Lin Wan

The entire hall fell deathly silent.

The words, "I, Lin Feng, am waiting for him here," were like a cold pebble tossed into a deep pool, echoing through the council hall and stirring not ripples,

but the uncontrollable chill and absurdity in the depths of Wang Xiong and Li Wanshan's hearts.

The muscles on Wang Xiong's face twitched violently several times. The fear he had forcibly suppressed was utterly ignited by this extreme provocation, transforming into a towering fury.

"Good! Good! Good!"

He said "good" three times in succession, each word squeezed out from between his teeth and steeped in bone-deep hatred.

"Lin Feng! Since you're bent on courting death, I'll grant your wish! I've already notified Teng'er!

He'll be here shortly! I'd like to see how you, you arrogant fool, plan to clean up this mess later!"

The instant he finished speaking, as if to prove his words, an invisible pressure spread from afar like a rising tide, enveloping the entire Northern Garrison Command.

It was not an aura deliberately released, but rather a naturally radiating pressure that towered above everyone else, making quite a few of the Northern Garrison Command guards with lower cultivation feel their breathing catch.

Some color returned to Li Wanshan's pale face, as if he had found his pillar of support. He cried out shrilly, "Did you hear that? Lin Feng!

My nephew Wang Teng has arrived! Your death date is here!"

Lin Feng's expression remained unchanged. He did not even acknowledge Li Wanshan's shouting, merely gazing calmly toward the hall entrance as if waiting for a guest whose arrival he had long anticipated.

This composure beyond all reason instead magnified the unease in Wang Xiong's heart once more.

"Clip... clip... clip..."

The crisp, rhythmic sound of horse hooves approached from afar, neither hurried nor slow, yet carrying a strange cadence that pounded against everyone's hearts.

The sound stopped outside the council hall. Immediately afterward came the faint rustle of a carriage curtain being lifted.

A figure bathed in the light streaming through the entrance slowly walked in.

The newcomer looked to be around twenty. He had a tall, straight bearing and handsome features, and wore a brocade robe embroidered with hidden patterns of flowing clouds. A jade belt encircled his waist, and his bearing was noble and icy.

His steps were steady. Every footfall stirred the air slightly beneath the concentrated, almost tangible true essence surrounding him.

This person was none other than Wang Teng!

His gaze first swept across the wreckage on the floor, pausing briefly on Nalan Qing's disfigured corpse. His brow furrowed almost imperceptibly before he looked toward Wang Xiong.

His tone held a trace of faint displeasure, as if his peace and quiet had been disturbed.

"Father, what's so urgent? Is a mere Lin Feng really worth making you use a secret talisman to summon me here at once?"

He did not even look at Lin Feng first. That arrogance rooted in his very bones was more suffocating than Wang Xiong's blatant threats.

Wang Xiong hurried forward and pointed at Lin Feng, his voice slightly shrill from excitement.

"Teng'er! This boy must have had some fortuitous encounter. His strength has surged, and he brazenly killed the head of the Nalan Family!

"He even dared to run his mouth, insult the Wang Family, disdain the Mysterious Cloud Sect, and declare that you... that you should come rolling over here to receive your death! I can no longer tolerate this!"

"Oh?" Only then did Wang Teng seem to truly notice Lin Feng's existence.

He slowly turned his head, his gaze settling on Lin Feng. His eyes were calm and unruffled, yet carried a condescending scrutiny, like a dragon looking down upon an ant on the ground.

"So it's you. I wondered who it was. You're that good-for-nothing who luckily didn't die."

His voice was flat, without the slightest trace of anger, but the contempt within it cut to the bone.

"What? Killing a piece of trash like Nalan Qing made you so swollen with pride that you think you're qualified to speak with me, Wang Teng?"

"Like a frog at the bottom of a well, ignorant of the vastness of heaven and earth, ignorant that beyond men there are other men, and beyond the heavens there are higher heavens.

"You think this shallow pool called Black Rock City can raise a true dragon? How laughable."

Facing Wang Teng's powerful aura, nearly condensed into physical form, and his undisguised humiliation,

Lin Feng's gaze sharpened like a blade. Instead of retreating, he stepped forward, his battle intent soaring as he struck the pressure head-on.

"Enough nonsense, Wang Teng!

"Do you dare fight me right now?"

"Right now? Fight you?" Wang Teng let out a scornful laugh, as if he had heard the most absurd joke in the world.

He looked Lin Feng up and down, the amusement in his eyes growing richer. "You're still not worthy."

His tone was absolute, carrying unquestionable authority.

"The Ten-Day Pact was set by me personally. How could I change it because of the barking of an ant like you?

"What I want is to shatter, piece by piece, the confidence and reliance you boast of beneath the eyes of everyone in Black Rock City, then watch you die in endless regret and despair.

"That is what would make my taking action, Wang Teng, worthwhile."

He paused, as if savoring Lin Feng's "overestimation of himself." His tone carried a cruel, playful edge.

"Killing you now would be too dull, and would be letting you off cheaply. Your life is already spoken for. The hour has not yet come."

"Are you afraid?" Lin Feng's words were blades, stabbing straight at him.

"Afraid?" Wang Teng's eyes turned slightly cold, a flash of icy light appearing within them, but he quickly resumed his arrogant air of controlling everything. "Provocation? Childish."

He waved a hand as if shooing away a fly. "Rather than showing off your sharp tongue here and wasting the last precious moments of your life, Lin Feng, if I were you..."

He deliberately drew out the final words, his gaze carrying malicious insight as though he saw through everything. Then he slowly said,

"I'd hurry back and take a look at your precious little sister, Lin Wan...

"Heh heh, I hear she hasn't been feeling very well lately. She's staying alone in that dilapidated little courtyard in the western part of the city, with no one to look after her. Black Rock City hasn't exactly been peaceful lately, you know."

These words were like a poison-coated icicle, instantly piercing the softest, most untouchable forbidden ground in Lin Feng's heart!

His younger sister, Lin Wan, was the only reverse scale he had in this world!

Wang Teng's words were clearly no idle remark. He was plainly hinting that Lin Wan had met with misfortune or was facing immense danger!

"Wang Teng! What did you do to my sister?!" Lin Feng's pupils suddenly constricted, and the killing intent suppressed throughout his body could no longer be controlled.

It erupted with a boom, a tangible hurricane sweeping across the surroundings and sending even the dust on the floor billowing into the air!

His eyes nearly split with rage as he glared fixedly at Wang Teng. All his former calm had vanished, leaving only boiling fury and towering killing intent!

Seeing Lin Feng finally lose control, his emotions completely detonated by his own words, Wang Teng revealed a satisfied, icy smile. Its viciousness was utterly undisguised.

"I didn't do anything at all.

"It's simply that the world is dangerous and people's hearts are wicked. A weak woman, alone and helpless yet rather attractive, living by herself in such a remote place—who can say whether some 'accident' might happen?

"Wouldn't you agree, Lin Feng? You'd better... take care of yourself."

This threat, tantamount to an admission, became the final straw that broke the camel's back!

At the moment Lin Feng's mind shook violently over his sister's safety, his fury and killing intent climbing to their peak—

Ding! The host's intense killing intent has been detected. Mission triggered: Execute Wang Teng!

Mission success reward: 4,000 Slaughter Points!

The cold, familiar system notification shrilled in his mind, like the final spark igniting a barrel of explosives!

"You! Are! Courting! Death!"

Lin Feng roared, his reason swallowed by boundless fury and killing intent!

The "Azure Dragon Transformation Art" inside his body circulated frenziedly. Although he had not yet cultivated the newly acquired "Soaring Dragon Astonishing Swan Step," his basic movement technique was driven to its limit under the pressure of his extreme emotions!

His body suddenly moved, transforming into a blurred afterimage as he charged fiercely at Wang Teng, who stood proudly in place, carrying an utterly unyielding resolve!

Pale golden true essence rapidly gathered over his right palm. The faint roar of a dragon resounded as the majestic palm force of the "Ocean Overturning Mountain Splitting Palm" remained poised to strike, yet had already stirred the surrounding air into a furious vortex. Carrying terrifying might capable of tearing everything apart, it shot straight toward Wang Teng's face, written over with arrogance and malice!

This strike erupted in rage, swift as lightning and vicious beyond compare!

The mocking smile on Wang Teng's face stiffened slightly. Clearly, he had not expected that after Lin Feng's sister's safety had been threatened,

and despite knowing that there was an enormous gap between their strengths, Lin Feng would dare attack him so decisively, recklessly throwing caution to the wind!

That fierce palm wind had already rushed into his face, stirring the hair above his brow—