The rules of this world seemed not to apply to him at all.
The rules that had quietly persisted in Unredeemable City for years meant nothing to him either.
Zhu Weiwo cared only for the spear in his hand, only for his own rules.
Lian Heng tucked the Red Ledger into his chest, opened his drowsy eyes, looked at Zhu Weiwo, and chuckled softly: "What rules of yours?"
"Very simple." Zhu Weiwo continued walking forward without stopping for anyone: "I want to kill him. Anyone who stops me, I kill."
He did not speak of why he wanted to kill.
National enmity, personal hatred, stances, roles—he said none of it.
Because prideful as he was, he owed no one an explanation.
He only said he wanted to kill the Dog-Mask, and that single statement was Zhu Weiwo's entire reason.
"You think you're invincible in the Soaring Dragon realm just because you defeated a mere Dog-Mask?"
Lian Heng's voice was light and indifferent—light with contempt, indifferent with disdain.
As the vice commander of Unredeemable City's Crime Guard, though he too remained within the Soaring Dragon realm, he was still a force that crushed countless villains within the city.
The Dog-Mask was not particularly difficult for him to handle either.
Zhu Weiwo kept walking forward, while the Dog-Mask pushed himself backward with both hands planted on the ground.
Hearing Lian Heng's provocation, he didn't even twitch an eyebrow, merely saying softly: "You can try."
He quickened his pace, the spear tip dragging along the ground, leaving a trail of sparks.
A cold glint flashed in Lian Heng's eyes, his body tensed, ready to step forward—but then he suddenly relaxed.
Because at that very moment, the wind howled.
A man wearing a goat bone mask descended from the sky, landing before the Dog-Mask.
The moment he landed, he tossed a red pill to the Dog-Mask.
The Dog-Mask swallowed it without hesitation. His withered aura instantly surged, and even his shattered dharmic form condensed again, returning to its peak. He leapt up and landed beside the Goat-Mask.
This forbidden drug had severe side effects, but it allowed him to continue fighting at peak condition.
At the other end of the long street, two figures of similar height and build walked slowly forward.
One wore an ox bone mask, the other a horse bone mask.
Among the Twelve Bone Masks of the Bone Path, their combat power ranked only below the Dragon-Mask—the Ox-Mask and the Horse-Mask.
And Zhu Weiwo stood alone in the center of the long street with his spear.
The sun blazed like fire, its heat boundless.
Before and behind him—four peak Soaring Dragon realm powerhouses!
All within the Soaring Dragon realm, four against one!
"Lian Heng, we don't need to pay a redemption fee to kill him, do we?" It was the Ox-Mask who spoke.
"Because he's the one trying to kill us," the Horse-Mask added.
They were twin brothers, inseparable since childhood, their minds connected.
The only time they had separated was when each participated in the Bone Path's trials, and in the end, both emerged as the sole victors in their respective trial grounds, reuniting among the Twelve Bone Masks.
"Rules are rules after all," Lian Heng said lightly, then added with a soft chuckle: "But ten thousand Zhuang blade coins shouldn't be a burden for you."
The Horse-Mask looked at Zhu Weiwo with surprise: "You're confident."
"Arrogant," the Ox-Mask corrected.
"Stop talking nonsense and kill him!" The Dog-Mask had nearly died, and now with the forbidden drug consuming his foundation, hatred burned in his heart. He could no longer hold back, opening his mouth to let out a howl.
It was the mutated rooster's crow once more.
But before he could fully open his mouth, dark hair flew before his eyes—Zhu Weiwo was already upon him!
A cold spike thrust out abruptly.
Its handle was gripped by the silent Goat-Mask.
He was the only one among the Twelve Bone Masks who excelled in medicine, always taciturn, but his combat power was second to none.
The spike flew like a meteor from beyond the heavens, its movement mysterious and unpredictable—truly the Goat Horn technique, leaving no trace.
At the other end of the street, the twin brothers, Ox-Mask and Horse-Mask, had also closed in.
The Ox-Mask soared into the air, raising his dark-iron wolf-tooth club high, his momentum like a mountain collapsing.
The Horse-Mask's curved blade hid behind his body as he lunged forward, killing intent concealed deep within.
But Zhu Weiwo neither dodged nor evaded, as if he hadn't even perceived the movement behind him.
He closed in on the Dog-Mask with incredible speed, his entire body leaping into mid-air, knee bent, using his knee as a spear, shattering the Dog-Mask's defense in a single strike.
The knee continued upward, slamming into the Dog-Mask's chin, forcing his mouth shut before the howl could escape.
Having fought once before at the Grand Chance Gambling Den, Zhu Weiwo found dealing with this opponent even easier now.
The Dog-Mask's teeth clattered against each other, shattered into fragments. The rooster's crow was swallowed back into his throat, along with a mouthful of congealed blood.
At the same time, Zhu Weiwo raised his hand, and the tail of the Candle-Burning Spear thrust forward, striking squarely against the Goat-Mask's sudden spike!
The spike instantly spun like a tornado, a piercing howl rising in an instant.
And the Goat-Mask had become the eye of the storm.
In countless battles he had experienced, not everyone had been able to accidentally meet his Goat Horn technique, but those who did had invariably been broken by his razor-sharp white-ram spike.
In his view, this strike would inevitably pierce through the spear, breaking from its tail, then deflecting upward at an angle after three inches, landing right at the vital point over Zhu Weiwo's heart.
Yet this collision was lighter than a feather.
The moment his white-ram spike touched the spear's tail, the long spear shot away like lightning.
And Zhu Weiwo rode that lightning-roaring spear, turning back toward the Ox-Mask and Horse-Mask approaching from the other end of the street!
Mountain-breaking wolf-tooth club, hidden-blade ground-slashing blade.
Their qi linked, one high, one low.
The twin brothers' combined technique had once withstood a direct blow from an Inner Palace realm cultivator without dying.
And the Candle-Burning Spear came roaring forth.
Flames rise and die, firewood burns out.
But at the end of it all...
Crack!
A single spark exploded.
The entire long street was instantly flooded with a sea of fire!
That scorching, crimson fire devoured everything in an instant.
It engulfed both the Ox-Mask and the Horse-Mask together.
The spear swings its tail, the flame turns back.
Zhu Weiwo turned again in mid-air, as if commanding the entire howling, boiling sea of fire, landing between the Goat-Mask and Dog-Mask who had no time to evade.
The sea of fire surged once then receded, as if entirely absorbed into that ancient, plain Candle-Burning Spear.
Now with the spear tip embedded in the ground, Zhu Weiwo, half-crouched, gripped the shaft and slowly rose.
Crack, crack, crack!
A series of crisp sounds.
No trace of the four Bone Path masks remained on the entire long street.
Only four charred skeletons fell to the ground, as if telling some story.
Along the long street, within the Grand Chance Gambling Den, in the houses on both sides—all the villains and killers were dead silent.
Against four opponents, he still swept them away with a single spear.
The brilliance of Zhuang Kingdom's greatest genius was blinding indeed!
At the street corner, Lian Heng stood silent. From that single strike alone, he already admitted he was no match.
...
The tallest building in Unredeemable City was the residence of the Crime Lord, Huang Jinmo.
Only this building in the entire city reached seven stories high.
Huang Jinmo had personally named it the Prison Tower.
Aside from her personal maid, no one had ever been permitted to enter this building.
And above the fifth floor, only Huang Jinmo herself could enter.
At this moment, in the topmost chamber, there sat an elderly man with black hair and a woman in black.
One sat, one stood.
The entire top floor was empty, devoid of any unnecessary furnishings, very simple. Only a single straw cushion lay in the center.
The woman in black sat cross-legged on the only cushion.
The black-haired elderly man stood opposite her with his hands behind his back.
The woman in black had cold, striking beauty, delicate features, but her narrow phoenix eyes were overly cold, making people hesitant to approach.
A woman who could appear here was naturally the Crime Lord, Huang Jinmo.
Huang Jinmo looked at the old man before her and said indifferently: "Du Ruhui, do you have that much confidence in him? He is your Zhuang Kingdom's greatest genius, the hope of the next generation—it would be a pity for him to die here."
The black-haired elderly man's expression remained calm.
"A dead genius is no genius."
...
...
ps: Today is my birthday! A year older, more handsome and talented than ever.
Le Wen