As Bernard saw his friend's lifeless corpse on the ground, he knew this battle was as good as lost. He was a long-range fighter and there was no way he could defeat a physical fighter with his mana.
His mana would long run out before he could infuse enough mana into his opponent to defeat him.
He turned his head to Xia Lu but there was still something around her and he was sure he wouldn't be able to use her.
But he didn't know one crucial thing about that barrier around Xia L, however, that didn't matter to the current him.
All he could see was Wei Jun making his way to him and there was no other way to get out of there alive other than killing Wei Jun.
There was only one option left. An option that would hurt him for years to come but with the right elixirs and potions, he would be back on his feet in a few years.
That option sounded a lot better than just dying at the hands of Wei Jun at the moment so he closed his eyes and reached into his heart.
He found the circles engraved on his heart. The four circles with intricate engravings on them were etched on his heart like they had been there since his birth.
The engravings on the circles began to shake. Their shaking never came to a stop even when they began to remove themselves from the circle and come off of the circles on his heart.
"Kughh!!!" Bernard gritted his teeth as a tremendous pain assaulted his senses but he didn't steep. He clenched his fists and continued to strip off the engravings on his heart.
Wei Jun stopped. When he saw Bernard bent over and blood coming out of his orifices, he could instinctively tell there was something wrong.
But he couldn't tell what.
Fortunately for him though, someone else could.
[Host, he's removing the runes of his mana circles]
[He's going to release all the innate mana into the surroundings]
Wei Jun easily connected the dots from that point and looked at Xia Lu.
Just in time as well because the time on the bracelet he had given her just ran out.
"Will sh--" Before Wei Jun could even ask, the system replied…
Wei Jun didn't think for another second and jumped at her. He arrived in front of her in a second and covered her with his body just in time before a strong wave of mana hit him from behind and tossed him through the lawn of the Lu family villa quite a distance away.
As for Bernard himself, he stood in his place, bleeding and sweating profusely and the pain he was in was also something he couldn't bear at the moment.
However, just before he could relax, a hand caught him by his neck and lifted him in the air effortlessly.
When he saw who it was, he couldn't believe it was the guy he had just seen getting hit by that mana wave.
Wei Jun was breathing, heavily, his heart beating faster than normal and his heart beating increasing bit by bit every second.
"I wanted to kill your buddy this way." Wei Jun said before he added, "But I guess I will have to do with you."
"Wei Jun." He heard a voice from behind him. Xia Lu had woken up by that crash and had just opened her eyes in time to see Wei Jun grabbing someone by the neck.
She didn't need to be told what Wei Jun was about to do.
"Haha." Bernard chuckled, although with much difficulty but he still laughed at Wei Jun and said, "Now she sees you as who you are. A killer."
Wei Jun returned to look at Bernard and simply said, "She always knew."
And then Wei Jun just twisted his hand along with Bernard's neck, killing him instantly on the spot.
[You have defeated an opponent with mana]
[Conversion to Qi is not possible at the moment]
[Death will swallow all]
Wei Jun dropped Bernard's body and sat down on the ground himself, his heart beating way too fast for him to keep standing.
"Wei Jun!" Xia Lu ran towards Wei Jun despite a dead body next to him and held him but she couldn't support his heavy body with her own.
Pounding that even Xia Lu could hear. Wei Jun's heart was in disarray he had never felt before. He wasn't a doctor but even he knew what elevated heart rate meant.
[Host, you're having a heart attack]
[You won't survive from this]
[Activate your skills using the Death Qi]
'No.' Wei Jun said while trying to endure. His being found out he was an evil cultivator wouldn't just end with him. Everyone around him would be suspected and persecuted as well.
And Xia Lu came into that everyone.
He didn't care about anyone else. He had no close relation with anyone else. Either work or advantage. But when it came to Xia Lu, he didn't know what he had but he knew whatever it was, he didn't want her to die.
[Stop being stubborn, host]
[Death Qi might not save you this time]
'No.' Wei Jun remained consistent and began to breathe heavily.
"Oh, my god!" Xia Lu didn't know what to do except to sit by his side and just touch his body.
[I will teach you how to mask it]
When those words left the system's nonexistent imaginary mouth. It thought Wei Jun would instantly do it but the system failed to notice one more thing.
Wei Jun didn't want someone else to find out who he was.
[Host, you're bei---]
Just at that time, the system's voice once again disappeared and Wei Jun heard the familiar voice once again.
[Told you, you would be stupid as well]
[Well, I guess I can't let you die either]
[Nighty night, dear brother of mine brother]
Before Wei Jun could do anything, he lost consciousness.
"NO!" Xia Lu yelled. She began to tap Wei Jun's cheeks but he remained irresponsive.
She began to panic and look for her phone but her phone was long gone along with the house.
"HELP!!! SOMEBODY HELP!!!" She yelled into the stillness of the night but there was no one to hear her words until her throat went soar.
"Please… somebody… help…" She lost all hope and Wei Jun's heartbeat had completely stopped by now.
Just as she was about to break down herself, she began to feel something coming from Wei Jun. Something dark and terrifying but beautiful and attractive at the same time.
[Skill 'Qi empowerment' has been activated]
[Skill 'Qi armament' has been activated]
Death Qi began to circulate in Wei Jun's system from the core that was very small compared to the core of the yang Qi but the Qi from the yang quieted down instantly as it felt the power from the small core coursing through Wei Jun's body.
But yang Qi wasn't the target of that Qi. No, its target was someone around Wei Jun's heart and as soon as that power felt the presence of Death Qi, it began to tremble and tried to scurry away as if screaming and running away in fear.
Alas, it couldn't escape.
The Death Qi spared nothing in its way. Any outsider was to be killed and at the moment, the mana was the outsider in Wei Jun's body.
Wei Jun's body began to tremble but it didn't even last for half a second because the struggle put over by mana was over the moment it began.
Death swallowed everything.
[Foreign entity has been absorbed]
[Your Death Qi has increased by a small amount]
[By the interference of the administrator]
[All traces of Qi will now be camouflaged]
Death Qi went back to where it came from, fully recharged after eating and leaving no trace behind of being used, as if never used in the first place.
At the same time, the yang Qi in Wei Jun's abdomen began to burst out and began to leak from his body.
For some reason, it wasn't scared of the death Qi this time. There were hundreds of strands leading to Wei Jun's body, going straight to his Death Qi core.
The yang Qi began to wrap around the Death Qi strands and the Death Qi let it do it as if told or ordered to remain quiet against its nature of swallowing everything up.
As for Wei Jun, his body began to circulate at the normal rate as it did without any abnormalities.
Xia Lu, on the other hand, who saw all of this looked at Wei Jun, her eyes wide. She still hadn't let go of Wei Jun and kept looking at him.
She couldn't make heads over tails but one thing she could tell clearly as the noon sun…