At the xu hour, as the sun dipped below the horizon, the sky gradually darkened.

The Tang father and son arrived in the courtyard right on time.

Just as they neared the small building, they caught a faint glimpse of Song Wen stepping out from the medicinal field.

A smile spread across Tang Yinian's face. "I had only heard before that Elder Jiyin took a young prodigy as a disciple. Seeing you today, you indeed possess an imposing presence, a true dragon among men."

Song Wen did not recognize Tang Yinian. He asked with a puzzled expression, "And you are?"

In stark contrast to his father's false warmth, Tang Liang's face was thoroughly gloomy.

There was already deep animosity between him and Song Wen. Now that Song Wen had actually mastered the immortal Fireball Spell, Tang Liang's heart seethed with resentment.

A country bumpkin from who knew where had managed to obtain the very thing he had dreamed of in less than three months. This filled Tang Liang with an unavoidable, burning jealousy.

He stared at Song Wen, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "As a disciple of the Heavenly Fiend Gang, you actually don't recognize the gang leader?"

Song Wen felt a sudden jolt of alarm. Tang Yinian's arrival was entirely unexpected. According to the rumors, Tang Yinian was a rare master in the martial world.

Could something go wrong with his plans tonight?

However, the moment he thought of the arrangements he had made, Song Wen's mind settled.

Though a thousand thoughts raced through his head, his face remained completely deadpan. Instead, a flattered smile quickly surfaced, and he clasped his hands together in a respectful greeting.

"Junior Song Wen pays respects to the Gang Leader."

"The Gang Leader overpraises me. This junior is hardly worthy of such compliments."

"Master is waiting for both of you in his room. Please, after you."

Tang Yinian nodded. "When you have some leisure time, Nephew Song, you must visit my residence more often."

With that, he led Tang Liang toward the small building.

Once they had walked a short distance away, Tang Yinian asked his son in a low voice, "Do you have some prior grievance with him?"

Tang Liang replied, "We had a minor unpleasantness before."

Tang Yinian said, "It would be best to reconcile with him. From what I can see, this youth is quite deep and scheming. Coupled with the fact that he has learned immortal techniques, he will not remain an ordinary figure in the future."

What Tang Yinian did not know was that the two were already mortal enemies.

...

Song Wen watched their departing figures, a bloodthirsty smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

To ensure Tang Liang's death tonight, he had made every single preparation.

The reason he had just emerged from the medicinal field was that he had used the cover of darkness to uproot the Crimson Blood Vine from the spirit field, seal it inside a jade box, and store it safely within his Storage Bag.

Everything was perfectly in place. Now, all that was left was to spring the trap.

As he watched the two step onto the second floor, Song Wen quietly began to circulate his spiritual power, priming himself to release the Fireball Spell.

Reaching the second floor, Tang Yinian cleared his throat slightly and spoke up.

"Elder Jiyin, this gang leader has brought my son. Please open the door so we may converse."

He waited with bated breath for Jiyin's response.

However, the room remained dead silent.

"What is going on?" Tang Yinian murmured, glancing at Tang Liang in confusion. Tang Liang was equally utterly baffled.

Tang Yinian noticed that the door was not fully locked, but rather left slightly ajar.

He gave it a gentle push. With a sharp creak, the door swung wide open.

By the dim, failing light, Tang Yinian spotted a figure sitting cross-legged in the center of the room. Yet, the figure made absolutely no sound of breathing.

Tang Yinian was startled and cried out, "Elder Jiyin! What happened to you?"

Even as the words left his mouth, he charged across the threshold.

Tang Liang followed closely behind, rushing into the room.

Seeing this, a sharp gleam suddenly erupted from Song Wen's eyes.

Now was the absolute perfect moment to strike!

With a flick of his wrist, a fist-sized fireball shot forth like a comet, hurtling straight into the room on the first floor.

The fireball blasted the door to splinters and slammed directly into a massive, ten-jin clay jar stored inside.

Boom!

The jar shattered, and a massive deluge of thick, black, viscous liquid splattered in all directions. It was fierce oil.

The moment the fierce oil met the magical flame, it ignited instantly.

Not far away sat ten more identical clay jars.

As the spraying flames and fierce oil touched them, they too burst into violent combustion.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

A succession of deafening explosions thundered through the sky, causing the earth for li around to tremble. The thousands of members of the Heavenly Fiend Gang looked toward the source of the noise in utter terror. Who would dare cause such chaos within the Heavenly Fiend Gang?

The concussive shockwave from the blast instantly ripped the entire small building into flying debris.

Packed within the explosion were countless steel needles that rained outward in all directions, whistling through the air like a storm of lethal projectiles.

Song Wen watched the spectacle with immense satisfaction.

He had covertly purchased the fierce oil from outside, and had intentionally packed the jars full of steel needles.

He could not help but marvel at the utility of a cultivator's tools; using his Storage Bag, he had smuggled more than a hundred jin of fierce oil into the compound entirely undetected.

Then, he had used Jiyin's desiccated corpse as bait inside the room to draw the full attention of the Tang father and son.

Song Wen's plan had been meticulous, yet he had still underestimated the sheer resilience of an Innate martial artist.

An Innate master could project their True Qi outward, forming a protective barrier over their skin. The raging wall of fire and the storm of steel needles were entirely unable to pierce Tang Yinian's defense.

Tang Liang, however, was not nearly so fortunate.

He was charred black across his entire body, and several steel needles had driven deep into his abdomen.

Tang Yinian grabbed his son with one hand and surged his True Qi, soaring out from the inferno like a great roc spreading its wings.

Watching Tang Yinian suddenly burst from the sea of fire, Song Wen immediately activated the talisman he had been holding in reserve.

A head-sized fireball roared forth, hurtling aggressively toward Tang Yinian.

Tang Yinian's face filled with horror. The pure destructive power and scorching heat of this immortal technique sent a shiver of dread through his core. He knew intuitively that if he took even a glancing blow from this thing, he would be left dead or crippled.

In that split second of desperation, Tang Yinian had no other choice. He threw the burning Tang Liang straight into the oncoming fireball.

"No!"

Tang Liang shrieked in absolute despair!

He collided squarely with the lightning-fast fireball.

Bang!

Tang Liang's physical body exploded instantly, his flesh and blood scattering into the wind.

Tang Yinian's eyes went wide with rage as he glared dead at Song Wen, a torrent of absolute hatred bursting from his soul. He wanted nothing more than to hack this boy into a thousand pieces.

"Song Wen, you little beast! I will tear your corpse into shreds!"

Pushing his movement technique to its absolute limits, he twisted and vaulted clear of the remaining flames.

His figure blurred in a series of rapid shifts, closing the distance to Song Wen in the blink of an eye.

"Brat, give me your life!"

Tang Yinian specialized in external body-hardening techniques; the entirety of his martial cultivation was concentrated in his fists.

His fist carried enough force to shatter boulders. Like a massive iron sledgehammer, it drove straight toward Song Wen's chest.

Thud!

The fist slammed to a violent halt exactly one foot away from Song Wen's chest, unable to advance even a fraction of an inch further.

It had struck the barrier of Song Wen's Shield Spell.

Even so, the sheer kinetic force felt as though Song Wen had been struck by a runaway carriage. His body was launched into the air, flying backward from the impact.

Song Wen felt a flash of alarm. As an Innate martial artist, Tang Yinian's physical strength was indeed terrifying.

Fortunately, it was still not enough to break his Shield Spell.

As he was flying backward through the air, Song Wen seized the opening to trigger yet another fireball talisman.

At such point-blank range, the fireball materialized out of thin air. Its speed was so explosive that Tang Yinian had absolutely no room to maneuver.

The fireball crashed forward unimpeded, striking Tang Yinian squarely in the chest.

The external strengthening technique he took such pride in was instantly shattered. His body was blasted backward several zhang, leaving his chest a mangled mass of bloody flesh and exposing an unknown number of broken ribs.

Tang Yinian crashed heavily to the ground. Yet, he did not expire immediately; instead, he began to struggle desperately to force himself back up.

While he had been airborne just now, he had seen clearly that Song Wen had taken his full-strength punch without any significant injury. He was now in mortal danger of being finished off at any second.

Looking for more free chapters? Visit www.skynovelvault.com to read over 5,000 free chapters and continue exploring more stories from SkyNovelVault.