Before Lin Dong and the rest, what originally should be a populated Steel Wood growing district was now more than half empty. One after another, black wooden stumps protruded out of the ground. Numerous messy axe marks dotted what was left of a once magnificent tree. Clearly, this had been an extremely hasty job.

Of course, what caused Lin Dong and his party to be ashen faced was not the large portion of Steel Trees that had already been chopped down but the fact that there were currently many figures hurriedly pouring pots of stinky, poisonous liquid into the ground.

The Lei Family. Not only did they cut down most of the already growing Steel Trees, they still intended to ruin this plot of land, making it such that Steel Wood would never grow in this place again!

Harming others without benefit to oneself, this kind of act was incomparably despicable!

"These god damned bastards, they plan on leaving our Lin Family with a useless manor!" Qin Ying gnashed his teeth in anger as he cursed.

Lin Dong's complexion turned somewhat gloomy. He did not foresee that the Lei Family would actually stoop so very low. If the land in the Steel Wood Manor was really made barren by the poison then this manor would become utterly worthless.

"What do we do now?" One of the Lin Family guards asked in a low voice. From the present situation, the Lei Family had yet to chop down and transport all of the Steel Wood. After all, the Steel Wood in the Steel Wood Manor was in extreme abundance, furthermore, Steel Trees were rather solid and thus not easy to cut down. Therefore, the Lei Family was still unable to completely clear out the Steel Wood Manor even after more than a month.

"Even without the Steel Wood, the trees can still be grown again. However, if the land is ruined, this Steel Wood Manor would be no different from a wasteland." Qin Ying growled.

"Yes."

Lin Dong lightly nodded in return. His gaze swept across the area, finding that most of the people were labourers hired by the Lei Family and of little threat to their party. Thus his eyes continued to scan about before finally stopping at some figures at the fringe of the crowd. These were the Lei Family guards.

"There are thirty guards from the Lei Family, out of which two are at the Earthly Yuan Stage. I recognize the leader, he is called Dai En, an ex-bandit. It was only later that he became a Lei Family guard. His strength is probably equivalent to mine, about that of an Earthly Yuan Early Stage practitioner. The other one should also be at this level." Qin Ying furrowed his eyebrows as he quietly informed the rest. In their party, only Lin Dong and him were at the Earth Yuan Stage. However, it was also the first time that Lin Dong had encountered this type of situation. If they really went at it with their lives on the line, it would be very difficult to contend against the other party's Earthly Yuan experts.

"Two at Earthly Yuan Early Stage." Lin Dong's eyes flashed as he muttered: "Uncle Qin Ying, release the signal to notify my father and the rest."

"Once we fire the signal, they will discover our presence. Shall we withdraw first?" Qin Ying was alarmed. The opponent had two Earthly Yuan Stage experts plus more than ten experienced practitioners. On their side, it was just the four of them. If they retreated, Qin Ying could still protect Lin Dong. However, if they directly engaged the enemy, he definitely be tight pressed to ensure his own survival, let alone Lin Dong's.

"There's no time to retreat. For every bit of poison they scatter, the output of the Steel Wood Manor would drop by a portion." Lin Dong shook his head before continuing: "When we make our move, leave Dai En and the other one to me. You and your men will stop the rest of them."

At these words, Qin Ying's expression changed. Did Lin Dong think that he could face two Earthly Yuan Early Stage experts by himself?

"Don't tarry any longer, I am not so foolish as to court a certain death."

Lin Dong quickly pacified Qin Ying and the rest as if he knew what they were thinking, he did not have the time to explain further. He had already reached Earthly Yuan Middle Stage. Furthermore, with the huge amount of Yin Energy he had absorbed from Qing Tan, the fused Yuan Power he possessed was much stronger than a normal practitioner. Although he lacked the experience his opponents had, with two Level 4 Martial Arts in his arsenal, facing the two of them would not be much of an issue.

Seeing Lin Dong persist and then once again considering the current situation, Qin Ying clenched his jaw before retrieving a signal flare and igniting it. A bright red light soared into the sky and exploded. In a radius of one kilometer, a harsh red glare could be clearly seen.

"Who?!"

In the instance when the signal was fired, the Lei Family guards nearby also became aware of their presence. The leader was a man with a dark expression. He abruptly turned as he fiercely stared at where Lin Dong and gang were hiding. With a wave of his hand, over ten figures who were scattered around slowly encircled the spot and closed in.

"Roar!"

Just as they were closing in, a tiger roar suddenly sounded out and a fiery-red shadow burst forth.

"Fire Python Tiger!"

The Lei Family guards evidently had some discerning eyes among them as they recognized Little Flame instantly. Terrified yells rang out and some of the more timid ones were so taken aback that they pissed in their pants.

"Don't panic, it's just a young Fire Python Tiger!" The man known as Dai En was also initially shocked, however he quickly noticed that Little Flame was still young and sternly shouted to his men.

"6th brother, you're with me. Let's slaughter this brute together. The rest of you go and catch the other intruders! I would love find out exactly which god damned bastards actually dared cause trouble in the Steel Wood Manor!"

Dai En obviously held a lot of sway among the guards. After he shouted out his commands, the terror in the guards weakened and the other Earthly Yuan Stage expert came to stand beside Dai En while wearing a dark and fierce expression.

"Go!"

The two exchanged a glance and dashed straight at Little Flame in unison. However, when the two were still several meters from closing in on Little Flame, a figure abruptly rushed out from its rear and appeared before the two. A ferocious Yuan Power suffused with an ice-cold chill ruthlessly attacked the two.

"Careful!"

The sudden attack caused Dai En and his partner to be alarmed, but soon after, Yuan Power also gushed out from their own bodies.

"Bang!"

The three figures crashed heavily together. A strong force erupted from the clash, causing the rubble on the ground to be swept into the air. The figure which had appeared from Little Flame's back had his body slightly jolted back but he quickly steadied himself. By contrast, Dai En and his partner were pushed back several steps under the astonished gazes of everyone else.

"Ss!"

Qin Ying and the rest who were originally preparing to reinforce Lin Dong at any time involuntarily gasped as they saw this scene. With startled gazes, they stared at the back of the youngster. They never imagined that Lin Dong was able to come out on top even when it was one against two!

"Worthy of being called the Lin Family's most talented individual."

Even a notable man like Qin Ying who constantly faced life or death battles felt a sense of admiration bubble up in his heart when he looked at the youngster's back. At this moment, he had already forgotten the age gap between the two of them. After all, the only thing worth respecting in this land was power.

"Attack!"

Qin Ying quickly commanded after seeing that Lin Dong was able to stop Dai En and his partner. The party rushed towards the ten or so Lei Family Guards who had surrounded them. With his Earthly Yuan Stage strength, even if they were less in number, Qin Ying was not worried at all.

"Roar!"

At the same time, Little Flame once again bellowed as it turned into a fiery shadow and blazed out of the encirclement, directly heading towards the labourers who were still scattering poison about. In response to this devilish looking monster, the labourers hastily threw away the buckets in their hands and fled for their lives.

"It's the Lin Family!" When Dai En saw Qin Ying rushing out his expression slightly changed. An ominous glint flashed across his eyes as he gave a death stare to Lin Dong.

"6th brother, let's strike together and kill this brat!"

Dai En licked his lips, a murderous intent spilling from his face. Hearing his words, the Earthly Yuan Stage expert Dai En had called 6th brother also nodded with a dark expression. The two split to the left and right as if they were savage wolves that had practised this routine countless times before. Step by step, they crept towards Lin Dong.

Gazing at the two who had surrounded him and were steadily approaching, Lin Dong took in a deep breath. This was the first life or death battle in his life.