Lei Long asked three questions in a row.
"Well..."
Seeing his subordinate hemming and hawing, Lei Long frowned at once. "If you have something to say, say it. Stop beating around the bush."
The man looked terrified, and his voice trembled slightly. "Young Master Lei, Miss Lan Lingmeng, she..."
"What about her?" Lei Long pressed.
"She's been getting close to someone named Yu Tianheng lately. She even took the initiative to befriend him, and it looks like she wants to pursue him herself!"
Lei Long's smile froze on his face. His gaze turned icy, and the presence around him grew sinister. "What did you say? Say it again!" he said through gritted teeth, enunciating every word.
His subordinate dropped to his knees with a thud, his voice trembling even more. "Young Master Lei, it's absolutely true. Lan Lingmeng has been going to see Yu Tianheng frequently these past few days, hoping to befriend him."
Lei Long felt a blaze of anger rush straight to his head. He clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white, his heart full of resentment and displeasure. Lan Lingmeng was the woman he had pursued for so long, yet now she had taken the initiative to befriend Yu Tianheng. How could he swallow this insult?
He muttered to himself, "What's this Yu Tianheng's background? How come I've never heard of him before? Forget it. Since this brat dares to make a move on the woman I've set my sights on, he can't blame me for being ruthless."
With that, he started to get up and deal with Yu Tianheng.
But his subordinate hurriedly stopped him. "Young Master Lei, calm down! Yu Tianheng is no ordinary person."
"Oh? From the sound of it, he has quite a background. Let's hear it. I'd like to see if it's enough to scare me." Lei Long looked disdainful.
His subordinate hurriedly said, "Young Master Lei, Yu Tianheng is from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. He only came to Heaven Dou Royal Academy recently, so it's normal that you haven't heard of him."
"The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan!" Lei Long's eyes narrowed at those words. As a genius Soul Master in the Soul Master World, how could he not have heard the great name of the Upper Three Sects?
"That's not all. Yu Tianheng is a direct descendant of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. His grandfather is the current clan leader, a Titled Douluo-level powerhouse, and Yu Tianheng himself has already been chosen as the clan's next heir. Forgive my bluntness, Young Master Lei, but Yu Tianheng's status and background are in no way inferior to yours. If you intend to deal with him, please think it over carefully!" the subordinate said.
Lei Long gritted his teeth at that. Yu Tianheng's status and background were more than just equal to his own; they were even a little higher.
A Titled Douluo!
Even his father, an imperial marshal who commanded a vast army, would be extremely wary of a powerhouse at that level.
Unless it was necessary, he absolutely did not want to provoke Yu Tianheng.
But whenever he thought of how the woman he had set his sights on treated him coldly, yet was so enamored of this newcomer, Lei Long felt deeply displeased.
Yet when he thought of Yu Tianheng's status as the young clan leader of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, he forcibly swallowed the harsh words on the tip of his tongue. The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan was powerful and had deep foundations; it was not something he could easily afford to provoke.
After a long silence, Lei Long forcibly suppressed his anger and spoke coldly. "Go. Send someone to tell Yu Tianheng to stay away from Lan Lingmeng. She's the woman I, Lei Long, have set my sights on. Tell him to leave her alone, and not to think I'm afraid of him just because he's the young master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. There are some things he'd better not take too far, for everyone's sake. If he won't listen to reason, then he can't blame me, Lei Long, for disregarding the consequences!"
His subordinate quickly nodded. "Yes, Young Master Lei. I'll send someone to warn Yu Tianheng right away and tell him to stop indulging in wishful thinking."
Lei Long nodded and swept away, his sleeves billowing. He was going to find Lan Lingmeng at once and ask her what exactly was going on.
Meanwhile, in a separate room in the Heaven Dou Royal Academy's residential area, Yu Tianheng was immersed in a critical moment of cultivation. He had taken several bottles of Body Tempering Spirit Liquid and was circulating the Innate Skill to speed up its refinement, absorbing its medicinal power to temper his major sinews and improve his cultivation.
This step was extremely painful, more than an ordinary person could endure, but Yu Tianheng clenched his teeth and focused entirely on guiding the energy circulating within him.
After several days of uninterrupted cultivation, Yu Tianheng's Martial Dao realm had improved greatly, breaking through several realms from the Sinew Refining First Layer to reach the Sinew Refining Fifth Layer.
But the cost had also been enormous. He had used up almost all twenty bottles of Body Tempering Spirit Liquid he had exchanged for 2,000 Heavenly Mandate Points.
Seeing this, Yu Tianheng stopped using the Body Tempering Spirit Liquid and began stabilizing his cultivation.
Just as Yu Tianheng was sitting in meditation, cultivating the Innate Skill, a sudden burst of rapid, rude knocking roughly shattered the tranquility. Yu Tianheng frowned, irritation welling up in his heart, but he suppressed it, slowly ended his cultivation, and got up to answer the door.
As soon as the door opened, several Heaven Dou Grade students stood at the entrance. Most were seventeen or eighteen years old, and their Soul Power Levels were all above level thirty.
"Who are you, and what do you want with me?" Yu Tianheng asked with a frown.
The one in the lead said, "My name is Chen Feng, a level thirty-three, three-ring Battle Soul Master. My Martial Soul is the White Wolf. These two are Liu Ning and Zhao He, with Soul Power Levels of thirty-two and thirty-one respectively. We're all Heaven Dou Grade students, and we work under Brother Lei Long."
"We came here to warn you. Listen up: stay away from Lan Lingmeng. She's not someone you can set your sights on!"
Yu Tianheng was already angry at having his cultivation interrupted. Hearing this utterly unreasonable warning, a cold light flashed in his eyes. "What are you things? You dare meddle in my business?"
Chen Feng felt a flicker of fear under Yu Tianheng's glare, but he did not want to lose face in front of his companions. He stuck out his neck and continued, "Don't fail to appreciate what's good for you. Brother Lei Long has his eye on Lan Lingmeng. If you keep pestering her, you'll pay for it!"
Yu Tianheng sneered. "What the hell is Lei Long? He thinks he can make me pay? Go back and tell him that how I, Yu Tianheng, do things is none of his business. Tell him to stop fucking pointing fingers at me. And you lot, get as far away from me as you can. Don't disturb my cultivation, or you'll bear the consequences yourselves!"
Chen Feng flew into a rage. He immediately released his White Wolf Martial Soul and used Martial Soul Possession. Three Soul Rings rose around him, two yellow and one purple.
"Yu Tianheng, don't reject the face we're giving you! You may be talented, but you're too young and your Soul Power Level is low. You're still no match for us. I'm giving you a chance now: bow your head and apologize to us, or I'll show you the price of disrespecting your seniors!"
Yu Tianheng could no longer suppress the anger in his heart. The lightning around him instantly went wild, crackling arcs of electricity raging across his body.
"Noisy!" he shouted, abruptly throwing a punch. Its force carried surging lightning straight toward Chen Feng's abdomen.
Chen Feng was shocked and hurriedly used his Second Soul Skill to block it, but against Yu Tianheng's punch, he was too slow to unleash the skill. The blow struck him squarely, sending him flying backward like a kite with its string cut. He crashed heavily into the corridor wall, letting out a muffled groan of pain.