God-Level Special Forces Soldier

Chapter 1028: Chapter 1024: Obstacles Eliminated

Until this moment, the long-haired elder finally began to take Xiao Tian seriously. Although he previously considered his assessment of Xiao Tian to be quite fair, the reality now in front of him forced him to grudgingly admit that he had truly underestimated the other party!

Previously, the long-haired elder’s assessment of Xiao Tian was merely that he was a young man with considerable strength, outstanding medical skills, and exceptionally good luck!

It wasn’t that he was dismissive; it was just a kind of confidence. Although Xiao Tian performed well, his improvement was reliant on external objects and couldn’t be considered the result of his own efforts.

The long-haired elder, however, possessed deep-rooted real strength, all originating from himself, without any falsehood. Naturally, he held some disdain for Xiao Tian, who relied on external improvements.

And most importantly, experience. No matter how intelligent a person’s mind may be, if limited by their vision, it is difficult for them to achieve great things—much like the bureaucratic class hierarchy, where a village chief focuses on managing a village, but a mayor, on several towns and dozens to hundreds of villages.

Their perspectives naturally cannot be compared, and the angles and breadths of considering issues are drastically different, without any basis for comparison.

This was the mistake of the long-haired elder; he believed that even if Xiao Tian was quick-witted, he was limited by his age and surely couldn’t be as perfect and meticulous as himself, who has lived for so many years. Surely, he couldn’t be outpaced in strategy by a young lad?

Yet, the unexpected happened, and it was so abrupt—one statement smashed his entire plan.

Of course, although the long-haired elder’s old face burned with shame, he believed it wasn’t entirely a bad thing. After all, Xiao Tian blocked this path ahead of time, sparing him from being Mizuno Pengyu’s scapegoat.

If the original plan had proceeded smoothly, it would be fine if everything came out alright afterward. But if other forces interrogated him, he would be the unlucky one. Now, this trouble was eliminated ahead of time, so although there’s no benefit, there is certainly no harm either.

Just as the long-haired elder thought this through, someone stepped forward to ask...

”Vice Clan Leader, is the Hunter speaking the truth?” Though the tone was courteous, judging by the expression on his face, it was rather accusatory.

No sooner had the words fallen when the eyes of the remaining seventy or so experts solemnly fell upon the long-haired elder, indicating that this question was of great concern to everyone.

Although the long-haired elder was strongly confident that he would not be weaker than any person present, he felt an invisible pressure from being simultaneously scrutinized by so many experts. He hurriedly responded, ”Utter nonsense, purely inflammatory. Which of us in the Mizuno Clan would commit such inhumane acts?”

After speaking, he looked at Xiao Tian with hidden pride, as if boasting, ”Aren’t you disappointed? You thought we would have an internal conflict, didn’t you?”

Xiao Tian laughed outright, ”You must be getting old; your mind seems a bit dull. Did you really think I would be foolish enough to sow discord among your internal relations, just from guessing your thoughts?”

Startled, the long-haired elder first denied Xiao Tian had guessed his thoughts, then had to start pondering... Does the opponent have other schemes?

The problem was that after changing angles several times, nearly ten different possibilities were deduced, none of which seemed fatal, and none appeared to be Xiao Tian’s true objective.

”Stop thinking. With your rusty brain, even if given one more year, you won’t figure out anything.”

Xiao Tian amusingly observed the long-haired elder, now flushed with anger, and teasingly questioned, ”Let me ask you a question: if I want to leave here, who could stop me?”

”Me?!” The long-haired elder widened his eyes, looking at Xiao Tian with great alarm, concealment of surprise and doubt evident in his tone, sounding extremely uncertain.

”Seems like your brain wasn’t grown for nothing,” Xiao Tian continued, asking, ”Now I ask you, if you insist on stopping me, and I am determined to leave, what should I do?”

If the long-haired elder still didn’t understand at this point, he might as well have lived his life for nothing.

Immediately stepping forward, his gaze no longer calm, he vehemently shouted, ”What have you done to me?”

”Don’t speak so misleadingly,” Xiao Tian quickly shifted position, avoiding the long-haired elder charging at him, calmly stating, ”You should be the most aware of what’s happening to you, right?”

Without regard for anything else, the long-haired elder desperately pursued Xiao Tian, furiously conducting introspection, only to feel darkness closing in—a near faint at the realization...

Through introspection, the meridians were visibly dissolving rapidly, most already breached, with uncontrolled True Qi spreading out, recklessly attacking internal organs—a situation terrible beyond words.

Unexpectedly capsizing in the gutter and in such a baffling way, the long-haired elder instantly became extremely enraged, bellowing toward the sky, his silver mane rising like an aggravated beast, glaring fiercely at Xiao Tian.

Concurrently, the long-haired elder used the remaining True Qi to stimulate his Dantian, determined to drag Xiao Tian down with him, even in death!

Perceiving something amiss, Xiao Tian immediately countered, punching the elder’s abdomen, dispersing his circulating True Qi, launching him ten meters away like a broken sack.

Upon landing, the long-haired elder spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with black, viscous liquid clinging at his lips, the black pool in front containing tiny fragments, making him painfully aware it was beyond remedy.

Witnessing this scene, the gathered experts widened their eyes in shock, attempting to assist, but were prevented by the long-haired elder’s raised hand.

At this moment, the elder attempted to sit up, pressing a hand to his chest, expelling the blood from his lips; amid severe coughing, he asked, ”When did you act?”

Xiao Tian calmly replied, ”When I turned and pointed toward you.”

The elder furrowed his brow, recalling the situation... indeed, there was a chill on his face, like fine raindrops falling, though he hadn’t paid much attention at the time.

Only now, understanding it was late—the meridians corroded by unknown poison, True Qi rampaging within, beyond even a Daluo Golden Immortal’s salvation.

At this thought, the elder sensed life rapidly slipping away, past scenes playing like a carousel before his eyes...