Soul-Eroding Powder (Two Chapters Combined)

Luo Heng and Lin Dong turned to look, only to see a group of five or six people approaching them.

The one leading them was none other than Yue Feng.

His injuries had long since healed, and his aura was even more solid than it had been three months ago. He faintly seemed to have touched the threshold of the Late Heaven Yuan Realm. Clearly, he had not slacked off during these past three months either.

At that moment, his face bore undisguised mockery and resentment, his gaze fixed on Luo Heng like that of a venomous snake.

Behind him followed several young experts from the Blood Wolf Gang, each with fierce auras and unfriendly expressions. There was even a gloomy-looking old man among them, whose cultivation had reached the Late Heaven Yuan Realm. He was clearly a retainer Yue Feng had recently recruited, or one sent by his family to protect him.

Seeing this display, the surrounding stall owners and passersby instinctively backed away, clearing an open space. Their gazes shifted between the two sides as they eagerly waited for a show.

The conflict between the Blood Wolf Gang's Young Master and Luo Heng, the Symbol Master Association's genius, had long ceased to be a secret in Flame City.

Lin Dong's expression darkened. He stepped forward half a pace to stand shoulder to shoulder with Luo Heng. Little Yan also poked half his body out from Lin Dong's arms, his crimson tiger eyes warily fixed on Yue Feng and the others as a low, threatening growl rumbled from his throat.

Luo Heng, however, remained calm. There was even a faint, amused smile at the corner of his lips.

"Who did I think it was? So it's Young Master Yue." His tone was flat, as though he were discussing something utterly insignificant. "What, have your injuries healed? You came out again so soon... looking for another beating?"

He said those last two words casually, yet they carried intense humiliation.

The mockery on Yue Feng's face instantly froze before turning to fury. The Blood Wolf Gang members behind him also glared angrily.

Being publicly defeated and severely wounded by Luo Heng on the Martial Combat Stage three months ago was the greatest humiliation of his life!

"Luo Heng! Don't get too arrogant!" Yue Feng gritted out through clenched teeth. "Do you think that because the Symbol Master Association is protecting you, you can do whatever you please in Flame City? If my Blood Wolf Gang wants to crush you, it'll be as easy as crushing an ant!"

"Oh?" Luo Heng raised an eyebrow and swept his gaze over Yue Feng, as though appraising some worthless piece of merchandise. "Crush me? With you? Or with this bunch of... crooked melons and cracked dates behind you?"

He paused, his mocking tone completely undisguised. "I remember you said the same thing last time. Then... I smacked you flying with one sword strike, didn't I? I seem to recall you coughing up quite a bit of blood too. Tsk, tsk. Whenever I think of that scene now, I find it... rather appetizing."

"Pfft—" Someone in the surrounding crowd failed to hold back a laugh, then hurriedly covered their mouth.

Yue Feng's face turned livid, his whole body trembling. The Late Heaven Yuan Realm old man behind him frowned deeply, stepped forward, and said in a low voice, "Young Master Luo, leave some room in your words. Don't push people too far."

"Push people too far?" Luo Heng looked as though he had heard a joke. His gaze shifted to the old man, and though his tone remained calm, his words became even more cutting. "When your Blood Wolf Gang acted tyrannically, oppressed the innocent, colluded with bandits in secret, murdered people, and robbed their goods, why didn't you think of the words 'pushing people too far'? Now that I've struck a sore spot, you suddenly want to reason with me? Too late!"

His gaze returned to Yue Feng, his tone abruptly turning cold. "Yue Feng, let me tell you this. Do you really think I don't know about those little schemes you pulled in Qingyang Town? Colluding with the Black Wind Stronghold and attempting to kill with a borrowed knife... I've remembered every one of those debts."

Yue Feng was startled. Luo Heng knew so much? Had the people from the Black Wind Stronghold really fallen into his hands? And the disappearance of Retainer Liu Chong...

But he would never admit it aloud. He shouted fiercely despite his inner weakness, "You're spouting slander! You made too many enemies yourself and brought disaster upon your own clan, yet you want to pin it on my Blood Wolf Gang? Luo Heng, don't think a little talent lets you twist black into white! The Lei and Xie Clans of Qingyang Town were wiped out. Who knows if you did it secretly, then framed my Blood Wolf Gang for it!"

The crowd immediately erupted in an uproar.

News that the Blood Wolf Gang had exterminated the Lei and Xie Clans of Qingyang Town had long spread. Yet Yue Feng was now biting back, claiming Luo Heng had done it? This was far too juicy!

Lin Dong flew into a rage and was about to refute him, but Luo Heng raised a hand to stop him.

Luo Heng watched Yue Feng's flustered yet forcibly composed expression, then suddenly smiled. There was a lofty pity in that smile.

"Yue Feng, Yue Feng. Do you know what your greatest problem is?" Luo Heng slowly said, sounding like a teacher lecturing an unpromising student. "You're stupid, and worse, you're too stupid to realize it."

He took two steps forward, coming within thirty feet of Yue Feng. His voice was not loud, yet every person present could hear it clearly.

"You say I wiped out the Lei and Xie Clans, then framed the Blood Wolf Gang? Never mind whether I even had the motive, time, or strength. Let me ask you this: how could I have done it? With my Early Heaven Yuan Realm cultivation three months ago? I was supposed to wipe out two great clans guarded by Lei Bao and Xie Qian, both mid-to-late Heaven Yuan Realm experts, along with numerous guards, then clean everything up perfectly while leaving behind nothing but 'evidence' pointing to your Blood Wolf Gang?"

What a joke. Even if I had done it, would I admit it?

He paused, watching Yue Feng's ever-changing expression, then continued, "Or do you think the Blood Wolf Gang's reputation in Flame City, and even across all Tiandu Prefecture, is simply too good? So good that if someone leaves behind a few tokens and bloody words, everyone will immediately believe it was your doing? Hmm? Young Master Yue, just how many unforgivable things has your Blood Wolf Gang done for everyone to so readily believe that you'd exterminate an entire family?"

Those words were utterly devastating!

They stomped viciously on the Blood Wolf Gang's notoriously foul reputation.

The looks the surrounding crowd gave Yue Feng and the others instantly turned subtle. Quite a few people secretly nodded. Indeed, it would not be strange at all for the Blood Wolf Gang to wipe out entire clans... that was their reputation.

Yue Feng was left speechless. Even he felt Luo Heng's words made sense. His face alternated between red and white, his chest heaving violently as his fury reached its limit.

The Late Heaven Yuan Realm old man behind him also darkened. Luo Heng's words were not merely humiliating Yue Feng—they were slapping the entire Blood Wolf Gang across the face!

"What a sharp-tongued brat! But winning with words is meaningless. In this world, strength is what matters in the end!" the old man said coldly.

"Strength is what matters? Well said! That's what I think too." Luo Heng suddenly clapped, his smile growing even brighter as he addressed Yue Feng. "Yue Feng, it seems you also admire the principle that strength is everything. Then how about we fight again? Just like three months ago—a fair duel, with life and death left to fate. What do you say?"

He pressed another step forward and said coldly, "Do you dare?!"

Those three words exploded beside Yue Feng's ears like thunder!

Did he dare?

Yue Feng shuddered and instinctively took half a step back.

The shadow of that battle three months ago instantly enveloped his heart. Luo Heng's unfathomable swordsmanship, the scene of his full-powered strike being utterly crushed—it remained an inescapable nightmare even now.

He had trained desperately over the past three months precisely to wash away that humiliation. Yet now, truly facing Luo Heng and sensing that deeper, more restrained aura from him—an aura that made his heart tremble even more—he discovered that deep inside... a trace of fear had arisen.

That trace of fear, and that retreating step, was seen by everyone.

"Tsk, looks like you don't dare." Luo Heng made no attempt to hide the disdain in his eyes. "That's it? And you dare brag about crushing me? Yue Feng, I don't think you should be called Yue Feng. You should be called Yue Coward, or... Yue Chickenheart."

"Hahahaha!" The spectators could no longer hold back, erupting into roaring laughter.

Even Lin Dong could not keep the corners of his lips from lifting. Brother Luo Heng's tongue was far too vicious!

"You... you're courting death!!!"

Yue Feng completely lost his reason. His eyes instantly filled with bloodshot veins. Since childhood, when had he ever suffered such unbearable humiliation? He had been publicly insulted, mocked, frightened into retreating, and finally even had his name changed into an insulting nickname!

Old and new hatred, combined with the shame and fury of having his inner fear exposed before everyone, erupted like a volcano!

"Kill him for me!!!"