The air hissed, suddenly thick with poisoned steel. From the shadows, a volley of projectiles cut through the night, all aimed at the mountain of a man who stood in the center of the courtyard. Some were darts, others were needles, two of which were aimed directly at Jiang Dao's eyes, a vicious attempt to blind him.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
They might as well have been throwing pebbles. The weapons ricocheted off an invisible shield of energy, not even scratching the surface of his power. He tracked the two silver needles meant for his eyes, his gaze never wavering. With a contemptuous flick of his massive greatsword, a shower of sparks erupted as the needles vaporized.
Then, he moved.
The ground itself seemed to groan and splinter under his feet as he launched himself forward, a human avalanche aimed at the man who had dared to attack him.
That man, Pan Fang, was a name whispered with fear in the southern dynasty. They called him the "Eight-Armed Arhat," a master of hidden weapons whose hands were said to move so fast he could strike from every conceivable angle at once. He was a ghost, a legend. But as Jiang Dao zeroed in on him, the color drained from his face. This wasn't a man coming for him; it was a volcano. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.
"No, wait—"
BOOM.
The greatsword swung in a lazy arc. Without any visible effort from Jiang Dao, Pan Fang's body simply came apart, exploding like a dropped egg. Blood, bone, and viscera painted the courtyard walls.
A terrifying smile stretched across Jiang Dao's face. "This weak, and you still thought you could play the game?"
Panic, pure and absolute, seized the remaining assassins.
"Fall back!"
"It's a monster! That's not a man!"
"Get the Left Protector! Now!"
They broke and ran, a terrified mob scattering into the night. Jiang Dao let out a booming laugh, the sound shaking the very foundations of the mansion. He hefted his black sword and gave chase.
"Running?" he bellowed. "No one's running tonight. If a single hair on Qin Qingqing's head is harmed, I'm burning this entire place to the ground with all of you in it!"
CRASH. BOOM. CRUNCH.
It was a slaughter. His terrifying strength, combined with an unnatural speed, made him something beyond human. The warriors were nothing more than insects in his path. He didn't just cut them down; he ran through them, their bodies bursting on impact. The Left Protector's elegant mansion was rapidly becoming a charnel house.
Meanwhile, at the headquarters of the Raging Flames Gang, the news hit like a physical blow.
Fang Tianba, the gang's leader, shot to his feet. "What did you say? Are you certain?"
"Absolutely, Gang Leader," his Right Protector reported, breathless. "Guo Linyu took the girl, Qin Qingqing. Jiang Dao has already stormed his mansion. They're fighting as we speak."
Fang Tianba's eyes glittered—a storm of emotions played across his face—cunning, bloodlust, uncertainty. "Good," he finally hissed, a cold smile touching his lips. "Perfect. Let them tear each other apart. It saves me the trouble." He turned to his subordinate. "Send our best men. I want eyes on everything, but they are not to interfere."
"Gang Leader," the Right Protector hesitated. "What if one of them is clearly winning? What if Jiang Dao falls, or if he proves too much for the Left Protector?"
Fang Tianba's smile vanished. "That cannot happen. If it looks like one of them is about to win, your men will step in and force them to stop. I want them both broken, not one of them victorious."
"Yes, Gang Leader!" The Right Protector bowed and hurried away.
Back at the mansion, another wall imploded. Bodies and debris flew through the air amidst screams of agony. Jiang Dao emerged from the dust, a horrifying silhouette of bulging muscle and burning eyes. He scanned the carnage he had wrought and let out a chilling, guttural laugh.
"Guo Linyu! Where are you hiding? Come on out! Let's end this. A quick squeeze, and our little feud will be all over!" His voice echoed through the ruined halls. "Left Protector! Stop cowering and face me!"
He laughed again, casually backhanding a wooden door off its hinges. Inside, several beautiful women huddled together, trembling, their faces pale and streaked with tears. They stared at the monster before them.
"Please, spare us!"
"We're innocent! We have nothing to do with this!"
Jiang Dao's burning gaze settled on them. "Innocent?" he rumbled, a cruel amusement in his voice. "Are you his concubines? He dared to touch someone of mine. I think killing a few of his favorite toys is more than fair, don't you?"
"My lord, please, we beg you!"
"Help us! Please!"
They cried, their pleas dissolving into terrified sobs.
Jiang Dao's expression turned to stone. His greatsword swept out in a wide, horizontal arc. The air howled as it passed, and for a moment, it seemed to burn. The women's heads exploded in a shower of red.
"See? No more pain," Jiang Dao said to the silent room. "Nothing to be afraid of now."
Suddenly, a thunderous noise from the side. A dozen figures landed in the courtyard, their auras radiating power. They carried every weapon imaginable: swords, halberds, axes, spears. At their head stood Guo Linyu himself, his hands encased in heavy, black iron gauntlets, the palms studded with poisoned barbs. He was ready for war.
But then he saw Jiang Dao, and his eyes widened in disbelief.
"You... you're Jiang Dao?" he stammered, his voice a mix of rage and shock. "What are you?"
The creature before him was a grotesque parody of a man, a hulking mass of swollen, tumorous muscle that barely looked human.
"Of course I'm human," Jiang Dao said, a predatory grin spreading across his monstrous face as he turned to face him. "And you, Guo Linyu, are finally here. You wanted revenge, right? Well, here's your chance. Let's see if you can take it before I crush you and settle this for good."
"Insolence!" one of Guo Linyu's men snarled.
"You think that monstrous form makes you invincible?" another shouted. Their eyes blazed with fury, but they held their ground. Monster or not, if he hadn't reached the legendary Annihilation-level, he could still be killed.
"Fine, Jiang Dao," Guo Linyu roared, finding his courage. "I don't care what you've become. You want a fight? You'll get one. I've killed monsters before. Everyone, on my signal! Kill him!"
With a unified war cry, his elite guard charged.
Jiang Dao merely watched them come, a cruel glint in his eyes. He planted a foot, cracking the stone beneath him, and met their charge head-on.
BOOM.
The first two warriors met with his greatsword. The air itself seemed to dent from the impact. With a screech of tortured metal, their weapons shattered. A moment later, their arms dissolved into a fine red mist. Before a scream could even form in their throats, the sword's momentum carried it through their chests. They detonated.
It was just the beginning.
Jiang Dao spun, his free hand lashing out, wreathed in a sickly green, poisonous fire. It met a warrior's halberd. The weapon disintegrated. His palm continued forward, slamming into the man's chest. There was a dull, wet thump, and the man's torso exploded outward.
"You call these experts?" Jiang Dao's voice was a low, terrifying growl as he waded through them. "Too weak. Too slow. You came out here to impress me with this?"
He was a force of nature, an unstoppable juggernaut of destruction, and he was reveling in every moment of the slaughter.
The courtyard was an abattoir.
Amidst the rubble and shattered walls, everything was coated in a slick, crimson sheen. Of the dozen elite warriors Guo Linyu had brought, only three remained standing. They were a pathetic sight, bleeding, battered, and scrambling back toward their leader with pure terror in their eyes.
Guo Linyu was no better. Covered in blood, his hair wild, he held Qin Qingqing in a chokehold, using her as a human shield. His eyes, burning with a venomous hatred, were locked on Jiang Dao. The black iron gauntlet on his right hand was shattered, his fingers underneath broken and mangled. But he could still kill the girl.
"Don't take another step!" he screamed.
Jiang Dao halted. The immense, muscular form grew still, his presence so heavy it felt like it could crush the very air. "Guo Linyu," he said, his voice a low, cold promise. "You so much as bruise her, and I will hunt down and personally slaughter every single member of your family."
A broken, gurgling laugh escaped Guo Linyu's lips. "After I'm dead, who gives a damn? If I'm not walking out of here alive, what use is a family? Now back off, Jiang Dao! Get out of this mansion, or I swear I'll snap her neck!" His arm tightened around Qin Qingqing's throat, while a finger glowing with poisonous energy pressed against her temple. A single thought was all it would take.
The three survivors, emboldened by their leader's desperate gambit, found a sliver of cruel confidence.
"Yeah, Jiang Dao! You care about this bitch, don't you?" the shortest one sneered, brandishing a bloody dagger. "Gouge out your own eyes. Then cut off one of your arms. Do it now, or I'll carve her pretty eyes out myself!"
"Do it!" the others chimed in. "Mutilate yourself, or she dies!"
Jiang Dao slowly tilted his head, a gesture of almost casual curiosity. His face was a calm, terrifying mask. "What gave you the absurd idea that I care that much about her?" he asked quietly. "And what gave you the even more absurd idea that I'm slow?"
"What?" Guo Linyu's eyes widened.
Fzzt.
Jiang Dao was gone. One moment, he was standing across the courtyard; the next, he was on top of them, his hand reaching for Guo Linyu, an aura of absolute death radiating from his palm.
In a panic, Guo Linyu tried to unleash the energy in his fingertip to end Qin Qingqing's life. But before he could, Jiang Dao let out a roar.
It wasn't just a sound. It was a physical force, a concussive blast that ripped through the air, shattering the remaining roof tiles overhead. Guo Linyu cried out, blood erupting from his nose and mouth as the sound rattled his very brain, his muscles locking up for a fatal half-second. The girl in his arms went limp, knocked unconscious by the force of the roar.
In that instant, Jiang Dao's hands shot out. With a wet, tearing sound, he grabbed Guo Linyu's arms and ripped them clean from their sockets.
"AAAGGGHHH!" The scream was inhuman. Blood fountained from Guo Linyu's shoulders as he staggered back, the sheer agony nearly making him black out. The three remaining men could only stare, horrified. Their last piece of leverage was gone.
"RUN!" they shrieked, turning to flee.
A cruel smile touched Jiang Dao's lips. He gently laid the unconscious Qin Qingqing on the ground. Then he vanished again. He was a blur, snatching the three runners out of the air one by one. He crushed their shoulders and tossed them in a heap at his feet.
"Mercy!"
"Please, we were wrong! I'll be your dog, your slave, anything!"
"Great Hero Jiang Dao, we'll do anything you want, just spare us!"
Jiang Dao looked down at them, his smile widening. "Which one of you wanted me to gouge out my eyes?" he asked, his gaze settling on the short man. "Was it you?"
The man wailed, shaking his head frantically, but Jiang Dao was already moving. His fingers jabbed forward. There was a sickening squelch, followed by a scream that was higher and more terrible than any before it. It didn't stop there. Jiang Dao's hand clamped onto the man's face like a claw, and he tore it away. Then he ripped off his arms and legs, leaving him a limbless, faceless, screaming torso.
"Death is too kind for you," Jiang Dao said calmly. "Living like... this. That's a fate that suits you."
He turned to the other two, who were now sobbing and groveling in a puddle of their own filth. He gave them the same treatment.
When he was done, he finally walked over to the twitching, whimpering form of Guo Linyu.
Suddenly, a voice cut through the courtyard. "Stop right there!"
A man leaped from the shadows, landing gracefully amidst the carnage. He rushed forward, holding something aloft. "By order of the Gang Leader! See this Golden Medallion and you see the Gang Leader himself! Kneel!"
Jiang Dao paused, glancing from the golden token to the man. He didn't move.
The man, a Hall Master named Qian, bristled. "Hall Master Jiang, did you not hear me? Kneel! Show respect!"
Jiang Dao casually dug a finger into his ear. "So, what does the Gang Leader want?"
"You—You won't kneel? You dare show such disrespect?"
"A word of advice," Jiang Dao said, his voice flat. "If you value your life, get to the point."
Qian swallowed hard, the threat hanging heavy in the air. "The Gang Leader orders you to stop. You are to let the Left Protector go. He is to report to the Gang Leader at once."
"Sorry," Jiang Dao said. "The Left Protector is dead. You can take his body back with you."
"No, I'm not! I'm alive!" Guo Linyu shrieked from the ground. "Help me, Hall Master Qian! Save me! This man is a psychopath; he's insane! Help me!"
Qian's face flushed with anger. "Hall Master Jiang, what is the meaning of this? Protector Guo is clearly—"
SMACK.
Jiang Dao turned and swatted his hand in a lazy backhand motion. The blow connected with Guo Linyu's head. It didn't just break; it exploded, sending a spray of blood, brain, and bone fragments across the courtyard. The headless corpse skidded for twenty feet before slamming into a far wall.
Jiang Dao calmly shook the blood from his fingers. He looked back at the utterly frozen Hall Master Qian.
"See?" he said, his voice deceptively mild. "Told you he was dead. Now, take his body and give the Gang Leader my regards."