Yuxing Lake, basement.
Blood Shadow, who was cultivating cross-legged on the bed, suddenly opened his eyes, a sharp glint shooting from them.
“Just a little bit more. I never expected breaking through to the Xiantian realm would be this difficult.”
As the intelligence from the Shadow Tower indicated, Blood Shadow’s cultivation was at half-step Xiantian, and he had remained in this realm for many years. Despite using numerous resources over the years, he had failed to break through to the Xiantian realm.
This time, leaving the United States for China, apart from completing Chen Junyi’s mission, he had another idea. He wanted to use the opportunity in China to achieve a breakthrough. After all, China was the main base for ancient martial artists, possessing resources and opportunities unavailable elsewhere. The Ancient Martial Artists Association alone was something the United States did not have.
During his many days in China this time, he had exchanged for quite a few resources at the Ancient Martial Artists Association. He had originally thought he could smoothly break through to the Xiantian realm, but Blood Shadow had not succeeded. Despite all his efforts, he was still just a little short of the Xiantian realm.
This filled Blood Shadow’s heart with a sense of urgency, not for any other reason, but because of Li Feng.
When he came to China to carry out the mission this time, Blood Shadow had originally thought it would be an easy task. But now he knew that, let alone completing the mission, even killing Li Feng was not straightforward.
The scene of Li Feng effortlessly slaying Wei Kang that day was still vivid in his mind. Even if he wanted to kill Wei Kang, a peak Houtian ninth-layer ancient martial artist, it would not have been as effortless as Li Feng made it look. Therefore, Blood Shadow felt that Li Feng’s strength was at least comparable to his own, half-step Xiantian.
Although he was shocked that Li Feng possessed half-step Xiantian strength at such a young age, Blood Shadow knew that being shocked was useless. The key was to be able to kill Li Feng. With his current strength, killing Li Feng would not be easy.
So Blood Shadow thought of breaking through to the Xiantian realm as quickly as possible. Only by breaking through to the Xiantian realm could he effortlessly slay Li Feng.
Over the past few days, while secretly mobilising forces, he had been diligently cultivating, trying to break through to the Xiantian realm. However, breaking through to the Xiantian realm was not something that could be achieved just by wanting it. It was fraught with difficulties.
“If I cannot break through to the Xiantian realm soon, then to kill Li Feng I must rely on others. I just do not know if that method will work.” Blood Shadow frowned.
Knock knock.
There was a knock at the door.
“Come in.”
A man in black entered the basement.
“Lord Blood Shadow.” The man in black approached Blood Shadow and said respectfully, “Lord Blood Shadow, the items you asked me to prepare are ready.”
“Really?” Blood Shadow’s face lit up with joy upon hearing this. Previously, he had tried to break through to the Xiantian realm through conventional cultivation, but he worried that the usual method would not work. So he had instructed the man in black to prepare some items, planning to use a special method to break through.
“Yes.” The man in black nodded, somewhat puzzled as to why Blood Shadow wanted him to prepare so many disgusting things, but since Blood Shadow did not explain, he did not ask further.
“Very good. In a moment, have someone bring those items down to this basement.” A glint flashed in Blood Shadow’s eyes. As long as he had those items, he was seventy percent confident of breaking through to the Xiantian realm within two days. Once he broke through, the subsequent plan to deal with Li Feng would become much easier.
“Yes.” The man in black quickly nodded.
“By the way, what is the reaction from Zhu Yuanyang’s side now?” Blood Shadow suddenly remembered something and asked.
“Lord Blood Shadow, Zhu Yuanyang said that to deal with Li Feng, her people lack sufficient strength, so she has found an ally.” The man in black replied promptly. This matter had been reported from Zhu Yuanyang’s side some time ago, but since Blood Shadow was cultivating, he had not mentioned it until now.
“An ally? It seems Zhu Yuanyang still wants to play her little tricks.” A cold glint flashed in Blood Shadow’s eyes. How could he be unaware of Zhu Yuanyang’s little schemes? It was just a pity that last time on Binhe Road, Li Feng’s power had completely ruined his entire plan.
“Lord Blood Shadow, I do not know what Zhu Yuanyang is planning, but the ally she has found could indeed help us deal with Li Feng.” The man in black said quickly.
“Oh, who is this person?” Blood Shadow asked with interest.
“Fu Yanxiong.” The man in black answered.
“Fu Yanxiong? From the Fu family?” Blood Shadow frowned, somewhat surprised.
“Yes, this Fu Yanxiong is from the Fu family. In the Fu family, he and several others are known as the Fu Clan’s Five Heroes. Moreover, this Fu Yanxiong has deep grudges against Li Feng. During the time Fu Yanxiong has been in Tianhai City, he has clashed with Li Feng multiple times. He hates Li Feng to the bone.” The man in black explained promptly.
“The Fu Clan’s Five Heroes?” A trace of disdain curled at the corner of Blood Shadow’s mouth. The Fu family was indeed one of China’s eight top-tier families, but as someone close to Chen Junyi, Blood Shadow had never taken these eight great families seriously.
“Do you have any intelligence on Fu Yanxiong?” Blood Shadow asked.
“Yes.” The man in black had anticipated Blood Shadow’s question and had prepared intelligence on Fu Yanxiong in advance.
Blood Shadow picked up the intelligence report on Fu Yanxiong and read it. After finishing, he sneered and said, “So, in his fights with Li Feng, not only did this Fu Yanxiong fail to gain the upper hand, but even his confidante Mu Jiajia betrayed him and defected to Li Feng?”
“Yes.” The man in black nodded.
“Do you think this is credible?” Blood Shadow sneered.
“Lord Blood Shadow, are you suspecting that Li Feng and Fu Yanxiong are putting on an act?” The man in black was stunned, then quickly realised.
“Is that not possible? Fu Yanxiong is, after all, from the Fu family, and the Fu family is one of the eight top-tier families. Could they not ensure the loyalty of their subordinates?” Blood Shadow sneered.
In Blood Shadow’s view, someone who could become Fu Yanxiong’s confidante would certainly not be ordinary. Although Fu Yanxiong was not currently the Fu family heir, he was one of the candidates. Following Fu Yanxiong offered the chance to become a meritorious figure under the future Fu family head. At this juncture, would Mu Jiajia betray Fu Yanxiong? What benefit would betraying Fu Yanxiong bring to Mu Jiajia?
Moreover, the intelligence stated that right after betraying Fu Yanxiong, Mu Jiajia immediately defected to Li Feng. This seemed even more implausible to him. Li Feng and Fu Yanxiong had similar statuses, the only difference being that Li Feng was the eldest young master of the Li family while Fu Yanxiong was the third young master of the Fu family. Would Mu Jiajia be so optimistic about Li Feng that she would risk the stigma of betrayal to join him?
And after Mu Jiajia defected, Li Feng immediately treated her as a confidante without hesitation. Did Li Feng trust Mu Jiajia that much? Did Li Feng not consider that if Mu Jiajia could betray Fu Yanxiong, she could also betray him?
Given all these points, Blood Shadow felt that Fu Yanxiong and Li Feng were just acting.
The man in black’s expression changed. Blood Shadow’s words had indeed reminded him of this possibility. However, considering that the intelligence on Fu Yanxiong had been gathered from multiple sources, while the possibility existed, it was not very likely.
Thus, the man in black said, “Lord Blood Shadow, I think this possibility is low. The conflict between Fu Yanxiong and Li Feng began right when Fu Yanxiong first arrived in Tianhai City. Many people have died because of it. If they were acting, what would be their purpose? I cannot see what benefit this would bring them.”
Blood Shadow pondered for a moment. He did not know much about the conflicts among China’s eight top-tier families. His earlier judgment about Li Feng and Fu Yanxiong had been based solely on Mu Jiajia’s betrayal. But viewed from the perspective of the Fu and Li families, the possibility was not great.
Of course, the reason Blood Shadow was so suspicious of Fu Yanxiong was because the recommendation came from Zhu Yuanyang. Blood Shadow remained constantly wary of Zhu Yuanyang and felt she would not recommend Fu Yanxiong out of pure goodwill.
“Very well. In a moment, go and talk to Fu Yanxiong. Probe his attitude.” Blood Shadow thought for a bit and said. He felt that even if Fu Yanxiong were to be used, it could only be in a special arrangement. He did not want this uncertain Fu Yanxiong to ruin his plan.
“Understood.” The man in black nodded.
“By the way, have the people I mobilised arrived in Tianhai City?” Blood Shadow asked. These were the elite forces of the Hongmen in the Yangtze River Delta region. This time, to deal with Li Feng and the others, Blood Shadow had invested heavily.
“Lord Blood Shadow, rest assured. Everyone has arrived and is awaiting your orders.” The man in black replied quickly.
“Is there anything else?” Blood Shadow looked at the man in black and asked.
“Lord Blood Shadow, today the Fengyuan Group announced some news. I am not sure if it is useful to you.” The man in black said.
“News? What news?” Blood Shadow was startled and then asked.
“The Fengyuan Group announced today that they have successfully developed a maglev car.” The man in black answered.
“What? A maglev car?” Blood Shadow’s expression changed. As Chen Junyi’s confidant, he was naturally very aware of the maglev car. This was a project Chen Junyi had led, with the Longmen Group investing ten years of research without success.
Over those ten years, Chen Junyi had poured countless manpower, financial resources, and materials from the Longmen Group into developing the maglev car. If this maglev car had been successfully developed by Li Feng’s Fengyuan Group, it would be an unprecedented blow to the Longmen Group and to Chen Junyi.
“Yes.” The man in black looked at Blood Shadow with some puzzlement. He had not expected such a strong reaction from Blood Shadow.
Was this maglev car that important? Otherwise, why would Blood Shadow react so intensely?
“Is there anything else?” Blood Shadow asked the man in black again.
“No.” The man in black shook his head.
“If there is nothing else, you may leave. I need to cultivate.” Blood Shadow waved his hand.
“Yes.” The man in black acknowledged and left the basement.
“A maglev car? It seems Li Feng’s Fengyuan Group is truly full of surprises.” A sinister cold light flashed in Blood Shadow’s eyes. “However, this maglev car is not something your Fengyuan Group can possess.”
Blood Shadow took out his phone and dialled a number. “Caidie, help me investigate something.”
