Breaking news!
Jiang Shaoliu was wanted by both Chi Xiao, the leader of the Yungang League, and Yin Manshu of the Gangxing Group.
Who was this Jiang Shaoliu?
At the top of the post was a photo of a young man in a white gown squatting on the ground. The bandaged grey monkey in his arm was holding the young man's neck and kissing him on the cheek. The young man was warmly and brightly smiling at the camera.
"Name: Jiang Shaoliu, A.K.A The Vet."
"Age: early 20's."
"Gender: male."
"Strength: Unknown, Nationality: Unknown, Place of Birth: Unknown…"
So much information was unknown.
"Wanted for: Killing of Yungang League and Gangxing Group personnel."
"Rewards: One Lingbao fruit, one million contribution points."
Browsing the forums on his smart watch, Jiang Shaoliu just smiled.
A Lingbao fruit would allow even a master with bronze life rings of the lowest level to instantly acquire silver life rings, while the million contribution points would make them incredibly wealthy.
"It's a huge investment from those two factions," Jiang Shaoliu mumbled to himself. "I might just go ahead and kill myself to get those prizes!"
The debate raged on the forums, the few users supporting Jiang Shaoliu being harshly criticized by their peers.
"Jiang Shaoliu is a goner. Even Lion Warrior can't save him from the mess he's gotten himself into."
"Absolutely. It's so easy for Chi Xiao and the Ice Lotus to kill a small person like him. I bet Jiang Shaoliu won't survive the next three days."
"Miss Yi, my name is Mr. Handsome and I'm willing to kill Jiang Shaoliu for you for free! I only hope you can speak with me."
"Bah, shame on you! Miss Yi is a beautiful and powerful young lady; she's a rare treasure in Yungang. I will gladly die 10 years earlier for one glance from her! Who's with me?"
"You forget one thing: Miss. Yin is not only a treasure but a glorious, famous lady with a slender figure and beautiful legs. I publicly vow to kill Jiang Shaoliu myself on her behalf even if I die trying!"
The female netizens were not satisfied with this.
"What the big deal? It's all because she's rich. I could be even more beautiful than her if I had that one million. My dear Chi Xiao, we will always support and love you!"
"That's right, Jiang Shaoliu cannot be a good man since he's offended Chi Xiao! Let's curse him together and punish him on his behalf!"
"Me too, I curse him to be cut down by thunder!!! Like my post so Chi Xiao sees me!"
"Don't forget about me! I'm Diao Xiaochan and I've been secretly in love with him for two or three months. I will keep my hair long for him and will not marry nor comb…"
Jiang Shaoliu turned off the smart watch and chuckled to himself.
His stomach was growling again…
He stretched and rubbed his belly. He was feeling better now, but still starving.
"Time to create the golden abyss." He looked into the forest of dense trees and vines in front of him.
Distant flying monsters screamed occasionally, high above the trees.
"According to the Great Sage's Formula, it took the ape ancestors two days to create the golden abyss and they ate ten dragons and ten elephants to do it." Jiang Shaoliu rubbed his stomach. "I wonder how long it will take and how much food I'll have to shovel in there to create the golden abyss."
He shot off into the forest with a whirlwind.
"I'm coming for you, delicious meat!"
…
On the partially collapsed white pagoda, Chi Xiao braced against the strong wind, his red hair billowing around his head, and stared at the distant Liang Duan Mountain. "Yin Manshu is really pissed off at Jiang Shaoliu now," he smiled cruelly.
Gui Gui was sitting next to him, sipping from a can of soda with a straw. He looked up and said innocently: "Brother, Jiang Shaoliu has to die now, right?"
"Of course." Meng Po had her mirror up in front of her face, fixing up her lipstick. She smacked her lips and giggled, "Nobody can help him now except the Hongfa Group, but the military is going to protect him. Jiang Shaoliu is such a handsome man, though… I want to fool around with him if I catch him alive, hehe."
Tie Ying bowed his head. "Boss, Gui Gui told me everything and I realize it was all my fault. I thought you should go to Sector 4 to kill Jiang Shaoliu."
Chi Xiao rubbed the tip of his nose and rasped icily: "By the time I got there, it was already too late. All I found was a hot, bloody mess."
Nodding slowly, Tie Ying said, "Jiang Shaoliu must pay for our brothers' deaths with his life."
Gui Gui lowered his head and looked at his smart watch; his eyes suddenly brightened, "Brother, Aunt Meng, Uncle Ying, look!"
A post from the military had risen to the top of the Yungang City forums.
…
"Interesting, very interesting."
Sitting in front of a computer on the top floor of the Hongfa Group office building, Li Xiang repeatedly pressed F5 to refresh the page he was on.
Thousands of new comments were appearing each minute, the debate even more passionate than the analysis of the four great masters.
Not half an hour passed since Jiang Shaoliu's name became known throughout Yungang City.
"My brother-in-law is one hell of a troublemaker." Li Xiang picked up his wine glass and leaned back in his chair, gently sipping on his red wine as if drinking the blood of his enemies. "This is one big low-hanging fruit."
Then he got up and dialed Bai Long on his smart watch.
"Bai Long, allocate resources to find and protect Jiang Shaoliu in Sector 2," the corners of Li Xiang's mouth turned up in a sinister grin. "The objective is very simple: I just want his fighting style and breathing technique."
"Don't worry," Bai Long's voice came from the smart watch. "I know what to do."
Satisfied, Li Xiang returned to his chair and refreshed the forum again.
"Huh?"
At the top of the Yungang forum was a post marked as pinned by big, flashing, red characters.
It was from the military.
"A post by the military?" Li Xiang narrowed his eyes and clicked the link.
It contained only three short messages:
Warning: Revoke the bounty on Jiang Shaoliu immediately and stop the killing. Jiang Shaoliu is under the protection of the military.
Warning: Failure to revoke the bounty shall be regarded as an act of aggression against the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
Warning: All military personnel in Sector 2 are tasked with protecting Jiang Shaoliu by any means at their disposal.
Signed: Lion Warrior.
"Hmm. This complicates things," Li Xiang frowned.
Beep beep beep…
His smart watch rang again.
It was Bai Long. "Brother Xiang, I've just read on the news that…"
Li Xiang muttered, "It doesn't matter and it will not impact our plan."
"So, will Jiang Shaoliu…" Bai Long hesitated, "show us his martial art forms and breathing technique now that the military is involved?"
After a long silence, Li Xiang replied in a low voice: "I've got an idea."
He hung up.
Browsing the recent posts by the military, Li Xiang stretched his fingers and began quickly typing on the keyboard.
A minute later, a pinned post by the Hongfa Group appeared on the first page of the forum, right below Lion Warrior's post.
"Attention: The Hongfa Group regards Jiang Shaoliu as a good friend and will utilize all available means to protect him in Sector 2."
After this, Li Xiang picked up his and wine glass and raised it to his lips.
When he finished the red wine, he smashed the glass on the floor. "Damn!"
…
"Look, Miss Yin."
A middle-aged female fighter in a purple combat suit handed a tablet to Yin Manshu. "Lion Warrior is demanding that we delete our bounty and Li Xiang from the Hongfa Group states that he will support Jiang Shaoliu."
Yin Manshu's graceful finger pinched the tablet.
A layer of frost formed on the screen and the device died with a loud crackle.
Yin Manshu threw it away and said homicidally, "Contact whoever runs that forum and tell them to pin our post to the top immediately or they'll die slowly."
She craned her neck and looked into the distance.
The Liang Duan Mountain lay ahead, the infinite glowing rays shooting from its peak rising at least twenty miles high. The howling and blaring of the monsters in Valentine Valley were like the moaning of the wind on the mountain and the roaring of the inexorable waves of the ocean.
As she stared gloomily at the mountain, she could imagine in her mind's eye the kinds of comments that were flooding Lion Warrior's post.
"Jiang Shaoliu is powerful and supported by the military and the Hongfa Group. This could go either way."
"Lion Warrior is invincible and the most powerful person in Yungang. He just posted this to suppress the other factions."
"Who is this Jiang Shaoliu? Is he really under the protection of both the military and the Hongfa Group? Please advise."
"According to the available videos of him fighting, there's no airflow under his feet when he moves and he only had two bronze life rings on him when he killed Sha Xing. However, it still seems as if he wasn't fighting with all his strength."
"Let's discuss how powerful Jiang Shaoliu is. According to my reliable information, Jiang Shaoliu has never metalized himself in his battles and has always won every fight very quickly. He's got mysterious abilities and it's suspected that they may be beyond the known martial art levels. Does anyone have more to add?"
Gnashing her teeth, Yin Manshu spread her palms as a pale glow flowed around her milky skin.
An exquisitely lifelike, crystal lotus formed in her palm, the sunlight creating a glittering display of color on its surface.
Everything up to a mile away was covered by frost and ice. The ground was frozen solid while the surface of a river was covered with a thin layer of ice. Everyone nearby was taken aback as their breath crystallized in front of their eyes.
"I will kill you, Jiang Shaoliu."
…
At that moment, Jiang Shaoliu was munching on a charred wolf leg that was almost half the length of his body.
The three people standing in front of him didn't seem to be from any of the four great factions since they had no firearms and didn't conceal the greedy excitement on their faces.
"Jiang Shaoliu, this will be your last meal!" the person in the middle said in a vigorous voice. He was holding an alloy sword that whistled in the wind as he swung it back and forth.
The one on the left was holding a chain with sharp cones on either end. "Let me introduce us," he said enthusiastically. "This is my brother, Li Xiongdao, and my brother, Sun Daxiong. My name is Wang Yuexiong. We are from Yungang and will kill you today."
"Let me try first, I will rip out his eyes!" shouted Sun Daxiong loudly on the right, he was bare-handed with black upper strong body, his arms were as thick as the legs and the bronze color was rather rich.
Jiang Shaoliu shook his hand, he bit another mouthful of meat off the wolf's leg bone and turned around to leave without saying a word.
"There's nobody below three silver life rings that we cannot kill!" Li Xiongdao laughed. "You're smart to turn around, Jiang Shaoliu; you know you'll die faster if we strike the back of the neck. I appreciate your cooperation."
Jiang Shaoliu turned back around and blinked as if he was looking at three idiots.
"Are you stupid?"