Inside the stone chamber, the portly man at the head of the group was Qi Zhifei, the shopkeeper of the Da Xuan Bank.
His gaze swept across the crowd, landing on Fang Mingxuan.
His expression turned grim as he spoke in a cold voice.
"Fang Mingxuan... Who gave you the gall to bring this lot here to die?"
Fang Mingxuan's expression was just as grim.
He narrowed his eyes and said in a low, heavy voice:
"Shopkeeper Qi, I once admired your character and your skills."
"But I never imagined you were actually one of the Black Death Sect's fiends."
"My daughter, Fang Lingxin, has received the 'attentions' of your Black Death Sect many times. It is only polite to return the favor. Today is the day your Black Death Sect will be annihilated!"
"Enough talk. Kill them!"
With a wave of his hand, Fang Shuwen shot forward.
He hated exchanging long-winded speeches before a fight, which only allowed the enemy to fully prepare.
After years of struggling on the streets, he was a firm believer in striking first.
Even now, with his Inner Strength having reached a grand state of mastery, this childhood habit was hard to break.
He lunged forward, covering the distance to two Black Death Cult Members in a single step. Once again, he used Vajra Tower Throwing, unleashing a ferocious blast of Palm Power.
The two cult members tried to mount a desperate defense, but Fang Shuwen's Palm Power was simply immense and overwhelming.
It was as towering as a mountain, as boundless as the sea.
The Palm Wind raged, and a sense of suffocation and despair washed over them.
With two loud THUDS, the two men were caught in the attack and sent flying backward. Every bone in their bodies shattered. They were dead before they even hit the ground.
At the same time, a group of three or four cult members lunged at Fang Shuwen.
Fang Shuwen swept out his left hand in a Plum Blossom Scattering Hand technique. With a series of plucks, presses, twines, and holds, he neutralized all their arms with a single hand.
His right hand's Palm Technique then changed. He bent his fingers into a seal and struck out abruptly.
He was using the third palm from the Great Black Heaven God Palm: Demon-Suppressing Seal.
This palm was even more powerful than Vajra Tower Throwing, but its movement was direct, channeling all its force into a single line.
A single BANG echoed out.
The man who took the brunt of the attack had his head smashed to pieces by the palm strike, a truly gruesome sight.
Fang Shuwen's Palm Technique flowed, retracting and advancing as he struck again.
His Plum Blossom Scattering Hand had entangled four or five men; he wasn't about to stop after killing just one.
This sight struck terror into their hearts.
They struggled desperately to escape his grasp, but Fang Shuwen's hand was like cast iron. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't break free in the slightest.
Even channeling their painstakingly cultivated Black Death Demon Technique couldn't harm him in the slightest.
Meanwhile, the others also charged into the fray.
Zhou Qingmei wielded her Broken Sword, each stroke of her Thousand Character Sword Technique sharp and precise as a calligrapher's brush.
Though her sword was short, it didn't diminish its power.
Zhang Fang's Swordsmanship was even greater than hers. He fought three or four cult members alone, and they were completely unable to touch him.
What surprised Fang Shuwen, however, was Fang Mingxuan.
The old man darted left and right through the crowd, seemingly in a sorry state. But on closer inspection, one could see that the Black Death Sect's Black Death Demon Technique had no effect on him whatsoever.
An aura seemed to flow around his body, giving him the air of one who could walk through a field of flowers without a single petal brushing against him.
His techniques seemed chaotic, but with an occasional, almost casual, tap, press, poke, or push, he left the Black Death Cult Members surrounding him in utter misery.
'Is he intentionally hiding his strength?'
But this left Fang Shuwen rather perplexed.
'If he's clearly a master of Martial Arts, why has Fang Lingxin been in peril twice?'
'And who were those bandits that attacked them all those years ago?'
'With his abilities, why couldn't he even protect himself?'
'Back then, I was just a baby, so I didn't understand the whole situation. Could there be more to that incident than meets the eye?'
Not only that, but Fang Shuwen also noticed that the so-called "brave warriors" Fang Mingxuan had hired with a hefty reward were not weak in Martial Arts either.
Whether fighting alone or in groups of three or four, they seemed to lack any sort of formation, like a disorganized band of mercenaries.
But upon closer inspection, he realized their offense and defense were perfectly coordinated, with a subtle sophistication hidden in their movements.
If Fang Shuwen's Martial Arts hadn't reached such a high level, giving him an extraordinary eye for detail, he probably wouldn't have even noticed.
From the moment the fight began, only a few short moments had passed, yet more than twenty corpses already littered the floor of the stone chamber.
All of them were Black Death Cult Members.
Qi Zhifei's face was ashen, his rage boiling over.
"You've gone too far!"
As he spoke, he slammed both palms onto the ground, launching himself into the air. With his palms layered, he shot straight for Fang Shuwen.
Fang Shuwen's performance in this battle had simply been too spectacular.
Every move he made held boundless power. No enemy in his path could withstand a single exchange.
As the saying goes, to catch the thieves, you must first catch their king. If he didn't take down Fang Shuwen, how could he possibly turn the tide of battle?
Fang Shuwen had just slammed a Black Death Cult Member into the ground with a palm strike. He looked up to see a dense cloud of Black Death True Qi already upon him.
He let out a sharp cry.
"Perfect timing!"
As he spoke, he sank into a low stance and met the attack with his Four Seas Dragon Fist.
BANG!
The moment his fist met the Palm Technique, the Black Death True Qi dissipated completely.
The color drained from Qi Zhifei's face. He tried to pull back, but it was already too late.
The Fist Force of the Four Seas Dragon Fist was like a spear. Propelled by the Muscle Strengthening Scripture, the power surged through his entire arm.
The force erupted, sending a great spray of blood into the air. Qi Zhifei's arm shattered inch by inch. As he let out a bloodcurdling scream, his body was sent flying backward.
Fang Shuwen pushed off the ground, launching himself into the air.
He didn't know any Lightweight Technique; he propelled himself purely with his Inner Strength.
He used a Black Death Cult Member's shoulder as a stepping stone, the force of his foot shattering the man's bones and causing him to spit blood.
With that one step, he caught up to the airborne Qi Zhifei.
His five fingers closed around the man's throat. As they landed, he shouted:
"Qi Zhifei is defeated! Surrender now!"
The Black Death Cult Members froze. They looked up at Qi Zhifei, helpless in Fang Shuwen's grasp, then glanced at one another. Finally, one of them shouted:
"Our sacred sect is not welcome in the Jianghu! If we surrender, we're just signing our own death warrants!"
"Our only chance is to break through and escape!"
At these words, the Black Death Cult Members all nodded in agreement.
They immediately shifted their focus from fighting to breaking out.
Seeing this, Fang Shuwen said no more. He simply struck several of Qi Zhifei's acupoints on his shoulder and chest, then tossed him aside.
His figure blurred as he charged out once more.
With everyone fighting together, it took less than an hour to kill every last one of the Black Death Cult Members.
The entire process went smoothly. Not a single one escaped.
Fang Shuwen lightly shook the blood from his hands. He glanced at Zhou Qingmei to confirm she was unharmed, then walked over to the corner where he had left Qi Zhifei.
But when he reached the spot, he froze.
Qi Zhifei, who had been glaring at him defiantly just moments ago, was now dead.
Fang Shuwen narrowed his eyes, a mocking smile touching the corners of his lips.