Upon hearing this, many of them felt a chill and grew even more fearful. "Yes." Wang Lin immediately stepped forward to respond, his face showing even more reverence than before. He quickly led a few people to carry Lin Sanlong and his wife's bodies toward the back mountain.
Li Daoqiang clearly saw the fear in everyone's eyes, but he paid it no mind—in fact, this was exactly what he wanted. Over the past two years, Li Daoqiang had come to understand thoroughly that in this den of bandits and outlaws, one should never try to appeal to loyalty or reason, nor trust anyone. Strength was everything. The only way to make people obey you was to make them fear you, fear you to the bone. Perhaps in other bandit strongholds, there might be different circumstances, with brotherhood and camaraderie, but here in Black Dragon Stronghold, which Lin Sanlong had led for over a decade, it was exactly like this. Just like now, despite the belief in burying the dead whole and preserving the body intact, no one dared to show even a hint of dissent. They obediently watched as Lin Sanlong and his wife's bodies were carried to the back mountain.
After deliberately waiting a while and seeing that no one dared to step forward with objections, Li Daoqiang spoke again: "Alright, everyone, disperse for now. Each to their duties, and don't slack off. Also, pass my order: without my command, no one is to leave the stronghold." "Yes." The crowd responded and began to disperse.
Once everyone had left, Li Daoqiang's other trusted subordinate, Li Si, followed him into the courtyard. "Over the next couple of days, you and Wang Lin keep a close watch. See if anyone acts suspiciously." "Yes." Li Si acknowledged with understanding.
Li Daoqiang dismissed Li Si and waited a while as some maidservants finished tidying up the courtyard, moving his original belongings here as well. From now on, this courtyard officially belonged to him. He had to admit, the location was excellent—central, secluded, under heavy protection, and better for controlling the entire stronghold. Of course, Li Daoqiang would live here.
He sent the maidservants away and looked at the Big Bandit System. The bandit points had increased from 2651 to 3651, a gain of a thousand points. Somehow, he knew this was the reward for officially becoming the new leader of Black Dragon Stronghold. Strictly speaking, it wasn't much, but he wasn't too disappointed. Black Dragon Stronghold was just a small mountain stronghold, not very powerful, so a thousand points was acceptable.
Setting aside the Big Bandit System for now, he began to quietly ponder his next steps. Now that Black Dragon Stronghold was his, he had taken the first step, truly starting to face this vast world alone. He was well aware that every step from here on required caution, because in this world, human life was far too cheap. A mere Houtian realm cultivator might die tomorrow. Fortunately, although this world had many powerful beings, it was even larger. Relatively speaking, around Floating Cloud Mountain, the truly strong weren't that numerous.
In terms of personal strength, he feared no one below the Xiantian realm. In Floating Cloud Mountain, he was confident—and undeniably—invincible. Even within Jingzhou City, he was considered a formidable figure. The urgent task now was to strengthen Black Dragon Stronghold and bring all of Floating Cloud Mountain under his control. This was the fastest way for him to gain more bandit points.
Though he didn't particularly like Black Dragon Stronghold, he wouldn't abandon it either. Because of the Big Bandit System, this stronghold was his foundation. If he gave it up, he would lose this decent starting point. He had to admit, after more than two years and with the Big Bandit System, he had come to accept and even get used to his identity as a bandit. Starting over with a completely unfamiliar identity, he had no idea what kind of situation he might face.
Many thoughts intertwined, finally splitting into two parts. First and foremost: reorganize Black Dragon Stronghold and absorb the various smaller strongholds in Floating Cloud Mountain. Second: deal with the figure behind Lin Sanlong and his wife—Ling Tuisi.
After pondering the first part, he felt confident and could start formally tomorrow. As for Ling Tuisi, Li Daoqiang furrowed his brow slightly, his mind sifting through everything he knew about the man. This included what he had learned over the past two years, as well as memories from his previous life. Most of it came from those past-life memories. He hadn't read the novel *The Legend of the Condor Heroes*, but he had seen some related TV adaptations, though many details were fuzzy.
Ling Tuisi was, without a doubt, ruthless and devoid of any familial loyalty. If his memory served him right, this man had even buried his own daughter alive. Such a person was both difficult and easy to deal with. Difficult because he was unscrupulous, without boundaries, cunning, and treacherous. Easy because he had weaknesses—he was greedy for wealth and power, yet his strength wasn't great, likely not even reaching the Xiantian realm.
In truth, given his current identity, what Li Daoqiang feared most were those righteous, upright figures who would kill him outright with their superior strength or influence. But someone like Ling Tuisi, whose strength was below Xiantian and whose power, though greater than his, still left room for negotiation—that was manageable. So there was nothing to worry about. Given some time, Ling Tuisi might even become a resource for his own growth.
He pondered silently for a long while before finally setting aside his thoughts and beginning to practice the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Art. He had just reached the fourth level, and more practice would only benefit him. As for sleep, with his current strength, going days or nights without rest was no problem.
The latter half of the night passed quietly, with no further disturbances in Black Dragon Stronghold.
The next day, in the square outside the Assembly Hall. In the morning, under Li Daoqiang's orders, nearly all of the stronghold's two hundred-plus members gathered. There were about two hundred able-bodied men, with the rest being women or elderly handling chores. Facing their new leader, the two hundred-plus people stood in awe, obedient and respectful, daring not to show any disrespect. After all, the former leader and his wife were still lying in the back mountain, feeding the wolves.
Li Daoqiang gave Li Si a look. Li Si stepped forward, turned to face the crowd, and shouted loudly: "Now hear the leader's command. Starting today, all able-bodied men in the stronghold will be divided into four brigades and a personal guard unit. Each brigade will be split into four squads. The head of each brigade and squad leaders will be decided through open combat in two days."
Before his voice faded, the expressions in the square shifted. Some showed joy, others frowned, and some looked confused. The quiet atmosphere broke as people began whispering among themselves, revealing a lack of discipline.
Li Daoqiang narrowed his eyes slightly. Though he had long known the state of Black Dragon Stronghold, seeing it now still displeased him. After all, the past was the past. Now, Black Dragon Stronghold was his. As his foundation, it could no longer remain such a rabble.
"Hmph." He channeled his inner energy, letting out a sound wave, and released a fierce, unstoppable aura. Instantly, the gradually noisy square fell silent again. The crowd looked at Li Daoqiang with reverence, their fear resurfacing, suppressing their curiosity. ······