Lin Tang used the magma as cover and finally managed to escape with his life. Fury welled up within him.
Luckily, the serious injuries had caused his demonic thoughts to subside, restoring his clarity and preventing him from becoming a re killing machine. Once his injuries healed, the demonic thoughts surged once again. But Lin Tang was prepared this ti and resisted them in advance. He wouldn't lose himself again. Still, it was incredibly annoying.
He rifled through his Storage Ring and found the ruler he had once snatched from Ji Yongyan. As for the bamboo slips, they were already damaged. Ji Yongyan had once used this ruler to knock on Lin Tang's head, eliciting the deafening sound of countless students chanting—a noise that shook him to his core. An idea struck him, and he decisively activated it again. Wouldn't you know it, it was a perfect counter. The ruler proved to be an excellent tool for eroding and dissolving his demonic thoughts.
He repeatedly struck his head with the ruler, causing the demonic thoughts to recede. But as soon as he stopped, they would flare up again like embers in the wind. They were too stubborn to be eradicated completely.
At the end of the day, it's because my Divine Sense isn't strong enough! If my Divine Sense were as strong as a Golden Core Peak cultivator's, or even stronger, I could have erased these demonic thoughts directly! So... I need Holy Corpses—more Holy Corpses—to enhance my Divine Sense!
And so, Lin Tang made a beeline for the Heavenly Person Academy. He arrived just in ti to hear Ning Yuexi say—
"After all we've been through as husband and wife, Ning Yuexi, you truly are heartless!" Lin Tang looked straight into Ning Yuexi's eyes, his voice as cold as ice.
"I..." Ning Yuexi opened her mouth, wanting to explain, but she felt any explanation would be weak and pointless. "Long Tianji, you're overthinking things. I never considered us husband and wife!"
"Is that so? Since we're not husband and wife and have no marital bond..." Lin Tang lowered his head, then grinned. "Then I don't have to hold back!"
"This is bad!" Ji Yongyan's and the others' faces paled as they watched his aura erupt thunderously.
"Run!" The Oracle leaped onto a carpet and tried to fly away in a hurry. Though she despised Long Tianji to the bone, she knew her own limits and had no intention of throwing her life away.
"My little treasure courier, where do you think you're flying?" Lin Tang taunted. He appeared behind her like a ghost, stepping onto the carpet and ascending with her. To keep from falling, he unapologetically wrapped an arm around the Oracle's slender, pliant waist. He was instantly holding soft, fragrant warmth, an indescribable sensation.
"Let go of , you damned rake!" The Oracle's body trembled. She had never been this close to a man before. The hair on her body stood on end, and goosebumps prickled her skin. She was utterly repulsed. She struggled fiercely, but she was no match for him. Even control of the carpet was forcefully wrested from her as Lin Tang flooded it with his True Qi.
WHOOSH!
The carpet vanished into thin air, sealed and stored away in his Storage Ring. This would prevent the mysterious woman from detonating it remotely. Without the carpet, the Oracle was left dangling in mid-air.
"Seeing as you're so sincerely asking to let go, I shall magnanimously grant your wish." Lin Tang obligingly released his grip.
The Oracle was speechless.
"AHHH!" she shrieked, her face drained of color. She was less like her usual dignified self and more like a naïve young girl on a roller coaster for the first ti. She instinctively clung to Lin Tang, refusing to let go for dear life.
"Let go of , you shaless fem fatale!" Lin Tang trembled dramatically, his voice full of accusation.
The Oracle was dumbfounded. You bastard! Who are you calling a fem fatale?!
"Hahaha—" Lin Tang roared with laughter, bringing her back down to the ground.
Seeing everyone scattering and running for their lives, he secured the Oracle with one arm and raised the other high above his head. In an instant, a huge ball of light burst forth like a firework.
BANG!
It shattered into a beautiful, srizing shower of countless light motes, like fireflies. Every mote of light that touched soone sent them screaming to the ground. In a single breath, most of them were severely injured. They were just that fragile.
"No! Don't! Don't kill them!" Ning Yuexi instinctively hugged her master, Ni Xiuyun, as tears stread from her eyes.
Ni Xiuyun trembled, spinelessly bowing her head and pleading, "I don't want to die! I don't want to die! Dragon King, spare us! Yuexi, hurry and beg him! He's your man, he'll surely listen to you..."
"Demon!" As the Heavenly Person Academy teetered on the verge of destruction, with buildings collapsing and bursting into fla, Ji Yongyan was beside himself with rage. Unlike Lin Xincheng and the others who fled, he rushed before Lin Tang with a look of tragic heroism. He pulled out a talismanic script and tried to slap it onto Lin Tang.
Lin Tang could have easily dodged, but he didn't.
SLAP!
It stuck. A trace of joy appeared on Ji Yongyan's face, full of hope that it would work. But...
"That's it?" Lin Tang felt a warmth spread through him, like stepping indoors after a stroll in the northern winter and sitting on a heated brick bed. The ancient characters on the talisman, written with strokes as sharp as iron and fluid as a startled dragon, seed to co alive, quickly crawling onto Lin Tang's body. They imdiately clashed with the demonic thoughts and ground against Lin Tang's Divine Sense, but it felt like nothing more than a massage, having no real effect.
"Too little, too weak! I need more!" Lin Tang pressed his hand on the back of the Oracle's neck. His True Qi penetrated her body, swift and devastating, locking her nerves and sealing her ridians. She beca a wooden puppet, incapable of movent.
Afterward, Lin Tang picked up Ji Yongyan, frisked him, and gave him a few hard shakes for good asure. There was no second talisman, nor anything similar. "No more? How disappointing!"
"You—" Ji Yongyan was in disbelief. He couldn't understand why the righteous energy was completely useless against Long Tianji. It shouldn't be possible. Righteous energy was the ultimate restraint against demons. Could it be that he's not a demon at all?!
It was actually quite simple. Righteous energy is a special form of Yang Gang Energy. And Lin Tang? He possessed a body of pure yang. How could he possibly fear it? As for the spiritual attack that accompanied the righteous energy, Lin Tang might have been greatly affected before he had his Divine Sense. But now that he did, he was resistant. At the very least, sothing as "low-level" as a re talisman had no effect on him.
"Since you've outlived your usefulness, you can die!" Lin Tang said coldly, preparing to snap his neck.
But Ning Yuexi had already released Ni Xiuyun and thrown herself before him like a moth to a fla. "Long Tianji, stop! It was my fault, I wronged you! I'm willing to repent and serve you for the rest of my life. Just let the Palace Lord and the others go, and I'll do whatever you ask from now on!"
Ji Yongyan's face turned purple, his body trembling. It would be a lie to say he wasn't afraid of death. But his integrity allowed him to suppress that fear. He shouted with righteous indignation, "Ning Yuexi, don't beg him! Let this demon kill ! If I die, there will be thousands, tens of thousands more like . Evil has never triumphed over good. He will face retribution one day!"
"Pfft—" Lin Tang snorted with laughter again. He stared at Ji Yongyan, then at the heavily injured crowd, and tilted his head. "I really don't understand why you're all so thick-skinned. I, Long Tianji, have never wronged your Heavenly Person Academy. It was you who ca after again and again, trying to capture and make your lapdog. Now I'm just getting a little revenge, and look how victimized you all act. Am I supposed to just let you bully without fighting back? Is that your 'way of the sage'?"
"Pah!" Lin Xincheng spat blood as he struggled to his feet. Throwing caution to the wind, he joined in the denunciation, "Long Tianji, you are a born demon! It is the righteous duty of our Heavenly Person Academy to slay demons!"
Lin Tang was speechless. "Destined? Just because you read the stars? Why should I be a demon just because your celestial observations say so? Fine, I'll read the stars now and say you're possessed by an Evil God. Does that make it true? Who do you think you are, to represent the heavens?"
Lin Xincheng's face flushed red, but he craned his neck stubbornly. "Stop twisting my words! If you're not a demon, why do you practice a Demon Technique? You even murder innocents to increase your power! The reclusive Feng, Gou, He, Weng, and Fei Families... all annihilated in a single night. You did the killing, so why don't you dare admit it?"
"That's right, I wiped them out," Lin Tang nodded.
"See? See? You admit it! You admit it!" Lin Xincheng yelled.
Ning Yuexi was deeply disappointed to see Lin Tang take pride in his shaless acts. Though she knew provoking him would lead to even worse consequences, she couldn't stop herself from saying, "You... you really are too cruel!"
Seeing no hope of escape, the others also began to speak up with difficulty, accusing Long Tianji of his wickedness.
Lin Tang sneered, "I've seen shaless people, but never anyone as brazen as you! The Feng Family built Yunng City in the Cloud Dream Marsh and engaged in filthy business for years—murder, drug trafficking, human slavery. They were lawless and committed every evil imaginable! And you so-called paragons of virtue never thought to deal with such scum, yet you criticize for acting in heaven's stead! As for the Gou and He Families... that trash was no better than the Feng Family, all cut from the sa cloth! They even promised the Blessed Sanctuary they would help it collect one hundred thousand souls. So what if I killed them?"
Ning Yuexi was stunned. The Feng Family really did those things? The Gou Family... were those other clans just as appalling?!
The Oracle's eyes were wide, but she was unable to speak. She could only curse Long Tianji furiously in her mind. But upon hearing his words, she too was taken aback. The Blessed Sanctuary? I've heard of it, too. It's supposed to be a peaceful and serene haven. How could it secretly be involved in collecting so many souls? That villain Long Tianji must be lying to trick ...
The crowd gradually fell silent, montarily unsure how to respond. After catching his breath, Ji Yongyan managed to say, "I had heard whispers of the Feng Family's dealings in the Cloud Dream Marsh. However... this world has always had good and evil; that is the natural order. Sin can never be completely eliminated! Cris are committed everywhere, every single mont. What gives you the right to take it upon yourself to slaughter them all?"
"What a fine 'natural order'! When they kill and commit atrocities, it's the natural order, none of my business. But when I kill them, I'm a demon who deserves to be exterminated by you." Lin Tang nodded. "I see it clearly now. You're just a bunch of hypocrites with double standards."
Ji Yongyan's expression was cold. "Ask your own heart. Did you really kill them for the sake of justice? Or are you just finding a high-sounding excuse after the fact to justify killing people for your Cultivation Technique?"
Upon hearing this, the Oracle and the others felt he had a point. If it was truly for justice, Long Tianji should have eliminated all those criminals, including the Feng Family, long ago. Why wait until now?
"Hmph!" This conversation was going nowhere. Lin Tang had no desire to argue any further. He sent Ji Yongyan flying with a kick. Seeing Ning Yuexi's ceaseless tears, he reached out and wiped them from her face. "You'll keep your word? You'll do whatever I ask, without betraying or harming ?"
Ning Yuexi only wanted to save everyone. Seeing him relent, she was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly. "Yes, I give you my word!"
"Good! What I need you to do now is... co inside with !"
Lin Tang swept her into his arms and forcefully barged into the depths of the Heavenly Person Academy. He easily found a hidden chanism and opened it, revealing a tunnel.
Ji Yongyan coughed up blood for a while before finally recovering. He didn't dare give chase, but then a terrible thought struck him, and his face changed drastically. "This is terrible! He's going to desecrate the Holy Corpses! I would rather die than allow it! Long Tianji, get out here!"
He gritted his teeth and crawled to the tunnel entrance. Just as he was about to dive in, he was repelled by an invisible force. Ji Yongyan's eyes looked as if they were about to split with rage. "Long Tianji, you forced my hand! You forced ! I would rather destroy all the Holy Corpses, I would rather everyone here die, than allow you to commit any further desecration!"
Trembling, he took out a token, bit the tip of his tongue, and sprayed blood onto it. "The Sage says, 'As long as the sage does not die, the great thieves will not cease...'"
As he chanted, a terrifying power deep within the tunnel began to awaken from its slumber. Once roused, it was poised for a cataclysmic detonation. The very ground for thousands of ters around began to shake violently, on the verge of being obliterated. If it blew, everyone here, including Long Tianji, would be annihilated, leaving not even a corpse to bury.
"Goddess, save !" cried the immobilized Oracle, filled with utter despair. She had never anticipated dying such a pathetic death here.
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