Discovering His Own Strength!

The cold night wind blew through Brave Sword King Village, echoing eerie sounds among the houses as if ghosts were singing. Through the open window of Lan Renshu's room, the wind entered, bringing with it the chill of the night while also amplifying sounds that could startle both children and adults.

The closed door of the room trembled as it struck the frame, as if at any moment someone would force their way in.

Yao Feng lay unconscious, unable to care about the noise or the cold. Lying face-up with his backside raised and his face relaxed against the bed, he looked like a dead animal—eyes still open and drooling from his mouth.

But Du Ming was in a different situation. Lying on the left side of the single bed, he was slowly stirring, his face contorted in pain and frequently letting out audible moans of agony. He didn't cry out loudly enough to wake the neighbors, but he was groaning in torment after the blow from his own ally and Lie Xu's action.

Du Ming managed to sit up on the floor with difficulty, not fully understanding how everything had unfolded. All he knew was that he had tried to attack a sleeping Lie Xu and now found himself in this situation, injured while Lie Xu stared at him coldly.

Lie Xu's eyes were as sharp as a blade ready to strike. His clenched fists tensed his forearm muscles, making the fibers almost visible even in the dark of night.

Cultivators could see in the dark better than ordinary beings. It wasn't as though they could see for miles or with perfect clarity in total darkness, but it was enough for a young person at the Consolidation to perceive nearby details.

Du Ming shuddered at the look on Lie Xu's face.

"What should I do with you two?" Lie Xu's voice cut through the silence of the room, echoing in Du Ming's ears like thunder tearing through the sky.

Instinctively, Du Ming tried to muster the strength to stand and flee. He wasn't foolish enough to believe that everything that had happened in the past few seconds was mere coincidence or just Lie Xu's luck. But when he attempted to rise, he felt weak and could barely move his legs.

The blow that Yao Feng had dealt made his lower abdomen hurt as if a knife were embedded in it. At the same time, the wrist that Lie Xu had grabbed felt fractured, with pain so intense that Du Ming couldn't stop contorting in agony. Finally, the speed with which he had collided with the wall beside him was tremendous. He was still disoriented about how he had hit the wall, how the wall was still standing, and from where Lie Xu had summoned so much strength.

His face, chest, and legs were injured by the impact, though their pain was overshadowed by that in his abdomen and wrist.

"Lie Xu…" Du Ming whispered, his voice no longer confident as it had been earlier.

"Oh? Still conscious?" Lie Xu stepped down from the bed—where he had been watching Yao Feng—and turned his gaze to the fallen Du Ming. "You're a bit stronger than your friend… Or perhaps the issue was the weakness in his attack? It doesn't matter. Since you're awake, we have other concerns to attend to."

Lie Xu's lips curled into an arch as the room's temperature seemed to drop a couple of degrees suddenly.

Du Ming felt his body shiver, his hair standing on end as he instinctively tried to retreat. But the wall behind him blocked his escape, leaving him no choice but to face Lie Xu's crackling murderous intent.

"Lie Xu, don't be arrogant! You might be strong enough to kill me, but do you dare to harm me?" Finally, Du Ming couldn't contain his fear any longer and resorted to playing his most valuable card.

'If he tries something, I'll have no choice… I'd rather not use that card while I can avoid it, but I fear I won't have another option if this bastard doesn't behave!'

He declared, "Lie Xu, I am the Young Master of the Du Clan! If you dare do anything, my entire family will come after you!"

'In that case, it's better to kill you quickly…' thought Lie Xu, feeling his hands itch with a desire for blood.

Trying to remain calm and rational, Lie Xu restrained his impulses while considering something more useful for himself. "So you are Young Master Du… In that case, I can let you go, provided you give me a reason for today's attack."

'Before I kill you, I need to know the truth. Was this all just because of Fairy Liu?'

Du Ming's fear diminished a little, comforted by the fact that Lie Xu was lowering his superiority upon hearing about the Du Clan. He didn't want to take a risk, however. "Since I made the first move, I'll take responsibility and tell you the truth before we forget this unfortunate encounter," he said.

'When I return home, I'll speak with one of the elders and settle this humiliation once and for all!' he thought as he spoke.

"It turns out that Miss Liu and I are engaged!" he declared energetically. "I hate to admit it, but I'm hot-tempered when it comes to Miss Liu. And when I saw you with her earlier, I felt my entire body burning up!

"Brother Lie, are you really nothing more than a patient of Miss Liu? I couldn't believe it earlier, but seeing your attitude now, I can't help but question whether I misjudged the situation," Du Ming said, feigning sincerity in a friendlier tone despite the pain in his voice.

Lie Xu narrowed his eyes in recognition. Even though he had no memories that would make him aware of such matters of men and women, his senses and instincts were working perfectly. He himself had felt intrigued by the beauty of the two women he had met that day, and he instinctively guessed that men like him would seek the favor of beauties such as Xue Yazhi and Liu Yu.

The word "engaged" had not lost its meaning for him either. Strangely, he understood very well the concept of marriage and what it implied for a man and a woman.

'So that's it?' Lie Xu wondered silently, his hands crossed behind his back. 'Do men really compete for a woman's attention in this way? Is it normal to kill off your rivals so callously? Is this what I should do when I have my own woman?'

"So, Young Master Du and Miss Liu are engaged? I hadn't imagined that," he murmured as he slowly walked ahead of Du Ming. "Sigh! I never thought I'd offend you like this, Young Master Du. The fact is, Miss Liu treated my wounds this afternoon. Lady Xue ordered her to accompany me. I believe it was a test for Miss Liu."

"A test? That makes sense," Du Ming managed to stand after some difficulty, his worst concerns having passed and his control over his body restored enough for him to rise.

As he stopped beside Yao Feng, he noticed that his companion was in far worse condition, seemingly with at least a spinal fracture.

Du Ming struggled not to sound irritated as he picked up the unconscious body of Yao Feng and slung it over his shoulder.

"If that was all, I apologize once again, Brother Lie. I fear I've only disgraced myself tonight," Du Ming shook his head as if repentant. "Please accept this gesture of apology. I hope we can start our relationship anew at some other time."

Lie Xu quickly grabbed the item Du Ming had taken from his spatial ring and threw it in his direction, momentarily ignoring the contents of the small leather pouch—about the size of an adult hand.

Looking at Du Ming—who was preparing to leap out the window with Yao Feng—Lie Xu asked, "Young Master Du, before you go, there's one more thing I'd like to ask you."

"What is it?" Du Ming looked at Lie Xu without haste. Now he was even more confident.

"Is your Du Clan one of the four pillar families of the Night Hunt Sect, or is it not?"

Du Ming laughed proudly. "Of course it is! Two thousand years ago, my ancestor served the very Wild Fire! Since then, a family of only three members flourished and became a great clan in Brave Sword King Village!"

'In that case, you'd better stay here!'

Before Du Ming could finish speaking, Lie Xu lunged at his enemy. With nothing but his fists, the young man with long golden hair moved forward two steps, his dominant hand trembling as he exerted all his strength. His middle finger protruded slightly, aimed at the opponent's abdominal wound.

Du Ming's eyes widened and he nearly froze at Lie Xu's unexpected attack. He had genuinely believed that his enemy would let him go!

However, before Du Ming could be struck again, he was quick enough to play his trump card. "Damn brat! You will pay with your life for your insolence!" he shouted as a shiny item, about the size of a tennis ball and light green, appeared in front of him at chest height.

The green item exuded a smell of rust before the sound of gears began to whir from it.

A semi-transparent barrier stretched out from the item, rising instantly to a thickness of over three centimeters, just five centimeters in front of Du Ming.

When Lie Xu's punch hit Du Ming's special barrier, he felt as if he had struck a concrete wall. But the surprise on his opponent's face was even greater than his own.

Crack!

The barrier emitted a ghastly sound, once again instilling terror in Du Ming's eyes.

'Impossible!' Du Ming screamed silently in his mind, turning to run while breaking out in cold sweat, aware that his defensive artifact would not hold Lie Xu for long.

'Damn it! I must alert my clan and call for reinforcements! This bastard is much stronger than I thought!' A new item appeared in Du Ming's right hand, then shot upward toward the sky, igniting red fireworks above that street.

Meanwhile, the cracks in the light-green barrier spread until its entire structure was fractured.

Crack!

Lie Xu broke through the barrier just a second after Du Ming's emergency device was activated, leaving his room as countless magical fragments of the barrier crumbled in the air.

His speed surprised even himself as he reached Du Ming and Yao Feng, who were fleeing before they could cross the street. Still using only his fists, Lie Xu delivered one powerful blow with all his strength to Du Ming.

"So fast?!" Du Ming froze as he felt Lie Xu's presence behind him and subconsciously shoved Yao Feng aside.

It was too late for him.

Crack!

Lie Xu's right fist struck the middle of Du Ming's back with force, propelling him forward, accompanied by the sound of cracking echoes emerging from his body.

'It can't be!' he thought in horror, unable even to articulate his situation. 

Before colliding with the building across the street, Du Ming's eyes lost their light.

With Du Ming passed out and Yao Feng lying a few meters away, still unconscious, Lie Xu made a decision.

'Damn Du Ming! He still managed to trigger an alert!' Lie Xu stared at the red flame burning in the sky, illuminating part of the village. 'Now I can only ensure their deaths. His emergency signal will surely bring people from the Du Clan here. If their bodies aren't here when reinforcements arrive, they will search every inch of this area.'

Looking at the open window of Lan Renshu's room, he knew he could not hide the traces of the fight inside. Though the fight itself had been quick, clean, and relatively quiet, there were cracks in the wall where Du Ming had collided earlier and remnants of the barrier that had just been destroyed.

'They will investigate the deaths of the two, but perhaps, if I'm lucky, they'll believe it all happened in the street.'

Determined in his plan, he broke the necks of Yao Feng and Du Ming with his feet, using a strength he didn't even know he possessed.

'I'll make it look like a robbery,' he thought, as he grabbed some of their belongings and left without looking back.

After closing Lan Renshu's room window and ensuring that his host was still asleep, Lie Xu disappeared into the dark, still deserted street where now two dead bodies waited to be found.

…

At the Du property, on the other side of the village.

A group of clan guards were gathering at the entrance of the main family's headquarters, armed and finishing donning their armor. Their expressions were solemn, and their serious voices pierced the night.

"The emergency signal from one of the Young Masters has been triggered!"

"We must hurry. One of the Young Masters may be between life and death!"

"Whatever it is, be prepared to kill! Bring a medic, and also an investigator!"

As the emergency squad left their posts, moving as swiftly as the signal burning in the sky, a well-dressed servant with a solemn look on his face was already at the door of the patriarch's room.

After disturbing the patriarch's sleep, the mansion's butler announced, "Patriarch, we have a situation that requires your attention. A rescue call from one of the Young Masters has been issued from the other side of the village, one minute ago."

Inside the large room of the Du Clan patriarch—a rustic setting centering on a grand bed—a thin, elderly man lying between two beautiful young women suddenly opened his eyes. A green glow ignited in his gaze, causing the two women to wake up at once upon sensing the dreadful aura of someone with countless deaths in his background.

"Who dares?!"