Everyone furrowed their brows, staring at the young man before them.
He was simply too young—so young that the onlookers felt his appearance was nothing short of throwing his life away.
Listening to the man's words, Li Congxin maintained that warm, genial smile on his face.
"As for me... I happen to have a bit of history with that little fellow."
"When I see someone bullying a kid, I can hardly turn a blind eye, can I?"
Xiang Chun was provoked to furious laughter by Li Congxin's words.
"A passerby?"
His tone turned chillingly sinister, icy killing intent flickering deep within his gaze.
"Even a passerby dares meddle in the affairs of my Xiang clan?"
With those words, fierce menace flared in Xiang Chun's eyes, and he waved his hand, signaling the elder accompanying him to strike!
The elder narrowed his eyes. Though he felt unable to gauge the young man's depth, he moved brazenly nonetheless!
Brandishing a longsword, the elder advanced with stride and swagger, pacing through stellar steps and channeling a profound movement technique to close the distance in an instant!
In a flash, astral winds howled from all directions, whipping into a raging gale!
Earthy-yellow sword qi wound about the three-foot blade, its radiance surging and spitting incessantly, slicing fine, hairline fractures into the surrounding space.
"Fierce Lion Sword Cleave!"
In an instant, the surrounding spectators were forcibly blasted back over a hundred feet by the sheer force, the roar of a pride of lions ringing in their ears.
The sword light was exceedingly swift, flashing through the air at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye as it slashed directly toward Li Congxin's neck.
Witnessing this, all the watching cultivators could not help but sigh with lament and pity.
"Hiss, he truly is a mighty expert of the Soul Formation Realm!"
"Looks like this kid is done for... What a pity..."
"In the end, everything comes down to strength. Stepping forward without strength is just seeking death!"
Just as the chatter among the surrounding onlookers began to rise, it abruptly choked off, as though every throat had been seized at once. The bustling noise vanished into dead silence.
The moment the crowd saw the elder teleport directly before the red-robed youth, a streak of cold light flashed and faded from their vision!
Immediately following that, they watched as the Soul Formation elder's head separated from his shoulders!
Meanwhile, the longsword at the young man's waist was slowly sliding back into its scabbard.
The spurting blood seemed to be held back by an invisible barrier; not a single speck stained the youth's clothes.
Calm, collected, and unfazed...
The spectators all shut their mouths tight, sinking into a deathly hush.
Even Xiang Chun wore a look of utter horror, his pupils shrinking to needlepoints and trembling violently.
He knew better than anyone what cultivation realm his Dao protector possessed!
"Impossible... A late Soul Formation Realm expert... slain in a single strike?"
"I didn't even see when he drew his sword!"
Collapsed on the ground, the Gu clan ancestor widened his eyes, his gaze brimming with disbelief.
Gu Qingzhou, still pinned against the stone pillar, was shaken to his very soul.
Looking down at the IOUs scattered across the ground, his eyes instantly welled with tears.
Li Congxin stepped forward slowly, and Xiang Chun could no longer rein in the terror in his heart!
Forcing himself to meet Li Congxin's gaze, he felt chilled to the bone by the other's sheer poise and terrifying might.
"Who on earth are you, sir?"
"My Xiang clan has no desire to make an enemy of you. As long as you leave right now, I can pretend none of this ever happened!"
"Even if you killed a Soul Formation powerhouse of my Xiang clan!"
Li Congxin shook his head and said softly, "You're mistaken."
"I didn't come here to make an enemy of you. I came to settle a score."
Xiang Chun's expression shifted.
"Settle a score?"
"You and I have never met before. What score could there possibly be to settle?"
A peculiar smile curved Li Congxin's lips.
Raising his hand, he drew several slips of paper from beneath Gu Qingzhou's feet and said flatly, "I owe him liquor. You bullied him. Naturally, that debt must be settled on your head."
Xiang Chun had never imagined that this absurdly powerful figure would intervene over something as trivial as liquor money!
"It's merely a liquor IOU! My Xiang clan will pay ten times... no, a hundred times the price to clear it for you!"
"How about we drop today's matter?"
"You walk your broad road, and I'll keep to my narrow bridge. From now on, I will never set foot in Fenhe City again, and I will never make trouble for the Gu clan!"
Upon hearing this, the surrounding cultivators cried out in astonishment.
"This... he's actually backing down?"
"Tsk, local tyrant? Hell, this is a fierce dragon crossing the river!"
Yet Li Congxin remained thoroughly calm, his voice placid as he spoke.
"I'm a man who loves his drink, but I fancy drinking on credit."
"I also fancy justice..."
"So, this debt must be paid with your life."
The moment those words fell, not only the onlookers, but even the Ling clan members and the Gu clan ancestor were stunned.
Intimidating Xiang Chun and outright killing Xiang Chun carried vastly different consequences...
Without a second thought, Xiang Chun raised his hand and crushed a peculiar silver scroll!
Li Congxin's expression did not waver. With a flick of his wrist, several fierce streaks of lightning sword light shot out in an instant!
*Clang! Clang! Clang!*
Three crisp rings rang out as an enormous golden shield suddenly materialized before the man!
Li Congxin narrowed his eyes. Raising his hand, he rescued the Gu clan ancestor, the father, and Gu Qingzhou all at once.
Above Fenhe City, dark clouds gathered densely, and wild winds surged!
A current of spatial energy shimmering with spiritual light pulsed incessantly over the city.
Protected behind the golden shield, Xiang Chun laughed maniacally.
"Hahahahaha! Lowlife! You think you can kill me?!"
Li Congxin curled his lip. He could sense that the teleportation channel overhead would take another two breaths to fully form.
Dropping into a sudden low stance, his eyes flashed with brilliant purple radiance.
"Apocalypse: Ten Halls of Yanluo!"
*Boom!*
The phantom silhouette of Yanluo seemed to rise behind Li Congxin, horrifying lightning power converging entirely into Yanluo.
"Verdict: Guilty!"
*Thump!*
The structures lining the street collapsed in an instant as a tempestuous aura belonging to the middle Void Refining Realm soared straight into the clouds!
Myriads of lightning bolts wove into a thunderous purgatory, engulfing an area hundreds of feet across!
A deafening boom like a crack of thunder exploded in everyone's ears.
The earth shuddered, and the stone pavers shattered, caving in to form a crater over a hundred feet wide!
A blood-robed figure flickered across the air, and a dazzling sword of purple lightning flashed through the gloom!
*Clang!*
*Crack! Crack, crack, crack!*
Violent power discharged in a torrent. Under the terrifying sword light, that exceedingly sturdy shield was covered in a dense web of fissures!
Yet right as the blade was about to sever Xiang Chun's neck—
Suddenly!
A withered palm reached out from the void, actually catching Li Congxin's strike barehanded!
"Insolent brat, how dare you!"
Li Congxin's eyes flashed, and he kicked Xiang Chun hard in the chest!
The man immediately coughed up a huge mouthful of blood, his chest caving in from the grievous injury!
Moreover, endless lightning erupted from the sole of Li Congxin's foot, shattering all the meridians within Xiang Chun's body in practically a single breath!
Xiang Chun's skin charred black, and his hair was instantly burned away.
Wearing plumes of smoke from his seven orifices, the Nascent Soul within his body cracked faintly as though struck by lightning.
Leaping backward in retreat, Li Congxin felt a flicker of regret deep in his eyes; he had failed to kill his target in one blow.
Immediately after, a majestic, terrifying pressure swept through the void!
In an instant, all the cultivators across Fenhe City collapsed to the ground, trembling in terror!
Li Congxin's legs shook slightly. Narrowing his eyes, he looked toward the elder stepping out of the warped void.
Clad in a simple robe of gray linen, the newcomer had puffy eyelids, a bulbous red nose, and a somewhat portly frame that appeared clumsy and bloated.
Li Congxin licked his lips and murmured, "Body Integration Realm?"
With a sullen expression and eyes sharp as an eagle's, the elder checked Xiang Chun's injuries and instantly erupted in fury!
With a wave of his hand, several teleportation arrays beside him flashed with dazzling light.
"Little beast, I don't care what forces back you today—I will slaughter you without fail!"
Hearing this, a spark of excitement danced in Li Congxin's eyes!
"Oh? Old geezer, feeling confident, are we?"
"You think I'm scared of you?!"
As the words fell, Li Congxin raised his hand and crushed dozens of jade slips from his storage ring in a single sweep!
"Someone's bullying your little brother!"
"Come on, old geezer! Come, come, come—let me show you what real connections look like!"
"I'll show you what a true King of Backers is!"
Chapter 1267