The First People's Hospital in North City was even more bustling than usual. A contingent of armed police had quietly moved in.

Several ordinary buses had just pulled up, and the heavily armed police rapidly deployed to every corner of the hospital. Xing Wuyi listened to the safety confirmations relayed from various points, yet felt no sense of reassurance. The scent of danger in the air grew thicker. Solomon, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed in repose, suddenly snapped them open. Almost simultaneously, the Little Dragon King stomped his feet, and before the marble floor could shatter beneath him, he shot toward the staircase like a dragon soaring through the clouds. Solomon followed close behind, drifting toward the stairwell.

The instant the two moved, two middle-aged men entering the lobby raised their canes. The head of a cane deftly flicked upward at the air in front of them, and the dark muzzles of guns instantly spat fire, tracking Yang Lie and Solomon.

Killing intent. Unmistakable killing intent. These two middle-aged men carried a savage, bloody aura of slaughter, a blood-lust so profound it had seeped into their very bones from years of survival in the Golden Triangle.

The moment the gunshots rang out, the hospital lobby descended into chaos. Several police officers positioned nearby rushed out instantly, immediately drawing the attention of the two gunmen. Yu Xiao, who hadn't moved from his bench seat, flicked his wrist lightly. Two bullets spun rapidly as they flew.

Employing the Inherited Spear Technique, and using a large-caliber handgun specially modified by Qin Fen, his unexpected shots tore two bloody holes in the foreheads of the two ferocious Golden Triangle warriors.

Two kills. Yu Xiao dared not pause for an instant. His heels clicked rapidly on the marble as he charged toward the stairs, his gun spraying continuous fire to suppress the several Golden Triangle members attempting to storm the lobby.

Two flashbangs exploded fiercely in the lobby, momentarily blinding the unprepared armed police officers. Over twenty warriors from the Golden Triangle swiftly charged toward the staircase.

The warriors from the Golden Triangle had a very clear objective: to eliminate Qin Fen, the culprit who had thrown the Golden Triangle into disarray, rather than engaging in an overly direct conflict with the Federal government forces.

Eight-star? Nine-star? Perhaps even ten-star? These twenty-odd warriors from the Golden Triangle all possessed strength above the eight-star level at the very least. While such power might not be exceptional for men of middle age, against the younger generation today, they possessed an inherent advantage in accumulated time.

Facing twenty middle-aged warriors armed with potent firearms, Yang Lie did not hesitate to retreat. He spread his five fingers, grasping the back of Yu Xiao’s collar, and dragged him quickly up the stairs.

With superior equipment and years of life-or-death battles in the Golden Triangle, this group of just over twenty middle-aged warriors instantly tore open the defensive line Xing Wuyi had established. They pursued the Little Dragon King, Yang Lie, and in a flash, reached the sixth floor.

A powerful, explosive frontal assault. Xing Wuyi was somewhat surprised; he had expected an assassination attempt, not such an overt, large-scale demonstration of force, with no apparent intention of retreating.

Excellent weaponry and overwhelming strength. The younger martial artists felt a grudging admiration for Xing Wuyi’s initial assessment. If Qin Fen hadn't already left, this would have been extremely troublesome.

Not an assassination? Xing Wuyi knitted his brows tightly. This kind of direct, destructive attack clearly wasn't the work of assassins hiding in the shadows. What was their background? Why were they fighting so crudely?

"Hidden sentry on the seventh floor, critically ill patient!"

A shout echoed from the Golden Triangle warrior leading the charge down the corridor. The twenty-odd warriors behind him instantly boosted their strength to the maximum, and hundreds of bullets instantly flooded toward the hidden sentry at the end of the corridor.

A series of metallic sparks erupted outside the stairwell. The Dragon Scale Armor worn by the armed police could stop bullets, but it could not withstand the sheer impact force generated by hundreds of rounds. He could no longer grip the outer wall of the building with both hands and was rapidly forced backward. Fortunately, the rope connecting him to the roof had not been hit. The sentry pulled himself out, and the Golden Triangle warrior rushing ahead suddenly saw his eyes gleam as he looked toward the intensive care unit at the end of the corridor. A very faint breath could be sensed emanating from within, and this faint aura carried a scent of blood—an aura only those who have rolled in seas of blood possess. It must be him.

A ten-star Golden Triangle warrior reached the door and delivered a front kick. The sturdy door lock groaned and flew inward violently.

Indeed.

The Golden Triangle warrior saw the young, severely wounded patient lying on the bed, kept alive only by a suite of high-tech equipment. A spark flashed in his eyes, and his hand, resting on the trigger, pulled backward.

Everything happened in an instant. With just half a moment more, the trigger would have been fully depressed. The Golden Triangle warrior could almost smell the blood that would spray out when the young man lying on the bed was riddled with bullets like a hornet's nest.

Death? No.

A hand glowing with golden light stretched out from the side. In the eyes of the Golden Triangle warrior, its speed did not appear fast, but it possessed a perfect rhythm, arriving just in time to intercept the trigger before it could fully disengage.

Someone? The Golden Triangle warrior was startled. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that there was a middle-aged man beside the young, gravely injured patient. But for some reason, he hadn't sensed this person's presence when kicking in the door. The door’s failure to register the man’s complete lack of presence had alerted him.

Not good. The Golden Triangle warrior sensed the suffocating aura of murderous bloodlust in the air and frantically tried to retreat.

Pfft.

The Golden Triangle warriors following closely behind only saw a spray of red and white matter erupt from the doorway, immediately followed by a blast of golden palm energy that shot out and instantly pierced the wall opposite the corridor.

Palm energy that splits the void? The two dozen Golden Triangle warriors were startled simultaneously. Once a martial artist reaches a certain realm, they can generate palm or fist energy to attack from a distance—something that might seem purely fantastical to ordinary people. Yet, these warriors, who lived constantly between life and death in the Golden Triangle, knew that such powerhouses truly existed.

"Which insignificant junior dares to interrupt?"

The question, laced with disdain and anger, struck the hearts of the surging Golden Triangle warriors like a heavy hammer. The one at the very front felt as if he were about to vomit blood from the sheer force of the words.

Without waiting for a reply, the source of the golden palm energy stepped out of the room. He stood about 1.7 meters tall, clad in a golden martial arts uniform embroidered with a golden dragon, and his entire body radiated a golden aura.

Kang Jinlong. The strongest of the Four Great Constellation Generals under the Star Beast White Tiger: Kang Jinlong.

The twenty-odd Golden Triangle warriors froze. Many people in the world had dragons embroidered on their uniforms, but only one person had the glittering words "Kang Jinlong" embroidered beneath a golden dragon.

Few had seen Kang Jinlong in person, but not seeing him did not mean they were ignorant of what this uniquely adorned figure represented.

In fact, the general outlines of most powerful martial artists—like the Constellation Generals and Star Beasts—were ingrained in the minds of nearly all martial artists.

Among them, Kang Jinlong, the Constellation General of the White Tiger, was an exceptionally famous figure.

Legend held that before the White Tiger became a Constellation General, when Kang Jinlong was not yet called Kang Jinlong, he followed the White Tiger to cultivate the martial path. He was essentially the White Tiger's true eldest disciple, mastering the entirety of the White Tiger's genuine teachings. Unfortunately, he was forever stuck at the Constellation General level, never managing to break through to the Star Beast realm.

Why would a Constellation General from the Metal Star be here? The twenty-odd Golden Triangle warriors were stunned simultaneously, only to see Kang Jinlong raise his palm. Golden palm energy filled the entire space of the corridor.

This is...

Before the Golden Triangle warriors could even form a coherent thought upon seeing the palm energy, agonizing pain erupted throughout their bodies. The sounds of fracturing bones and rupturing muscle fibers and blood vessels rang out almost simultaneously.

Xing Wuyi, standing on the twelfth floor, felt the floorboards beneath him shake several times. The sound that reached his ears was like the muffled thunder generated by a hundred lightning bolts intertwining and churning—as if someone had ignited a hundred gas tanks in the stairwell, resulting in a massive explosion.

After the thunderous roar came a dead silence. Kang Jinlong looked at the scattered, shredded limbs and pulverized flesh in the corridor. His golden pupils flickered slightly, and a faint, cold smile touched the corner of his lips. He turned and returned to the room, his icy words echoing down the corridor:

"Anyone who disturbs the Young Master's rest must die."

Hades, lying on the hospital bed, watched the imposing middle-aged man enter. He gently closed his eyes, refusing to look further, and said softly, "Chen Jinlong, you can leave. I am no longer your Young Master. I am crippled."

Chen Jinlong's not-so-tall frame slightly stiffened. The imposing aura radiating from within him instantly transformed into inexpressible sorrow and tenderness. He stood quietly by the doorway and whispered, "Young Master, you are not crippled. You absolutely are not."

"Heh," Hades murmured weakly, "Chen Jinlong, although I don't have your strength, I am still the son of the White Tiger. I have some judgment. You should return to the Metal Star. Since my father has already died in battle, I assume the other three Constellation Generals on the Metal Star, having lost their restraint, will surely be vying to expand their influence, won't they?"

"Yes, Young Master," Chen Jinlong replied, retracting the true energy he had released. His eyebrows still seemed dusted with gold powder. "Bull and Ox have already started fighting."

Hades opened his eyes, his gaze no longer sharp, fixed on Chen Jinlong. "Then why haven't you gone back? Be careful, or one day the Metal Star will have no place for you."

Chen Jinlong gently shook his head. "Young Master, the Metal Star must have its own Star Beast martial artist. The other three Constellation Generals—they have no chance of becoming Star Beasts, and neither do I. You are the Master's hope before he died. Therefore..."

"Enough, don't say any more," Hades sighed, struggling to speak. "All my bones and meridians are broken."

"Young Master, you will definitely become a Star Beast! The Master said so; you absolutely can become a Star Beast! What does an injury matter? I will find a way to heal your injuries. You possess a talent that others do not—you surely can!"

"Injuries like this..." Hades knew the severity well.

"No!" Chen Jinlong emotionally interrupted Hades. "There is a way! There is definitely a way! Only you are qualified to become the new Star Beast!"

Xing Wuyi, leaning against the wall, let out a long breath toward the ceiling. "Fortunately, those guys were indeed lured to Hades' room. My memory wasn't mistaken after all. That man was indeed Kang Jinlong."

Another blast made the floorboards tremble slightly, followed again by the dense sound of gunfire. Xing Wuyi lightly pushed up the glasses on his nose. "As expected, that wasn't the entirety of the enemy's assault. This is better. I imagine all their attention is still focused on the hospital. Qin Fen should be fine." Before he finished speaking, Xing Wuyi heard an explosion from the phone he kept constantly open—a call meant for maintaining contact with Xue Tian, which he never usually answered. Now, an explosion echoed from the other end too.

"Trying to slip away?" Li Mingzheng lay languidly on the sofa, gently swirling the half-finished glass of red wine while watching the image transmitted from the screen. "Xing Wuyi? He is indeed clever for his age, using feints and diversions simultaneously. Unfortunately, you don't know your opponent is a General. I can access your profile and analyze you without your knowledge."

Li Mingzheng smiled. Xing Wuyi's diversionary tactic had been effectively tied down at the hospital by another feint force, also from the Golden Triangle. This way, they wouldn't interfere with the killing of Qin Fen.

"Now you should finally be dead, right?"

Li Mingzheng took a gulp of red wine, his eyes hazy as he watched the magnetic levitation ambulance on the screen suddenly stop moving and tumble onto the beach.

Escaping the vicinity of the hospital was best achieved using the mag-lev ambulance. Xing Wuyi had thought of that, and Li Mingzheng was pleased that he could predict it too.

A specially modified and parked mag-lev ambulance had been precisely arranged to 'coincidentally' be commandeered by Xue Tian. All of this was not too difficult for Li Mingzheng to orchestrate.

"I want Qin Fen alive! I will kill him with my own hands!" Li Mingzheng roared into the phone. "Money is no object. Get him alive and bring him to me. As for the other three, just kill them."

Splash. Splash. Splash.

Heads of nearly a hundred people suddenly emerged from the seawater as they repeatedly charged toward the shore. They were not carrying firearms; they were carrying knives.

Carrying a large number of guns and cannons within Zhongzhou territory was extremely difficult. To make Xing Wuyi believe the entire assault was focused on the hospital, all the heavy weaponry the Golden Triangle had assembled in Zhongzhou was used solely for the delaying action.

Knives and blades? Li Mingzheng smiled drunkenly. That was sufficient. Sufficient to kill the three young men who had just climbed out of the vehicle.

The intelligence indicated that the young man named Xue Tian was only an eight-star practitioner, while the one named Chen Feiyu was only seven-star. And that waste, Du Peng, was even weaker than Chen Feiyu.

How could such a trio possibly stand against a hundred-man detachment from the Golden Triangle? Li Mingzheng took another sip of red wine. The weakest among these hundred men was an eight-star, meaning Li Mingzheng had deployed the majority of the true strength held by the Golden Triangle leaders. The commander was even a twelve-star martial artist.

"Damn it, I think we've been tricked," Xue Tian drew his Iai sword from his waist, staring at the figures emerging from the sea. Without even looking at Du Peng or Chen Feiyu, he said, "You two, watch Qin Fen. Don't move."

Du Peng stared chillingly at the enemies surfacing from the sea, then looked worriedly at Xue Tian. "You alone?"

"Do you think I want to?" Xue Tian grimaced. "The weakest among them is eight-star. Fight one hundred alone? Am I an idiot whose brain was kicked by a mutant beast? Damn it, I really hate playing the lone hero. This time, I might actually die."

"Hand over Qin Fen, and we'll let the three of you go."

The words of the twelve-star warrior, standing at the rear of the formation, carried on the sea breeze.

Undermining an opponent's morale is something any intelligent martial artist will do. Even a cornered rabbit will bite. The potential explosive outburst from the three martial artists facing imminent death could still inflict harm. As the leader, his duty was to minimize casualties.

"Hand over Qin Fen?" Xue Tian turned to look at Qin Fen, who remained motionless like a wooden puppet. "How about I hand you over? Haha. How could I? We are friends, right?"

"My dream was to become a hero. The price of being a hero seems awfully high."

Xue Tian took a deep breath, the killing intent beneath his feet propelling him into the air. His Iai sword was held horizontally before his chest, his lips curved in that familiar, lazy smile. "Gentlemen, welcome to the world of the Raging Slash."