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Chapter 435: 427: Gu Master Appears_1
Chapter 435: 427: Gu Master Appears_1
Chapter 435: Chapter 427: Gu Master Appears_1
After making a show of strength, Qin Niu did not bother further with Iron Tiger.
He understood the thoughts of a man.
Iron Tiger merely felt that Ye Ji had been bullied and wanted to stand up for her. Moreover, he had preemptively judged that an Insect Master of the Innate Realm was inherently weak in combat, hence his direct action.
After his defeat, head bowed, he led the way in silence.
“Being defeated by Master Qin is no disgrace!”
Ye Ji whispered comfort to Iron Tiger.
“I’m sorry! I intended to help you vent, but ended up bringing shame to our Gang Leader’s personal guards instead,” Iron Tiger said, still keeping his head down, not daring to look at her.
“Master Qin is very strong; your defeat is not unjust. Where is the central military tent? Let’s walk faster.”
Ye Ji had witnessed Qin Niu dealing with the Mirage Insect.
That was a demon insect which had been lurking in the Valley of Wronged Spirits for at least a few hundred years, and it was completely subdued by Qin Niu without showing the slightest resistance. This man, just like the Gang Leader, was both mysterious and powerful.
Many soldiers looked at Qin Niu with eyes full of reverence.
Qin Niu’s defeat of Iron Tiger, one of the Gang Leader’s personal guards, with a single strike had already earned their respect with his strength.
In the army, it is like this, the strong are revered, and strength speaks for itself.
The three of them walked on, swiftly reaching an unremarkable military tent.
In a battle between two armies, the central military tent and the commander’s platform are of utmost importance; it’s impossible to let the enemy know where the commander is.
Otherwise, if the enemy forms an elite unit to target the central military tent, it would be quite easy for the enemy to behead the commander.
Or capture the commander.
Either scenario would signify defeat.
“Reporting to the Gang Leader, Master Qin has been brought here.”
“Please invite Master Qin in!”
A calm and steady middle-aged man’s voice sounded.
His speech was slow, naturally exuding an invisible authority.
Outside the tent, there were many guards, each with strong cultivation, all of them Innate Realm powerhouses.
They had one thing in common, masks on their faces.
Wolf masks, eagle masks, bear masks, a wide variety, like a wild animal park. The identities of these people didn’t need to be stated; they were all personal guards of the Gang Leader.
Qin Niu entered the central military tent and saw many familiar faces, including Vice Gang Leader Bai Xuezhu, Fang Lian, City Commandant Lu, and Vice Gang Leader Gongsun Jin. This battle was a matter of life and death for the Black Tiger Gang, and almost all the high-ranking members had come out in force.
Sitting at the top seat of the military tent, however, was a plainly-looking middle-aged man, wearing black chainmail, draped in a great cloak made of Tiger Skin, and wearing a black metal helmet.
Different from the helmet of the Black Knight, this man’s helmet had a red gem set in the center, and there were three long feathers at the top.
Each feather resembled the long tail feathers of a wild rooster.
Yet, Qin Niu could tell at a glance that those three long feathers were all demonic feathers. The so-called Phoenix Feathers he had seen at the black market were far inferior to these three long feathers.
Merely by looking at this man’s appearance, there was already considerable grandeur.
“Master Qin has had a hard journey! Today, the Black Tiger Gang has faced an invasion by the combined forces of the Nine Insect Gang and Shennong; it is a matter of life and death. We must gather all the strength we can to have any hope of winning this war.”
The Black Tiger Gang Leader’s gaze was serene, his demeanor friendly and approachable. When speaking to Qin Niu, he showed not a trace of superiority, instead was like that of a friend.
“When the state is in peril, every man is responsible. Qin Niu is a member of the Black Tiger Gang. Although my strength is weak, I am willing to offer my little bit of power, to fight alongside the Black Tiger Gang’s troops, beat back the formidable enemy, and protect our homeland.”
Qin Niu was very tactful, and he spoke those noble words with great boldness.
“Good! Good! With a young man of such aspirations as Master Qin in our Black Tiger Gang, victory is certain today!” the Black Tiger Gang Leader nodded with satisfaction. “Master He Shan, please brief Master Qin on the situation of the insect battle on the battlefield. Your Insect Master camp just needs to hold off the enemy’s insect swarm, and we can hope for victory.”
The gaze of the Black Tiger Gang Leader turned to Master He Shan, who was to his right.
To be honest, Master He Shan’s insect-controlling ability was only so-so, not even comparable to Elder Jiu Yin or Elder Mei.
In the whole Nine Insect Gang, there must be quite a few powerful Insect Masters like Elder Jiu Yin and Elder Mei.
The strongest was definitely the Nine Insects Gang Leader, said to be a powerful woman whom countless men greatly feared. Known as ‘Black Widow,’ she was unpredictable in temper and ruthless, with a mind as sharp as any man’s.
But many secretly called her ‘Poison Widow’ and ‘Viper Woman.’
“Our Black Tiger Gang has been lying low these years, ostentatiously developing the strength of Beast Tamers on the surface while secretly cultivating and supporting Insect Masters. In terms of Insect Master strength, although we are not as strong as the Nine Insect Gang, we are not weak either.
In previous battles with the Nine Insect Gang, our Insect Master camp never suffered much.
But this time, the Nine Insect Gang’s insect swarm is extremely strange. Aside from their astonishing numbers, some insect swarms even exhibit characteristics of Gu. Chairman Li and others suspect the presence of a Gu Master among the enemy forces. Gu Masters are mysterious and unpredictable, their insect-controlling techniques are stronger than those of ordinary Insect Masters, and this battle might be difficult to predict the outcome of.”
Upon saying this, Master He Shan shook his head and sighed repeatedly.
Anyone could see that his morale was very low.
“Gu Masters have been in hiding for many years and are always considered taboo by the Hundred-Tempering Immortal Sect. If the Nine Insect Gang dares let Gu Masters join the battle, they will surely provoke the fear of the Hundred-Tempering Immortal Sect, and they will only be courting self-destruction. Master He Shan need not be too pessimistic. Even if the Nine Insect Gang really has Gu Masters, they would only dare to sneak around and help secretly,” said Deputy Gang Leader Gongsun Jin, the Black Tiger Gang Leader’s confidant, on behalf of the Gang Leader.
Now that the two armies were at war, Master He Shan was diminishing his own authority while boosting the enemy’s morale—a major taboo in the military.
Were it not for Master He Shan holding a rather high position, and the fact that they were short-handed at the moment, the Black Tiger Gang Leader might have made a swift and decisive move against him.
Qin Niu thought to himself, so what if there’s a Gu Master?
Many of the insects he was now raising were not inferior to Gu bugs, and he had also learned some Gu techniques.
To say that Gu techniques were definitely stronger than controlling insects was nonsense.
Controlling insects includes Gu techniques.
Gu techniques are just a branch within the art of insect control, like an unorthodox path taken by a sword.
This was Qin Niu’s view on Gu techniques.
It’s like there are thousands of cultivation methods, among which there are some evil arts with tremendous power that are extremely vicious and relatively easier to master, so they are greatly feared by all. Once a practitioner of such evil arts appears, they often become like rats on the street, pursued and attacked by everyone.
“Deputy Gang Leader Gongsun spoke the truth. Even if the Nine Insect Gang has a Gu Master, we need not be afraid,” Deputy Gang Leader Bai Xuezhu said, supporting Master He Shan.
The two had worked together before, and Master He Shan was considered a major general under Deputy Gang Leader Bai Xuezhu, who naturally wouldn’t want to continue upsetting the Gang Leader.
“According to Chairman Li’s observations, the enemy is likely to use a large number of terrifying poisonous insects, whose levels may not be high, but their numbers will certainly be vast. When the time comes, they could directly reverse the situation, causing our forces to suffer a crushing defeat,” he said.
No sooner had the Deputy Gang Leader finished speaking than Ye Ji, standing below, immediately bowed and reported.
“I was just about to report this matter to the Gang Leader. On the way here, Master Qin observed that the sky was covered by a vast swarm of insects, and through Master Qin’s efforts, he finally found where those insect clouds were heading.
Those insects are called Mirage Insects, and they entered the Valley of Wronged Spirits to absorb the poisonous miasma in the valley to enhance the power of their venom.
Once they have absorbed enough poisonous miasma, they will return to the battlefield and spray their venom from the air onto our warriors.”
Ye Ji accurately reported Qin Niu’s achievements.
“Yes, yes, yes, there’s a certain type of low-level insect called Mirage Insects on the battlefield. They spray venom from the air onto the warriors below, which, when it touches the face, causes unbearable pain, almost like scalding with boiling water,” added Deputy Gang Leader Bai Xuezhu, who had also noticed these insects.