The blood had barely soaked into the cracks of the street when the inner gates of the butcher's den burst open.
Heavy boots stomped forward.
A new wave of men poured out — but these ones were different.
Their clothes were clean. Their steps were steady. Some wore armor. Some held proper weapons: steel sabers, twin blades, spiked clubs. Their expressions were calm, even when they saw the corpses.
These weren't street thugs.
They were trained fighters.
And in front of them walked a man with dark gray robes, short gray hair, and eyes like a wolf. His qi surged faintly around him like a second skin.
He was actually in the middle stage of Qi Condensation Realm!
He raised a hand. Everyone behind him stopped.
Then he looked at the massacre. His nose twitched.
"What happened?"
His voice was clear and sharp.
Another man behind him — short and bald with thick shoulders — answered while peeking nervously at the blood.
"Boss Gou brought someone in... said he was a friend. But…"
His voice trailed off.
The gray-robed man raised an eyebrow.
"But what?"
"…Then he got his head cut off."
Silence.
The man frowned and stepped forward, his sharp gaze falling on Wang Jie, who stood calmly in the middle of a pile of bodies.
Wang Jie's blade hung at his side. His armor was stained, but his breath was steady.
He narrowed his eyes.
'That's at least thirty body refining guys, or even more hidden. And ten… no, eleven qi condensation cultivators, including that one.'
His hand gripped the blade tighter.
'This isn't like before.'
Fighting untrained gangsters was one thing. This was different.
These people had real cultivation. Real techniques. Real killing intent.
Wang Jie's thoughts moved quickly.
'Even though I'm only early Qi Condensation, my foundation is far deeper than theirs. I've refined my qi with a chaos-grade manual. I have three body refinement pills working in me. And I still have the talismans from Ancestor.'
He exhaled slowly.
'One-on-one, I'm unbeatable among qi condensation. But not against more than thirty at once.'
Still, his eyes didn't show fear.
Across from him, the middle-stage cultivator watched quietly.
Then, with a small hum, he released a bit of pressure.
Not full killing intent.
Just a little.
But enough.
Wang Jie felt it push against his skin like a weight.
Some of the lower-ranked thugs nearby even took a step back.
But Wang Jie didn't move.
The pressure rolled over him and stopped.
"Interesting," the man said. "You're stronger than you look."
Wang Jie stayed silent.
The man studied him again.
Then, to everyone's surprise, he smiled.
"But you're not as strong as me."
Different from Gou who could only base on his assumption, the gray-robed man could accurately sense that he was just in the first stage of the Qi Condensation Realm. He could at least judge that this man was not some elite cultivator or a disciple of a Sect.
The man opposite him looked old, and he was still in the Qi Condensation Stage. The minimum cultivation for a disciple of a sect to go down the mountains was at least the peak of Qi Condensation or a Foundation Establishment cultivation.
Wang Jie's gaze didn't shift.
The man crossed his arms.
"You're early stage. Don't bother hiding it. I've been in Qi Condensation for ten years. You're still wet behind the ears."
The gang behind him chuckled.
Someone muttered, "This kid's dead."
Another said, "He must've taken pills to boost himself. No way a real cultivator would fight like this alone."
The gray-robed man raised his hand again. The noise died.
"But that just raises the question… who the hell are you?"
He took a step closer.
"You killed over a hundred of our brothers. Crippled our lookout squad. And walked straight into our base like a reaper."
His voice lowered.
"You think that means you're strong?"
Wang Jie finally spoke.
"It means I'm not here to talk."
There was no heat in his voice. Just calm.
The gray-robed man chuckled.
"Arrogant."
He looked around at the bodies again.
"…But not wrong."
He pointed at Wang Jie with two fingers.
"You got guts. I'll give you that. But now that you've drawn blood, you don't get to walk away."
Wang Jie didn't reply.
He was still thinking.
'How can a gang like this raise ten qi condensation cultivators? That's not normal. They'd need manuals, pills, and guidance. This city's dirt poor. Their resources should've been scraped dry years ago.'
His eyes flickered across the group.
'Unless… someone's helping them.'
He narrowed his eyes slightly.
'Some force from outside is supporting them. That's the only explanation. Maybe a rival sect. Or corrupt officials. Maybe even someone who wants to weaken the Cloud Protector Sect's grip on this region.'
He filed the thought away.
Across from him, the gray-robed man tapped his temple.
"You're smart, huh? I can see it. You're not from this city, are you?"
Wang Jie said nothing.
The man grinned.
"So who are you? A wandering cultivator? A rogue disciple? A test subject from the Beast Spirit Pavilion?"
He laughed.
"Actually… doesn't matter."
He pointed to the ground where Gou's head lay.
"You killed a core member. You die. That's all that matters."
Wang Jie didn't blink.
Then, in a low voice, he asked:
"What's your name?"
The man's eyebrows rose.
"You want to know the name of the man who's going to kill you?"
Wang Jie nodded.
The man smirked.
"Fine. Remember it well."
He stabbed a thumb at his chest.
"Yu Meng of the Blood Jackal Gang. Core Commander under the two bosses."
He leaned forward slightly.
"And your name?"
Wang Jie turned slightly, lowering his blade.
"I'm Jie Wang."
Wang Jie was not stupid enough to reveal his real name to others.
Yu Meng nodded.
"Good. Now we know each other."
He turned to his gang and raised his hand.
"All of you—ready stance! Use low-level suppression techniques first. Don't kill him yet. Just crush his qi flow. I'm gonna torture him slowly."
Wang Jie's eyes narrowed.
Jin Hao's voice muttered from his comm-tab.
"…A suppression formation? They're going to try and pin your cultivation down."
He tapped the shop interface quickly.
"Hold on, Wang Jie. Let me give you a surprise."
Wang Jie didn't move.
As the gang closed in and the suppression formation began to activate, Jin Hao was already tapping his interface like a man possessed.
"Okay, okay, this is not looking great. Definitely a 'we're screwed' situation—wait, no it's fine. I'm the ancestor. I got this."
His fingers flew across the screen.
"Shop, open. Alright… give me that Speed Talisman—Qi Condensation tier, triple boost. Bam. Strength Talisman—same thing. Triple the punch, triple the pain."
Two flashes of light surged from the screen and vanished into the game interface. Jin Hao grinned and leaned back like a gamer who just pulled an SSR on his first try.
"Let's gooo. Your Ancestor's got you covered, Wang Jie. I am the ultimate cheat system. You wanna fight gangs? I am the anti-gang DLC."
Back in the slums, the air rippled softly.
Wang Jie's eyes flicked up.
Two talismans descended from thin air—one red with jagged golden patterns, one silver with arrow-shaped glyphs. They hovered just above his palm, waiting.
He didn't smile. But he nodded.
'Ancestor's timing is flawless as always.'
Across from him, Yu Meng's eyes narrowed.
He pointed sharply.
"Suppress him! Formation, lock!"
All around, gang members slammed their palms to the ground or lifted their arms. Dozens of thin lines of light webbed out across the earth, forming a glowing cage around Wang Jie.
A low hum echoed.
The ground trembled slightly.
The formation activated.
...and nothing happened.
Wang Jie remained still.
His qi didn't slow. His breathing didn't change.
It was like the suppression formation wasn't even there.
Yu Meng blinked. "What?"
A gang member shouted, "Boss, the formation—he's not being affected!"
Wang Jie lowered his eyes calmly.
'They don't know. My qi isn't just purer. It's from a Chaos-tier manual. Even now, it's resistant to outside influence. They might as well be tossing nets at a mountain.'
Even though the Chaos-tier manual that he got still has not shown its true edge as he was at a very low cultivation stage, it still has better benefits than most manuals.
After all, nobody would've expected that a Chaos-tier manual will be obtained in the lowest of Realms, and by a Qi Condensation Stage cultivator at that. That's why it had fewer benefits in the lower stages than the higher stages.
He lifted one hand and slowly crushed the first talisman.
Boom.
A surge of red light flooded his limbs.
His muscles tightened beneath his armor. Veins pulsed with qi. His grip on the blade became heavier, sharper.
Then he crushed the second talisman.
Bang.
The wind howled around him. His figure blurred for a second
.
Every gang member took an unconscious step back.
Yu Meng tensed.
Wang Jie took one step forward, the force of it cracking the stone under his feet.
He didn't yell.
He didn't roar.
He just spoke.
"Since your gang wants to kill me..."
Yu Meng's eyes widened.
"What?"
Wang Jie's voice was steady, quiet.
"I was very kind to your members. I just asked where your gang was located and then talk to your boss for some 'business,' but you guys actually have malicious intent against me!"
He raised the blade.
"You pay."
Jin Hao leaned forward, laughing.
"Oh, yes. Now you've done it. He's in 'protagonist mode.' This is when the soundtrack kicks in and people start dying."
He clasped his hands together and whispered, mock-solemnly.
"Rest in peace, background characters. You should've just sold spirit vegetables."
Wang Jie vanished from where he stood.
The gang didn't even have time to shout.