"Understood!"

The Ghost Doctor shot two scalpels from his hands. Like flashes of lightning, they pierced the backs of the heads of two of Wu Yiping’s seven men, exiting through their brows. He then closed the distance in a few steps, slapping another man on the back of the head so hard it smashed his skull like a rotten watermelon. Then he pulled two more scalpels from the small of his back, felling another two men.

This all happened in under a second, a display of the Ghost Doctor’s formidable strength and brutal methods. He was nothing like the revered head of Shenghe Medical Academy and Shenghe Hospital that the nation looked up to. At this moment, the Ghost Doctor was nothing but a butcher!

"There are two left. I’m going after them. You just hang on, I’ll be back in a flash," the Ghost Doctor shouted, quickly pursuing the two who had escaped. Those two were Fourth Realm War Gods, while the five he had just killed were all Third Realm War Gods.

"Nie Yunzong, you bastard..." Er Gouzi roared furiously. He had poured immense effort into training Wu Yiping and the others over the last five years. The result? Qin Jiuyou was brutally killed by Ye Xiu, Wei Bayin was murdered by Mo Luo, and the Ghost Doctor had just wiped out five more. On top of that, all the men from the night raid on Long Family Manor had been annihilated. The forces Er Gouzi had accumulated over five years were now reduced to just the two escaped Fourth Realm War Gods.

"Don’t mourn for them. You should be more concerned about yourself."

Gong Jin moved swiftly, her afterimages flickering. Her longsword, like a weapon of judgment, struck at Er Gouzi’s vital points with every move.

"Peak of the Seventh Realm... It seems Ye Xiu truly favored you these past five years." Er Gouzi pushed his Seven Killings Blade Intent to its limit as he tangled with Gong Jin, his words dripping with bitterness and jealousy. His talent far surpassed that of Gong Jin, Mo Luo, the Ghost Doctor, and Leng Yue. He used to be Ye Xiu’s most beloved younger brother, which was why his progress had always been the fastest and his strength the greatest.

Five years ago, before his betrayal, not even Gong Jin, Mo Luo, the Ghost Doctor, and Leng Yue combined could stand against him. Yet now, without even using his Totem Power, Gong Jin’s strength was somehow on par with his. He found this simply unacceptable.

"The Young Master said that while your talent is high—the highest he’s ever seen, even—without him, you’re absolutely nothing," Gong Jin mocked as they fought.

Er Gouzi bellowed furiously, "You...! If I were still by Big Brother’s side, he would dote on me alone! The rest of you would be fit only to carry my shoes."

"Too bad there’s no cure for regret in this world." Seeing Er Gouzi’s anger, Gong Jin continued to provoke him.

"Er Gouzi, you’ve always tried to imitate the Young Master, always wanted to surpass him, but you fall short in every single way.

"The Young Master saw through your plot to raid the abandoned residential complex with ease and killed everyone you sent.

"You had your men kill Jiang Yuan’s Medicine Slave to use Jiang Yuan as a weapon against Long Family Manor. You hoped to sabotage the Young Master’s plan for revenge, but not only did you fail, you actually helped him bring the Thirteen External Families under his control.

"You killed my intelligence agents and lay in wait here, thinking I would send more to investigate. Little did you know, the Young Master saw through your pathetic trick with his eyes closed. He sent me and the Ghost Doctor to kill you instead. Now, five of your men are dead, and of the two who fled, the Ghost Doctor will catch at least one.

"Er Gouzi, your schemes aren’t even one-ten-thousandth as brilliant as the Young Master’s, and your ability to train subordinates is pathetic. Five years, and all you have to show for it is this handful of trash..."

"Enough!" Er Gouzi roared, his expression savage as he cut Gong Jin off. "Do you think Ye Xiu treats you any better? You’re so loyal to him, you love him so much, yet your strength is still just at the Seventh Realm, same as me. He won’t even share the Cultivation Methods for the realms beyond the seventh! He doesn’t trust you. Wake up!"

"Who said he didn’t?" Gong Jin smiled slyly. "He gave them to us long ago. Not just to me, but to the Ghost Doctor, Mo Luo, and Leng Yue as well. The only one he left out was you."

The words struck him like a dagger to the heart. Er Gouzi’s mind was thrown into disarray by the sting, and his moves became chaotic!

Taking advantage of the situation, Gong Jin seized the initiative and the rhythm of the fight, continuing to taunt, "You probably don’t know this, Er Gouzi, but when the Young Master said you had the highest talent he’d ever seen? He was just humoring you, motivating you to cultivate harder. The truth is, your talent is average. Entirely average. Without the Young Master’s careful guidance, the most you could have ever achieved in your life is Great Grandmaster. You would never have even reached the First Realm of a War God..."

These words completely shattered Er Gouzi’s psychological defenses. The talent he had taken pride in for ten years was actually a deception.

"I’ll kill you!"

Suddenly, Er Gouzi went berserk, attacking Gong Jin with reckless ferocity and unleashing his Totem Power. His single-minded desire to kill Gong Jin, combined with his reckless state, perfectly aligned with the mysteries of the Seven Killings Blade Intent, causing him to enter a state of epiphany during the fight.

Gong Jin was driven back step by step, realizing that her psychological attack hadn’t caused Er Gouzi to collapse but had spurred him into a suicidal assault, making him stronger as the battle progressed. Damn it, I talked too much! Talk about shooting myself in the foot.

Ghost Doctor, where are you? Get back here! I can’t hold out much longer!

By this time, Er Gouzi had immersed himself in an extremely profound state. His understanding of the Seven Killings Blade Intent deepened every second as his strength steadily increased. At this rate, it was unknown how powerful he might become.

"The Master is here!"

Suddenly, a roaring shout came, pulling Er Gouzi back from his profound state to reality.

"What?"

Upon hearing this, Er Gouzi’s heart turned cold. He no longer cared about killing Gong Jin. He fiercely forced her back with a slash of his blade and took to his heels, disappearing in a flash.

Gong Jin didn’t pursue, instead turning to look at the approaching Ghost Doctor. She asked, "Where is the Young Master?"

"I was just scaring him." The Ghost Doctor smiled. "Didn’t you see? Er Gouzi had entered an epiphany during the fight. If I hadn’t scared him out of that state, who knows how powerful he could have become." 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Gong Jin gave him a thumbs-up. "Clever!"

"Of the two who ran away, I only caught up with and killed one. I don’t know where the other went," the Ghost Doctor said with a shrug.

"Today’s gains are already pretty good," Gong Jin laughed.

* * *

At Long Family Manor, tables were laid out, and people from the Thirteen External Families were having dinner. Leng Yue and the Eight Great National Protector War Gods were at one table.

Looking at the uncouth diners, Qing Luan commented with a constipated expression, "Sending us this many people... You call this a great gift?"

Leng Yue smiled. "This is just a fraction of them. There are over thirty thousand more in the mountains."

Upon hearing this, the minds of the Eight Great National Protector War Gods collectively shattered.

More than thirty thousand more?

"So many people, and all of them unregistered. Settling them is going to be a huge problem!" Vermilion Bird said, rubbing her temples.

Qing Luan tentatively asked Leng Yue, "Can we refuse this gift?"

Before Leng Yue could answer, the sound of an approaching helicopter filled the air.

"The Young Master is back. As for whether you accept this gift, you can ask him yourself," Leng Yue said with a smile.

The Eight Great National Protector War Gods could only manage a weak laugh. As if we’d dare!