Misty clouds bloom over the heavens! A large military helicopter's hatch swung open. Six figures—known as the Zhao Fan—leapt out without any visible assistance, plunging earthward at terrifying speeds, resembling suicidal freefalls as the rushing air whipped their hair into disarray.
Their descent was rapid. Yet, less than fifty meters above the ground, they abruptly halted mid-air, suspended, looking down upon everyone below.
Generals from all factions craned their necks, astonishment etched plainly on their faces. To hover like that required a minimum strength of fifteen stars! What was happening in the Golden Triangle today? To attract six Martial Arts Masters all at once? They looked so incredibly young—when had the Federation produced such a cohort of young prodigies?
Wait! A shudder ran through several generals. They exchanged incredulous glances with their neighbors, a single name springing simultaneously to all their minds: Qin Fen!
That’s right! Six months prior, a group of young people had risen in the Federation with the velocity of a comet, only to vanish just as swiftly, like a shooting star. In a short span, they had reclaimed their family seats, defeated the absolute powerhouse of the East Asia Military Region, and then disappeared again. Now, they had reappeared—right here in the Golden Triangle!
More and more generals began to surmise exactly who these newcomers were. On Earth, over the past few years, no one had managed to rival the fame these youngsters commanded. Despite their youth, they possessed the might of regional lords, achieving astonishing feats through a unity others could scarcely imagine. In the eyes of many, their future was boundless.
The generals’ gazes began to covertly drift toward Grand Commander Li Jianglong, standing not far away—the man who had reigned supreme in the Golden Triangle for years, his aura of effortless authority already draining away, replaced by a severe tension as he stared at the six figures in the sky.
Any one of these youths now commanded respect. When gathered together, any force on earth, save for Divine Beast Warriors, could not afford to ignore them.
In two years, no other small faction or power had managed to carve out the reputation and influence these young people had achieved.
Li Jianglong narrowed his eyes, fixing his gaze on Qin Fen, who hung suspended before the sun. The blinding light posed no threat to the Golden Triangle’s Grand Commander, but he squinted harder, wishing to scrutinize the young man more closely.
Li Jianglong finally abandoned the Grand Commander’s symbolic armchair. He rose slowly, ascending into the air without any external aid, defying gravity to meet Qin Fen at eye level. He cupped his hands in a slight bow. “It seems we have Master Qin, who caused such a stir half a year ago.”
Qin Fen gave a slight nod and countered, “Heaven’s Gate’s Arhat of the Descending Dragon?”
Li Jianglong registered a flash of shock. Although this matter hadn't been entirely concealed, few people knew of it. Yet, Qin Fen knew, and his tone carried a provocative edge. What was he planning? Did he intend to challenge all of Heaven’s Gate? These youngsters were immensely promising, but challenging the entirety of Heaven’s Gate now? That was a joke! Heaven’s Gate was not like the fractured East Asia Military Region, nor the Federation military, which lacked high-level martial artists.
Even though five of the Eight Immortals of the Upper Grotto had perished in the last six months, Heaven’s Gate remained a gathering of masters. Not to mention the supreme first master, the Jade Emperor, or the second, the Tathagata. Even Guanyin, Monkey, Yang Jian, and others were top-tier warriors.
As Qin Fen noted Li Jianglong’s stunned expression, he smiled, the corners of his mouth turning up. “So, the Golden Triangle is, in a sense, subordinate to Heaven’s Gate?”
Li Jianglong nodded again, startled, and then offered a formal salute. “Arhat of the Descending Dragon, serving under the Tathagata. I am impressed Master Qin has investigated so thoroughly. Do you have an interest in Heaven’s Gate? If you wish to join, I will gladly introduce you. If you intend to challenge us, however, I strongly advise further consideration. Heaven’s Gate’s strength is far beyond any opponents you have previously faced.”
Li Jianglong felt a surge of pride after speaking; his words were measured, encompassing both threat and appeal to the utmost degree. Any person with sense would surely not press the issue now.
“The Golden Triangle belongs to Heaven’s Gate? Very good. Very good indeed,” Qin Fen chuckled, his ten fingers already clenched into two tight fists. “You have two choices now: First, sever ties with Heaven’s Gate. Second, die here by my hand.”
“What?”
Li Jianglong doubted his own hearing. Qin Fen, absent for half a year, appeared and was immediately so domineering and overbearing.
Silence descended. Li Jianglong stared back at Qin Fen. His martial prowess was inferior to Dongting of the East, and defending his position in the Golden Triangle against these people seemed impossible. But leaving Heaven’s Gate?
Li Jianglong smiled wryly. If I can’t beat you, can’t I still leave? Once I return to Saturn, I’ll gather more Heaven’s Gate masters and crush you all before departing.
“Master Qin is also interested in the Golden Triangle? Regrettably, this Grand Commander position is not mine alone to decide,” Li Jianglong sidestepped the core issue, glancing downward at the assembled officers. “We must still—”
Boom! The symbolic armchair placed centrally exploded into dust. The generals stared in shock at the Golden Triangle legend of the past six months.
A palm strike, radiating savage intent, not only pulverized the armchair but also carved a massive crater into the earth. Generals standing nearer were blown backward by the concussive air. The warriors standing behind Li Jianglong, attempting to block by crossing their arms, were still shredded, their limbs brutally injured, their uniforms shredded as if attacked by a hundred wildcats from a casual, empty palm strike.
Empty Palm Strike! A special technique only Martial Arts Masters could employ! Instantly, many generals grasped one crucial fact: this Golden Triangle legend likely belonged to Qin Fen's team.
Silence reigned for half a second. A general stood up, waving his hands repeatedly. “We have no objection to who becomes Grand Commander. Please, the floor is yours, sirs.”
“Indeed, we greatly admire Master Qin. Young and ambitious, he would make an excellent Grand Commander too,” chimed another.
“I concur.”
The generals, quick to gauge the wind, began to shower praise. They understood clearly that they could afford to offend anyone but this legendary figure of the Golden Triangle’s death ring. Given his past temperament, when driven mad, this man was terrifyingly capable of slaughtering everyone present without regard for consequence.
Li Jianglong frowned slightly. He always suspected these subordinates were unreliable, but not to this extent.
“Leave Heaven’s Gate, or die by my hand.”
This final, soft declaration reached Li Jianglong’s ears. He raised an eyebrow again. “Master Qin, one cannot be too greedy. Is my agreement to yield the South Triangle not enough? Must I leave Heaven’s Gate as well?”
“It’s simple,” Qin Fen stated calmly. “Because I intend to kill the Tathagata, I must prune Heaven’s Gate’s wings.”
“Kill the Tathagata?” Li Jianglong flinched. “You intend to kill the Tathagata?”
Qin Fen remained silent. Solomon had already ascended and stood behind him, an eager excitement plastered on his face, practically bearing an inscription: If you refuse, I kill.
Leave Heaven’s Gate? Li Jianglong knew perfectly well this wasn't something he could resolve by simply saying, I, Li Jianglong, leave Heaven’s Gate. Qin Fen would almost certainly demand a video recording, broadcast globally, turning a temporary tactic into reality. If he explained to Heaven’s Gate that it was merely a stratagem—even if they accepted it—how would the martial artists of the world perceive it? A warrior who dared not fight; what damage would such a reputation inflict upon Heaven’s Gate? And what reaction might Heaven’s Gate manifest in response to such an impact?
“Alas, if it must be so,” Li Jianglong sighed, his expression darkening. In that instant, the sixteen-star warrior unleashed his power. A pair of wings composed purely of energy sprouted from his back, and with a swift motion, he turned and shot away at high velocity.
Level Four Bio-Beast Fusion at maximum! Li Jianglong was confident that while his sixteen-star might not be the strongest in the world, his flight speed certainly was. This costly falcon-type bio-beast, upon reaching Level Four Fusion, not only boasted formidable regenerative capabilities but also a special ability: accelerated flight.
This ability was useless in normal circumstances, but when fleeing, it became supreme! Forget sixteen stars; Li Jianglong was certain that no seventeen-star warrior in existence could outfly him.
A cry like a hawk echoed, and Li Jianglong had already covered a hundred meters, the friction with the air whistling loudly due to his immense speed. Fast! Under the immediate threat to his life, Li Jianglong reached speeds he’d never achieved before. He instinctively glanced back at Qin Fen and the others behind him, a smug smile tugging at his lips.
The smile instantly froze. Li Jianglong saw, less than three feet behind him, that behind the Young Dragon King Yang Lie, a pair of dragon wings were faintly visible! These were the wings of an Yinglong—a spectral image made of pure energy!
The Young Dragon King Yang Lie was also smiling, but his gaze wasn't fixed on Li Jianglong; it was directed toward the space ahead of Li Jianglong.
Ahead? Li Jianglong spun his head forward. His frozen smile shattered, replaced by profound shock.
In the space where there should have been nothing, a man stood. His white and black wings, like an angel’s, appeared solid and real, despite being constructs of energy. Qin Fen! How was this possible? Li Jianglong was stunned. How did this man get there?
“I will ask you one last time,” Qin Fen regarded the astonished Li Jianglong. “Yield, or die.”
“Do you truly wish to start a war with Heaven’s Gate?” Li Jianglong’s eyes darted about, searching for an escape. “To wage war against Heaven’s Gate, you would resort to indiscriminate slaughter?”
“Indiscriminate slaughter?” Qin Fen laughed, pointing below him. “If I killed every single person down there, perhaps one or two might die unjustly. But if I kill one out of every two? There would certainly be a large number of survivors! Are drug dealers considered innocent? Then all the corrupt officials in the world could also claim spotless virtue?”
“You!” Li Jianglong suddenly sucked in a sharp breath. His muscles rapidly condensed, hardening into blocks that shone with a metallic luster. His skin instantly transformed, as if drenched in liquid metal, his entire body becoming metallic. His muscles strained and cracked like colliding steel, the booming sound audible even to his eardrums, which themselves began to take on a metallic sheen.
New Martial Art: Steel War Body! No! Higher than the Steel War Body—the Golden Web War Body!
His musculature expanded, Li Jianglong’s chest puffed out, his spine seeming to metallize as well, emitting a sharp, clanging friction sound, as if his internal structure was not human bone but composed entirely of metal.
Forced Breakthrough! The moment Li Jianglong sensed Qin Fen’s intent to kill, he resolved to force a breakthrough! With a body where even the bones were refined steel, that immense defense might withstand some of the attack, allowing for escape.
It was rumored that the Steel War Body, when mastered, could turn muscle and skin to metal. The Golden Web War Body could even refine the marrow to metal!
His form stood rigid, bones like refined steel, flesh like iron. Li Jianglong’s skin quickly turned a gleaming silver-white, sparkling brilliantly under the sunlight, giving the impression that this was not a man, but a robot forged from pure metal.
In that instant, Li Jianglong unleashed a power he hadn't displayed since arriving in the Golden Triangle! He raised both hands in a gesture of salute, his pure-energy falcon wings suddenly beating rapidly behind him. He leaned slightly forward and struck out.
From exertion to attack, the entire sequence was instantaneous. This was a key advantage often cited for New Martial Arts over Ancient Martial Arts—there was almost no preparation time; the move itself was the strongest possible form.
As he moved, the air visibly exploded. The powerful propulsion allowed him to generate force as if standing on solid ground, channeling strength from his legs and waist into his spine, transmitted to his arms, and finally erupting from his joined palms with a phrase that echoed the chants of a Buddhist temple: “Namo Amitabha Buddha!”
The Arhat Fist technique: Arhat’s Salutation to the Buddha! This move embodied the Arhat dedicating his entire life and spirit to worshipping the Buddha! As the hands joined, essence, spirit, and soul were all offered up!
In this single salutation, Li Jianglong channeled the Buddha’s spirit of fearless self-sacrifice—as in the story of the Buddha allowing the eagle to eat his flesh—making his entire being seem to swell in stature. What mortal fate could withstand the bow of an Arhat?
It was rumored that when the ancient Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang was begging for food, he nearly starved to death because whenever someone offered him food, he would immediately kneel and kowtow. But the world didn't realize that he carried the destiny of an emperor, the aura of the True Dragon Son of Heaven! Even as a beggar, his innate destiny was there, and anyone he bowed to would die the next day.
Over time, people feared his bow, and fewer gave him food. If the Emperor’s bow could have such an effect, how could an ordinary person withstand the bow of a Buddhist Arhat? Wouldn't they simply be bowed to death on the spot?
Li Jianglong had pushed the grand, powerful essence of the Arhat’s Salutation to the Buddha to its absolute limit!
“With one cry of ‘Namo Amitabha Buddha’ and one move of Arhat’s Salutation, even a true Arhat would likely possess no greater bearing,” Qin Fen’s eye twitched slightly. He felt a pang of familiarity; he had once relied on the Arhat Fist when he first started out. To see someone else using it now was unexpected.
The generals on the ground, completely overwhelmed by the majestic display, felt an impulse to immediately kneel in reverence. They knew for certain that they could not withstand a deity's salutation.
Qin Fen watched Li Jianglong’s overwhelming offensive, his body unmoving. He drew a smooth arc with one hand and pressed gently outward. It was not the Fengshen Bang (Investiture of the Gods) technique from the Divine Fist Dao, but the Tathagata Divine Palm he had once witnessed at the Sacred Martial Hall. This palm strike was the eighth stance: Myriad Buddhas Pay Homage.
Arhat’s Salutation to the Buddha? By deploying this move before Li Jianglong, Qin Fen was implicitly claiming lineage superior to the Buddhist school. Never mind a lesser Arhat paying homage to him; even if all the gods and Buddhas descended to pay tribute, he was worthy of it!
“Shatter.”
The Human Heaven True Qi resonated like heaven and earth. Qin Fen stood tall, pressing his palm downward, uttering a single syllable softly. It was vast but not explosive, powerful enough to suppress the surging true qi, yet clear enough that every person in the fray could hear it, echoing the presence of the Great Buddha whose word quiets the world.
The Myriad Buddhas Pay Homage descended with terrifying majesty. Li Jianglong instantly felt an insurmountable might and pressure. His grand momentum from the salutation became fragile, like a mortal's before this palm. His own power was fully unleashed, but before he could fully manifest it, it was crushed beneath this strike.
In Li Jianglong’s vision, this palm was not so fast that he couldn't track it. He could see every nuance of the strike’s trajectory, every potential follow-up move descending from above, all vividly imprinted in his mind.
Qin Fen’s palm was not large; it resembled an expensive white jade carving of a Buddha’s hand. The five ordinary-looking fingers radiated terrifying power.
What terrified Li Jianglong most was that at the precise moment Qin Fen attacked, his Golden Web War Body began to spontaneously collapse. It was the feeling of the strongest rat suddenly spotting a cat, utterly unable to muster any strength. He had experienced this sensation before—it usually only happened when facing Guanyin or the Tathagata.
How could someone other than Guanyin or the Tathagata display such a powerful martial technique? And he was so young?
The overwhelming, all-encompassing palm, capable of commanding the reverence of ten thousand Buddhas, pressed down with such immense pressure that Li Jianglong had no means of evasion. Even knowing the technique’s movements, he could not escape; there was no option but to meet it head-on.
Li Jianglong abandoned any thought of flight. Life and death in that instant erased everything else. His joined palms slammed down in a chopping motion, like the most sincere forehead touch of an Arhat hitting the ground in devotion.
The moment the Arhat’s Salutation collided with the Myriad Buddhas Pay Homage, Li Jianglong felt Qin Fen’s strength surge again. That massive pressure slammed down, and his body instantly lost control. His suspended form plummeted rapidly, as if carrying a thousand-pound weight while bungee jumping from a great height, or being bound with stones and thrown into the ocean’s depths.
Bang! Boom!
The earth violently shook. Countless chunks of rock and soil shot into the sky. The Golden Triangle generals felt their legs almost ripped from their sockets as they stared blankly at the rising dust cloud.
In the deep crater, Li Jianglong lay unconscious. His metallic body had reverted to its normal appearance. He gasped for air, looking around dazedly. He was standing in a massive pit, and every part of his body, save for his head and neck, was driven deep into the earth.
Driven by instinct, Li Jianglong tried to summon strength to shake off the surrounding earth, but the moment he channeled energy, he found his body completely unresponsive. Unbearable pain shot through every bone; they were all shattered. He couldn't move an inch.
His Level Four Bio-Beast Fusion attempted to regenerate his body, but Li Jianglong discovered that any wound that managed to heal was instantly blasted apart by the latent power Qin Fen had embedded within him.
“New Martial Arts? Aside from Master, this is the first time I’ve seen someone cultivate it to this level. What a shame…”
Hearing Qin Fen’s words, Li Jianglong’s heart hammered furiously, and a piercing pain shot through his skull. His eyes snapped wide open as he roared, “You! You cannot defeat the Tathagata! You will surely die—”
Bang! Li Jianglong’s head violently exploded, and simultaneously, his heart ruptured. The True Qi Qin Fen had infused into him finally detonated completely, instantly dispatching a sixteen-star warrior.
One punch... Just one punch...
The Golden Triangle generals were dumbfounded. Was this the young soldier who had caused such chaos here two years ago? If they had known he would be this powerful two years later, they should have killed him then! Li Jianglong, the sixteen-star Grand Commander with super-defensive abilities! Facing Qin Fen’s attack, he couldn't even withstand a single strike! And anyone watching could tell Qin Fen hadn't used his full power!
Without using his full strength, he killed a sixteen-star warrior in one blow? What had Qin Fen done during the six months he disappeared? Had he truly found an immortal elixir, like in the ancient myths? Six months ago, defeating a sixteen-star fighter might not have been difficult, but killing him instantly? How was that possible?
“Long live Grand Commander Qin Fen!”
“That’s right! We elect Qin Fen as Grand Commander!”
“Absolutely correct! With Grand Commander Qin Fen here, our Golden Triangle will only prosper!”
On the ground, the generals instantly understood the shifting dynamics and changed their allegiance.
Solomon looked down at the crowd, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. “Qin Fen, how do you plan to deal with these people below?”
"Someone down there?" Qin Fen frowned, his expression clouded with doubt as he looked at Solomon. "I only see a congregation of scum peddling narcotics, ruining countless families. Just put an end to them humanely; better to remove the blight from society."
"A sound argument," Yang Lie replied, crossing his arms. "Even the black gold they hold would be largely skimmed by corrupt officials if donated to the Federation. I say we extract it all and transfer it directly to Xing Wuyi."
Before Yang Lie’s words fully faded, Solomon’s Void-Splitting Palm descended like countless raindrops. More than half of the generals who had been shouting slogans instantly perished. The few survivors were stunned, unable to fathom the reason—hadn't they just declared their allegiance? The temple, a symbol of sanctity, stood firm—its resplendent, golden shrine still housed the Great Buddha, whose half-lidded eyes surveyed the slaughter unfolding in the plaza outside the main hall, amidst the swirling dust.
"Drugs may be hard to eradicate completely," Qin Fen observed, surveying the carnage that had turned the ground into a mess. "But this incident, at least, should throw this place into chaos for a while? Significantly cutting production shouldn't be an issue. Let's head to the North Pole. While we're at it, let's give Xue Tian a call and let him know the vacation is over."
Fan: Good evening, more to come!