Chapter 239: Beat the Bird Before the Lion—the Reason for Destroying the Cool Breeze Gang
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
“I can’t believe he might have the prescription of the elixir for the Tendon-Changing Pill! Looks like our Junior Leopard of Winnowing Basket has many secrets!” In a small room in the Immortal Palace, Elder Qing looked at the method for the elixir in his hand quietly with a strange look in his eyes. “The Immortal Palace has been looking for this for all these years. Who would think that it could come so easily!”
“Everyone has their secrets. As a young man, he has great strength. That means that before this, he must have encountered many opportunities and adventures. We should not be too surprised!”
“I am not surprised. It’s more than I expected!” Elder Qing put the prescription of the elixir on the table, raised his head and said, “Old Wretch, you have been with him for a while. What do you think of him?”
“He is a rare talent with a pure mind,” said the thin, scholarly looking middle-aged man. He stood next to Elder Qing in a white washed robe. “It’s just that he seems to have many secrets. It makes him appear way too cautious.”
“There is no need to worry. As the power is getting stronger, his secrets will no longer be secrets. Like now. He is changing the prescription of the elixir of the Tendon-Changing Pill elixir, right?!”
“He has the method of the Tendon-Changing Pill elixir, and some other elixirs…!”
“Perhaps. But what does this have to do with us?” Elder Qing smiled, “The Bone-Forging Pill doesn’t hold much value for us. As for the Pulse Setting Pill, the Blood Exchanging Pill and the Marrow Cleansing Pill, they are too troublesome to make. Do you actually think that there are people still making these pills? We can only make Tendon-Changing Pills in batches.”
“It’s true. But even if the Bone-Forging Pill is useless to us, it’s not for those in martial arts world…!”
“It’s none of our business!” Elder Qing interrupted Old Wretch, “You have been in the Immortal Palace for hundreds of years. Since when you do you care about Jianghu?”
“I am not interested in what happens in Jianghu. I’m worried that once the information is leaked, it will have a negative effect on the young man!”
“As long as we don’t talk about it, no one will leak the information. Junior Leopard is one of us, a member of the Immortal Palace, a place where people help each. We don’t betray each other!” Elder Qing said, looking at Old Wretch. He slowly stressed each word. “You don’t need to worry about such a thing happening here!”
“Then I will relax!” Old Wretch looked very satisfied, “Let the kid do what he wants!”
“Let him go. Even though he is one of the 28 stars of our Immortal Palace, he is still so young. He needs more experience. Jianghu is the best place for him to get experience!”
“Do you think we should lend a hand with the Cool Breeze Gang?” Old Wretch asked hesitantly, “After all, there are four experts in the Gang. It will be difficult for him to handle on his own!”
“I have already sent Jin Yuquan to guard him!”
“OK, that should be fine. Yuquan has just reached Level Eight. The young man should be safe with him!”
“You’re pretty worried about him!”
“Humph. Well, after all these years. Look what kind of people you have brought in. Except for him who has the patience to learn from me, the others were all like monkeys who couldn’t even sit for a while.” Old Wretch laughed coldly. “I am counting on him to pa.s.s on my knowledge to later generations. How could I not be worried about him!”
…
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Things in Jianghu spread quickly, especially rumors about famous people.
Although the Cool Breeze Gang was a killer organization and sounded mysterious, just as the man in grey robe said, for the last three hundred years, everyone in Jianghu knew about them. It had become famous, yet it was too ostentatious for a group of killers.
Every time the Cool Breeze Gang made a big move, observant people noticed. This time, they had sent several killers to kill Junior Leopard’s relatives. The operation was extremely cla.s.sified yet not cla.s.sified enough to hide from these observant people. The most important thing was that they had failed. All of the killers were dead.
The twelve killers who had been sent to Yunzhou and Zhonghe City were all dead. They hadn’t even seen the people from Zhou Family. They were not only killed; their corpses were nailed to the city wall along with their Cool Breeze Gang ident.i.ty tokens.
As a result, it had provoked the entire city of Jianghu, and become a major event.
In just a few days, everyone in martial arts world knew that the Cool Breeze Gang was going after Zhou Bao. 12 members had been sent to hunt him yet all of them had been killed by mysterious experts and their bodies exposed to the public for three days.
At almost the same time, the Wu Family expressed strong dissatisfaction with the Cool Breeze Gang’s move. They issued a warning that if another Cool Breeze Gang killer entered Yunzhou, they were the enemy of the Yunzhou Wu Sect. Although the Wu Sect was not one of the prestigious sects or schools or a millennium family, they would still give the strongest counterattack to this provocative behavior.
The Wu Family was serious about the Cool Breeze Gang.
In the martial arts world, where people had not yet figured out the antecedents and consequences of the matter, another piece of information stormed out. The location of the Cool Breeze Gang’s hideaway that very few knew about was leaked by Zhou Bao. He claimed he would flatten the nest in 20 days.
The martial arts world was in an uproar!
So was Jianghu!
The troublesome Zhou Bao had become the focus of the world again.
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“Flatten the Cool Breeze Gang. That’s some big talk!”
“Is Zhou Bao mad? The Cool Breeze Gang has stood for three hundred years without collapsing. How could he actually go up against them? Does he think that he is like the Three Grandmasters of Northern Yuan?”
“Not necessarily. If he didn’t have the confidence, he certainly would not say this. He has identified the secret location of their hideaway. He is taking them out! ”
“Zhou Bao is not simple. Twelve top killers from the Cool Breeze Gang all missed and were even killed. This means that whoever killed them must be at least a Level Seven. The Wu Family doesn’t have such strong power. It must be Tian Long Taoism! This guy has Tian Long Taoism standing behind him!”
“Right, right! Without the strength of Level Seven, there would be no possibility of killing twelve from the Cool Breeze Gang. Zhou Bao will have to spend a lot to find two experts who are above Level Seven to help him in such a short time. This time, the Cool Breeze Gang is in seriously big trouble!”
“He is still so young and reckless to have said such words, leaving no s.p.a.ce for them to be reconciled and forming a dead situation. If he can’t crush them, then his future is doomed. I mean, the two Level Seven experts can’t be his bodyguards forever, right?”
“Yes, he is still a young man, doing things too impulsively!”
…
…
In just a few days, there were all kinds of rumors everywhere in Jianghu. Meanwhile Zhou Bao, living in the center of the storm, completely disappeared from the public eye.
On an official road of Zhonghe Prefecture, Junior Leopard stood in a black robe, frowning. He was looking at the Golden Rooster who had suddenly appeared.
“Golden Rooster, I didn’t invite you. Why are you here?! ”
“Elder Qing asked me to help you!” Jin Yuquan said, “You have the courage fight the Cool Breeze Gang to death!”
“Humph, I did not trick them or mess with them, yet they sent people to kill me and my guys. If I don’t destroy them completely, how can I be happy?! ” Junior Leopard sneered.
“Do you know how strong the Cool Breeze Gang is?!”
“I know a little. I heard that they have a Level Eight expert!”
“Why are you so sure of yourself?”
“If I didn’t have the confidence, I wouldn’t do it!” Junior Leopard said. “What’s more, I am not the only one the Cool Breeze Gang has offended over the years. That’s why they kept their nest a mystery. I leaked the location to the public. It must have given them a huge headache, right?!”
“Maybe. But it won’t be easy!” Golden Rooster shook his head. “Their strength cannot be ignored. Now that people know where they are located, they will be more cautious. Not to mention that you are standing out to fight against them. They would be stupid to sit and await their deaths! ”
“Right, no one is a fool. I am the fool this time!”
“That’s what I don’t understand. The Cool Breeze Gang killers couldn’t even touch you. You and the Cool Breeze Gang have many things which you could negotiate. Why do you have to do this?”
“I want to and I like to. I’m not happy!” Junior Leopard said, “Of course, the most important thing is that I want to find someone to try my hammers on!”
“Try your hammers?”
“Yes, try my hammers!” Speaking of the hammers, a sense of confidence filled him from the bottom of his heart. An evil smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. “Don’t they have a Level Eight expert? Doesn’t he have steel-like Internal Qi? I want to know how many hammers he can bear!”
“After killing a Level Eight you become different. You think that killing a Level Eight is like killing a chicken, don’t you?” Golden Rooster’s tone was cold.
“That’s not what I meant. I know that you are also a Level Eight!” Junior Leopard said hurriedly, seeing the anger on Golden Rooster’s face. His facial muscles twitched, “It is because I feel like many people have been after me recently. I want to beat the bird before the lion.”
“The bird before the lion?”
“Emmmmm!” Junior Leopard could feel the cold sweat on his forehead. The Golden Rooster’s eyes were beyond cold.
“Sorry, I’m really sorry! My d.a.m.n mouth!” Junior Leopard covered his mouth and laughed.
“Lad, I think you are messing with me on purpose!”
“How could I? Anyway, we are partners, right? How can I mess with you?!” Junior Leopard laughed.
Golden Rooster gave him a cold snort and stopped talking.
“d.a.m.n it, how could I forget that there is a Golden Rooster in front of me? Beat the bird before the lion? What if I’m killed by the bird first before the lion can even see!” Junior Leopard cursed himself inwardly.
“Emmm…Golden Rooster, Can I trouble you to help me?” Although he was confident in himself, with a Level Eight in front of him, he could not say no.
“Forget it. You are going to kill birds. There is no need for me to help!” Golden Rooster said coldly.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m not killing birds! I’m not!” Junior Leopard laughed repeatedly.
Golden Rooster was a kind person indeed. Seeing the apologetic look on Junior Leopard’s face, his anger was half gone. “Lad, even if you do have some ability, what gives you the confidence to do this?” Golden Rooster asked with confusion in his eyes. “Are your hammers that powerful?”
“What? You don’t believe me?”
“No!” Golden Rooster said.
“It’s a pity that I don’t have the hammers with me. You would understand!”
Although he could get his hammers anytime through the s.p.a.ce divide, Junior Leopard didn’t want to expose the secret of s.p.a.ce Division Skill this early.
He had thoroughly considered trading the Tendon-Changing Pill with the Immortal Palace.
Compared to the Bone-Forging Pill, the Tendon-Changing Pill was a real scarce resource. In today’s world, upper to mid-level well-known families like the Wu’s all had the ability to let their disciples use Bone Forging soup. Never mind a mysterious organization like the Immortal Palace. For ordinary people, Bone Forging soup was very precious, and there was a large supply of medicinal herbs readily available. With so much Outstanding Secret Arts in the Immortal Palace, it was not hard for people in the Immortal Palace to enter the Bone-Forging Realm.
Tendon-Changing Pill was different.
There was a Tendon Changing soup indeed, but only in small quant.i.ties. This was because the Magic Drugs were hard to find, and even if one could find Magic Drugs, there were not enough to make Tendon-Changing Soup. The Tendon-Changing Pill, on the other hand, only needed a small amount of the drugs yet it was much more effective than Tendon Changing soup. This was why Junior Leopard had been able to reach Level Seven easily.
Having been to the Immortal Palace once before, he knew that there were many masters of martial arts whose cultivation could reach the Bone-Forging Realm in the village. But they were all stuck on the threshold of the Bone-Forging Realm. It could only be pa.s.sed by a few masters of martial arts. Therefore, the Tendon-Changing Pill was very important for the Immortal Palace. Junior Leopard had given the Immortal Palace exactly what they wanted, so they were generous, sending three Level Seven experts to help him.
As for the Pulse Setting Pill, the Blood Exchanging Pill, and the Marrow Cleansing Pill, there was no need to mention their prescription of the elixir because the Magic Drugs were too hard to find even for the Immortal Palace. So the Tendon-Changing Pill was the most practical one.
Junior Leopard wasn’t worried that the Immortal Palace would leak the prescription of the elixir of the Tendon-Changing Pill. There were so many Outstanding Secret Arts in the Immortal Palace, and not one was missing, let alone a prescription of the elixir.
As for why he had such confidence, it was because of his twin hammers.
After reaching Level Seven and facing so many experts and master of martial arts, he knew well the strength of a Level Eight expert. He also knew that compared with a Level Seven, a Level Eight expert with steel-like Internal Qi had great advantages, just as a Level Seven had to experts from lower levels.
One’s Internal Qi was like water while the other was like steel. How could they be the same?
But Junior Leopard was not afraid. No matter how strong the enemies were, there had to be a limitation. Even if the Internal Qi was like steel, no matter how hard the steel was, it could not compete with the crazy hammers!
His twin hammers weighed more than 2 tonnes. When they were swung, the attack force would be more than thousands of kilograms. Even a man made of steel would be smashed to mud.
In addition, Junior Leopard’s fist intent and Hammer Spirit were merged so the hammers could be used in various ways.
Combined with the Heavenly Jade Technique and the Snake-like Breath Holding Skill, the pulse of these two mental cultivation methods could produce Critical Hit, making Junior Leopard unstoppable even if there was a mountain in front of him.
The probability of these two pulses combining together was limited. Junior Leopard had tried many times. For every fifty hits, one Critical Hit peak would appear. Junior Leopard could not think of a way to increase these odds.
If it was a twin-fist, Junior Leopard would take it easy. Although he could merge Wild Hammering Skill into punching skill, punching dozens of fists within a breath, it would cause huge damage to his fist. But with his hammers, it was different. With their heavyweight, the power of each strike was multiple times that of a human fist. More importantly, Junior Leopard didn’t need to worry that the speed would cause any damage to his body.
On the contrary, the huge weight of the hammer would speed up his strike. When the speed of the hammer reached a certain level, there was no need for Junior Leopard to give extra power; the innertance would carry the hammer forward at an extremely high speed, causing eighty to ninety strikes within a breath. This meant it was possible to use the Critical Hit twice!
Two Critical Hits from his huge one-tonne hammers with a Heavenly Jade Technique bonus!
Without preparation, even a Level Nine could barely handle the strike. Let alone a Level Eight.
So with the twin hammers, even if he was confronted with a Level Nine expert, Junior Leopard would not be afraid.
“Forget it. I won’t ask you. Anyway, when we arrive at the Cool Breeze Gang’s hideaway, your bluff will be exposed. I can wait for another twenty days!”
“Twenty days? Who said twenty days? I’m going to the Cool Breeze Gang now!” Junior Leopard said, with a sinister look on his face.
“Now?” Dumfounded, Golden Rooster raised his head, fixing his eyes on Junior Leopard’s face. “Ten days ago, you said you would go after the Cool Breeze Gang in a month. Ten days have pa.s.sed. That leaves twenty days, right?!”
“A month ago, I told them to send me the head of their client, or I would flatten them. But now, clearly, those d.a.m.n killers are not going to do as I said. They even sent killers to kill my guys. This I cannot tolerate. Do you think I’m going to give them time to set traps against me?!”
“But what if after they found out that they could not handle your guys, they reevaluated your strength and did as you said. Then you would be going against them with no excuse!”
It was possible. The Cool Breeze Gang had been around for three hundred years. Although they had been acting ostentatiously recently, they had their way of living. When they found out that there were several Level Seven experts standing behind Junior Leopard, they might actually change their strategy and make friends with him!
“Funny. But if I destroy the Cool Breeze Gang, how can they chop the client’s head off?!” Junior Leopard smiled coldly.
“So you don’t want to know who is up against you?!”
“Of course I do. But wiping out the Cool Breeze Gang is more important. After this, no matter how badly the client wants to kill me, no killer organization would be willing to help him, right?!” Junior Leopard smiled. Although he did not say “beat the bird before the lion”, he meant it. Indeed, if he could actually do this, then any killers who went after him or his guys would think twice about whether it was worth it!
Jianghu was big and the Cool Breeze Gang was not the best group of killers. However, the stronger one was only slightly better than them. If Junior Leopard could destroy the Cool Breeze Gang, then he would also hurt them badly. With this behind him, no killer organization would be willing to go after him.
Junior Leopard knew that he had been rising too rapidly recently. He had been making too much noise and attracting too much attention. Many people in Jianghu were onto him. Some were well-intentioned, some were curious, and others were malicious. Although he acted like it was nothing, he had still touched on some people’s interests unknowingly.
Compared with his performance, his background was so plain. He was just a young man from a small village, which was nothing in the eyes of some. No matter how strong he was, he would collapse when he faced a violent storm. What was more, he hadn’t risen to the point where everyone was afraid of him. This was why so many people wanted to take him down.
The Cool Breeze Gang killers were one. The Gang was famous, and so were their rules and the evaluation agency.
They had sent people to kill him. This meant that they thought his strength could be controlled. They might pay the price, but this didn’t mean that the gains would be worth it.
If the Cool Breeze Gang thought this way, then others did too. Therefore, the Cool Breeze Gang had to be eradicated no matter how difficult it would be. After this, there would be less trouble.
This was the real reason he wanted to destroy the Cool Breeze Gang.