Huang Yulang dragged the man ashore.
He gathered some dry wood and reeds, lighting three bonfires.
Soon, thick smoke billowed from the damp reeds.
Huang Yulang stood there quietly, waiting.
In about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a small boat emerged from the reeds.
Seven or eight powerful-looking brutes shouted as they came ashore, spotting the masked Huang Yulang and the Imperial Uncle, who was lying on the ground with his hands and feet bound.
“Hey!
Where did you two brats come from?
You tired of living?
How dare you cause trouble on our turf!” Seeing Huang Yulang’s masked face, they knew he was bad news and naturally didn’t greet him kindly.
“The Imperial Uncle?” But the leader recognized the disheveled Imperial Uncle at a glance, and his expression changed instantly.
“Mr.
Lu!
Mr.
Lu, save me!
This bastard is the one who kidnapped me!” The Imperial Uncle recognized the leader and began to shout excitedly.
Huang Yulang ignored the Imperial Uncle’s pleas for help.
A cold glint flashed in his eyes.
The other brutes reacted, their expressions changing as they drew their weapons to rush to the rescue.
But Huang Yulang reached out, grabbed the Imperial Uncle by the neck, and lifted him up.
The Imperial Uncle’s face immediately turned crimson as he struggled desperately.
“Damn it.” The man stopped the others, his face dark as he stared at Huang Yulang.
“Kid, if you know what’s good for you, let the Imperial Uncle go.
Otherwise, today will be your last.”
“Yeah, kid!
Let the Imperial Uncle go!
You got a death wish?” Huang Yulang couldn’t be bothered to waste words on them.
He strode forward.
The leader, Lu, and his men were hesitant to act for fear of harming their hostage, so they all fell back.
But Huang Yulang walked straight through them and leaped onto the small boat, a cruel grin on his face.
“Gentlemen, lead the way.
I just want to meet your boss!”
“You…” One of the brutes couldn’t stop himself from wanting to attack, but Lu held him back.
Killing intent surged in Lu’s eyes, yet he simply smiled faintly.
“So, you kidnapped our Imperial Uncle because you wanted to see our Island Lord.
You’re good.
You’ve got guts.” Without another word, he waved for everyone to get on the boat and led Huang Yulang deep into Reed Lake.
A lake several thousand *li* wide was no small matter.
It was filled with reeds, and after winding through them for over half an hour, a small island appeared before them in the distance.
The island was shaped like a gourd and was no larger than two soccer fields.
Dozens of thatched huts were scattered across it without any pattern.
Many men and women were busy at work, and a dozen or so merchant ships were docked around its perimeter.
When Huang Yulang and the others set foot on the island, they were quickly surrounded by dozens of men wielding various weapons.
As for the women in the distance, they glanced over with numb expressions before returning to their own tasks.
“Lu, what’s going on?” someone asked with a frown.
Lu’s expression was grim as he shook his head.
He then said to Huang Yulang:
“Kid, this is Gourd Island.
Our Island Lord is in the central building.
How about you let the Imperial Uncle go first?” Upon hearing this, the dozens of brutes who had just surrounded them had their expressions change drastically.
They glared at Huang Yulang with murderous eyes, but none dared to make a rash move.
“No rush.
It won’t be too late to release him after I’ve met your Island Lord.”
“You’re courting death!” Someone tried to launch a sneak attack from behind.
Huang Yulang simply swung the Imperial Uncle like a club, smashing him into the attacker and sending the brute flying.
“Bastard, you…” Lu quickly stopped the others from acting rashly.
He took a deep breath and nodded.
“Very well.
This way, please!”
The large group arrived outside the biggest thatched hut in the center of the island.
Dozens more men and women of all sorts, each looking fierce and menacing, gathered around.
About a dozen brutes emerged from the hut, every one of them exuding a powerful aura.
They were clearly top-tier first-rate masters.
The leader was a clean-shaven man with a fair complexion.
He gently waved a Folding Fan in his hand, his face devoid of joy or sorrow as he looked calmly at Huang Yulang.
“I am the Island Lord of Gourd Island.
Perhaps you will release the Imperial Uncle now.” Killing intent flared in Huang Yulang’s eyes as he looked at the man.
“You’re the one I was looking for.
You can have this Imperial Uncle back.” Huang Yulang abruptly hurled the Imperial Uncle he was holding.
The man’s body shot like a cannonball straight at the Island Lord.
Seeing the Imperial Uncle flying toward him at such a speed, the Island Lord’s expression changed dramatically.
Before he could act, two masters shot out from behind him, trying to catch the Imperial Uncle.
THUD!
The moment the three collided, the two top-tier masters were sent flying, spitting out mouthfuls of blood.
As for the Imperial Uncle, the powerful impact shattered his internal organs, killing him instantly.
“Courting death.” Intense killing intent appeared on the Island Lord’s previously emotionless face.
But before he could give the order to attack, Huang Yulang struck first.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
Huang Yulang took them down one by one with his fists.
Anyone hit by his punch was sent flying while spitting up blood.
Large swaths of bandits were knocked off their feet by the bodies of their comrades.
Huang Yulang hadn’t come here to reason with them.
Only by exterminating this group of bandits could his business in the Two Rivers of Huaiyin be stable.
Of course, these hundred-plus martial arts masters could also provide him with a great deal of Essence of Blood and Qi.
Huang Yulang was decisive, like a tiger pouncing on a flock of sheep.
Every punch left an enemy either dead or maimed.
Screams of pain, furious curses, cries of alarm, shouts, and the dull thuds of breaking bones rose and fell in a chaotic symphony.
Splattering blood dyed Huang Yulang crimson.
He seemed to have transformed into a Blood Asura, reaping lives at will, with no one able to withstand a single blow.
In just a few breaths, dozens of second- and third-rate masters had already fallen.
The other bandits saw this Killing God-like figure, their faces contorting in terror as they desperately fell back.
But how could Huang Yulang let them go?
He drew the Spirit Wood Sword from his back, infused it with Magical Power, and swept it out horizontally.
PFFT!
PFFT!
PFFT!
Green Sword Qi swept out.
Everywhere it passed, bandits were sliced in half at the waist.
They might have wanted to flee, but how could their speed possibly match the swift Sword Qi?
When the Island Lord and the top masters behind him saw Huang Yulang’s massacre, they were all furious.
Just as they were about to attack together, they saw that Huang Yulang was using a mere wooden sword to unleash such sharp and terrifying Sword Qi.
Their expressions twisted in horror.
“A cultivator!
Damn it, he’s a cultivator!” The Island Lord had clearly witnessed the methods of the Immortal Families before.
Terror seized his heart, and without a second thought, he turned to flee.
Hearing this and seeing their boss fleeing in disarray, the dozen or so masters also came to their senses.
Their faces turned deathly pale.
Abandoning their weapons, they scrambled to escape.
“None of you will escape.” Huang Yulang had just about finished off the small fry.
Seeing the leaders trying to flee, he snorted coldly and attacked with his full strength.
Huang Yulang stomped his foot.
With a deep THUD, the ground caved in, forming a deep pit.
He shot into the sky, instantly appearing above the bandit leaders, and thrust out his Spirit Wood Sword with lightning speed.
Streaks of Sword Qi tore through the air.
PFFT!
PFFT!
PFFT!
“No—!” Accompanied by wretched screams, they couldn’t even dodge.
One by one, they were pierced through the heart or head and collapsed to the ground.
Seeing Huang Yulang’s terrifying methods, the Island Lord was scared out of his wits.
He stumbled, collapsed limply to the ground, and began kowtowing to Huang Yulang.
“Immortal, spare me, Immortal!
Please, Immortal, let this lowly one go!
This lowly one will be your slave, your workhorse, for the rest of his life!
I only beg the Immortal to spare this worthless dog’s life!” Huang Yulang descended from the sky and looked at the so-called Island Lord kowtowing and begging for his life.
His face was expressionless as he swung his sword.
SLICE!
The man’s head flew into the air and rolled across the ground.
A band of more than one hundred martial arts masters had been like melons and vegetables before the current Huang Yulang, annihilated in one fell swoop without a shred of suspense.
Huang Yulang stood there quietly, allowing the Mysterious Jade Pendant on his chest to greedily devour the Essence of Blood and Qi.
Streams of bloody light flowed into his body.
Huang Yulang felt his Blood Qi, which had originally flowed like a babbling brook, more than double in speed.
A stronger power welled up inside him, and his physical strength instantly approached two thousand catties.
The women who had been busy working in the distance witnessed this bloody and cruel scene.
They huddled together, trembling, their faces deathly pale as they looked at Huang Yulang.
Yet, they showed no intention of running.
Some even seemed to feel a sense of relief.
After a few moments, the bloody glow on the Jade Pendant faded.
Huang Yulang sensed the power within himself and was very satisfied.
‘The Essence of Blood and Qi from the bodies of over a hundred experts is almost as much as what I got from that tiger undergoing Demon Transformation.
I suppose wiping out this gang of bandits counts as enforcing justice on behalf of heaven.
And I even got to significantly increase my strength.
Killing so many birds with one stone is pretty great.’
Huang Yulang glanced at the women in the distance.
Knowing they were all pitiful victims, he shook his head and said in a clear voice:
“The bandits have been eliminated.
Gather some valuables and leave on your own.”
These poor women had all been abducted by the bandits, so Huang Yulang naturally wouldn’t make things difficult for them.
Since he had been masked the whole time, he wasn’t afraid of his identity being exposed.
With a few leaps, SPLASH!
Huang Yulang plunged into the lake and disappeared.
Seeing that Huang Yulang had spared them, the women began to cry tears of joy.
Many of them quickly kowtowed repeatedly in the direction he had disappeared, offering their thanks.
Huang Yulang continued north, swimming underwater for a full hundred *li* before finally turning due east.
「Several hours later.」
A Daoist wearing a National Master Robe came speeding over, a Duster in his hand, his feet balanced on a single reed.
This Daoist was none other than the renowned National Preceptor of Yun Country, Yun Ji.
Rumor had it that he came from the Water Cloud Sect, one of the top ten Immortal Sects in Da Hong State.
A few years ago, he had arrived in Yun Country during his travels and was appointed as its National Preceptor.
The brother of a favored consort had been abducted.
When all inquiries led to dead ends, the Monarch became enraged and personally went to the National Preceptor’s Mansion to request that the National Preceptor investigate.
Yun Ji, of course, had his methods.
Using a Secret Technique to lock onto the trail, he had followed it all the way to Gourd Island.
But when he saw the body of the Imperial Uncle and the hundreds of other corpses, and especially when he sensed the lingering Wood Attribute Spiritual Qi on some of the bodies, Yun Ji’s expression turned completely grim.
“What a brazen rogue cultivator!
To defy the sacred edicts and slaughter innocent mortals!
This humble Daoist will not tolerate you.”
Yun Ji formed a set of Finger Formulas.
A ball of watery mist was released from his palm, enveloping the residual Spiritual Qi left on the wounds of several corpses.
It transformed into an illusory Water Snake that dove into the lake and vanished.
Yun Ji let out a cold snort.
Balancing on his reed, he sped off in pursuit of the illusory Water Snake.