All the gods began by cultivating the Iron Shirt technique.

Fierce and brutal!

On the stairs, Li Laosan stood frozen at the corner, watching Yang Pan swiftly dispatch all the men he had brought, as if chopping vegetables into melons. His body went cold, and though he tried to pull his legs back, they seemed numb; he could only stand there, stunned.

Card wipe!

After snapping the last man's neck, Yang Pan's gaze fell on Li Laosan, who was standing at the corner of the stairs. He stepped over the corpse on the ground and walked a few steps to stand in front of him.

Gum!

Li Laosan swallowed hard, looking up at the tall, demon-like figure in front of him. For the first time, he was terrified that a human could be as ferocious as a wild beast.

"Which gang are you from?" Yang Pan asked directly about the gang's power. If someone dared to steal directly in the county town and would kill if they failed, it was impossible for them not to have powerful backers.

"Black, Blackstone Gang, gang..."

Li Laosan's teeth were chattering; all he wanted was to survive, so he dared not hide anything. Although he had practiced swordsmanship for a few years, according to his boss, without internal energy, he couldn't even be considered a martial artist. The man in front of him had killed seven or eight people in a few moves and could smash a door frame with a single punch or kick; he was clearly the internal energy martial artist his boss had mentioned.

As for what the other party knew about Blackstone Gang's next move, he didn't know and didn't want to know. As long as he could survive tonight, the boss would naturally clean up the mess later.

"Take me to your gang's headquarters." The cold, hard voice was like a sharp sword piercing Li Laosan's heart. He nodded stiffly, but his legs wouldn't lift. In the end, Yang Pan had to grab him by the collar and drag him down.

To weed out trouble, you have to pull out the roots. Since he has offended this so-called Black Stone Gang today, Yang Pan might as well uproot them completely to avoid future trouble.

In the lobby on the first floor, Manager Yan had already collapsed to the ground. As Yang Pan brought Li Laosan closer and closer, his body trembled like a leaf.

When Yang Pan stopped beside him, Manager Yan, with a strength he didn't know he possessed, grabbed the other man's legs and cried out:

"Great hero, great hero, spare my life! This old man has no choice. The fee is getting higher and higher, and I'm about to go out of business. I have a wife and children to support, and I can't afford to lose this inn."

This old man was forced to cooperate with them because he had no other choice. Please, have mercy on me this once! Spare me this once!

Yang Pan's face was grim. He had indeed originally planned to kick the other man to death as he passed by. The other man had been running a shady business with this group of people, and might even have had a lot of blood on his hands. But now, listening to what the other man was saying, he seemed to have his reasons.

Yang Pan, however, did not believe the other party's one-sided story. He brought Li Laosan forward and asked, "Is what he said true? Did you force him to open a shady shop? Does he have any blood on his hands?"

At this moment, Li Laosan dared not lie to Yang Pan at all. He only wanted to take Yang Pan to the gang's headquarters as soon as possible to see if Yang Pan would let him go. He answered Yang Pan's questions one by one and even revealed more information in order to win some favor.

Upon hearing Li Laosan's reply, Yang Pan's expression grew even colder.

The food chain in human society is universal across all eras: big fish eat little fish, little fish eat shrimp, and shrimp eat mud. Perhaps in the eyes of the Black Stone Gang, ordinary people are like mud at the very bottom of the food chain, their only value being to be eaten or to become nutrients for others.

Yang Pan, having once been a part of it, truly understands how angry and powerless ordinary people feel when faced with such wanton exploitation and injustice. He too had been powerless to accept such injustice before, but now, he wanted to see just how tough the Black Stone Gang's claws really were!

With a kick aside the weeping Manager Yan, Yang Pan channeled his inner strength into the meridians of his legs, grabbed Li Laosan, and disappeared into the night.

......

The Black Stone Gang's headquarters was located in Qingluofang, West Street, in the county town. It was a sprawling three-courtyard residence. Although the scale of its headquarters was vast, the buildings and residences did not have any rough or unruly feel. Instead, they resembled the mansions of wealthy landowners in a large city.

The building, enclosed on all four sides, features upturned eaves, carved beams, and painted rafters, exuding the luxury typically reserved for wealthy families.

Although the people of the county hate the Black Stone Gang to the bone, they can't help but sigh with regret when talking about its rise.

The Black Stone Gang was originally just a hastily assembled group of a few starving teenagers in the county who banded together for mutual support. They struggled to survive, living a difficult life amidst the various gangs in the county at the time.

One of the boys, unwilling to be bossed around any longer, left the county and entered the martial arts world. Ten years later, the boy, whom everyone thought had died in the martial arts world, suddenly returned to Jingu County and attacked the Green Bamboo Gang with lightning speed, killing the gang leader. Finally, he offered benefits to recruit the remaining members of the Green Bamboo Gang.

From then on, the Green Bamboo Gang ceased to exist, and in its place, the Black Stone Gang emerged in the county.

However, after the Black Stone Gang replaced the Green Bamboo Gang, the lives of the people in the former Green Bamboo Gang territory did not improve. Even though the Black Stone Gang leader had once suffered oppression from the Green Bamboo Gang just like these people, and had even received favors from them.

But perhaps it's true that once a dragon ascends to the heavens, mortals are reduced to mud beneath their feet. The common people who were once just as miserable in the eyes of the Black Stone Gang leader became objects of his wanton oppression after he became the leader. He and these peasants were no longer on the same level.

Instead of showing sufficient leniency to the people in their territory, the Black Stone Gang intensified its extortion, driving countless families to ruin and separation within just a few years. While the people of the county suffered greatly, the Black Stone Gang built the three-courtyard mansion that stands in Qingluofang today.

......

The Black Stone Gang, in the main courtyard of the third courtyard.

Whoosh! Thud!

The large, rough hand sliced ​​through the air and landed without hesitation on a specially erected stone pillar in front of it. The pillar was buried half a meter deep in the ground, its foundation solid, and it should have been firmly rooted in the courtyard, unmoving and unshakable.

At this moment, under the slap of a pair of fleshy palms, the bottom of the stone pillar actually shook slightly. The originally tightly sealed ground developed a crack about a finger's width due to years of slapping. Cracks appeared all around the surface of the stone pillar. It seemed that it would soon be smashed by the opponent's fleshy palms and scattered into a pile of rubble.

Bang!

Chu Ying struck out with his palm again, then stopped, revealing a pair of large, bluish-gray hands. He withdrew his hands and turned to soak them in a basin of medicine that had been placed nearby.

The basin contained medicinal liquid for repairing his hands, an essential item for Chu Ying to cultivate the Stone-Splitting Palm technique. Looking at the middle-aged face reflected in the rippled medicinal liquid, Chu Ying's thoughts drifted back to events from over a decade ago.

More than ten years ago, he entered the martial arts world and by chance joined a martial arts sect. He served the sect leader diligently and thought that the leader would teach him everything he knew. However, the old man never intended to take him as his disciple. He only taught him some external martial arts techniques and thought he would be sent to guard the sect in the future.

Chu Ying never wanted to be subservient to anyone; he harbored ambitions to rise above others. Seeing that the sect leader was unwilling to impart his true skills to him, Chu Ying intended to leave. However, on the eve of his departure, he unexpectedly overheard the sect leader teaching the core techniques to his successor.

Having overheard the core techniques, Chu Ying had no intention of leaving. He continued to instruct new disciples as usual, while secretly practicing the true techniques himself. Eventually, he couldn't bear the slow pace of only being able to eavesdrop on a little bit each day, so he poisoned everyone in the sect, hoping to force the sect leader to reveal all the cultivation methods.

Having acquired the complete cultivation technique, he went all out and, taking advantage of the night when everyone was unable to move, burned down the entire sect. From then on, he wandered the martial world, secretly cultivating.

Four years ago, feeling that he had mastered his palm technique, he returned to the county he had left and used it to kill the former leader of the Green Bamboo Gang. This led to the current power of the Black Stone Gang.

It's laughable that after he established the Black Stone Gang, those peasants who used to hide in the mud alleys and scramble for food actually came to him to claim a relationship, completely unaware of the principle that dragons don't live with snakes.

Chu Ying casually killed those who tried to claim kinship with two palm strikes, leaving only a few childhood friends who were willing to serve him.

He was never worried that these people would be intimidated by his ruthlessness and would outwardly comply but inwardly defy him. He understood that human nature is inherently selfish and greedy, and that as long as these people were given enough money, they would be as loyal to him as dogs, risking their lives to do his bidding, just like the county magistrate sitting in the government office.

Even though he ordered his followers to increase the taxes paid by the local people in order to speed up his cultivation in the past two years, causing widespread resentment in the county, as long as he paid them a considerable amount of money each month, they wouldn't care about the lives of these peasants.

"It'll be soon. In another half month, once my palm technique is fully mastered, I will surely destroy the Red Scorpion Gang and the Bamboo Union Gang. At that time, this entire Jingu County will be the domain of my Black Stone Gang." His murmured words revealed a chilling ambition. He withdrew his palm and activated his internal energy. With a flick of his wrist, Chu Ying shook off the remaining medicinal liquid on his palm.

Just as he was about to go into his room to treat himself, a series of hurried and chaotic footsteps came from the outer courtyard.

Chu Ying turned around, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. His residence had three courtyards and two main courtyards. The innermost courtyard was where he and his female relatives lived. The larger side hall in the front courtyard was used as a meeting place. The other side rooms were reserved for a few Black Tiger Gang members who had learned some martial arts, so that they could protect him.

Thanks to the combination of kindness and severity he had shown over the past two years, these people were very respectful and fearful of him, and never dared to cause such a commotion.

They dare to disregard my authority and make noise in the front yard, disturbing me! They really need to be taught a lesson!

Thinking this, Chu Ying stepped on the ground and walked out with a frosty expression.

call!

However, before he could even get a clear look at the situation in the front yard, a dark shadow rushed towards him at high speed.

Chu Ying's pupils contracted instantly, his steps faltered, and he quickly dodged to the side, letting the dark figure sweep past him and finally crash into a pillar in the corridor.

"Third brother?!" Chu Ying couldn't help but exclaim in surprise when he saw the familiar face collapsing to the ground, coughing up blood.

Li Laosan's throat was filled with blood. At this moment, he couldn't even make a sound when he saw Chu Ying. He could only look at the burly figure surrounded by more than a dozen brothers in the courtyard in front of him with intense resentment in his eyes.

Even though she had already brought him to the base, and she had told him everything about the gang's base along the way, including the leader's strength, why wouldn't he let her go?

He said he would let him go as long as he survived one punch, but the other man's punch broke all the bones in his chest and shattered all his internal organs in an instant, leaving him with no chance of survival.