Each black market fighter was riddled with bloody holes from splinters of wood. Some had their heads pierced, others had their abdomens ruptured. Half of them died on the spot, while the other half suffered extremely serious injuries.

Even a martial artist at the Yellow Realm couldn't withstand a casual sword strike from Wang Hao.

Wang Hao entered the stronghold, not even glancing at the black market warriors, and headed straight for the inner courtyard.

A moment later, Wang Hao saw the Li family steward healing his wounds.

He sat cross-legged on the ground, his hands clasped together, forming a protective aura ten feet in diameter centered on his body.

True energy, like a mist of light, enveloped his body.

As Wang Hao entered the stronghold, the Li family steward had already stopped healing, opened his eyes, and said coldly, "You brat, you really caught up with me again! I thought I hadn't left any trace. Can you tell me how you found me?"

Wang Hao naturally wouldn't tell him the secret of spiritual consciousness, but simply said, "You don't need to stall for time. Today, I won't give you another chance to escape."

The head steward of the Li family stood up and roared, "Since that's the case, then let's fight! It's either you or me who dies."

Beside him stood a huge stone mill, weighing several hundred kilograms.

With a single hand, the head steward of the Li family spun his arm twice before throwing the millstone at Wang Hao.

At the same time, the head steward of the Li family turned and fled, showing no intention of fighting Wang Hao to the death.

"boom!"

Wang Hao shattered the stone mill with a single sword strike and chased after the Li family steward.

"Can they escape?"

Wang Hao held the sword with both hands, channeling his spiritual energy into the Yin-Yang Profound Iron Sword Embryo, unleashing a sword aura several meters long. He then slashed forward, leaving a long sword mark groove in the ground.

The Li family steward, who was dozens of meters away, felt a tingling sensation on the back of his head. He quickly covered most of his true energy on his right hand, which resembled a black gauntlet, and grabbed at the sword energy.

"boom!"

The sword energy was shattered by his grab, but in those few seconds, Wang Hao caught up and instantly closed in, throwing a punch.

"Wind and Thunder Fist!"

The head steward of the Li family had bloodshot eyes and his whole body was surging with blood. He suddenly turned around and threw a punch.

"Earth-shattering".

The fists clashed, releasing powerful shockwaves, and the buildings on both sides made cracking sounds, as if they might collapse at any moment.

The head steward of the Li family felt a sweet taste in his throat, spat out a mouthful of blood, and retreated without stopping.

After landing on the ground, Wang Hao charged forward again, his blood and qi surging through his meridians with a whooshing sound, gathering in his arms, and unleashing nine rapid punches in succession.

"Nine layers of overlapping waves".

The layers of fist winds piled up, unleashing terrifying power and forming a fist imprint. Before the fist imprint even hit the Li family steward, the overwhelming momentum seemed to be about to blow him away.

The head steward of the Li family glared with eyes wide open, like an angry Vajra, and threw out both fists at the same time, once again clashing with Wang Hao.

"Bang!"

The head steward of the Li family was sent flying backwards, landing more than ten feet away. His arms were in excruciating pain, as if the bones were broken.

"Damn it, if I still had my black and gold gloves, how could I possibly have been defeated by your fists?"

The Li family steward's boxing technique could only unleash its full power with the aid of the black and gold gloves, but unfortunately, he hadn't brought the gloves with him.

"Boy, you forced me to use forbidden techniques."

The head steward of the Li family got up, took out eight silver needles, each half a foot long, and inserted them into the eight most important meridians in his body.

At the same time, he took out a bright red pill and quickly swallowed it.

In an instant, the head steward of the Li family seemed to have recovered from his injuries, and the speed of his internal energy flow doubled.

His skin had turned completely charred black, and his pair of crimson eyes were icy cold, staring at Wang Hao like a venomous snake.

Wang Hao raised an eyebrow. He clearly saw the other party take out a pill and put it in his mouth. It seemed that Tianxing also knew the method of alchemy.

Silver needles pierce the veins, and fire pills ignite the blood.

This is a forbidden technique circulating among martial artists. Although it is not as powerful as the Reversal of True Qi, it is still extremely terrifying. Moreover, once this move is used, it will reduce one's lifespan by about twenty years.

At this moment, the Li family steward's martial arts cultivation was close to the mid-stage of the Profound Realm. Even without a weapon, he was definitely much stronger than before.

Of course, there is a time limit for using forbidden techniques. At most, after half an hour, if the Li family steward still cannot kill Wang Hao, the power of the silver needle piercing the meridians and the fire pill burning blood will disappear.

At that time, he will become very weak and will be at Wang Hao's mercy.

However, Wang Hao had a feeling that the Li family steward was deliberately stalling for time, so he did not want to wear the other party down and decided to make a quick decision to avoid any unforeseen complications.

"You little brat, let me show you my true power."

The head steward of the Li family laughed loudly and burst into speed at twenty meters per second. He was almost in front of Wang Hao the moment he finished speaking.

"Earth-shattering!"

A punch was thrown, carrying a powerful gust of wind.

The opponent was too fast, and Wang Hao didn't even have time to dodge, so he could only block with his sword.

"Bang!"

A tremendous force emanated from the sword, surging towards Wang Hao's arms and sending him flying.

Before Wang Hao could even land, the Li family steward immediately threw a second punch, a third punch... giving Wang Hao no chance to retaliate. He threw forty-nine punches in a row before completing a set of punches.

"Boom!"

Wang Hao retreated an unknown distance, knocking down all the houses on the street. The buildings were left in ruins, and his hair, body, and face were covered with a layer of mud and ash, making him look disheveled.

After this set of punches, Wang Hao's blood and qi surged, and he spat out a mouthful of blood before his breathing became much smoother.

Fortunately, the Yin-Yang Profound Iron Sword Embryo blocked some of the force, and spiritual energy protected his body; otherwise, his injuries would have been much more serious.

After delivering forty-nine punches, the Li family steward paused for a moment to recover his inner energy.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Wang Hao suppressed his surging blood and qi, soared into the air, gathered all his spiritual energy, and slashed down with his sword.

"call"

The head steward of the Li family looked up and saw a dazzling sword light descending from the sky.

He spread his arms, gathered a large amount of true energy in his hands, and brought them together in the middle, using a move called "catching a blade with bare hands," and actually caught Wang Hao's full-force sword strike.

"boom!"

The ground beneath the feet of the Li family steward suddenly trembled, then shattered into pieces, creating a wave of mud that surged in all directions.

The smoke and dust cleared.

The ground within a ten-meter radius sank by more than one meter, forming a huge crater.

"Kid, you're nothing special. I can catch your broken sword even with my bare hands. If I had a weapon, I could kill you in one move."

The Li family steward laughed loudly, still holding the sword embryo with both hands, and with a push of his legs, his body shot straight up, flying backwards to above Wang Hao's head, and then kicked down hard with one foot.

However, at that very moment, a cold smile suddenly appeared on Wang Hao's lips, and his eyes flashed with murderous intent.

The head steward of the Li family's expression changed. Instantly, a bad premonition surged into his heart. He could sense a dangerous aura approaching, but he did not know where the danger came from.

"Sizzle!"

Suddenly, the sword embryo tightly gripped by the Li family steward burst forth with a dazzling sword light. The sword trembled slightly, and an incomparably powerful sword aura erupted from its top.

This sword energy, like the bright moon in the sky, suddenly burst forth from the Yin-Yang Profound Iron Sword Embryo. Even with his Profound Realm cultivation, he was unable to withstand it.

"Bang!"

A headless corpse fell from mid-air, bright red blood gushing from its neck, emitting a nauseating stench of blood.

Wang Hao waved his arm, and the Yin-Yang Profound Iron Sword Embryo flew back on its own. He looked at the corpse on the ground, squatted down and rummaged around for a while, but there was nothing there except a cell phone.

"You're supposed to be a head steward, how come you're so poor?" Wang Hao sighed, put away the Li family steward's phone, thinking that he would ask Chi Tu to decipher the code later, hoping there would be some surprises inside.

Shortly after Wang Hao left, a middle-aged man drove up from a distance. When he saw the corpses scattered all over the ground, his face immediately turned ashen.

"Are there any survivors?"

The middle-aged man gave a low, deep shout, and then a hand suddenly emerged from under a stone slab, but after struggling for a long time, it still couldn't climb out of the ruins.

"Useless." The middle-aged man waved his hand, shattering the stone slab. An old man shakily crawled out of the mound of earth.

The old man took a breath and then said sadly, "Brother Qingmu, you're finally back."

"Tell me the whole story from beginning to end," Qing Mu waved his hand.

The old man described in detail the battle between Wang Hao and the Li family steward, as well as the details of their conversation, especially the appearance of the Yin-Yang Profound Iron Sword Embryo.

"Good lad, we've finally found the person who intercepted the young master in Kunlun Mountain. But we can make good use of the death of the Li family steward." Mu Qing muttered to himself, stroking his chin.

The old man's eyes darted around, and he said, "Boss, I've thought of a way that will satisfy both sides."

"Tell me about it." Qing Mu looked at him with surprise.

Without hesitation, the old man said directly, "Didn't you kill a Xuan Realm expert from the Ling family a while ago? Since no one knows about it anyway, why not use him as a scapegoat?"

"We said that he killed the head steward of the Li family. When we saw it, we immediately attacked and killed him, but the head steward of the Li family could not withstand the opponent's desperate attack."

"Afterwards, you can secretly report the truth to the young master. This will not only enhance your reputation but also make the young master look at you with new respect."

Qing Mu thought for a moment and realized that this would not only incite a conflict between the Li family and the Ling family, but also make the Li family owe him a favor, so that he could report the matter of the sword embryo later.

The young master of the black market will surely reward Qing Mu again. This is not only a win-win situation, but a brilliant plan that kills three birds with one stone.

"Alright, alright, you'll stay by my side from now on." Qing Mu laughed and decided to do it immediately. He had no intention of keeping the sword embryo for himself.

Even though the sword embryo is full of mysteries, such a divine object is easy to obtain, but once obtained, it depends on how strong one's fate is. He does not have the confidence to be invincible in the world.

......

The next day, Wang Hao and Shi Mengqi buried her father together. As for her mother, Shi Mengqi didn't want to mention her anymore; she was completely disappointed.

In this battle, Wang Hao's spiritual energy was exhausted. To recover his spiritual power, he either needed to be pulled into the consciousness space by the female ghost or find a spirit stone, but he waited for two days.

The female ghost never appeared, which made Wang Hao wonder if she was doing it on purpose. Although he had pills to restore his spiritual energy, it was only a drop in the ocean.

Fortunately, on the afternoon of the third day, Han Shuo sent three spirit stones as a deposit, with the remainder to be delivered on Sunday. This solved Wang Hao's immediate problem.

Looking at the milky white jade, Wang Hao carefully sensed the spiritual energy inside and found that the spiritual energy was very pure and abundant, no worse than the previous golden jade.

"Alright, don't be sad. Life goes on. Let me recover my strength, and tonight we'll undergo the Marrow Cleansing and Body Shaping Ceremony together." Wang Hao patted Shi Mengqi's shoulder.

Looking at the somewhat haggard beauty before him, Wang Hao couldn't help but sigh. However, he didn't dwell on it and instead seized the time to absorb the spiritual energy within the spirit stone.

The arrival of the Li family steward increased the pressure on Wang Hao, and he also knew that the destruction of the black market's stronghold would definitely lead to him, so time was of the essence.

Once Wang Hao completes the first marrow cleansing, his strength will definitely break through again. When Han Shuo delivers the remaining spirit stones, he can try to break through to the legendary realm.

Shi Mengqi looked at Wang Hao, who had begun cultivating, sighed, and suppressed her grief. Although the murderer who killed her father was dead, the Li family was not yet destroyed.

The culprits behind all of this are the Li family of Tianxing and Li Xu, whom she has never met before. She wants to defeat them personally, even if they are one of the top ten geniuses of Tianxing.

The next morning, with a crisp sound, the milky white spirit stone in front of Wang Hao finally shattered, and his cultivation level recovered to the peak of the late stage of the Spirit Awareness Realm. He was only one step away from becoming a Great Perfection Realm cultivator.

"How are you? Has your injury healed?" Shi Mengqi, who was standing beside her, opened her eyes at the same time. Although her eyes were full of concern, there was a hint of coldness deep inside.

After all these events, her mindset has changed drastically. Now, apart from Wang Hao, she can say that she has no one else she can trust.

Wang Hao naturally noticed this as well. His heart skipped a beat, and he pulled Shi Mengqi into his arms, whispering, "Don't worry, the Li family of Tianxing will be destroyed; it's just a matter of time."

"I believe you," Shi Mengqi murmured.

But then she said softly, "I want to go to Tianxing for further studies. You've progressed too fast, and I'm afraid I can't keep up with you. Next time, I want to fight alongside you."

Wang Hao glanced at the beauty in his arms with surprise, remained silent for a moment, and said, "Okay, but you must stay with Xia Xiaoyi. There are too many crises in Tianxing."

“I’m worried about you going alone. It’s better if you go together so you can look after each other.”

Shi Mengqi nodded, but then said with some reluctance, "If I go to Tianxing, what will you do?"

"I will be heading to Tianxing in three months. You can contact Xia Xiaoyi first and go to Tianxing to take a look. However, before you go, I need to help you enter the Xuan Realm."

Wang Hao spoke with a smile, his tone full of strong confidence, as if helping Shi Mengqi break through was just a very ordinary thing.

“Great! I’ve been wanting to learn some cultivation techniques too. I’ll do the same as you, combining martial arts with cultivation techniques. That way, my strength will probably increase dramatically.”

A sly glint flashed in Shi Mengqi's eyes as she looked at Wang Hao with great anticipation.