Chapter 140: Cutting The Grass At The Root
“A family should be together, Gang Leader Liang doesn’t need to thank me.”
Su Yan’s words undoubtedly shattered the last sliver of possibility in Liang Ying’s heart.
He nearly bit through his teeth, suddenly pouncing toward Su Yan, the Wolf-Eating Eagle shooting straight at Su Yan like arrows.
“I want you dead!”
True Essence condensed into eagle claws, over two zhang long, cyan-blue in color, as if to tear Su Yan apart.
The Six-Winged Blood Centipede opened its bloody mouth, spitting out a streak of ink-green poisonous mist that instantly enveloped the True Essence eagle claws.
The Wolf-Eating Eagle dodged nimbly, bypassing the poisonous mist to strike again.
The Blood Fiend Mother Worm flew at him, malevolent energy filling the air, its tibial scythe sweeping out two streaks of red light.
Liang Ying’s gaze turned cold as he controlled the Wolf-Eating Eagle’s wings to strike, two gales sweeping over and colliding with the red light, True Essence surging and canceling each other out.
Liang Ying’s figure shot toward Su Yan like a ghost, True Essence surging around him without any reservation.
‘Quite impressive, as expected of the Ruyi Stage.’
Su Yan’s figure shifted slightly, pulling back a bit of distance.
The heart ape is restless and fickle, unsteady true intent lacks solidity, making control weaker in power and not as precise as an arm’s extension.
But the Ruyi Stage is different.
Liang Ying multitasked effortlessly with powerful True Essence; the Wolf-Eating Eagle entangled with the Blood Fiend Mother Worm while its eagle claws viciously attacked the Six-Winged Blood Centipede.
Fighting two at once without falling behind.
And he himself had already closed in on Su Yan.
“Die!”
True Essence gathered in his arms as he clawed from both sides, as if to tear Su Yan in half.
A mass of purple-red demonic fire struck, immediately covering the True Essence-condensed claws.
His arms burned intensely, a searing pain transmitting through.
Liang Ying extinguished the demonic fire with True Essence, his anger surging even more, but before he could react.
Massive claws snipped toward him, aiming to cut him in half at the waist.
Liang Ying leaped aside, his figure dropping like a falling star to smash onto the claws, erupting in a massive thud.
A tremendous force struck, nearly matching his own.
Such great strength!
Liang Ying’s heart jolted; this one-zhang-tall black scorpion monster wreathed in demonic fire was actually this tough and powerful.
Damn thing, how could he control so many second-order feral beasts!
Su Yan looked up at Liang Ying and said, “As expected of a Ruyi Stage martial artist.”
His praise was not sarcasm; Liang Ying, with Ruyi Stage strength, was still so dominant against three opponents.
But to Liang Ying’s ears, these words were the ultimate mockery.
Storming the door, killing his son, and now being “praised” like this by the enemy…
Liang Ying felt his chest about to explode with rage.
Like a hawk or falcon, he fiercely struck at the Flame Armored Scorpion’s eyes.
The Flame Armored Scorpion blocked horizontally with its claws, producing a clanging sound.
Liang Ying used the force to flip and attack again, changing direction to charge straight at Su Yan.
Blue True Essence condensed into sharp eagle claws, their edge closing in on Su Yan.
Su Yan’s eyes flickered as he shifted, sweeping the Scorpion Profound Spear horizontally, stirring up waves of tiger shadows that collided with it.
A thud echoed, True Essence surging.
Su Yan’s figure shook slightly, retreating two steps, his arms somewhat numb, but his eyes burned with fierce battle intent.
Liang Ying landed, face full of shock: “You’re in the True Intent Realm! How is that possible?!”
Only now did he realize that Su Yan standing before him had True Intent Realm cultivation.
His gaze darkened; this person’s schemes were profoundly deep, hiding such cultivation until now.
A pang of sorrow hit his heart; if not for this depth, how could he have schemed to this extent, destroying the Little Mountain Association’s foundation.
“Xiao Feng and the others are all dead, right?”
Rage sank deep in Liang Ying’s heart, instead manifesting as a profound calm, his eyes like stagnant water.
“Four True Intent experts, three hundred blade wielders, all at Falling Head Mountain.”
Su Yan answered calmly.
Liang Ying’s eyes dimmed slightly, then his face turned savage: “I joined the Stabbing Wolf Gang as a blade wielder at twelve, fought for thirty years to reach True Intent, took over the south city, founded the Little Mountain Association, struggled for ten years to enter Ruyi Stage, and built today’s Little Mountain Association, now destroyed by you.”
“So what?”
Su Yan merely tilted his head slightly, his gaze still calm.
“Nothing, just that you’re dying tonight!”
Liang Ying launched his assault, clawing out twenty-three claw marks, cyan-blue True Essence filling the surroundings, nearly encircling Su Yan.
The Wolf-Eating Eagle struck fiercely, its eagle cry piercing the sky; under surging True Essence, it turned into over a hundred wind blades.
The Six-Winged Blood Centipede coiled defensively, its carapace hard as steel, directly smashing through the wind blades.
Poisonous mist rolled from its mouth, forming a vortex that dragged in the Wolf-Eating Eagle.
The Blood Fiend Mother Worm’s tail hook stabbed like a spike, piercing the Wolf-Eating Eagle’s true intent wings through the poisonous mist.
The True Essence body shattered on impact, a hole the size of a head appearing as blood fiend energy continuously injected, eroding and melting the True Essence trying to repair the wound.
A hundred blade wielders arrived then, bringing hundreds of ordinary gang members who, upon detecting the fighting at Smoky Rain Tower, rushed over with all their might.
Su Yan’s spear parried Liang Ying’s True Essence eagle claws, several blood-colored tiger shadows crisscrossing to form a blood curtain, blocking them one by one.
His eyes shifted; the Flame Armored Scorpion suddenly charged out, smashing through the front beam pillars of Smoky Rain Tower and plunging into the blade wielders amid rolling demonic fire.
Its scorpion tail swept, cutting four or five blade wielders in half at the waist; its claws hammered, turning three or five into meat patties.
The blade wielders couldn’t stop it, nor could the many buildings of Smoky Rain Tower withstand the purple-red demonic fire.
Flames erupted and connected, dividing the inside and outside of Smoky Rain Tower into two worlds.
As Liang Ying clashed with Su Yan, his heart sank, knowing this was Su Yan cutting off his retreat.
His heart heavy, his attacks grew even more ruthless, eagle claws striking suddenly at Su Yan’s vital points.
Su Yan executed the Eighteen Styles of Blood Tiger one by one, grand and sweeping, flowing seamlessly, the erupting power making even Liang Ying glance sideways.
The Poison Dragon Golden Body Technique is actually this powerful; a mere Golden Ape Stage kid can fight me to this extent.
With this thought, the destruction of his foundation, the killing of his son, and greed for the Poison Dragon Golden Body Technique all converged, stirring complex emotions in his heart, intensifying his desire to kill Su Yan like wildfire.
Liang Ying’s attacks grew even fiercer; Su Yan’s True Essence shifted, instantly manifesting the Insect Bone Armor Body with Poison Dragon Golden Body scale patterns emerging.
The Scorpion Profound Spear swept grandly; Liang Ying was shocked but had no retreat, fighting even more ferociously.
Masterfully refined eagle claw technique landed repeatedly on Su Yan.
Sparks flew in bursts, nearly tearing the Silver Scale Armor.
Fortunately, the Insect Bone Armor Body’s defense was unmatched, the Poison Dragon Golden Body scale patterns tough.
Plus the Jade Armor Skill from the Gold-Eating Demon Insect hidden on his body, which rebounded and deflected Liang Ying’s attacks.
In this entanglement, Su Yan would likely have been injured long ago without it.
Liang Ying gained the upper hand in offense, suppressing Su Yan.
His attacks grew even more ruthless, targeting eyes, neck, armpits—places without inner armor protection.
But the fiercer the clash, the uglier Liang Ying’s face became.
Frustrated!
Too frustrated!
Clearly just a Heart Ape Stage kid, yet he, a Ruyi Stage martial artist, couldn’t take him down.
Not only couldn’t take him down, he couldn’t even injure Su Yan.
The bizarre outer armor fully encased him, like an evil ghost knight, actually able to deflect his attack strength.
If only I had a second-order high-grade weapon…
Liang Ying cursed inwardly; if he practiced sword technique instead of eagle claw technique, it wouldn’t be like this.
After thirty exchanges, Su Yan’s spear changed, becoming more free and unrestrained, his strength seemingly increased by three parts.
Liang Ying desperately suppressed, but after fifty exchanges, Su Yan counterattacked, forcing him to defend.
After a hundred exchanges, Su Yan’s Eighteen Styles of Blood Tiger varied endlessly, imaginative and free, spear thrusts like a dragon, shifting like a tiger, trading blows evenly with Liang Ying.
Liang Ying couldn’t suppress, True Essence depleting, and by then the Wolf-Eating Eagle, entangled long with the Six-Winged Blood Centipede and Blood Fiend Mother Worm, was covered in wounds.
True Essence erosion made repairing its body difficult; it wailed and plummeted down.
Liang Ying’s face changed; True Essence backlash hit his body, and even forcibly suppressing it left him unsteady, a small mouthful of blood surging up.
Su Yan glanced up slightly: “Time to hit the road.”
His True Essence surged; suddenly two figures rose from his body.
The Green-scaled Poisonous Flood Dragon and White Ape instantly condensed, their true intent pressure locking onto Liang Ying.
Liang Ying froze, his face abruptly changing to dull and lost.
Su Yan’s fierce insects were so aggressive and fierce that he once thought Su Yan had released his own true intent.
But now he realized Su Yan hadn’t used his beast spirit true intent in their fight.
Boom
Liang Ying had no time to block; the Green-scaled Poisonous Flood Dragon bit into his body.
True Essence protected his body, but couldn’t block the Green-scaled Poisonous Flood Dragon’s sharp venomous fangs.
His body pierced by the fangs, True Essence mist carrying toxin enveloped Liang Ying’s form.
The White Ape charged with big strides, smashing down a heavy fist that hammered Liang Ying to the ground.
A thud accompanied the cracking of Liang Ying’s bones, blood gushing from mouth and nose, staining most of his body red.
Su Yan’s spear thrust, piercing Liang Ying’s neck and killing him outright.
Flames rose in Smoky Rain Tower, thick smoke rolling, beams crackling.
The Little Mountain Association stronghold and two connected streets were also ablaze.
Ordinary gang members were in chaos, some fighting fires, some fleeing, some fishing in troubled waters, others trying to rescue and claim merit.
But the fire was fierce, thick smoke everywhere, making it impossible to cross to Smoky Rain Tower.
Boom
Finally, the fire-consumed Smoky Rain Tower collapsed with a roar like rolling thunder, heavy smoke and dust dancing with flames.
Rustle rustle rustle
The Six-Winged Blood Centipede flew to Su Yan, who gazed at the hellish scene.
He commanded the Flame Armored Scorpion to devour most of the flames, then recalled the three insects—the Flame Armored Scorpion and others—into the Insect Realm Space.
He mounted the Six-Winged Blood Centipede’s back, then soared into the pre-dawn darkness, vanishing into the night.
Yun Cang Town, due to this massive fire, saw nearly all factions sleepless through the night.
Spies flew out like snowflakes, constantly probing what had happened.
Dawn broke, sunlight spilling over Yun Cang Town.
The entire Yun Cang Town was abuzz, especially the common folk.
The Little Mountain Association was gone!
The Little Mountain Association, rampant for so many years, burned to ruins overnight.
Escaped gang members kept their mouths shut, not daring to speak of that night’s events.
They had lorded over others before; now, without Liang Ying and the high-level combat power.
If they acted arrogant again, they’d soon be a corpse in some alley.
Moreover, Liang Ying had provoked some unknown expert.
Now they couldn’t shed their Little Mountain Association identity fast enough—how dare they show their faces?
With Little Mountain Association members silent, rumors spread wider.
Some said they must have offended a Dan Qiao True Person.
Others said the Little Mountain Association hoarded armor and hid soldiers, silenced by Dali’s secret guards.
Conflicting tales grew more exaggerated.
Unlike the commoners’ clamor, all factions truly fell silent.
The fire at Falling Head Mountain, hundreds of charred corpses.
Smoky Rain Tower ruins, similarly over a hundred charred bodies.
All pointing to the same group.
Overnight, using some method to lure the tiger away from the mountain, drawing the Little Mountain Association’s main force to Falling Head Mountain and wiping them out.
Then striking straight at the heart, killing Liang Ying and destroying the Little Mountain Association.
Such terrifying strength—no one in Yun Cang Town, not even the Lin Family or the Prefect, could do alone.
Unless they joined forces.
Some guessed they acted together, while the Lin Family and Prefect feared this terrifying force.
For half a month straight, factions sent spies everywhere, seeking any scrap of news.
Captain Commander Zuo Qian directly ordered all head constables to patrol the streets, imposing high-intensity martial law.
Whether riffraff or strangers, all were thoroughly checked.
Normally, factions would check each other, not letting the Prefect’s side act so boldly without restraint.
But now, everyone desperately wanted clues.
Wanting to know who destroyed the Little Mountain Association.
Thus, Yun Cang Town became much quieter.
Compared to Yun Cang Town’s upheaval, Su Yan holed up in the Golden Ape Martial Arts School, pondering the Eighteen Styles of Blood Tiger.
In the backyard, seven or eight ironwood dummies stood before him.
His spear thrust and swept grandly, like devouring heaven and earth; eighteen tiger shadows merged into a massive tiger that swept the dummy apart.
Accomplished.
Su Yan’s gaze was low, his aura more condensed, the spear’s momentum restrained, appearing utterly ordinary.
【True Intent Realm Heart Ape: 1/200 (Minor Accomplishment ）】
【Eighteen Styles of Blood Tiger: 201/400 （Great Accomplishment ）】
【Poison Dragon Golden Body Technique: 367/400 （Great Accomplishment ）】
“Breakthroughs in life-or-death combat come not from inspiration, but from exceeding limits—those near-misses and flaws in normal practice. Constant combat reveals deficiencies faster, leading to perfection…”
Routine cultivation might progress, but long-term habits and patterns create odd bottlenecks.
Combat breaks the routine, yielding gains.
With the Fierce Insect Cauldron, Su Yan could track progress and adjust; normal cultivation already yielded significant gains.
Even so, the Falling Head Mountain battle and clash with Liang Ying revealed minute flaws in his techniques.
In half a month, he advanced the Eighteen Styles of Blood Tiger over halfway; soon, fully digesting it would reach Transformation Realm.
Su Yan stowed his spear and took out a milky-white jade stone.
The stone, two fingers wide and irregular, felt warm in hand; pure spiritual energy flowed into his body, replenishing consumption and turning into his True Essence.
“Liang Ying’s origin stones are good—medicinal potency less concentrated and fierce than pills, but their gentle nourishment surpasses pills. Using them long-term would far exceed others in True Essence accumulation and body nurturing.”
The origin stones came from Liang Gui’s box, not many—about a hundred, all first-order high-grade, each worth about fifty taels of gold.
These were Liang Ying’s inheritance for his son Liang Wenwu—solid goods worth seventy to eighty thousand taels of silver in the secular world.
Plus some banknotes, the box held about a hundred thousand taels in possessions—roughly a mid-sized gang’s yearly income.
Without plundering several villages and his ability to refine True Intent Pills, Su Yan couldn’t have amassed so much.
Using origin stones, Su Yan thought: “Once at Beast King Sect, I must prepare more origin stones; aiding cultivation with pills, my progress will be even faster.”
“If the Six-Winged Blood Centipede, Flame Armored Scorpion, Gold-Eating Demon Insect, and Blood Fiend Mother Worm get ample origin stones plus Beast Essence Pills, their progress might accelerate too…”
“Hm?”
Su Yan’s eyes suddenly sharpened, faintly hearing a tiger’s roar.
He shifted and arrived outside Bai Yun’s courtyard, True Essence condensing as the Tiger Ape’s Roar sounded.
His eyes flickered, thinking: “Senior Sister is about to break through.”
