piece of this?"
"A mere martial artist dares speak to me with such arrogance?" the Reverend countered, his tone dripping with ice. "Young man, you seem to have a death wish."
The Tower Master and his elders could only stare, dumbfounded. A martial artist? How was this possible? What discipline could forge a human body into such an unstoppable force of nature?
"You think you can stand in my way?" Jiang Dao's eyes flashed with murderous intent.
"I'll give you two options," the Reverend stated, his voice flat and devoid of emotion. "One: you kneel, you apologize, and you cripple yourself by breaking both your arms. Two: I kill you. The choice is yours."
"I choose option three, old man," Jiang Dao snarled. "You die first!"
BOOM!
With a single stomp, the ground erupted. As stone and dirt rained down, Jiang Dao's monstrous frame shot forward like a cannonball. He was a blur of motion, a gale of sheer force, and the massive black sword in his hand carved a deadly arc through the air.
In response, Reverend Shangguan's own killing intent exploded. His body ignited with a green light, and he transformed into a streak of pure lightning, rocketing toward Jiang Dao with a fist cocked back.
"Thunderclap!"
"God-Slaying Slash!"
Their war cries shook the very foundations of the hall as they unleashed their ultimate techniques simultaneously.
Shangguan's entire arm became a conduit of blinding, destructive electricity. But Jiang Dao's greatsword was a vortex of darkness, so heavy and powerful it seemed to warp the space around it. The two forces collided with a deafening DONG! that sent a concussive shockwave blasting through the chamber.
Reverend Shangguan was thrown backward like a ragdoll, his body slamming into the far wall with a sickening crunch. Jiang Dao slid back several feet before planting his boots, his colossal frame radiating waves of heat, a perfectly tuned engine of destruction.
"So what if I'm a martial artist?" Jiang Dao taunted, cracking his thick neck. "Is that all you've got, old man? You step in to play the hero with that little power?"
Hefting the greatsword, he charged again. Each footstep was a thunderclap that shattered the floor beneath him.
Blood trickled from the corner of Shangguan's mouth, his arm already bruised and swollen. The force of Jiang Dao's blow had shredded his robes, revealing skin with an unnatural, greenish tint. Then, something strange happened. His skin began to swell, stretching and expanding as if being pumped with air. A sinister, inhuman light filled his eyes.
"You wounded me, little crawler?" he hissed.
SWOOSH!
He launched himself forward again, faster and more frenzied than before.
"Thunder Flame!"
"Thunderstorm!"
"Myriad Thunder Annihilation!"
"By the Thunderlight Evil God, you will DIE, DIE, DIE!"
The air became a storm of sound and light. Booming explosions and blinding flashes of lightning filled the hall as the two figures clashed in a high-speed dance of death. They were blurs of motion, their every blow unleashing a sonic boom. The air itself seemed to tear apart wherever they passed.
After dozens of exchanges, the tide finally turned.
CRACK!
A predatory gleam lit Jiang Dao's eyes. His broad, heavy palm, now wreathed in a toxic, purple flame, descended directly onto Shangguan's head. The sound of shattering bone was lost in the ensuing explosion of force.
Once again, the Reverend was sent flying, tumbling through the air like a discarded toy. He landed in a heap, vomiting geysers of blood. His face turned a ghastly shade of bluish-purple as his blood vessels twisted beneath his skin. His features contorted, and his skin rapidly blackened, succumbing to the virulent poison.
He coughed up another mouthful of blood and forced his head up, his dark eyes fixing on Jiang Dao's towering silhouette. The warrior stood unmoved, an invisible aura of power rolling off him like a dormant volcano. All of Shangguan's ultimate techniques, all his lightning and fury, had been utterly useless against the man's monstrously resilient body.
"How'd you like that one, old man?" Jiang Dao sneered. "A little more effective than your light show, wouldn't you say?"
"Reverend Shangguan?" the Tower Master cried out, his face a mask of disbelief and horror.
Staggering to his feet, Shangguan raised a hand to silence him. "Tower Master Xiong," he rasped, his eyes never leaving Jiang Dao. "Give him the information on Qin Qingqing."
"Reverend?" The Tower Master was aghast. He had lost?
"Tell him!" Shangguan insisted, his voice heavy with defeat. "Young man, this ends now. Take the information and go. Our paths will not cross again."
"Go?" Jiang Dao's smile was pure venom. He slowly clenched his fist, the knuckles cracking like gunshots. "I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you right. Could you say that again?"
"I said this ends now. You take the information on Qin—"
SWOOSH!
In the space between one heartbeat and the next, Jiang Dao vanished. He reappeared directly in front of the priest, his palm slamming into Shangguan's chest. It wasn't a strike; it was a detonation. The force of the blow vaporized flesh and bone, punching a gaping, steaming hole clear through the man's torso.
Shangguan let out a choked scream, but before he could even register the pain, Jiang Dao's greatsword was already in motion. It swept across in a whistling, bloody arc.
CRACK!
With a final spray of blood and splintered bone, Reverend Shangguan's head ceased to exist. His headless corpse was thrown back, finally and irrevocably dead.
Jiang Dao's voice was a low, brutal growl. "You want me to leave now? A little late for that."
His gaze, sharp as broken glass, fell upon the Master of the Golden Wing Tower. "Where is Qin Qingqing?"
The Tower Master was paralyzed by a fear so profound it felt like his soul was trying to claw its way out of his body. He looked at Jiang Dao and saw not a man, but a demon wearing human skin. The will to fight had been extinguished from everyone in the room.
"What... what are you?" the one-eyed elder stammered.
In a flash, Jiang Dao was in front of him. A casual palm thrust forward, and the air itself seemed to solidify into a wall of poison and force. The elder was sent flying, blood erupting from his mouth as his life was snuffed out mid-flight.
"Last time," Jiang Dao's voice dropped to a deadly whisper. "Where is she?"
"I'll talk! For God's sake, stop the killing!" the Tower Master finally broke, his voice a pathetic wail.
Jiang Dao's piercing gaze locked onto him. The man seemed to shrink in on himself, aging decades in a single moment. All around him, the remaining assassins wore masks of utter despair. The Golden Wing Tower, a name that made the underworld tremble, had been brought to its knees in a single night.
"If I tell you," the Tower Master asked, his voice cracking, "will you spare what's left of us?"
"The Gold Medal Assassins all die," Jiang Dao stated, his tone absolute. "I don't care about the rest."
The Tower Master swayed, his heart shattering. The Gold Medal Assassins were the elite, the very core of their strength. There had only ever been eighteen. After tonight's massacre, less than ten remained. To lose them all would be a death sentence, demoting them from a first-rate power to a second-rate footnote.
But what could he do? He knew, with chilling certainty, that Jiang Dao could annihilate every last person in this building if he chose to.
"It was… it was Guo Linyu," the Tower Master stammered, each word a confession that drained the life from him. "The Left Protector of the Blazing Flame Gang. He hired us. He knew the girl, Qin Qingqing, possessed a priceless internal energy manual and wanted her captured alive."
"The Left Protector…" A low, terrible chuckle rumbled in Jiang Dao's chest, growing into a full-throated, predatory laugh. "Guo Linyu… so he grew a spine and decided to strike first. How amusing."
His face suddenly hardened into a mask of cold fury. "When did you hand her over?"
"This… this morning," the master whispered.
"This morning." The words were flat, devoid of emotion, yet they carried the weight of a death sentence.
BOOM!
Jiang Dao moved again, his greatsword a blur of bloody afterimages. Wretched screams filled the hall as he methodically executed the remaining Gold Medal Assassins, their bodies exploding into gruesome pulp. When the screaming finally stopped, he stood amidst the carnage, the silence ringing in his ears.
"There," he announced to the trembling survivors. "The disloyal ones are dead. From this moment on, the Golden Wing Tower is mine."
The former Tower Master, Xiong Chu, stared at the mangled remains of his most elite forces, a wave of despair so profound washing over him that he wanted to howl at the heavens. If only he could turn back time, he never would have crossed this monster. This thing wasn't human. It was infinitely more terrifying than any demon.
"What… what more do you want from us?" he asked, his voice hollow.
"An organization this size? It would be a waste to just let it vanish," Jiang Dao said casually. "So, as I said, it's mine now. You will all serve me. Any objections?"
"Serve you…" Xiong Chu's lips trembled. As he stared at the inhuman figure before him, a strange, desperate thought took root in the ashes of his despair. A sliver of light appeared in his dead eyes.
He dropped to his knees and bowed his head to the floor. "The Golden Wing Tower greets its new Master!"
Stunned, the other survivors quickly followed his lead, prostrating themselves on the blood-soaked ground.
"We greet the new Master!" Their voices echoed in the cavernous hall.
"Hahahaha!" Jiang Dao's wild laughter boomed around them. "Excellent! Very good." He pointed a finger at the former master. "Xiong Chu. You're a practical man. I like that. Gather all of your best manuals—I want your most powerful body-hardening techniques and any internal energy manuals you have. When you're done, have them delivered to me at the Flying Eagle Hall."
"Yes, Master!" Xiong Chu replied without hesitation.
With a final, contemptuous glance, Jiang Dao turned and strode away. The ground trembled with his every step, the passage behind him collapsing as he departed like some ancient beast returning to its lair. He left behind a palace of death, the thick, coppery smell of blood hanging heavy in the air.
Xiong Chu let out a long, shuddering sigh. Pledging allegiance to Jiang Dao was a desperate gamble, but it was the only one he had. The Tower was crippled. Without a powerful backer, they would be devoured by rivals and erased from history. But with a monster like Jiang Dao at the helm… a true monster… maybe, just maybe, the Golden Wing Tower could rise again, stronger and more feared than ever before.
…
Meanwhile, in the bustling heart of Great Qian City, life went on.
Deep within the sprawling, elegant estate of the Left Protector, a young girl sat on a bed, her eyes wide and unfocused. Qin Qingqing looked like a porcelain doll whose soul had been stolen.
Across from her, a middle-aged man with eyes as black and deep as twin whirlpools stared intently at her, a strange smile on his face. He was using some form of hypnotic art, and Qin Qingqing was answering his questions in a dull monotone.
When he asked about the legendary Innate Grand Sage Formula, she replied mechanically, "The manual is inside a necklace. I gave the necklace to Jiang Dao."
"To Jiang Dao?" The man's eyes narrowed. "Why? Can you recall its contents?"
"No," she murmured. "Father told me not to practice it until I was ten. I never even saw it."
At this, the Left Protector, Guo Linyu, who had been listening from the side, let out a snarl of frustration. He clenched his fist, and a solid iron ball in his palm was crushed into powder, which instantly melted and dripped to the floor under the heat of his fire-poison energy.
"Enough," Guo Linyu growled. "Stop asking."
The hypnotist's eyes slowly returned to normal, and he rubbed his temples wearily. "Left Protector, what are our orders?"
"Why don't we just hit him tonight?" a short, brutish man in the corner piped up. "All of us together. There's no way he can take us all."
"He's right," added a tall, wiry man. "Stop hesitating, Left Protector. With our combined strength, we could challenge even Fang Tianba himself!"
Guo Linyu's face was a dark thundercloud. "No. We can't be that reckless. We play this smart," he decided, his cold gaze falling on the vacant-eyed girl. "He got the manual from her, didn't he? Fine. We'll just have him give it back. Send a message to Jiang Dao. Tell him to deliver the manual to my doorstep. If he refuses… I'll flay this little girl alive. We'll see just how much he cares."
Vicious smiles spread across the faces of his subordinates.
"A brilliant plan!"
"Heh, flaying such tender skin should be quite an experience!"
"Hahahaha—"
BOOM!
A massive, earth-shaking impact rocked the entire estate. Before anyone could react, a roar tore through the air—a sound so primal and loud it shattered windows and sent people on the streets screaming in panic.
"GUO LINYU! GET OUT HERE AND DIE!"
In the room, the men froze, their faces paling.
"It's him," Guo Linyu hissed, his shock quickly turning to murderous rage. "It's Jiang Dao! He dared to come here!"
"He's signed his own death warrant!" the short man snarled.
"He walked right into the lion's den," the wiry man added with a cruel grin. "Let's go, Left Protector. Let's send Jiang Dao to his grave."
They kicked the door open and stormed out into the courtyard, their killing intent blazing.
There, standing amidst the splinters of what was once a massive iron gate, was Jiang Dao. His colossal frame seemed to pulse with power, his muscles gleaming like oiled steel under a visible aura of raw energy. He stood nearly nine feet tall, a true giant.
The estate's guards, horrified by the sight, rushed forward with weapons drawn.
"Who are you?!"
"How dare you! This is the Left Protector's mansion!"
"You're dead!"
The cacophony of their shouts grated on Jiang Dao's nerves. Annoyed, he swung his greatsword. In his massive hands, the five-foot blade looked like a toy, but it moved with the speed and force of a meteor.
The guards saw the blur of motion and screamed. "Get back!"
It was too late.
SPLAT!
The first man simply ceased to exist, his body atomized into a red mist that rained down on his screaming comrades. A heartbeat later, the screaming stopped, replaced by the wet, tearing sounds of slaughter. Jiang Dao didn't waste time with words. He was a force of nature, a tiger let loose in a pen of sheep, and nothing and no one could stop him.