Chapter 4 : Chapter 4
Chapter 4: The Might of a Qi-Blood Realm Cultivator, Wang Wu’s Death
From the depths of the residence, an icy, bone-piercing voice exploded beside everyone’s ears like a thunderclap.
In an instant, the world fell silent.
A figure clad in mourning robes had stepped out from the crowd at some unknown moment.
With his hands clasped behind his back, he looked coldly at Wang Wu and the others.
The moment the Li clansmen saw him appear, hope burst forth in their eyes.
“The Family Head—it’s the Family Head!”
“The Family Head is here!”
“We greet the Family Head!”
The newcomer was naturally Li Xingge.
Wang Wu and the others looked at the young man.
For some reason, although he appeared to possess no cultivation at all, the moment he appeared, he brought them tremendous pressure.
“So you’re the Li family’s new Family Head?”
Wang Wu forced himself to ask.
His words received no answer.
Wang Wu could not help growing irritated.
He immediately mocked, “The Li family really has no one left. To think you actually made a brat still wet behind the ears into your Family Head.”
At those words, the others could not help bursting into laughter.
Li Xingge narrowed his eyes and slowly said, “My grandfather’s body has not even gone cold, and yet I never expected that one of the dogs we once raised would turn around and bite its master.”
The moment Wang Wu heard this, he flew into a rage.
He was a great expert at Major Accomplishment in the Physical Body Realm, yet this youth had likened him to a watchdog.
More than that, though, it had struck him at his sorest point.
After all, while Li Xuanfeng had still been alive, Wang Wu’s conduct had indeed resembled that of the Li family’s loyal hound.
After Li Xuanfeng’s death, the Li family had imagined that the first to jump out against them would be their old enemies.
The one person they had never imagined would be first was Wang Wu, who had always shown the Li family the utmost courtesy—and who had become so impatient to turn on them.
“You yellow-mouthed child, your arrogance knows no bounds. I’ve long heard that you are the rare genius of the Li family, one not seen in centuries. Today, I would like to ask you for some pointers and see whether you truly deserve that reputation.”
Blinded by rage, Wang Wu drew the great saber from behind his back and leapt straight at Li Xingge.
He was astonishingly fast.
In the blink of an eye, he had already rushed before Li Xingge.
Raising the Ghost-Head Decapitating Saber in his hand, he hacked viciously toward Li Xingge’s head.
Though Wang Wu did not believe Li Xingge could possibly be his match, he had never been one to underestimate an opponent.
This slash contained the full ten-tenths of his strength.
Even an ordinary martial artist of the same realm, if caught off guard by this blow, would meet a bitter death on the spot.
A savage grin spread across his face, as though he could already see it—
the Li family’s new Family Head, the famous Li family genius whose name had long spread throughout the outside world, being split clean in two by a single stroke.
Hmph. What “once-in-a-century genius”? He was nothing more than some hollow name-seeking fraud—just another dead soul beneath Wang Wu’s blade.
But soon...
the smile on Wang Wu’s face froze.
What replaced it was the terror of falling into an abyss.
Li Xingge merely raised a hand at an unhurried pace.
That saber strike—heavy enough to split mountains and shatter stone—was effortlessly caught between two of Li Xingge’s fingers.
Wang Wu strained with all the strength in his body, his face flushing red, but no matter how hard he pulled, he could not wrench it free.
Looking at Wang Wu, who was using every ounce of strength, face red with effort, Li Xingge shook his head.
“Master Wang, you still need more practice.”
Then, under Wang Wu’s horrified gaze, Li Xingge applied the slightest pressure with his fingers. The treasured saber forged from hundred-times-refined steel, the blade that had accompanied Wang Wu for decades and killed countless foes, snapped apart at once.
Then Li Xingge’s other hand closed around Wang Wu’s throat.
A wave of suffocation slammed into Wang Wu’s mind.
He clawed desperately with both hands, trying to pry Li Xingge’s grip loose.
But he discovered that Li Xingge’s hand was like an iron vise. No matter how much force he exerted, it did not move in the slightest.
A smile sat on Li Xingge’s face.
That spring-breeze smile, in Wang Wu’s eyes at this moment, was more terrifying than any malevolent ghost.
“Li... Family Head... spare... this dog’s... life... never again...”
With a crack.
The sickening sound of bones shattering rang out.
Wang Wu’s words came to an abrupt stop.
“In your next life, do not oppose my Li family again.”
The gentle voice spoke calmly.
Li Xingge loosened his grip, and Wang Wu’s corpse crashed heavily to the ground.
The huge man, nearly two hundred jin in weight, struck the earth and kicked up a thick cloud of dust.
Wang Wu’s head lolled to one side, his bulging eyes hideously grotesque.
Even in death, he could not believe it—that he, the mighty sect master of the Great Saber Sect, a major expert of the Physical Body Realm, had been crushed like a lowly ant, casually pinched to death by a mere youth.
From the moment Wang Wu charged forward to the moment he died, only a few breaths had passed.
No one had even seen clearly what had happened.
And yet Wang Wu’s body was already lying on the ground.
The remaining people—the Zou family head and the others—stared wide-eyed at Wang Wu’s corpse, dead and unable to close his eyes, disbelief written all over their faces.
No matter what, they had never imagined that Wang Wu, who one moment ago had still been overbearing and domineering, intent on killing the Li family’s Family Head, would the next moment die on the spot.
Wang Wu was the sect master of the Great Saber Sect—a major expert of the Physical Body Realm.
Looking across all Baihe County, he was still a noteworthy figure.
And yet he had been crushed like an ant, killed with casual ease.
As for the Li family’s side—
after a brief silence, a tidal wave of cheers erupted.
Countless Li clansmen looked at that calm and composed young man with fervent eyes.
“The Family Head is mighty!”
“The Family Head is mighty!”
“The Family Head is mighty!”
That earthshaking, perfectly unified roar finally jolted the Zou family head and the others back to their senses, and terror filled their faces.
They had thought of everything—except for one person.
The Li family’s genius. This new Li family Family Head.
He was the Li family’s true trump card.
His strength had already grown to an unfathomable level.
There was even a very real possibility that he had already broken through the Qi-Blood barrier and advanced into the Qi-Blood Realm.
After all, Wang Wu had been killed instantly, without the slightest power to resist.
One had to know: even a Physical Body Realm Perfection cultivator could defeat a major expert of the same realm, but it was absolutely impossible to kill one so lightly and effortlessly.
At this point, everyone understood in their hearts that dreaming of destroying the Li family was sheer fantasy.
Not even Su Yun—a man with one foot already inside the Qi-Blood Realm—could change that.
Li Xingge’s strength was simply too terrifying.
If they remained stubborn and refused to see reason, Wang Wu’s fate would be their warning.
Once the thought of retreat arose, they began to edge backward in unspoken unison.
But behind them,
the open gates had at some point quietly shut.
All around, along the eaves, black-robed warriors revealed themselves one after another.
Powerful bows and heavy crossbows were drawn and ready.
At a single command, ten thousand arrows would be loosed at once.
By now, how could they fail to understand?
Li Xuanfeng’s funeral today had been a monstrous trap prepared especially for them, waiting for them to deliver themselves to the door and walk straight into the net.
Under the threat of death, the Zou family head and the others felt their bodies begin trembling beyond their control.
Looking at the young man before him,
the Zou family head forcibly suppressed the terror in his heart and said, “Li... Family Head Li, today’s matter was all a misunderstanding. We were all egged on by Wang Wu. Please, Family Head Li, do not blame us.”
Wang Wu was already dead anyway. He could throw all the blame onto him, and the man would hardly come back to refute it.
As long as they escaped this disaster today, the matter of the Li family could be discussed at length later.
Li Xingge kept his hands clasped behind his back.
Smiling, he said, “I do not blame you.”
At those words,
everyone could not help letting out a breath of relief.
It seemed Li Xingge still had his reservations after all. He did not wish to drag things to mutual destruction with them.
With that thought, a look of relief spread across the Zou family head’s face.
“In that case, we shall not disturb you any longer. On another day, we will come again to the Li family to formally apologize to Family Head Li.”
With that, he turned to leave.
But the gentle words that came from behind made everyone’s steps freeze in place.
“Whether to blame you is my grandfather’s affair. I only need to send you to meet him.”
“Family Head Li, what do you mean by that?”
The Zou family head demanded through a livid face.
Seeing that Li Xingge remained unmoved, he continued, “Family Head Li, I know you are powerful, but we are not soft persimmons either. If you truly intend to keep us here, I fear the Li family will lose a few teeth in the process.”
“Heh. Ridiculous. You?”
Li Xingge pointed at them and let out a scornful laugh.
“Or are you referring to that rat hiding in the dark?”
Everyone’s expressions changed drastically.