Leng Junfeng had never wanted to kill another person more than right now. His first impression of Teng Wuba was one of hatred and pity. Hatred because this was the man on whom the Teng Family placed their hopes and dreams. Pity, because his fiance ran away on the day of their wedding. What man could withstand such humiliation?
At least, until he learned the inside story.
Leng Junfeng had always planned on killing Teng Wuba. Not just him, but every person with the surname Teng, even if it was an infant that was just born. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and a clan's destruction for a clan's destruction.
But now, now it was personal.
Leng Junfeng wasn't a man who didn't act on his feelings. It would be a lie to say his heart was not moved after reuniting with Wang Meilin. He allowed their marriage to be dissolved because he felt that he was not worthy of her, unlike now.
This time, it wasn't Teng Wuba whose fiance ran away, but Teng Wuba who stole his childhood sweetheart. "Teng Wuba, Teng Wuba. I'll have your whole family repent in the Nether Realm for the death of my Leng Clan!"
Teng Wuba raised his hand and prevented the Teng Family guards and elders from intervening. "What a pity. Had you hidden like the rat you were, you might have gotten to live a few more years. Now, you are only bringing yourself closer to death!"
A torrential aura erupted from Teng Wuba's body. It wasn't just from his fighting spirit, but a combination of that and his qi. It hasn't quite reached the point of externalizing, but it was close enough. If Fenghua were to comment, she would call the current Teng Wuba a half-acupoint opening master.
Leng Junfeng didn't know this, but his natural instincts warned him that the ability charging up would spell his doom. Taking a stance that he had not taken for a long time, he unleashed the Divine Wind Fist air cannon. Although he could unleash it from any form now, it was still at its strongest when he unleashed it from the proper stance. In addition, now that Leng Junfeng could externalize his qi, his strength had risen to another level.
However, Teng Wuba wasn't the pride of the Teng Family for nothing. Relying on his acute senses, he punched the incoming air cannon, causing a crack to suddenly sound, resulting in the collision from his fist and Leng Junfeng's attack.
Thanks to covering his fist with his qi, most of the damage was mitigated, but Teng Wuba still felt that his hands had become numb for a second. His expression turned serious as he gazed at Leng Junfeng. "I didn't expect a former waste to learn Ancestor Allfist's legendary Divine Wind Fist. Still, you aren't quite up to Ancestor Allfist's level just yet. If you think you can rely on this to defeat me, think again!"
Without giving Leng Junfeng a chance to react, Teng Wuba charged forward, forcing Leng Jufeng to break his horse stance and retreat. "Don't think you can retreat so easily!"
Seeing the incoming fist, Leng Junfeng also replied with his own. Thanks to his qi, he was able to induce a small whirlwind in his hand to enhance his punch.
When Teng Wuba's qi-charged fist and Leng Junfeng's whirlwind fist connected, a strong gust was created, and the ground beneath both their feet cracked.
"Not bad," Teng Wuba commented lightly, but killing intent erupted from his body. He knew that Leng Junfeng was less than twenty years old and took far less time than himself to reach a similar level of strength. Leaving such a dangerous variable against the Teng Family was unwise, so he decided to kill him even if it meant losing the Divine Wind Fist forever.
Leng Junfeng grunted as he backstepped a few feet. Although both of them seemed to be even in strength, he knew that Teng Wuba had the upper hand. The sole reason was due to the latter being in the Organ Fortification Stage while he was not.
After their clash, Leng Junfeng could feel his internal organs shift. The organs were the most vulnerable part of a human's body, and they were difficult to strengthen. That's why the Organ Fortification Stage was the final step of the Body Transformation Realm.
If Leng Junfeng continued to clash with Teng Wuba, the situation would only become more disadvantageous for him. After having his organs shifted, the pain awakened Leng Junfeng's berserk state as calmness took over.
Leng Junfeng already knew it was impossible to defeat Teng Wuba in a short amount of time. If he could even win, that is. And even if he won, he would be besieged by the Teng Family, losing his life.
He did not want such an outcome. If he died, then how would the Leng Clan be able to revive itself? How could he exterminate the Teng Family, especially that hateful Teng Shifang?
Leng Junfeng altered his goals. He originally wanted to go in gung-ho and charge into the Teng Family to rescue Wang Meilin, but now it seemed that he didn't have the strength to act the way he wanted. For now, he could only remember this incident and take revenge in the future.
Without another word, Leng Junfeng unsheathed the flying sword gifted to him by his teacher not long ago. Jumping onto it, he flew into the core area of the Teng Family under the stunned gazes of the onlookers.
It was common knowledge that only grandmasters could fly, but now, they just saw a teen, not even twenty, flying. Did that mean he was a grandmaster? A grandmaster under the age of twenty!
Even Teng Wuba was stunned. He had always believed in himself and had confidence in entering the Acupoint Opening Realm in a few months, becoming the youngest acupoint opening master without relying on shortcuts. But now, the opponent he didn't care about reached the grandmaster level even earlier than him. How could he be reconciled?
"Wait, something is not right. If that Leng boy really is grandmaster, then I would have been at a disadvantage, but I felt that I had a slight edge in our clash," Teng Wuba furrowed his brows in confusion. "Grandfather might know. For now, we can't let him enter the core of our family!"
Resolving his tumultuous thoughts, Teng Wuba began ordering the Teng Family guards and people present to chase after Leng Junfeng, but he knew that they would not be of much use since Leng Junfeng could fly. In that case, they could only ask the grandmasters of the Teng Family to take action.
Leng Junfeng knew none of this. He already knew he was exposed due to his brash actions. If he had calmed down, he could have waited till night and flown into the Teng Family to find Wang Meilin, but now the Teng Family would be on guard against him, so it would not work. So he could only be brasher.
"MEI'ER, WHERE ARE YOU!!!???"
In the end, his plan hinged on Wang Meilin answering him so he could locate her before flying away with her. Unfortunately, Leng Junfeng overestimated himself and underestimated the Teng Family.
"Brat, you're quite rampant in someone else's home, aren't you?"
"Nihihihi, I didn't expect that the Teng Family would fall to the point that a mere outsider would dare to act like this while I was cultivating. Brat, are you prepared to die?"
"Seniors, stop talking. Since he dared to enter, he will never be able to leave."
Leng Junfeng recognized the last voice. It was Teng Shifang! Hatred instantly colored his eyes, but the three auras locking onto him calmed him down instantly.
'The Teng Family has three grandmasters?!" Leng Junfeng was chilled by the thought. On the surface, the prime minister, Teng Shifang, was the sole acupoint opening master of the Teng Family. However, it seemed the Teng Family hid quite deeply.
Leng Junfeng's first instinct was to flee, but he forced it down. He couldn't just leave Wang Meilin here, especially after he discovered three acupoint opening masters present. However, the choice was not his to make as he saw something flying towards him in the distance.
'Sorry, I'll come back for you, Mei'er. Just wait!' Leng Junfeng thought as he controlled his flying sword to fly away.
"Eh? You're not a grandmaster like me. Why are you able to fly so fast?" The speaker was an old man, one of the Teng Family elders thought to be dead. With his experience and eyesight, he could tell that Leng Junfeng had yet to form his martial body.
After hearing those words, two more figures shot out towards Leng Junfeng. They weren't after Leng Junfeng himself but his flying sword. With the Teng Family's strength and influence, the artifacts they possessed were among the top of the Allfist Realm, yet Leng Junfeng's sword was able to fly faster as fast as them despite him not being an acupoint opening master. How could they not covet it?
"Seniors, he seems to be in the Foundation Establishment Realm. The brat must have found a spiritual cultivation method somewhere," Teng Shifang said, causing the other two acupoint opening masters to cackle with joy.
"What luck. Quick, capture that brat and extract the spiritual cultivation method from him. With it, the Teng Family will rise to another level and rule the Allfist Realm!"
Leng Junfeng heard their conversation and urged the sword to fly faster, inputting as much as qi as possible. Unfortunately, two of them were just as fast as him, so they were hard to lose, and Teng Shifang was even slightly faster than him.
His heart plummeted. Leng Junfeng never expected that his hotheadedness would result in such a miscalculation. However, he wasn't willing to so easily give up. So the game of cat and mouse continued far out the capital.
Leng Junfeng had almost reached the point of total despair. Under the interference from the three grandmasters, he had to change his flight course, slowing down his speed. And now, Teng Shifang was only a few meters away from him.
Teng Shifang's eyes showed traces of excitement. His hand was just mere millimeters away from grabbing Leng Junfeng. Suddenly, he felt a faint premonition of danger, and his pupils shrunk into needlepoints as he maneuvered his body from its former position.
And not a moment too soon as a red blur passed through where his head formerly was. The red blur, an arrow made of pure flames, continued its trajectory and pierced the ground. There was no explosion or burst of flame. Instead, the ground where the arrow pierced turned into lava in less than ten seconds.
"Who?!" Teng Shifang shouted. For his entire life, death had never brushed past him like it had today.
"You dodged, too bad." The voice was high-pitched, child-like, but pleasant to the ears.
"Teacher!" Leng Junfeng shouted in joy. The question of where Fenghua had disappeared off to had always lingered in the back of his mind. He was afraid, afraid that Fenghua abandoned him.
"You're...Juedai Fenghua!" Teng Shifang said as the other two acupoint opening masters flew up next to him.
Fenghua had been silently observing from above the sky while concealing her presence. If she had been in her top form, she would have fought them head-on, but who told her to be injured?
Floating down, Fenghua flew in front of Leng Junfeng. "One peak acupoint opening master and two mid acupoint opening master. You sure know how to find trouble."
Leng Junfeng's head hung down. Thinking back, he should have followed Fenghua's example and escaped first before doing anything else. But he just couldn't help it. Once he heard the news about Wang Meilin, all the blood just rushed to his head. "...sorry."
"Whatever," Fenghua airily waved her hand. "Flee to the northeast. Someone there will receive you."
"What about you, Teacher?" Leng Junfeng asked.
"Of course I'm going to block them. How else can you escape?" Fenghua said as if Leng Junfeng asked the world's stupidest question.
"I can help!" Leng Junfeng said, his eyes turning red from the guilt. He made trouble and now needed his teacher to save him.
"You?" Fenghua laughed. "Just go. You'll only drag me down."
Leng Junfeng clenched his fist to the point that his nails dug into his palms, causing blood to leak out. "I'll see you later, Teacher."
Naturally, how could the Teng Family allow Leng Junfeng to leave so easily? So they tried to stop, but Fenghua blocked their attacks.
The three Teng Family members stared down Fenghua. They could sense that Fenghua wasn't simple and didn't lightly make a move. Finally, after several minutes into the standoff, Teng Shifang spoke. "You aren't an acupoint opening master but a core formation master, aren't you?"
Fenghua smiled and didn't say anything, but her actions revealed everything. "Don't waste useless words, fight!"
Leng Junfeng felt searing heat buffeting his backside, so he turned back to see that the place he once was had turned into a fiery hell. The land, the air, and the sky were enveloped in great red flames that seemed to incinerate everything.
"Teacher..." Leng Junfeng whispered. Forcing the impulse to go back, he continued towards the direction Fenghua directed him at.
It didn't take long, maybe an hour or two, but he saw some familiar people on the ground. His eyes opened with excitement, Leng Junfeng quickly flew towards them.
"Greetings, Duke Gong!"