Chapter 113: The Nine Chrysanthemum Sect

The moment the woman from the Nine Chrysanthemums sect appeared amidst that black vapor, I sensed her malicious intent. I immediately instructed my twelve buddies and Jiaying to lead everyone in the room away—to get them out of this troubled place—as I realized a battle had become unavoidable.

In less than ten minutes, the room, which had been packed with thirty or forty people, was left with only myself, Wang Sheng, Tongxuan, Liu Wei, and Er Peng, who lay on the floor coughing up blood.

"Sigh, you ignorant children. Your supreme Yang talisman can only suppress the power of the Nine Chrysanthemums for a moment. To save your friend, you would need your master to intervene," the Japanese woman said, breaking into a mocking laugh. "If you wait any longer, I suspect your friend will be dead."

She stepped right through the black mist, followed by five men draped in black robes and wearing large, dark hoods.

The wall-phasing technique I had so desperately sought to master was not only within the reach of immortals; it seemed the Nine Chrysanthemums sect practiced it as well.

"Enough with the chatter," Wang Sheng declared. "Let's see whose arts are superior: Chinese Taoist magic or your petty Japanese sorcery. Ancestral Taoist, follow my decree!" He chanted the incantation, and a supreme Yang talisman ignited in his hand, flying toward the woman in red.

"Stay back, all of you!" The woman in red waved a hand to her subordinates, signaling them to stand down.

With a graceful motion, a fresh chrysanthemum appeared in her hand. She shook it, and the petals flew off like guided missiles, intercepting the oncoming talisman. To an ordinary observer, it looked like a simple collision between a paper charm and a flower, but to those with the Eye of Wisdom, it was a clash of immense telepathic power, sparking with psychic energy.

"Boom!"

The impact of the talisman and the enchanted petals created a massive shockwave. Wang Sheng was blasted across the room, slamming into a wall five or six meters away. He crumpled to the ground, vomiting blood, glaring at the woman with helpless rage. The Japanese woman, meanwhile, stood motionless.

"I'll fight you to the death!" Seeing Wang Sheng in such a state, Tongxuan whipped out a silver snake coiled around her arm and lashed it toward the Japanese woman, Lingzi. But Lingzi didn't even lift a finger; her telekinetic pressure pinned Tongxuan to the floor. I suppose this is the disparity in strength; they had neglected their training, and this lesson was deserved. Uncle Mao had taught me as much.

I remained uninvolved throughout the process. They clearly still viewed me as an ordinary person and didn't consider me a threat. Liu Wei, however, was trembling beside me, his eyes wide as ping-pong balls.

"What’s wrong with you? Why are you shivering? Did you lose your nerve, or is your spirit just hollow? Come on, keep massaging my shoulders!" Seeing him tremble, I thought, *So much for the guts of a gangster.* I kicked his shin, signaling him to keep working and ignore everything else.

But Liu Wei was truly terrified. He leaned in and whispered into my ear, "Boss, I won't lie to you. The Nine Chrysanthemums sect kills without blinking. Dozens of my brothers died by their hands, and not a single one was left intact—their bodies were never even recovered. They have a secret agenda: to seize the Ran Group’s market share and eventually control the Chinese market. They want to kill the Ran heir to leave Ran Tiannan without a successor, then eliminate him and install their own puppet as CEO."

No sooner had Liu Wei finished than he grabbed his own throat, his body suddenly lifting into the air as if being strangled by an invisible rope. He struggled, gasping, "Boss, help me! They're going to kill me!"

"Those who leak the secrets of Qinghua shall be executed without mercy!" A ghostly, cold voice emanated from beneath the hood of one of the men. It was a chill that could freeze one's heart.

Looking at Liu Wei, whose face was turning purple, I realized that I had become his "boss" in his eyes, even if I hadn't formally accepted the title. I couldn't stand by and watch a fellow countryman be murdered by Japanese sorcerers—it was a blatant insult to my patriotism.

"Have you had enough? Do you really think there's no one here who can handle you Japanese sorcerers?"

I rose calmly from the sofa. A sound like shattering glass echoed behind me, and Liu Wei dropped to the floor, gasping for air.

The sound of shattering glass had been the manifestation of the black-robed man's psychic force, which I had forcibly shattered. The backlash he suffered was ten times the original power. He let out a shrill scream, collapsed to the ground, transformed into a wisp of black smoke, and was sucked into an inconspicuous little porcelain bottle in the woman’s hand.

"Lingzi, that detestable Zhina person has severely wounded Fusang-kun! We must avenge him!" one of the men behind her shouted. The others agreed, and with the "hum" of four samurai swords being unsheathed, the atmosphere turned lethal.

"Boss, I didn't know they were Japanese invaders before, but I do now. We gangsters are patriots, too. If you can't beat them, I'll call in my brothers right now!" Liu Wei said, looking at me with grim determination, waiting for my command.

"Good. As long as you have a patriotic heart, I’ll back you no matter what you do for a living. But do you really think your boss can't handle a few punks like this?" I finished my sentence and teleported directly toward them.

The faceless woman tried to intervene, but I engaged all five of them at once. The massive suite became a whirlwind of combat and psychic force. My techniques were no longer the chaotic flailing of a novice; I had integrated the essence of ancient Chinese martial arts.

During my time at the academy, I had visited our martial arts instructors every day, and now, my movements were refined and authoritative. Every strike carried a faint golden aura; my punches hit with at least eight hundred pounds of force, and my kicks exceeded a thousand. In moments, the floor of the suite was pulverized, exposing the steel reinforcement bars. If not for that steel, I suspect I would have kicked a hole straight through to the floor below, much to the shock of those beneath us.

Though my grasp of ancient martial arts was still that of an apprentice, facing those sorcerers and their crystal samurai blades made me realize how profound and vast Chinese martial arts truly were. I moved with ease, dodging their blades and spells by mere inches, never once losing my composure.