Martial Conquest of the Nine Desolates-Chapter 18 - 017: Who Can Stop

For three whole days, Xiao Ye had been solidifying his cultivation.

Outside, three days equal to a month on the first level of the Time Tower. After sweating through intense and crazy practice, the True Qi that had become somewhat volatile due to the intake of Qi Replenishing Pills had gradually become more condensed.

Xiao Ye's cultivation was now fully stabilized at the early stage of the Postnatal Realm Fifth Stage.

"Sigh, you father and son are really ruthless in your cultivation practice," Luo Meilan complained at the dining table.

Ever since Xiao Yang's meridians showed signs of healing, he, like Xiao Ye, had been cloistered in his room, cultivating like mad, barely even taking the time to eat.

Now, seizing the opportunity, Luo Meilan scolded Xiao Yang and Xiao Ye.

"What do you women know? Strong martial force is the most important thing for a man to pursue," Xiao Yang retorted coldly.

Now that Xiao Yang's meridians were healing and his cultivation was gradually recovering, the sickly pallor had vanished from his face. His eyes sparkled, his stature straightened, and his aura grew stronger. He had completely regained the demeanor of the top expert below the three Village Chiefs.

"Father, has your cultivation recovered?" Xiao Ye asked curiously as he ate.

Xiao Yang's current cultivation level was somewhat unfathomable, even he couldn't see through it.

At this mention, Luo Meilan too looked at Xiao Yang with a face full of joy. The recovery of her man's cultivation was what made her happiest.

Xiao Yang did not directly answer, but said solemnly, "These years, I have made you and your mother suffer, but I promise, such things will never happen again."

Xiao Yang's voice was firm and decisive, filled with strong confidence.

Xiao Ye nodded, feeling a warm current flow through his heart. Hadn't he diligently practiced all these years just to enter the Chongyang Sect to find a Vitality Replenishing Pill to rejuvenate Xiao Yang?

Luckily, he had achieved this ahead of time.

Xiao Yang had also wondered how his meridians had suddenly healed. He didn't believe Xiao Ye's fabricated excuses, but after questioning several times and seeing Xiao Ye feign ignorance, he had no choice but to let it go.

After breakfast, Xiao Ye left home, planning to re-enter the Fierce Beast Forest to retrieve the long knife. With his current strength, dealing with a Golden Barbarian Bear would not be too difficult.

"The kids from Xiao Family Village, all get the hell out here!" At this moment, the ground suddenly shook, and a rough voice came from afar. Amplified by True Qi, it spread throughout the whole Xiao Family Village in an instant.

"The Blood Wolf Gang!" Hearing the familiar voice, Xiao Ye's expression changed, "Could it be that my killing of those two has been exposed?"

In an instant, Xiao Ye thought of many things.

"People from the Blood Wolf Gang are here!" Xiao Family Village immediately boiled over, one by one, the villagers, armed with weapons, walked out from their homes and rushed towards the village entrance.

"Let's go, let's see what's happening," Xiao Yang said with a serious expression, walking out of the house towards the village head, with Xiao Ye hurriedly following behind.

...

At the entrance of Xiao Family Village.

The bald man, Liu Er, sat atop a tall horse, behind him stood uniformly strong and vigorous men, a total of twenty. Just sitting on horseback from a distance, they emanated an intimidating aura of slaughter.

The villagers who hurried over were blocked at the village entrance, looking at Liu Er with full vigilance. They had no good feelings towards the notorious Blood Wolf Gang.

"The kids from Xiao Family Village, get Old Man Xiao out here to see me!" Liu Er demanded condescendingly from his high vantage point.

"Haha, what brings Second Master Liu here on this fine day?" At that moment, Xiao Tianxiong walked over from a distance, stepped forward from the crowd, and approached the foremost front of the people. His gaze swept over the twenty strong men, a flicker of wariness in his eyes.

Clearly, these twenty men were the elite force of the Blood Wolf Gang, the Blood Wolf Guards.

"This time, I brought twenty Blood Wolf Guards here because I think Old Man Xiao, you're getting too old. It's time for someone else to take over the position of Village Chief," Liu Er said casually.

What?

All the villagers were stunned. Liu Er was actually getting involved in Xiao Family Village's affairs?

Xiao Ba appeared at the entrance of the village with Xiao Teng, silently in attendance. When he heard Liu Er's words, a subtle smile appeared on his face.

"Second Master Liu!" Xiao Tianxiong said angrily, "Even if our Xiao Family Village needs to change its Village Chief, it's not your place to meddle, is it?"

Liu Er snorted coldly: "Old Man Xiao, stepping down is also what my elder brother wants. I hope you don't make a mistake yourself."

Upon hearing this, the villagers of Xiao Family Village fell silent.

The Boss of the Blood Wolf Gang, Blood Wolf, was a Half-step Innate expert. Only by joining forces could the three Village Chiefs of Green Sun Town contend against him to some extent. A word from such a figure was like a huge mountain pressing down, suffocating people.

It can be said that the Blood Wolf Gang's notorious reputation today was all carved out by Blood Wolf alone; otherwise, Liu Er, with just the cultivation at the Postnatal Realm Sixth Layer, would have no right to come to Green Sun Town to collect protection fees.

"If you dare to defy the order, my elder brother will personally come to subdue you. For a village like yours, my elder brother alone could extinguish it!" Liu Er said mockingly.

Mentioning Blood Wolf, Xiao Tianxiong suppressed the anger in his heart.

"So what does Second Master Liu mean?"

Liu Er sneered and said, "Old Man Xiao, you are already old. Among the prime generation of your village, the once powerful Xiao Yang was turned into a cripple by my elder brother. Now, the most qualified to take over the position of Village Chief is none other than Xiao Ba."

Upon hearing this, the villagers' eyes shot towards Xiao Ba, and Xiao Tianxiong sighed in relief.

He had thought the Blood Wolf Gang would arrange someone from outside the village to take over as Village Chief and destroy the Xiao Family Village from within. If it was Xiao Ba, he found it not so difficult to accept.

Looking at the prime generation of Xiao Family Village, apart from the former Xiao Yang, Xiao Ba's cultivation was the strongest, having reached the Postnatal Seventh Realm. It was quite appropriate for him to take over the position of Village Chief.

But why was the Blood Wolf Gang meddling in the village affairs? Doubt rose in Xiao Tianxiong's heart.

"Old Man Xiao, make it quick, I don't have time to waste here with you. If you disagree, I'll start killing," Liu Er said menacingly.

With the prestige of Blood Wolf, Xiao Tianxiong and the others certainly dared not act against them, but they could freely slaughter the villagers of Xiao Family Village.

Under such strong oppression, Xiao Tianxiong had little time to consider and could only sigh, "Alright."

These two words seemed to exhaust all of Xiao Tianxiong's strength, and at that moment, he appeared like a decaying old man, not the village chief of Xiao Family Village.

He had originally planned to wait for Xiao Ye to grow up and take on the heavy responsibility...

Many villagers felt a sourness in their hearts as they watched this scene, overcome with bleakness.

The respected village chief of Xiao Family Village was actually forced to bow his head in front of outsiders, which was an absolute disgrace.

"Thank you for your generous favor, Second Master Liu," Xiao Ba timely stepped forward, his face brimming with a smile.

Seeing Xiao Ba's almost cringing demeanor, the villagers felt a wave of disgust wash over them.

At this moment, a faint voice froze the smile on Xiao Ba's face.

"Since when does Xiao Family Village need an outsider's meddling? Xiao Ba, I would like to know, are you one of us, our villager, or the dog of the Blood Wolf Gang?"

All eyes followed the voice and saw Xiao Yang and Xiao Ye walking over together.

Liu Er, sitting atop his tall horse, narrowed his eyes, unleashing a chill from within.

"Xiao Ye, you're just a junior with no right to stand here. Get down!" Xiao Ba, his expression drastically changing, shouted.

"I have no right to stand here?" Xiao Ye scoffed, "So conspiring with the Blood Wolf Gang gives you the right to succeed as village chief?"

What!

Xiao Ye's words astonished everyone, as they turned to stare incredulously at Xiao Ba.

The Blood Wolf Gang was notoriously brutal and had blood on their hands from Xiao Family Village villagers. To collude with them was undoubtedly the most enraging act.

"You're talking nonsense!" Xiao Ba's mind trembled, and he hastily shouted back, his presence flaring with killing intent.

"Nonsense? Is it also nonsense that you had the Blood Wolf Gang come to kill me?" Xiao Ye's eyes were cold as he shouted back.

To kill Xiao Ye?

Hearing this, the villagers' expressions turned grim, even Xiao Yang looked at Xiao Ye with furrowed brows since Xiao Ye hadn't mentioned this to him.

Xiao Ye was now recognized as the premier talent of Xiao Family Village. Killing Xiao Ye would mean cutting off the village's future.

"Xiao Ba!" Xiao Tianxiong's eyes blazed with cold light, his white hair fluttering like an enraged lion, "Is what Ye'er said true?"

Xiao Tianxiong's questioning made Xiao Ba feel uneasy.

"Xiao Ba, now that they all know, there's no point in denying it," Liu Er said disdainfully, glancing around at the villagers of Xiao Family Village, "Indeed, Xiao Ba has agreed with us that once he becomes the village chief, he will pay our Blood Wolf Gang 30,000 taels of silver every year."

The revelation caused all the villagers of Xiao Family Village to erupt in an uproar, staring angrily at Xiao Ba.

Though the Blood Wolf Gang was powerful, the three village chiefs of Green Sun Town had been unyielding, preventing excessive pressures from the Blood Wolf Gang, for fear that in a full-blown conflict, both sides would suffer grave losses even if Green Sun Town were to be annihilated.

After weighing the options, all the villages of Green Sun Town had decided to pay the Blood Wolf Gang 30,000 taels of silver annually in exchange for peace. But now, Xiao Ba had agreed that Xiao Family Village alone would pay the 30,000 taels every year.

With Xiao Ba being the second most influential villager after the chief, his promise was not doubted by the Blood Wolf Gang, and they were happy to support such a puppet chief.

Feeling the eyes of the villagers on him, Xiao Ba's gaze flickered with guilt.

"Xiao Ba, what are you afraid of? With the support of the Blood Wolf Gang, do you need to fear these country bumpkins?" Liu Er looked down on the gathered villagers with disdain, as if a sovereign king able to dictate the life and death of all.

"This kid killed members of our Blood Wolf Gang. Grab him and execute him. I want everyone to understand the consequences of crossing the Blood Wolf Gang," Liu Er's gaze shifted to Xiao Ye as he commanded with a wave of his hand.

"Alright!" Xiao Ba nodded, his eyes sinister. He had long wanted to get rid of Xiao Ye, and now with the Blood Wolf Gang backing him, what did he have to fear?

"How dare you!" Xiao Tianxiong trembled with rage, "I never thought that our village would produce a degenerate like you!"

"Old Man Xiao, I advise you not to get angry, or else your old life won't be spared," Liu Er said coolly.

With a splutter, as Liu Er's voice fell, Xiao Tianxiong tried to speak but spit out a mouthful of pitch-black blood instead.

"Village Chief!"

"Village Chief!"

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The villagers cried out in shock, horrified.

"Xiao Ba, you actually poisoned me!" Xiao Tianxiong's frail body swayed, he shakily pointed at Xiao Ba, his eyes blazing.

"Village Chief, the weak are prey to the strong; this is the law of the True Spirit Continent. From now on, Xiao Family Village is under my control," Xiao Ba stated coldly, then walked towards Xiao Ye.

"Xiao Ba, I will fight you with all I've got!" Xiao Dashan, who had appeared earlier, roared in rage as he charged forward.

"Xiao Dashan, you're too weak," Xiao Ba said indifferently, easily knocking Xiao Dashan away with a palm strike.

Xiao Dashan was the instructor for the younger generation in the village, with cultivation at the Postnatal Realm Sixth Layer, but compared to Xiao Ba, he was a whole major realm lower and naturally no match.

This scene sent chills down the spines of the villagers of Xiao Family Village. Without Xiao Tianxiong, who could stop Xiao Ba now?

"Kid, it's your talent that's at fault for being too outstanding," Xiao Ba said with a murderous look in his eyes, taking step by step towards Xiao Ye.

Just then, a towering figure stood in front of Xiao Ye.

"Xiao Ba, did you ask my permission to lay a hand on my son?"