Starting with Kengan beating up the Pirate King

Chapter 170 The Lü Family's Reinforcements
"We've arrived at the Tang Clan's mountain gate."

Half a month later, Lü Ren, Lü Ci, and seven or eight skilled members of the Lü family arrived at the foot of Tangmen Mountain, weary from their journey, to pay their respects.

Soon, they were personally received by Tang Bingwen, the head of the Tang Clan.

"The two luminaries of the Lü family, and all the heroes of the Lü family, are truly rare guests." Tang Bingwen said with a hint of surprise, "Could it be that the Lü family also has an enemy they cannot deal with and wish to entrust my Tang Clan with their help?"

"Master Tang, you flatter me." Lü Ren respectfully cupped his hands and said, "The Lü family always seeks revenge and will not use others as intermediaries. We have come here to lend a helping hand to the Tang Clan. Brother Zhuge Yi, you should still be with the Tang Clan, right?"

Tang Bingwen narrowed his eyes slightly: "As expected of the Lü family, their intelligence capabilities are indeed remarkable."

Lu Ren shook his head: "It's all thanks to the intelligence from the Gao family. They discovered that there was a group of elite warriors among the Japanese who suddenly disappeared. After investigation, they found that they had penetrated deep into our Central Plains, and their target was the young clan leader Zhuge. That's when they learned that Brother Zhuge had left the Wuhou Sect and come to the Tang Clan."

Brother Zhuge has made great contributions to the war effort in recent years. My Lü family respects him, and the Gao family respects him even more!
The Tang Clan Master is unparalleled in righteousness and courage, willing to shoulder this calamity for the Zhuge family. Our Lü family will naturally not stand idly by. Therefore, we, a group of ten, have come to the Tang Clan, at the command of the Tang Clan Master and Brother Zhuge!

Following him, Lü Ci and the others made a cupped-hands gesture.

Tang Bingwen chuckled: "This damned war has made anything possible. I never thought I'd have the chance to order around the Lü family members in my lifetime."

Although the Tang Clan has no precedent for cooperating with others, I shouldn't refuse your offer since you've come to me willingly. After all, choosing to shoulder the calamity for the Wuhou Sect is against the Tang Clan's rules, but in a time of national crisis, the Tang Clan's rules can be broken!

"However..." He paused and said, "If the Tang Clan really can't hold out, and the Japanese devils endanger the life of the young clan leader Zhuge, not to mention the Lü family, I will welcome all the families and sects from Shangqing, Longhu Mountain, and so on. I will even go and invite them. The more the merrier!"
But based on my assessment, the Tang Clan doesn't need help from others yet. Everyone, please return."

Lu Ren frowned slightly, while Lu Ci said with some dissatisfaction, "Master Tang, where is Brother Zhuge? You didn't even ask him a question before refusing us? Whether he needs our protection or not should be up to him!"

"Second brother!" Lü Ren stopped him, then said to Tang Bingwen, "My brother is impulsive by nature, please don't take offense, Master Tang. However, what he said is not without reason. According to the information passed on by the Gao family, the superhumans dispatched by the Japanese are extremely elite."

Especially noteworthy is the samurai known as the 'Sword Saint,' Toshio Nishino, who has even claimed the lives of two elders of the Taka family. He is not to be underestimated!

Tang Bingwen paused for a moment, then called out to the outside, "Very well, the Tang Clan dares not be greedy for meager achievements. Whether or not the Lü family needs to participate should indeed be decided by Young Clan Chief Zhuge. Li Ding, take the Lü family members to take a look."

Want to take a look? Look at what?
Lu Ren and the others looked puzzled, but as members of the Tang Clan, they followed orders and went up the mountain with Li Ding, a burly man from the Tang Clan they had met. They arrived at the back of the mountain.

There was a heavily guarded, isolated hut, or rather, a prison within the Tang Clan. Inside that hut, Lü Ren and the others saw a disheveled, insane man.

Its face was bluish-black, and it stumbled and ran around the hut, occasionally squatting down to grab handfuls of dirt, stuffing them into its mouth, spitting them out mumbled something unintelligible.

"A...madman?"

"He looks quite poisoned." Lu Ci asked, puzzled, "What does the Tang Clan leader mean by this? Are we here to admire the results of the Tang Clan's use of poison?"

“That’s Toshio Nishino,” Li Ding said.

"..."

"!!!"

Shock crossed the faces of the Lü family members. Nishino Toshio? That Japanese sword saint? The enemy the Gao family had repeatedly warned them to be careful of?!
"These Japanese devils traveled so fast, and they were dealt with by the Tang Clan members?" Lü Ren exclaimed in astonishment. "Since Nishino Toshio was captured alive and brought back to the Tang Clan, it means the others..."

"Total annihilation, but we didn't do it."

Li Ding took a deep breath and said, "That happened three days ago. Young Clan Chief Zhuge calculated the location of this group of Japanese soldiers, went out alone, and not only wiped out that group of Japanese superhumans in half an hour, but also brought back this guy, the most powerful one among them, and sent him to our Tang Clan to test some of our methods."

"W-what?"

Lu Ren, Lu Ci, and the others looked at each other in bewilderment.

They were all witnesses to the Lu family's birthday banquet six years ago, so they naturally knew how strong Guan Yi was. Although he was young, he was definitely one of the top extraordinary individuals in the entire Chinese land.

However, based on their speculation, Guan Yi has been plotting the fate of the nation for years, and even if he is not severely weakened, he has at least made no progress. He will definitely have a very difficult time dealing with the elite troops deployed by the Japanese.

Even a hero can't withstand a pack of wolves. Extraordinary people have all sorts of strange and wonderful methods, and their poisons and ghosts are endless. Often, one plus one is greater than two. How could one possibly deal with more than ten foreign experts by himself?
But... the Tang Sect has no need to fake it in this matter. Lu Ci murmured, "Has that monster become stronger in the past six years?"

Lu Renze couldn't help but ask, "How could the Tang Clan allow Brother Zhuge to take such a risk alone? Aren't you afraid...?" Li Ding shook his head helplessly, "The reason we dare to let Young Clan Leader Zhuge act alone is naturally because... Young Clan Leader Zhuge proved his strength long ago."

……

Let's go back to half a month ago, the day after the Tang Clan and Guan Yixiang challenged the Japanese.

Within the Tang Clan, skilled individuals gathered to select the manpower to form a team with Guan Yi to deal with the invading Japanese. Ultimately, 15 people were chosen.

Li Ding was one of them.

He and several of his fellow disciples who had also been selected decided to test Guan Yi's skills, after all... "Young Master Zhuge, we have long heard about your performance at the Lu family's birthday banquet, and we know that you are the true dragon of the Zhuge family, with formidable strength."

But seeing is believing, and we're about to fight side-by-side. We Tang Clan brothers know each other well, but we know very little about you. We need to understand your skill level better to make tactical arrangements.

Guan Yi glanced at Tang Bingwen, who nodded apologetically: "This was also my intention, please don't take offense, Young Clan Chief Zhuge."

"As it should be."

Guan Yi smiled and said, "In that case, which senior from the Tang Clan would be willing to lend me a hand?"

Li Ding stepped forward: "I'll do it."

He was one of the most outstanding members of the Tang Clan's middle generation and created a unique technique called 'Black Tail Armor'. It was a black, close-fitting soft armor made of fine iron scales, which could be used for both defense and offense by controlling the movement of the scales with Qi.

Does that sound familiar?
"This move imitates the Golden Light Mantra of the Celestial Master's Mansion of Longhu Mountain. It's been almost twenty years since then. Twenty years ago, during an exchange between sects, I sparred with a junior Taoist priest from Longhu Mountain, which left me with a defeat that I will probably never forget."

His name... is Zhang Zhiwei. I heard that Young Clan Chief Zhuge won his battle at the Lu family's birthday banquet. Li Ding would like to ask the Young Clan Chief to judge whether my Black-Tailed Armor is even slightly comparable to his Golden Light Mantra.

"Alright, please give me your guidance." The two stood facing each other, and as the competition began, Guan Yi flashed forward and struck Li Ding with a palm.

……

"and after?"

Just as Li Ding was getting to the crucial point, Lü Ci noticed that he had stopped, and couldn't help but press him for an answer.

Lu Ren glanced helplessly at his hot-tempered younger brother. If the other person didn't say anything, then naturally…

Li Ding smiled bitterly and said, "Later? Later I lost consciousness, so naturally I can't tell you what happened after that."

I only heard after I woke up that after defeating me, the young clan leader Zhuge fought several senior brothers and sisters in turn. He not only used Bajiquan's Big Splitting Palm, but also Wudang's Taiji Cloud Hands, Shaolin's Luohan Fist, and many other martial arts styles, blending them together to win easily.

And from beginning to end, no one was able to force him to use his sorcerer's techniques!

Lu Ci's lips twitched.

Is it the same as the Lu family's birthday banquet? Apart from facing Zhang Zhiwei, the successor of the Celestial Master of Longhu Mountain, he doesn't even need to use sorcery techniques!

No, that time he was fighting against our younger generation, but this time he is fighting against the senior members of the Tang Clan, the pillars of the Tang Clan!

"Tsk, that monster doesn't need anyone to protect it at all. We've come here for nothing..."

"Not necessarily." At this moment, the familiar voices of Lü Ren and Lü Ci came from afar, and Guan Yi walked over.

"If the seniors of the Tang Clan don't mind, the arrival of the Lü family is just in time. I've just calculated that there will be a troublesome one among the second wave of Japanese soldiers. This time, I think I can't take care of all the enemies by myself!"

　The next chapter will be late.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)