Myths Begin From Boys' Gong

Several days passed, and Meng Zhao, Ning Baihe, and Yan Congke disguised themselves and went to the Red Skull to investigate almost every night.

Duan Hong was placed in a small courtyard and given secret medicine to help him recover his strength and injuries.

On the sixth day after the discussions, in the evening, when there were no stars or moon and the sky was overcast, they finally set off again.

This time, Meng Zhao, Ning Baihe, Yan Congke, and Duan Hong went out together.

Aside from Duan Hong making a big show of it and not concealing his appearance, Meng Zhao and the other two still disguised themselves and assumed other identities.

The three followed the procedure and entered the Red Skull, heading towards the northern corner of Baiyangzhuang, where Aunt Shen was located.

Duan Hong, alone, used his extremely skillful lightness technique to sneak in under the cover of night, arriving at the small courtyard that Ning Baihe had found before the other three.

This small courtyard is located on the westernmost side of the Shen residence. Adjacent to it is a magnificent hall, which is also the gambling den built by Aunt Shen.

Inside, the lights were bright, as if it were daytime, and a faint fragrance filled the air. It was a spice that refreshed the mind and stimulated the spirit, with the aim of making every effort to squeeze money out of people, even to the point of bankrupting them.

In the world of martial arts, people are poor at midnight and rich at dawn. Money is fleeting, and gambling dens are the most lucrative tools for making money.

Furthermore, after investigating, Duan Hong discovered that outside the brightly lit hall, different facilities had been built in different locations, forming a feng shui formation called the Five Ghosts Transporting Wealth. Whether it was accurate or not was unclear, but he firmly believed it was better to err on the side of caution.

Because it was relatively close to the gambling den, Duan Hong also took a special look at the security inside and found it to be rather weak. This made him even more suspicious, and he agreed more with Meng Zhao's previous concerns and wariness.

Such an arrangement is truly unreasonable. How could such a crucial character as Cao Baoyu be subjected to such a defensive system? Doesn't it seem a bit too frivolous?
However, the courtyard where Cao Baoyu lived did indeed have quite a few experts, but it still seemed rather small.

Once these people are breached, the neighboring gambling dens won't be able to spare any more manpower. The newcomers could very well lead Cao Baoyu on a rampage, leaving Red Skull and freeing them to soar to great heights.

People in other places can't even compare to the warmth of eating shit.

I've calculated the time, and it's about time.

Duan Hong leaped into the seemingly ordinary little house, where he came face to face with Cao Baoyu, who was lying on a rattan chair in the courtyard, swaying back and forth and gnawing on a chicken leg.

In addition, there were about a dozen other people scattered around the courtyard, all staring wide-eyed, never expecting anyone to be so bold.

Before Cao Baoyu could say anything, Duan Hong waved his hand, and a chilling aura emanated from his palm, spreading in all directions.

In the vast courtyard, in an instant, white frost appeared, covering the walls and floor with white frost marks and ice fragments.

The cold was unprecedented, a bone-chilling cold that froze everyone's thoughts in the courtyard except for Duan Hong.

In the blink of an eye, everything could have changed, and one could become like a living dead.

This was not simply due to the chilling coldness of the energy; it was also because when Duan Hong made his move, he brought with him a divine intent that invaded the minds of these people, making it difficult for them to resist.

The next moment, Duan Hong used the scorching heat of his Iron Refining Hand to melt gold and refine iron, instantly turning more than ten people in the field into more than a dozen piles of black charred remains under his powerful skill.

Every gesture reveals the aura, power, and spirit of a top-tier expert.

However, just as he was about to take Cao Baoyu away, a bloody light rose up behind him.

This streak of blood-red light resembled the evening glow under the setting sun, pure and bright, yet carrying a hint of evil.

The strong stench of blood reached Duan Hong's nose even before it reached him.

Blood Sun Hand, a top-tier martial art of the demonic path.

The intensely hot force, like the blazing sun in the sky, was masculine and upright, burning fiercely as if it would incinerate everything it covered.

Duan Hong's expression darkened, but he was completely fearless. He had been prepared for the Blood Sun Hand King Song.

With his toes touching the ground, he leaped and spun around, his palms seemingly expanding, containing a force capable of shattering metal, and he pressed down fiercely on the incoming blood-red light.

With a deafening roar, a hurricane swept across the area, shattering the meticulously laid-out floor into countless tiny fragments that flew everywhere.

Duan Hong felt as if his palms were being branded with hot irons. At the same time, his blood was being stimulated by some mysterious force, causing his blood and qi to flow in reverse, his blood to flow rapidly, and his heart to pound as if it were working overtime.

Blood Yang Hand has two major special effects.

Firstly, its Yang energy is like the blazing sun, extremely domineering, and in no way inferior to the scorching power of the Iron Refining Hand.

Secondly, it can guide the flow of blood in the human body, which is the most unique and extraordinary aspect of the Blood Yang Hand martial art.

Duan Hong's skill was actually inferior to Wang Song's powerful internal energy cultivated through the Demonic Daoist Yuan Da Dan method; he was two levels behind.

This is by no means because Duan Hong is less talented than Wang Song, nor is it related to the length of time he has been cultivating.

It is merely a clever trick of the Human Yuan Elixir Method to seize the secrets of heaven; it is an unparalleled demonic secret technique.

When it comes to accumulating internal energy, few in the world can compare with the Three Primal Elixir Method.

However, the Duan family's Broken Jade Heart Sutra is an unparalleled internal energy cultivation method. It becomes stronger when facing stronger opponents, with incredibly condensed and powerful energy.

Therefore, when facing Wang Song, the Blood Yang Hand, they took the initiative to defeat him.

An incredibly powerful palm strike erupted from Duan Hong's palm, the shockwave like a tsunami, surging endlessly in all directions.

Wang Song, covered in blood, was sent flying several feet away. His face flushed red and then turned pale. His expression was solemn as he put his hands behind his back.

At first glance, he seemed to have the demeanor of a master, but in reality, the hands hidden behind his back were already dripping with blood.

This was a sign that Wang Song's Blood Yang Hand was being attacked from behind.

Duan Hong wasn't much better off.

My palms felt as if they were being branded with hot irons, and two bright red lines of blood stretched along the sides of my arms, from my wrists to the base of my arms.

His internal energy was boiling, a sign of demonic possession, which greatly weakened his ability to fight continuously.

An otherwise ordinary clash resulted in two masters nearly suffering mutual injuries.

Upon closer inspection, Wang Song's performance seemed to surpass Ruan Xiong's performance that day, yet it also seemed to fall far short of Ruan Xiong's.

On that day, Ruan Xiong wielded the Overlord Spear and fought a fierce battle with Duan Hong. It was a battle of dragons and tigers, with dozens of moves exchanged, and the spectacle was spectacular.

On this day, Ruan Xiong and Wang Song exchanged blows, with only one move between them.

From this perspective, Ruan Xiong seems to be far superior to Wang Song.

However, on that day, Ruan Xiong's physical body was broken by Duan Hong, but today, Wang Song was able to injure Duan Hong with a single palm strike.

By calculation, it seems that Wang Song is above Ruan Xiong. However, this is an extremely simplistic and crude way of calculating, which is inaccurate and does not conform to the true laws of the strong.

In reality, to prove a person's strength or weakness, one cannot rely on just one person as a reference, because that person may be an exception.

More people are needed as references; only with a large number of references can a relatively fair comparison be made.

However, the fact that Wang Song was able to injure Duan Hong is enough to prove that his strength is real and not just hype.

His Blood Sun Hand martial arts are indeed domineering and unpredictable. Even the supreme martial art Iron Hand might not be able to completely overpower him.

Both were injured, but they did not immediately resume the fight. Instead, they cautiously observed each other, trying to find a weakness in the other's defenses.

In comparison, Duan Hong's situation seems more dangerous because Xie Feng, the Thousand-Handed Tathagata, has not yet appeared and is hiding in the shadows.

He was already a top-notch expert in concealed weapons, and he was hiding in the shadows, with opponents like Wang Song, the Blood Sun Hand, watching him closely.

Duan Hong's situation today seems to be even more precarious than when he was besieged by the Red Skull.

"Impressive internal strength, impressive palm techniques. Was it you who shattered Ruan Xiong's invincible body that day?"

Wang Song's expression was solemn, yet also somewhat joyful.

He and Ruan Xiong sparred several times under the guise of friendly competition, but he always came out empty-handed, severely suppressed and unable to unleash his full potential.

Firstly, Ruan Xiong's use of the Overlord Spear, which allows for both sustained attack and defense, gives him a significant advantage over Ruan Xiong, who simply uses his palms as weapons.

Secondly, Ruan Xiong's external martial arts skills are extremely effective against his Blood Yang Hand. Even if his Blood Yang Hand is used to its highest level and has a certain chance of breaking through the opponent's external martial arts body, it is only a possibility, not a real possibility.

Unexpectedly, Ruan Xiong was defeated by the person in front of him.

Not only that, he also took advantage of the chaos to launch a sneak attack, and only by being prepared and catching the other off guard was he able to barely achieve a lose-lose situation.

If both sides are cautious and face each other head-on, his Blood Sun Hand might not be a match for the Iron Refining Hand.

Furthermore, Duan Hong's internal strength cultivation was indeed beyond his expectations.

Perhaps his internal strength is not as profound as his, but its power surpasses even his own internal strength, and the gap is not small.

It's hard to understand why someone like that would stoop to being a boxer in Red Skull, like a monkey in a circus, for people to watch.

He tried to probe, but Duan Hong showed no intention of communicating.

According to Meng Zhao, the more you say, the more mistakes you make; the less you say, the fewer mistakes you make; and if you say nothing, you make no mistakes. He lets the other party guess his intentions without giving a definite answer.

Just as the two were still in a standoff, another agile figure nimbly leaped down from the outer wall, and in a few quick movements, arrived beside Cao Baoyu, reaching out to grab him.

The man was of average build, with graying temples, wearing a black mask and a gray cloth robe, making it impossible to discern his origins or identity.

Cao Baoyu was terrified. He turned his hand into a knife and slashed at the man's outstretched hand.

His technique was incredibly skillful and his moves were exquisite, but his strength was shallow and his spirit was lacking, giving him a sense of powerlessness that was all show and no substance.

In an instant, his hands were swept away, and he was grabbed in his hands, unable to move.

Suddenly, Ning Baihe appeared, just as agreed, and seized Cao Baoyu.

In terms of martial arts, the technique Cao Baoyu just used should be the Overlord Tiger Killing Fist, a secret technique passed down by Cao Quan'an, which originated from the White Tiger Seven Killing Saber.

This Overlord Tiger Killing Fist has three forms: fist, palm, and claw, each with twelve moves. It is both domineering and fierce, as well as extremely exquisite. It is a superior hand martial art and one of Cao Quan'an's signature martial arts.

However, this does not necessarily mean that this person is Cao Baoyu.

Because Cao Baoyu knew this martial art, Ren Tianxing also knew it, and Ren Tianxing even mastered it much better than Cao Baoyu.

Therefore, Cao Baoyu's identity remains uncertain.

However, Ning Baihe was no ordinary person. He was someone Cao Quan'an trusted implicitly and regarded as the last force that obeyed him.

Ning Baihe had his own way of identifying Cao Baoyu's true identity.

With Cao Baoyu in his grasp, Ning Baihe's fingers moved swiftly, striking several major acupoints on Cao Baoyu's chest. Then, he pressed a single acupoint on Cao Baoyu's back, channeling a gentle yet powerful internal force into Cao Baoyu's body.

The next moment, Ning Baihe's expression changed drastically, and Cao Baoyu, who he thought was under his control, had somehow revealed a strange smile.

"How brave!"

Ning Baihe's eyes flashed with killing intent. The hand that was pressing on Cao Baoyu's back changed from pressing to pushing. The force was so subtle that it became a crushing force capable of annihilating stones, and it struck towards Cao Baoyu.

However, Cao Baoyu suddenly changed from his previous weakness. His fingers made a mechanical clicking sound as he shot out a hundred or so glittering silver needles, aiming at Ning Baihe who was nearby.

Danger, danger, danger!
If Ning Baihe were completely unprepared and unreserved, this sudden scene and the unexpected killing intent would leave him with no way to avoid or block it, and his only option would be death, because the opponent's hidden weapon technique was too sophisticated and the distance too close, making it impossible for him to resist.

However, Ning Baihe had already made preparations and anticipated this before he came.

He paused slightly, then suddenly plummeted downwards, his clothes still trailing behind. Ning Baihe used a clever escape technique to avoid the deadly attack.

However, the price was that the seemingly ordinary gray clothes were riddled with holes by countless silver needles and eventually turned into shattered fragments.

This garment is certainly no ordinary item. It is lined with gold thread and covered with soft armor. Although it is not a top-tier defensive treasure, it is comparable to ordinary body-strengthening techniques, making it impervious to swords and spears, as well as water and fire.

"Thousand-Handed Tathagata Xie Feng, it's you!"

Ning Baihe recognized the person impersonating Cao Baoyu.

It turned out to be Xie Feng, the Thousand-Handed Tathagata, whom they had been secretly wary of for a long time.

He didn't hide in the shadows; instead, he changed his identity and appearance, and appeared openly before them.

It's just that Duan Hong didn't rush to take him away; otherwise, he might have already fallen victim to Xie Feng's treachery.

Thousand-Handed Tathagata was originally a top-notch master of hidden weapons and a top-notch assassin, and he disguised himself as Cao Baoyu, whom they most wanted to rescue.

With such an identity and such martial arts skills, it was a sure-fire way to kill.

However, even the best-laid plans can have flaws. Meng Zhao and his group noticed the anomaly and set up a test, which yielded the answer they wanted.

Duan Hong, having formed a preconceived notion, captured their primary attention, while Ning Baihe stepped in to investigate and verify the authenticity of Cao Baoyu's identity. (End of Chapter)