C9 Force Capture

Gu Feng could perhaps escape from them, but would he actually do that? He was aware that if Xianyue were captured by them, she would suffer unspeakable horrors. Gu Feng had always known the love of a mother, having never been deprived of it since his birth on Earth. Yet, he had not anticipated that, at this critical juncture between life and death, she would willingly sacrifice herself for him. How could Gu Feng possibly leave her behind?

"No, I won't go. I refuse to back down from them. Damn it, they're just a bunch of spoiled brats. Even if I die, I'll take some of them down with me!" Gu Feng cursed furiously, his resolve as firm as one who has accepted his fate. His hands gripped the longsword tightly as he glared at the lecherous grins of these privileged few.

"Feng!"

Xianyue, a woman of beauty and maturity, known as one of the city's ten most beautiful wives, was moved to tears seeing Gu Feng draw his sword to protect her. She saw in him a son who had matured and become responsible. Yet, she couldn't bear the thought of what was happening. Like Gu Feng, she despised the Gu family and cursed the heavens for the injustice dealt to her son.

Before long, the five of them had Gu Feng and Xianyue encircled. Their gazes weren't fixed on Gu Feng, but rather on Xianyue, eyeing her body with predatory interest. They ogled the ample curves of her chest with their typical vulgar expressions. They likely considered Gu Feng, who had only reached the first level of Body Tempering, beneath their concern, or perhaps they were there specifically for Xianyue, the attractive young wife.

"Gu Tian was not wrong, you really are difficult to track down. Had it not been for someone spotting you two heading into the mountains, we might have lost your trail. Haha, after days of searching, we've finally caught you. Fortune truly favors us five," they sneered, mocking Gu Feng's desperate state and Xianyue's distressed appearance.

"What do you want?" Gu Feng asked, his voice steady as he faced the five men who arrogantly dismissed him as no threat.

"Not much. Gu Tian wants us to dispose of you. And then, well, Puff! Puff! In Pan City, out of the top ten beautiful women, nine have already had the pleasure of our company. Only Auntie Xianyue remains; what a figure she maintains! Truly worthy of being among the top ten beauties, looking as youthful as a woman in her thirties," Yang Yu leered at Xianyue, licking his lips with a salacious grin. "You three take on Gu Feng, while Qing Tian and I will take our time 'educating' Auntie Xianyue!"

"If you want to lay a hand on my mother, you'll have to get past my sword first!" Gu Feng saw the two men closing in on Xianyue and pulled her behind him, readying himself back-to-back to protect her.

"You think you can scare me with your loser's trash talk? Don't worry, I won't kill you just yet. I'm going to enjoy letting you watch us slowly torment your mother to death." As they thought of Gu Tian's promised reward and Xianyue's body, their twisted minds conjured up filthy, depraved images that made their expressions even more lecherous.

Facing their detestable visages, Gu Feng, outmatched in strength, launched a preemptive strike. His longsword thrust forward, targeting Yang Yu at the forefront. He stabbed, parried, slashed, and swept... Each strike aimed at the vital acupoints of Yang Yu's Qi Sea or Purple Palace, any hit promising death or serious injury.

Regrettably, Gu Feng's strength was inferior, and his swordplay lacked the necessary speed. They had bullied him since childhood and were well-versed in his techniques. With a casual flick of their longswords, they easily parried Gu Feng's attacks. The issue wasn't with the Gu family's martial arts, but rather a disparity in power levels. Only if Gu Feng's swordsmanship was quicker could he hope to break through their defenses.

The clash of metal echoed as their weapons met. In the first exchange, Gu Feng forced Yang Yu and his five companions to retreat five steps, much to Yang Yu's surprise. He was well aware of Gu Feng's capabilities and hadn't expected that at the first level of Body Tempering, Gu Feng could make him stagger. But seeing Gu Feng's arms quiver, Yang Yu's lips curled into a smirk, "Heh, not too shabby. You've got a bit of power there!"

"Bring it on, all of you. I'm not afraid," Gu Feng challenged, gripping his longsword firmly and pointing it at the four men with a defiant sneer.

"No need for them to bother with you. I alone am enough. How would you prefer to meet your end?" Yang Yuju dismissed Gu Feng with contempt, waving off the others from joining the fray, his tone dripping with sadistic anticipation.

From the outset, Gu Feng dreaded the prospect of all five of them attacking at once. A united assault from them meant certain death. Now, in a one-on-one battle, it was anyone's guess who would fall first. Let's not forget that Gu Feng's palm had the power to shatter the flesh of a cultivator at the third level of Body Tempering.

"Brother Yang, can you speed it up a bit? Auntie Xianyue is still waiting for us to lavish her with attention!" These fellows hadn't tasted blood in days within the forest. Glimpsing the enticing treasures heaving on Xianyue's chest, they could barely contain themselves.

"Just give me a couple of minutes, then we can all have our fun with her."

With those words, his longsword bore down on Gu Feng. The Yang family's thirty-six sword techniques were indeed superior to Gu Feng's Acupuncture Sword Technique. The attacks were unpredictable, weaving between illusion and reality, forcing Gu Feng to parry several times and nearly falling prey to Yang Yu's thrusts.

Had Gu Feng not been so agile, he would have suffered numerous wounds by now. The more he fought, the more alarmed he became. If his palm hadn't been tempered to the third level, providing the strength to withstand those above it, his sword would have been knocked from his grasp long ago.

"This can't go on," Gu Feng thought as he retreated repeatedly, his weapon now riddled with notches. If this continued, his weapon would break, and he would perish.

Seeing an opening, Yang Yuju's longsword darted towards Gu Feng's left chest like a venomous snake. "Die, you waste of the Gu family, die!" he exclaimed.

"Pfft!" The longsword stabbed into Gu Feng, who had intended to run him through. Unexpectedly, Gu Feng caught the blade with his hand, stopping it from penetrating further.

With a grimace of pain, Gu Feng managed a strained smile and viciously kicked toward the vulnerable median extreme point below Yang Yuju's abdomen. This particular point, located where the bladder is, lacked bone protection and was exceedingly fragile. Gu Feng aimed for his groin but feared his legs would be caught and twisted, potentially breaking his own foot.

Gu Feng had meticulously laid a trap, revealing a vulnerability only at the crucial moment. His kick, aimed with precision, landed squarely on the medium extreme acupuncture point.

With a resounding "Bam!" Yang Yushu was sent hurtling through the air. Although the kick wasn't lethal or crippling, it forced him to relinquish his weapon, which was quite sufficient.

Gu Feng extracted the longsword embedded in his shoulder, skillfully applying pressure near the wound with his palm—a hemorrhage-halting technique exclusive to the Gu family. Rather than discarding the longsword, Gu Feng adopted it as his primary weapon.

"Damn it, I'll make you pay!" Yang Yushu, reeling from the setback, hadn't anticipated being outwitted by Gu Feng and vented his fury with a string of expletives.

Deprived of his weapon, Yang Yushu's hand-to-hand combat skills were nonetheless on par with Gu Feng's. Each punch, palm strike, and kick he unleashed whistled through the air, stirring up the wild grass beneath his feet as if he were a tiger pouncing down a mountain. Even the pebbles on the ground shattered under his might. A direct hit from him would spell certain death or grave injury for Gu Feng.

Gu Feng, too, abandoned his weapon and engaged in a bare-knuckle brawl, matching Yang Yushu blow for blow. This reckless act drew scorn from onlookers like Qing Tian, who derided Gu Feng as a fool. How could a first-level Body Tempering fighter hope to match the strength of one at the third level? This seemed like a harbinger of doom. Yang Yushu shared this sentiment, imagining Gu Feng's arm shattering upon impact with his own.

"Die!" The command to "Die" didn't come from Yang Yushu, but from Gu Feng. Unbeknownst to the onlookers, beneath the bloodied fist lay a crystalline fist—Gu Feng's ace in the hole, a fist tenfold more powerful than that of a third-level Body Tempering cultivator.

"Bang!" As the fists collided, it was Yang Yushu who was sent flying, his arm emitting a sickening "crack" not once, but twice. Moments before, Yang Yushu had envisioned Gu Feng's body being thrown and his arm mangled. Ironically, it was he who suffered that very fate.

"Ah, ah, my arm! Damn it!" Yang Yuju cried out as he was sent flying and crashed to the ground, his screams reminiscent of a pig being slaughtered.

Seizing the opportunity to press his advantage, Gu Feng was relentless. Yang Yuju, his face ghostly pale, clutched his mangled right arm with his left hand, terror of Gu Feng's power mingling with his rage. Meanwhile, his companions, who had previously been spectating with amusement, were now forced to draw their weapons and rush toward Gu Feng in defense.

"You're not getting away!" Gu Feng barked as he saw Yang Yuju attempting to flee. With a swift motion, he launched his longsword at Yang Yuju's thigh, sending him tumbling to the ground just as he had managed to rise.

As Yang Yuju struggled to his feet once more, Gu Feng was upon him, his palm striking with the force of a blade against Yang's back, pinning him to the ground yet again. Gu Feng's bloodied right hand snatched at Yang's neck, lifting him effortlessly, while his left hand, transformed into a claw, viciously tore into the disfigured flesh of Yang's right arm, his fingers sinking deep into the wound. Yang Yuju's screams outdid those of any slaughtered swine, his blood gushing as if it cost him nothing.

"Release Yang Yuju, let him go!" Qing Tian and the others were a step behind, their attempt to rescue Yang Yuju thwarted as they now faced Gu Feng, who held Yang like a hostage, using him as a shield.

"Stay right where you are! Take one more step, and I'll show you what it means to kill him!" Gu Feng sneered, clutching Yang Yuju as he retreated two steps. His right hand, now a claw, dug into Yang's throat, turning his complexion to that of a liver, a ghastly purple. Yang could never have imagined Gu Feng's formidable might, feeling death's proximity. If Gu Feng applied any more pressure, Yang's throat would be ripped out, leaving him no choice but to die.

"Do as he says, don't move, don't move. Ah, my arm, stop pulling, it's about to break, ah..." Yang Yuju pleaded as Gu Feng's fingers tightened around his wound, tugging at the flesh within, his agony as intense as if he were being butchered.

"That's right, listen to your leader!" Gu Feng observed them halting and remarked.

"Release him, or I swear I'll kill your mother this instant!" The four of them paused, but their gaze quickly shifted to Xianyue, who was a short distance away, clearly intending to make a move on her.