Chapter 157: The Might of Heavenly Flames

With a single strike of his palm, Ling Tian felt as though he had hit a greasy corpse—slippery and slick, neutralizing the majority of his force and allowing only thirty percent of his power to take effect. Ling Tian thought to himself: No wonder orthodox martial arts adopt a policy of total eradication against heterodox paths; these people indeed possess some tricks up their sleeves.

Although it was only thirty percent of his power, Ling Tian's genuine Qi was dense and immense. Combined with his highly precise force control and ingenious techniques, he still managed to damage the evil master's internal organs. The evil master chuckled as he turned around, sucking back the dark black blood flowing from the corner of his mouth, and said, "Boy, did you really think you could track my movement technique? Earlier, I intentionally slowed down by half a beat. Now you have been infected with corpse poison. If you do not force it out immediately, you will become a rotting corpse."

This technique was extremely cruel to martial arts practitioners. If one chose to circulate internal energy to force out the poison, it required utilizing the practitioner's entire reserve of genuine Qi, which was equivalent to losing combat capability in a short span of time and leaving oneself at the mercy of the evil master. However, if one continued to fight, the corpse poison would spread rapidly, and temporarily suppressing the speed of the poison with internal energy would still reduce one's combat effectiveness.

Therefore, for a martial artist, this was a choice where no true choice could be made.

"Hehe, I'm afraid you still don't know the terrifying power of corpse poison." The evil master raised his sharp claws, stained with black Qi, and gently brushed them across the fresh flowers on the windowsill. Under everyone's horrified gaze, the vibrant flowers withered at a speed visible to the naked eye, finally turning into a pile of withered branches and rotting leaves that emitted a foul, decaying stench.

Angel, who was watching from the side, was extremely nervous, her heart pounding in her throat. If Nangong Ye hadn't held her back, she probably would have already rushed forward to help Ling Tian.

Nangong Zhenyu weighed whether he should step in to help, but ultimately chose to give up. Based on what he had just witnessed, he believed that his meager martial arts skills would not only fail to help Ling Tian, but would instead become a burden. "When will the Security Bureau arrive?" Nangong Zhenyu asked in a low voice.

"The old butler called just now to say they are on the way, but in my opinion, even if the Security Bureau arrives, it will be of no use." Nangong Ye shook his head somewhat helplessly. In his view, the evil master was simply too powerful; even if the Security Bureau arrived, it would be in vain. Perhaps only Elder Situ could make a difference.

Nangong Zhenyu fell into deep thought, pondering how to eliminate this monster of an evil master.

The evil master raised his sharp claws and fiercely slashed at a nearby table. The table, made of composite board, was exceptionally hard; even if chopped with an axe, it might not split open. Yet under the evil master's sharp claws, it was sliced as easily as cutting tofu, leaving a gap with faint wisps of black Qi lingering around the edges.

"Boy, it's time to make a choice." The evil master raised both claws, grinning and revealing a set of white, ghastly teeth.

Ling Tian said proudly, "Mere parlor tricks." With that, Ling Tian gave a sharp wave of his hand, and the black Qi on his arm rapidly condensed toward the center of his palm, finally turning into a pitch-black mini-orb before being absorbed by Ling Tian. "How can heterodox paths compare to orthodox martial arts?" Ling Tian sneered contemptuously.

Seeing that Ling Tian was not afraid of the corpse poison, the evil master was immensely shocked. Corpse poison was one of his sharpest weapons, causing countless martial artists to turn pale at the mere mention of it, yet today it had failed.

"It seems the strength was not enough." The evil master sneered and charged at Ling Tian once again. This time, his speed was much faster than before. His sharp claws danced up a storm, whipping up surges of air currents in the void as rings of black Qi rapidly spread toward Ling Tian. This time, the evil master used his full strength, releasing almost all of his corpse poison and evil Qi.

To Nangong Zhenyu and the others, the evil master carried a massive mass of black Qi that rolled toward Ling Tian like a dark cloud. Even standing at the doorway, they could feel an evil aura that made their hearts tremble.

"Mere parlor tricks, and you dare to act presumptuously in front of this young master?" Ling Tian shouted furiously, pushing out a palm as fierce as a rainstorm. It collided with the mass of black Qi released by the evil master, and the impact of the two soft-looking energies produced the sound of a hard object colliding.

Immediately afterward, the black evil Qi devoured Ling Tian's genuine Qi, instantly doubling in size and enveloping Ling Tian entirely.

"Haha! I thought you had some formidable ability, but you're no better than the rest." The evil master laughed arrogantly. Based on his past combat experience, as long as someone was enveloped by his evil Qi, they were guaranteed to die. Even a martial artist who had reached the Qi-transformation realm would have to pay a certain price to break through.

The corpse poison refined from a century-old rotting corpse was extremely powerful, and coupled with the evil master's secret refining techniques, it was venomous beyond compare.

"You two must be my employers, right?" Assuming he had finished off Ling Tian, the evil master turned to look at Nangong Yukun and Nangong Mei, a father-and-daughter pair. He split his wide mouth into a grin, his gloomy eyes darting back and forth over Nangong Mei's body as he even swallowed hard.

Nangong Yukun and Nangong Mei hurriedly nodded and said, "That's right, we are your employers. As long as you kill everyone else, the task will be complete, and we will transfer the remaining money to the account you specified." At this point, the father and daughter no longer needed to hide it.

Nangong Zhenyu trembled with rage. He pointed at Nangong Yukun and said, "You wretch, you turned out to be a traitor to the family, colluding with heterodox villains to frame your own niece, and now you even want to kill us, you..." Overcome by fury, Nangong Zhenyu spat a mouthful of blood on the spot and collapsed backward, only to be caught in time by Nangong Ye.

Bolstered by the support of the evil master, Nangong Yukun laughed arrogantly. "So what if I am? As long as I kill all of you, all the assets of the Nangong family will be mine, and I can do whatever I please. As for you, you're nothing more than a stray dog. Kneel down and beg me now, and perhaps I might consider sparing your life."

With that, Nangong Yukun laughed like a petty villain who had achieved his ambitions.

The evil master chuckled and said, "Since you are the employers, we should talk about the remuneration."

Nangong Yukun, who was in the middle of a triumphant laugh, looked at the evil master in confusion and said, "Didn't we already discuss this? Once you complete the task, we will give you the rest of the money."

The evil master said with a weird tone, "I've changed my mind now. Double the money, and by the way, let me have some good fun with this little chick. She's got such delicate skin and tender meat; playing with her must feel amazing."

"You..." Nangong Yukun looked at the evil master with fury, while Nangong Mei was so terrified she was almost wetting herself. If the other party had been a handsome man, she might have considered it, but standing before her now was a ghastly monster that was neither human nor ghost. Forget sleeping in the same bed; even just looking at him made her feel sick.

"I forgot to tell you, all my employers have eventually turned into corpses, and this time is no exception. Today, you agree whether you want to or not, and you agree even if you don't." The evil master laughed sinisterly. Then, he turned his gaze toward Angel and Nangong Xueer, saying, "These two little lasses are even more refreshing and pretty. I like them; both of you are staying to keep me company too."

Though Angel was also terrified, she still pulled Nangong Xueer behind her back and stared proudly at the evil master, saying, "Wishful thinking! Even if we die, we won't let you get your way."

The evil master paused slightly for a moment, then continued, "It doesn't matter, playing with corpses is even more thrilling."

Angel was so angry she nearly vomited blood. Nangong Zhenyu and Nangong Ye shielded Angel and Nangong Xueer behind them, stepping forward resolutely with a firm and unyielding air, intending to stall the evil master and buy time for the others to escape.

"Just the few of you? A mantis trying to stop a chariot." The evil master sneered and charged forward.

Nangong Zhenyu and the others had already steeled themselves for certain death. They unleashed their full strength and met the charge head-on, determined to fight the evil master to the death.

Just at that moment, a dark shadow flashed, grabbed the evil master by the back of his neck, and hoisted him up into the air.

"You... how are you completely unharmed?" The evil master looked back and discovered that the person holding him was none other than Ling Tian, who had supposedly been enveloped by the evil Qi. Not only was Ling Tian unharmed, but he appeared even more energetic than before. This left the evil master utterly bewildered: could it be that what he had released earlier wasn't evil Qi at all, but some kind of tonic?

Under the evil master's manipulation, wisps of evil Qi surged along Ling Tian's arm and rapidly spread across his entire body, but these malicious vapors were quickly absorbed into Ling Tian's body and converted into genuine Qi. The purer the evil Qi, the faster Ling Tian absorbed it; far from causing him any harm, it actually served as a nourishing tonic.

"Since you are courting death, I will grant your wish." Realizing that his evil Qi had failed, the evil master abruptly opened his mouth, and a massive swarm of corpse-eating bugs resembling giant flies spewed forth, swiftly surrounding Ling Tian. These corpse bugs were inherently sinister entities that fed on rotting flesh and grew by absorbing evil Qi, and thus possessed extremely aggressive combat capabilities.

In an extremely short span of time, they managed to chew through a small fraction of Ling Tian's protective genuine Qi.

Ling Tian frowned slightly, waved his left hand sharply, opened his five fingers, and made a grasping motion in the empty air. All the corpse bugs were instantly snared within an invisible giant net and compressed into a small ball.

Far from being worried, the evil master laughed triumphantly. "These corpse bugs were passed down to me by my master. I have raised them for a full hundred years, and they have long since forged bodies as tough as copper and iron. Even if you were to smash them with a hammer, you might not kill them. Moreover, your genuine Qi cannot do much to harm them; instead, it will only serve as their food."

Ling Tian attempted to grind them to death using his genuine Qi, but discovered that these corpse bugs were minuscule in size, numerous in quantity, and indeed as tough as the evil master claimed. To completely crush these bugs to death would require at least ten minutes and consume a vast amount of genuine Qi.

"Don't waste your effort. My hundred-year corpse bugs are priceless treasures; you simply cannot destroy them," the evil master said smugly. He had relied on these corpse bugs to run amok for many years, making them his ultimate trump card. Back in the day, he had used these terrifying corpse bugs to slaughter ten martial arts experts.

Ling Tian said indifferently, "Death is at your doorstep, yet you still dare to spout such arrogant nonsense."

"Haha, this is the insurmountable gap in our strength. Don't think these little creatures are easy to deal with. Even if you are a martial artist in the Qi-transformation realm, you may not be able to eliminate these little darlings in a short time. Just obediently wait for your death," the evil master laughed arrogantly.

Ling Tian let out a cold snort. With a flicker of his divine sense, a crimson-red tiny flame materialized out of thin air right in the middle of the swarm of corpse bugs. In the blink of an eye, the heaven-and-earth anomalous fire transformed into a miniature fire dragon, enveloping the corpse bugs. Within moments, the hundred-year corpse bugs, famed for having bodies of copper and iron, were reduced to a pile of flying ash.

"Heaven-and-earth anomalous fire... You actually possess heaven-and-earth anomalous fire!" The evil master stared at Ling Tian in sheer astonishment, his eyes filled with terror. For sorcery and evil arts, heaven-and-earth anomalous fire was their ultimate nemesis.