Demonic King of the Metropolis

“Thud! Thud! Thud!” Several heavy thuds echoed as three men, struck by Tang Jie’s Sky-Turning Needle, crashed to the ground mid-air. Blood gushed from their mouths, and their bodies quickly turned lifeless and cold.

Tang Jie, seeing that all of them were dead, turned to head toward the villa. However, he noticed that all the lights inside were now switched on. A group of more than ten people emerged from the gate, their eyes landing on the four bodies sprawled at the entrance. Without uttering a word, they launched their attacks toward Tang Jie.

Tang Jie wasted no time. Channeling the True Qi within his body, he deftly moved like a streak of lightning, curving through them with incredible agility. In the blink of an eye, he was already in the midst of the group.

With his current abilities, dealing with these people was merely a matter of time.

As soon as the group attacked, Tang Jie realized they were all at the Innate Great Perfection level, just like the men at the gate. Some were even more formidable. But in this moment, Tang Jie was past caring. His mind was wholly focused on storming into the villa. No matter how many people stood in his way tonight, he would kill them all without hesitation.

With that thought, Tang Jie moved even faster. His attacks were so swift that the surrounding fighters could barely register what had happened before being killed with a single strike.

In just a few minutes, Tang Jie had already slain four or five masters. The remaining fighters, growing wary, intensified their offensive and encircled him to launch a coordinated assault. Tang Jie leapt upward, landing behind them, and unleashed another round of the Sky-Turning Needle. Seven or eight people dropped instantly, leaving only three standing.

One of them, sensing the dire situation, turned and fled back into the villa, likely to report what had happened. The other two pressed on, engaging Tang Jie in combat. But in only a few moves, Tang Jie dispatched one more. As the last man rushed toward him, Tang Jie drew his flexible sword and, with a swift motion, slit the man’s throat.

In the expansive courtyard, bodies now lay scattered. Tang Jie stood among them, his flexible sword dripping blood. His expression was cold and unnervingly calm.

A strong scent of blood wafted through the air. Seeing no one else emerge from the villa, Tang Jie prepared to step inside. But suddenly, a shadow streaked down toward him from above with fierce momentum.

Tang Jie swung his flexible sword, deflecting the descending blow, and then saw a figure clad entirely in black land before him. Narrowing his eyes, he realized it was Chen Nan.

“Well, well, your skills really are impressive. You actually managed to track me down here,” Chen Nan said, his teeth clenched as he glanced at the lifeless bodies on the ground. In such a short time, Tang Jie had slaughtered them all, pushing Chen Nan to seethe with rage.

“I’m here to take your life. Prepare to die,” Tang Jie sneered coldly. Before the words fully left his mouth, he had already launched a palm strike toward Chen Nan. Without giving him a chance to react, Tang Jie followed up with a fierce sweep of his flexible sword, radiating an unmistakable intent to kill.

Chen Nan’s expression hardened as he narrowly dodged the strike. He swiftly retaliated, striking toward Tang Jie. Both moved with lightning speed, but after just a few exchanges, Chen Nan was already at a disadvantage. During the last ancient martial arts tournament, Tang Jie had left him gravely injured, and he still hadn’t fully recovered. Now, with Tang Jie seeking him out, he had no choice but to face him, especially since the men at the gate had failed to hold him back.

Tang Jie, noticing that Chen Nan was faltering, pressed his attacks even harder, each move aimed at taking Chen Nan’s life. Every dodge Chen Nan attempted only backed him further into a corner.

Sensing that the situation was dire, Chen Nan mustered all his strength to feint a powerful strike, creating an opening to turn and flee into the villa. As he did, Tang Jie delivered a crushing palm strike to his back. Chen Nan stumbled forward and fell. Just as Tang Jie was about to unleash the Sky-Turning Needle to finish him off, a hand suddenly reached out and dragged Chen Nan aside.

Tang Jie took two steps into the villa and saw that the one who had pulled Chen Nan away was a man dressed entirely in white. His spotless white clothes radiated a sharp contrast to the bloody scene outside. Beside him stood another man, both appearing to be in their thirties. Tang Jie instantly sensed the immense True Qi emanating from them, far surpassing the previous opponents he’d killed. These two were clearly in the Heaven-Man Realm and on the brink of surpassing that level.

“You must be Tang Jie,” the man in white said, pushing Chen Nan aside before addressing Tang Jie with an icy tone. Tang Jie watched as Chen Nan staggered up the stairs, clearly no longer a match for him after being injured. Deciding Chen Nan was no longer a threat, Tang Jie temporarily let him go.

“That’s right. Where’s Chen Feng?”

“If you want to see our family leader, you’ll have to get through us first,” the man in white replied. He exchanged a glance with the man dressed in black beside him. The two were Chen Feng’s most formidable and seasoned masters, known as the Black and White Duo.

“And you think the two of you can stop me? Do yourselves a favor and get out of my way,” Tang Jie replied with utter disdain. He had already assessed their strength and was confident he could defeat them without much difficulty. He had no interest in wasting time with them.

“Such arrogance!” the black-clad man scoffed. Looking at Tang Jie, who seemed no older than twenty, he found the young man’s confidence infuriating.

“If you’re so eager to die, then come and get it!”

Tang Jie wasted no words, and after speaking, he made his move towards the two opponents. The Black and White Duo saw Tang Jie’s attack coming. They were neither hurried nor slow, yet their movements were indescribably fast, easily dodging Tang Jie’s technique.

Seeing their skill, Tang Jie was secretly alarmed and immediately felt that they were tougher to deal with than Chen Nan and the others outside. It appeared he was indeed facing the masters of this place.

With this in mind, Tang Jie no longer acted with haste but started to handle the situation with a steady and careful approach. The Black and White Duo, not pausing, dodged Tang Jie’s first move then lunged at him; one used a Joint Lock and the other performed a Whirlwind Kick. Although these were basic techniques, the force they exerted was distinctly powerful, causing the decorations around the villa to tremble violently from the impact.

Tang Jie quickly gathered his true qi in response and found that his inner strength was comparable to theirs. It turned out that the Black and White Duo had reached the Heaven Transformation Realm, though they had only just entered it and were not yet stable. Hence, Tang Jie was still able to withstand their true qi.

Realizing this, Tang Jie inwardly sighed, acknowledging that he had somewhat underestimated the Chen family’s capabilities. How could an ancient martial arts family only have outsiders of that level? It seemed that following the Black and White Duo, there might be even higher masters.

Even so, he was not going to back down easily tonight. Since he had entered, he was determined to overturn this place.

Thinking this, Tang Jie took a deep breath, concentrating his true qi in his dantian and, while making his move, did not forget to absorb the surrounding heaven and earth spiritual energy to increase his inner strength.

The Black and White Duo felt Tang Jie’s composed approach, and they too became more cautious in their attacks, yet their ferocity did not diminish. They were close associates of Chen Feng, never hesitating to kill.

After exchanging dozens of moves, Tang Jie and the Black and White Duo were still evenly matched. Feeling his physical strength draining too much, he worried that if the fight continued, and more masters from the Chen family appeared, he would be at a disadvantage.

With this in mind, Tang Jie pretended to falter, slowly moving towards the staircase. Thinking he was weakening, the Black and White Duo followed him with fierce attacks to the base of the stairs.

At the stairs, Tang Jie suddenly unleashed a powerful palm wind. The Black and White Duo quickly retreated to dodge, and Tang Jie took this opportunity to step on the stair railing, turn, and leap into the air. He gathered his true qi and, using his inner strength, launched the sky-turning needle swiftly at the Black and White Duo.

The Black and White Duo, caught off guard by this move, hurriedly used all their true qi to defend. They managed to block part of the sky-turning needle, but some still struck them, hitting them hard.

The Black and White Duo staggered back to the entrance, leaning against the wall for support. Blood trickled from the corners of their mouths, and they appeared to be gravely injured. For a long moment, neither of them could muster enough energy to strike again. Tang Jie considered finishing them off with one decisive move, but just then, he heard a noise from upstairs-a rapid series of footsteps. He tilted his head slightly, listening intently and suspecting that someone else was headed down. Without hesitation, he turned and headed toward the staircase, leaving the heavily injured Black and White Duo behind. Judging by their condition, they wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer.

Taking a few brisk steps, Tang Jie arrived on the second floor. The corridor was empty, and he instinctively glanced upward toward the third floor. He figured whoever was coming was still higher up. Two more steps, and he leapt onto the third floor landing. Sure enough, as soon as he reached the top of the stairs, he spotted several figures walking out of one of the rooms in the third-floor corridor.

Even before they spoke, Tang Jie could tell they were masters. Their bearing alone-steady, deliberate, and exuding an unmistakable aura of strength-indicated that their abilities were on par with, if not superior to, the two men he had just fought on the first floor.

So the Chen family really does hide dragons and crouching tigers, he thought mockingly. His gaze swept over the four individuals. They were dressed in four distinct colors-red, yellow, blue, and white. The Four Guardians? The term flashed in Tang Jie’s mind, but his lips merely curled into a faint, scornful smile.

It doesn’t matter who they are. No one can stop me tonight.

“Make your move,” Tang Jie said coldly, his tone laced with both challenge and confidence. He braced himself, ready for the battle to come.

The Four Guardians didn’t waste a single word. With synchronized precision, they attacked the moment Tang Jie finished speaking. Four powerful streams of qi surged toward him. Tang Jie immediately gathered every ounce of inner strength in his body to block the assault. Although he managed to deflect the attack, he quickly confirmed that these four were, at the very least, on the same level as the Black and White Duo.

It seems I’ll have to use the sky-turning needle again to deal with these obstacles quickly, Tang Jie thought. If he allowed the fight to drag on, he risked wasting valuable energy he would need later.

Having made up his mind, Tang Jie adopted a defensive posture, baiting his opponents while waiting for the perfect opportunity. The moment the four Guardians showed an opening, he struck. Tang Jie unleashed the sky-turning needle in a confined burst. The narrow space of the corridor worked in his favor as the four defenders, unfamiliar with Tang Jie’s techniques, failed to evade in time. All four were struck by the sky-turning needle.

Without giving them a chance to recover, Tang Jie followed up with a flurry of blows. It didn’t take long for him to deal heavy injuries to the four. Once they were incapacitated, however, Tang Jie didn’t linger. He knew better than to waste more energy on finishing them off. He needed to reserve his strength for whatever awaited him next. Facing Chen Feng, the old mastermind of the Chen family, might prove to be a far greater trial.

Tang Jie briefly scanned the third-floor rooms to ensure no further surprises were lying in wait. When he found no signs of movement, he proceeded directly to the top floor.

Upon reaching the fourth floor, Tang Jie discovered a vast rooftop garden. The luxurious layout included a small pool, and the entire area exuded an air of indulgence. The sight made Tang Jie inwardly sneer. The Chen family truly lived in extravagance.

However, as Tang Jie scanned the garden, his expression darkened. There was no one there. Could Chen Feng have escaped?

The realization hit him like a bolt of lightning. Tang Jie’s thoughts immediately turned to Chen Nan. During his fight with the Black and White Duo on the first floor, Chen Nan had managed to flee upstairs. Tang Jie now suspected that Chen Nan had gone to warn Chen Feng. If that was the case, then Chen Feng may have had just enough time to flee the villa.

A hint of frustration flashed across Tang Jie’s face. If Chen Feng had truly escaped, tonight’s mission would remain incomplete.