Outside the long street, in a loft, two people stood watching the events unfolding at the city gate—it was the Hall Master of Law Enforcement Hall, the Right Protector of Beidou Bang, Yun Wei, and his only son Yun Huai.

Seeing Gu Zhan draw his blade and kill without hesitation, Yun Huai was stunned and exclaimed in disbelief, "He... he... how does he dare, father, how can this Gu Zhan be so audacious..."

Yun Wei gave a soft laugh and said, "Why wouldn’t he dare? To be honest, Gu Zhan has already tolerated quite a lot. If he hadn’t wanted to test my attitude, he would have started killing much earlier."

"What do you mean?" Yun Huai was taken aback.

Yun Wei said, "When I returned to the city earlier and learned that the winner turned out to be the Sixth Young Master, I suspected Gu Zhan had already guessed Dragon King’s intentions. That’s why we had the struggle over Xuanhu Sect—all of it was about the losers.

And just now at the gate, Gu Zhan waited for everyone to gather—it was all to test my stance. When people from the Tian Family branch showed up to stop the Law Enforcement Hall and the Elder Council’s army, Gu Zhan understood my position completely.

He knows my stance, or rather the Dragon King’s stance. He knows that now Canglan City is just an arena for strife. The Dragon King doesn’t care about systems, only about which Young Master can rise to power. So now, Gu Zhan has no more scruples!"

With that, Yun Wei clicked his tongue in admiration and said, "Still, I have to admit, this Gu Zhan is even stronger than the Dragon King was in his youth—such courage, such killing intent. Beidou Bang truly has a worthy successor. Only someone like him can ensure that the next generation of Beidou Bang isn’t swallowed by other powers."

Yun Huai said doubtfully, "But I think he’s too arrogant. The arrogant are bound to meet disaster!"

Yun Wei glanced at Yun Huai and said, "That’s where you fall short compared to Gu Zhan. He sees this chaotic Martial World for what it is—no matter what schemes or tricks you use, nothing beats absolute strength. As long as your fist is hard enough, you can be as arrogant as you like. If your fist isn’t hard enough, no matter how humble you act, you’ll just end up being devoured by others."

Yun Huai fell silent.

Yun Wei said, "If Gu Zhan can ascend to Grandmaster before the Dragon King steps down, or if he can kill a Grandmaster, the position of Gang Leader of Beidou Bang will be his. No one is more suited to inherit the title than him."

Yun Huai frowned and said, "Father, Gu Zhan joined Beidou Bang halfway, he’s young with shallow credentials—won’t it be hard for him to convince the masses?"

"Convince the masses, my ass," Yun Wei said. "You still haven’t grasped the true nature of the Martial World. Whoever has the hardest fist gets the loyalty. It’s just a pity that Gu Zhan is still lacking one thing—otherwise, he wouldn’t have needed to test me today; he’d have just started killing!"

"What is it?" Yun Huai asked in confusion.

Yun Wei said, "Gu Zhan’s talent is great—among those at his level, he’s definitely one of the best. But he knows too: his strength hasn’t yet surpassed the Dao Realm. He can’t take on a Grandmaster head-to-head, so he needs to test my attitude."

Yun Huai wondered, "Dao Realm can’t take on Grandmaster anyway, right?"

Yun Huai said in a deep voice, "But that Sword Spirit, Qi Baiyu, and Sword One from Sword King City, they’re both Dao Realm—how can they kill Grandmasters?"

Yun Huai was stunned: "This..."

Yun Wei said, "That’s because, with Dao Realm cultivation forcibly communicating with Heaven and Earth, they resonate with Heaven and Earth, cultivating Celestial Tier Divine Techniques against the odds. Judging by Gu Zhan’s talent, he should be able to reach that stage too. The reason he can’t match Qi Baiyu and Sword One’s level is probably because he lacks a Divine Technique."

Yun Huai exclaimed in surprise, "Father, you don’t mean to..."

Yun Wei nodded and said, "Enough, go give the order—have the Law Enforcement Hall’s troops help disperse the crowd and block the Government Army’s escape routes. The men in Law Enforcement Hall are the backbone of Beidou Bang—let them show their stance so Gu Zhan doesn’t misunderstand. We can’t let Gu Zhan kill them by mistake. Also, tell Gu Zhan to come find me afterwards—I’ll teach him a Divine Technique!"

Yun Huai froze, then asked in confusion, "Father, are we really just going to let Gu Zhan kill all those Elders? Out in public like this—if word gets out, Beidou Bang’s reputation..."

"Reputation, my ass," Yun Wei said. "What’s that worth? As long as Beidou Bang remains strong, it’ll have its reputation. Without strength, any reputation is fake. Also, whether Gu Zhan or Sixth Young Master rises to power, they have to clear out dissenters. Better to kill now and save trouble down the line."

...

On the long street,

Gu Zhan suddenly made his move, slashing down an Elder on the spot, stunning everyone around,

No one expected Gu Zhan would really dare to attack in broad daylight, right in front of everyone.

Many present understood,

The conflict between the two sides was now irreconcilable; a showdown was inevitable sooner or later. But still, who could have guessed Gu Zhan would actually kill like this, right out in the open? Did he not care about establishing himself on Canglan Dao?

Everyone was dumbfounded,

Even if there was going to be killing, wasn’t it supposed to go through waves of open and secret struggle before drawing daggers in the end?

Who just goes straight for the blade at the outset?

If everyone did that, how could the feud between the Young Masters have dragged on for so many years?

Lady Liu stood rooted on the spot, watching Gu Zhan charge into the fray, her body trembling all over,

"How does he dare, how can he dare do this!"

She was full of disbelief.

"Let’s go, big sister!"

Liu Qingming, still severely injured from Gu Zhan’s earlier kick, rushed over to the dazed Lady Liu, grabbed her hand, and started running, shouting as he ran, "At this point, even Right Protector Yun Wei hasn’t shown up, don’t you see what’s going on? 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

This is a bloody struggle tacitly approved by the Dragon King—he wants to quell the chaos as quickly as possible, and what better method than a direct bloodbath? We’ve already lost, the only thing left for us now is..."

At that instant,

A flash of the blade suddenly appeared in the air, slicing right through Liu Qingming’s neck, a gentle stroke and half the neck was shattered, blood splattering Lady Liu’s face.

Though Lady Liu’s status was noble, in the end she was no more than a woman who’d spent her life deep within the inner residence. She might have acted ruthless, but had never truly faced a scene like this before. She was so scared she went limp, collapsing onto the ground,

She looked at Gu Zhan, terror all over her face: "Gu Zhan, I am the Lady of the City—you... if you kill me, that’s defying your superiors, you..."

Gu Zhan sneered, grabbed Lady Liu by the neck, and hurled her into the melee nearby,

Lady Liu’s body crashed directly onto an Elder’s sword, piercing through her chest in an instant.

"You really have colluded with the Demon Dao! Now that your plot’s exposed, you even dare kill Lady Liu!"

Gu Zhan roared and charged forward again.

That Elder was stunned too,

He had no idea how Lady Liu had suddenly impaled herself on his sword,

But Gu Zhan gave him no time to react,

A flash of the blade fell,

That Elder’s head flew up instantly.

And now, chaos reigned all across the long street,

Hundreds of Embroidered Uniform Guards were fighting their way through, Tian Family’s men joining in, and the Government Army was being slaughtered, scattering and fleeing in disarray.

But what terrified them the most was,

The Law Enforcement Hall troops, who should have been attacking the Embroidered Uniform Guard, instead blocked their escape and raised blades against them!