Duan Tianshan was scared. In fact, he was petrified. Ever since his battle with Qi Ying on the dueling platform, he had developed a great deal of fear toward him. When Qi Ying sprang into the air before pouncing at him like a ferocious beast, the horror in his heart was exacerbated and he couldn’t help but stumble back in retreat. After witnessing one of the disciples being slain by him, Duan Tianshan felt like his soul was about to escape his body.
Were they dealing with a human?
No! This was a wild beast; and a rabid one at that!
Duan Tianshan had no doubt in his heart that if he didn’t run away, the next person to have his guts spilling out onto the ground would be him. Thus, he immediately turned and fled like a madman toward the other end of the street. He had forgotten that the safest place was actually right next to Li Xiongba, and he exposed his vulnerable back to Qi Ying.
“Die!”
Qi Ying lashed out with his left hand directly toward Duan Tianshan’s heart and right when his attack was about to land on its target, his right calf was suddenly caught in a vice-like grip. As a result, his center of gravity was completely thrown off, but he still managed to materialize five purple True Energy claw projections that hurtled through the air.
Dark Falcon Illusionary Claw!
Whoosh!
His battle technique was successfully unleashed, but it was off target. The five claw projections didn’t strike Duan Tianshan’s back. Instead, they cut viciously into his leg, slicing through his pants and inflicting a deep wound that reached all the way to his bones. Duan Tianshan let loose a howl of agony and tumbled to the ground as his leg bled and spasmed profusely.
Meanwhile, Li Xiongba had hoisted Qi Ying into the air and swung him around in a circle before ramming him into the ground with a heavy thump, rocking all of his internal organs in the process.
“Energy Martial Stage?! How is that possible?”
Duan Yuan yelled in astonishment. When Qi Ying had unleashed his battle technique, he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. However, Qi Ying was no longer concealing his aura and he was clearly already at the First Energy Martial Stage.
That wasn’t all that impressive in itself, but the problem was, he was still only at the Eighth Strength Martial Stage just a day ago!
How had he progressed to the Energy Martial Stage so quickly?
The other disciples were all just as surprised as Duan Yuan.
Impossible!
However, even though they were all quite astonished, none of them were feeling fearful toward Qi Ying as no matter how powerful he was, he would still be no match for Bear Monarch Li Xiongba of the Four Heavenly Monarchs. If Qi Ying really was at the First Energy Martial Stage, then that would explain how he was able to beat such a large group of people by himself the day prior. In fact, it made him seem less formidable than if he really were only at the Eighth Strength Martial Stage.
Li Xiongba stomped a foot heavily onto Qi Ying’s back and appraised him with disdain. “You little sh*t! I didn’t think you would have it in you to kill someone! It’s a pity that you’re picking a fight with the wrong people!”
Li Xiongba then glanced at Duan Tianshan, who was still howling like a wounded pig, and harrumphed coldly. “You could’ve escaped with your life, but I’m going to have to kill you for hurting Young Master Tianshan! I heard you have a beautiful blind mother? Hehe, after you die, my brothers and I will make sure to love and cherish her in your stead! Hahahaha!”
“I’m going to kill you!”
Qi Ying gritted his teeth as he lay beneath Li Xiongba’s foot. He turned his head and glowered at Li Xiongba with a pair of bloodshot eyes.
“You think you have what it takes to kill me?”
Li Xiongba didn’t even regard Qi Ying as a worthy opponent, but a chill still ran down his spine at the sight of the feral look in Qi Ying’s eyes. A cold look appeared on his face as he let loose a ferocious roar. “I can kill you right now!”
A layer of red True Energy appeared on his right hand and he abruptly lashed out.
Whoosh!
The red True Energy transformed into a substantial blade which shot forth directly toward Qi Ying’s neck.
However, in that instant, Li Xiongba suddenly felt a hand grab onto his left calf. The hand was able to exert an insane amount of force and his knee was forced to buckle as his entire body fell forward. The blade of energy that he had just created with his hand naturally missed its target and flew off into a random direction as a result. Li Xiongba fell face-first onto the ground amid a dull thump. He was just about to get up when a silver gloved hand appeared in front of his face.
Crack!
A sound akin to a watermelon being smashed open erupted as Li Xiongba’s head was swatted into smithereens, sending intracranial fluid splattering through the air!
“Huff… Huff… You brought this upon yourself…”
Qi Ying panted heavily and the blood on his face made his ferocious expression appear even more horrifying.
“Argh!”
“He, he killed the Bear Monarch!”
“Qi Ying just killed two people!”
All of the other disciples had well and truly been scared witless. Qi Ying had just slain Bear Monarch Li Xiongba!
He was one of the most powerful disciples in the entire Celestial River Academy. The fact that he was able to kill Li Xiongba demonstrated that he was capable of killing anyone of them as well.
No one dared to approach Qi Ying anymore. They were petrified of being ripped apart by him, and could only watch as he made his way toward Duan Tianshan.
“You, what are you doing?” Duan Tianshan was in an extremely panicked state and he began to screech at the top of his lungs at the sight of Qi Ying’s bloodstained silver glove, “You can’t kill me! If you kill me, the Duan family will hunt you down and…”
Slap!
A puddle of blood splattered onto the ground.
Duan Tianshan’s head had also been smacked into countless pieces by Qi Ying’s left hand.
“You made me do this.”
Qi Ying kicked Duan Tianshan’s headless corpse aside before casting a cold glance around at the surrounding bystanders.
Everyone shuddered in unison and Duan Yuan was the first to come to break the silence. “Qi Ying committed murder! He killed Young Master Tianshan! Everybody, run!”
He immediately led the charge and fled into the distance.
Everyone instantly came to their senses and they also fled frantically for their lives. They didn’t even know where they were going; all they were trying to do was to get as far away from Qi Ying as possible. That was no human they were dealing with; it was an insane, man-eating beast!
Qi Ying looked on at the fleeing disciples but did not give chase.
Go on then! Run away!
Even if the Duan family were to hear about all of this, the worst that could happen to him was getting killed. That was better than having himself and Mother Yu being constantly insulted!
Death before dishonor. Even to underprivileged disciples, honor was extremely important. That wasn’t to say one had to live a life where they were constantly revered and worshipped; what was truly important was to live with dignity!
Right at that moment, bursts of blood curdling cries suddenly erupted from the fleeing group of lackeys.
“Argh!”
“Argh!” “Argh!”
Qi Ying’s eyes widened in disbelief. There were dozens of disciples fleeing for their lives, but all of them had perished! In the blink of an eye, all of their heads had exploded with no exception, reducing them to headless corpses.
Regardless of being the fleeing instigators, or simply bystanders who had come out from the nearby shops, all of them had died on the spot!
‘Who did that?’
Qi Ying’s heart jolted with shock. Who could kill so many people in an instant without even making an appearance?
All of a sudden.
Whoosh!
A white-robed figure descended from the sky!
“Come with me!”
A familiar voice sounded.
…
Clip clop clip clop!
The sound of pounding horse hooves erupted in the distance, alongside the sound of two people conversing loudly with one another.
“Young Mistress, why are we meddling with the Duan family’s affairs? How does an underprivileged disciple deserve such attention from you, to the extent that you’ve even mobilized the guard squad?”
“Shut up! If Qi Ying is missing even a single hair from his body, I’m going to get our Family Leader to strip you of your post as the leader of the guard squad!”
“The Celestial River County is massive, who knows where he could’ve gone?”
“If you don’t know, then search street by street!”
The clip-clop of sound hooves drew closer and closer as a group of about a dozen or so figures on horseback rounded the corner. However, all of them suddenly came to an abrupt halt!
The horses whinnied and their riders’ eyes widened in shock and horror. “So many dead bodies! And all of them are wearing Celestial River Academy uniforms! What happened here?”
“Qi Ying!”
An Ruyi quickly dismounted from her steed before rushing over to the piles of bodies and checking through them one by one, as if she had become deranged. The guards behind her hurriedly followed along behind her. “Young Mistress, you’ll get blood smeared on yourself!”
However, An Ruyi wasn’t as frantic as she initially was. After completing a rough check of these bodies, none of them appeared familiar to her. Even though all of them were missing their heads, none of them had that familiar silver glove on the left hand.
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