"How many guards does the Gu Family have right now?" Gu Qingfeng asked.
Gu Yang answered without a second thought, "Currently, there are one hundred and thirty-six guards in the family. Among them are sixty at the Initial Stage of Refining Skin, sixty at the Mid-level Stage of Refining Skin, nine at the Late Stage of Refining Skin, and seven at the Refining Skin Perfection!"
One hundred and thirty-six.
The number was considered substantial.
Gu Qingfeng pondered for a moment and then said, "Yang'er, you lead a group of guards to stay behind and protect the Gu Family. Yulan is due to give birth soon, you need to take extra care and ensure that nothing untoward happens."
"I understand, Father!" Gu Yang replied solemnly, nodding his head.
Afterward.
Gu Qingfeng turned to Meng Peng, "You will come with me to the Chu Family."
"The Family Head wishes to go directly to the Chu Family?" Meng Peng's expression revealed his surprise.
Gu Qingfeng's eyebrows knit slightly, "Is there a problem?"
"At present, those targeting our Gu Family are mostly Martial World Wanderers, and although they are backed by the Chu Family's shadow, the Chu Family has not yet made any direct moves.
If we go straight to the Chu Family, it will inevitably give rise to criticism—"
Meng Peng voiced his concerns, for all actions must have a justified reason.
If the Chu Family truly took action against the Gu Family, then their retaliation would have no issue.
But currently, the Chu Family was hiding in the shadows, without any direct evidence; acting rashly could potentially put the Gu Family in a disadvantageous position.
Meng Peng's words.
Made Gu Qingfeng shake his head with a smile, but that smile was chilling.
"Meng Peng, you've been in the Martial World for long, how can you speak such naive words?"
"The so-called justified cause, the rightfulness of words, that's only needed by the weak. The Martial World respects the strong, caring only about who has the mightier fist.
The weak need to reason, the strong only need to assert their fists.
If today the Gu Family takes action against the Chu Family, what of it? As long as the Gu Family's fist is strong enough, who would dare say more!"
By the end of Gu Qingfeng's speech, a powerful aura was emanating from him.
Under this aura's envelopment, both Gu Yang and Meng Peng felt as if two great mountains were pressing down on their shoulders, their hearts shaken to the core.
"Father has grown even stronger!"
Unlike the complete astonishment in Meng Peng's heart, Gu Yang felt more reverence in addition to his shock.
He had broken through to Refining Skin Perfection, thinking that he could close the gap between himself and Gu Qingfeng, yet the latter's strength was still beyond his grasp.
All along.
Gu Yang had always regarded Gu Qingfeng as his pillar.
The stronger his father's power, the happier he was.
—
On the streets.
Gu Qingfeng led the Gu Family's guards in a formidable procession towards the Chu Family.
This move alerted many forces monitoring the Gu Family in secret, who received the news immediately.
At the same time.
Numerous Martial World Wanderers watching the scene were internally filled with surprise and uncertainty.
"Are those people from the Gu Family?"
"The one leading them seems to be the Gu Family Master, right? Rumor has it that his Fist Skills are supernatural, having slain many experts of the Blood Refining Realm. He usually never steps outside the Gu Family compound, why appear here today?"
"That you do not know. It's said that in the past month, many of the Gu Family's businesses have been attacked. His appearance is probably related to this matter..."
Along the way, many in the Martial World discussed amongst themselves, with faces showing respect and deep wariness when looking at Gu Qingfeng.
Gu Qingfeng, although not often unleashing his moves, had his hands stained with a considerable amount of blood.
At this moment, with Gu Qingfeng personally making a move, it naturally shocked those Martial World Wanderers.
But soon.
They realized something was amiss.
For they discovered that the direction in which the Gu Family was headed was not anywhere else, but rather towards the Chu Family.
The first to know.
Inside the Chu Family, Chu Tianxiong was immediately informed.
"Gu Qingfeng leads the Gu Family straight here, could he really have the guts to directly tear off the veil of pretense?"
Chu Tianxiong's expression fluctuated, and then he had one of his family members go directly to the Iron Bone Gang to inform Luo Yu of this news.
Afterwards.
Chu Tianxiong then coordinated the Chu Family Martial Artists, preparing to welcome the Gu Family.
...
"Hold, this is the Chu Family—"
At the front of the Chu Family gate, a guard attempted to stop Gu Qingfeng, but before he could finish his speech, he saw Gu Qingfeng slapping him fiercely, with a heavy blow causing the guard's head to burst instantly, his headless body flying sideways out.
Such a bloody scene left the remaining Chu Family guards dumbfounded on the spot.
Other following Martial World Wanderers were similarly frozen in bewilderment.
No one could have expected Gu Qingfeng to start a fight without a word, and what was even more unexpected was the aggressive and ruthless conduct of the Gu Family Master.
Seeing the headless corpse on the ground, many felt a chill creep over them.
In front of the Chu Family gate.
Gu Qingfeng slowly took out a white cloth, deliberately wiping the fresh blood from his hands, then casually threw the bloodstained cloth on top of the corpse, looking towards the Chu Family guards who were silent as cicadas in winter, his voice coldly declared.
"Give me three breaths' time to bring out Chu Tianxiong, otherwise I will leave none of your Chu Family alive!"
With these words uttered.
The Chu Family guards scrambled to report the information.
In less than a moment.
Chu Tianxiong came forward with his people.
Seeing the headless body on the ground, Chu Tianxiong's pupils suddenly constricted, and his look toward Gu Qingfeng was filled with fury.
"Gu Qingfeng, it's one thing for you to bring people to my Chu Family for no reason, but now you go so far as to openly kill my Chu Family guard, how do you explain this?"
"Explain?"
Gu Qingfeng sneered with disdain.
"When your Chu Family sent people to covertly destroy and occupy the Gu Family's property, you should have anticipated this consequence."
With these words spoken.
Chu Tianxiong coldly responded, "Everything must be based on evidence. You claim my Chu Family sent people to destroy and occupy the Gu Family's property, do you have proof?"
"Evidence—my words are the evidence!"
Gu Qingfeng took a step forward and launched a punch at Chu Tianxiong with explosive brute force, creating a thundering blast in the air and sending a tidal wave of energy sweeping towards him, causing the latter's complexion to change.
"How dare you strike!"
Chu Tianxiong was furious, his sword swiftly unsheathed behind him, its thunderous, lightning-fast brilliance cutting through the air, instantly creating hundreds of afterimages, dazzling to the onlookers.
This scene.
Stirred excitement among the surrounding people.
"Chu Tianxiong truly deserves the title of the wielder of the Thunderbolt Sword; such swordsmanship is indeed divine—"
However.
Before the other onlookers had finished speaking, they saw Gu Qingfeng's fist approaching, the sharp blade edge only leaving white marks on his knuckles, but failing to break through his bodily defense.
The next breath.
The afterimages of the swordplay dissipated like soap bubbles.
Chu Tianxiong's complexion drastically changed, he hurriedly parried with his sword, but Gu Qingfeng's punch landed, the sword emitted a mournful cry, snapping cleanly in the middle, with the unstoppable force of the blow landing on Chu Tianxiong's chest, sending him flying horizontally.