Chapter 662: A New Powerhouse

Ma Tuo shouted furiously, his voice trembling with years of pent-up resentment, “I have been loyal to you and risked my life for six decades, only to earn a mere Protector position. When will I ever see a better future if I keep following you like this?

“You give me so little celestial jade every month. When I pick up some side work outside, you humiliate me in public... I followed you for ten years, and it still can't compare to what Twin Shadow Tower gives me in a month.

“Wei Xiaotian, you still have the nerve to say you’ve treated me well? Hahaha. If you refuse to let your brothers get rich under you, don’t blame us for starting our own faction.”

Ma Tuo had completely given up on saving the situation. He bellowed as though he wanted to vent every ounce of dissatisfaction from his heart, as if he was justifying his act of betrayal.

Wei Xiaotian let out a faint sigh. He had a thousand, no, ten thousand arguments to counter Ma Tuo’s complaints. But there was no need to. Adults had to take responsibility for their own choices. Arguments after the fact were not only futile but laughable.

However, Huang Dinggou, being the leader’s most diehard supporter, could no longer hold back.

“Pah! Old Dog, do you even know what you’re saying? The Protector position places you just below two or three people, and above tens of thousands. The two Deputy Leaders and the Grand Elder—did any of them join the gang later than you?

“Did any of them contribute less to the gang than you? What were you before you joined the Exploding Star Gang? Just a down-and-out beastmaster, struggling to survive day by day. Even your wife was stolen from you. You even slept under a bridge in District Ding-8...

“If the boss hadn’t raised you up, would you be where you are today? Ungrateful wretch.”

The more Huang Dinggou cursed, the angrier he became. Ma Tuo had never expected that a lowly member from the bottom ranks of the gang would dare to insult him so brazenly.

“Promoted me? Everything I have today is from my own hard work. What does it have to do with Wei Xiaotian?” He retorted loudly. But his voice wavered with guilt he could not suppress.

“Pah! You don’t know your place. You are a joke, an absolute joke. Everything you have today is because of the boss and the Exploding Star Gang. Without this platform, what would you be in Chongque City?

“Twin Shadow Tower recruited you because you hold the position of Left Protector in the Exploding Star Gang. Without that title, you would be worthless. And yet you brag every day, calling yourself a strategist with wisdom as deep as an abyss. You don’t even understand something this simple, something that even a lowly underling like me figured out.

“You deserve to die. The boss must have been blind when he promoted you all those years ago.”

Huang Dinggou grew more and more excited as he cursed, his voice becoming sharper and louder.

When Wei Xiaotian heard the final sentence, his gaze instantly locked onto Huang Dinggou. A faint, threatening note escaped his nose, “Hmm?”

Huang Dinggou shivered all over. The excitement and fervor that had made him resemble a fighting husky moments ago evaporated instantly. He lowered his head, hunched his neck, and quietly retreated behind Li Xiaofei.

Ma Tuo’s face shifted from pale to ashen. He wanted to argue back but he found no words. Being scolded like this and pointed at by an ant-like nobody, while having no words to refute him filled him with both rage and fear.

Wei Xiaotian slowly spoke, his tone calm yet carrying a weight that pressed down on the entire room. “If you felt that what you gained in the Exploding Star Gang was not enough or that your talents were stifled, you could have always chosen to leave. I have never forced anyone to stay. But you... you were blinded by greed, colluded with outsiders, and poisoned your own brothers. That is a crime worthy of death. I cannot spare you today.”

A powerful aura surged from the white-robed, handsome man. It was suffocating.

“You followed me for sixty years. Today, I will personally see you off. Letting you die without shedding blood is my final act of mercy toward you,” said Wei Xiaotian. His words were like a cold verdict.

Despair overtook Ma Tuo’s face. If there had been even a sliver of hope, he would have knelt and begged for his life. But he knew his boss would not grant him that chance.

When he looked at the near-perfect man before him, a fleeting memory surfaced in his mind. It was from sixty years ago when he had wandered the streets of Chongque City, a fugitive with nowhere to go, and only found sleep under the cold rail car bridges.

Snow had fallen like white jade. The day he first met Wei Xiaotian had also been on a clear morning after a snowfall. The sunlight that day had not been harsh, but beautiful. It had been so beautiful that it had felt like a new beginning. Yet, no matter how beautiful that sunlight had been, it could no longer touch the snow falling today.

“Do it,” said Ma Tuo, taking off his black-framed glasses. “My journey in this gang started with you. It’s only fitting that it ends with you. Gang Leader Wei, this will be the last time I call you that. In this final fight, I will hold nothing back.”

Wei Xiaotian sighed softly in his heart. He was about to make his move. Suddenly, Li Xiaofei raised his spear, stepping in to block the clash.

“Gang Leader, leave him to me,” said Li Xiaofei firmly. “I must kill the one who murdered my brother with my own hands to find peace.”

Wei Xiaotian responded calmly, “He is not weak.”

It was a subtle reminder, a caution wrapped in careful words.

“I am stronger,” Li Xiaofei’s reply was blunt and resolute.

Wei Xiaotian glanced around. Thousands of elite disciples from the Exploding Star Gang had gathered inside and outside Wanli Hall. They had not just sealed off the entire hall but had also surrounded Shenyin Pavilion, leaving not a single gap.

Countless eyes were fixed on this very moment.

“You are Yiyun’s younger brother. I will give you this chance,” said Wei Xiaotian decisively.

He appreciated Li Xiaofei’s loyalty and he was willing to give the young man this opportunity to earn fame and prove himself. At worst, he could offer him silent assistance if things went wrong. Besides, the unyielding loyalty this chubby young man had shown earlier was worth the investment.

Li Xiaofei stepped forward, gripping his spear tightly.

Ma Tuo’s face twisted into a faint, bitter smile. At this point, countless memories suddenly surged into his mind, fragments of the past he had long forgotten. He recalled the many chances Wei Xiaotian had given him that had helped him make a name for himself...

Just like he was now doing for Li Xiaofei. It was a pity that those memories had been buried deep beneath the dust of sixty long years. Layers of time had formed a tower over them, covering them completely.

Yet, for some reason, they had emerged in this final moment. Time had brushed aside the dust without warning. The past had become nothing more than a distant regret.

Ma Tuo looked at Li Xiaofei.

“You want to step over me to climb up?” asked Ma Tuo as a cruel, murderous glint flashed across his face. “Then be prepared to be crushed beneath my feet and die. Heh, I’ve roamed the underworld of Chongque City for sixty years. I am not some soft persimmon for you to squeeze.”

Li Xiaofei merely sneered coldly. He tilted his spear toward the side, pointing at Nie Yuntao, who had been lying still and pretending to be dead.

He said, “You two can come at me together.”

Nie Yuntao, who had lost his left arm to Li Xiaofei’s spear, had mostly recovered by now. He had taken healing pills and regained enough strength to fight. When he heard Li Xiaofei’s words, he said nothing. He simply rose to his feet, drew his twin swords, and stood beside his master, Ma Tuo.

Li Xiaofei raised his head to the sky and shouted loudly, “Big Brother, if your spirit watches from above, watch how I avenge you and Hall Master Ou!”

He was deliberately shaping his image and building his role as a loyal avenger.

Suddenly, Wei Xiaotian interrupted, “Hold on.”

He reached into his storage space and took out a long silver spear. It was ancient in design, its surface giving off a cold, chilling light. With a flick of his wrist, he sent it flying toward Li Xiaofei.

“This spear is called Flying Snow. It was my trophy after slaying a Star level expert. I’m giving it to you.”

Li Xiaofei reached out and caught it. The moment his hand grasped the spear, he felt an icy chill spreading from the shaft, as though he were clutching a handful of snow. The cold pierced his palm and surged to his mind, instantly sharpening his focus and enhancing his combat state. It was a Star level weapon.

"Thank you, Gang Leader," said Li Xiaofei.

He gave Flying Snow a slight shake, feeling an unprecedented harmony between himself and the weapon.

He couldn't help but praise, "Good spear."

"Kill!" shouted Ma Tu. He was the first to strike.

Worthy of his reputation as a veteran Planet level powerhouse, the glow of four laws immediately surged around his body, gravity, light, water, and fire.

As a Protector of one of Chongque City's Five Great Gangs, and having survived the treacherous underworld for decades, Ma Tuo’s strength was beyond question. Now that he was fighting for his life, he unleashed his full strength, causing Wanli Hall to tremble violently.

Nie Yuntao swung his twin swords from the side, supporting his master. Although he was also a Planet level expert, there were levels within levels. He was far inferior to Ma Tuo.

Li Xiaofei thrust his silver spear forward.

Pfft.

Nie Yuntao was sent flying with a single strike.

Boom!

Blood splattered the air as the ambitious Hall Master of Red Shield Hall was reduced to a mangled mess of limbs and completely wiped from this world.

Yet, despite his beloved disciple’s brutal death, Ma Tuo’s face showed no hint of shock. He remained steady and composed. His Planet level strength had been pushed to its absolute limit.

Li Xiaofei had intended to use Ma Tuo as a sharpening stone to refine the spear techniques he had been cultivating during his recent seclusion. He had held back his killing intent, restraining his strength to maintain a seemingly even match.

However, to the spectators, it seemed like two titans had collided. Each exchange was earth-shattering as the force of their strikes reverberated through the hall. It was both awe-inspiring and terrifying.

Many disciples of the Exploding Star Gang watched in shock. The infamous perverted fatso, long ridiculed across Chongque City, was holding his ground against Ma Tuo, the man whose name had commanded fear for six decades. The sheer contrast was unbelievable.

As the battle grew fiercer, Li Xiaofei felt his blood boiling with excitement. He let out a long, spirited roar as his spear began to shine brilliantly. If not for his rotund figure and less-than-appealing appearance, his white robes flowing and his spear dancing like a dragon might have made him the next Wei Xiaotian.

This duel captivated the elite disciples of the Exploding Star Gang. Their eyes were wide, hearts racing.

Huang Dinggou gawked, shouting repeatedly, "Holy shit! Holy shit! That thrust—holy shit...!"

The Bai sisters were both shocked and delighted.

Suddenly—

Pfft.

The Flying Snow spear pierced through Ma Tuo’s heart and emerged from his back. Drops of blood fell to the ground as Ma Tuo stiffened. The light in his eyes quickly flickered and went out like a dying candle.

“Huh?” Li Xiaofei froze in surprise.

What happened?

That thrust had not been intended to kill. Yet, Ma Tuo was dead. When Li Xiaofei looked up, he saw Ma Tuo’s eyes still holding onto a final flicker of light, staring directly at him. There was no fear of death in those eyes nor was there any struggle for life.

His lips moved slightly. The words he uttered were so faint that only two people in the entire hall could hear them.

“So be it... So be it... Since the Gang Leader favors you, what does it matter if I give you a moment of glory? Consider it repaying the debt from our meeting on that snowy morning, sixty years ago.”

A moment later, his last breath rattled out of his chest. Ma Tuo’s head slumped forward. Li Xiaofei slowly withdrew his spear. He had heard those final words and he vaguely understood their meaning. But there was not a shred of sympathy in his heart. Everyone walked the path of their own choosing. Ma Tuo had to pay the price for his betrayal.

Wei Xiaotian, watching from above, could only let out a final, quiet sigh in his heart.

This chaotic, dazzling world—the endless, swirling dust of mortal affairs... How many could truly remain clear-headed and never stray from their path?

His gaze shifted back to Li Xiaofei.

This young man... If only he was a little more handsome.

At that moment, thunderous cheers erupted both inside and outside Wanli Hall. Thousands of Exploding Star Gang disciples roared in celebration. Their eyes turned toward Li Xiaofei, now filled with admiration and reverence. A new powerhouse had risen just like a shooting star breaking through the sky.