*Clap! Clap! Clap!*

The sound of clapping echoed, growing louder as it drew near. A figure of imposing stature, broad and muscular, strode into view with heavy steps. His bare hands, clenched into fists, strained against the fabric of his Sin Guard Commander uniform, stretching it taut around his powerful frame. Though he clapped softly, the sound seemed to shake the entire long street. With no other deliberate action, it was as if the very ground trembled with each of his approaching strides.

Zhu Weiwo tightened his grip on the gun, his pupils lifting slightly to fix upon the newcomer. The enforcers of order within Unredeem City were, of course, the Sin Guards. The Vice Commander of the Sin Guard, Lian Heng, was a formidable expert at the peak of the Tenglong Realm. And the burly figure now appearing was none other than the Sin Guard Commander himself, Kui Shan!

He advanced, halted his clapping, and regarded Zhu Weiwo with an air of interest. “Youngsters often possess the audacity born of ignorance.” He offered a chance. “I shall grant you an opportunity,” he declared. “Pay the ransom for these four individuals, and I will allow you to depart.”

Zhu Weiwo needed not ask to know that the life gold demanded for the four Bone Faces of the White Bone Dao would be an astronomical sum. Magnified ten thousandfold, it was a figure that would cause even the most powerful sect or faction to feel the pinch. Unredeem City, reliant on the practice of life gold ransoms, had amassed untold wealth over the years through this very system.

However, no matter the sum, it was impossible for Zhuang Country to pay such a price. There was no logic in paying a ransom to pursue and eliminate traitors of one’s own country; such a principle held no sway with anyone. Even if Zhuang Country were eventually willing to part with such a fortune, it would not be for the capture of the four Bone Faces, but solely for the ransom of Zhu Weiwo himself.

Nevertheless, Zhu Weiwo had no intention of inquiring. “No,” he stated simply.

“No?” Kui Shan seemed to misinterpret his meaning. “Is it that you cannot afford it, or that you are unwilling to pay?”

“I cannot afford it, nor am I willing to pay.”

“See here, young man, do you take this place for Zhuang Country?” Kui Shan’s expression darkened. “Were Du Ru Hui of your Zhuang Country to come personally, this Commander might show him some deference. But what are you, pray tell?”

While the Zhuang Emperor was the sovereign of Zhuang Country and its mightiest combatant, the name that resonated most widely throughout the world, and instilled the most fear when speaking of Zhuang Country, was still Du Ru Hui. This was the prestige accumulated over years, a simple matter not easily shifted.

Zhu Weiwo remained impassive, his gaze steady, devoid of fear or trepidation. “You granting him three points would suffice. Upon encountering Prime Minister Du, you are but a dead man.”

“Presumptuous!” Kui Shan took a step forward, a heavy tread that seemed to shake the earth. “If you can survive three of my fists, I will spare your life. How about that?”

He threw a punch, the force of it like a collapsing mountain, like a shattering boulder.

Zhu Weiwo’s hand tightened, and from the point where his gun tip pierced the ground, a long line of paving stones flipped up, resembling a soaring green dragon. “Then let us fight with all our might, what harm is there!”

The green stone bricks, connected into a verdant long dragon, truly resembled a massive spear, thrusting from where Zhu Weiwo stood towards Kui Shan at the other end.

*Boom! Rumble!*

Kui Shan’s single fist struck, and where it made contact, the green stone bricks, infused with Zhu Weiwo’s Dao Origin Gun Qi, shattered into powder. Dust rained down as Kui Shan swiftly closed the distance. He had actually punched straight through the enormous green stone spear, his momentum unchecked. And the tip of his Salary Exhaust Gun was already pressed against his fist.

Kui Shan halted his step.

Zhu Weiwo’s foot shattered the paving stones beneath him, sinking into the ground. The immense force bent the entire long gun nearly in half. Then the gun sprang back, sending Zhu Weiwo involuntarily reeling backwards. With his back foot as the pivot point, green bricks cracked and splintered, leaving a deep trench in the ground.

With just one fist, Kui Shan had sent Zhu Weiwo flying from one end of the long street to the other. The Sin Guard Commander of Unredeem City, it seemed, walked the path of a pure martial artist. Moreover, he was a martial dao expert who had reached the Fifteenth Heaven’s pinnacle, comparable to a cultivator of the Inner Mansion Realm.

Zhu Weiwo swung his long gun, his long hair falling across his forehead. “Again!”

No sooner had the word left his lips.

Zhu Weiwo held his gun horizontally before him, but Kui Shan’s fist had already smashed into the gun shaft, causing it to arc outward. And with the gun shaft, the force slammed into Zhu Weiwo’s chest, sending him flying upwards.

*Crack.*

Zhu Weiwo clearly heard the sound of his chest bones shattering, the fractured ribs even piercing his lungs, making breathing difficult. His body felt light as drifting floss, seemingly without weight.

The onlookers, witnessing this battle, all craned their necks, watching as Kui Shan’s second fist sent the audacious young man soaring into the high sky. Those with poor eyesight could only discern a black speck against the distant expanse.

*Is he dead?* some people wondered.

“This… will he even have a complete corpse?” someone asked aloud.

Those who lived within Unredeem City knew the strength of the Sin Guard Commander, but few had witnessed Kui Shan in action. Furthermore, this man had defied the established cultivation systems, an expert on the path of martial dao. Compared to the vast majority of extraordinary cultivators, those who walked this path were destined for a rugged road ahead. For up to this point, no one had truly traversed it to its end. Whether it was the Dao of Law and Rites or the Soldier’s Release Ink, people had reached their respective pinnacles. But no one could prove whether a purely martial dao path truly led to an ultimate destination.

Given the rarity of martial dao experts, a battle scene such as this was incredibly precious to all the onlookers.

At this moment, a sound reached their ears. Violent, scorching, that howl drawing near, what was that sound?

All eyes turned skyward.

That black speck in the high sky had turned red. The person sent soaring into the sky had ignited into a figure of flame. And that figure reversed its form, the gun tip pointed downwards. From the high sky, a counterattack was launched towards Kui Shan – a single gun!

Not only had Zhu Weiwo not died, he had actually chosen to counterattack.

This gun was his fuel, thirty years of accumulated power unexhausted. This person was Zhu Weiwo, his entire life unwilling to yield to anyone! This single gun was incredibly scorching, incredibly violent. Person and gun fused as one. The sun was behind him. He seemed to have become a new sun. This moment was dazzling with light, this moment was boundless with heat.

Kui Shan’s foot struck the ground, sinking several meters. Borrowing this force, he swung his fist upwards in a counter-rush. Strong as Kui Shan was, this was the first time he had used force to launch a punch. Even for an expert like him, facing such a stunning gun strike from Zhu Weiwo, he felt the pressure.

Fist and gun intersected in mid-air. Zhu Weiwo descended from above, Kui Shan ascended from below. For an instant, all sound was annihilated.

Kui Shan landed. Zhu Weiwo flipped, landing gracefully opposite him. The young man spoke not a word, only lightly wiped away the trace of blood from the corner of his lip.

The onlookers all subconsciously held their breath. For three fists had already passed…

Zhu Weiwo was still alive.

Kui Shan was about to speak when he suddenly heard a familiar female voice in his ear. “The dignity of Unredeem City cannot be challenged. Hold nothing back, kill him.”

Without hesitation, he spoke aloud, “My apologies, I must break my promise. You must die here.” Compared to the command of the Sin Monarch Huang Jin Mo, his personal honor and shame were insignificant. Regardless of how the onlookers might criticize him inwardly.

Zhu Weiwo, instead, laughed. “I said, you need not yield.”

“I respect the rules of this place. I came with empty hands to kill, and thus I am aware of the possibility of dying here.”

“Come and kill me as you will, exhaust all your strength to kill me.”

“If you do not kill me this time, I will not seek revenge because of it in the future. Therefore, you need have no reservations, you must give it your all.”

He looked at Kui Shan, his fighting spirit soaring. His demeanor was not that of the weak fighting the strong, but rather full of a heroic spirit that overlooked all.

“If you do not give it your all, how can you possibly match the Salary Exhaust Gun in my hand?”

Kui Shan clenched his fists, and the bones throughout his body crackled. He declared, “Clear the field.”

The Sin Guard Vice Commander Lian Heng immediately led his men to clear the entire long street, leaving not a single onlooker.

When the clearing was complete.

Kui Shan looked at the young man standing alone with his gun before him. “Zhu Weiwo, your name, I have noted it down.”

“You are worthy of my respect, worthy of me giving it my all.”

At the same moment, in a small courtyard within a mine field tens of millions of li away.

Jiang Wang sat cross-legged, gazing quietly at the space outside the house. The sudden rain he had been waiting for all day, finally poured down in sheets.