Chapter 436: Chapter 148: Subduing a Demonic Servant on a Thousand-Ren Precipice, Baili’s Cold Blade Warns of a Death Calamity

Cao Yan walked at a steady pace, his voice calm. "The Medicine King Pavilion is an asset of the Medicine King Valley. We have no grievance with them..."

"In all of Qing Province City, the only ones who could compel the Medicine King Pavilion to move against our Seven Stars Gang so mercilessly is the Zhang Family. I can’t think of anyone else."

The two Incense Masters felt a chill go through them.

The Zhang Family!

’Has that behemoth, so deeply entrenched in Qing Province City, finally made its move?’

"Come, let’s check the other shops," Cao Yan said calmly.

However, what happened next stoked the two Incense Masters’ fury to its absolute peak.

They visited dozens of Elixir Shops throughout the city, but the result was always the same.

At first, the Shopkeepers and their staff would greet them with smiles, but the moment they heard the name "Seven Stars Gang," their faces would instantly change. They were met with cold remarks or were driven away, as if the Seven Stars Gang were a plague to be avoided at all costs.

Everyone refused to do business with them, unwilling to sell them even the most common of Healing Herbs.

It was as if the entire elixir network in Qing Province City had slammed its doors shut on the Seven Stars Gang overnight.

"This is too much! They’ve gone too far!"

One Incense Master, trembling with rage, slammed his fist into a roadside Stone, sending a web of cracks through it.

Cao Yan’s face remained impassive.

He led the two men and silently returned to the Seven Stars Gang Headquarters.

Inside the assembly hall, Gang Leader Cao Feng, Guardian Wang Kaishan, Chen Xuan, and the others erupted in fury after hearing Cao Yan’s report.

"How dare they!"

Wang Kaishan raged, "The Zhang Family has made quite a move! Are they trying to cut off our cultivation paths and make it impossible for the Seven Stars Gang to take a single step in Qing Province City?!"

"Making it so our brothers can’t buy a single Elixir or harvest a single Treasure Plant? What a vicious plot!" Chen Xuan’s face was ashen, a murderous light flashing in his eyes.

The atmosphere in the hall instantly dropped to a freezing point, as everyone was enraged by the sheer malice from this behemoth.

However, Cao Yan shook his head at this moment and calmly analyzed, "Everyone, be patient. This move by the Zhang Family and the Medicine King Valley might seem ruthless, but in truth... it’s just to spite us."

He scanned the room and continued, "If the Seven Stars Gang had thousands of members and masters of the Divine Power Realm as common as clouds, then a move like this—cutting off our resources at the source—could truly cripple us."

"But look at our situation now. Across the entire gang, we have few members above the Spirit Awakening Realm, and not a single person in the Divine Power Realm."

"The Elixirs we purchase are mostly to help new disciples overcome the five hurdles of Foundation Establishment. They’re not high-grade, and we don’t buy them in large quantities."

"This kind of blockade can’t possibly corner us."

"Worst case, we can find an unaffiliated Independent Cultivator or have our men from outside the city enter in disguise to buy what we need in small, separate batches. How would they ever find out?"

"And taking it a step further, if we were ever in dire need of high-grade Elixirs, couldn’t we just have Brother Chu Fan go through his channels at the Demon Suppression Bureau? You think we wouldn’t be able to buy them then?"

Cao Yan’s words were like a splash of cold water, extinguishing the smoldering anger in their hearts.

Everyone thought it over and realized he was right.

The Zhang Family and the Medicine King Valley surely understood that such petty squabbles couldn’t truly corner the Seven Stars Gang. Their goal was simply to show off their influence, intimidate the Seven Stars Gang, and make them miserable.

Once they understood this point, though they were still resentful, the feeling of panic, of being forced down a dead end, dissipated.

"Hmph. The Zhang Family really has no regard for the Demon Suppression Bureau!"

"We need to tell Fan to be more careful... Now that they’ve made a move, they must have a follow-up planned!"

Just as everyone was seething with indignation, a flurry of hurried footsteps and shouts came from outside the assembly hall.

"Halt! Who goes there!"

"Stop her!"

"BANG!"

The doors to the assembly hall were slammed open from the outside. A figure bathed in blood staggered inside, and the thick stench of blood instantly permeated the air.

It was a woman. Her green dress was stained dark red with blood and torn in multiple places, revealing ghastly wounds.

Her hair was a mess, her face was as white as a sheet with a trickle of blood at the corner of her mouth, but her eyes were shockingly bright, full of desperation and resolve.

Following right behind her, a dozen armed members of the Seven Stars Gang rushed in and surrounded her.

Everyone in the hall was stunned.

As battle-hardened veterans, Wang Kaishan and Chen Xuan sensed a tyrannical aura far surpassing their own the instant the woman burst in.

Though the aura was chaotic and faint, it still carried a heart-pounding sense of pressure!

"SHING!"

The two men’s expressions changed drastically as they drew their blades in unison, their sharp edges aimed directly at the woman.

"Who are you? Why do you trespass into our Seven Stars Gang headquarters?"

Gang Leader Cao Feng, however, was composed. He stepped forward, his eyes like daggers fixed on the woman, and demanded in a deep voice:

The woman panted, her eyes quickly scanning the hall as if searching for someone. In a hoarse, urgent voice, she asked, "I am Baili Bing of the Medicine King Valley... Chu Fan... Where is Chu Fan? I have something of the utmost urgency to discuss with him!"

Her words sent a shockwave through the entire hall.

’Looking for Chu Fan?’

’And she’s from the Medicine King Valley?’

The expressions on Cao Feng and the others darkened instantly.

’Just moments ago, we were furious about the Medicine King Valley, and now someone from their valley has burst in covered in blood?’

’And she’s asking for Chu Fan by name?’

"Hmph!" Cao Feng laughed, his fury twisting into a sneer as a cold light shot from his eyes. "So this is the Medicine King Valley! It’s bad enough you’ve blacklisted our Seven Stars Gang, but now you dare send someone to storm our headquarters and try to assassinate Chu Fan? Do you really think the Seven Stars Gang is a lamb for the slaughter?!"

"SHIING!"

All the high-ranking members of the Seven Stars Gang present instantly spread out, their blades drawn, trapping the woman in a tight circle.

Although her aura was terrifying and her power level was far beyond theirs, not a single one of them backed down.

This was Seven Stars Gang territory. To harm one of their own, you would have to step over their corpses first.