Night Fire

After Li Ming left, the air over the training grounds seemed to freeze, heavy and stifling. The disciples who had come to watch whispered among themselves, their gazes glued to Li Yuan's back. Some were impressed, some worried, but most were simply curious, as if it had nothing to do with them. Li Yuan ignored them. He just kept punching the bundle of ironwood dummies, one blow after another, until dusk fell and his muscles and bones ached. Only then did he drag himself back to Class A Courtyard Number One.

The courtyard was dark, with no lamps lit. He didn't go inside. Instead, he sat on the cold stone steps, his back against the doorframe, and looked up at the sky. There were no stars, only an inky darkness so thick it seemed to press the breath from his lungs.

Li Ming's arrogant, sinister face and his words, "We'll see," kept rolling through Li Yuan's mind. He knew this wasn't the end. It was only the beginning. The Li Family was a spiderweb: once it caught you, you'd have to tear off a layer of your own skin to break free.

He opened his hand and studied his palm. The qi and blood beneath his skin flowed quietly, carrying the solidity left by Smelting and the chill of a trace of curse power. This strength was something he'd clawed his way back from the Altar to earn, little by little, gambling his life for it. But against a behemoth like the Li Family, entrenched for a century, it still wasn't enough. Not nearly enough.

"Phew—"

He let out a long breath. White mist drifted before his eyes, then quickly scattered in the cold wind.

He had to grow stronger—faster. The resources in Class A Room, hunting in Black Mountain Forest, even the meager curse power on Netherworld Cult disciples—everything was too slow. He needed more, something fiercer, to feed the increasingly greedy "furnace" inside him.

Night deepened. The wind howled harder, kicking up dust and dead leaves that pattered against the paper windows.

Li Yuan lay on the hard wooden bed with his eyes closed, but he didn't sleep. Crimson Sun Qi and Blood circulated through his body on their own, warming his limbs and bones and sharpening his senses until he could detect the slightest disturbance outside.

He didn't know how much time had passed. Perhaps it was midnight, perhaps later.

A faint sound, barely audible and unlike the wind, slipped into his ears.

It was as if someone had stepped across the frozen earth beyond the courtyard wall, moving as lightly as they could.

Li Yuan's eyes flew open, his pupils narrowing in the darkness. He didn't move. He even slowed his breathing, but every muscle in his body had tensed, like a leopard poised to spring.

They were here.

The courtyard wall was low, and whoever was outside didn't seem to care about hiding their tracks. A faint tap sounded, like a pebble hitting the ground. Then a barely perceptible smell of smoke, tinged with pine resin, drifted through the crack beneath the door.

They weren't here to kill him. They were setting the place on fire!

Li Yuan's gaze turned cold. The Li Family's methods really were beneath contempt. Were they trying to force him out? Or did they simply mean to burn Class A Courtyard Number One to the ground with him inside?

He slipped soundlessly out of bed and crossed the icy floor barefoot, without making a sound. At the window, he peered through the faint light filtering through the paper and saw several blurry silhouettes deftly piling bundles of oil-soaked firewood by the courtyard gate and beneath the windows.

Their movements were practiced, their coordination seamless. They had clearly done this sort of thing many times before.

A cold smile tugged at Li Yuan's lips.

He retreated to the quiet room. He didn't bother to take the Iron Rod; instead, he slowly rolled his neck and flexed his wrists. His joints crackled softly. The Crimson Sun Qi and Blood within him—fused with the traits of various hard-body techniques and strengthened by devoured curse power—began to surge faster, filling him with searing strength.

A dim, dark-red glow surfaced beneath his skin. His muscles swelled, the contours stark beneath his thin nightclothes. He didn't fully activate his battle body, but he no longer hid the fierce aura of the "Black Mountain Fiend Star."

"Fsssh—"

A faint hiss sounded as firelight flared outside. Pine resin caught at once, and orange flames leaped up, greedily licking the dry kindling and wooden doors and windows. Thick smoke billowed into the air.

"Fire!" someone called from outside, deliberately keeping his voice low. Several silhouettes swiftly retreated, ready to vanish into the darkness.

And at that very moment—

"Boom—!"

The tightly shut courtyard gate, along with the firewood piled behind it, burst open as a brutally powerful force slammed into it from within! Wood splinters flew, and the burning kindling exploded outward in every direction!

A figure strode out through the flames and smoke like a ferocious beast tearing through the night!

Li Yuan stood in the gateway, his nightclothes singed through in several places, revealing a chest lined with savage muscles and glowing a dark red. His hair was somewhat disheveled, and soot streaked his face, but his eyes blazed in the firelight, terrifyingly bright, filled with undisguised killing intent.

The silhouettes, who had retreated only a few steps, came to an abrupt halt and stared back in shock. Seeing Li Yuan walk out of the sea of fire, they looked as though they'd seen a ghost.

Their orders had been to start a fire and create chaos, preferably driving their target out or burning him alive. They'd never expected him to charge straight out in such a violent manner!

Li Yuan's gaze swept over the faces hidden behind black cloth, where only their panicked eyes showed.

"The Li Family sent only a few rats like you?"

His voice was low, yet rang with the rough edge of stone scraping against metal. It cut through the crackling flames and struck the men hard.

Their leader reacted fastest. He barked, "Attack! Kill him!"

Several poisoned daggers gleamed a ghostly blue in the firelight as they stabbed at Li Yuan from different angles! Their movements were vicious, their coordination seamless—clearly, they were trained assassins.

Li Yuan moved.

He didn't dodge. He met the first dagger head-on as it stabbed toward his chest, his left hand flashing out to seize the attacker's wrist before the blade could reach him!

"Crack!"

The sickening snap of breaking bone rang out. The assassin screamed and dropped his dagger. Without even looking at him, Li Yuan grabbed his broken wrist and swung him like a human weapon, smashing him into the two men attacking from the side!

"Thud!" "Thud!"

The two men were knocked flying by their comrade's body, blood spraying from their mouths.

At the same time, a gust of malice surged from behind, a blade stabbing straight for his back!

As if he had eyes in the back of his head, Li Yuan twisted around. The muscles in his right arm bulged in an instant, and he swept it across with a wave of searing force!

"Clang!"

His arm struck the poisoned dagger with a metallic ring! A tremendous force knocked the blade aside, splitting the wielder's palm and numbing his entire arm. He stared in terror at Li Yuan's arm, whose skin wasn't even broken, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Li Yuan gave him no chance. His arm kept moving after knocking the dagger aside, and his elbow slammed into the man's Adam's apple like a heavy hammer!

"Urgh..."

The assassin's eyes bulged. Clutching his throat, he fell to the ground with a choking gurgle.

In the blink of an eye, four assassins were down: three dead, one gravely wounded.

The one with the broken wrist stared at Li Yuan standing before the flames like a fiendish god. Terror seized him, and he turned to run.

Li Yuan flicked his toe. The poisoned dagger on the ground sprang into his hand. Without even looking, he hurled it backward!

"Whoosh—thunk!"

The dagger sank precisely into the fleeing assassin's back. He pitched forward, convulsed twice, and fell silent.

Li Yuan stood amid the wreckage and corpses, surrounded by roaring flames that cast shifting light and shadow across his face. He slowly raised his hand and examined the place on his arm where the dagger had grazed him. Only a faint white mark remained, already fading.

He drew in a deep breath of air thick with smoke and blood. The Crimson Sun Qi and Blood in his body had grown even more active and searing after the fight.

He lifted his eyes toward the Li Family residence. His gaze pierced the darkness and firelight, cold as iron.

This night fire couldn't burn him away. It would only hone his blade faster and keener.

The martial hall's night patrol approached, their footsteps and shouts drawing nearer. Li Yuan didn't linger. He turned and walked back into the courtyard, not yet fully swallowed by the flames, his figure vanishing once more into the flickering light.