“Third Brother is back.”
Chen Yuan was about to kneel when a strand of blue-black true qi emerged to support him.
An old man over seventy years of age walked out from the inner hall. Despite his age, he was tall and robust, his hair still pitch-black. He said with a smile, “We’re all family. No need for such empty formalities.”
This old man was the leader of the Heavenly Wolf Gang, Jiang Kaitai, nicknamed the ‘Northern Heavenly Wolf.’
Born of the wilds, Jiang Kaitai had worked as a caravan guard, been a bandit, and finally built the Heavenly Wolf Gang from scratch, controlling half of Lianshan City. He was a standard-issue wilderness overlord.
Chen Yuan shook his head. “Rites must not be discarded. Foster Father, you accepted me into the gang and taught me martial arts. Your kindness is greater than that of my birth parents. I even feel that I do not pay my respects nearly enough.”
Such nauseating flattery was not something the previous ‘Chen Yuan’ could have uttered.
The previous Chen Yuan had been a bit honest and dull-witted. The only thing worth mentioning about him was his absolutely stunning martial talent.
On the martial path, the earlier one began cultivation, the greater the advantage.
The martial path had nine realms. The first three were Body Tempering, Meridian Opening, and Blood Shifting.
Of Jiang Kaitai’s three foster sons, the eldest and second eldest had cultivated for over ten years before reaching the Meridian Opening realm.
Chen Yuan had cultivated for less than two years and had already stepped into the peak of Body Tempering, only one step away from Meridian Opening. It was more than enough to see how powerful his talent was—he absolutely could be called a genius.
However, there was another saying in the jianghu: only a genius who grew up was a true genius. A dead one was just a corpse.
The Chen Yuan in the original plotline was exactly like this. Before he could even grow up, he was implicated by Jiang Kaitai and killed by the Murong Clan.
Jiang Kaitai gently patted Chen Yuan’s shoulder and asked with a smile, “I heard you killed someone at the Worry-Free Tower just now?”
A hint of anger appeared on Chen Yuan’s face. “Those lowly jianghu curs actually dared to slander you, Foster Father, and slander our Heavenly Wolf Gang! Death is what they deserve!”
“Our Heavenly Wolf Gang has stood in Lianshan City for so many years. We’ve never lacked for people gossiping behind our backs.”
Jiang Kaitai waved his hand magnanimously. “It’s nothing more than the Blackwater Gang being aggressive lately, while our Heavenly Wolf Gang temporarily avoids their sharp edge. So what if we let them talk? By killing them, you instead make our Heavenly Wolf Gang seem overbearing in our conduct.”
Chen Yuan cupped his hands. “Your son knows his fault. But if they dare humiliate my foster father, even if it happened again, I would still kill that dog!”
Jiang Kaitai gently patted Chen Yuan’s shoulder and nodded in satisfaction.
In his early years, his meridians had been damaged due to cultivation, so he was destined to be without children. Thus, he began taking in foster sons.
The eldest and second eldest were now the main pillars of the gang. Although capable, they were grown men now, and their thoughts had grown plentiful.
These two openly fought and secretly schemed within the gang, both wanting to seize more power and take over the Heavenly Wolf Gang.
Now it seemed only Third Brother Chen Yuan didn’t have so many schemes in his heart. No matter when, he placed his foster father first, even above the Heavenly Wolf Gang.
He naturally liked foster sons with strong ability, but what he liked even more were foster sons who were filial and loyal.
“Let’s go. Follow me to the council hall. I’ve already called your eldest and second brothers, as well as some of the gang’s hall masters, to discuss matters.”
Chen Yuan followed behind Jiang Kaitai, head lowered. There was no longer the slightest hint of anger on his face—he was utterly calm.
If he wanted to seize a fragment of the Seven Kill Stele, the first step was to obtain Jiang Kaitai’s trust—genuine trust.
Jiang Kaitai was a wilderness overlord, ruthless and suspicious by nature.
He had never trusted anyone in the Heavenly Wolf Gang, including his three foster sons like Chen Yuan.
In the original plotline, when Jiang Kaitai performed a blood sacrifice to the divine weapon in Lianshan City, he didn’t use anyone from the Heavenly Wolf Gang. Instead, he used a group of death soldiers he had personally raised for over twenty years.
This was also why no one suspected the Heavenly Wolf Gang or Jiang Kaitai at first.
What Chen Yuan needed to do now was continuously raise Jiang Kaitai’s favorability rating until he obtained the other’s trust and could participate in the matter of the blood sacrifice to the Seven Kill Stele.
Only then could he seize a fragment of the Seven Kill Stele from the hands of Jiang Kaitai, the Murong Clan, and the Qi-Pierces-Sun Alliance.
Inside the council hall, over twenty people were already seated. They were all the hall masters of the Heavenly Wolf Gang’s various halls.
At the very front sat two men facing each other. One was in his thirties, tall and robust, with a ferocious knife scar on his face.
He was the eldest, Qin Yuancheng, in charge of the Bloodfang Hall—the strongest of all the Heavenly Wolf Gang’s halls.
The person opposite Qin Yuancheng was in his early thirties, with delicate and somewhat feminine features, wearing a moon-white long robe like some wealthy young lord.
This was the second eldest, Chu Ziping, in charge of the Heavenly Wolf Gang’s Punishment Hall—the hall with the greatest authority in the entire gang.
When Jiang Kaitai stepped into the council hall, everyone present hurriedly stood up to salute.
“Greetings, Gang Leader!”
After saluting, everyone saw Chen Yuan following behind Jiang Kaitai and revealed strange expressions.
Since when had Chen Yuan become so close to the Gang Leader?
Qin Yuancheng and Chu Ziping’s expressions both turned somewhat gloomy.
These years they had fought back and forth, seemingly somewhat forgetting Chen Yuan, the third brother.
So, Third Brother, before you looked all honest with your thick brows and big eyes, yet you were actually playing the fool!
Chen Yuan ignored the gazes of Qin Yuancheng and Chu Ziping and directly walked to his seat to sit down.
Just two idiot pieces of cannon fodder.
In the original plotline, Jiang Kaitai didn’t have many death soldiers left, so he began to bewitch them, making them help him kill people for the blood sacrifice.
As a result, these two guys really believed that Jiang Kaitai could fuse with the divine weapon and bring them along to rise to heaven. They began to massacre wantonly within Lianshan City.
In reality, Jiang Kaitai didn’t trust them at all. He was completely using them as consumable resources.
After they finished killing, when the divine weapon was blood sacrificed, they were sacrificed along with it. He completely didn’t care about these two pieces of cannon-fodder foster sons.
Jiang Kaitai coughed once and looked at the many hall masters present. “Recently, the Blackwater Gang has been aggressive, seizing quite a bit of our business and territory. I know everyone is furious.
“But rest assured, my cultivation has recently made progress. Endure the Blackwater Gang for a while. When the time comes, old and new debts will be settled together with Yuan Dongtian, that fake monk!”
Previously, the Heavenly Wolf Gang and the Blackwater Gang had always been evenly matched.
But recently, Jiang Kaitai had been busy with the matter of the blood sacrifice to the divine weapon, so he naturally neglected the gang side.
He hadn’t personally made a move in nearly a year. To the outside, he only said he was in bitter cultivation.
But the Blackwater Gang thought Jiang Kaitai had grown old, his blood qi withered and strength declining, so they began to nibble away and test him.
Seeing that Jiang Kaitai still hadn’t made a move, they pressed harder step by step.
Many people within the Heavenly Wolf Gang had already begun to show displeasure. Jiang Kaitai had no choice but to step forward and pacify these hall masters.
At this moment, a burly man stood up, his face full of grievance. “Gang Leader, it’s not that we can’t endure, but those Blackwater Gang scum are bullying us too severely! They took one and a half of the three districts under me. The casinos and brothels were seized by them. Several of my brothers were lost too. If we keep enduring, I’m afraid this hall master will become a general without an army!”
Jiang Kaitai frowned slightly.
As long as he could get his hands on the divine weapon, what did a mere Blackwater Gang amount to?
He really didn’t want to worry about these bottom-level gang struggles right now.
But he still needed the Heavenly Wolf Gang as cover, so he couldn’t truly ignore the gang’s affairs.
Gently rapping the table and pondering for a moment, Jiang Kaitai said, “Eldest, your Bloodfang Hall should make a move. Whichever hall has suffered severe damage, send people to help them hold the line. Don’t seek to reclaim lost territory, but at minimum preserve our current holdings. Second, your Punishment Hall shouldn’t idle either. Don’t just keep an eye on our own people—get down there and help resist the Blackwater Gang too.”
Qin Yuancheng and Chu Ziping hurriedly stood up and saluted.
“Yes, Foster Father!”
At this time, Jiang Kaitai suddenly turned his gaze toward Chen Yuan. “Third Brother, would you like to go out and lead a hall of your own?”
As soon as these words came out, Qin Yuancheng and Chu Ziping both stared intently at Chen Yuan.
Before, Chen Yuan had been in charge of the Transmission Hall, but he actually had no real authority. He was just a teacher who taught the gang members foundational martial arts.
These gang members would be assigned to other halls after studying for a while.
So Qin Yuancheng and Chu Ziping hadn’t taken him seriously.
But if Chen Yuan went out to lead one of the other halls, with a group of members under him who could fight and kill, then the threat would be significant.
Chen Yuan shook his head. “Thank you for your great love, Foster Father. But my ability is limited. I haven’t been tempered within the gang’s affairs. Leading a hall alone at this time would instead be easy to mess up. I only hope to remain in the Transmission Hall and teach more members for Foster Father, laying a solid foundation for our Heavenly Wolf Gang and sharing your burdens.”
The Heavenly Wolf Gang didn’t have long before it would be completely annihilated. He’d have to be out of his mind to look for more work for himself.
On the contrary, in the Transmission Hall he was very free and idle. He had plenty of time to carry out his own plans.
Jiang Kaitai nodded in satisfaction.
Third Brother was still indeed that Third Brother. Unlike the eldest and second, whose minds were all on fighting for power and profit.
Actually, this time Jiang Kaitai really wasn’t testing Chen Yuan. He truly didn’t have many people available to use openly.
If Chen Yuan had agreed, he really would have given him a hall and let him help resist the Blackwater Gang.
But at the same time, Jiang Kaitai would also have been somewhat more guarded against Chen Yuan.
“Alright, everyone disperse. Our Heavenly Wolf Gang has weathered storms for so many years. This little setback is nothing.”
Jiang Kaitai waved his hand, letting everyone disperse.
Chen Yuan walked out of the council hall. At this moment, Qin Yuancheng suddenly walked up quickly and sneered, “Third Brother, you’re really something now. You know how to curry favor with Foster Father.”
“What do you mean by that, Eldest Brother? What’s this about currying favor?”
Chen Yuan had an astonished expression. “If not for Foster Father, you and I would just be ordinary gang members. How could we have our current status? Being filial and respectful to Foster Father, sharing his burdens and solving his difficulties—isn’t this what we should do? How can that be called currying favor?”
Qin Yuancheng was choked into speechlessness.
Chen Yuan couldn’t be bothered with him. He turned and left.
Behind him, Chu Ziping also walked over. Qin Yuancheng frowned and said, “Do you think Third Brother is really stupid or playing stupid?”
Chu Ziping said unhurriedly, “Who cares if he’s really stupid or playing stupid? He didn’t even want the chance Foster Father gave him to lead a hall. Even if he’s playing stupid, he’s become really stupid. You know Foster Father’s temper. Third Brother refused him this time. Who knows when the next such opportunity will come? However, this aggression from the Blackwater Gang is instead an opportunity for me. Although my Punishment Hall carries great weight within the gang, normally there aren’t too many chances to show my face outside and earn merit. This opportunity now is hard to come by, hahaha!”
Chu Ziping laughed loudly, turned, and left, leaving behind Qin Yuancheng with a gloomy expression.