Chapter 102: The Clash of Dragon and Tiger

"Taking the elevator to the top floor really is a waste of time." Guangqi shook his head and pulled a jade flute from his robes, slowly finding his pitch. "This jade flute is indeed handy. It saves so much effort to play, and the sound quality is superb."

*Di-li-li.* With a sharp blow from Guangqi, an eerie sound instantly echoed inside the elevator. Highly satisfied, he couldn't help but praise, "This transcendent body is truly marvelous! The internal breath is so robust, and strength flows endlessly from my bones, muscles, and flesh!"

"What is he doing?!" The bodyguards monitoring the elevator's every move through the security camera grew incredibly tense seeing Guangqi casually playing the flute at a time like this. But before they could report to their superiors, the camera flickered a few times and went dead, leaving nothing but static across the screen.

The continuous playing caused the flute's notes to reverberate against the smooth metal walls of the elevator, quickly filling the cabin with eerie acoustic energy.

Guangqi had no intention of stopping; instead, he played with growing vigor. Unconsciously, his hair and clothes billowed, and a chilling murderous intent flared in his eyes.

"Stay sharp! He's coming!" Zhou Zhixing led a group of bodyguards, warily watching the floor numbers ticking up on the elevator display.

The orders they had received were to capture the intruder alive, not kill him. A crowd of burly bodyguards in suits stood ready, tightly gripping wooden clubs, stun guns, and ropes.

To be honest, they had never been this nervous inside the Galloping Horses Group headquarters.

*Ding!* The elevator finally arrived.

*Click.*

As the elevator doors parted slightly, two bodyguards prepared to charge at Guangqi according to plan, waiting only for the doors to open a bit wider.

*Boom!*

Before the bodyguards could react, the soundwaves that had been building up inside the elevator burst through the gap like a failing dam, instantly blasting the five or six guards at the front off their feet!

"Ah!" With muffled groans, the bodyguards' ears bled as their faces turned pale, and they collapsed unconscious.

Under the onslaught of the deafening, demonic waves of sound, even a martial artist of Zhou Zhixing's caliber felt his blood boil. As if struck by a severe internal injury, his ears rang and his vision went dark as he was slammed violently against the wall by the invisible wave.

"What a brainless bunch!" Seeing his sneak attack achieve total victory, Guangqi put away his jade flute and laughed aloud. "This elevator is like a bronze bell, magnifying the flute's soundwaves several times over. Even if you're trained martial artists, how could you withstand such an impact all at once? Haven't you ever seen *Kung Fu Hustle*? Ahahaha!"

Only painful groans rose from the men sprawled on the floor; none of them could answer him.

As Guangqi scanned the room, he suddenly spotted someone forcing himself up to pick up a walkie-talkie.

"The perimeter is breached, he's heading in! You—" Before Zhou Zhixing could finish, Guangqi's kick caught him square in the face, leaving him bleeding from his nose and mouth.

Wooden clubs and weapons lay scattered across the floor alongside the dying, groaning men in suits. Guangqi sneered and asked, "Which one of you can open this door?"

"You! You're committing suicide!" Zhou Zhixing gasped heavily on the floor, snarling, "Do you have any idea what happens to those who offend our boss?!"

Guangqi smiled slightly, leaning down to look at Zhou Zhixing. "Have you ever heard the saying, 'the victors are kings, the vanquished are bandits'? Once I have Wan Tianze under my control, everything will be resolved."

"You!" Zhou Zhixing had not expected the man before him to be so arrogant. "You want to get in?! Keep dreaming!"

Guangqi didn't argue. Instead, he leisurely picked up a stun gun from the floor.

*Click, click.* He toggled the switch back and forth, crackling blue sparks dancing before Zhou Zhixing's eyes.

"I am asking you very seriously now: who here can open the door?"

Zhou Zhixing gave a cold laugh. "The key was thrown away long ago. Before the police arrive, no one is getting in!"

"You are allowed to lie to me, but you are not allowed to treat me like a fool." Guangqi patted Zhou Zhixing's head gently. "Be a good boy and tell me. If you do, I won't make things difficult for you."

"Bah!" Zhou Zhixing spat right into Guangqi's face!

"Oh? I see. You're quite the tough guy." Guangqi pursed his lips, pulled out a handkerchief, and wiped away the spit. With the smile still on his face, he said, "If you're going to resort to personal attacks, then I have no choice but to use a little torture."

Without another word, Guangqi slammed the stun gun hard against Zhou Zhixing's thigh. The powerful current surged through Zhou Zhixing's body, causing his veins to bulge as he went into violent spasms.

"Ugh... argh..." Gritting his teeth against the shock, Zhou Zhixing let out involuntary, muffled groans.

"Ahahaha! This is fun!" Seeing Zhou Zhixing's agonized expression, Guangqi laughed heartily. In his delight, he jabbed the stun gun into Zhou Zhixing's left thigh.

"Are you going to talk or not?! Who can open the door?!"

"Aargh!" Zhou Zhixing was shocked to the point of deathly paleness, his eyes bloodshot. Finally unable to bear it, he nodded repeatedly. "I'll talk! I'll talk! Just don't make things hard for him!"

Guangqi sneered. "What a stubborn wretch. Why couldn't you just cooperate instead of insisting on suffering?"

Zhou Zhixing let out a bitter laugh, panting heavily. "Come... come closer. I'll tell you."

Unafraid of any trick, Guangqi leaned his ear close to Zhou Zhixing's mouth.

"The one who can open it..." Zhou Zhixing whispered, "...is your mother! Ha, hahaha!"

Hearing Zhou Zhixing's mockery, Guangqi's expression darkened. Hardening his heart, he drove the stun gun directly against Zhou Zhixing's chest!

"Argh! Aargh!" After repeating this five or six times, Zhou Zhixing's face was smeared with tears and mucus, and he finally passed out.

Watching his trusted aide's agonizing state through the security camera, Wan Tianze clenched his fists and cursed, "That bastard took over Ye Dong's body and is running amok just because he knows we can't kill him! This is too much!"

Seeing Zhou Zhixing pass out, Guangqi found it dull. He turned and jabbed the stun gun into the guards lying nearby, seemingly finding his sadistic pleasure in them once more.

"Wan Tianze, if you don't open the door, I will make you regret it!" Guangqi sneered, tossing the stun gun aside and pulling out his jade flute.

"Don't say I didn't warn you. You have exactly thirty seconds to open the door." After speaking, Guangqi raised the jade flute to his lips, and that eerie melody began to play once more.

Wan Tianze frowned deeply, unsure of what trick Guangqi was about to pull.

As soon as the flute sounded, two of the unconscious bodyguards abruptly stood up, walking toward Zhou Zhixing with mechanical steps.

"What are you doing?!" Wan Tianze's voice boomed through the intercom speaker in a sharp rebuke.

Ignoring the shout, Guangqi continued to play his flute. The two bodyguards pulled daggers from their pockets, bent down, and stabbed them mercilessly into Zhou Zhixing's thighs!

"Ah!" The agonizing pain jolted Zhou Zhixing back to consciousness instantly.

"Zhixing!" Wan Tianze cried out in shock.

Guangqi smirked, having no intention of stopping. He adjusted his breathing, raising the pitch of the flute. Under his command, the two bodyguards pulled the daggers from Zhou Zhixing's thighs and stabbed them viciously into his arms!

"Damn it! You beast!" Wan Tianze cursed furiously. "If you kill him, even if it bankrupts me, I will make sure you go down with him!"

"Uncle Wan, from the very first day I followed you, I pledged my life to you. Do not open the door! Ah!" Zhou Zhixing looked down to see a blade plunged into his abdomen.

Seeing the second blade about to plunge into Zhou Zhixing's heart, Wan Tianze roared, "Stop! You want the jade pendant? I'll give it to you! Take it and get the hell out of here, as far away as possible!"

Hearing Wan Tianze's capitulation, Guangqi sneered and finally stopped playing. He laughed wildly, "The feeling of extorting a billionaire is absolutely exhilarating!"

He kicked Zhou Zhixing aside and barked at the door, "Open up!"

"Clang!" The thick, heavy door to the chairman's office finally swung open.

"Mr. Wan, I trust you've been well?" Guangqi walked in slowly, greeting him with Ye Dong's face—a face Wan Tianze knew all too well, making the sight deeply unnerving.

"Hmph, you've offended our chairman today. Do you really think you can escape?" Several bodyguards inside rushed out immediately, attempting to surround and ambush Guangqi.

"Raging flames incinerate demons, Samadhi vanquishes evil! Within lies thunder, the Thunder God hides his name! Hear my command, make it so!" Before they could reach him, intense Samadhi True Fire erupted from Guangqi's mouth and hands, catching the bodyguards completely off guard and engulfing them.

This was indeed the Samadhi True Fire incantation of the Zhengyi Sect, the very sect Ye Dong belonged to!

"Ah! My eyes!" The intense heat of the sudden Samadhi True Fire scorched the eyes of several bodyguards, instantly rendering them combat-ineffective.

The remaining bodyguards snapped out of it, thrusting their daggers toward Guangqi's limbs.

"Ahahaha!" Guangqi laughed maniacally, pressing a bloodied finger to his brow as he chanted rapidly, "The Great Emperor Xuanwu stands before me! Spirits return to their shrines, ghosts return to their graves, demons and monsters return to the forests! Hear my command, Lord Xuanwu, make it so!"

Finishing the chant, he swept his left hand, and a spray of essence blood shot toward the oncoming bodyguards.

This was the Xuanwu Evil-Expelling Incantation of the Maoshan Sect! No one could have expected Guangqi to have mastered the arts of two different sects. Including his demonic sound technique, he now possessed three major trump cards.

"Thud, thud, thud!" The bodyguards collapsed to the floor as if shot, clutching their heads in extreme agony.

Guangqi laughed wildly. "Well, Uncle Wan, is this a pleasant surprise?"

Seeing all his men defeated, Wan Tianze did not shrink back at all. Instead, he stepped forward, glaring at him. "Using demonic arts to do evil—do you have no fear of the law or heaven's justice?!"

"The law?! Isn't that what you rich people have always looked down upon?" Guangqi sneered loudly. "As for heaven's justice, this world lost its justice long ago!"

"How arrogant!" Wan Tianze threw a punch, aiming straight for Guangqi's face.

But the Guangqi before him was already a master, and now he possessed Ye Dong's transcendent body. How could Wan Tianze's skills allow him to get anywhere near him?

Guangqi simply deflected the blow with a casual sweep of his arm, neutralizing Wan Tianze's attack. He sneered, "Your defeat is sealed, so don't bother resisting. I respect you as a man, Wan Tianze. If you hand over the jade pendant quietly, I won't make things hard for you. Otherwise, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

Wan Tianze took a deep breath and threw the Canghai Jade Pendant—which had been by his side for over twenty years—out of his vest. "Take it and get out!"

Just as Guangqi reached out to catch it, a thunderous dragon roar echoed behind him. Before he could turn, he lunged forward onto Wan Tianze, his hand clawing tightly around the older man's throat. "I almost fell for your trap!" he snarled.

Guangqi glared back and saw a handsome, spirited young man with eyes like stars. Where the youth's hand seal pointed, a majestic, imposing purple dragon bared its claws, exuding an aura of absolute dominance.

Guangqi choked Wan Tianze with one hand while glancing down at the "Canghai Jade Pendant" in his other. He sneered, "As they say, no merchant is honest. You old fox, you really know how to deceive people."

What he held was not the real Canghai Jade Pendant, but a replica; Guangqi had seen the genuine article described in the Mantras of the Outer Three Realms.

"Why should I play fair with a villain like you?" Wan Tianze sneered. "Stop resisting. You have a master in front of you and no way out behind. Do you really think you can escape?"

"You are my greatest guarantee of escape!" Guangqi squeezed his hand, immediately constricting Wan Tianze's throat so tightly that he gasped for air.

"Who are you?! What formidable skill!" Guangqi shouted at the purple dragon.

"I am Zilong, the eldest disciple of the Rihui lineage of the Zhengyi Sect!" The corner of Zilong's mouth curled up as he said coldly, "You are Guangqi, aren't you? How dare you steal my junior brother's body!"

"Ahahaha!" Guangqi laughed wildly. "So you're the senior brother. Since I control Ye Dong's body and hold this hostage, do you really have the heart to strike?"

Zilong smiled and shook his head. With a sudden twist of his right hand, the purple dragon charged straight at Guangqi, completely disregarding Wan Tianze's safety!

"Dammit!" Caught off guard by Zilong's ruthlessness, Guangqi could only slam Wan Tianze to the ground and roll aside to dodge the purple dragon's charge.

*Boom!* The dragon did not trash the massive office as expected; instead, it dispersed like mist the moment it struck a solid object.

"What?!" Guangqi was shocked. "I didn't expect this man's cultivation to be so profound that he can command the dragon at will, switching it between illusion and reality on the fly!"

Of course, Zilong was good friends with the author in real life, so how could he not be?

Guangqi let out a low growl, flooding his body with internal energy to fully activate the transcendent body.

"Let's see just how capable your purple dragon is!" His competitive spirit was roused, playing right into Zilong's hands.

"Then I shall grant your wish!" Zilong grunted angrily. His hand signs blurred as the giant dragon moved in tandem with his mind, twisting around to pounce on Guangqi once more.

"Is it real this time?!" Guangqi was startled. He instantly unleashed a massive blast of Samadhi True Fire!

The moment the red and purple energies collided, the powerful shockwave acted like the eye of a storm, sucking in everything around it!