The End

"Your daughter didn't come to save you."

Li ChunJun said.

He had kept Jin Guangming alive until now for one reason: he was waiting.

Waiting for Jin Zhiya to show up.

He just hadn't expected that, even now, the peerless prodigy said to have become a Nominal Disciple of the Red Sun Sword Sect still hadn't appeared.

Hearing Li ChunJun's words, Jin Guangming seemed to realize something. His heart jolted.

"You vanished for seven days and only showed up again today because you were waiting for my daughter to return from the Red Sun Sword Sect!?"

He glared at Li ChunJun.

But then he gritted his teeth and said, "My daughter is a true dragon among men, with a boundless future ahead of her. You think you can compare to her? When she returns from the sect, cultivators skilled in tracking will surely accompany her. Once they make their move, you won't be able to hide anywhere, even at the ends of the earth! Just wait. It won't be long before you come down and join us!"

"She didn't even attend her mother and younger brother's funerals. Do you think someone who's already set foot on the path of immortality would care about you?"

Li ChunJun replied impassively.

"Hahaha, when all is said and done, you're afraid! You're afraid of her!"

Jin Guangming couldn't help laughing.

The laugh immediately tugged at his wounds, and his face turned pale.

To keep him from escaping, Li ChunJun had run his sword through Jin Guangming's thigh.

"Looks like you didn't tell your precious daughter what happened here."

Li ChunJun looked at Jin Guangming and said calmly, "Anyone with a Spirit Root will be selected to train for six years at the Red Sun Dao Institute, which is under the Red Sun Sword Sect. Those who fail the assessments will be sent to local posts or assigned menial work. Passing one assessment makes you a preparatory disciple, also called a Nominal Disciple. Only those who pass both assessments become formal disciples... By my reckoning, Jin Zhiya doesn't have much time left to pass the formal disciple assessment."

This was all common knowledge.

Anyone who yearned to become a cultivator would have committed such information to memory.

"If I'm not mistaken, you've suppressed the news from here to avoid disturbing Jin Zhiya's training and making her miss the greatest opportunity of her life... That's why she didn't even show up for her mother and younger brother's funerals."

Li ChunJun paused. "But I'd like to know: with you no longer here to keep things under wraps, will the others who hate me find some way to pass the news along to Jin Zhiya? Will they make this disciple of the immortals come here herself and fight me to the death? After all... they don't care about Jin Zhiya's future. They just want to vent their hatred."

Jin Guangming's pupils contracted.

Knowing how much his daughter cared about her family...

If she learned what had happened in Guangzhou City, she would absolutely leave the Red Sun Dao Institute and come here in person.

"Li ChunJun, are you that eager to die!?"

The head of Jin Corporation said in a low voice.

Accustomed to years in a position of authority, he could command fear with a single dark look.

"Truly... a father and daughter devoted to one another."

Li ChunJun praised them sincerely.

"A father refuses to tell his daughter that her mother has died, so her prospects won't be affected. The moment the daughter learns her family has suffered a disaster, she'll risk ruining her future to come to Guangzhou and take revenge. Such affection... it's touching."

As he spoke, he stared at Jin Guangming with a hollow gaze. "But... why? Why is it that you and your daughter cherish each other so deeply, while you can mercilessly crush other families who are happy together and depend on one another?"

"My daughter passed the first assessment at the Red Sun Dao Institute. To pass it, she had to reach the Qi Refining Realm! And the Qi Refining Realm is comparable to the Innate Realm of martial arts! With spells at her command, even a martial arts Innate Realm expert wouldn't be her match! If she comes to Guangzhou, Li ChunJun, you'll die!"

Jin Guangming ignored Li ChunJun's taunts and said in a low voice, "If I were you, after killing the one who started it all, I'd run as far away as possible and never set foot in Guangzhou again."

"That's a very rational conclusion."

Li ChunJun nodded, but then continued, "You really want me to do that? But you said it yourself: if she brings cultivators from the immortal sect, I won't be able to hide anywhere. So... you never intended to leave me a way to live."

A trace of bitterness appeared on Jin Guangming's face.

Li ChunJun smiled, and his smile frightened Jin Guangming. "Since that's the case... let's find out. Can I take down Jin Zhiya, a Qi Refining Realm cultivator? Let's see whether I'll be killed by your daughter, Jin Zhiya, whom you're so proud of, or whether I'll kill the last member of your family and send her to join you all in the underworld."

"You..."

Jin Guangming opened his mouth, wanting to say something. In the end, he couldn't utter a word.

He had absolute faith in his daughter and didn't believe Li ChunJun could do anything to her, now that she had embarked on the path of cultivation.

But...

He knew his daughter well.

If Li ChunJun hid for a while, she would refuse to leave Guangzhou City, even if it meant skipping her final assessment. She wouldn't rest until she had avenged them.

No matter what, it would affect her future.

But just as Li ChunJun had said, they had never given him a way to live.

If there was no way to survive, then no degree of frenzied vengeance would be surprising.

Especially when Li ChunJun had the strength to carry it out.

So...

It was already certain that her future would be affected.

And his own death was just as certain.

Why...

Why had things turned out this way!?

Bang!

At that moment, a tremendous crash rang out from the main hall's front doors!

It sounded as if someone had kicked them with all their might.

And the force behind that kick had been immense!

If it had been the Jin Family's old front door, it would have been kicked open long ago.

But seven days earlier, the Jin Family had replaced the entire door with one of the highest-quality models in the industry.

So the door, which should have been kicked open in one blow, only shuddered before remaining firmly shut.

Noticing this, Li ChunJun stopped talking, raised his sword, and moved to finish off Jin Guangming.

But just then, he caught something out of the corner of his eye and jerked his head aside...

A stream of scorching air whistled past his cheek.

Bang!

A gunshot!

Stone chips burst from the wall behind him.

Outside the window, a figure appeared in a flash, holding a gun and aiming straight at Li ChunJun.

Fang Lieyun.

Without the slightest hesitation, Li ChunJun hoisted Jin Guangming up and held him in front of himself, keeping almost his entire body hidden behind him. Then he dragged Jin Guangming sideways, darting toward the room on the other side.

Jin Guangming tried to struggle, but he had lost too much blood and had no strength left.

He could only pin his hopes on Fang Lieyun, the top expert in the Security Division, and gaze at him imploringly.

"Save... save me..."

Fang Lieyun held his gun, aiming steadily at Li ChunJun through the window.

Looking at the face that still seemed to carry a trace of boyishness and the cold, utterly emotionless gaze, Fang Lieyun felt a shock.

So young!

Far too young!

The killer...

Was just a boy this young!?

Despite his shock, he didn't forget his duty.

"Put down the hostage!"

Fang Lieyun shouted.

But Li ChunJun's swiftly moving figure didn't change course at all.

He made sure to keep Jin Guangming's entire body between himself and the gun.

He crossed the main hall, passed through the study, then went past a bedroom.

Since all the windows had been opened by those who'd fled earlier, he was exposed to Fang Lieyun's gun almost the entire time.

Even when he dashed past a wall, he didn't dare stop.

The front door hadn't given way, and more elite officers from the Security Division were climbing in through the windows near the main hall.

He didn't know whether they had guns.

Fang Lieyun could also have climbed in through the window, but that would inevitably disrupt his aim.

By then, Jin Guangming, the hostage...

There was no by then.

After Li ChunJun dragged Jin Guangming sideways at nearly a sprint for several dozen meters, a wall blocked Fang Lieyun's line of sight.

His path had ended.

The next moment, Li ChunJun disappeared behind the wall.

At the same time...

A sharp blade extended from behind Jin Guangming and flashed across his neck.

As Jin Guangming stared in despair and unwillingness...

Shhk!

Blood...

Gushed out.