Fight!

The realm of the Iron Enclosure, which ought to have been boundless, endless, and devoid of flaw, had unexpectedly split with a massive gap—such that the darkness had a limit, the Iron Enclosure an end, and all phenomena their bounds. The heavens were torn like a rift. Beyond Lieque, light cascaded like a waterfall, piercing through the dark to course wildly, expanding brazenly through the black hell and vaporizing countless souls. It also illuminated that gloomy face in the deepest reaches of the Iron Enclosure. Xu Youquan! Regrettably, this dignified Celestial-Human was now bleeding profusely. Across his wrist ran a bone-deep laceration, nearly severed clean through. And in that badly mangled hand, the three Xu brothers he held were reduced to a mere one and a half... More precisely, three halves. One top half, two bottom halves. Leaving Xu Lingyue and Xu Lingshou's rear ends to hang from a tree back home, out of the three brothers, only Xu Lingwei had been dragged back whole enough to count... Beneath the heavenly light, clear laughter rang out. A figure standing with hands clasped behind his back studied his appearance, asking with curiosity, "Eldest Nephew Xu, we haven't seen each other in years. Why such a sullen face at our reunion, as though mourning your own parents?" His face was jade-crowned and handsome, brimming with grace and elegance. The so-called bearing of a Celestial-Human was nothing more than this. At first glance he seemed a youth, showing not the slightest hint of age. He smiled with extraordinary geniality, making it utterly impossible to imagine the ruthless cruelty he had displayed just moments ago. Strangely, no matter which direction one looked from, that figure seemed to be facing toward oneself, looking at oneself, speaking directly to oneself. The lord of the Lou clan, a Celestial-Human who had not appeared before the public in many years—Lou Suwen! In truth, as soon as both sides tore off their pretenses and began fighting in earnest, Xu Youquan and Lou Suwen had already extended their senses... They were even keenly aware of each other's presence! Likewise, they were deadlocked. The old geezer of the Lou family was casting a long line to catch a big fish, while Xu Youquan had no choice whatsoever. The initiative was already lost! At this point, whoever leapt out and struck first would have to take a lightning cyclone strike directly to the crown of their skull. As it turned out, if one couldn't bear to risk the child, the wolf would ensnare them instead. In the end, Xu Youquan failed to hold back and struck first, tanking a blow from Lou Suwen's signature technique to rescue one of the three unfortunate kids. And for that, he still had to say thank you! Because Lou Suwen had genuinely pulled his punch! To avoid driving the Xu family to desperation like a cornered dog leaping over a wall, he had deliberately picked and chosen, leaving him one who was still breathing. Otherwise, if the old bastard had truly gotten ruthless, Xu Youquan wouldn't have salvaged a single one! Xu Youquan's expression was dark as he glared fixedly at Lou Suwen, forcing words through clenched teeth: "You old dog, you truly have no shame!" "Ha! Shame aside, so you did know all along that I'm merely old, not dead!" Lou Suwen sneered. "All these years stirring up trouble in the shadows—how come you never had the guts to come to Haizhou and have it out with me?" "Old thing, just wait for your death and quit daydreaming!" Xu Youquan mocked coldly, completely unmoved. An old fossil with one foot in the grave and yellow soil buried up to his neck, at an age where he went around looking to extort people. Everyone couldn't steer clear fast enough—who had so little to do that they'd bother fighting you? Win, and you'd get hurt, maybe ending up like Lou Suwen, tormented by old wounds for the rest of your days, half-dead. Lose... lose, and you might as well go eat shit! As long as a fight started, regardless of the outcome, Lou Suwen won hands down! "How about this? Our two families have dealt with each other plenty," Lou Suwen proposed with a smile. "For the sake of my history of life-and-death brawls with your grandfather, kneel down, kowtow to me once, and swear that from now on the Xu family yields whenever encountering a Lou, retreats whenever encountering the sea, and will not step foot outside Dongcheng for thirty years... Today's matter will be settled. How about that?" "Old dog, do you really think anyone is afraid of you?!" Xu Youquan flew into a rage, the entire Iron Enclosure trembling. "Don't refuse face when it's given! If you want to die, I'll grant your wish! If you want to fight, then fight!" "Very well." Lou Suwen nodded, smiling. Yet in his raised right hand, between his slowly parting fingers, a wisp of faint light quietly surfaced. It illuminated Xu Youquan's violently twitching face. By the time he realized what it was, it was already too late. Lou Suwen laughed boisterously: "Then fight!" *** Three minutes earlier, when the Veil blotted out the dome of heaven and shrouded the battlefield, it had likewise cloaked the dilapidated dueling arena beyond the battlefield. In the scalp-tingling silence, the spiritus sword in Ji Jue's hand materialized without warning, skewering through Saino's face and pinning him to the ground. Spiritus circulated, freezing him inside and out. A shrill shriek rang out. Before the others could even speak, they heard Ji Jue's voice. "Want to live?" Three simple words cut Saino's scream short. Regardless of the blade piercing him, he stiffly lifted his head and looked at Ji Jue. Incredulous. "You..." Ji Jue said, "Kneel and become a dog, and I will give you a way to live. The Sukarno family cannot remain in the Seven Cities, but you won't lose your wealth. You can still find a good place to be the lord of some land." Saino froze, pupils instantly contracting. His lips trembled, opening and closing several times: "I..." "Do you think you're qualified to negotiate terms?" Ji Jue laughed. Sitting on the steps before him, he spread his hands, fingers splayed wide. His palms were empty—no blue pill, let alone a red one. He displayed them before Saino's eyes. "Choose, Saino. Choose." Smiling, he told the prisoner before him, "Be a loyal dog and die alongside the Xu family? Or be a vicious hound that turns on its master and leaves darkness for light? "Time is short, however, and you only get one chance. Once it passes, it's gone." Saino's expression contorted in waves of spasms. "The... the main family... won't let me off." "If you don't become a dog, do you think the Lou family will let you off? Will I let you off?" Ji Jue countered, casually dropping the final straw. "Or do you think the Xu family will protect you after patting the dust off their asses and leaving?" "You don't understand at all!" Saino shrieked, eyes bloodshot. "I have the Xu family's spirit contract on me! My life and death hang on a single thought of theirs... Wait, you... you... you..." A sudden realization dawned on him, chilling him to the marrow. "You want the Xu family's spirit contract!" Ji Jue did not speak, only smiling. Watching him. Waiting, waiting, as though willing to wait until the seas dried up and the rocks crumbled, until the invisible weight crushed Saino's spine inch by inch. He dared not stall any longer, voicing his final condition: "I want to sign a contract!" "Sure." Ji Jue spread his fingers, pulling out a contract witnessed by Tianyuan like a magician. Even without any letterhead or seal, it was remarkably pure. What was even more precious was its refined essence, faintly bearing the aura of a Celestial-Human... Saino froze for a moment, examining it, and instantly grew wary: "Why doesn't it have the Federation's letterhead?" "Stop beating around the bush. The Federation truly doesn't care for a corner like the Seven Cities, and wasting such a rare treasure on you is practically squandering it." Ji Jue flicked a finger, and exhaustive terms flowed across the paper like water. "Saino, my patience is limited. You'd best not stall for time." This was a certificate of allegiance. If he didn't sign, he would die alongside the Xu family. The Xu family certainly wouldn't die, but the Sukarno family would definitely die like dogs. Once signed, he could go on happily living as a dog... a dog for the Lou family. After all, whatever the Lou family did, they wouldn't place a spirit contract on them! Besides, there was no need. The Xu family was still around! As long as the Xu family remained, they would forever have to serve as the Lou family's dog, or die! Wiped out to the last man! In fact, with the Xu family's methods, dying would become an impossible luxury! Glancing hurriedly over the many harsh clauses, Saino felt wave after wave of chills, followed by an uncontrollable sigh of relief. "I'll sign!" Amid Ji Jue's smile, he closed his eyes. "I'll sign!" The contract was concluded, splitting into two copies that wound around both their souls, becoming an ironclad law from that moment on, unshakeable for eternity. Feeling that heavy weight, Saino seemed to age decades in an instant. Like a dog with a broken spine. He closed his eyes and dropped all defenses of his consciousness and soul, interfering no further. "Be my guest." At that instant, the old man convulsed and twitched violently. His bloodshot eyes bulged wide, yet he could not even make a sound; even screaming had become an impossible luxury. Ji Jue's spiritus hand ruthlessly plunged into his soul, gripping that spirit contract nestled deep within like a parasite! No anesthesia, no preparation, and not a shred of sympathy or mercy. To prevent disturbing the spirit contract's resonance and tipping off the other end, he simply, brutally carved out a portion of Saino's soul along with it. Under Non-Offensive's delicate manipulation, not a single tiny branch was missed, nor a single strand of tendril left behind. Wholly and entirely, he yanked the fragile, exceedingly sensitive spirit contract straight out! Until finally, when he withdrew his hand, a clump of crystal rested in his palm. Pulsing like a heart, it simulated the state of Saino being alive. Mission accomplished! Saino lay on the ground, his breath faint. Absolute dominance and dominion, the control over the soul still remained. Even if currently neglected, and even though severed from the soul, a single thought from the other end could still reduce Saino to ash! "Who do you think invented such a fine medium for curses?" Ji Jue weighed the crystal in his hand, sighing with emotion. Such a crucial thing had to be watched over carefully. While useless to an upstanding gentleman like Ji Jue who wasn't skilled in Ascension, if it fell into the hands of some old fart proficient in the craft—who seasoned it a bit, invested some effort, and fashioned it into a little straw doll before the other side could react... wouldn't things turn disastrous?! "Heh, you brat..." Faint laughter seemed to drift on the wind. Ji Jue's hand suddenly emptied, the crystal vanished. Taking the thing without even saying a word. Truly lacking manners. And high above the dome of heaven, the moment the dust settled and victory was decided, a little straw doll had already appeared in Lou Suwen's hand. Eyes, ears, mouth, and nose complete, finely crafted—especially its expression, vivid and lifelike! With the remnant soul of his descendant as the main body, the Celestial-Human's blood taken beneath Lieque as the medium, and this shadow of true spirit and self-nature as the core—complete. Sensing a resonance and chill akin to being of one body, Xu Youquan's expression shifted drastically. He raised a hand: "Wait!" "Too late." Lou Suwen's smile vanished in an instant. Expressionless, he crushed the straw puppet to powder. Instantly, the phantom of a colossal hand manifested in the heavens for a fleeting breath. Its five fingers contracted, shattering the Iron Enclosure as though the sky were collapsing! Immediately after, Lieque extended straight as a blade, cleaving straight down toward the screaming Xu Youquan's head! You say fight and we fight, you say stop and we stop? You dig a pit when you want, and try to walk away when the trap fails? Now that it's come to this, refusing to yield, refusing to back down, and still expecting to walk away with only half a loss?! Where in the world is there such a sweet deal? Dream on! You want to fight? Then let's fight! A rare opportunity like this—before Midtown interferes, beat the living shit out of him first!