Chapter 404: Take Down

Beside the rock face, Jiang Ran and Jiang Han stood opposite each other, gazing at one another from a distance.

Jiang Ran casually held his Shattered Gold Saber, his expression serene.

Jiang Han, masked and dressed in black, had an unprecedented gravity in his eyes.

He was the Alliance Leader of the Flower and Rain Alliance, and Gu Renlong was the Hall Master of Thunderbolt Hall.

As fellow Gang Leaders among the Thirteen Gangs, though the two had never truly fought, they were assumed to be more or less evenly matched.

Jiang Han had just experienced firsthand how profound Jiang Ran’s martial arts were.

He now realized that if he hadn’t joined forces with Gu Renlong, he feared neither of them would have been able to escape today.

But he never expected that things would have been better if they hadn’t teamed up. By joining forces, they were defeated even faster.

“You weren’t using your full strength earlier… You wanted to lure Gu Renlong out?”

Jiang Han was no ordinary man. How could he not understand what had happened?

Jiang Ran didn’t deny it.

“You’re right.”

“But with your level of skill, you could have taken down Gu Renlong right away. Why go through all this trouble?”

Jiang Han didn’t understand.

Jiang Ran chuckled.

“Because of you… A few days ago, I heard that the Flower and Rain Alliance had paid a visit to Evergreen Mansion.”

“But in all the time since, I haven’t seen any of you.”

“While I wouldn’t say that everyone in the martial world wants to seize the Jiaowei, I figured it couldn’t hurt to be a little careful.”

“So, when Thunderbolt Hall showed up today to do something foolish, I figured that perhaps what Alliance Leader Jiang was waiting for was the right opportunity.”

“And the best opportunity, of course, would be the moment everyone was busy trying to kill Gu Renlong, with no one paying attention to the Jiaowei.”

“That’s why I couldn’t rush to kill Gu Renlong. If I had killed him from the start, the show would have been over, wouldn’t it?”

“After all, a thief can strike on any of a thousand days, but you can’t stand guard for a thousand days.”

“It’s always best to drag those who lurk in the shadows out into the light of day.”

“I used Gu Renlong to lure you out, Alliance Leader Jiang. Then, with the suggestion that we were ‘evenly matched,’ I made Gu Renlong, who could have already escaped, risk his life once more.”

“That was the only way to ensure no one was left out.”

“What do you think, Alliance Leader Jiang?”

“Such arrogance! Such an audacious scheme!”

Jiang Han’s face turned livid as he listened.

They were the renowned Thirteen Gangs, a force at the apex of the martial world.

How many people in the entire martial world would dare to plot against him like this?

But he never imagined that not only did such a person exist, but that this person had schemed against not one, but two Gang Leaders.

But that wasn’t even the worst part.

The worst part was… the man who had schemed against them was far too powerful, and now Jiang Han found himself trapped in a most humiliating predicament.

“You flatter me, Alliance Leader Jiang.”

Jiang Ran, however, sighed and suddenly sheathed his Shattered Gold Saber.

“Alliance Leader Jiang, I have a word of advice for you. I wonder if you’re willing to listen?”

“…What are you scheming now?”

Jiang Han didn’t believe a word of it. Though they had only known each other for a short time, the man was clearly treacherous and utterly untrustworthy.

Jiang Ran said,

“We both share the surname Jiang. Five hundred years ago, we would have been family.”

“Though you wish to take the Jiaowei, Alliance Leader Jiang, you never intended to kill anyone.”

“Which means there’s no blood feud between us that demands one of us must die.”

“So how about this? If you’re willing to pay a sufficient price, I can spare your life today and let you leave. What do you say, Alliance Leader Jiang?”

“…How dare you!!”

Jiang Han ripped the mask from his face, revealing the features hidden beneath the black cloth.

He looked to be in his thirties, which was actually not old for a Gang Leader.

His features were sharp and resolute, a stark contrast to his earlier, scoundrelly posturing.

At this moment, his eyes blazed with fury.

He was the Alliance Leader of the Flower and Rain Alliance. He could accept death in the martial world, but he could not be toyed with like this.

If word of this day’s events got out, how could the Flower and Rain Alliance possibly hold its head up in the martial world?

They might as well be stricken from the Thirteen Gangs and give their position to another sect.

Therefore, even knowing that Jiang Ran’s martial arts were peerless—that he could cripple Gu Renlong and leave him clinging to life with a single palm strike—he could not accept defeat without a fight.

“Allow me to witness… Young Hero Jiang’s profound skills!”

“Very well.”

Jiang Ran smiled. “Sometimes, until you take a bite, you never know what’s bitter and what’s sweet…”

The moment his words fell, Jiang Ran tapped his foot, and his form flickered, appearing before Jiang Han in an instant.

He struck with his palm!

There was nothing fancy about the palm strike; it was a perfect example of overwhelming power conquering all technique.

He was using the Heaven-Covering Divine Palm.

The Heaven-Covering Divine Palm technique itself lacked intricate or nimble variations. Its strength was directly proportional to the user’s Inner Energy.

As Jiang Ran’s palm descended, Jiang Han felt as if the sun and moon had been inverted, as if heaven and earth were about to collapse!

A look of sheer horror appeared on his face.

Before the palm strike could reach him, he had already retreated three steps, his inner cultivation method circulating as he prepared to unleash the Fallen Blossoms Seven Absolutes.

As the saying goes: the first charge is made with soaring spirit, the second with flagging spirit, and the third with exhausted spirit.

His three-step retreat was meant to make Jiang Ran’s palm miss. Once the initial strike failed and Jiang Ran began a new one, an opening would naturally reveal itself.

That was the opportunity he was waiting for.

But in the next instant, that thought vanished like smoke.

Jiang Ran’s palm force was like a surging tide, endless and overwhelming.

One palm fell, and another immediately followed. Each strike was as majestic and vast as the last, as if it could shatter the heavens, the sun, and the mountains themselves!

Jiang Han, who had been ready to unleash his Fallen Blossoms Seven Absolutes, didn’t dare to make a move. He could only retreat, again and again, until he could retreat no more.

Behind him was the edge of the rock face.