Chapter 24: Wang Lin, Son of the Heavenly Dao

If Teng Huayuan were to be released, it would undoubtedly leave behind future troubles. Moreover, the hatred between Wang Lin and Teng Huayuan was irreconcilable. Yet, after only a moment, Wang Lin lowered his head and said, "Yes, Master."

In that instant, Wang Lin chose to trust Fang Zhiyi. After Wang Lin left, Fang Zhiyi set up a barrier, ensuring that everything said between her and Teng Huayuan from that point on could be heard by no one else.

Teng Huayuan let out a cold snort. "Aren't you afraid of retribution for letting your disciple act so recklessly?"

Fang Zhiyi sneered, "And have the Teng family not committed enough evil deeds themselves?"

"The Teng family has always seen things through to the end. Had your disciple not killed my great-grandson that day, I certainly would not have sought to exterminate him."

Fang Zhiyi replied coldly, "What does the life or death of the Wang family have to do with me?"

Hearing this, Teng Huayuan was stunned. He stared at Fang Zhiyi in disbelief, doubting what he had just heard, yet her demeanor clearly suggested she had come specifically to back Wang Lin. Wang Lin was merely a minor cultivator at the Core Formation stage; without the help of Fang Zhiyi, a Soul Formation cultivator, he could never have posed a threat to an Nascent Soul cultivator like himself.

Though he did not know why, Teng Huayuan understood that Fang Zhiyi revealing this to him meant she never intended for him to see Wang Lin alive again. After all, if he were to tell Wang Lin what she had just said, it would inevitably create a rift between master and disciple, which would be counterproductive.

Teng Huayuan laughed up at the sky. "It seems your disciple does not yet know what kind of person his master is. A Soul Formation cultivator is indeed ruthless; it seems his fate will be no better than mine!"

From beginning to end, Fang Zhiyi’s expression remained indifferent, unchanged by Teng Huayuan's words. She drew a dagger from her storage pouch—a blade inlaid with colorful gemstones, sharp enough to slice through iron like mud, and of immense value. She ran the blade back and forth across Teng Huayuan’s face; had it been even half an inch closer, it would have surely left him mangled.

Teng Huayuan swallowed hard and asked, "Let us speak plainly. Since Elder Fang does not care about the life or death of the Wang family, there must be another reason you came to Teng Family City, right?"

Fang Zhiyi preferred speaking with intelligent people. "Correct. I want to know where that Five-Tiger Sumeru Needle came from."

Teng Huayuan laughed loudly. "So that is why you came! Several hundred years ago, while passing through a village, I encountered that tiger stealing human food. After capturing it, I discovered it was the local Tiger King. As a fellow cultivator, you must surely know the value of its body."

"I just never expected that the Tiger King would lose its life over a morsel of human food. Truly pathetic."

Fang Zhiyi froze. In that instant, her mind went blank.

So that was it. Its death was all her fault. Fang Zhiyi felt devastated, losing her footing.

"Before that Tiger King died, it kept looking toward the depths of the forest. I wonder what was there that made it care so much."

What was there? She was there...

Knowing the truth, Fang Zhiyi had no desire to hear another word from Teng Huayuan. She reached out and severed his tongue. Fang Zhiyi was practiced in such matters; the tongue came away, yet not a single drop of blood was shed.

Fang Zhiyi waved her hand, and the barrier dissolved. She walked out slowly. As she passed Wang Lin, she paused and said coldly, "Finish him."

"Yes, Master."

...

Fang Zhiyi returned to the inn first. Her thoughts were entirely on Wang Lin. Just moments ago, the Heavenly Dao had clearly been displeased with him. Just as she expected the Heavenly Dao to strike, the haze shrouding Wang Lin had gradually dissipated. The Heavenly Dao was not prepared to do anything to him.

A child of the Heavenly Dao—so that was how it was.

Fang Zhiyi sneered. By comparison, it seemed she was born incompatible with the Heavenly Dao. Very well, she would see just how far the Heavenly Dao would go for Wang Lin.

Three days passed before Wang Lin returned to the inn. Throughout that time, screams and wails echoed relentlessly from outside. Fang Zhiyi did not open the door to look; the inn was arguably the quietest place in all of Teng Family City, like a sanctuary. This fact had been discovered early on, and many people had flooded into the inn, but whatever method Wang Lin used, the inn soon grew as quiet as before.

In Teng Family City, apart from the members of the Teng family, no other cultivator could use spells. Wang Lin did not care about the lives of others; he was only killing the people of the Teng family. He had taken Teng Huayuan to the highest point in the city. By then, having had his throat severed by Fang Zhiyi, Teng Huayuan could no longer speak. He could only weep as he watched Wang Lin slaughter every member of the Teng family.

When Fang Zhiyi followed Wang Lin out of the inn, she expected to see a river of blood, but when she stepped outside, everything appeared peaceful and serene.

Street vendors stood by the roadside just as they had when she first arrived, and an endless stream of cultivators walked past them on the street. Only, the looks they cast toward Wang Lin were filled with terror. Though Fang Zhiyi did not know Wang Lin’s motives, she sensed that something had happened of which she was unaware.

What Fang Zhiyi did not see was that, in the depths of the alleys she had ignored, corpses were piled high, and blood flowed across the stone slabs like a winding stream.

Once the time Wang Lin had specified passed, the people of Teng Family City began to disperse.

"Have you killed all the members of the Teng family?" Fang Zhiyi asked indifferently while sitting in her carriage.

Wang Lin nodded. "I found a way to gather those who were not in the city as well. There is no longer a Teng family, nor is there a Teng Family City." His tone was resolute.

Fang Zhiyi nodded, satisfied. "Well done." She casually took a manual of sword techniques from her storage pouch and said, "Master this sword style, and you shall be peerless in the world, unstoppable by any."

Since the Heavenly Dao favored Wang Lin so uniquely, she would make him a blade in her own hand. There were many things she could not do, but Wang Lin could.

Fearing that something might go wrong at the God of War Hall, Fang Zhiyi urged the carriage to travel at top speed under her control. Since learning the truth of the Tiger King’s death, she had not closed her eyes. She dared not sleep; whenever she did, she could only recall the moment she witnessed the Tiger King’s tragic demise.

Days of worry had left Fang Zhiyi looking unwell. Concerned, Wang Lin specially brewed a calming medicinal decoction and brought it to her.

"How much longer until we reach the God of War Hall?"

"Reporting to Master, at our fastest, two more days."

Fang Zhiyi nodded, and for once, she fixed her gaze upon Wang Lin. She asked, "From your childhood until now, have you ever encountered anything truly bizarre?"

Previously, Fang Zhiyi had always followed the path of the Heavenly Dao, but she no longer wished to do so. What is the Heavenly Dao? If fate can be changed, then she would try to change it. From this day forward, she would not believe in the Heavenly Dao; she would believe only in herself.