"Moreover, it's said that this man has even killed Innate Experts before, merely because of a disagreement. We in the Flying Leopard once confronted him, and it resulted in the annihilation of an entire team," Zhao Xin said with lingering dread, a look of terror flickering in her eyes.

Never mind the Innate Expert he killed—an unimaginable concept. At its peak, the Flying Leopard only had four teams. Back then, because the higher-ups had ordered a mission to deal with that man, an entire team was wiped out. Not a single person survived. It was a catastrophic loss for the Flying Leopard! This just showed how terrifying and insane that man truly was.

After all, the Flying Leopard was an official state department, protected by the nation's authority. Yet, the man had the audacity to challenge such an untouchable power, brutally slaughtering one of their teams. His actions could only be described as audacious and utterly deranged.

Such an act was a direct provocation against the state itself.

"And he's still alive after all that?" Chen Fei understood the gravity of the situation and couldn't help but ask.

"What other choice is there? The man is too dangerous and too powerful. If you can't kill him in a single strike, the repercussions are endless. No one is willing to take such a massive risk by ordering an operation," Zhao Xin explained quietly after a moment of silence.

Now she finally understood what Chen Fei had meant before. Their Ancient Martial Artist circle strictly observed a hierarchy: the strong were respected, and the weak were despised.

That's true. A monster capable of killing an Innate Expert of the same level… if he was truly determined to escape, no one could probably stop him. Unless his location was locked down and dozens of missiles were launched… that might work. Chen Fei mused aloud.

And speaking of which, forget about his master, an Innate Level Ancient Martial Artist.

Even at my current level—the Peak of First-Class Ancient Warrior, nearly Half-Step Innate—ordinary firearms, bullets, and explosives would probably be useless against me! I could block them or evade them! The only way would be to use military-grade missiles with even more terrifying power and a wider blast radius.

"But what if he flees to a crowded place?" A casual question from Zhao Xin shattered his line of thought. She was right. In that scenario, if the target escaped to a densely populated modern metropolis, they couldn't just launch a missile and kill countless civilians, could they?

"Alright, let's get to the point. The higher-ups need your help. Can you come with me to the base now?" Zhao Xin said, her expression turning serious.

"The base?" Chen Fei's brow furrowed.

"It's the Flying Leopard's branch in Jiangnan Province. Please don't get the wrong idea. We genuinely need your help this time, because my master was also poisoned with the Saliva of the Snake King," Zhao Xin explained.

"Your master was poisoned with this too? How long ago? He's not dead yet?" Chen Fei was stunned. This wasn't some slow-acting toxin; it was incredibly potent and aggressive. Once afflicted, a person would likely succumb to the poison and die in a very short time.

"What nonsense are you talking about? If my master were dead, why would I have come looking for you?" Zhao Xin retorted angrily.

"Ah, a slip of the tongue. My mistake. What exactly happened?" Chen Fei said awkwardly.

"I'm an orphan. My master raised me since I was a child. About seven years ago, he was ordered to undertake an extremely dangerous mission. When he returned, he was gravely injured and had been poisoned with the Saliva of the Snake King," Zhao Xin said, her eyes turning slightly red.

"You mean he's been poisoned for seven years and is still alive?" Chen Fei found this hard to believe. He was well aware of how potent this poison was. If not for his unique methods—the techniques of an Immortal Cultivator—he would likely be helpless against such a strange toxin. But now, Zhao Xin was saying her master had been poisoned for seven years. Could he be an Innate Expert? Otherwise, even a regular person at the Peak of First-Class Ancient Warrior wouldn't be able to suppress this bizarre poison, let alone for seven long years!

"Alright, let's go after lunch then. However, since it's been seven years, the poison has likely seeped into his bones. I can't guarantee success. Well, I'll decide after I've taken a look," Chen Fei hesitated for a moment before agreeing to go.

He had two reasons. First, she was representing the country, and having ties to the government could be quite useful at times. Secondly, he was also curious about what method the man had used to suppress such a bizarre poison for seven years. After all, even if he were to act personally, there would likely only be two outcomes: life or death! The toxin was so volatile that it was almost impossible to keep it dormant.

「After lunch」

Chen Fei followed Zhao Xin and the other Flying Leopard members out of Chengyang County, heading toward the Flying Leopard branch base in Jiangnan Province.

The Flying Leopard's Jiangnan Province branch base was located deep within a remote mountain forest. The place was heavily fortified, bristling with modern defense and surveillance systems. The perimeter was surrounded by an intimidating array of modern weaponry, including countless cold steel gun barrels, cannons, and even missile launchers and blinking landmine indicators, which was quite astonishing.

Clearly, if Zhao Xin and the other Flying Leopard members hadn't brought him here, he would have had a very hard time getting in. The base was surrounded by top-of-the-line military cameras with 360-degree coverage and no blind spots. Unless he could quickly break through to a higher level and learn obfuscation or invisibility techniques, not even a fly or an ant could likely sneak past!

"Once we're inside, say as little as possible and don't cause trouble," Zhao Xin whispered to Chen Fei as they were about to enter the base.

She was worried for two reasons. One, the base wasn't as peaceful as one might imagine. Two, the uncle of the middle-aged man Chen Fei had severely injured was a Unit Commander in the Flying Leopard, and she was worried he might have already heard the news.

"Don't worry, it's fine," Chen Fei replied with a casual smile, not taking her warning to heart at all.

A First-Class Ancient Warrior? The current head of some ancient martial arts school? He inwardly scoffed. With my current strength, why would I fear someone of that level? What a joke!

"How can you be so careless? That man was specially recruited into the Flying Leopard because he's an Ancient Martial Artist. For people like him, rules and discipline often don't apply! If he finds out you severely injured his nephew, you'll be lucky if he doesn't make you pay a heavy price! The man is a maniac who loves to cut off people's limbs with his blade!" Zhao Xin exclaimed in exasperation.

In her eyes, Chen Fei's strength was, at best, that of a novice First-Class Ancient Warrior. Her master's colleague, however, was a veteran First-Class Ancient Warrior with a long-standing reputation, not to mention a Unit Commander in the Flying Leopard. His experience and foundation were undoubtedly far superior to Chen Fei's. How could he take such a serious matter so lightly?

"Don't worry, it's fine."

Chen Fei just smiled calmly again and suddenly changed the subject. "Are those your people from Flying Leopard? Our country's top-tier special forces?"

He said this, but inwardly he was quite disappointed. Although the men in his sight all looked formidable with their stern expressions and sharp gazes, a closer look revealed they were only around the level of an early-stage Second Rate Ancient Martial Artist, or equivalent. They weren't even as strong as the shadow guards he'd encountered in the castle at the Hong Kong Black Market. It was naturally a bit of a letdown. After all, if the members of a special department were only at 'this level,' then the organization as a whole couldn't be that impressive and didn't live up to the reputation he'd heard about.

But Chen Fei didn't stop to think about how high his standards had become. Ordinary Second Rate Ancient Martial Artists were nothing in his eyes. To the military elite or other, lesser Ancient Martial Artists, however, that level was still quite formidable! Only someone like Chen Fei, with his profound foundation, would dare to be so dismissive!

"Our country's top-tier special forces? Of course not. Although the Flying Leopard is formidable, compared to the nation's most elite teams, we're still a long way off," Zhao Xin said, shaking her head.

For example, she had once overheard that the central government had a special operations team where the minimum entry requirement was the strength of a King of Soldiers or a Peak of First-Class Ancient Warrior! Just imagine, if the requirement for new members was so terrifying, how powerful would the team leaders, commanders, and even the overall director be? It was unimaginable! The thought alone was frightening.

"Oh, that makes more sense," Chen Fei nodded, as if this was only natural. It stood to reason that there were special units even more powerful than the Flying Leopard.

"Hey, what did you mean by that just now? Are you looking down on the Flying Leopard?" Just then, a young man built like a bear, standing two meters tall, strode over from nearby. He stared down at Chen Fei with a cold, unfriendly expression.

His hearing was obviously sharp enough to have overheard Chen Fei's comments, and he took them as a slight against the Flying Leopard.

"Luo Gang, what are you doing? Get back. Don't start trouble," Zhao Xin's expression changed as she saw the towering young man approach. She knew this man was a notorious troublemaker in the Flying Leopard, hot-headed and prone to recklessness. His strength, however, was undeniable. He could be considered the strongest below the rank of King of Soldiers! Obviously, he wasn't an Ancient Martial Artist; he had been recruited from the military elite.

"Zhao Xin, stay out of this! I think this kid has a big mouth. 'Our country's top-tier special forces'? 'That makes more sense'? What, you look down on us in the Flying Leopard? Looks like I need to show you a thing or two, so you don't go around thinking you're someone special, spouting such arrogant nonsense! Hmph!" Luo Gang snorted coldly, his voice laced with menace.

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