Chapter Fifty-Three: Gai Lao's Death

  The golden tiger jumped and jumped, slowly moving away, gradually disappearing from the sight of the two. Both were somewhat unexpected. Gai Lao was extremely delighted in his heart, this was exactly what he wanted, now that Xu Hua had been seriously injured by the Golden Tiger, without the entanglement of the Golden Tiger, it was just right for him to take action, while Xu Hua sighed in his heart: It's coming.

  "Little friend, how are you? Is your injury serious?" The old man seemed to be worried about Xu Hua's injury and said with some concern.

  Xu Hua's face was flushed red, and he said weakly: "Old man, just now I was slapped by that beast, my internal organs are all displaced, and I haven't recovered yet."

  "Is that so? Let me take a look." Gai Lao hastily walked over, wanting to examine Xu Hua's injuries. However, Xu Hua immediately stopped him and said: "No need, I just need to calm my breath for a bit. What brings you here, sir?"

  Gao Lao didn't say a word and continued moving forward, but Xu Hua suddenly shouted: "Halt!"

  The old man stopped and said somewhat annoyed: "Don't you believe me?"

  Xu Huadao said: "I've always only believed in myself, if you really want to help me, Uncle, then just stand guard beside me and let me rest at ease while I recover from my injuries!"

  The old man stopped at one side and began to sweep his gaze around, as if he was really helping Xu Hua keep watch.

  Xu Hua saw this, and then sat up cross-legged to start circulating his true energy. On the surface, it looked like he was healing his injuries, but in reality, he was secretly using the "Devouring Life Technique" to greedily absorb the old man's life force. His own injuries had already recovered by 80-90%, and some of the remaining injuries didn't have a significant impact on his actual strength.

  After the great war, it was quiet all around, and one could clearly hear the rustling sound of leaves as the wind blew by. A pale-faced young man sat cross-legged on the ground, while an elderly man looked around cautiously in the distance.

  The old man carelessly looked around, occasionally glancing at Xu Hua, observing for a long time, and found that Xu Hua indeed had a sinister smile on his face after recovering from his injuries. He thought to himself: "It seems I was just being paranoid, this kid is clearly recovering! After all, even if it were me, I wouldn't be able to withstand the blow of that Golden Tiger's claw. Truly, heaven is helping me!"

  Gao Lao himself was also injured, hit by the Golden Tiger's paw, but it was only a minor injury. After determining that Xu Hua posed no threat to him, he quietly approached Xu Hua, planning to disable his dantian before interrogating him about the mysterious skill.

  One step, two steps, three steps...

  He was now only a few feet away from Xu Hua, and suddenly he took an arrow step to arrive at Xu Hua's side. He struck out with his palm towards Xu Hua's dantian, if this palm hit its mark, then Xu Hua would never again be able to cultivate true energy.

  Just as the old man's palm was about to chop down, Xu Hua suddenly opened his eyes, and two icy and fierce killing intents shot out from his eyes, making Gai Lao slightly stunned. Then, like a nimble monkey, Xu Hua fiercely threw two punches at Gai Lao!

  Rumble!

  A loud and ominous thunderclap sounded, followed by the old man's mournful roar. Immediately afterwards, a figure was seen flying through the air before heavily crashing to the ground.

  Pffft! Pffft!

  He spat out two mouthfuls of blood, and Gai Lao's hands covered the large hole in his chest that was still bleeding. His face turned pale, and he looked at Xu Hua with an expression of disbelief: "You...you're not injured?"

  Xu Hua looked at Gai Lao, who was lying on the ground, and walked step by step towards him. These slow steps, although soft, heavily struck Gai Lao's heart, making him feel that death was approaching.

  "Tell me who is behind you and I will spare your life."

  "Little friend, what's going on? I just wanted to take a look at your injury." Gai Lao immediately got into a tiger skin with Xu Hua, but he found that Xu Hua had a disdainful smile on his face, which made his heart skip a beat.

  "Old man, did you really think I didn't know you've been following me all along?"

  "Do you really think I don't know you've been hiding behind me all along?"

  Xu Hua's every word struck Gai Lao's heart, making his face even paler. He was stunned for half a day before slowly saying: "It seems you came here on purpose, with the intention of luring me out!"

  "Not too stupid."

  "Haha! Haha! Haha!" Ge Lao suddenly burst out laughing despite his injuries, and then looked at Xu Hua, saying: "I didn't expect it to be like this. It's all because I was too greedy, only thinking about getting your technique that can absorb the life energy of living beings, without careful consideration. Otherwise, I wouldn't have lost so miserably."

  When Gai Lao mentioned the essence of life, Xu Hua's eyes became even more murderous. That was his biggest secret, and he absolutely wouldn't allow it to be revealed. "It's all because you're too greedy, otherwise, it wouldn't be easy for me to kill you. Speak up, as long as you tell me who is behind your back ordering you to kill me, I'll spare your life."

  "Don't lie to me anymore, I know your secret will die and you'll never let me go."

  Xu Hua's face sank, and he stared at the old man for half a day without saying a word. However, Gai Lao suddenly said: "But it doesn't matter if I tell you, because even if I tell you, you won't be able to avenge yourself. Listen carefully, young one, the person behind me is Wu Ding Shi's third son."

  "Haha, I just want to see you like this now. You clearly know who your enemy is, but you're powerless to do anything about it. Even if I die, I won't let you have a good life."

  Crack!

  Xu Hua kicked the old man's neck, ending his life, and said: "Wu Dingzi? Although I am not a match for you now, one day I will take revenge, but you won't be able to see it."

  "This time, who is secretly plotting against me? He represents the Wudeng clan, Zhui Changfeng represents the Mingyang sect, and Zhang He is from which side? However, no matter who participates, I will find you all out!"

  At this time, the sun was about to set, and the afterglow of the sunset shone on the corpse of Gaius, whose head had been cut off, making it look extremely desolate.

  ……

  In just two days, Xu Hua had walked out of the Taihang Mountains after using a clever trick to kill the old man who was secretly following him. Since that day, he had become even more eager to establish his own power and have his own followers, because his enemies were too strong and it was impossible for him to resist alone.

  The entire Wudang clan has ruled over Luocheng for hundreds of years, and over the course of these hundreds of years, how much foundation has the Wudang clan accumulated, how many powerful individuals have emerged, no one truly understands. Xu Hua is not clear about this either, but he can guess that as a hereditary city master, there must be at least one Martial Honored strong individual within the Wudang clan, and as for exactly how many, it's impossible to know. However, even if there was only one Martial Honored strong individual, Xu Hua would still find it very difficult to exact his revenge.

  For at least a few years, he won't have the possibility of revenge. After all, behind Wu Dinghao is the entire Wu Ding family. Even if he kills Wu Dinghao, he will inevitably face the retaliation of the entire Wu Ding family. At that time, not to mention the strong masters of the Martial Arts Hall, even the sum of the strong masters in the Wu Ding family can't kill him, but they can make him suffer a great deal. So at this moment, Xu Hua has an unprecedented desire for a truly powerful force of his own.

  He had a plan in mind, but this plan was not something he could accomplish alone. Suddenly, he thought of someone - the black-robed figure who now held considerable power on Mount Lao Tie.

  In these two days, Xu Hua not only absorbed a large amount of life energy but also killed many first and second-tier demonic beasts, storing them in the spatial ring as resources for those under him to cultivate the "Body Refining Technique".

  Xu Hua, walking in the woods, suddenly saw a human figure again. He subconsciously thought it was one of those who came for the treasure and was about to take action.

  "We've met Young Master Xu." The few people in front of him suddenly bowed respectfully and said. This made Xu Hua somewhat surprised, furrowing his brow and saying: "Who are you?"

  It can be said that Xu Hua is now quite famous throughout Luocheng, so it's not surprising to know him.

  "We are from Lao Tie Shan, and we were sent by the master of Hei Pao Zhai to find out about your whereabouts, young master." The leader of the seven men was originally a native of Jiuzhaigou, and he showed utmost respect towards Xu Hua.

  "What did Hei Pao say?" Xu Hua nodded, acknowledging their identities.

  "The leader only allows us to come and find out about the young master's whereabouts, and also whoever sees the young master must listen to his orders, seeing the young master is like seeing the leader."

  "Just in time, I'm going to find Hei Pao, lead the way!" This is the edge of the Taihang Mountains, but Xuhua doesn't know the road from here to Lao Tie Shan, and these people just saved him some trouble.

  "Camel, quickly go and lead the horse for the young master." The middle-aged man who was leading said to someone beside him.

  Soon a line of people got on their horses, with Xu Hua riding in the middle, and quickly headed towards Lao Tie Shan. Along the way, this middle-aged man who was leading the group told Xu Hua about some things that had happened after he left.

  "After listening for a long time, Xu Hua said: 'So to speak, nowadays there are not a few people in Lao Tie Shan who have been eyeing you covetously.'"

  "Yes, young master! After all, the original four major strongholds and members were not small. Now that the four major stronghold owners are dead, the black robe owner controls the place alone, and other strongholds will naturally come to grab the territory." The middle-aged man who took the lead said.

  "It seems that Lao Tie Shan's forces are quite numerous!" Xu Hua had been to Lao Tie Shan before, but he wasn't very clear about the distribution of Lao Tie Shan's forces.

  The middle-aged man who led the way said again: "There are eighteen major strongholds in the entire Lao Tie Shan, among which the strongest Bai Gu and Hei Feng strongholds account for more than half of Lao Tie Shan. The remaining sixteen strongholds add up to less than one of these two strongholds. As for the sixteen strongholds, each has a similar size, and each stronghold owner is a strong martial arts master. Among the stronger strongholds, there are other strong martial arts masters under the stronghold owner, while Bai Gu and Hei Feng have more than ten strong martial arts masters."

  "What a powerful force in the Iron Mountain! Why have I never heard of it before?" Xu Hua was shocked, normally such a strong bandit force should be known to many people.

  "That person explained: 'Those two great powers are very strong, but they rarely take action, to the point where outsiders don't even know of their existence. However, we sixteen villages have to offer them tribute every year; if not, then forget about staying in this Iron Mountain.'"