Chapter 151: A Pathetic, Pathetic, Pathetic Defeat

Xiao Tianci and the others retreated repeatedly, for the destructive power of their battle was simply too immense; a moment of carelessness would spell certain doom. The Chief Butler stood his ground throughout, his assault rifle still raised. His expression was deadpan serious, and the barrel of his weapon tracked Tamiki Aoteng's movements step by step.

The sky was beginning to grow light. Logically speaking, the members of the Cherry Blossom Group should have arrived long ago, yet bizarrely, not a single soul was visible in the surrounding area. Xiao Tianci thought to himself that it seemed the Cherry Blossom Group had received orders to place the entire perimeter under lockdown. This Tamiki Aoteng was truly filled with supreme confidence in his own abilities.

Xiao Tianci's eyes could no longer keep pace with their movements; he could only occasionally catch glimpses of them fighting. As for how they shifted positions, it was entirely imperceptible—such a feat required specialized training.

Fatty watched in shock, but he had not forgotten the critical priority. "Fifth Brother, get out of here quickly! You don't know martial arts, and staying here won't help at all. If you don't leave now, once they blockade the sea routes as well, I'm afraid—"

"I'm afraid we really won't be able to leave."

At that moment, Xiao Tianci experienced a sensation identical to the one he had felt when he first inherited his legacy: a profound sense of helplessness, akin to plunging into an abyss. Completely helpless and powerless, he knew a catastrophe was about to unfold yet was utterly incapable of preventing it.

Just like now, he was not the rigidly stubborn type. If he truly were the only one among them with a chance of escape, he would flee, because only by staying alive was there hope. Conversely, had he possessed the capability to charge forward and ensure everyone's survival, he would have done so without the slightest hesitation.

However, the reality of the situation was entirely different. The current state of affairs was no longer something they could control. Watching Asura meet Tamiki Aoteng's surging, violent Ghost Claws head-on, Xiao Tianci muttered, "Fatty, we are no longer calling the shots. It's impossible for us to get out of here now either. To say nothing else, do you think Tamiki Aoteng would allow us to leave?" With a bitter laugh, Xiao Tianci added, "Just one of those claw strikes he launched at Asura, if it hit the ship casually, we'd be sunk to the seabed feeding the fish before we even had a chance to run."

Fatty gazed up into the air at Tamiki Aoteng, who was now fiercely engaged in battle with Asura. Knowing Xiao Tianci's words were undeniable, his expression contorted with agony. "Old... Fifth... It's all because of me. If I hadn't..."

"Damn it, what are you talking about? How can you say such things at a time like this... Look over there!" How could Xiao Tianci blame Fatty? At a juncture like this, apportioning blame for right or wrong was entirely meaningless. Suddenly seeing Asura's leg caught by a claw, Xiao Tianci could not suppress a soft cry of alarm.

"Let go!" With a thunderous roar, Tamiki Aoteng, who had just evaded Asura's assault, heard Asura's booming voice. Sound and body arrived simultaneously in a desperate, offense-only offensive maneuver. Although Tamiki Aoteng had appeared to casually deflect Asura's previous blow, he had actually exerted eighty percent of his strength. One had to know that Asura Transformation was renowned for its abnormal, freakish power; had Tamiki Aoteng's Qi not vastly surpassed Asura's by an astronomical margin, meeting that attack head-on would have been utterly impossible.

At this instant, Asura's imposing aura was a full thirty percent more ferocious than before. If Tamiki Aoteng wished to cripple Asura's leg, he would have to weather Asura's full-strength counter-attack.

Asura's Ghost Shadow. Tamiki Aoteng's body suddenly vanished from Asura's field of vision, and dozens of copies of Tamiki Aoteng seemed to simultaneously materialize from all directions, striking directly at dozens of Asura's fatal pressure points.

Forced back by Asura, Success narrowly escaped disaster and managed to preserve his leg. He abruptly drew a short military saber, channeling his God of War Qi to the absolute limit. The blade hummed with a prolonged radiance, sweeping like a shining beam of light toward the surrounding figures of Tamiki Aoteng that were assailing Asura.

Asura lowered his head, his hands guarding his vital head regions as he gathered every ounce of his strength. He intended to take Tamiki Aoteng's blow head-on—an exchange of injury for injury. Furthermore, with Success flanking him, he refused to believe Tamiki Aoteng was truly so formidable that a joint assault by the two of them could not leave a mark.

The military saber, forged entirely from alloy, wielded terrifying might as Success poured his full God of War Qi into it. Seeing Success charge in, Tamiki Aoteng casually flicked out a Rakshasa Ghost Claw, the resulting pressure shattering Asura's incoming blade sweep. He aimed straight for Tamiki Aoteng, only to suddenly realize Asura had committed entirely to defense. A strange premonition flared in Tamiki Aoteng's heart, while in the blink of an eye, Success obliterated the majority of the opponent's illusory afterimages, pressing the attack directly against the true body.

The formidable battle intent of the two men exceeded anything Tamiki Aoteng had anticipated. In his eyes, although their individual strengths could not yet be considered top-tier, their rich combat experience repeatedly enabled them to evade his strikes.

By this point, the coordination between the two was as seamless as seasoned comrades who had fought side by side for decades. Unable to read Asura's true condition or fathom his intentions behind the defense, Tamiki Aoteng dodged beneath Success's flashing blade work, only to find Asura's massive fist suddenly hurtling toward him.

This time, caught off guard and insufficiently prepared, Tamiki Aoteng was blasted backward by Asura's punch. Though physically uninjured, this marked the very first time he had been repelled since the battle began. Success and Asura gave him no breathing room, pressing the offensive once more.

It had been countless years since Tamiki Aoteng had last sparred with high-level martial artists, yet he was now being driven back by these two. With a long, piercing whistle, he catalyzed his Rakshasa Qi, his form darting like a phantom through what appeared to be an airtight web of attacks woven by the pair.

"Boom... Boom..." In the blink of an eye, amid lightning-fast clashes, Tamiki Aoteng battered Asura and Success backward.

Though both had managed to block his attacks, they were nonetheless shaken to their very cores by his monstrous Qi. Their blood roiled violently, rendering sustained offense impossible, whereas Tamiki Aoteng closed the distance to them once again.

The disparity in their might was now glaringly apparent. Tamiki Aoteng seemed entirely exempt from the need to recover breath or rest, launching a continuous, unbroken chain of assaults. The slight advantage Asura and Success had fought so hard to carve out vanished in an instant.

The two were driven relentlessly backward. The protective Qi enveloping Asura's body had dissipated, unable to coalesce any longer. Physically, he fared slightly better—Asura Transformation truly lived up to its reputation as the most formidable internal-to-external martial art—but his internal organs had been violently displaced near the point of rupture, and blood streamed freely from his mouth and nostrils.

Although Success was on par with Asura, he found himself severely disadvantaged under the crushing, relentless onslaught of a superior foe. His speed and techniques were completely smothered by the enemy's fierce, overpowering attacks, leaving him no opportunity to execute them, forcing him to take blows head-on just like Asura. By now, he was on the verge of collapse.

Following another vicious round of strikes, Success's internal Qi suddenly failed him, and Tamiki Aoteng's palm slammed squarely into his chest. Success was sent hurtling backward like a severed kite.

"Success—!" Consumed by furious rage, Asura's previously depleted Asura Qi surged with geometric growth. Waves of Qi poured out, swirling around his body much like the phenomenon when Tamiki Aoteng had first appeared. However, whereas Tamiki Aoteng's Qi was pitch black, Asura's emanated a vibrant cyan hue.

His attacks, rapid-fire as a heavy machine gun, forced even Tamiki Aoteng onto the defensive. "Hmph!" Tamiki Aoteng discovered a highly peculiar phenomenon: the Qi gushing from Asura's body was constantly swirling around him. As the barrage of blows continued, Asura's physical frame actually shrank noticeably, yet his offensive grew all the more savage, every punch accompanied by a devastating wave of cyan fist Qi.

Even Tamiki Aoteng had not anticipated that Asura would experience a breakthrough at this exact juncture.

This was unmistakably a sign of a sudden, drastic leap in cultivation power. Could he be breaking through to the fourth stage of Asura Transformation? A jolt of shock rippled through Tamiki Aoteng's mind. He only knew of individuals who had mastered the third stage; for nearly a century, he had never heard of anyone reaching the fourth stage.

Although he desperately longed to witness and properly cross swords with an Asura at the fourth stage, as the leader of the Cherry Blossom Group, his mindset differed vastly from his youth when he actively sought out formidable challengers. Regardless of whether a genuine threat existed, he would never allow an adversary to grow and mature.

"Hmph..." Accompanied by a cold grunt, his velocity spiked dramatically. Flashing past Asura's fist Qi, he closed in on Asura's body before the latter could mount a defense. At this moment, Asura's physical body and protective Qi were a fraction stronger than at their peak, yet it was already too late.

Tamiki Aoteng's fingers struck out like crackling lightning, executing thirty-two consecutive explosive finger-strikes that detonated in rapid succession across Asura's chest. Asura was sent flying backward, a mouthful of blood erupting as he felt his entire skeletal structure fracturing into dust.

"Bang..." Amid the silent stillness that followed the clash of battle, broken only by ragged breathing, a single gunshot rang out with piercing clarity.

Tamiki Aoteng descended slowly through the air. He had originally intended to pursue and finish off Asura, but a bullet had intercepted him. He had always maintained a degree of vigilance regarding the Chief Butler's firearm, and because he had never exerted his full strength, his powerful protective Qi rendered him unconcerned by any threat from the Chief Butler.

However, just as he expended his energy to shatter Asura's Transformation and protective armor—precisely the moment his defensive Qi was at its weakest—Lin Jian, the Chief Butler, had scored a direct hit with a sniper rifle.

Asura and Success crashed to the ground, lying motionless, their survival unknown. The bullet had struck dead-center over his heart, penetrating only slightly before the bulk of it remained lodged in the outer tissue—a mere flesh wound, strictly speaking. Yet, this alone was enough to ignite Tamiki Aoteng's fury.

What he had never expected was that Lin Jian would prove this formidable. He had already verified that the bullet was untoxicated; if modern high-grade poisons had been used, even he would have found the situation troublesome.

Meanwhile, the Chief Butler still held his weapon, inwardly swimming in regret. *Damn it, if I'd known, I would have swapped out the ammunition!* But previously, they had only been slaughtering ordinary low-level foot soldiers—such heavy ordnance hadn't been warranted. From the moment Tamiki Aoteng appeared until now, he had concentrated every ounce of his focus on locking onto a target and waiting for an opening, leaving no spare moment. Now, it appeared this would only further provoke the monster.

"Ha... ha... ha..." For someone to burst into hearty laughter at a juncture like this truly produced an effect; even Tamiki Aoteng turned his head in peculiar wonder.

After finishing his laugh, Xiao Tianci looked at Tamiki Aoteng and sneered, "Old man, still playing the tough guy? Ha... ha..."

Tamiki Aoteng did not recognize Xiao Tianci; he only wondered what kind of person could utter such remarks in this situation. Was he a subordinate of this Fatty? But that was no longer important. *Clang...* The flattened bullet dropped to the deck.

"Open fire!" the Chief Butler roared. The bodyguard firing line instantly activated, unleashing light and heavy weaponry while over a dozen snipers covered the rear from elevated positions.

Though the bullets traveled at blistering speeds, human reaction times were simply insufficient; they failed to land a single scratch on Tamiki Aoteng's afterimages. Evasion complete, Tamiki Aoteng unleashed hundreds of Rakshasa Ghost Claws, instantly subjecting the frontline bodyguards to a brutal massacre.

Knowing this was their final window of opportunity, Fatty realized the immense danger yet was forced to take a desperate gamble. By now, his internal Qi had recovered significantly. Clutching Xiao Tianci under one arm and Little Gege under the other like a pair of unruly toddlers, his hefty frame lunged forward with the momentum of a ravenous tiger.

"Fatty, what the hell are you doing..." Xiao Tianci shouted in a vain attempt to stop him, but Fatty's mind was made up; he paid no heed.

The Chief Butler had never trained in martial arts, but his tactical discernment was second to none. His gun never stopped barking, continuously firing at Tamiki Aoteng to disrupt his advance, but Tamiki Aoteng—now fully guarded—shrugged off the suppression with effortless evasion.

Wiping out the majority of the frontline guards, Fatty sprinted away with Xiao Tianci and Little Gege in tow. Naturally, Tamiki Aoteng took note of this. "Trying to run!"

He charged directly toward the Chief Butler, unleashing Rakshasa Ghost Claws aimed squarely at Fatty. Tang Bing and Fire Phoenix had already prepared themselves; knowing full well that charging in would accomplish nothing, they stationed themselves ahead of the path, hoping only to buy a precious sliver of time.

Fire Phoenix whipped her body into motion, joining Tang Bing to intercept the wave of Rakshasa Ghost Claws. Yet with a single exchange, Fire Phoenix's offensive was shattered, and Tang Bing was battered into a mass of injuries.

Tamiki Aoteng hadn't paid close attention moments earlier and was surprised to find these two young fighters possessed decent capability. Unconcerned that anyone could actually escape him, he closed the distance to the Chief Butler and struck out with a palm blast.

Realizing the gap between them had vanished, the Chief Butler knew his time was up. *Boss... you must...*

"Boom..." He felt an immense wave of kinetic energy slam into his body, carrying him hurtling backward. *Wait, no—* the Chief Butler realized he was still conscious, and the force striking him was not palm Qi. Taking a hurried glance, he saw Lu Man...

Crashing onto the deck, the Chief Butler felt several ribs fracture, but he brushed the pain aside, snapped his head upward, and saw Lu Man lying motionless, bleeding from every facial orifice—dead.

Tamiki Aoteng, too, was taken aback. Lu Man, who had been knocked flat near Lin Jian just moments prior, had apparently not perished and had instead thrown himself forward at the very last second to shield the Chief Butler.

Despite this, the Chief Butler was completely incapacitated. Fatty had already hauled Xiao Tianci and Little Gege onto the vessel. With a cold sneer, Tamiki Aoteng set his sights directly on Fatty.

Fire Phoenix and Tang Bing hurled themselves forward to intercept, but their obstruction was akin to dragonflies crashing against a stone pillar; they failed to delay Tamiki Aoteng's pace by even a fraction before both were blasted away.

Barely setting foot on the deck and before he could even set Xiao Tianci and Little Gege down, Fatty looked up to see Tamiki Aoteng standing before them like an executioner god of death.

"Now you know what terror feels like? Did you really think you could use these rabble to launch a sneak attack on my Cherry Blossom Group?" Tamiki Aoteng toyed with them like a cat tormenting a mouse, relishing the absolute dominance over life and death as he awaited the distorted masks of terror on his enemies' faces.

Fatty's grip loosened slightly. Struggling free with a violent wrench, Xiao Tianci planted his feet, looked at the menacing figure right before him, and snapped his head down to bark at Little Gege: "Little Gege, don't you dare move!"

While being carried by Fatty, he had spotted Little Gege secretly drawing her pistol. Even though Tamiki Aoteng was standing right in front of them, Xiao Tianci knew he was a completely different breed from people like Greintz.

So what if the god of death stood before him? Xiao Tianci threw his shoulders back, puffing out his chest with a mocking, sarcastic smirk. "Heh... Just what do you think you are?!"

Tamiki Aoteng cast his gaze toward Xiao Tianci, perplexed by the youth's identity. Xiao Tianci taunted, "What, don't you recognize me?!"

It was exceptionally rare for anyone to maintain such composure in his presence, especially given the circumstances. "Hmph..." With a cold snort, Tamiki Aoteng reached out, clamped a hand around Xiao Tianci's throat, and slowly hoisted him into the air.

"Let go of my big brother!" Faster even than Fatty, Little Gege whipped out her gun and fired point-blank. Tamiki Aoteng had never expected such a move from a young girl at such close quarters, leaving him no time to dodge. However, if the sniper rounds used by Chief Butler Lin Jian—deployed at an opportune moment—couldn't pierce his defenses, a pistol shot from a child stood no chance.

With a flick of his free hand, Tamiki Aoteng unleashed a palm strike. Fatty pivoted desperately, using his own body as a meat shield to wrap around Little Gege as they were blown backward. They crashed heavily onto the ship's wooden deck, Fatty instantly passing out cold from the impact, while Little Gege was knocked unconscious beneath him.

Lowering his gaze back to Xiao Tianci, Tamiki Aoteng applied no pressure with his fingers—otherwise, Xiao Tianci's neck would have snapped instantly. "Hmph, you certainly have a stubborn mouth. Pity that this world operates on strength."

"Heh..." Xiao Tianci managed to force out a laugh. "Right... I agree. Too much of a pity, my strength just isn't there yet. If I'd known there was an old freak like you around, I wouldn't have played things quite this way."

Without bothering to trade further nonsense with Xiao Tianci, Tamiki Aoteng incrementally tightened his grip. Xiao Tianci felt his windpipe compressing as if about to be crushed; drawing breath became an utter impossibility.

*Am I really going to die here?*

*Nier, Fire Phoenix, Chief Butler... why did it come to this? My plans—how could I be so muddle-headed and die just like that? I haven't even seen the truth behind the fog, I haven't rooted out the hidden forces lurking in the shadows... Damn it, what about the owner of that voice? Why didn't they warn me about the danger this time? I haven't spent my wedding night with Nier yet, I haven't figured out who those people behind the scenes are, I haven't had a proper heart-to-heart with Fire Phoenix... I refuse to die! I refuse to accept this...*

***

Over in the United States, inside one of the most luxurious Chinese restaurants, two impeccably dressed gentlemen had booked out the premier VIP private dining room.

"Hmph, can we start eating yet?"

stroking his beard with an air of aristocratic refinement. "Aren't we eating right now? Look over there—"

"Smack!" Slapping his chopsticks down onto the tabletop in sheer dissatisfaction. "Hmph, call this eating? It's so painfully slow, when are we ever going to get full?!"

"Tsk," voicing deep disapproval of his companion's crude manners. "This is wonderful. Exactly because that kid isn't around, we can finally have some peace and quiet without having to babysit him twenty-four-seven."

"Hmph, I suppose that's true, but... if we didn't tag along, won't he run into trouble?"

Gracefully picking up a delicate slice of braised crystal bear paw with his chopsticks. "Tsk tsk, look at this, truly a culinary masterpiece... Rest assured, dealing with street gangs is a piece of cake. With Asura and that fellow Success tagging along who is nearly his match, he'll be fine. Mmm, this place is actually quite nice; let's link up a bank card so I can buy whatever I want. I think I'm starting to like it here."

"Thud... tap... hmph..." Having already abandoned utensils to grab roasted spring lamb with his bare hands, the gluttonous companion had no time left to reply.

***

"Mr. Tamiki, stay your hand!"

Just as Tamiki Aoteng prepared to savor the tortured, terrified expression of his stubborn captive in his final moments, a voice interrupted him. The tone sounded suspiciously familiar.

His hand froze, halting the application of pressure. A high-speed speedboat came careening across the water, pulling up alongside the ship in the blink of an eye. Standing steadily aboard the rushing craft were several figures; maintaining such equilibrium at high velocity demonstrated formidable internal cultivation. At the absolute center stood a man in standard civil servant attire, sporting a square jaw and a gentle, amiable smile. Though of modest height, standing below him, Tamiki Aoteng did not possess the psychological upper hand.

Tamiki Aoteng narrowed his eyes. "Why are you here? Could it be that the Japanese government intends to interfere because our Cherry Blossom Group is dealing with a few stray foreign flies?"

The newcomer addressed him with a familiar ease. "Mr. Tamiki, if these were merely ordinary foreign authorities, of course the government wouldn't lift a finger—we'd likely have helped you swat these flies long ago. But this particular individual is somewhat special."

"Special?" Tamiki Aoteng retorted arrogantly. "Anyone who dares cross our Cherry Blossom Group meets only one kind of special outcome: death."

Despite his bold words, he refrained from executing his prisoner; otherwise, holding Xiao Tianci in his grasp meant killing him would have been effortless. Beneath his haughty exterior, however, he was rapidly calculating the man's identity. To command the intervention of official Japanese governmental channels—and specifically this individual—was no small matter. Though he styled himself Japan's foremost martial artist, facing this particular bureaucrat left him uncertain of victory.

By now, Xiao Tianci had recovered his ability to breathe, though an inexplicable panic gripped his chest. What on earth was going on here? Why were the major global powers acting so bizarrely? Especially regarding Japan—previously, Xiao Tianci had been oblivious, but during his time in the United States he had witnessed numerous high-level martial clashes. Yet stepping foot in Japan had introduced him to the freakish monster Tamiki Aoteng. Fine, perhaps that fellow was simply a reclusive hermit master, and his group had been ignorant enough to kick a steel plate.

Yet look at the present scene: Tamiki Aoteng's demeanor, coupled with the arrival of these government figures who seemed entirely capable of matching Tamiki Aoteng's weight—what did this signify? The personnel sent to assist him by the United States and Russia weren't weak by any stretch, yet upon charging out, they had been swiftly neutralized by local Japanese powerhouses. At that time, Tamiki Aoteng hadn't even been the one taking action, so how had that happened? Why were there so many hidden powerhouses concentrated in Japan?

And this representative of the Japanese government—why was he stepping in to save him?

Xiao Tianci's mind raced, temporarily shoving thoughts of life and death aside. Ever since inheriting the legacy, he had been struggling, scheming for a comeback, trying to decode the grand design behind everything. But now, he found himself sinking even deeper into a confounding maze.