Chapter 970: Whoever Dares Kill Him, Master Dao Will Make Him Pay with His Life!

Yuan Gang came like a gust of wind, arriving without warning and stopping abruptly beside Guan Fangyi and the others.

The Zijin Cave disciples opposite them were all startled by the sheer speed of his charge. It was the first time they had seen someone run so fast on foot that he could nearly match cultivators flying through the air.

Saber held crosswise in one hand, Yuan Gang swept his gaze over the Zijin Cave group. Then he tilted his head toward Guan Fangyi. He saw the vivid red palm print across her cheek and the scarlet smear of blood at the corner of her mouth.

His voice sank. "Who hit you?"

Guan Fangyi smiled bitterly. "Forget it. When Master Dao returns, justice will settle everything."

Expressionless, Yuan Gang repeated, "I asked who hit you."

The Zijin Cave group stared at him with curiosity. They did not know Yuan Gang well and found him rather unusual. Who hit her? A Zijin Cave disciple hit her. What are you planning to do about it?

Guan Fangyi shook her head. "Monkey, forget it."

Guan Qingya snorted. "A guilty conscience."

He had been the one to strike her. So what? He was not afraid in the slightest.

He did not believe this big red-faced brute could stir up any waves inside Zijin Cave. Niu Youdao might not even return alive from Sacred Realm. Even if he did return, so what? Everyone here could testify that Guan Fangyi had spoken improperly first. Guan Qingya had backing of his own. He had acted to vent his master's anger, and his master could stand behind him. Even if Niu Youdao came back, what could he do? Fight Yan Li to the death? Zijin Cave's rules were not mere decoration.

Taking another step back, Guan Qingya would have been delighted if Niu Youdao fell out with Zijin Cave and ruined the marriage between Ju An and Wen Mo'er.

Old Six Xu exploded in anger and pointed. "Master Yuan, he's the one who hit her!"

Yuan Gang's cold gaze locked onto Guan Qingya. "Why did you hit her?"

Guan Qingya said, "I wouldn't call it hitting her. I taught her a lesson. She was behaving too arrogantly. This is Zijin Cave's territory. Since when did it become yours..." He repeated the lies he had used to smear Guan Fangyi, proving that he had supposedly had good reason to discipline her.

Guan Fangyi said furiously, "Stop slandering me! I never said any such thing. You're deliberately twisting words and looking for trouble! Guan Qingya, you've already taken advantage of the situation. End it while you can. Don't go too far!" She did not want him provoking Yuan Gang.

Guan Qingya gestured toward the men on either side of him. "The witnesses are right here. You don't get to deny it!"

Guan Fangyi snapped, "They're in collusion with you. How can they serve as witnesses?"

Guan Qingya's face filled with mockery. "Then tell me, who can testify for you?"

"Let my saber testify!"

Yuan Gang's voice cut in coldly.

With a whoosh, his figure shot forward. The saber held crosswise in his hand erupted into a waterfall of cold light. A savage roar seemed to burst from the blade, the furious howl of a tiger rolling like a thunderclap as the weapon came crashing straight down at Guan Qingya's head.

By this point Yuan Gang already understood what had happened.

He and Guan Fangyi had spent years at odds with one another, but they had also spent years together. He knew what kind of person she was. Her many years in the Qi capital had shaped her deeply. The city was full of entrenched powers, dragons and tigers lying in every quarter, and that environment had made Guan Fangyi someone who did not offend others lightly. Put less kindly, she was accustomed to swallowing grievances for the sake of peace.

Yuan Gang did not particularly like Guan Fangyi. But if someone claimed she would say something as arrogant as Guan Qingya alleged, Yuan Gang did not believe it for a moment.

The other side was clearly looking for trouble and bullying them.

They were doing this because Master Dao was absent. If Master Dao were here, whether they were in the right or wrong, who would dare come to the Maolu Annex and act this brazenly?

Yuan Gang was not Guan Fangyi. Someone had come to their door looking for a fight, and he could not endure it. If they tolerated this today, the other side would only conclude that the people of the Maolu Annex were easy to bully. If they endured today, how were they supposed to endure all the long days to come?

Even if the Maolu Annex had no one left, Yuan Gang would make Zijin Cave understand that its people still had blood and courage, enough that no one would dare bully them lightly again!

The moment he attacked, he had already abandoned any expectation of walking away unharmed.

He knew perfectly well that this was Zijin Cave's own sect grounds. The instant he moved, he had already prepared himself to die generously if necessary. If the sacrifice of one man could make Zijin Cave stop looking down on everyone here, so be it.

That was Yuan Gang.

Death did not frighten him. He would rather break than bend!

"Monkey!" Guan Fangyi screamed in alarm. She had known nothing good would happen once this man was alerted, and sure enough, a single disagreement had been enough for him to attack.

She was both shocked and moved. She had never expected Yuan Gang, who had always clashed with her, to risk his life standing up for her.

The Zijin Cave disciples were equally stunned. Even Niu Youdao might not have dared act this arrogantly here, yet some reckless blockhead had suddenly appeared and attacked without hesitation.

The thunderous roar jolted Guan Qingya's mind. Fortunately, he had already retreated some distance earlier, giving himself a fraction of time to react. Otherwise, with the saber coming this fast, he might truly have been split alive by the first stroke. In his haste he sprang backward while drawing his sword to block.

Clang!

Metal crashed against metal.

The sword in Guan Qingya's hand was blasted free and smashed to the ground. His eyes widened as he threw his head violently backward. The saber edge passed barely in front of his face. With a ripping hiss, it sliced open the front of his robe as he retreated, nearly gutting him on the spot.

He had barely escaped disaster, and the fright almost sent his soul flying.

The speed of Yuan Gang's saber was even greater than he had imagined, and the violence of the force behind it was far beyond his expectations. After meeting it head-on, Guan Qingya understood perfectly.

He had been somewhat careless during that first clash and had not defended properly. The hand that had held his sword was already numb from the impact.

Wasn't this big red-faced brute supposed to be no cultivator at all, merely a secular martial artist? How could his attack be this powerful?

Before Yuan Gang could change his saber's momentum, Guan Qingya's two attendants drew their swords almost simultaneously and swept in from both sides.

Yuan Gang snapped the saber hilt upward and set the blade vertically before him, using it as a rigid barrier. Clang! Clang! The two crossing swords were knocked aside in succession.

The force of the collision sent both men spinning away. As they turned, each struck out with a palm, blasting two waves of palm force through the air toward Yuan Gang.

Yuan Gang bent forward, drove his saber down, and thrust both arms ahead like the horns of an ox. His entire body became a powerful bull charging with lowered horns as he crashed straight into the two attacks.

Boom! Boom!

The explosions sent waves of force surging in every direction.

Everyone was shocked. Before their eyes, Yuan Gang had used nothing but flesh and blood to smash directly through both men's attacks.

The two attendants spun away, then slashed their swords repeatedly, releasing one blade of sword qi after another toward Yuan Gang.

Yet Yuan Gang, no cultivator at all, somehow saw the paths of those invisible attacks with his naked eyes. His saber hacked left and right, chopping through the incoming sword qi one after another as easily as cutting melons and vegetables.

"Audacious! You dare behave violently here!" shouted the leader of the Zijin Cave guards watching nearby. "Take him!"

Swords hissed from their sheaths.

The Zijin Cave disciples surged forward together and surrounded Yuan Gang in an instant.

"Stop! Stop..." Guan Fangyi screamed desperately. She shouted toward Zijin Cave's people while using all her strength to stop the Maolu Annex's people from joining the fight, even ordering the people of Fufang Garden to help restrain Duan Hu and the others.

If the people of the Maolu Annex and the disciples of Zijin Cave entered a full-scale battle, there would be no bringing matters back under control. Zijin Cave could not afford to lose that face.

A group of outsiders causing armed chaos in the heart of Zijin Cave would inevitably be crushed. At that point, the sect might not give even Master Dao any face.

Wu Zhaoxing and Yun Ji exchanged looks. Both hesitated. They too understood that if the Maolu Annex and Zijin Cave began slaughtering each other openly, the consequences would be impossible to reverse.

They knew the matter should not be allowed to grow, but Yuan Gang was already being besieged by Zijin Cave disciples.

Even so, both had to admit that Yuan Gang was ferocious beyond belief. Surrounded by attackers, he continued fighting like a wild beast. He was knocked down and climbed back up, fell again and rose again, his saber sweeping as he charged recklessly from side to side.

But against a disorderly storm of sword qi, even Yuan Gang could not defend every point. His clothing was already torn to rags, and bloody cuts crisscrossed his body.

The Zijin Cave disciples attacking him were secretly astonished.

What an absurdly powerful body!

They knew exactly how hard they were striking and had not shown much mercy. An ordinary man hit by one of those attacks would probably already have been cut down. Yet when the sword qi struck this man, its sharpness could only tear skin and flesh. It failed to inflict a fatal wound, and he simply kept fighting.

Yuan Gang had dared run wild inside Zijin Cave. The disciples attacking him had no intention of sparing him. Worse, several junior disciples had already been knocked down by his counterattacks. Anger rose, and the attackers began striking to kill.

Yuan Gang was simply too fierce and too physically resilient for them to finish him immediately.

"Hongniang! If something happens to Master Yuan, how are you going to answer Master Dao?" Duan Hu, pinned down by Uncle Chen, roared.

Guan Fangyi could already see that Zijin Cave's disciples were trying to kill Yuan Gang. She shouted toward the attackers, "Yuan Gang is Master Dao's brother! Whoever dares kill him, Master Dao will make him pay with his life!"

Then she turned and shouted toward Ju An, who was watching from a distance, "Someone is trying to kill the brother of Elder Zhong's disciple! Why aren't you going to fetch Elder Zhong?"

The moment Ju An heard this, he immediately flew away.

At the entrance to the Annex, Yuan Fang stood in monk's robes with two monk's sabers in his hands, his face twisted in conflict. In the end, however, he flicked his wrists, hid both sabers back inside his sleeves, then slipped behind the gate and stuck half his head out to spy on the situation outside.

Those two shouts in succession made the Zijin Cave disciples who had been striking to kill hesitate. As they circled Yuan Gang and continued attacking, they exchanged glances.

In truth, these Zijin Cave disciples had barely interacted with Niu Youdao. Like Guan Qingya, they knew his name but did not truly fear him. If anything, some even looked down on him.

Zijin Cave's internal talk naturally did not glorify Niu Youdao to the heavens and undermine its own prestige. The stories told inside the sect were always ones that favored Zijin Cave itself: Niu Youdao had joined the sect to seek refuge from calamity, and so on. These people already possessed the arrogance of disciples from a great sect, and on top of that, no one even knew whether Niu Youdao would return alive.

Zhong Guzi, however, was different.

The moment Guan Fangyi invoked Zhong Guzi, the effect on them was considerable.

Seeing more and more blood cover Yuan Gang's body, and seeing that the threat had at least restrained the Zijin Cave disciples from pressing their killing blows, Guan Fangyi hurried over to Wu Zhaoxing and Yun Ji. "Don't hurt anyone!"

Emotionally, her behavior might have been difficult for some people to accept. But she had managed Fufang Garden for many years. At a critical moment, she was still one of the calmer people present.

Wu Zhaoxing and Yun Ji understood what she meant. Rescue Yuan Gang, but do not injure Zijin Cave's people. Otherwise, Zijin Cave's senior leadership would have no choice but to give the entire sect an explanation, and the matter would become impossible to contain.

The two exchanged a glance, then suddenly flashed into motion together. They descended directly into the ring of attackers.

A fierce exchange followed.

Experts were experts. Working together, the two forcibly pulled Yuan Gang out of the encirclement...

Inside Tortoise-Slumber Pavilion, Ju An rushed straight in, hurried to Zhong Guzi, and dropped to his knees. "Grandmaster, something has happened at the Maolu Annex. They've started fighting with disciples of our sect..." He quickly explained the entire sequence of events.

Zhong Guzi opened his eyes and quietly listened until Ju An finished.

Then he sighed. "I know."

After speaking, he slowly closed his eyes again and returned to complete stillness.

[End of Chapter 970]