The Brilliant Gold Elder

The speaker stood right beside Jia Tianlong—a dwarf no taller than three chi.

The dwarf looked to be in his forties, lean and withered. He wore a red robe embroidered with gold thread, and his fingers and neck were heavy with gold rings and thick gold chains. Several gold bells hung from his waist. When he opened his mouth to speak, his teeth flashed gold—the picture of a vulgar upstart who had just struck it rich.

Right now, his face was full of impatience, clearly displeased with Jia Tianlong’s hesitation.

A dwarf this hideous, dressed like a country landlord, daring to show such disrespect to Jia Tianlong—the loyal Iron Guards nearby glared at him with barely concealed fury.

The dwarf noticed their resentment. With a cold, sneering laugh, he ignored them completely and said to Jia Tianlong with an air of arrogance:

“Chief Jia, you paid me three thousand taels of gold and brought me all the way from Golden Light Temple. You didn’t invite me here just to watch the night away, did you? If there’s someone you need me to deal with, just say so now. Don’t tell me it’s the Seven Mysteries Sect Leader himself. An opponent as weak as that—you could handle him yourself. Surely you didn’t spend so heavily just for that?”

“It wouldn’t take an Immortal Master to deal with the Sect Leader. I invited you here to handle the Sect Leader’s three uncles. Although they have long been publicly declared deceased, they have in truth been in seclusion in a hidden chamber on Sunset Peak, undergoing a life-or-death breakthrough. By now, their skill must have reached the transcendent stage—no ordinary master can withstand them. They are the Seven Mysteries Sect’s greatest hidden asset. Only an Immortal Master like yourself can deal with them.” Jia Tianlong spoke with deep humility, showing no trace of disrespect.

This red-robed dwarf was someone he had met entirely by chance at a temple near the barbarian borderlands. The man called himself the Brilliant Gold Elder, claiming boundless magical power, and had personally demonstrated the Flying Sword Art and the Indestructible Body technique to him.

After witnessing those techniques firsthand, Jia Tianlong was deeply shaken by their power. He understood that this man was a cultivator of the legendary immortal path, and his heart burned with the desire to deepen their connection.

After learning that the man was obsessed with gold, Jia Tianlong had showered him with immense wealth and deliberately flattered him. In the end, he had won the man over, securing a promise to lend his aid once.

So Jia Tianlong always treated the dwarf with the respect due an elder, never daring to show the slightest hint of distaste at his arrogance. He knew full well that the Brilliant Gold Elder was not someone his little Wild Wolf Gang could ever hope to oppose.

The Brilliant Gold Elder heard this and burst into a wild laugh. When his laughter subsided, he said arrogantly: “Just a few mortals. Leave them to me! No matter how high their skill or how strong their martial arts, they are no match for my Flying Sword. Rest assured!”

“Then I entrust this to you, Immortal Master. I will not default on the promised payment. And once the deed is done, I shall add another two thousand taels of gold as a gift.” Jia Tianlong was overjoyed and quickly raised the reward. He knew this man was no kind soul—better to speak in gold.

At these words, the withered, orange-peel-like face of the Brilliant Gold Elder cracked into a faint smile. He nodded with satisfaction, clearly pleased with Chief Jia’s good sense.

With the guarantee of a being as powerful as the Brilliant Gold Elder, Jia Tianlong hesitated no longer. He immediately ordered the Wild Wolf Gang members to advance to the top of Sunset Peak, preparing to assault the Seven Mysteries Sect’s main hall—the Seven Ultimates Hall.

Because so many men were flooding the peak, Jia Tianlong and his Iron Guards had to struggle hard just to reach the front of the stone hall.

Chief Jia was seeing the enemy’s main hall for the first time. Even so, he was taken aback by the grandeur of the Seven Ultimates Hall. He felt that compared to this, his own Wild Wolf Gang headquarters was nothing more than a dog kennel—truly a pitiful sight.

On the dozens of acres of open ground at Sunset Peak’s summit, several stone halls rose from the earth, built from massive green rocks—one large main hall surrounded by six smaller ones.

Though the darkness of night and the dim light of torches made it impossible to see their full form, the black, towering, rough-hewn magnificence of the structures still awed the Wild Wolf Gang and the other smaller gangs who had come here for the first time. For a moment, they did not launch their attack, only surrounding the halls in an impenetrable circle.

“A sect that has lasted more than two hundred years—their wealth is beyond what a gang that only rose ten years ago can match. Truly extravagant.” Jia Tianlong could not help thinking to himself.

He had already made up his mind: once the Seven Mysteries Sect was destroyed, he would move his headquarters here immediately. Only such magnificent buildings were fitting for a hegemon of his stature.

Jia Tianlong looked at the pitch-black entrance of the main hall before him, then at his subordinates all around. Finally, he slowly raised his right hand.

Instantly, the entire summit of Sunset Peak fell silent. Every eye was fixed on that hand. They all knew that the moment it began to fall, the brutal siege and defense of the Seven Mysteries Sect’s headquarters would begin.

“Hold.”

At that very moment, a cold voice suddenly rang out from the dark entrance of the main hall.

Then came the rhythmic sound of footsteps—“tap, tap, tap”—echoing from within, growing clearer and clearer.

Finally, a middle-aged man in white robes appeared at the entrance. A wooden hairpin was stuck through his hair, and he carried only a white-sheathed longsword at his side. His face was deathly pale, but his eyes blazed with sharp light. Wherever his gaze fell, it pierced the heart like a sharp sword, sending chills down the spine.

He stopped a few zhang away from the entrance and slowly surveyed the crowd surrounding him. There was not a trace of fear on his face.

At last, his gaze fell on Jia Tianlong’s raised right hand, then moved from the hand to Jia Tianlong’s face.

“Jia Tianlong,” the middle-aged man called out the Chief’s name.

“Wang Juechu,” Jia Tianlong responded without flinching, naming his counterpart in turn.

“Now that I think of it, the two of us, each the master of our own domain, are meeting face to face for the first time. Isn’t that so, Sect Leader Wang?” Jia Tianlong spoke with a very relaxed tone, a hint of mockery curling at the corner of his mouth as he slowly lowered his raised hand.

Wang Juechu stared back at Jia Tianlong without expression, saying nothing. The atmosphere seemed to grow tense.

“Sect Leader Wang has come alone. Could it be that you intend to surrender?” Jia Tianlong said with a teasing smile.

“You are correct. I was planning to discuss the matter of surrender with you.” The Seven Mysteries Sect Leader, Wang Juechu, replied coldly, his voice like ice.