The villa's front gate had been sliced open by a blade, and the screen wall standing before it had been shattered with a single kick.
Radiating chilling murderous intent, Luo Qi strode toward the villa's main residence. Just then, Yu Xian materialized out of thin air before the entrance. Catching sight of Luo Qi, he frowned. "A vampire?"
"Mongrel, I'm warning you. Stay away from Miss Nora—" At the sight of Yu Xian, Luo Qi fought down his fury and tried to issue a stern warning.
Before he could finish, however, Yu Xian cut him off. "According to Huaxia law, a Transcendent who uses violence to break into a private residence and threatens the homeowner can be sentenced to at least a hundred years of imprisonment, and at worst... summarily executed!"
"You little bas—" Luo Qi's eyes widened with fury.
Yu Xian produced his Qilin identification and interrupted him once more. "I am an official member of the Evil-Slaying Squad under Qilin's Combat Division. In accordance with the laws and regulations of our country, I hereby formally warn you: drop to your knees with your hands over your head and surrender immediately, or I have the authority to execute you on the spot. Do not say... you were not forewarned."
His gaze toward Luo Qi was thoroughly cold.
Nora had mentioned Luo Qi to him before, expressing how much she disliked his interference in every little aspect of her life.
What was worse, Luo Qi had treated her mother abominably and frequently obstructed her mother from visiting her during her childhood.
Previously, Yu Xian hadn't crossed paths with Luo Qi, so he had let it lie.
Now that Luo Qi had committed a crime of his own volition and walked right into his hands, Yu Xian fully intended to see him spend the next hundred years behind bars.
"Mongrel, save your bluffing! No one can save you tonight!"
Luo Qi had originally intended only to give Yu Xian a thrashing, warn him to keep his distance from Nora, and call it a night.
Yet Yu Xian's speech just now infuriated him to the verge of bursting on the spot. Casting all reason aside, he now wanted nothing more than to slaughter Yu Xian.
The blood sword in his hand suddenly burst apart into a torrential swarm of blood needles. Only by subjecting Yu Xian to agonizing torture could he vent the venom boiling in his chest.
In his mind, Yu Xian was merely a fledgling vampire turned less than two months ago. Under his assault, the boy would scramble in desperate panic before ending up sliced to ribbons.
How could a mere mongrel possibly compete with him? He was an elite of the Blood Clan who had lived for over two hundred years!
Yet as he fired the blood needles at Yu Xian, he noticed that Yu Xian's expression hadn't changed in the slightest from start to finish. Then, Luo Qi's vision blurred, and Yu Xian was already standing right in front of him.
Boom!
Yu Xian raised a hand and shattered half of Luo Qi's head with a single slap.
A vampire's formidable vitality managed to preserve Luo Qi's life. He collapsed heavily to the ground, the remaining half of his face twisted in disbelief.
Was this truly a wild vampire turned less than two months ago? How could he possibly be this strong?
"Mongrel?"
"Mongrel your mother."
"Remember in your next life: don't mess with me."
Yu Xian looked down at Luo Qi with utter contempt.
Then, a spatial bubble appeared in his palm. The space within the bubble churned in sheer chaos, brimming with enough power to shred anything to pieces.
That slap just now had purely been a moment of impulse on his part, leaving Luo Qi's blood splattered all over the ground. It was far too messy.
Indeed, when pushed to the brink, humans were capable of doing anything—except math.
In a flash of inspiration, he had combined a spatial bubble with the Spatial Vortex Art to create a combo that destroyed corpses without leaving behind a single drop of blood.
Once Luo Qi was ground to dust, he could even teleport the remains directly into the river outside Silver City to feed the fish.
"You..."
Before Luo Qi could process what was happening, his consciousness suddenly went dark, and his body was taken over by Nora's father, Marcus.
"Yu Xian, please wait. I am Nora's father." The remaining half of Luo Qi's face lifted. Watching the bubble descend, he spoke hurriedly.
Yu Xian halted the spatial bubble in midair. Looking at Marcus, he asked, "Duke Rex, are you intending to shield this criminal? In our country, knowingly breaking the law is punished with utmost severity."
"Luo Qi erred, and he deserves to face the consequences," Marcus said slowly, looking at Yu Xian. "However, he is my scion after all. What must I offer to obtain your forgiveness as the victim?"
Yu Xian had never cared about Luo Qi in the first place; whether he killed him or not made little difference. After all, at his current rate of growth, even the Progenitor of the Blood Clan would probably be nothing more than small fry in a year.
"You mean... you'll satisfy whatever condition I name?" Yu Xian pondered for a moment, looking at Marcus with a faint smirk.
Marcus replied calmly, "Provided you agree to forgive the wrongdoing Luo Qi committed."
After all, this matter could be blown up or brushed aside entirely depending on whether Yu Xian chose to pursue charges. If he didn't press the issue, Luo Qi wouldn't technically be considered a criminal.
'Old geezer, I want Nora!!!'
A bold thought flashed through Yu Xian's mind.
Yet, being an innocent seventeen-year-old youth at heart, he hesitated before asking, "I want blood magic. Can you provide that, Duke Rex?"
"I can give you three blood magic spells," Marcus agreed after a moment's contemplation.
Yu Xian immediately haggled out of instinct: "Not enough. I want five blood magic spells!"
"Very well. It's a deal!" Marcus agreed at once.
Yu Xian suddenly had a nagging feeling that he had been shortchanged. But since they had struck the deal, he could only roll with it.
"I will have Nora deliver the blood magic to you. Until then... farewell." Marcus had Luo Qi's body stand up, instinctively patted the dust off himself, and spoke as he looked at Yu Xian.
Yu Xian nodded and let Marcus depart while controlling Luo Qi's body.
There were surveillance cameras all over his property. If Marcus dared to renege on the deal, Yu Xian could take the fight to their doorstep tomorrow and show Luo Qi and his kin just how brutal Huaxia's state apparatus could be.
"My gate!"
"My screen wall!"
Only after Luo Qi had completely vanished did Yu Xian walk heartbrokenly to the front entrance. Looking at the gate that had been cleaved in two and the screen wall shattered all over the ground, he felt a heartbreak so sharp he could barely breathe.
He hadn't even lived in this home for a full month, and now the gate was gone, along with the screen wall.
He had to deflect this agony!
He pulled out his phone and called the property manager in the middle of the night, making sure they shared in his pain as well, while ordering them to send people to repair the gate the next day.
As for the screen wall, he planned to commission a custom design to his liking later on.
The next day.
Early in the morning, workers came over to repair the gate.
Seeing the front gate cleanly cleaved in two, the workers whispered among themselves, debating just how terrifyingly strong the person who cut it had to be.
Listening to the repairmen hype Luo Qi up as a sword immortal, Yu Xian's mouth twitched slightly. He sorely wanted to tell them that Luo Qi was merely a Snake-rank nobody.
Of course, in truth, the Snake rank was considered a mainstay pillar within any faction. The Eagle rank represented the elite of the elite, and reaching the Tiger rank made one a member of upper management.
Advancing as a Transcendent was generally far from rapid; it relied entirely on years and decades of cultivation, growing stronger step by step.
A freak like Yu Xian, who reached the Snake rank in under two months, was exceptionally rare.
Most importantly, he had never consumed a Forbidden Fruit, meaning his body bore none of the indelible side effects.
The side effects of a Forbidden Fruit could never be purged.
This was common knowledge understood by all Transcendents.
Therefore, while a Forbidden Fruit could grant instantaneous ascension, many Transcendents held little interest in them and never actively sought them out.
Practitioners such as Qi Refiners, immortal cultivators, and mages in particular avoided Forbidden Fruits like the plague. Only those with wretchedly poor aptitude would ever consider using a Forbidden Fruit to defy fate and alter their destiny.
Chapter 78