The Nine Cauldrons

Chapter 8: Living in Solitude

On a highway, a black Audi A6 was speeding towards the north.

There were two people inside the car. One of them was the driver, the other person was sitting in the backseat. His physique was tall and big and seemed to be closed to thirty. His face bore some resemblance to Teng Qingshan.

“Buzz, Buzz” His phone began to vibrate.

The tall man took out the phone: “Hello, oh it’s Brother Yang. What’s the matter?”

Shortly afterwards, the look on the tall man’s face completely changed: “What did you say?”

“How is it possible?” The tall man didn’t dare to believe what he just heard.

“All right, I got it!” The tall man hastily nodded his head, “I’m already on my way back to Yangzhou City. Yeah, I know. I understand it very well!”

“Don’t worry, Brother Yang. You know me, Qin Hong’s nature, don’t you? You just be at ease. I know my limits and won’t act recklessly. No matter how bold I am, I won’t dare to play around with my brothers’ life. Oh, I got it!” The expression on his face couldn’t help but be gloomy as he hung up the phone.

“Brother Qin, what’s wrong?” The driver, who was sitting in the front seat, asked Qin Hong when he saw the expression on Qin Hong’s face change.

“Man, things don’t seem good. Something big happened in our small Yangzhou City, so big that it made the entire planet’s Underground World fixate their attention upon it.” Qin Hong said in a gloomy voice.

“Just what exactly happened?” The driver continued to ask.

Qin Hong explained in detail: “Two days ago, two big S-Rank hitmen of the Underground World, ‘Sharpshooter’ Sun Ze and ‘Body Crusher’ Dolgoterov, were seeking to kill another S-Rank hitman, Lone Wolf of the Flying Knives. These three super-class experts had a great battle, and its outcome stunned everyone. Lone Wolf of the Flying Knives single-handedly killed the other two.”

“What?!” The driver let out a cry of surprise, “How can this Lone Wolf of the Flying Knives be so powerful?”

“In the underground World, Lone Wolf of the Flying Knives is already acknowledged as the strongest amongst the fifty S-Rank hitmen. He is known as a quasi-SS-Rank hitman! Maybe he really has the strength of a SS-Rank hitmen!” Qin Hong said in a deep and low voice.

“Oh my god, how could such a high ranked hitman be present in Yangzhou City? It’s like a human-shaped nuclear warhead roaming around in the city.” The driver also got quite frightened.

Whether it was an S-Rank or SS-Rank hitmen, they had no way of resisting powerful people of that level.

“This is very troublesome. Currently, the Underground World only has a total of eight SS-Rank hitman. All of them have already surpassed the limits of the human body and reached an inconceivable realm! Common attacking means like bullets are no longer effective against them! And even if we to use some powerful weapons, thanks to their amazing movement speed and reflexes… they can still easily get away before we even get the chance to raise the weapons and aim at them.

Qin Hong was very clear about the meaning of SS-Rank.

A person, who could use his body to the extreme limits of a human body, was ranked S. They could run wild in a big city and their threat was extremely high. However, they could still be suppressed if a Special Force was dispatched to restrain them.

As for a SS-Rank person, they had already surpassed the limits of a human body and attained the greatest strength possible in the world, becoming an Ultimate Expert. They were considered ‘Human-shaped Nuclear Warheads’.

Now someone suspected to be an Ultimate-class expert was actually present in Yangzhou City. He was just the leader of Yangzhou City’s Special Operations team. How could he dare to provoke someone at the ultimate level of strength? If he were to go over to the expert with his team, they would be killed by several throwing knives even before they got the chance to open fire.

The two sides were simply on a different level.

“Brother Qin, what are we going to do?” The driver was also worried about the matter.

“What can be done in this situation?” Qin Hong took a deep breath. He said in a low and deep voice, “This Lone Wolf of the Flying Knives is Chinese like us according to the information we have. Also, a super-class expert like him would not start killing in a frenzy for no reason. If he is in Yangzhou, we should stay as far away as possible from him, even if we happen to discover him. We cannot infuriate him no matter what happens.”

The driver hastily nodded his head.

“Hmm?”

Qin Hong frowned, and doubtfully looked at his phone. The phone he was using had been provided to all the members of the National Security Special Operations Organization. At this time, some new information had been transmitted to his phone.

“Oh no!” Qin Hong’s complexion turned pale in an instant

“What is it now?” The driver asked nervously.

“Our Yangzhou City is going to become the whole Underground World’s center of focus.” Qin Hong’s forehead was a little perspiring as he said.

“How so?” The driver felt very anxious.

“According to the information that just arrived from the general headquarters, the Redmayne family is sparing no effort this time. They have asked ‘God Kingdom,’ the strongest organization in the world, to go into action. Two of the three giants from ‘God Kingdom,’ namely ‘Vishnu’ and ‘Shiva,’ have already set off, seeking to kill Lone Wolf of the Flying Knives.” Qin Hong was completely shocked.

The driver was also shocked, to the point that he shivered at the bottom of his heart.

There were a total of eight SS-Rank hitmen in the entire world, and the ‘God Kingdom’ organization had three of them.

Their titles were: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. These three titles were actually the names of the three Supreme Gods in the Indian mythological stories, and the Underground World had acknowledged that they deserved to be titled so.

This was enough to imagine the power of these three people.

As for their real names, they had not been made public at all.

“Two giants of God Kingdom are unexpectedly going to come to our country.” Qin Hong’s brows puckered in a frown.

As it had a great number of experts, China enjoyed a special position in the Underground World. There were as many as three Chinese amongst the eight SS-rank hitmen. Moreover, although they were extremely few in number, there were also Grandmasters of internal Martial Arts in China. Each Grandmaster of Internal Martial Arts was comparable to a SS-rank hitman.

Therefore, many experts of the Underground World used to call China as ‘Ancient Country,’ and ‘Mysterious Country.’ They held China in some awe and veneration.

Normally, Chinese masters wouldn’t expose their secrets to outsiders. Although the Redmayne organization sent its hitmen to the Grandmaster of Xing Yi Martial Arts, Teng Bo Lei, to let them be taught by him, it was only because Teng Bo Lei was compelled to do so due to some special reason. Generally, people like Teng Bo Lei only choose Chinese as their disciples, and apart from a few disciples who were taught the secret arts and skills, the rest were only taught the basic and common things.

“Brother Qin, two SS-Rank hitmen are seeking to kill a potential SS-rank hitman. If they were to end up in mutual destruction, it can even affect the commoners. And that would be nightmare!” The driver expressed his worry.

“In the time of crisis, we have to prevent them from involving the commoners even at the stake of our own lives.” Qin Hong said as he took a deep breath, “However, you do not need to worry too much. These people are unlikely to massacre commoners. What we are going to do right now, is quietly wait and watch how things develop from here on out. Let’s hope that they leave the Chinese mainland as early as possible.”

The driver nodded his head.

They didn’t have the necessary time to deal with horrible existences like SS-Eank hitmen, who were similar to ‘Human-shaped Nuclear Warheads’. Even the state wouldn’t deal with them, because once it decided to do so… it would certainly put together enough power beforehand. Only after making sure that it would be able to exterminate the SS-Rank hitman would it set about to deal with the opponent. After all, once a SS-Rank hitman managed to get away, he would cause endless troubles in the future.

The Redmayne family also noticed Teng Qingshan’s current astonishing strength, and so it started to fear him. That’s why they asked the ‘God Kingdom’ organization to go into action without caring about anything other than Teng Qingshan’s death.

“Within three days, we will have all the elite members of the Special Operations Organization present in Jiangsu province gather at Yangzhou City in order to guard against any emergency situations that may arise.” Qin Hong said in a low and deep voice.

While the two people were chatting, the car had already crossed the highway, heading towards Yangzhou City.

“Ah Jun, the images as well as all other information related to Lone Wolf of the Flying Knives and the two giants of God Kingdom, Shiva and Vishnu, have been sent to your phone. Take a careful look at them when you go back. Otherwise, you won’t realize it’s them even if you bump into them somewhere later.” Qin Hong reminded.

The young driver opened his phone. He lowered his head and took a quick glimpse of the information: “I still haven’t seen how any of those three look, oh! Doesn’t this Lone Wolf of the Flying Knives look somewhat similar to you, Brother Qin?

“Right. I also felt the same.” Qin Hong shot a glance at the image on his phone.

It was precisely the image of Teng Qingshan’s face.

The impact of the battle that took place a few days ago was big enough to shake the entire Underground World, people even started to call Teng Qingshan a ‘quasi- SS-Rank’ hitman due to it. However, Teng Qingshan was still living in seclusion inside a house located at a remote place in the outskirts of Yangzhou City. He didn’t hear anything about what was happening in the outside world, he was wholeheartedly nursing his wounds and practicing behind closed doors. Teng Qingshan, wearing black pants and a long gown, was presently inside the secluded and tranquil courtyard. He was practicing ‘Three Xing Yi Postures.’

The third form was the foundation of Xing Yi Martial Arts, it was said that ‘the myriad of fighting ways originated from the third form.’ A beginner needed to practice it, and the same held true for an expert of Xing Yi Martial Arts. Because only after practicing and comprehending it to a certain extent, would one be able to reach the Grandmaster Realm. The movements of the Three Postures were simple, which was suitable for Teng Qingshan who was currently heavily injured.

Each and every move of Teng Qingshan was natural and smooth. It was like watching beautiful art, that could make anyone feel pleasured.

It was said that it takes a hundred days for the bone to knit and tendons to heal. A normal person had to recuperate for three months after a bone fracture for it to completely heal, so naturally a compound fracture would’ve been extremely inconvenient. However, as Teng Qingshan had already crossed the threshold of a Grandmaster, the quality of his body far surpassed that of an ordinary person. In addition, his control over the energy and blood in his body had reached an inconceivable level.

Furthermore, he firmly practiced the ‘Three Postures’ every day, coordinating his breath with his movements, this caused his recovery rate to speed up, to several times that of an ordinary person.

As for the flesh that was ripped apart around his arm and abdomen, it was recovering at an even faster rate.

Twenty-one days later.

“These days I lived in seclusion all the time, wholeheartedly nursing my wounds and practicing. As I haven’t gone inside the city, I do not know whether ‘Qing He’ has come back or not.” Teng Qingshan silently thought.

Teng Qingshan was very sensible. After sustaining injuries in the previous battle, he was aware that he had no way of dealing with a frantic hitman. Therefore, he chose to lay low. The ‘Hand of Darkness’ organization was powerful, but since Teng Qingshan stayed hidden inside the house and didn’t make any appearances outside, he believed that it would be difficult for them to find him.

“After practicing for the last twenty one days, I’ve finally opened up all the channels of my body, my inner strength can perfectly pass through every place.” Teng Qingshan revealed a faint smile on his face.

While fighting with Sun Ze and Dolgoterov he had used ‘Tiger Cannon Fist’, which allowed him to come in contact with the threshold of the Grandmaster Realm. After the calm and single-minded practice over the past twenty one day, the quality of his body also gradually increased. His remaining obstructed main and subsidiary channels had also completely cleared, his inner strength could now easily reach any place throughout his body.

The current Teng Qingshan was worthy of the title of Grandmaster.

A human body had eight extraordinary meridians, twelve standard meridians, and a lot of minute and unknown meridians. An Internal Martial Arts practitioner would make an effort to open up the meridians of every place within his body, including the tiny meridians. As a matter of fact, this procedure of unblocking meridians and rising power also unceasingly promoted the quality of one’s body.

“Now I’m really a Grandmaster. During the past twenty one days, I gradually went from being a major Internal Martial Arts expert to becoming a Grandmaster. Although the quality of my body has only increased by twenty or thirty percent, my strength has increased several times compared to before.” Teng Qingshan knew exactly why a Grandmaster was so powerful. It was because a Grandmaster could use his powers better than anyone else.

If we were to compare a Major Internal martial Arts expert and a Grandmaster with the same kind of body, and the major Internal Martial Arts expert’s fist could bring out an attack power of a ton. Then there was no doubt that the Grandmaster’s fist could be able to bring into play three to four tons of attack power.