Lin Tang had truly terrified Tang Dingbo. The mont he activated the base's self-destruct chanism, he vanished. As the saying goes, a clever rabbit has three warrens; they naturally had more than one stronghold.
Tang Dingbo arrived at another safe house, where he gathered the remaining clan mbers and assessed their losses. He discovered that seventy percent of the mbers left behind had died. The financial losses were imasurable.
"Pfft—" Tang Dingbo was so aghast he nearly vomited blood.
"I hate him! I hate him so much!"
The surviving clan mbers were also filled with indescribable grief and fury. They launched drones to hover in the sky, remotely monitoring Lin Tang's position. After several hours, they still saw no sign of him erging from the rubble.
"He's definitely dead!"
"There's no doubt about it!"
After all, human stamina has its limits. Even if he could dig with a divine sword, how much energy would it take to escape from hundreds of ters deep within a mountain? Not to ntion, people need to breathe. If he couldn't get out in ti, he would suffocate long before being crushed to death.
Even though they were certain Lin Tang was finished, they still couldn't find any peace.
"Spare no expense! Investigate Lin Tang's entire network!" Tang Dingbo roared. "Anyone who isn't his enemy, don't let a single one get away! Kill their entire families! Exterminate all nine generations of their clans! I want all of Jiangbei to tremble! I want all his friends and family to join him in death!"
Following Tang Dingbo's order, every mber of the Tang Sect was mobilized, digging deep and investigating ticulously. Tang Dingbo himself led a group and hurried to Jiangbei, ready to unleash a massacre.
「Jiangbei City.」
Facing Tang Dingwu's frenzied assault, Shen Youling and Yue Songhe thought they were dood. At the critical mont, a venerable yet majestic voice echoed out.
"You want to kill my disciple? Have you asked for my permission?"
BOOM—
As Zheng Hongsheng made his move, his vital energy surged like a waterfall, violently washing over and completely dissolving the poison infused in Tang Dingwu's palm strike.
A Mid-Stage Master? Tang Dingwu's heart skipped a beat. But when he saw Zheng Hongsheng's advanced age, he relaxed slightly. As the saying goes, in a fight, it's the young and strong you should fear. It wasn't a given that a Mid-Stage Master could crush an Early-Stage one. Who was stronger would only be decided in a real battle.
Tang Dingwu had already seen the grueso state of Tang Shaojie and Tang Ruqing. Even his skills were not enough to revive them. Fooled by Zhu Yingning's lies, he believed Tang Shaojie had been grievously injured by Lin Tang in a jealous fight over Shen Youling, dragging Tang Ruqing down with him. Filled with boundless rage, he had co seeking vengeance.
"So he's your disciple? When a student is unruly, the teacher is to bla. You deserve to die too!" Tang Dingwu charged at Zheng Hongsheng with murderous intent.
How could Zheng Hongsheng possibly fear him?
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Their fists and feet collided, unleashing a furious storm of energy.
"Wait, wait a second!" Yue Songhe shouted, trying to explain that he wasn't Lin Tang and that this madman was attacking the wrong person. But the mont he got close, an invisible shockwave sent him flying.
In the next instant, Mo Pinglan appeared silently behind him and struck his lower back with her palm.
"Ah!" Yue Songhe coughed up a mouthful of blood and collapsed.
"Let's go!" Mo Pinglan grabbed Shen Youling and fled.
"Hmph, where do you think you're going!" Zheng Hongsheng growled, moving to intercept them.
"Die, die, die!" the hot-tempered Tang Dingwu shrieked, suddenly unleashing a hidden weapon. It wasn't the mass-produced Rainstorm Pear Blossom Needle, but the far more powerful Peacock Feathers.
Upon seeing the weapon's unique golden cylindrical casing, Zheng Hongsheng's face drained of color. "So, you're from the Tang Sect..."
The cylinder exploded with a deafening roar. A vast spray of golden light spread out like a peacock's tail, srizing and dazzling as it enveloped him completely. When the light faded, Zheng Hongsheng's face was ashen. His body was riddled with bloody holes, and his clothes were soaked crimson.
"Dammit all to hell!" The normally composed man, who had spent years cultivating his temper, finally snapped. He put everything he had into one final, desperate move. "Boundless Sea!"
A torrent of energy erupted like a tidal wave, slamming into Tang Dingwu and sending him flying backward, spewing blood. It was a clear-cut case of mutual destruction. They shot each other a look of pure hatred before tacitly vanishing from the scene.
Only Yue Songhe remained, writhing on the ground. He had also been hit by a few of the projectiles and was twitching in excruciating pain.
「…」
When Tang Dingbo and his n arrived in Jiangbei and saw the severely injured Tang Dingwu, they were shocked.
"Who did this to you?"
"It... it was Lin Tang's master. An old man, a Mid-Stage Master."
"What? He has a powerful master, too?!"
"I hit that old man with my hidden weapons. If you find him, you can kill him easily..."
"Good, I'll send n to find him imdiately!" Tang Dingbo said urgently. They had to strike while the enemy was down. If the old man recovered, their victory would no longer be certain.
Lin Tang isn't afraid of my poisons, so his master probably isn't either. My greatest advantage is gone. What if his master also has a divine weapon...? Tang Dingbo mused, then shook his head. If the old man had a divine weapon, how could Tang Dingwu still be alive?
Zhu Yingning stood beside them, her conscience weighing heavily on her. After listening to their conversation, her expression grew strange. Where on earth did Lin Tang find a master? Did they make a mistake?
"Yingning, co with ," Tang Dingbo said suddenly.
"Yes..." Zhu Yingning followed him nervously into another room.
"Father-in-law, I heard you've mastered that poison art?"
"Cut the crap. I'm asking you, was it you who revealed the location of the Tang Sect headquarters to that little beast, Lin Tang?"
"I didn't! How could I possibly betray the Tang Sect? Everyone knows Lin Tang and I have a bitter feud! I'd have to be insane to be in cahoots with him!"
"It really wasn't you?"
"It really wasn't! I swear!"
Tang Dingbo stared into her wide, innocent eyes for a long mont. "You'd better not be lying to . Otherwise..." He turned and left, his hands clasped behind his back, leaving Zhu Yingning drenched in a cold sweat.
Damn you, Lin Tang! You've really dragged into a ss! she cursed him a hundred tis in her heart.
The thought of him being dead made her happy, yet also frustrated. She had always wanted to ta him, to order him around like a dog, but now she would never get the chance.
Wait, he left a wife behind... Shen Youling! Zhu Yingning's eyes suddenly lit up. She decided Shen Youling would fill that void. She secretly contacted Mo Pinglan.
"Where did you hide Shen Youling?"
Mo Pinglan remained silent.
Seeing her silence, Zhu Yingning's eyebrow arched. "What, you don't want to recognize as your master anymore? Heh, did you think your new master, Lin Tang, would protect you? I suppose you haven't heard. He's already dead, killed at the Tang Sect's main base."
"...He's dead?" Mo Pinglan was stunned. She touched her disfigured face. Does this an I have no chance of ever restoring my looks? She didn't believe for a second that with her lowly status as a slave, Tang Dingbo would be willing to use the precious thousand-year yellow ginseng cream on her.
When Shen Youling heard the news of Lin Tang's death, the pain was so intense she could barely breathe. He only took that risk to help restore my face, and now he's dead... He was so young. He shouldn't have died...
Elsewhere, Tang Dingbo carefully examined Tang Shaojie and his sister, his expression turning grave. What kind of poison is this? Even I can't figure it out at first glance! If I can't wake them, I'll never know if they were the ones who betrayed the sect... No matter. I'll kill the others first!
Just then, one of his subordinates presented him with a list. Anyone who wasn't an enemy of Lin Tang, even those who were neutral, was on it.
"Round up every single person on this list!"
"Yes, Sect Leader!"
The mbers of the Tang Sect scattered and set out.
「The Shen Residence.」
The family company had already been sealed off by Yue Songhe's n. Dong Mingfeng and the others could only stay at ho, cursing endlessly. They had no idea where Lin Tang was and had no way to contact him. How were they supposed to handle this? Yue Songhe had only given them half a day, and ti was running out. Were they going to watch their newly successful company go bankrupt?
"Lin Tang, Lin Tang!" Dong Mingfeng seethed. Just as she was about to call Shen Youling to ask if she knew where the worthless dog was, the Tang Sect arrived.
"You're Lin Tang's parents-in-law? Excellent. Take them all away!"
"Ah?"
"No, please, this is all a misunderstanding..."
They were truly on the verge of collapse. Why did Lin Tang have so many enemies? They swore once again that they had severed all ties, even showing the n the public announcent they had made to the dia. But their captors paid them no heed.
"The fact that you were once related is a capital offense!"
"No!"
Shen Jiayue and Lu Zizheng had been out fooling around. As their family's company value soared, they couldn't stop grinning, certain they would soon beco one of Jiangbei's new four great families. They had already begun to adopt the sa arrogant and domineering airs as Wang Shouzhen and Xie Changchun.
And then... they were taught a lesson by the Tang Sect. They were bound in an instant. Confused, they began cursing loudly. The Tang Sect mbers simply sneered and poisoned them without a second thought, causing their skin to fester and sending them into fits of agonized wailing.
「The Jiangbei branch of the True Martial Association.」
CRASH!
The main gate was smashed open. Lu Liangfei and the others were stunned for a mont. As their rage began to build, they saw who their assailants were—the Tang Sect—and their faces turned ashen.
"This is a grave injustice! A terrible misunderstanding!" Lu Liangfei kowtowed repeatedly, then began cursing Lin Tang, claiming the divine sword had originally been his before Lin Tang had stolen it through trickery and force. "I hate him to the bone! My grudge against him is as deep as the sea!"
"So you're the one who gave him the divine sword? You beast, you aided a tyrant!" The Tang Sect mbers sward him, beating him half to death before dragging his barely breathing body away.
「The urban village.」
The migrant workers Liu Changping and Zhang Xinyu, once cursed by the old crone, were still working themselves to the bone in a factory when Tang Sect mbers suddenly barged in.
"A man nad Lin Tang once treated your illnesses, correct? Take them!"
「Villa Number One.」
Huang Jifen had just picked up Wu Xinyu from kindergarten. Amidst the terrified screams of the other children, she and her granddaughter were forcefully dragged into a car by Tang Sect mbers.
Although Li Weihai had ordered the Li Family to scatter and hide, their vast family business couldn't simply be abandoned. On this day, any mber of the Li Family who remained in Jiangbei was found and captured by the Tang Sect.
Even every guest who had attended Wei Shanhe's banquet, including many who had never even spoken a word to Lin Tang, was rounded up. Nearly all of Jiangbei's top elites were caught in one fell swoop. Countless people were left in utter shock.
"What? That man, Lin Tang, is dead?"
"And we're going to be executed just because we attended the sa banquet as him?"
"How can they be so tyrannical? This is utterly depraved!"
"Waaah! I don't want to die!"
"Help..."
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