Chapter 5 : Chapter 5
Chapter 5: Slaying Su Yun
“So? You’ve been hiding for so long, and you still refuse to show yourself?”
...
No sooner had Li Xingge’s words fallen than a figure shot out from the crowd like lightning, fleeing madly toward the mouth of the valley.
That figure was none other than Su Yun, the Grand Elder of the Su family, who had been lying in wait in the shadows all this time.
As a cultivator with one foot already in the Qi-Blood Realm, a man infinitely close to that level, Su Yun’s perception was naturally far sharper than that of the Zou family head and the others.
The Zou family head had only guessed that Li Xingge might be in the Qi-Blood Realm. He was not certain.
But Su Yun knew very well that Li Xingge was already a genuine Qi-Blood Realm cultivator.
Perhaps because he had only just broken through, Li Xingge still could not perfectly conceal his aura, and Su Yun had detected it.
Born into the Mangshan Su Clan, a family with Qi-Blood Realm cultivators in its ranks, Su Yun understood better than anyone how terrifying Qi-Blood Realm cultivators truly were.
Below the Qi-Blood Realm, all were ants.
That saying was no joke.
The two sides no longer stood on the same level of life itself.
The instant he realized that Li Xingge was a Qi-Blood Realm cultivator, Su Yun did not hesitate in the slightest. He prepared to flee the Li family at once.
As for the Zou family head and the others, they could only pray for their own luck.
At the same time, his heart was shaken beyond measure.
As one of the Li family’s long-time rivals, he naturally understood the Li family’s situation better than most.
That the Li family had produced a new Qi-Blood Realm cultivator was not the truly frightening part.
The truly frightening part was that this Qi-Blood Realm cultivator was only seventeen.
With such talent, even the Innate Realm was very likely within reach.
Looking across the several hundred years of Baihe County’s history, there had never been such a monstrous figure.
Why was such a monster not born into the Su family?
At that thought, Su Yun’s scalp went numb, and anxiety for the Su family’s future surged in his heart.
Given the enmity the Su and Li families had accumulated over the past century, if Li Xingge truly broke through to the Innate Realm one day, the Su family would likely be the first to be exterminated by him.
“No, I absolutely cannot sit here and wait for death. Once I return to the clan, I must persuade the Old Ancestor to pay any price necessary to kill Li Xingge and cut off this future disaster!”
Su Yun clenched his teeth inwardly.
Seeing that miserable figure fleeing at top speed,
a trace of coldness appeared on Li Xingge’s face. He let out a sneer and said, “What do you take my Li family for? A place you can come and go from whenever you please?”
The icy voice from behind made Su Yun’s body shudder.
He did not dare turn back. Instead, he sped up even further. As long as he could escape back to the Su family and receive the Old Ancestor’s protection, he would be safe.
No matter how strong Li Xingge was, he would never dare go to the Su family and seek trouble there.
“You really think you can escape beneath my very eyes?”
Li Xingge gave a cold laugh and formed an ancient, obscure hand seal with both hands.
All around him, surging qi-blood power steamed into the air.
Li Xingge clenched one hand toward the void, and that vast qi-blood power condensed into a massive bow.
He gripped the bow, drew the string, and nocked an arrow, its tip aimed straight at Su Yun.
When the gathered force reached its limit—
with a sharp whoosh, as though even the void were about to split apart, the arrow shot forth like a meteor, tearing through the air with shocking speed.
In almost the same instant, a suffocating killing intent enveloped Su Yun.
Sensing the danger at his back, Su Yun’s heart nearly stopped. He hurriedly turned around, and the absolute killing blow already looming before him twisted his features in terror.
“No!”
That miserable cry rang through all of Qingfeng Valley.
The arrow pierced straight through Su Yun’s body without losing momentum, then slammed him violently into the ground.
The marble-paved earth exploded into a crater several meters wide, and dust billowed everywhere.
As the dust slowly began to settle, the arrow formed from qi-blood power dissolved into scattered points of starlight and vanished.
At Su Yun’s chest, only a horrifying bloody hole remained, blood pouring from it without stop.
His life was draining away at a frantic pace. His pupils were already starting to unfocus. It was plain that he would not survive.
Looking at that figure in the distance, growing blurrier and blurrier in his vision,
Su Yun’s eyes filled with fear.
Not fear of death.
But fear that he seemed to be seeing the destruction of the Mangshan Su Clan at Li Xingge’s hands.
“How... how is this possible?”
The Zou family head and the others, who had witnessed everything, simply could not believe their eyes.
At this moment, terror had already reached its peak in their hearts.
Others might not know who Su Yun was, but the few of them knew perfectly well.
That was the Grand Elder of the Mangshan Su Clan, a supreme expert with one foot in the Qi-Blood Realm.
And yet Li Xingge had slain him so easily.
The shock of this was far greater than Wang Wu being killed in an instant.
Li Xingge truly had entered the Qi-Blood Realm.
At that moment, they felt as though the heavens above their heads had collapsed.
“Everyone, it is time for you to be on your way. The road to the Yellow Springs is long. If you go down too late, I fear you may not catch up to my grandfather.”
That death-summoning voice rang out once more.
The Zou family head looked at Li Xingge in utter terror and pleaded, “Family Head Li, spare our lives. From this day on, we will all follow the Li family’s lead.”
Li Xingge shook his head.
The Zou family head’s face turned ashen.
“Li Xingge, don’t go too far. Do you even know who it was you just killed?”
“A member of the Su family.”
The Zou family head’s pupils contracted, and he barked with feigned fierceness, “Since you know that, you still dared kill him? You are bringing disaster upon the Li family!”
At that, Li Xingge burst into laughter.
“There really are fools whose blades are already pressed to someone else’s throat, yet they still think the other person is not allowed to fight back?”
Seeing that begging for mercy was useless,
the Zou family head’s expression turned savage.
“If you want to kill me, it won’t be that easy. Even if I die, I’ll knock three teeth out of your Li family’s mouth!”
With that, the aura of a major expert of the Physical Body Realm exploded from him. He drew the treasured sword at his waist and charged straight toward the Li clansmen.
Seeing this, the rest understood as well that today they stood nine chances out of ten of dying.
One after another, they brandished their weapons and charged forward.
If they did not resist, they would die for certain.
If they fought for their lives, there was still a sliver of hope.
Kill one and it was enough to break even. Kill two and they would have profited in blood.
They wanted to fight desperately, but Li Xingge naturally had no intention of letting them have their wish.
Behind him, the savage lion phantom appeared once more.
The lion raised its head and let out a deafening roar, and a terrifying wave of shrill sound smashed into the invading enemies.
Everyone felt their minds go blank.
In that fleeting instant of disorientation,
a cold flash swept through the air.
All they felt was a sharp pain at their necks. Instinctively, they reached up and touched them.
Looking at the blood coating their hands, they seemed to understand what had happened.
“So this is the power of a Qi-Blood Realm cultivator?”
That was the final thought in their minds before their consciousness faded away.
As the experts of the various factions were cut down by Li Xingge in a single strike,
the black-clad warriors on the rooftops began raining arrows in wild torrents.
With every volley, dozens fell dead.
In less than half a quarter of an hour, the invading enemy had been slaughtered to the last man.
Within the vast Li family courtyard,
hundreds of corpses were piled into heaps, and blood flowed like a river.
One Li clansman after another stood in that sea of blood, looking at the slender figure in white, pure as snow, their eyes filled with pride and exultation.
Under the gaze of universal reverence, Li Xingge slowly spoke.
“Clan members, several great families took advantage of our Li family’s fresh mourning, gathered troops, and sought to destroy our Li Clan. Now, every one of those invaders has been encircled and slain by our Li family!”
The Li clansmen erupted into wild cheers.
“The Family Head is mighty!”
“The Family Head is mighty!”
“The Family Head is mighty!”
Li Xingge raised a hand, and the scene fell silent at once.
“You think this is the end?”
A chilling killing intent burst from Li Xingge’s eyes.
“The Zou family, the Zhang family, the Jin family, and the Great Saber Sect must pay the price for what they have done!”
“Now hear the order of your Family Head! Divide into four groups, each led by an elder, and exterminate their entire households. Leave not even chickens and dogs alive!”
“With the blood of these people, tell the world what becomes of those who anger my Li family!”
Li Xingge raised his hand, clenched it into a fist, and shouted,
“Kill!”
“Kill!”
“Kill!”
The towering cries of slaughter thundered into the heavens.
Today was destined to become a river of blood.