Ning Fengzhi: Offering Loyalty to the Spirit Hall Empire

"Damn it, that bastard actually severed his own arm!"

Mighty Lion Douluo landed on the ground, glanced at the blood covering the floor and the fading bloody streak in the distance, then spat in annoyance.

"Should we chase him?"

Guimei emerged from the shadows, his expression equally grim. That self-detonating sword energy had nearly injured him just now.

"No need."

Mighty Lion Douluo waved a hand, a cold smile curling across his lips.

"Come on, back to Heaven Dou Sacred Hall. The dog-eat-dog show at Blue Tyrant Academy is about to begin!"

Meanwhile.

On the outskirts of Heaven Dou City, in the underground secret chamber beneath the rear mountain of Blue Tyrant Academy.

The atmosphere was so oppressive that it seemed frozen solid.

Ning Fengzhi sat in a chair, clutching the Spirit Hall Amnesty Decree tightly in his hand. His gaze shifted uncertainly as he kept looking toward the tightly shut stone door of the chamber.

"Uncle Ning, please rest assured."

Tang San leaned weakly against the stone bed. Seeing Ning Fengzhi's anxious appearance, he put on a confident tone to reassure him.

"Grandpa Sword is a Peak 96th-Rank Douluo. Across the entire continent, there are only a few people capable of stopping him. The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well is hidden in a secret location, and Dugu Bo is no match for Grandpa Sword. Once Grandpa Sword brings back those peerless Immortal Herbs, all our troubles will be resolved!"

"Not only can they heal my father and Grandpa Gu, but as long as we obtain that Aromatic Silk Beauty, Uncle Ning, your Seven Treasure Glazed Pagoda will surely evolve as well! Then we'll have enough capital to stand against Spirit Hall!"

As Tang San spun his grand promises, Yu Xiaogang nodded repeatedly at the side.

Only Ning Rongrong, standing in the shadows of a corner, wore a trace of mockery at the corner of her lips that no one else could notice.

Keep dreaming, Tang San. Brother Xiaoyuan's butcher's blade is about to fall on your neck.

Bang!!!

At that moment, the secret chamber's heavy stone door was suddenly smashed open from outside with brutal force!

Along with a pungent, overpowering stench of blood, a figure covered from head to toe in blood—his left arm severed at the shoulder—was hurled into the chamber like a broken sack, crashing heavily onto the cold stone floor.

"Uncle Sword!!!"

Ning Fengzhi shot to his feet. When he saw the one-armed old man on the ground, he was utterly dumbfounded.

Tang San and Yu Xiaogang both shuddered. The confident smiles that had just appeared on their faces froze completely in an instant!

"H-How is this possible?!"

Tang San stared in horror at the horribly mangled Chen Xin on the ground.

This was the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's foremost attack-type Douluo!

How could he have been reduced to this half-dead, crippled state after going to deal with a mere old poisoner at Rank 91?!

"Uncle Sword! How did you suffer such terrible injuries?! Where are the Immortal Herbs? Where is Dugu Bo?!"

Ning Fengzhi practically crawled over to Chen Xin's side. With trembling hands, he hurriedly used the Seven Treasure Glazed Pagoda to stop his bleeding.

"Pfft!"

Chen Xin suddenly coughed up a mouthful of black blood. Not a trace of color remained on his withered old face. His remaining right hand clutched Ning Fengzhi's collar tightly, while his bloodshot eyes glared fixedly at Tang San in the distance.

"Immortal Herbs? Where the hell were there any Immortal Herbs?!"

"That Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well... Spirit Hall's people had already dug it up three feet deep. They didn't even leave behind a scrap of ground!!!"

"What?!"

Tang San felt his mind explode with a buzz. He collapsed limply onto the bed as though his soul had been drained away.

"Impossible! This is impossible! In my previous life, I clearly..."

"Shut your mouth! You vicious little beast!!"

Chen Xin's eyes nearly split apart with rage as he roared with the last of his strength.

"There was no Dugu Bo there at all! Only Mighty Lion Douluo and Ghost Douluo waiting in a trap! It was an ambush set by Spirit Hall specifically to kill me!!"

"Fengzhi... we were deceived... We were all deceived by this little beast!! To save his father's life, he deliberately fabricated lies about Immortal Herbs and used my old life as bait to draw Spirit Hall's attention!!!"

Boom!!!

Chen Xin's words were the final straw, utterly shattering every last shred of Ning Fengzhi's reason and hope!

The Immortal Herbs were fake.

Hope was fake!

His dream of evolving the Seven Treasure Glazed Pagoda had become a ridiculous bubble!

And the price was that Chen Xin, Sword Douluo—the final pillar holding up the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect—had lost an arm!!

"Tang San!!!"

Ning Fengzhi slowly turned his head.

His once refined and gentle face had now twisted beyond recognition!

He walked toward Tang San's bed one step at a time. The coldness and hatred in his eyes were ten times more terrifying than Spirit Hall outside!

"U-Uncle Ning... please, listen to my explanation..."

Tang San trembled violently and kept retreating, his voice filled with terror unlike anything he had ever felt before.

"I really didn't lie to you! There really were Immortal Herbs there! It must have been Spirit Hall's Holy Son, Ye Yuan... him! He must have foreseen my memories and dug up all the Immortal Herbs in advance!!"

"Shut up!!"

Ning Fengzhi laughed in extreme fury, his laughter echoing through the hall and sending chills down the spine.

He pressed closer to Tang San step by step.

"Ye Yuan foresaw it in advance? Tang San, do you really take me, Ning Fengzhi, for a fool you can toy with at will?!"

"My Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was ruined because of you! Our base was destroyed! Uncle Gu became a cripple, and now even Uncle Sword has lost an arm! I, Ning Fengzhi, have lost everything!!"

Ning Fengzhi suddenly seized Tang San by the collar and forcibly lifted him off the stone bed.

"Master Ning! What are you trying to do?! Xiaosan is a future god!"

Yu Xiaogang was scared out of his wits and lunged forward to stop him.

"Get lost!!"

Ning Fengzhi backhanded him across the face, sending the cripple Yu Xiaogang flying into the wall, where he began coughing up blood.

"U-Uncle Ning... please, listen to my explanation..."

Tang San trembled all over.

"I really didn't lie to you! There really were Immortal Herbs there! It must have been Spirit Hall's Holy Son, Ye Yuan... him! He must have foreseen my memories and dug up all the Immortal Herbs in advance! I even gave you the blueprints—you can't kill me!"

"Blueprints? Can a few worthless blueprints of scrap iron bring back Uncle Sword's arm?! Can they restore the foundation of my Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect?!"

Ning Fengzhi laughed in extreme fury, his laughter echoing through the hall and sending chills down the spine.

He pulled out the mud-stained Spirit Hall Amnesty Decree from his robes and viciously slapped it against Tang San's face.

"You disaster-bringing jinx who only knows how to cause trouble! Since the day I met you, my Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect hasn't had a single peaceful day! Uncle Gu was crippled, Uncle Sword was maimed! And you still dared to deceive me with lies!"

"I originally hoped you would lead us to turn this around, but now it seems you were born to bring ruin!!"

Ning Fengzhi's tone was icy.

"Since you can't become a god, and since the things in your head can't preserve the life of my Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, then you and your father will use your heads to buy my sect a path to survival!"

"Guards!!"