Ending It All

So far the blows exchanged between the two were mere probes, both of them gauging the other's fighting capabilities. Despite that, others could tell they'd be lucky only to be seriously injured in a second by any of those 'probes' if even one of them hit, dead if it was especially fatal.

The two found that they were at a deadlock, both sides equal in strength, making it hard to overcome the other. Both of them perplexed at how the other was capable of contending against each other. With a final strike, both of them retreated back to asses the information on the other party.

A confused expression was apparent on Ling Lei's face, his hair a bit disheveled from the blows he had to dodge from Yun Bai.

'How!? I can't believe that even with aid from Karsin I still can't beat this bastard, even my hands are beginning to feel numb due to clashing with that damned sword and his qi enhancing it further.'

Yun Bai himself wasn't far off from Ling Lei's condition, it's just that he didn't dare show any signs of weakness in front of the man.

'Technically speaking no one in the Ling Realm should have the capabilities to stand toe to toe with me, if it was the previous Ling Lei I would've slapped him to death ages ago. Seems like that Karsin fellow played a hand in Ling Lei's sudden power spike.'

Pondering the solution for the problem at hand, Yun Bai decided on ending the fight with Ling Lei as soon as he can.

'No doubt that Karsin fellow is a foe, therefore, by ending Ling Lei sooner I can conserve some energy left to fight that spectator.'

Determined to end the fight, Yun Bai produced hand seals to activate another formation he had set up beforehand. Soon, a snowstorm descended upon the battlefield, blocking Ling Lei's vision.

"No chance in hell I'm letting you off that easily, you coward!" He soon executed a move of his own, one could say it was the ultimate move of the Ling Clan.

"Take this, Hymn of The Soul!!!" A giant golden majestic bell materialized in the air behind Ling Lei. As it was fully formed, it rang as the sound waves it let out disturbed the snowstorm in front of him, clearly affecting the formation.

Every descendant of the Ling Clan was taught this skill, as it could be said the core of the Ling Clan's foundation. It was divided into three tiers as the lowest tier was to those with little ties with the Ling Clan, either be from outside marriage and such; middle tier to those being a descendant of a Clan member, and finally the high tier for direct and main descendants.

The bell itself was a representation of the cultivator's will, therefore the bell could be used in a multitude of ways.

Ranging from attacking a foe to defending one's allies, strengthening others to healing wounds.

The possibilities were endless, and those with a higher concentration of Ling Clan's blood flowing through their veins had the effect and outcome of said bell to be tripled compared to others.

The core skill of the Ling Clan contains nine levels in total, with each level increasing the range of the waves and the potency of one's will outwards.

Low tier having the knowledge up to three levels, middle tier with six, and high tier having the full nine levels.

Cultivators that was behind Ling Lei soon steadied themselves as he clearly wasn't holding back and wasn't caring enough towards others' safety.

Some were ready for what would happen, as even to those that weren't targeted by Ling Lei's bell, they were still somewhat affected as some straight-up died on the spot when he waves reached them.

"It can't be, Ling Lei's achieved the highest level of the skill!!!"

"No one except the founder of the Ling Clan has ever reached the peak level of the skill. It seems like today being Yun Bai's death is a possibility after all."

Others were in awe as Ling Lei achieved what others before him could not. However, he knew better.

Ling Lei knew he couldn't reach the peak of Hymn of The Soul, even his father was considered a prodigy and he only reached the seventh level.

So, him attaining the highest level as part of a deal. He was thankful he decided to put that in the terms beforehand.

The waves continued to hammer on the snowstorm, fully intent on destroying the formation to rat out Yun Bai.

Gradually, the snowstorm lost its form as it slowly subsided. Only Yun Bai wasn't there.

"No... Nooo!!! WHERE IS HE?!?"

Ling Lei let out a horrific scream, as he was in shock and filled with rage at the sight before him.

Ling Lei was adamant about bringing down Yun Bai today, as his existence was an inner demon to Ling Lei's heart.

The appearance of an inner demon within a cultivator's journey to reach transcendence has always been an inevitability, as said inner demons can block the progress of a cultivator's path and make the brightest of geniuses fall into mediocrity.

It can be a regret or a failed attempt towards a certain goal. Inner demons came in various forms depending on the cultivator.

Although that is the case, beating one's inner demon can lead to breakthroughs that were thought of to be impossible to achieve, though the cases that happened are far in between. Some became peerless cultivators among their peers, some made breakthroughs that became essential in becoming the dominant faction in the area.

Whatever it may be, beating one's inner demons were an essential part as the shackles of mortality were that tie them down in the path of cultivation.

Ling Lei's inner demon appeared when he first encountered Yun Bai and got bested by him. He was deemed as a prodigy that was a gift from the heavens themselves, even the elders of his family told him of his talent appearing only being one within ten-thousand years.

Of course, his peers couldn't even hold a candle compared to him, as if he was a bright star among the vastness of space. But Yun Bai, he was on another level.

He blew Ling Lei out of the water as if he was akin to a sun that dominated and enveloped everything around it, and thus Ling Lei slowly but surely fell into obscurity among his family, not interacting much and keeping to himself like a wounded lone wolf tending his wounds.

After numerous failed attempts at beating Yun Bai, his inner demon reached its peak when his own father was beaten with an inch of his life and how utterly useless he felt. That someone from his generation was able to beat a top figure from the previous generation in a dominant manner.

Thus at the deepest pit of the hell that he felt he was being put through, he just sat there counting his days passing by. Those who were opportunists saw this and quickly left him behind to find more opportunities, and thus slowly he was being left behind by those around him.

Some who he offended in the past came back to collect their debt, not afraid of the once majestic lion that has lost its fangs. Just when it seemed like he was at the end of his ropes, a robed person approached him one night and offered him a deal. A favor in exchange at the chance of killing Yun Bai.

Indeed it was Karsin who appeared at Ling Lei's room in the night, and Karsin even promised an advance payment out of 'goodwill' to get the deal rolling.

To Ling Lei, it was a clear decision, as he took the offer made by the robed person within a heartbeat. It didn't matter if even the devil was the one who made the deal, he would still take it all in hopes of taking back the losses he's had against Yun Bai.

After getting the advance payment, Ling Lei felt a surge of power flowing through him that was never there before, it was like a veil had been lifted by Karsin and he could feel that he could finally breathe easily in the last couple of years, added to that the strength that he couldn't even fathom before.

The upgrade to his attainment on Hymn of The Soul was a bonus as Karsin put it.

He swiftly took control of the clan and bested his rivals that were in the running for the position of the Ling Clan's Patriarch, after his father was deemed not fit leading them. After that, he put out a manhunt against Yun Bai with promises of wealth and power to those who aided his cause.

Yun Bai slowly appeared out of thin air, this time the snow storm subtly dancing around him, as if aiding to hide his presence.

"What's the matter Ling Lei, you look like you've seen a ghost?"

Ling Lei just screamed as he lunged towards Yun Bai, swinging his sword and letting out the occasional wave from his bell.

Yun Bai himself was actually strong enough to counteract the waves released from the bell, albeit with the slight drain on his stamina.

With no opening in sight he goes on the defensive and dodges Ling Lei's attacks for now.

Seeing that Yun Bai only kept avoiding his attacks, his temper was starting to run out as he wanted to quickly put to an end this nightmare that he's been living these last couple of years.

With a shout, Ling Lei sent a strike through the air to where Yun Bai stood before his vision was blocked. As the snowstorm faded away when his sword hit the target, Ling Lei was sure he had hit Yun Bai.

However, Ling Lei was too hasty in his blind rage towards ending Yun Bai's life. Yun Bai could sense that Ling Lei was slipping and purposely dragged out meeting him head-on to get the jump on him.

He was thankful he went through with an unconventional method, layering formations.

Not the most groundbreaking attempt, but something that is rarely done seeing the only plausible way is to only stack two of the same formation on top of another.

If a formation had different properties it could lead to a failure as the formation canceled each other.

Best case scenario, the formation fizzles out. Worst case scenario, an explosion with the energy in both formations sets off.

Indeed Yun Bai played his cards right with this one.

This was one of the formations that Yun Bai had built, it was known as the Storm of Reality. It made a snowstorm like most of Yun Bai's other killing formations, so it blended nicely being an illusionary formation accompanied with many of killing formations that Yun Bai had set up.

It was dependant on the target state of mind, if he was calm and collected then the formation would not have any effect. On the other hand, if the target's mind is muddled and is blind to the goal at hand then that would be the prime target the formation was aimed for.

Ling Lei quickly organized his thoughts when he realized something was amiss, but that small window of time was just enough for Yun Bai to finish him off for good.

With that, the snow settles as Yun Bai thrusts his sword to Ling Lei, fatally injuring him. Ling Lei finally realizes what is going on, and as he proceeds to look down he is met by the sight of a sword piercing his chest.

Ling Lei failed. Even after all the boost and power up given to him, the preparation that was already planned ahead, it was all for nothing. As he got out of his daze, he lets out a laugh that was hoarse, hearing it made Yun Bai weirded out.

"Even after all the trouble that I went through, all the pain and suffering I've endured, I still couldn't beat you." There was a hint of lamentation as Ling Lei talked, as he realized all the effort he had put it in was truly for naught.

He betted everything he had on this opportunity, and he still failed.

Truly fate was a cruel mistress, as all his efforts ended with a joke. Even in death.

A sigh escaped from Yun Bai as he remembered all those years ago when he met the Young Master of the Ling Clan for the first time, although he was at odds with his attitude, he still respected him as a fellow cultivator.

Alas, when one seeks to conquer another, he too must be ready to be conquered.

The Ling Patriarch has breathed his final breath.