A shiver ran through him, and a sense of awe arose spontaneously.
Facing the figure before him, the Blood Saber Old Ancestor couldn't help but lower his head.
Li Daoqiang sensed the Blood Saber Old Ancestor's reverence but paid it no mind. He tapped his fingers rapidly on Murong Fu, sealing his acupoints and blocking his meridians.
Only then did he release his grip, letting Murong Fu collapse limply to the ground—he had already passed out.
Without looking at him, Li Daoqiang swept his cold, blade-like gaze over the assembled martial artists.
This time, a genuine fear and reverence settled in nearly everyone's hearts.
Many instinctively stepped back, causing a stir.
But no one dared to speak loudly, not even to breathe heavily.
A grandmaster-level expert, the renowned Murong Fu of Gusu, had been defeated.
In just a few moves, he had fallen to Li Daoqiang, without any suspense, not even managing to escape.
This shocking event unfolded right before their eyes.
In their view, Li Daoqiang's figure now seemed like a god or a demon.
No—a true great demon.
Unstoppable, utterly terrifying.
Even the hot-tempered Shui Dai fell silent.
He wasn't afraid of death, but he wouldn't seek it out for no reason.
Li Daoqiang's strength was far beyond expectations.
It was frighteningly powerful.
Perhaps he was no worse than the older grandmaster-level Five Greats—no, maybe even...
Many hearts trembled, not daring to think further.
They only knew one thing: Li Daoqiang was not to be provoked, and neither was the Black Dragon Stronghold.
"Chief Li."
At that moment, Deng Baichuan caught his breath, stood up, and looked at Li Daoqiang with a grim, resolute expression. He spoke slowly: "Our master has lost. The silver—our Murong family will pay the full amount. Let us take our master and leave."
Gongye Qian also stood up, and the two prepared to step forward.
A flicker of approval crossed Li Daoqiang's mind—such loyal and decisive subordinates were truly rare.
He glanced at them and said calmly, "No rush. We'll settle our matters later."
Deng Baichuan's heart sank. The worst-case scenario had arrived.
Judging by Li Daoqiang's demeanor, he clearly wasn't going to let them go easily.
Gritting his teeth, Deng Baichuan said in a low voice, "Chief, what do you mean by this? Is the bet void?"
Li Daoqiang wasn't bothered by the attempt to invoke the bet. He replied indifferently, "The bet stands, of course. I, Li Daoqiang, value my reputation above all—that's well known.
But the bet is the bet; it's about the outcome of the contest.
Now, you're in my hands, your lives in my control.
That's a separate matter."
Anger churned within Deng Baichuan and Gongye Qian—this was nothing short of bandit logic.
But circumstances dictated, and they had to swallow it.
"What terms does the Chief propose?" Deng Baichuan asked, suppressing his emotions.
"A grandmaster's life—first tier, I'll set it at one million taels of silver.
But since you came looking for trouble, it'll be triple the price." Li Daoqiang's tone brooked no argument.
Deng Baichuan's anger flared, but he clenched his teeth and nodded in agreement.
"Fine."
Li Daoqiang gave a satisfied smile. "Good. But no rush—I'll discuss this personally with Young Master Murong later."
He paused, his smile vanishing, and cast a cold, sharp gaze at the martial artists.
"Now, I need to settle matters here first."
Instantly, the hearts of the assembled martial artists leaped, sensing trouble.
What was Li Daoqiang planning?
Was he going to target all of them?
The Blood Saber Old Ancestor, however, grew excited, cackling as he stared at the crowd like they were stunning beauties.
"Listen up, all of you. I know exactly why you're here.
Now, those at the Houtian realm—leave your silver and weapons behind.
Xiantian experts—ten thousand taels each. You can send it later; I'll remember you.
Black Dragon Stronghold men, search the Houtian ones. Anyone trying tricks—kill them."
Li Daoqiang's cold command rang out.
Immediately, another stir arose.
Many showed anger but dared not resist, not even to flee.
Trying to escape under a grandmaster's watch was suicide.
Besides, the Xiantian experts only had to pay ten thousand taels without being searched.
The Houtian ones just had to leave their silver and weapons.
These terms were bearable, not worth fighting to the death.
Soon, the over a thousand Black Dragon Stronghold members who had arrived earlier sprang into action.
Arrogant and emboldened, they began urging the martial artists to comply.
Some started pulling out silver and placing it with their weapons on the ground, and soon, a large crowd followed suit.
Lu Tianshu stepped forward, cupping his hands. "Chief Li, for today's offense, I will send forty thousand taels as recompense."
Li Daoqiang gave a slight nod in acknowledgment.
Lu Tianshu breathed a sigh of relief, signaled his companions, and led the other three away.
One by one, Xiantian experts offered polite farewells and departed.
Of course, a few Xiantian experts chose to hide their identities, pretending to be Houtian and allowing themselves to be searched.
Li Daoqiang noticed two of them but didn't expose them.
Sometimes, not exposing is better than exposing.
The crowd of over ten thousand martial artists began to disperse slowly, heading out of Floating Cloud Mountain.
Before long, they were all gone, leaving the Black Dragon Stronghold members to gather the silver and weapons.
Li Daoqiang didn't wait long. He first took the Blood Saber Old Ancestor and Murong Fu back to the Black Dragon Stronghold.
He sent the Blood Saber Old Ancestor to recover and had Murong Fu rest until he woke up.
Sitting in the Assembly Hall, Li Daoqiang couldn't hold back a smile.
A massive haul!
He immediately checked the Great Bandit System.
Host: Li Daoqiang Realm: Grandmaster Martial Arts: Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill (Ninth Layer) Talents: Poison Immunity, Born War God, Top-Tier Aptitude Bandit Points:
The bandit points had turned into over a million—originally over ten million, but ten million had been used to upgrade the Hundred Battles Body.
From Hundred Battles Body, it had become Born War God.
And the effect of this upgrade, even though Li Daoqiang had experienced it firsthand, felt incredibly worth it.
Worth beyond imagination.
It had allowed him to crush Murong Fu outright.
His strength had taken a new leap.
Strictly speaking, he and Murong Fu were on the same level.
In terms of raw power, his ninth-layer Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill was stronger.
But Murong Fu had the Reversal Shift and had studied a hundred schools of martial arts.
That somewhat countered him.
However, the Born War God talent was just too powerful.
Born War God—born for battle, a god in combat.
In his eyes, Murong Fu was full of flaws.
Even when using techniques like the Reversal Shift, there were plenty of openings.
They were grandmasters of the same level, yet he could defeat him in a few moves. Once in close quarters, Murong Fu couldn't even escape.
Every fight seemed preordained.
Though this was partly because Murong Fu didn't know him, while he knew something of Murong Fu.
But even if they knew each other well, he was confident he could beat him within twenty to thirty moves.
If he got close, he could capture him alive again.
This result was almost unbelievable.
Without the Born War God talent or the Hundred Battles Body, even if he reached the tenth layer of Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill, he wouldn't be sure of defeating the current Murong Fu in twenty moves.
That was a true grandmaster.
No grandmaster was simple.
The Born War God talent gave him an edge over peers, a crushing advantage.
He felt he could take on two or more of his former self.
Two or more of his Hundred Battles Body self.
That was terrifying.
Among grandmasters, numbers mattered.
This boost to his strength was no less than breaking through to the tenth layer of Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill.
What did the tenth layer mean?
In the Song Kingdom, few could surpass him.
That's why he was so confident, waiting calmly for a grandmaster to appear, and why he set the trap for Murong Fu.
Murong Fu wasn't easy to provoke. By trapping him, his father would surely show up.
Without the Born War God talent, he would have been more cautious.
But now, while he wasn't sure he could beat Murong Bo, Murong Bo wouldn't find it easy to beat him either.
So what was there to fear?
In fact, Murong Bo should be the one worrying.
He was a bandit; Murong Bo was from a martial arts clan with grand ambitions.
Jade doesn't clash with stone.
That was his advantage in status.
So he would ruthlessly exploit and squeeze them.
Twelve million, three hundred fifty thousand taels, plus three million, plus the triple life-saving fee from Deng Baichuan and the others—four hundred eighty thousand taels.
That totaled fifteen million, eight hundred thirty thousand taels.
The Murong family would have to pay up.
And he believed they had that much money. If they didn't, they could forget about restoring their kingdom.
Their accumulated wealth over generations was far beyond ordinary imagination.
Otherwise, why would he see Murong Fu as such a fat, perfect fish?
There weren't many suitable grandmasters who could easily produce that sum.
Just thinking about the money he'd get from Murong Fu made Li Daoqiang happy.
And it wasn't just the money.
Murong Fu had wanted to step on him to build his own fame.
Instead, Li Daoqiang had stepped on Murong Fu to greatly boost his own reputation.
Once word of what happened spread, he believed few would dare provoke him.
Reputation was crucial—it saved a lot of trouble.
It would benefit his fair dealings, recruitment of experts, and the growth of the Black Dragon Stronghold in ways beyond words.
It had laid a solid foundation.
Now, it was time to reap the rewards.
Besides the gains from Murong Fu, there were the spoils from the martial artists.
The ten million had upgraded the Hundred Battles Body, leaving him with no bandit points.
The hundred thousand or so came from the Blood Saber Old Ancestor's joining (three hundred twenty thousand) and the recent days' hauls, plus the silver left by the Houtian experts.
These were minor, just the small fry.
(Thanks for your support.) ·······