"Li Gouza, prepare to die!"
Chen Laowu gripped his axe and swung it hard at Li Sanshun.
But just as he reached Li Sanshun and brought down his axe, the disheveled figure turned into a wisp of black smoke beneath the moonlight and was cleaved in two.
Chen Laowu's eyes narrowed. A chill ran through him, and he couldn't help sucking in a breath.
How had he suddenly vanished?
Could he really be some kind of vengeful ghost?
As he was still wondering, a volley of flying stones struck him square in the forehead.
"Argh—!"
He howled and collapsed on the spot.
Seeing Chen Laowu fall for no apparent reason, the other two assumed a vengeful ghost had killed him. They didn't stop to think and bolted.
"Where... do you think you're going?"
But as soon as they turned around, Li Sanshun appeared behind them, shrouded in a chilling aura.
"Ghost!"
Wang Laoliu was so terrified he wet himself, rolled his eyes, and passed out.
Zhang Laosan, meanwhile, hurriedly dropped to his knees and kept kowtowing as he begged forgiveness.
"Brother Li, I was wrong! I shouldn't have let greed get the better of me. I'm not a man, I'm an animal! Please, from beyond the grave, spare me!"
Spare you?
Li Sanshun gave a cold laugh.
You three bastards nearly killed me and made me crawl through a sewer for half the day.
How could I rest easy without teaching you a proper lesson?
"He who kills will be killed! When you tried to kill me, did you ever think this day would come? Prepare to die!"
"Brother Li... don't! Spare me, please!"
As he spoke, Zhang Laosan scrambled to his feet and ran for his life.
But how could a mere mortal hope to escape a Qi Refining Stage cultivator?
Li Sanshun held a flying stone in his hand, silently recited the Primordial Origin Art, and cast Hunyuan Heaven and Earth. He turned a wisp of immortal energy into a gust of wind that empowered the stone.
"Go!"
He hurled it.
The stone shot forward like a bullet and struck Zhang Laosan square in the knee.
"Ow!"
With a thud, Zhang Laosan crumpled to the ground, howling in pain.
Before he could recover, Li Sanshun was already standing over him.
Clutching his injured leg, Zhang Laosan wailed and begged for mercy.
"Don't kill me! Don't kill me! I have an eighty-year-old mother to support and a three-year-old child to raise. Brother Li, please spare me!"
An eighty-year-old mother?
A three-year-old child?
How old was your mother when she gave birth to you?
And when did you father that child?
"Get lost!"
Li Sanshun kicked him, shattering his bones and leaving him paralyzed on the ground.
And so all three criminals who had nearly killed him were caught.
Li Sanshun didn't kill them right away. Instead, he stripped them of every last bit of money and valuables they carried.
Then he gave them a taste of their own medicine. He crushed the bones in all four of their limbs and tossed them deep into the sewer, so they could experience for themselves what it was like to scrape by in a stinking ditch.
After that, he left Back Mountain Village and returned to the village, where he looted the treasures from all three men's homes.
These three had relied on their youth and strength to loaf around all day, yet they had managed to squirrel away quite a few valuables.
He went to Zhang Laosan's house.
So much for an eighty-year-old mother and a three-year-old child.
Instead, there was a beautiful young wife in her twenties, sleeping in bed.
Seeing the alluring curves of the woman, still in her prime, Li Sanshun couldn't help swallowing. He crept closer and secretly stole a handful.
What a feel...
He had to admit, Zhang Laosan might have looked like a decent fellow, but he sure had a way with women!
The woman in bed blushed as he fondled her and murmured coyly.
"Mmm, Laosan, you're so annoying! Why are you teasing me as soon as you get home?"
Heh, this little beauty thought I was that bastard Zhang Laosan?
Laosan was indeed a Laosan.
But I'm Li Sanshun!
Not Zhang Laosan!
At the thought, he squeezed harder, making the woman tremble like a flower in the wind.
"Ah! Be gentle~"
The woman cooed, and her hands started wandering over Li Sanshun as well.
"Laosan..."
As things grew heated between them, the woman simply took off her top and turned around, impatient for more.
But the instant she saw Li Sanshun, she froze.
"Ah!! You—you're not Laosan! Who are you?!"
Although the dark night made it hard to see his face, the woman immediately recognized that this well-built man wasn't her potbellied late husband.
"Heh!"
Seeing that he'd been found out, Li Sanshun didn't try to continue. He gave a soft laugh, activated the Primordial Origin Art, and shot out through the window.
The woman was left behind, stunned and bewildered.
It took her a while to come to her senses. Then she hurriedly shouted,
"Help! Someone, come quick! I've been robbed!"
By the time the neighbors rushed over, Li Sanshun had already taken a bag of jade fragments and jewelry and headed for the dilapidated mountain temple.
The temple was still lit.
When he entered, the old man was already asleep on his side.
He had wanted to greet the old man, but as he approached, he hesitated.
Today, he had killed Zhang Laosan, Chen Laowu, and Wang Laoliu, then left them to fend for themselves in the stinking sewer.
If anyone found out, the old man would inevitably be dragged into trouble.
He might as well leave the old man some valuables and go on his way, to pursue the immortal path and seek eternal life.
Once he disappeared, those three would be too guilty to come back and make trouble for the old man.
After thinking it over, Li Sanshun made up his mind. He didn't wake the old man. Instead, he put half the jade fragments into a hemp sack and left them for him.
He had just set the sack down and was about to leave.
Suddenly, Old Rascal, who was still lying on his side, spoke calmly.
"Shun'er, you're back."
Li Sanshun's heart jolted. The old man was awake?
He turned around and saw that Old Rascal had sat up, smiling at him.
As their eyes met, Li Sanshun finally realized something.
The old man who had raised him all these years was also a cultivator with immortal energy!
And his power was so formidable that even looking at him inspired awe and fear!
"Since you've returned, it means you've overcome the great trial of life and death. I've fulfilled the task someone entrusted to me."
"There's a stone lion in the north of the village. I've prepared your travel supplies inside it. Break it open, take what's inside, and go to an immortal sect to seek a master."
"When the day comes that you forge your immortal foundation, we'll meet again."
"Farewell, my son."
As Old Rascal spoke, before Li Sanshun could make sense of any of it, his body broke apart into countless sparkling fragments and vanished.
Li Sanshun's eyes widened. His face was full of shock and confusion!
Old Rascal was actually a mighty cultivator?
Then who was he?
And who was his birth mother?
Could the Fragmented Jade Bag he'd found today have been deliberately tossed into the trash by Old Rascal, too?
Those few short sentences had dropped a bombshell of information!
But he soon came back to his senses.
He'd already transmigrated and been reborn. What else could be impossible?
First, he'd follow Old Rascal's instructions and see what was in the north of the village!
Full of questions, Li Sanshun went to the north of the village and found the stone lion concealing the travel supplies.
The stone lion stood about two meters tall. There was no way to break it with ordinary means.
But Li Sanshun had already mastered the Primordial Origin Art. Using the earth-condensing ability of Hunyuan Heaven and Earth, he placed his palm against the stone lion.
A sharp crack rang out.
The stone lion shattered in an instant.
Then a bag of travel supplies fell to the ground.
He opened it. Inside lay a complete copy of the cultivation manual Primordial Origin Art, a Marrow-Cleansing Pill, and a Gold Blade dagger.
Four characters were engraved on the dagger: "Obeying Heaven and Following Fate."
They were the words of the Shunchang Imperial Clan.
Could he...
Be descended from the imperial clan?
For real???
Before you continue