The shock effect didn’t work for long. Cultivators weren’t so easily frightened.

Getting up, one of the men sneered, his voice dripping with arrogance. “Yo yo yo, look what we have here? An idiot who thinks he’s strong just because he took out the boss.”

“You must be really new, kid.” The burly man grinned maliciously, “The boss may be tough, but many members of the gang won’t lose out. We only listen to him because he’s our liaison with the noble son.”

“Exactly. And here I thought it was a sensible newcomer. Sheesh. Got me excited for nothing.” The man’s expression of lust had been replaced by a menacing expression, “Messing around on our turf, it seems this newcomer needs to be taught a lesson.”

The other two snickered menacingly, cracking their knuckles and closed in to form a tight circle around Bubai.

Bubai’s eyes swept past them, casting his gaze on the distant patrolling gang members whose attention had been drawn over, “I suggest you call for some help.”

“Huh?! Don’t look down on us, brat!” The arrogant one lunged forward, initiating the brawl with a swift hook.

Bubai leaned back slightly, allowing the slow punch to whiff past him. At the same time, the fingers on one hand clenched into claws.

Like a hawk hunting its prey, his claws shot out and latched onto the man’s arm, immobilizing the man in place!

“Huh?” Feeling the tightening grip on his arm and failing to pull back, the man growled, “Twerp! Let go-”

Crack! A deft twist dislocated the arm.

“Ahhhh!” The excruciating pain caused the man’s scream to bombard the area around the base!

The other two tensed in place momentarily before they reacted.

“Sheesh! Man up and shut up!” Pulling out a baton, the man scowled and smashed it down at Bubai’s slender arm, “And you, brat, let him go!”

Slap. The baton was intercepted and fell right into Bubai’s palms, his fingers instantly clamping around it. With an effortless tug, he drew the man in, and with one kick, he sent the man hurtling back with eyes bulging!

Twirling the baton playfully for a moment, Bubai then tightened his grip, and with a swing, he brought it around, connecting with the screaming man’s jaws- Bam! Off goes the alarm.

Accompanying the splattering blood was a couple of dislodged teeth flying out, and the knocked out man toppled over to the ground.

Bubai finally set his sights on the burly man who had wisely retreated a small distance away from him.

Dragging his leader with one hand, the man’s expression was grim, his other hand already raised to signal toward his companions in the distance.

As if on cue, more gangsters emerged from the shadows of the nearby structures, drawn by the commotion.

The group gathered and closed in, surrounding the front of the base completely, trapping Bubai in.

Alone in his stand-off against his many foes, Bubai’s eyes scanned the assortment of weapons brandished by the gangsters - knives, daggers, chains, blunt weapons…

Mixed within this bunch were a couple relatively confident ones – notably encircled by their respective cronies. Gauging them with his divine sense, Bubai determined they were all late-stage Qi-refiners.

One of them glanced toward the burly man, “What’s going on here, Old Kou?”

“I dunno. He came from inside, but it seems it may not be a friendly.”

“Hah?” Hearing Old Kou’s response, one of the leaders looked up toward the roof, “We’ve got the ground covered. Did he come from the roofs? What is Old Lou and the rest doing up there? We didn’t even receive a single warning!”

Old Kou frowned. “Maybe Old Lou had already went to take the ferry.”

“You’re joking! Don’t tell me this man took out everyone in the base without making a sound!”

One of the late-stage Qi-refiners slowly unsheathed his sword, “Quit yapping. Won’t we know after we take him down?”

The battlefield fell into silence after his words, the menacing gazes of the gang members all locking onto Bubai.

Facing off against this assembly of Qi-refiners, Bubai didn’t feel any fear. Instead, a wild grin slowly crept across his face.

Finally, a challenge.

“Show him that messing with our Flower Picking Gang is just seeking death!” Aiming his sword straight at Bubai, the sword wielder coldly issued a command, “Charge!”

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“Arghhhhh!” The symphony of battle cries resonated with one another as the cronies all surged forward at once!

Behind them, bolts of fire were unleashed from the Qi-refiners at the rear, lobbing over the charging men and crashing toward Bubai’s position!

At this moment, the Qi flowed into Bubai’s eyes, and instantly, it seemed like the entire battlefield had entered slow-motion.

This wasn’t some overpowered time-bending ability or bullet time. It was simply due to the astonishing processing speed of his brain!

A Foundation Establishment cultivator’s cognitive capabilities were not to be underestimated, and Bubai’s buffed state only took this to the next level!

Coupled with his enhanced eye powers, he could analyze all the details in a small battle like this and choose the optimal responses like a machine!

Foom! The flames crashed into the vacant space, scorching the sandstone ground and walls of the base!

As for their target... he had already left his position and rushed into the fray!

Fwoosh! Seizing the element of surprise from his rapid approach, Bubai skillfully penetrated into the crowd, knocking out multiple minions in his path to carve out a breathing space for himself!

However, the rest of the fighters around him reacted quickly.

Whoosh! A chain soon came swinging in, its metal links whistling through the air!

Accurately grasping the chain, with a tug, Bubai hoisted it up to block an incoming knife! Dang!

Swiftly entwining the knife with the chain, he effortless dragged both the knife and its owner toward the opposite side, just in time to intercept another knife slashing toward his back!

Clang! After stopping all three attackers with one hand, Bubai’s free hand instantly blasted out three times in succession, leaving afterimages due to their blistering speed!

Following the trio of accurate strikes to their guts, Bubai instantly released the chain and slipped out from the encirclement, narrowly dodging the spray of blood from the three assailants!

Cling! Clang! With the sound of weapon and chains clattering to the ground behind him, Bubai’s foot moved in a strange pattern, letting him weave in between two knives slashing toward him!

At the same time, both of his claws danced through the air, taking advantage of the gap after their strikes to leave bloody claw mark on both of their chests!

“Ahhhh!” The air resonated with their painful screams. They staggered back, knives flailing randomly in an attempt to ward off Bubai, but Bubai’s claws shot out, accurately clamping down on their knives-

With a clench of his claws, both the knives snapped in half like brittle sticks!

His claws then morphed into fists, delivering powerful punches that sent both of the assailants hurtling backward through the air!

Watching his underlings smashing into the ground while groaning in pain, one of the leaders narrowed his eyes.

“I can’t recognize that movement technique, but… he’s definitely using Eagle Claw Hands! I’ve encountered it when I went out on a mission to deal with a righteous martial practitioner. It can tear through mortal armor and even shatter weapons if the user can grasp the weak points of the tools! It’s a rather tricky to deal with...”

“Tch! Trashy mortal techniques like these can’t do any harm to a sword as fast as mine! Watch me!” The sword wielder flourished his sword, his Qi circulating. Abruptly, his eyes sharpened-

Whoosh! With a couple of steps, he left a gust of wind and rushed toward Bubai who had just sent two more lackeys crashing into the ground!

Shing! The sharp sword vibrated, leaving afterimages as it pierced toward Bubai’s exposed back! “Mirage Sword: One Cut Kill!”

Sensing the incoming sword, Bubai sidestepped, intending to evade, but the sword unerringly pursued his moving figure, as if locked onto him!

Bubai’s foot abruptly executed a disorienting dance, his legs crisscrossing to let his body twist around, his hand shooting out at a blurring speed, precisely clamping the blade between two fingers!

Oom! The sword stopped inches before his throat, its vibrations dissipating as the remnant Qi diffused into the air!

“Impossible! How are you not hurt by my sword?!” The sword wielder was shocked for a moment before instantly reacting, trying to pull back his sword from Bubai’s fingers, but he failed to do so even when he strained with all his might!

If it were another weapon, it might be a bit more difficult to deal with. If there was true sword Qi, Bubai might have immediately retreated from the fight to reconsider his tactics.

But unorthodox, wishy washy sword skills at this level? If Bubai can’t deal with it, it would be a shame to all the training he had undergone with Xiao Lan!

“Return it to you.” With a flick of his finger, Bubai sent the man’s sword involuntarily careening off-course, destabilizing the swordman’s stance.

Clenching his fists, Bubai left a blur of fist shadows, delivering a series of blows to the man’s guts!

A faint layer of Qi shrouding his own fists discreetly sent his Qi penetrating into the man’s body.

Realizing the implications, the man’s eyes bulged in shock, “You-”

However, he didn’t get to speak any further as an uppercut to his jaws catapulted him into the air.

“Leader Han!” The cronies watching by the side gasped in horror as they scrambled to catch the man’s body, toppling over in the process.

One of them boldly pointed his knife at Bubai, “Cover our leader’s retreat!”

“Yarhhhhhh!” A couple of cronies charged up while the one who pointed his knife at him made a strategic retreat…

Pa! Pa! Pow!

As quickly as they charged up, the mob was sent flying back!

Whoosh! Bubai launched through the air, his playful gaze locking onto the fleeing man’s back. Sensing the incoming presence, the man turned back and cried in horror, “Mercy seni-”

Bam! His cries were cut short as his face slammed into the unforgiving ground, causing some cracks to spiderweb outwards on the sandstone!

As Bubai rose back up, his sharp eyes surveyed the remaining gang members, now wearing hesitant expressions.

Dang it. He thought he could hide it for much longer by restraining the Qi permeating his body, but it was too difficult to hide the Qi on his attacks from Qi-perception techniques, especially since he is still learning to integrate his Qi with his martial arts.

Even a low-level crony could detect the truth, let alone the experienced ones.

Bubai’s divine sense already detected Old Kou sneakily making his escape with the leader in a nearby alley.

A loyal and smart fella. Perhaps he could really escape if his opponent this time was a normal Foundation Establishment cultivator.

But, the poor bloke bumped into a cheater this time. Does the poor bloke really think he could escape the coverage of his divine sense anytime soon?

Of course, it would still be really troublesome to go find them if they do escape into the vast district by any chance.

Plus, he also didn’t want the ruckus to last too long, lest it attracts too much unwanted witnesses. The last thing he needed was news spreading too soon.

Well, since this is the case…

Bubai loosened the restraints imposed by the presence-restraining technique he was practicing.

Qi began to smoothly flow throughout Bubai’s body once more, his fine control over his body quickly being reinstated. “Time to crank things up a notch, shall we?”