Chapter 56: Li Xuan: What's the Issue with Saying They're All Dead?

"Who goes there?"

The Lord of Tianshang City asked with a gloomy gaze, sensing Li Xuan's aura—he was at the First Realm of Sainthood.

The other two men also cast their gazes upon Li Xuan.

Li Xuan's expression remained calm. "Me? I am the ancestor of the Li family. The three of you dared to covet the Li family's property, seize our sacred medicinal herb, and even attempt to annihilate my entire clan. Don't you think I deserve an explanation?"

The ancestor of the Zhou family laughed, coughing twice. "The Li family? Never heard of it. Tianshang, if you won't make a move, this old man doesn't mind helping you out."

The ancestor of the Earth Dragon Sect glanced at Li Xuan, chuckled, and bantered, "Indeed, Tianshang. Listen to the Li family ancestor; he is demanding an explanation from us. You'd better hurry up and figure out a way to give him one, lest he kills us all."

Instantly, both Tianshang and the Zhou family ancestor burst into laughter.

Tianshang's expression turned gloomy, brimming with killing intent as his Saint Domain condensed into a crimson bone tower. "You want an explanation? Very well."

"My sacred weapon will give you an explanation! Might makes right!"

Li Xuan glanced sideways and nodded slightly. "You actually said something correct."

Tianshang grinned, his expression ferocious, and struck instantly. His blood-red bone tower vanished.

"A mere Saint dares to act arrogant before me! Go to hell!"

Tianshang roared with wild laughter.

The ancestors of the Zhou family and the Earth Dragon Sect thought to themselves that they hadn't expected the Li family to have another Saint, which meant Tianshang had scored an easy win!

Once this Saint was killed, all of his saintly Dao principles and resources would belong to Tianshang.

The Zhou family ancestor and the Earth Dragon Sect ancestor spoke up, "Tianshang, we'll help you. He's at the First Realm of Sainthood, after all."

Tianshang sneered, "No need! What First Realm of Sainthood? I can crush him with a flick of my hand!"

Hearing this, Li Xuan's expression remained unchanged. He raised a hand, caught Tianshang's sacred weapon, and pointed a finger forward. In an instant, the wild joy and arrogance on Tianshang's face vanished, replaced by utter terror and disbelief.

His sacred weapon had been caught bare-handed!

"Oh no! Zhou Qing, Earth Dragon King, save me!" Tianshang's desperate shrieks echoed throughout the Saint Domain.

Without a sound, Li Xuan's finger pierced straight through Tianshang's forehead. Terror and disbelief lingered in Tianshang's eyes; he had been killed in a single blow!

The situation changed so abruptly that neither Zhou Qing, the Zhou family ancestor, nor the Earth Dragon King, the Earth Dragon Sect ancestor, had time to react.

It was only upon seeing Tianshang's corpse that they realized he had perished instantly!

The complexions of both Zhou Qing and the Earth Dragon King shifted dramatically as they joined forces, their auras locking onto Li Xuan.

"A formidable ancestor of the Li family indeed. Since Tianshang is dead, how about the three of us split that single sacred herb equally?"

Zhou Qing proposed, keeping his eyes fixed on Li Xuan while secretly communicating with the Earth Dragon King via voice transmission.

Li Xuan shook his head.

Zhou Qing's expression darkened for a fraction of a second. "Then we'll split it fifty-fifty. Fellow Daoist takes half, and we take the other half."

"Why should we share half of what belongs to the Li family with you?" Li Xuan asked calmly. "Didn't you just say that might makes right?"

In an instant, two Saint Domains—one cyan and one yellow—descended upon Li Xuan like a crushing weight.

Zhou Qing and the Earth Dragon King attacked in unison without warning, launching a sneak attack against Li Xuan. Their formidable Saint Domains emitted terrifying fluctuations as the razor-sharp edge of the cyan domain sliced through space itself.

Simultaneously, the heavy, oppressive yellow domain enshrouded Li Xuan, its countless wisps of yellow Qi capable of corroding flesh and blood.

Li Xuan's expression remained entirely unchanged as he stood motionless, gazing at the two converging Saint Domains.

"Some Li family ancestor! Giving you face and you don't want it! Die!" Zhou Qing shouted arrogantly. What ancestor of the Li family? How dare anyone act arrogantly before him!

The Earth Dragon King laughed heartily, staring greedily at the dark robe Li Xuan wore, sensing it was a supreme treasure.

Yet, the moment the two Saint Domains reached Li Xuan, they vanished into thin air.

The bodies of Zhou Qing and the Earth Dragon King violently shuddered in unison. They spat out mouthfuls of blood, their eyes splitting wide with horror—their Saint Domains had collapsed!

"Damn it!" Zhou Qing's complexion shifted dramatically, panic setting in. How could the Li family's ancestor be this powerful? His figure vanished instantly.

He intended to leave the Earth Dragon King behind as a rear guard, since the Earth Dragon King was slower than him!

Better a fellow Daoist than himself!

Whoever was slower stayed behind to die!

A streak of rainbow light flashed across the sky. Zhou Qing felt his hair stand on end, a bone-chilling cold seizing his entire body. He roared, desperately trying to evade the terrifying rainbow light, only to realize escape was utterly impossible. Despair flooded his eyes as the rainbow light cleaved his body apart. He slid a short distance before crashing to the ground.

"Zhou Qing, I'll curse your entire bloodline!"

Seeing Zhou Qing vanish, the Earth Dragon King was beside himself with rage, his face draining of all color. That damn Zhou Qing had simply run away.

Suddenly, he froze as he stared at Zhou Qing's corpse, swallowing hard.

Thud. The Earth Dragon King dropped directly to his knees before Li Xuan. His lips trembled, but before he could utter a word, Li Xuan glanced at him. A wave of bone-chilling terror washed over the Earth Dragon King. He raised his head to look at Li Xuan in utter shock and dismay as his body disintegrated inch by inch until not a trace of his aura remained.

***

Near the spiritual vein, many people raised their heads to gaze at the Saint Domains in the sky, sighing in awe.

"So this is the Saint realm! How terrifying!"

"I wonder if those three ancestors are going to fight among themselves!"

"Even if they fight, we wouldn't be able to see it, but I doubt they will."

"The ownership of that miraculous herb has already been settled."

The outer cultivators murmured in admiration, prompting the disciples of the three major factions to sneer with disdain. They looked back up at the Saint Domain with fanaticism in their eyes.

In the inner perimeter of the spiritual vein, Yin Zhou gazed at the Saint Domain in the sky, suddenly frowning. Why hadn't Hao Long returned yet?

Could something have gone wrong when he went to the Li family?

Yin Zhou wondered to himself.

"The outcome should be decided by now," Zhou Shu said with a smile, looking toward Wang Tai, the master of the Earth Dragon Sect, and Yin Zhou. "Second City Lord, Sect Master Wang, how about we share a drink later?"

Yin Zhou's expression turned gloomy and unsightly. "A drink? No need!"

Zhou Shu didn't mind in the least. At that moment, Wang Tai suddenly spoke up, "Hark, a flying boat is coming."

The three of them looked up, and soon everyone else noticed as well.

In the sky, a stream of light raced from the distance, transforming into an emerald-green flying boat that came to a halt right above everyone's heads.

This caused the disciples of the three factions to frown.

A cold, sinister smile curved the corners of Yin Zhou's lips. "Such an overbearing flying boat!"

Wang Tai roared outright, "Courting death! Whose flying boat dares to hover above our heads? Get down here right now!"

Zhou Shu's expression turned faintly cold as he praised, "Wonderful. It's been a long time since I've seen someone so arrogant."

The disciples of the three factions chimed in as well.

"What kind of trash dares to hover above us!"

"Are they tired of living?"

*Tsk*, how daring indeed!

In the distance, onlookers who did not belong to the three factions stroked their chins and shook their heads. Truly, where did these reckless fools come from? To park a flying boat directly above Tianshang City, the Zhou family, and the Earth Dragon Sect—wasn't that a surefire way to court death?

A figure appeared atop the flying boat. It was Zhao Xin. He took a deep breath and shouted, "The Li family is handling affairs here, disperse immediately! Those who harm our Li family disciples shall be executed without exception!"

Zhao Xin's voice resounded across the area, plunging the surroundings into absolute silence.

Everyone felt as though they must have misheard.

The Li family?

Suddenly, realization dawned on them. They remembered—wasn't this spiritual vein where the grade-four miraculous herb had appeared actually owned by the Li family?

"Ha-ha, ha-ha, ha-ha!" Yin Zhou lowered his head, staring at the Li family disciples who had been forced to the ground but raised their heads sharply upon hearing the voice. "Ha-ha-ha, how interesting! People from your Li family actually came to rescue you! To rescue you!! Ha-ha-ha!"

Yin Zhou laughed so hard he could barely catch his breath. He truly never expected the tiny Li family to be so utterly delusional.

*The Li family is handling affairs, disperse immediately? Those who harm Li family disciples shall be executed without exception?!*

Zhou Shu and Wang Tai burst into laughter as well, while the disciples of the three factions roared with mirth, their mocking laughter shaking the heavens.

Zhou Shu clapped his hands. "Fascinating. It's been ages since I've encountered a Li family quite like this."

"Let them come down," Wang Tai said, watching the descending flying boat as he waved a hand to signal the disciples to part the way.

They watched the vessel land.

The onlookers in the distance remained speechless for a moment.

"Has this Li family lost their mind? Or do they simply have no idea how terrifying the three factions of Tianshang City are?"

"I reckon this Li family is just too insignificant. They probably don't even know who Tianshang City, the Zhou family, and the Earth Dragon Sect are. They might not have even heard of them."

"Sigh, I've seen people courting death, but never quite like this!"

Everyone shook their heads.

Yin Zhou, Zhou Shu, and Wang Tai watched as three people and a dog stepped off the flying boat. The fallen Li family members wore expressions of shame, and some even shed tears—*Ancestor! The ancestor has come!*

Yin Zhou stared sinisterly at Li Xuan, who stood in the center. "Ha-ha, interesting. Very well, your Li family certainly has guts."

Suddenly, Yin Zhou frowned and asked, "Didn't Hao Long and the others go to your Li family? Where are they?"

Li Xuan glanced at him and replied calmly, "They're all dead."

Yin Zhou was stunned. "All dead?!"

His expression twisted into ferocious anger in an instant.

Li Xuan looked up at the sky and nodded slightly. "Indeed, all dead."

Yin Zhou also looked up, casting a glance skyward. There was no movement in the sky whatsoever. He sneered, staring fixedly at Li Xuan. "Playing God!"

At that very moment.

The Saint Domains in the sky abruptly exploded. Everyone raised their heads just in time to see three figures suddenly appear, only to instantly rupture and turn into nothingness.

In a flash, an icy, suffocating dread enshrouded Yin Zhou, Zhou Shu, and Wang Tai.

The auras of their ancestors were gone!

Their ancestors were in trouble?!

A figure materialized, instantly transforming into a wisp of gentle breeze. Li Xuan reached out, caught the breeze in his palm, and gazed calmly at the three men.

"I said they were all dead. Is there... a problem?"