An Eye for an Eye
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A few hours ago...
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"I want you to assassinate that mortal." Says Patriarch Xi.
!!
"W-What?! Why are we going to this extent? A-And the master behind him-"
"Silence! Do you not have pride?! Look at your eldest brother! Look at what he has become! From the rising star of our family to crippled trash, sooner or later, another family will attempt to conquer our influence. We are at our last straw, that young human beast has a superior physique that is very compatible with body cultivation. Do whatever you can to get her here, I will issue a heavenly talisman for you, it will hide you from the eyes of an expert at the realm of Golden Core or below. As for the two for you."
The patriarch turns his attention to the two men. "Follow Bai Ming and secretly observe from afar. If you sense anything wrong, immediately rush in to save her."
"Yes! This disciple obeys!" They say in unison.
Bai Ming clenches her fist. "I-I understand."
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Present...
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"Y-You are a martial expert from the upper realms?! How can this be..." Mumbles Bai Ming.
Upper realms?
"That does not matter, you are here for Li Ruo," I say.
"Stay away from her!"
!!
"Wait! Don't come here! He is an expert!" Bai Ming shouts.
Two men jump into the room and attack me with their swords drawn.
However, with one swift horizontal slash, they are decapitated before they can touch me.
!!!!!!!
Their head rolls to Bai Ming. Her face goes pale as her eyes widen.
"No...No no no..."
Her body emits a subtle glow of golden yellow. "Bastard!"
She retracts her hand as it glows.
!!
*BOOM!*
I guard against her palm attack as it sends me flying back.
With a crash through the inn wall, I land on the roof of buildings 4 blocks away.
...
"Ung..."
Li Ruo wakes up half-asleep, rubbing her eyes.
Bai Ming jumps after me.
"DIE!" Her arms are raised high.
I jump back as she slams the energy she gathered on the roof. The roof explodes into a pile of dust, leaving a hole behind. buildings tremble as people inside start to evacuate.
"A fight between cultivators? What are the Xi family doing?" A man exclaims.
People are gathered around the buildings to watch the fight, some are helping others evacuate.
"Woah, destroying the city your family owns?" I say.
"Shut up!"
I step aside as sharp golden Qi pierced in my direction, I barely dodged that. The momentum of the force carries it and explodes at a huge tower behind.
Bai Ming is glaring at me with her hand glowing, palm martial arts.
"Do you have to go that far?" Bai Ming says.
"It's kill or be killed," I reply.
Bai Ming ignores my remark and continues attacking me.
A tower nearby collapses as a result of her chaos, I jump on it and kick the entire tower to change its momentum.
!!!
It falls towards Bai Ming but a huge golden palm appears above her. When she strikes her palm at the tower, the giant golden palm follows and a dreadful detonation blows the tower into many fragments.
"Ahh!!"
Surrounding bystanders attempts to escape from the meteor rain and many try to run out of the city.
A shadowy silhouette appears in the heaps of dust as I land on another roof. Bai Ming's eyes are filled with bloodthirst.
I smirk. "How ironic, you act as a beacon of justice yet the destruction you caused has probably killed a lot more."
"I don't care. As long as a villain like you disappear in this world, sacrifices must be made."
This unreasonable bitch...
"Your logic makes no sense," I say.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!!" A voice echoes throughout the city. The patriarch finally made his appearance in the sky.
"Great! You are here! Kill this villain."
"What?! What are you saying?" Says Patriarch Xi.
Behind Patriarch Xi are several other floating cultivators, all of which are in the core formation. Some are old, some are young.
Bai Ming has lost her mind. I don't know what is going on with her, looks like even Patriarch Xi is confused.
Tears start to flow down her cheeks. "I loved him..." She mumbles.
...
"Calm down... For now... Just..." The Patriarch throws a glance at me, he isn't very surprised by my power.
I place the tip of my blade at Bai Ming's nape.
!
"Don't move," I say.
"How dare you!" The patriarch says.
"Don't pretend to be innocent." I glare at him.
...
"I accept body cultivation techniques," I say.
!!
"Body cultivation! T-That's the lifeline of our family!" A cultivator behind the Patriarch exclaims.
The Patriarch grits his teeth, veins can be seen popping out on his forehead. I plunge the tip deeper into the nape as a trail of blood flows down.
"Is a few books not worth trading for her life?" I ask.
"Fine. Wait here, I will return with body cultivation techniques." The Patriarch says before leaving. A few cultivators follow the Patriarch but most stayed behind.
Now that he is gone... I need to find a way to escape.
The cultivators have spread themselves and encircled me, they have no intention of leaving me alive.
I walk closer to Bai Ming and tear the talismans off, there are about 5 talismans.
...
To my left, there is a tall tower. The residence of the Xi Family is to the north, the gate at the south.
...
I look below me and notice the building I am on has a fairly poor foundation and is badly maintained.
I found a route...
After about 10 minutes, the Patriarch returns with 3 books in his hand. "I have them right here."
"Throw them to me," I say.
The Patriarch did and purposely throw the books such that each is scattered far from one another.
However, I grab all three with incredible speed.
...
"Now, let her go."
...
All of a sudden, I strike Bai Ming's spine with my palm.
!!!!!!!
"You-"
I quickly slash at the tower to my left, a red crescent qi flies towards it and cuts it into two, collapsing the tower in my direction.
*BOOOM!*
In the same instance, I stomp on the roof and create a powerful shock. The building trembles before collapsing, releasing a cloud of dust upon destruction.
"No!!" The Patriarch screams as all cultivators dash in.
I paste the talismans on myself and quickly escape amongst the commotion.
The Patriarch frees Bai Ming from the rubble before checking up on her.
"That bastard! His breath and movement are suddenly gone." A cultivator exclaims.
The Patriarch grips Bai Ming's hand tightly. "It's t-the talisman, I-I gave it t-to Bai Ming to help her..."
His voice stutters as more veins pop up in his head.
...
When the fallen tower almost collides with the Xi family, the Patriarch raises his hand and the tower explodes into many pieces.
"S-She is half-crippled. That bastard created a blockage at her meridian located at the spine, but she can still be saved." Says an elder of the Xi Family.
The Patriarch clenches his fist until his nails break and blood spews.
"We will give up looking for that bastard for now. Our priority is Bai Ming, the doctors in Jiangxi won't be able to help her, we will need to travel to the neighbouring city, Yujing." Says the Patriarch.
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I slip back to the inn to find a confused Li Ruo. She runs to me when she notices how dirty and ragged I am from the fight.
"Are you hurt?" She asks.
"Not really." I paste a talisman on her.
"Where are we going next?"
I look up at the sky to see several cultivators flying away, one of which is the Patriarch holding Bai Ming in his arms.
The three books I received are worn out and have a pale white cover that has disfigured small yellow-brown blotches. These books have been frequently used and are most likely the foundation of body cultivation, not superior techniques.
...
Should I bite off more than I can chew...
I focus. I can feel Li Ruo's presence and location despite not seeing her.
"Li Ruo, run out of Jiangxi and hide somewhere. I will find you soon."
"Em." She nods and runs off like an excited child in an amusement park.
The residence of the Xi Family is in a clear view as it is built on a taller terrain compared to the rest of Jiangxi.
I run towards it.
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"Hm? Did you hear something?"
The guard at the entrance looks around. "No, stop being so paranoid."
"...sure."
The guards are both in the core formation. The entire residence is surrounded by a wall with an array put into place, I never thought that the talisman would be able to allow me to sneak past the array undetected.
As I jump from roof to roof, I hear breathing metronomes. Everyone here is fast asleep with stabilised breathing.
Where is the area where they keep the books? How can a residence be so big?! It looks more like a private academy. The cabins used for sleeping are placed close to one another, there are empty spots with training swords and wooden poles protruding out of the ground.
Behind the training area is a tall tower with four guards patrolling around the entrance... That must be the martial arts library.