Chapter 1743: Here to Kill
Of course, Long Aotian knew that Ling Feng was exceptionally powerful. As such, he was not foolish enough to take action personally. Instead, he dispatched one of the Dragon Family's greatest weapons:
Long Xingye.
On the surface, Long Xingye's strength was not particularly impressive within Dragon Sword Heavenly Manor.
However, once Long Xingye descended into madness, his power would continuously surge. The longer he fought, the stronger he became, transforming into a monster that felt no pain and feared no death.
Because of this, the Dragon Family had always raised Long Xingye as though he were a beast. They had never truly treated him as a human being.
At that moment, on a dilapidated training ground, two figures were tightly bound to stone pillars.
Heavy iron chains wrapped around them layer after layer, rendering them completely unable to move.
The unfortunate captives were Yue Huaqing and Murong Bai.
How could they have imagined that simply watching the battles from outside the pavilion would bring such calamity upon them?
Now, their only hope was that Ling Feng would come to rescue them.
Around the training ground stood a crowd of spectators numbering roughly a hundred people, with more arriving by the minute.
Long Aotian showed no intention of dispersing them.
He wanted everyone to witness Ling Feng's death.
Clang!
Clang!
The sound of rattling chains echoed through the area.
A burly man standing well over two meters tall slowly emerged under the escort of several Dragon Sword Heavenly Manor disciples.
His wrists and ankles were bound by iron chains.
Leading the group was none other than the instigator of it all, Long Tengyuan.
In his hand, Long Tengyuan carried several chunks of roasted meat from some unknown beast.
As he walked, he grinned at the chain-bound giant.
"Xingye, do you want some meat?"
"Meat! Meat!"
The burly man's eyes locked onto the roasted meat in Long Tengyuan's hand.
A low growl resembling that of a wild beast escaped his throat.
Long Tengyuan tossed him a piece and chuckled.
"If you help me tear someone apart later, I'll give you lots and lots of meat. How about it?"
"Meat! Meat!"
The giant wolfed down the meat and nodded repeatedly.
"Tear apart! Tear apart!"
This man was Long Xingye.
Strictly speaking, there was barely any humanity left in him.
For all practical purposes, he was no longer truly human.
"That's Long Xingye! That monster!"
Most of the surrounding spectators came from the Xijian Region and had heard of Long Xingye's reputation.
Long Xingye possessed strength that approached the level of the top first-rate geniuses of the Xijian Region.
He lacked intelligence, yet it was precisely his feral savagery and brutality that made him terrifying.
"What a horrifying monster. That fellow Ling Feng is probably doomed this time."
"There's no guarantee Ling Feng will even come. They may all be martial practitioners from the Dongling Region, but these days, how many people truly value loyalty? Their own lives matter more."
"Place your bets! Place your bets! If Ling Feng survives against Long Xingye, the payout is fifty to one! If he lasts half an hour, one hundred to one! If he defeats Long Xingye, one thousand to one!"
Some opportunistic profiteers even set up gambling stalls amid the chaos.
Not a single person was optimistic about Ling Feng's chances.
After all, being skilled with a sword did not necessarily mean being overwhelmingly powerful.
At the end of the day, Ling Feng was only an Extreme Human Emperor.
No matter how talented he was, surely he could not match a monster like Long Xingye.
Time slowly passed.
More and more people arrived, yet Ling Feng remained nowhere to be seen.
"Why isn't he here yet? Could he be too scared to come?"
"Haha, that's entirely possible."
"Looks like there won't be a fight after all. If Ling Feng has any brains, he won't walk into such an obvious trap. With Senior Brother Xiao Juanyun backing him, he can live comfortably. Why attend a banquet set up to kill him?"
At the center of the training ground, Yue Huaqing and Murong Bai remained chained in place.
Both sighed heavily.
Their lives were over.
The sun gradually drifted westward toward the horizon.
At sunset, three figures finally appeared, striding forward beneath the dying light.
Those three were none other than Ling Feng, Xiao Juanyun, and Luo Hanzhou.
As for the two Dragon Sword Heavenly Manor disciples who had guided them there, they had been thoroughly beaten by Ling Feng the moment the training ground came into view. He then tossed them aside like garbage.
The Dragon Family had provoked him again and again.
Ling Feng had completely exhausted the last shred of patience he possessed for this trash sect and this trash family.
Today, he had come to kill.
"It's Junior Brother Ling!"
Yue Huaqing and Murong Bai were overjoyed.
The moment they saw Ling Feng appear, their hearts settled.
In their minds, Ling Feng had become the embodiment of invincibility.
He was a man who created miracles time and time again.
"Xiao Juanyun?"
When Long Aotian noticed Xiao Juanyun's presence, his eyelids twitched.
He quickly forced a smile onto his face.
"Senior Brother Xiao is an important man. I never expected you to personally attend the martial gathering organized by Dragon Sword Heavenly Manor. I am truly honored."
"A martial gathering?"
Xiao Juanyun's gaze turned icy.
He pointed at Yue Huaqing and Murong Bai below.
"This is your method of inviting guests?"
Long Aotian chuckled.
"Senior Brother Xiao, you misunderstand."
"These two were outrageously bold. I kindly invited them as guests, yet they attacked disciples of Dragon Sword Heavenly Manor. Left with no choice, I had them detained."
"Fortunately, I, Long Aotian, have always been magnanimous. As long as Brother Ling defeats one disciple of my Dragon Family, all previous grudges will be wiped away."
"As for these two martial practitioners from the Dongling Region injuring my junior brothers, I will generously overlook the matter."
What a shameless face.
Ling Feng actually felt a wave of nausea rising within him.
"Brother Ling, let me handle this."
Luo Hanzhou's eyes turned cold.
He clearly found Long Aotian's conduct disgusting.
"I should be the one to resolve it."
Xiao Juanyun frowned deeply.
"In truth, this matter is partly my fault. I delayed Brother Ling for quite some time."
"No need."
Ling Feng took a step forward.
"This is a personal grievance. I will settle it myself."
Under countless gazes, Ling Feng leapt into the air and landed atop the arena platform.
He fixed his eyes on Long Aotian and spoke coldly.
"Long Aotian, how do you want to do this?"
"One against one, or all of you together?"
"I, Ling Feng, will accompany you to the end."
...
The crowd immediately erupted into excitement.
"That guy actually came!"
"He even thinks he can handle this by himself. Even Senior Brother Xiao Juanyun might not dare claim certain victory against the monster Long Xingye."
"Still, regardless of the outcome, this guy is incredibly loyal."
Within the Dragon Family camp, Long Tengyuan snorted and glared at Ling Feng with bloodshot eyes.
"He thinks he's somebody important. He still dares to show off now?"
"In a little while, he won't even know how he died."
As he spoke, he tossed another piece of roasted meat to Long Xingye and growled viciously,
"Xingye, that's the one. Kill him."
"You can eat as much meat as you want afterward."
"Kill him! Kill him!..."
A bloodthirsty gleam flashed through Long Xingye's eyes.
He repeatedly echoed Long Tengyuan's words.
His voice was hoarse and ghastly, making him sound like an evil ghost crawling up from the depths of the underworld itself.