"Ugh, cough, cough, cough!"
The young man was struck heavily in the back, flying forward and crashing into a building.
A tearing pain, piercing his bones, spread through his body. Lin Ye clearly felt the pain of broken bones, and he uncontrollably coughed up fresh blood, unable to get back up.
At the spot where Lin Ye had been standing, a middle-aged man with square-rimmed glasses slowly retracted his palm. It was this person who had just severely injured Lin Ye.
The middle-aged man was Flender. Flender had originally taken his disciple to a brothel to relax.
Who knew that while they were just having a casual meal, his disciple got into a fight with someone else? From a distance, he saw that his disciple was almost killed.
His gaze swept towards the golden-haired young man and a small Fatty beside him. The small Fatty was named Ma Hongjun, and he was Flender's disciple.
The golden-haired young man looked to be about the same age as Lin Ye and was named Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun's sworn brother.
"Hongjun, what happened?" Flender asked his disciple.
Ma Hongjun looked at the crowd gathering to watch, then leaned close to Flender, lowering his voice as he recounted the entire incident.
The cause of the incident had to start with Lin Ye and his sister, Lin Yao. Ma Hongjun had previously encountered the siblings in Heaven Dou City. Because of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy uniform on Lin Ye, Ma Hongjun knew that Lin Ye was a student of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
Not long ago, Ma Hongjun and his group had suffered a setback at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, so seeing someone from the Heaven Dou Royal Academy naturally made him unhappy.
Unexpectedly, Ma Hongjun encountered Lin Yao again this time. Ma Hongjun was already filled with evil desires, and remembering the humiliation he suffered at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, coupled with Lin Yao's beautiful face and graceful figure, and the crucial fact that she was alone this time.
Thus, Ma Hongjun harbored ill intentions; lust arose from his heart, and evil grew in his guts.
Ma Hongjun followed and tracked Lin Yao until he appeared after reaching the Lin family home, intending to forcibly abduct the young woman. During the struggle, he accidentally killed Lin Yao's mother.
At this point, both sides completely tore off their pretense and began to fight fiercely. Lin Ye's father was naturally no match for the top Beast Spirit genius young man and soon died with hatred.
Afterward, Ma Hongjun tried to force himself on Lin Yao, but Lin Yao, unwilling to be humiliated, took her own life.
Then, Lin Ye rushed back upon hearing the news and clashed with Ma Hongjun. Ma Hongjun was severely injured, his life almost lost.
At the critical moment, his sworn brother Dai Mubai arrived in time and saved Ma Hongjun. Lin Ye, seeing that the other party had more people, could only retreat with hatred, but before he could leave, he was severely injured by a palm strike from the arriving Flender.
After learning all this, Flender couldn't help but frown. His disciple was already prone to impulsiveness and had a volatile personality due to his evil desires.
Not long ago, this kid even killed the entire Ferocious God team and their teammates in the Spirit Fighting Arena, seeing blood. Because of this, Hongjun's personality became even worse.
Flender realized this and understood that he needed to guide him well in the future. He encouraged causing trouble, but you have to pick your targets. Commoners are fine, but some nobles with titles can have very complex connections.
And the Lin family was a noble family.
These were all future matters. As for now, his disciple had killed the entire family, and that kid's sister was almost humiliated. The hatred between the two sides was already irreconcilable.
Since that was the case, he could only go all out. Nip it in the bud, otherwise, there would be endless trouble. A family should be neat and tidy, shouldn't it?
Having wandered the continent for many years, Flender naturally did not lack a ruthless heart. He would not even put such ant-like figures in his eyes (except for some little darlings who donated money to Shrek).
Having made up his mind, Flender looked at Lin Ye, who was lying on the ground coughing blood, and feigned concern, saying, "Young friend, there must be some misunderstanding here. I understand my disciple; although he is a bit mischievous, he always acts with discretion."
Lin Ye opened his mouth to speak, but fresh blood immediately surged from his throat, and his face became increasingly pale. Flender's angry palm strike not only broke his bones but also severely injured his internal organs.
Seeing Lin Ye only coughing blood, Flender gave Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun a look. "What are you two still standing there for? Hurry and help this young friend up. We'll take him to a healer."
Flender wore a false smile on his face; his intentions were clear to everyone.
The onlookers pointed and whispered. No one was a fool; if Flender really took Lin Ye away, would the latter still have a chance to live?
The answer was obvious: no.
Seeing this, Flender snorted coldly, and his aura suddenly erupted, with seven spirit rings rising from his feet.
"A Spirit Saint!" Someone among the onlookers exclaimed, and then everyone immediately fell silent, afraid that saying too much would bring trouble upon themselves.
Flender glanced at the cowering group of people nearby, his eyes filled with disdain.
Earlier, his disciple Ma Hongjun, in order to send him a distress signal, set fire to a wooden shop on the street.
Those few people were precisely from the shop that Ma Hongjun had set on fire earlier. They had come aggressively, intending to teach Ma Hongjun a lesson.
But when they saw the seven spirit rings pulsating beneath Flender's feet, they immediately withered and became obedient cowards.
Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun exchanged glances, immediately understanding Flender's intention. With smiles in their eyes, they stepped forward and, one on each side, helped Lin Ye up.
A team of soldiers watched from a distance but showed no intention of intervening.
"Damn it, how audacious!" A young soldier, filled with righteous indignation, was about to step forward and bring these criminals to justice.
The captain went up and slapped the soldier, scolding, "You only get a few coins; why risk your life? Keep your eyes open; some people are not to be provoked."
The soldier, having been slapped, pointed indignantly at Flender and the others, who were already walking away. "Then are we just going to watch them take him away?"
"Stop talking nonsense. We can't handle this. Go report it quickly."
The captain told the soldier to report it, but he didn't dare to step forward to stop them. The other party was already a mortal enemy, and he was worried that if he intervened, his life might be in danger.
Flender and the others walked to an alley entrance, looked left and right, and seeing that no one was paying attention to them, immediately ducked into the alley.
With a thud, Lin Ye was thrown to the ground. His pure white robe was now stained crimson with blood, and he was barely clinging to life.
"Hongjun, today your teacher will teach you another principle: if you have already formed an enmity and there is no possibility of resolving it, then you must utterly exterminate them, leaving no future trouble," Flender said to Ma Hongjun.
"Teacher, I understand," Ma Hongjun nodded.
Flender hummed softly, then waved his hand. "Deal with it."
First Spirit Ability—Phoenix Fire Wire.
Ma Hongjun opened his mouth wide and spat out a purplish-red flame. The flame landed on Lin Ye, intending to burn him alive.
"Ugh ah ah ah ah ah…"
His hair was instantly incinerated, and an unparalleled, excruciating pain shot through his entire skin. Lin Ye could even hear the sizzling sound of his body fat being burned, and he couldn't stop screaming in agony.
"Fatty, burn him slower, with a smaller flame. Isn't it boring if he dies too quickly?" Beside Ma Hongjun, his good brother Dai Mubai said with a smile.
Flender watched this scene silently, a faint smile on his face.
Through the sea of fire, Flender saw those crimson eyes, filled with resentment.
Instead of being afraid, Flender smiled disdainfully and mocked, "Hate all you want, what can you do? Weakness is the original sin.
Next life, keep your eyes open. Some people, you cannot provoke!"
Flender didn't know if Lin Ye could still hear him, but that didn't stop him from showing off.
Pedestrians outside the alley heard the screams but dared not meddle. Each one hurried away.
As the great fire blazed, the screams from within the inferno gradually grew fainter and weaker. The crackling sound of human fat burning could be faintly heard.
A quarter of an hour later, Flender, Dai Mubai, and Ma Hongjun swaggered away.
A while later, a team of soldiers arrived at the scene. In the alley, they found a charred corpse, broken into several pieces.
The captain sighed and instructed the soldiers, "Throw the body in the Mass Burial Grounds."
To the residents of the city, this was nothing more than a minor incident. A few days later, no one would mention it again.
The outer district of Heaven Dou City returned to peace once more.
...
Heaven Dou City, Spirit Hall, a senior deacon knocked on Salas's door.
"Come in!"
Upon receiving permission, the deacon pushed the door open and saw Bishop Salas.
"Your subordinate greets Your Excellency Bishop." The deacon bowed respectfully.
Salas hummed faintly, not even raising his head as he asked, "What is it?"
"Reporting, Your Excellency Bishop, the Lin family in the South City has been annihilated."
Salas frowned: "The Lin family? Which Lin family? What does it have to do with my Spirit Hall?"
The deacon replied, "It's the Nether Phoenix Lin family. Lin Hongji and his son, and the female family members, not a single one survived."
At this point, Salas finally had some impression. The Lin family, with their inherited Nether Phoenix Bow Spirit, had a Spirit Douluo expert at their peak, holding high positions and power.
It was just that their Spirit later degenerated, leading to their gradual decline. Lin Hongji, the current head of the Lin family, was superficially a Count of the Heaven Dou Empire, but in reality, he had been secretly colluding with their Spirit Hall and secretly pledged allegiance more than a decade ago.
Salas didn't have a particularly deep impression of Lin Hongji, as he was only a Spirit Grandmaster. However, his son, Lin Ye, had decent talent. Originally, if nothing unexpected happened, Lin Ye would have also joined Spirit Hall.