Chapter 39: Fighting Side by Side

"Qin Liang?"

Hearing the old man call out this name, Feng Yi could not help but be stunned. Seeing the tip of Qin Liang's sword closing in, he hurriedly shouted, "Xiao Liang, stop! It’s me."

He knew that Qin Liang was formidable; the evidence was written in the corpses strewn across the ground. Feng Yi pulled off his mask, and the tip of the weapon—a refined armament—froze at his throat. Cold sweat instantly beaded on his forehead.

"Brother Feng Yi?" Qin Liang was both surprised and delighted. He looked left and right, asking, "Why are you all here? Did Brother Yulong come too?"

Feng Yi was also a disciple of the Jiang family. Although his talent was average, he was industrious and willing to dedicate himself to grueling cultivation, making him one of the Jiang family’s elites; his strength and other capabilities were in no way inferior to Li Hongcai. Back when Qin Liang was very young, brothers like Feng Yi had often played with him. But as they grew up, they were entrusted with heavy responsibilities by the clan, and their whereabouts became closely guarded secrets. Qin Liang could not express how moved he was to encounter them here today.

"We didn't tell the eldest brother about this operation; we came on our own," Feng Yi explained truthfully. He then patted Qin Liang on the shoulder, his face full of admiration. "You’ve done well, kid. It’s been years, and you’ve become so strong—daring to storm the Black Tiger Gang all by yourself."

"My friend was captured by the Black Tiger Gang. I’m here to rescue them," Qin Liang replied simply.

"Your friend? Is it someone from the Sulfur Fire Mercenary Group?" Seeing Qin Liang nod, Feng Yi slapped his chest and said, "We’re here to rescue people too. From here on, leave it to us. Xiao Liang, stay back and act as the situation demands, but be careful."

With that, Feng Yi led his brothers deeper into the stronghold.

When Qin Liang had first broken in, the Black Tiger Gang was in chaos, and others had already rushed in to report.

"What are you panicking about? Can a single person at the fifth stage of spirit refinement scare you like this? Do you have no backbone?" Meng Xiangyu shouted, frustrated by their incompetence. He waved his hand, ordering his men to drag Ling Dehai and his daughter away, then commanded his subordinates, "The rest of you, follow me to meet the enemy! They’ve killed so many of our brothers—they must pay in blood."

Just as he was about to head out, another gang member ran over in a panic. "Gang Leader, it’s bad! The Fifth Elder has been killed!"

"What?" Rage burned in Meng Xiangyu’s heart. Gritting his teeth, he hissed, "Qin Liang, I will kill you!"

He led his men out of the hall at a rapid pace. Before long, he saw Qin Liang, Feng Yi, and their companions, alongside the sea of corpses. His expression grew increasingly grim; he had not expected so many to have been killed in such a short time.

"Meng Xiangyu, the Black Tiger Gang will be disbanded today!" Feng Yi roared, charging forward with his blade.

Meng Xiangyu looked as if he had swallowed a fly; his expression was ghastly. He was the gang leader standing right there, yet the intruder dared to declare the dissolution of his gang—it was sheer arrogance.

"No matter who you are, none of you will leave here alive today," he commanded. "Elders, form the formation!"

"Yes!"

The elders obeyed, drawing their swords and flashing into position. They quickly set up a battle formation in the open space. The formation resembled a ferocious tiger, its entire body radiating a spiritual glow, its malevolent aura unmasked.

"Kill!" With a shout, the "tiger" lunged toward Qin Liang and the others.

"Move!" Feng Yi commanded, charging ahead. The long saber cast from refined iron in his hand bloomed with a scorching light.

"Seventh stage of spirit refinement?" The members of the Black Tiger Gang felt their expressions shift. A cultivator who reaches the sixth stage of spirit refinement emits a spiritual glow from within their body, but upon completing the seventh stage, that glow can extend outward, imbuing their weapons to enhance their hardness and power.

As the battle formation charged, the other gang members attacked from the flanks, attempting to pin Qin Liang and his companions from both sides. The two parties collided in an instant, clashing violently.

*Swish! Swish!*

The long saber swept continuously, cutting through the night like lightning as it struck at the elders. The elders’ expressions tightened, and they hurriedly adjusted their positions, the formation moving like a tiger to dodge Feng Yi’s attacks. Although he was a seventh-stage cultivator, facing so many sixth-stage opponents at once was taxing. He found himself briefly entangled, the battle reaching a stalemate as flashes of spiritual light illuminated the fray.

*Clang! Clang!*

The sounds of intense blade-on-blade collisions rang out one after another, sending terrifying shockwaves through the air.

"Brother Feng, hold on a little longer! We’ll be there as soon as we finish off this side!" the other brothers in black shouted.

Seeing this, Qin Liang knew he could not sit idly by. He decisively charged toward the battle formation.

Up ahead, Meng Xiangyu had been searching for Qin Liang. That youth had killed so many of his men; he could not be let off. At first, he thought the youth with the long saber was Qin Liang, but realizing that person was a seventh-stage cultivator, he quickly dismissed the thought and scanned the others, soon locking onto Qin Liang.

"Gang Leader, that’s him," Ji Gang whispered, pointing at the youth.

"Little brat Qin Liang, pay with your life!"

Meng Xiangyu lunged out immediately, his palm strike carrying the full momentum of a sixth-stage spirit refiner as it bore down on Qin Liang.

"Xiao Liang, look out!" Feng Yi shouted, his face full of worry. In his eyes, even if Qin Liang was strong, he was only at the fifth stage; how could he possibly be a match for Meng Xiangyu?

"Worry about yourself!" the elder at the head of the tiger formation sneered, sweeping his sword toward Feng Yi’s neck. Feng Yi raised his blade to parry, but the terrifying force sent him staggering backward. Just as he wanted to go and assist Qin Liang, the tiger formation struck again, forcing him to defend himself. He realized then that this operation had become perilous.

At that instant, Meng Xiangyu’s palm strike arrived. Qin Liang hurriedly swung his sword.

*Swish!*

As the sword light ignited, the palm force was cleaved in two, pulverizing the courtyard wall behind him.

"A refined armament?" Meng Xiangyu’s eyes lit up. As a gang leader, he had toiled for years without ever obtaining a refined armament, yet this youth possessed one?

"Hand over that refined armament, and I might consider sparing your life," Meng Xiangyu said in a deep voice. He drew a broadsword, a foot wide, which looked perfectly suited to his burly, robust frame—as if it had been custom-made for him.

Under Meng Xiangyu’s control, a pale golden spiritual glow gradually crept over the broadsword, as if wrapping it in a translucent veil. His aura surged, whipping up the winds around them.

"I remember the last person who said that was your vice leader," Qin Liang said, showing no trace of fear.

Meng Xiangyu’s expression shifted again. "What did you do to Zhu Hao?"

"I killed him, naturally," Qin Liang replied with indifference, as if he were discussing the weather.

"You’re courting death! A mere fifth-stage spirit refiner daring to offend my Black Tiger Gang? I will make you regret coming here today!"

Meng Xiangyu roared, raising his broadsword high and bringing it down toward Qin Liang with a fierce strike. The spiritual glow resembled a streak of golden mist, carrying the force of a mountain-cleaving blow. It was incredibly fast, reaching Qin Liang in the blink of an eye.

Qin Liang raised his refined armament sword-embryo to block. With a deafening boom, his body was forced backward uncontrollably. His feet dragged long furrows into the ground, and the bluestone tiles were shattered and sent flying by the immense force.

"Urgh!"

Qin Liang groaned, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. His palms went numb, his arms trembled, and he nearly lost his grip on the sword-embryo.

"As expected of a seventh-stage spirit refiner. Truly powerful," he thought, his mood darkening.

"Xiao Liang..." Feng Yi cried out in alarm. The other brothers looked over, their faces etched with concern. Seeing that Qin Liang was not severely injured, they felt a mix of confusion and awe, quickly turning their focus back to the battle. They wanted to finish their own enemies as quickly as possible to go and help Qin Liang.

Meng Xiangyu was also surprised. A fifth-stage spirit refiner had taken a strike from him and only coughed up a bit of blood?

"It seems your killing of Zhu Hao was no fluke," Meng Xiangyu remarked, continuing his assault.