Just like Xuan had predicted, Li Yiren's foundations in cultivation were sloppy. He had access to all these good cultivation materials, techniques, and resources as the heir to the Li Family, but no matter how strong he became, his abilities would always be flawed. A true master, someone with thousands of years of experience like Xuan, would easily be able to exploit those weaknesses and hit him back with a single, clean counterattack.
'… There. I see it.'
Precisely, Xuan pinpointed the location of flaw in Li Yiren's Star Eater Fist technique, and cut his blade diagonally across the air. An incredibly powerful crescent of blood-red Sword Qi shot out from his weapon, cutting the purple singularity directly in half and rendering it useless. Li Yiren, caught off guard by this unexpected counter, could do little but let himself get hit, square across the chest.
"Agh!"
All it took was one shot. Li Yiren was sent flying backwards, a good few meters before sliding across the ground painfully. For an Origin Transformation stage cultivator, he sure was weak. Without a doubt, he did not have much combat experience at all, and especially not against other cultivators. Just like how there were cultivators who could defeat those multiple levels above themselves, there were also cultivators whose strength were below the standard for their level.
Unfortunately, Xuan's attack did little except damage the artifact he was wearing. As the heir to such a powerful family, it only made sense that he was given an incredibly strong protective armor set to keep him alive. That was probably why he had been able to bounce back repeatedly against the chimera as well.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"Mm. Quite the strong defensive artifact you have there," Xuan mused, stepping closer. "I will be sure to take it from your body. Although… to think you were unable to dodge that attack, despite being a Origin Transformation stage cultivator… it seems the Li family young master has been slacking off somewhat in his cultivation."
"You… damn you… how did you cut through my Star Eater Fist?!" Li Yiren yelled in rage, like a five-year-old throwing a temper tantrum after losing in a game of hide-and-seek. "That is my most powerful technique, and not even the elders back at home are able to defend against it!"
At this, Xuan burst out in laughter—a genuine, heartfelt laugh.
"Haha! I can see why your foundations are so flawed now," he said, smiling deviously. "It's because back at 'home', all the adults around you did nothing but praise and spoil you, didn't they?"
"That's because I am a genius!" Li Yiren roared with full confidence. "The future heir of the Li family! I deserve their praise!"
This man… he was beyond saving. Despite being physically an adult, he had been so spoiled during his childhood that even now, he still thought and acted like a child. It was pitiful, in a way.
Xuan's smile vanished after realizing that, and he slowly lifted a hand to his face—more particularly, his eye.
"No. You… deserve nothing but a slow, agonizing death."
Li Yiren had everything a cultivator could ever ask for handed to him on a silver platter, but he wasted it all. Meanwhile, in Xuan's past life, he had to go through life and death, hunger and pain, loss and despair—over and over again to get to where he once stood. Every bit of strength he received was the product of a drop of his own blood and sweat, accumulated through thousands of years of effort and hard work.
Those were the pillars that built up Zero, the Blood Demon Asura Godking. And this manchild—this utterly pitiful excuse of a human being—claimed to deserve praise?
No, no, no. He deserved nothing. Nothing but death.
"D-Damn you, I won't go down without a fi- AH!"
"Shut up."
Thrusting his sword into the ground right beside Li Yiren's neck, Xuan silenced the weakling immediately, cold and deadly. What cowardice. So what if he had a stronger cultivation base, technically speaking? So what if he could command a Star Technique, derived from the Law of Space? The victor of this battle was already set in stone before the fight even began.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmCharging up his right eye, flaring up in bright red energy, Xuan spoke.
"Do you want to know what the difference between you and me is?"
Without waiting for an answer, he continued.
"While you were busy triumphing over the victories you had against your family elders who let you have them, I was killing thousands of people. Slaughtering entire armies, slaying gods and demons alike. That made me into who I am today. My life is made of blood; yours is made of gold and silver. A spoiled, deceived little child like you… could never hope to defeat me."
For a moment, Li Yiren's eyes lit up. He had finally awoken from the dream that he'd lived in up until this moment, and the cold, harsh reality of the world set in.
Too bad that it was already too late.
"W-Wait! W-We can still talk! If you don't kill me here, I'll let you go, I promise! Otherwise, once my family finds out, they will definitely hunt you down and make you pa-"
"Make me pay?" Xuan let out a low, dark chuckle. "Don't make me laugh. One, they won't find out in the first place. And two, even if they do, well… what's another addition to my list of purged families?"
As Li Yiren's eyes widened in horror, Xuan delivered the final blow. A red hot laser shot out of his eye—a product of the Flaming Boar Eyes Zodiac skill—and pierced directly through the Li family heir's skull. An agonizing scream filled the air, but Xuan showed no intention of stopping.
And after just a few seconds, the screams stopped.
What had once sat on top of Li Yiren's neck—had been reduced to nothing but ashes, and the future heir of the Li Family had been killed.