Chapter 158: Good Times

Chapter 158: A Good World

"I don't care what your background is, what your identity is. Today is an internal matter of the Chuan Yu Gambling Association. I advise you not to get involved."

Wei Meng's face was solemn, his eyes fixed intently on Li Jun as he approached step by step.

Li Jun ignored his words, his steps never ceasing for a moment.

With each step, the hum in Wei Meng's chest grew fainter.

Cao Cang had already been disarmed the moment they met, and Gong Qinghong, that bastard, had long since vanished without a trace.

With these two "examples" before him, Wei Meng knew that the man before him was as hard as iron, if not harder.

"But if you insist on meddling, I can give you some face. Let's part ways here!"

Wei Meng stepped back with his right foot, his burly frame not yet fully turned, when an indescribable fear suddenly enveloped him.

*Hisss!*

The charred, hardened ground shattered and cracked beneath Li Jun's feet, his figure shooting forward, already reaching Wei Meng's side in an instant.

Wei Meng let out a scream, perhaps a final flash of light before death, as the slipping mechanical heart power surged again, returning to an overclocked state.

*Rumble!*

Wei Meng stared in despair as his full-force punch crumbled in the enemy's hands, inch by inch.

Not only that, but the eerie force continued to spread upward along his wrist, and all the mechanical structures along the way disintegrated as if encountering a natural predator.

His once-proud Seven-Grade Mechanical Body was now ruthlessly destroyed, torn apart effortlessly.

Among the scattered parts, Li Jun suddenly stepped forward half a pace, the Eight Extremes Collapse Force surged from his feet to his waist and back, his shoulders sinking and elbows lifting, striking Wei Meng's chest!

A thunderous explosion echoed through the forest, Wei Meng's eyes nearly burst from their sockets, white liquid mixed with fragments of organs spewed from his mouth, his chest caving in with a terrifying hollow.

The mechanical heart hidden beneath the twisted steel was now a mass of flesh and mechanical fragments.

[Acquired Mastery Points: 40]

"Didn't expect you to be so tough."

Li Jun flicked the blood from his elbow, his expression as indifferent as if he had completed something trivial.

He turned to Zhao Qingxia, whose eyes burned with fervor, and pointed to Cao Cang, who sat paralyzed on the ground with a horrified expression.

"Should we kill him?"

This feeling of picking and choosing who to kill finally released the pent-up frustration in Zhao Qingxia's heart. "He tried to grab me just now..."

"I'm not with them."

Zhao Qingxia's words were cut off by Cao Cang's sudden interruption.

"Did I let you speak?" Li Jun's eyes flashed with anger.

Cao Cang's face turned ashen, his lips tight, teeth grinding audibly.

Having implanted that "Heart Ape," his nature was already unruly; even before his own faction's leader, he never feigned compliance.

His attempt to justify himself just now was already the strongest response to his survival instinct.

Cao Cang could die, but he couldn't lose the "TiaZi" face and backbone.

"Kill me if you must, but don't lump me with Gong Qinghong, that traitor."

Li Jun and Zhao Qingxia exchanged a glance, confirming their answer in each other's eyes.

"You're also from the Pai Sect? What Pai Face?"

Li Jun crouched before Cao Cang, staring directly at the young man who had offered his neck for execution.

"TiaZi, Jiu Tia."

Li Jun's eyes narrowed. "Under the thousand doors and eight generals of the gambling association, is this all the skill you have?"

"."

Cao Cang was left speechless, his inner rage boiling, unsure how to retort, so he simply closed his eyes.

He was well aware of the gap between himself and his opponent.

But Wei Meng was a "Jiu Wan" with a Pai Face equivalent to his own, his strength a genuine peak of the Ba Shang level.

Though he lacked Gong Qinghong's Horizontal and Vertical Technique support, and his Seven-Grade Mechanical Body wasn't evolved alongside the mechanical heart, but rather artificially implanted later.

Still, regardless of compatibility, the mechanical body's strength was undeniable.

Even an ordinary Jiu Shang would need effort to kill Wei Meng.

Yet before this man, Wei Meng's mechanical body was as fragile as paper.

Not only that, but his eerie method of dismantling machinery filled Cao Cang with dread.

This ability was practically a natural nemesis of the martial way.

Moreover, during the opponent's strike, Cao Cang was certain he hadn't heard any mechanical heart operation sounds.

Not a martial way, yet possessing such terrifying close-combat power.

This person's sequence was naturally revealed.

"Martial Arts Sequence Seven, but his appearance doesn't match the wanted poster. Did he change his face, or is he an ally from the Mo Family's Heavenly Ambition Society?"

Cao Cang's doubts multiplied, only to dissolve into a long sigh in an instant.

"People are about to die, why bother with such thoughts?"

After a long while, the expected pain did not come.

Cao Cang opened his eyes in confusion, hearing a calm, indifferent voice.

"If I don't kill you."

Cao Cang understood immediately. "Then I must kill Gong Qinghong!"

Though unruly, he didn't seek death.

Li Jun nodded, standing up with the immobilized Zhao Qingxia on his back.

"Kill Gong Qinghong, and all grudges will be erased. If you can't..."

Cao Cang's brow was icy, each word deliberate. "If he doesn't die, I will."

Under the full moon, in the mountain forest.

Gong Qinghong, fleeing madly, didn't know how far he had run when he finally stopped, his face pale as he gazed back at the dark, silent woods.

"To dismantle Cao Cang's arm in one move—this is far harder than breaking it. Was that man Li Jun, or..."

Gong Qinghong frowned, his pupils dilating, as countless tiny characters flowed within his eyes like flies.

Upon closer inspection, they were all the words "Horizontal and Vertical."

He entered a simulation state.

"If that man is Li Jun, it means the injuries left by Yu Canghai have healed. To reach this point in such a short time, he might have obtained the remnants of the Chu Wu Gate."

"If not Li Jun, the greatest possibility is someone from the 'Mo Gong.' But if that person betrayed Zhao Qingxia, they would surely delay rescue. Otherwise, this one-sided action would bring no benefit, only endless consequences."

The characters in his eyes freeze on the 'horizontal' stroke.

"No matter who arrives, Zhao Qingxia isn't secured, and the red ink on Li Jun's head can be set aside for now."

"However, this play isn't without gain,"

Gong Qinghong's mouth corners lift with a faint smile, "Wei Meng that fool is doomed to die, a peak soldier eight can fulfill half the ritual requirements. As for the other half..."

The characters in his pupils silently shift from 'horizontal' to 'vertical.'

"As for the other half, 'Wanzi's' grand reputation is gone—could there be peaceful days in the card system?"

"Those who love to use provocation to manipulate others, if they meet someone who loves to spread rumors, don't even need to stir up trouble—bloodshed is inevitable."

"There's also the increasingly chaotic Mozi Tianzhi Society."

Gong Qinghong's eyes clear, he slowly rises, his face wild with fervor, "Good, this is truly a fine era!"