"Su Su, you’ve arrived just in time! Today, you’ll witness me kill Ye Qingchen with your own eyes and finally settle this grudge!"
Li Zhe laughed heartily, pointing his broadsword at Ye Qingchen with eyes full of disdain. He hadn’t taken Ye Qingchen’s words to heart at all. A Fifth Layer Martial Artist wanting to kill an Eighth Layer one? What a fool’s dream!
SWISH!
The broadsword traced a cold arc of light. Li Zhe stamped his foot hard on the ground and, like an arrow released from its bow, shot toward Ye Qingchen. His broadsword slashed down from above, aiming for Ye Qingchen’s head.
Li Zhe’s slash was incredibly fast. Li Susu could only see a blur of afterimages, unable to discern the broadsword’s true position.
"Double Pupils!"
With a mere thought from Ye Qingchen, the Dual Pupil Martial Soul in his mind snapped open its eyes. Instantly, Li Zhe’s speed slowed several times in his vision, and the flaws in the descending slash became clearly visible.
He took a single step back, and the broadsword grazed the hem of his robes as it fell. In that same instant, Ye Qingchen’s palm shot past the descending blade to strike Li Zhe directly.
"Picking Leaf Hand!"
It was an inferior-grade Xuan-level Martial Technique.
BANG!
The palm struck Li Zhe’s arm squarely. His arm trembled violently, and he lost his grip on the broadsword. With a loud CLANG, it fell to the ground. At the same time, the powerful force of the palm strike sent Li Zhe stumbling back five or six meters.
"How is this possible?!"
Seeing this, Li Susu and the Li Family experts stared wide-eyed, their faces etched with disbelief. Not only had Li Zhe’s slash failed to harm Ye Qingchen in the slightest, but Ye Qingchen had actually disarmed him with a single palm strike! This outcome was far beyond their expectations.
After all, Ye Qingchen was only a Fifth Layer Martial Artist while Li Zhe was an Eighth Layer. There was a gap of three entire Realms between them! Normally, Ye Qingchen should have been completely overpowered.
Li Susu was not the only one who was shocked; Li Zhe’s heart was also filled with astonishment. During that exchange, he felt as if Ye Qingchen had seen through his every move, countering them with ease. How utterly bizarre!
However, Li Zhe quickly suppressed his astonishment and charged at Ye Qingchen once more. His right hand formed a palm, slamming down with a powerful wave of air.
"Triple Waves!"
This was the Li Family’s strongest superior-grade Yellow-level Martial Technique, with power comparable to an inferior-grade Xuan-level technique—it was Li Zhe’s ultimate trump card. One wave surged stronger than the last as three powerful, overlapping shockwaves pressed down on Ye Qingchen.
"It is your honor to die by my Li Family’s ultimate technique!" Li Zhe’s eyes were full of confidence as he stared at the nearby Ye Qingchen.
Facing the Triple Waves, Ye Qingchen neither dodged nor evaded. Instead, he unleashed a fully charged punch.
"Through-Back Binding Fist!"
Fist and palm collided fiercely. The impact of the Triple Waves sent Ye Qingchen staggering back more than ten meters. When he finally regained his footing, a trickle of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. He was clearly lightly injured.
"Father injured Ye Qingchen! That’s wonderful!" Seeing this, Li Susu’s beautiful eyes lit up with excitement, and she waved her clenched fists.
"The Family Head is mighty!" The eyes of the Li Family experts also brightened as they chimed in with flattery.
Li Zhe proudly retracted his palm and looked at Ye Qingchen with disdain. "Kid, faced with absolute strength and a superior Martial Technique, you’re no match for me. That punch of yours felt like a mere tickle!"
Ye Qingchen wiped the blood from his mouth and smiled faintly. "A tickle? Family Head Li, you truly don’t take a mid-grade Xuan-level Martial Technique seriously, do you?"
Upon hearing this, Li Zhe’s pupils constricted. "What? A mid-grade Xuan-level Martial Technique?!"
The next moment, his expression changed dramatically as he sensed something wrong. He was about to mobilize the energy in his body to fight back when nine explosive sounds erupted from within him.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Nine successive explosions rang out, each more violent than the last. Li Zhe’s internal organs were blasted to shreds. A bloody hole was torn straight through his solar plexus, gushing blood from front to back.
"How... how is this possible..." Li Zhe’s eyes were filled with disbelief. A wave of helplessness washed over him, and he collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud.
"Father!"
Li Susu’s smile froze. After a few seconds of stunned silence, she rushed frantically to Li Zhe’s side, pressing her hands against the hole in his solar plexus to stanch the bleeding.
But it was useless. Blood gushed between her fingers, staining her hands crimson.
Li Susu looked at her father’s face, and her heart clenched. Li Zhe’s eyes were wide open, all breath gone. He had died with his eyes open, unable to rest in peace.
"Father—!" Li Susu burst into tears, collapsing onto Li Zhe’s body and calling his name desperately. There was no response. His body was slowly growing cold.
"Bastard! You dare kill the Family Head!"
"Kill him! Avenge the Family Head!"
The two Li Family experts who had come with Li Susu roared and charged at Ye Qingchen, their longswords stabbing viciously.
WHOOSH!
Ye Qingchen used Mystifying Steps, his movements unpredictable. Evading their pincer attack, he found an opening after a few exchanges and threw a punch.
BANG!
An expert from the Li Family took the fist to his chest and died on the spot.
The last Li Family expert was even less of a match. After only two exchanges, Ye Qingchen sent him flying with a kick, dead before he hit the ground.
After dealing with the two experts, Ye Qingchen turned his gaze to Li Susu and walked toward her, one step at a time.
At this moment, Li Susu’s eyes were stained with tears, her heart filled with infinite regret. I never expected his growth to be so rapid, so far beyond my wildest predictions. In such a short time, he’s already a Fifth Layer Martial Artist, and his combat prowess is even more terrifying... In their attempts to kill him, my two brothers and now my father have all died tragically. If I could turn back time, I would rather my father and brothers never sought revenge for me.
Suddenly, Li Susu stopped crying. She stood, turned, and stared blankly at Ye Qingchen. "Ye Qingchen, I regret everything.
"Your talent is incredible. As your fiancée, I could have shared in your glory.
"But I was too greedy, like a snake trying to swallow an elephant. You were willing to sacrifice yourself for me, yet I tried to steal your Martial Soul. In the end, not only did I reap what I sowed, but I also dragged my entire family down with me..."
Ye Qingchen listened quietly until Li Susu finished. He then let out a quiet sigh. "If you knew it would end like this, why did you ever start?"
Li Susu’s gaze fell on Ye Qingchen, her eyes suddenly burning with a desperate passion. "Ye Qingchen, you still love me, don’t you? Otherwise, why didn’t you kill me that day at the Li Family estate? Why did you only destroy my Dantian? Let’s forget all the unpleasantness and start over!"
Ye Qingchen was taken aback for a moment before shaking his head, speechless. I can’t believe she’s so deluded.
"You’re overthinking it. The moment I learned you planned to move against me, I was done with you.
"As for that day, if I had killed you, I likely wouldn’t have been able to escape the Li Family. That is the only reason I crippled you instead of killing you."
Ye Qingchen’s words shattered the last sliver of hope in Li Susu’s heart, serving as a final closure for the ten years he had dedicated to her without complaint.
Li Susu’s face turned ashen. Unable to accept this reality, she shook her head again and again. "So now... you’re going to kill me?"
Ye Qingchen didn’t answer but simply gave a slow, deliberate nod. He then began walking firmly toward her. It all has to end...
However, at that very moment—
"Aha, we’ve found it! It truly is the Vermilion Bird Holy Soul!"
"No, wait. This aura... it isn’t the Vermilion Bird Holy Soul. It’s the Vermilion Bird Martial Soul!"
The cries of surprise came from an old man and a youth who suddenly appeared in Ye Qingchen and Li Susu’s line of sight.