“Ling Hu?” Seeing the blood-stained Ling Hu amidst the crowd, Gou Shi paused, then exclaimed in surprise, “You dare come back to Dragon Tiger Gate?”
The others cast hostile glances, smirking mockingly.
“Well, well, bringing two one-star disciples—here to reclaim your pride?”
“Begging Dragon Tiger Gate for shelter after a beating would be less dumb. Challenging us? That’s just idiotic!”
“Hahaha…”
The group erupted in laughter, each Dragon Tiger Gate member dripping with disdain.
“I think you’ve misunderstood. We’re just here for a place to stay,” Lin Xiao interjected calmly, addressing the jeering crowd.
“A place to stay?” Gou Shi choked on his words, then snapped, “Kid, are you brain-dead? Coming to Dragon Tiger Gate for a place—you think we’re a charity?”
Lin Xiao shook his head. “You didn’t hear me right. I said we’re here for a place to stay—so all of you can move out.”
“What?” Gou Shi and the others gaped, stunned.
Then they burst into raucous laughter.
“Haha, did I hear that right? Three one-star disciples telling us to move out?”
“That’s ‘just finding a place’? This is the funniest damn thing I’ve ever heard!”
“Ling Hu, your head’s not full of crap, is it? Bringing two wet-behind-the-ears kids to kick our gate?”
Sarcasm poured from Gou Shi and his crew, their eyes sizing up Lin Xiao’s trio like they were fools.
“Damn it, are these guys brain-dead? We tell them to get lost, and they’re laughing?” Hu Yue fumed, shouting, “Hey, you idiots—didn’t you hear us tell you to scram?”
Her slightly childish voice clashed with her striking figure, briefly startling the Dragon Tiger Gate crew.
Even Ling Hu beside her blinked—such a delicate girl with such a foul mouth?
“Did I hear that right? A half-grown girl telling us to scram? What a freak show these days. Yang Huai, wake them up,” Gou Shi waved a hand at a red-robed youth nearby.
“Heh, someone’s volunteering to be a punching bag—I’ll oblige!” Yang Huai grinned wickedly, stepping forward. With a swift stride, he blurred into an afterimage, charging at Lin Xiao’s group.
“Eight Desolate Eagle Wind Palm!”
With a sharp cry, a radiant palm beam flared, a fierce strike slicing through the air toward them. The gust alone threatened to sweep them off their feet.
Yang Huai’s strength was no joke—Heavenly Martial Fifth Layer.
Gou Shi and the others smirked, already picturing the trio’s defeat. Yang Huai’s blow could hold its own against two-star disciples, let alone these three.
“Lin Xiao, watch out—Yang Huai’s strike is brutal!” Ling Hu warned, having suffered under it before.
But Lin Xiao seemed deaf to it. As Yang Huai closed in, he threw a leisurely punch, meeting the palm head-on.
“Hmph, even I’d struggle with that palm—he’s dead meat for taking it on!” Gou Shi sneered inwardly. Blocking the Eight Desolate Eagle Wind Palm wasn’t just a pushback—it was ruin.
Yet the next moment, jaws dropped. A thunderous “Boom!” erupted, wild vitality surging. Yang Huai’s body rocketed backward, blood spraying from his mouth.
“What!” Gou Shi and the others froze. Yang Huai’s mighty strike—blasted away so casually?
“So, Heavenly Martial Sixth Layer!” Gou Shi’s gaze chilled. “Some skill, but that alone won’t cut it to strut around Dragon Tiger Gate!”
With a shout, his own Heavenly Martial Sixth Layer aura flared. Radiant vitality boiled around him as he charged, a fierce wind whipping up. His fist glowed brilliantly, carrying a piercing momentum and faint tiger roars, aimed at Lin Xiao.
“Chi!” Lin Xiao clenched his right fist, a barrier-like aura cloaking it. A ferocious energy radiated outward as he stepped forward, unleashing a devastating punch. The air twisted chaotically, an overwhelming martial intent dominating the scene.
“Boom!” A deafening clash rang out as their fists collided. Surging vitality exploded, Gou Shi’s fist rebounding like it hit steel.
Lin Xiao’s unstoppable strike smashed into Gou Shi’s chest.
“Pfft!”
Blood gushed as Gou Shi flew back, crashing into Dragon Tiger Gate’s front door. The structure shattered, wood splintering and dust billowing.
In that instant, everyone—save Hu Yue—stood dumbfounded.
One punch—just one—and a two-star disciple like Gou Shi was blasted away?
Who was this kid?
“Truly formidable!” Ling Hu’s fists clenched, adrenaline surging as he watched Lin Xiao’s calm demeanor.
“Not much to it,” Lin Xiao dusted his hands, unfazed. “Call out Wang Long and Ba Hu.”
“Who dares mess with my Dragon Tiger Gate?!” Amid the commotion, a furious roar erupted from the wrecked building. A rear door flew off its hinges, and a massive figure burst forth, landing before the stunned group.
Broad and muscular, bare-chested with coiled sinews, he bore a red tiger tattoo. His wide, ferocious face glared at Lin Xiao. “Who are you, punk, stirring trouble here?!”
“Lin Xiao, a new disciple as of today,” Lin Xiao replied, unshaken by the tattooed youth’s fury.
His words made the Dragon Tiger Gate crew stumble. A newbie, fresh that day, bold enough to say it outright?
This was Ba Hu—one of Dragon Tiger Gate’s founders, a notorious figure in the outer court, far beyond Gou Shi’s league.
