"Kid, don't get too arrogant. I'll deal with you right now."
Seeing Shen Lang's insolence and dismissiveness, a young man around twenty-five or twenty-six, a little over 1.6 meters tall, with a delicate and effeminate face despite his youth, leaped forward and stood before Shen Lang.
"Oh, what's your name?"
Shen Lang casually asked upon seeing the effeminate youth.
"Kid, remember this. My name is Tang Fenghuang."
The effeminate youth said coldly, looking at Shen Lang.
"Fenghuang?"
Hearing this, Shen Lang chuckled, "I've heard that Fenghuang isn't the general term for the phoenix. Among phoenixes, the male is called Feng and the female is called Huang. You are both Feng and Huang, so are you perhaps an intersex person, a combination of male and female?"
"Haha, no way, no way. You're not actually one, are you?"
As Shen Lang spoke, he burst into hearty laughter.
"Bastard—"
Hearing Shen Lang's words, Tang Fenghuang was furious. "Shen Lang, how dare you insult me? I will kill you."
"Kill me?"
Shen Lang heard this and smiled, a smile of utter contempt. "Even your sect leader Tang Jiutian might not be confident of killing me. What makes you, a nobody, think you can? Don't be ridiculous."
"Seeing as you're young and around my age, I'll give you a chance to live. Kneel before me, kowtow three times, and then get lost. I'll spare your life."
"Arrogant—"
Hearing Shen Lang's words, not only Tang Fenghuang but also Tang Wan'er, Tang Hongyao, and the others were filled with indignation.
No one expected that on Tang Sect's territory, an outsider would show them such disdain. What could be more infuriating than this?
After all, this was their territory, their own ground.
"Tang Fenghuang, kill him! You must kill him!"
In their fury, Tang Wan'er and the remaining seven of the Tang Sect's Eight Talents roared at Tang Fenghuang.
Yes, that included Tang Hongyao.
Although Shen Lang had let her go in the hotel, she was still a member of the Tang Sect and could not tolerate anyone insulting or trampling on the dignity of the sect.
"Kill me?"
Hearing Tang Wan'er and the other seven Tang Sect elites, Shen Lang smiled again, his smile growing more contemptuous, more dismissive. He addressed Tang Wan'er and the others, "Look at him, he looks effeminate like a eunuch, and his name suggests both male and female. Does he have the ability to kill me?"
"No, he doesn't have the ability, understand? Hurry up, deal with Tang Fenghuang first, then deal with the seven Tang Sect elites, and finally, on a whim, I'll deal with Tang Jiutian as well. In the end, with no one left to challenge, I'll have to become the Tang Sect leader myself."
"Damn it…"
Even Tang Wan'er and Tang Hongyao, who had received elite education, couldn't help but curse when faced with such provocation from Shen Lang.
This scoundrel Shen Lang was not only arrogant but also incredibly foul-mouthed and bottomless, simply detestable.
"Shen Lang, die!"
Hearing Shen Lang's words, Tang Fenghuang, as the target, was even more enraged to the point of explosion. With a furious roar, he waved his hands.
The next moment, dense black sand, as small as peas, shot out from Tang Fenghuang's wide sleeves, showering towards Shen Lang.
This dense black sand didn't look as fearsome as the Zhuge Divine Crossbows used by other Tang Sect disciples, but Shen Lang knew that was a common misconception.
As one of the Tang Sect's Eight Talents, the projectile Tang Fenghuang unleashed in his rage could not be ordinary hidden weapons.
"Is this the Five Poisons Divine Sand?"
Shen Lang's pupils contracted as he recognized the black sand.
The Five Poisons Divine Sand was a deadly weapon of the Tang Sect that combined hidden weapons with poison.
It was made by mixing iron sand with five types of poisons and soaking them for three years. After three years, it formed the highly toxic Five Poisons Divine Sand.
The records in the books about the Tang Sect stated: Those who wield the Five Poisons Divine Sand, refined with five poisons over iron sand for three years, would cause the victim to be poisoned all over their body, becoming numb and unable to move. If it broke the skin, pus and blood would flow ceaselessly, incurable by any medicine.
The Tang Sect's Five Poisons Divine Sand had once instilled terror in martial artists of all dynasties because of its dreadful nature.
Shen Lang hadn't expected Tang Fenghuang to know how to use this Five Poisons Divine Sand, no wonder his face was so effeminate.
Because those who wielded the Five Poisons Divine Sand were toxic all over their bodies. Who would want to be friends with such a person? Without friends, their personality would naturally become effeminate and reclusive.
However, faced with the dense swarm of Five Poisons Divine Sand, with almost no angle to dodge, Shen Lang's face showed no trace of panic, not even a hint.
A split second before the Five Poisons Divine Sand reached his body, Shen Lang immediately channeled his Innate Qi, forming a protective shield around himself.
Shen Lang's Innate Qi could even block bullets.
Back at the Nanling Film City, when he was cornered by members of the Killer Society on the stairs and had no escape, Shen Lang had used his Innate Qi to block all the bullets.
As the Innate Qi activated, the next moment, all the Five Poisons Divine Sand shot towards him was blocked by the protective shield of Innate Qi, losing all its power and scattering onto the ground with a clatter.
This sound was like a series of slaps landing on Tang Fenghuang's face, leaving him frozen in place.
"How… how is this possible?"
Seeing the Five Poisons Divine Sand scattered on the ground, Tang Fenghuang's pupils widened, and he uttered this question.
"Ah—"
While Tang Fenghuang was still in shock, Shen Lang made a swift move, darting forward to Tang Fenghuang. He pierced Tang Fenghuang's chest with his sword, then kicked him, sending him flying seven or eight meters before he crashed heavily onto the ground.
A mouthful of blood gushed out, and Tang Fenghuang's life was extinguished.
"This…"
Before everyone could recover from the sight of Shen Lang blocking the Five Poisons Divine Sand attack, they saw Shen Lang's swift surprise attack and his sword strike that killed Tang Fenghuang. Their expressions shifted from shock to fury.
Dishonorable! Utterly dishonorable!
Looking at Shen Lang, Tang Wan'er and Tang Hongyao and the others were furious, wishing they could beat and dismember Shen Lang with their bare hands and a thousand blades.
Looking at the enraged crowd, Tang Jiutian said calmly, "With Tang Fenghuang's strength, if he hadn't been provoked by Shen Lang, he wouldn't have used the Five Poisons Divine Sand immediately. Without using it immediately, he would have had at least a fifty percent chance of defeating Shen Lang."
"Using his trump card first was his biggest mistake, and the price for that mistake was his life."
Saying this, Tang Jiutian looked at the seven Tang Sect elites and said, "You are all the youngest generation of the Tang Sect, yet you have had smooth sailing, unaware that there are always greater powers beyond. You are also unaware of the deviousness of human hearts. Shen Lang is the whetstone I've given you."
"If you can defeat Shen Lang, you will undergo a transformation and enter a new realm. Otherwise…"
Tang Jiutian paused here, not continuing further.
Tang Wan'er asked curiously, "Father, otherwise what?"
Tang Jiutian said indifferently, "If they cannot use Shen Lang as a whetstone, they will be used as a whetstone by Shen Lang. And this blade, Shen Lang, will not only take their lives but also bring disaster to the Tang Sect."