Tian Lang remained silent, still silently praying for his Master, making no move regarding anything Tian Ya did.

Tian Ya was growing impatient now; seeing his plan about to fall through was driving him mad. He had already killed two people—his Master and his junior martial brother. Only Tian Lang remained, but he couldn't simply kill him; after all, he didn't know if Tian Lang carried something he desired. Thus, he reached toward the breast pocket of Tian Lang's robes, patted it down, found nothing, and searched his entire body once more, still coming up empty.

By this time, Tian Lang had recited the Rebirth Sutra exactly forty-nine times. After concluding the offering and gathering his energy, he slowly opened his eyes and said, "Tian Ya, Master already told me. He gave all his silver to us to buy joss paper. Those invitations for the Can Fa ceremony have all been burned. He said that to prevent his unfilial disciple from continuing to make mistakes, he decided we should return to the Daoist temple tomorrow and never mention the Can Fa again."

Clearly, Tian Lang was lying. To Tian Ya, this statement was met with unconcealed disbelief, followed by a loud burst of laughter. "Eldest Martial Brother, who are you trying to fool? Master was someone who would rather die than fail to attend the Can Fa; why would he burn the invitations? Furthermore, the invitations were something Master and I fought tooth and nail to secure. He intends to attend under his own name, and we were merely his protectors, just background support. If he burned the Can Fa invitations, hmph, he must have hidden them somewhere."

Saying this, Tian Ya suddenly thrust his face right up to Tian Lang's, shouting angrily, "Jiang Tian Lang, tell me! Did Master give everything to you? Where did you hide it all?"

"Alas, Junior Martial Brother, didn't I just tell you? Everything you want, Master told me about—it's truly all burned. Look, there are still some embers in the pile of burnt paper!" As he spoke, Tian Lang jabbed at the pile of paper with a small stick, then pointed. "See? This is our invitation!"

Tian Ya instantly looked as if he had gone mad. His eyeballs seemed ready to fall into the bonfire. Ignoring the size of the embers or the heat of the pile, he plunged his hand into the fire and began frantically overturning the ashes. Then, his eyes filled with an even fiercer killing intent.

"Old coot, you dare die without letting me have my way!" As he spoke, the man drew a flexible blade from his waist, raised it, and brought it down hacking onto the old Daoist priest's body. The corpse was instantly hacked into mincemeat by this maniac. Tian Lang tried to step forward to intervene but was pushed away by Tian Ya with such force that he tumbled far away, unable to get up for a moment.

Zhou Huan, watching from the side, felt his heart plummet. He truly couldn't bear to see any more. Finally, gathering his courage, he stood up and roared, "Tian Ya, you degenerate disciple, you blight that Heaven should destroy and Earth should eradicate! I, Zhou Huan, will fight you again today, even if it costs me my life!"

"Who?" Tian Ya’s flexible blade was already lodged deep within the old Daoist's skeletal structure; even he didn't have the strength to pull it free. He suddenly felt a profound weakness creeping over him; perhaps he was truly exhausted. But when he glanced at Zhou Huan, standing there like a hero, a faint curl played on his lips. "You think you can meddle in the internal affairs of our Daoist sect?"

"I'm not meddling in your affairs; I simply cannot abide such extreme defiance. Come on, if you can defeat me today, I swear I will never involve myself in your matters again." Zhou Huan was actually gritting his teeth, forcing himself to bluff. He knew in his heart that his foundational skill was entirely gone. If this man managed to strike any part of him, the result could be the same as Tian Lang’s fate. But before that, if he could intimidate this fellow, he might succeed. If not, well, he’d just have to accept whatever misfortune followed.

Hearing Zhou Huan speak with such casual ease, Tian Ya felt waves of apprehension rising within him; after all, his current stamina was nothing like when he first arrived. He slowly stood up, panting heavily, his eyes fixed intently on Zhou Huan. After staring for a long moment, he noted that Zhou Huan hadn't shown a flicker of change in expression.

"What did you say your name was just now?" Tian Ya asked Zhou Huan again.

Zhou Huan now rested his hands behind his back and smiled faintly. "My name is Zhou Huan. Perhaps my name isn't known in the Jianghu because I prefer not to involve myself in its affairs too deeply. You’ve almost slaughtered your entire Daoist sect; now only the two of you remain alive. Must you continue this cycle of mutual slaughter?"

"Stop spouting nonsense! You say your name is Zhou Huan? I’ve truly never heard of you. Go on, how do you intend to manage this?" Tian Ya’s breathing gradually evened out, and his tone regained a touch of arrogance.

Tian Lang slowly managed to crawl up from the ground, clutching his stomach, extending a trembling hand. "Mas—Master Zhou Huan, please don't get involved in our matters. I don't want outsiders dragged into this."

At this point, Dong Zi became agitated instead, shouting, "You people of the cloth are truly troublesome! My Master wants to close this matter because he doesn't want you to die needlessly, and he wants to help you. Look at yourself, still being so obstinate about trifles!"

"Oho, this young brother has quite a spirited temperament!" Tian Ya let out a long breath. "It seems now that everyone in this room, besides me, is set against me, yes? Very well. Since I've already committed high treason, killing a few more won't matter. You outsiders wait a moment; I'll deal with this tactless fellow first, and then I'll take care of you." This man had reached the absolute peak of impudence. He raised his hand and lunged at Tian Lang, grabbing Tian Lang’s collar with one hand while bringing his other fist, transforming into an open palm strike, smashing viciously toward Tian Lang's face.

Zhou Huan had long perceived the man's intent. Lacking his former speed, he rushed forward preemptively. When Tian Xiong saw his Master charge out, he immediately followed suit. As Zhou Huan reached Tian Lang's side and saw Tian Ya’s palm raised high, he grabbed behind him and cried out, "Stop! Stop, brother, you are not allowed to act so violently here."

"Less drivel!" Tian Ya poured all his remaining strength into a vicious horizontal slap, striking across, first hitting Zhou Huan’s forehead, then his fingernails scraped across Tian Xiong’s temple. Both men collapsed almost simultaneously, losing consciousness.

Shi Bingyuan also rushed up to stop him but was similarly sent flying by a kick from Tian Ya, rendered unconscious. Tian Ya, enjoying the frenzy, used the last bit of strength he possessed to fiercely kick toward Tian Lang. But despite all his calculations, he failed to account for the Tiger B Dong Zi lurking behind him. Dong Zi, gripping a piece of blue brick pulled from God knows where, brought it down hard on the back of Tian Ya’s skull. The brick shattered upon impact.

Dong Zi muttered to himself, "Go down! I’m even more shameless than you; I love sneak attacks."

However, what Dong Zi hadn't expected was that despite taking a brick blow, leaving his head covered in blood, Tian Ya immediately spun around and lunged toward Dong Zi’s throat with his hand.

Dong Zi panicked slightly. He hadn't actually thought that one brick blow would have no effect. But as Dong Zi felt Tian Ya’s killing intent closing in, suddenly the space before him was empty. Only a dozen paces away, by the doorway, Tian Lang was gasping for breath. When Dong Zi looked down, the face of Tian Ya was already pressed against the ground where he lay prone, the blood spreading out beneath him.

"You scared me half to death! I thought this guy was really tough; his head was smashed open, and he still tried to kill me! All right, this time for good. Tian Lang, come over and clean up the mess!" Dong Zi’s heart was still racing wildly. Perhaps this was where Dong Zi’s technique of using bricks originated—it might have started right here.

Tian Lang limped over to Tian Ya’s side, poking the body with his hand. To his surprise, Tian Ya showed no reaction whatsoever. Tian Lang casually found a long rope and bound Tian Ya tightly. Afterward, Tian Lang and Dong Zi began attending to Zhou Huan, Tian Xiong, and Shi Bingyuan. But the most disheartening discovery was that these people showed almost no signs of life, possessing only the faintest wisps of breath.