A Single Battle Shocks Wuzhou City

As if he had just awakened from an incomparably terrifying nightmare, Li Yue wore an expression of extreme fear. Even his Profound Yin Palm had lost its power, limp and utterly devoid of threat.

Taiwan Novel Network, an ocean of books—take your pick at ₮₩₭₳₦.₵Ø₥

"Li Ye! How dare you!"

Li Huangran, who was fiercely battling Xiao Qing nearby, suddenly saw Li Yue standing there dazed and distraught while Li Ye smashed a fist into his chest, sending him flying three zhang away. He immediately cried out in shock!

"Dare? Watch me dare! Third! Uncle!"

It would have been better if Li Huangran had kept his mouth shut. The moment he spoke, a surge of resentment erupted from Li Ye's heart!

Why?

His father and Li Yue's father, along with Li Huangran, were blood brothers. They should have loved and supported one another. Even if there had been disputes, they should merely have been normal competition within the Lineage. But when had they ever treated him as one of their own?

Perhaps because he had fused with the memories and soul of the former "Li Ye," he had been somewhat affected as well.

Crack!

With a single punch, accompanied by a crisp crack, Li Yue—the famed young genius of Wuzhou City, a Li Family prodigy who had entered the seventh level of the Spirit Martial Realm before even reaching seventeen and become a rising star among the younger generation—let out a pig-slaughtering scream!

"This is for my father! No matter how favored you are in the Lineage, remember that my father is the family head!"

That punch directly broke two of Li Yue's ribs!

Everyone was stunned, Li Huangran included.

One had once been a worthless trash whose name had stirred the entire city, while the other was a genius basking in the limelight. Yet now, the genius screamed like a slaughtered pig, while the one who had reduced him to such a state was that same trash everyone had once despised!

What staggering irony!

When Li Ye turned his gaze toward Yu Wen Tianhua and Wu Wenhao, both men clearly felt a chill run down their backs, and a hair-raising dread seized them.

"Li Ye, this has nothing to do with us!"

Yu Wen Tianhua said in a deep voice, his face full of vigilance. Neither he nor Wu Wenhao had yet figured out how Li Yue had been defeated, which was why they were so deeply wary.

Once upon a time, they would never have given the trash before them a second thought. But now, they felt a trace of fear.

"Get lost!"

Li Ye had no interest in either of them. The Wu Family and Yu Family were not his targets for now. His greatest goal was to return to that Lineage of white-eyed wolves and let those people see clearly that they had been utterly blind back then!

Li Yue was only the first step! He would make those people regret just how wrong their decision had been! As for the cold looks Yu Wen Tianhua and Wu Wenhao gave him as they left, he did not care in the slightest.

Bang!

Having been distracted, Li Huangran gave Xiao Qing an opening. Xiao Qing struck his shoulder with a punch, but Li Huangran used that chance to break away. His face twisted viciously as he lunged toward Li Ye.

"You little beast! You dare injure a member of your own Lineage! You are simply lawless! I will cripple one of your arms and all your cultivation under the family rules!"

Seeing his nephew beaten into such a state, how could Li Huangran not be furious?

But he had forgotten that Li Yue was indeed his nephew, yet the little beast he spoke of was also his nephew!

Little beast! Li Ye laughed, and there was something bleak in that laughter!

The man before him was his own third uncle! His blood-related third uncle!

For some reason, he suddenly understood why Li Kainian had left this Lineage. This Lineage had no sense of belonging whatsoever, no familial affection! At least, he could not feel any!

Bang!

Li Ye did not resist at all. Li Huangran's palm strike landed squarely on his chest.

Pfft!

A mouthful of blood sprayed from his lips, splattering Li Huangran's face. Yet Li Ye was smiling, and his smile was cold.

"Li Huangran! Consider this palm strike a gift from your nephew!"

After taking that palm strike head-on, Li Ye felt as though his entire body were on fire, burning with searing pain. His chest tightened so badly he could barely breathe, and the thick smell of blood filled his mouth.

Yet he stood firmly where he was and did not fall.

"Hmph! You are so ruthless toward your own kin that you cannot be spared! But for the sake of the Li Family blood flowing through you, I will first cripple one of your arms and destroy all your cultivation. Then I will take you back and let the elders of the Lineage decide your punishment!"

The look in Li Ye's eyes made an inexplicable ripple flash through Li Huangran's heart. Unfortunately, he quickly suppressed it. With a cold snort, he reached out to seize Li Ye by the shoulder.

"Stop!"

With an angry roar, Xiao Qing strode forward like a savage bull. His punch tore through the air, producing a sonic boom!

Facing Xiao Qing, whose strength was not the slightest bit inferior to his own, Li Huangran did not dare turn his back on him. Left with no choice, he abandoned his attempt to seize Li Ye, leaped over to grab the fallen Li Yue, then shot Li Ye a vicious glare before turning to leave.

"You little beast! Someone is helping you today, but unless you flee Wuzhou City and never return, there will no longer be a place for you anywhere in Wuzhou City!"

After saying that, he ignored everyone else and left directly with the unconscious Li Yue.

That final glance held no warmth, no familial affection. It was as though he were looking at an enemy. It completely shattered Li Ye's last trace of fantasy, though he also caught sight of the faint crimson at the corner of Li Huangran's mouth. It seemed that Li Huangran had actually been injured in his exchange with Xiao Qing just now?

"I'll be waiting!"

It felt as though a breath of air had lodged in his chest, and Li Ye wanted to roar aloud and vent it all. But he knew his condition was not good right now. Though his vampire body, far tougher than that of an ordinary human, kept him standing for the moment, taking a palm strike head-on from Li Huangran, an eighth-level Spirit Martial Realm expert, had still injured him badly.

"This injury probably won't heal in two or three days."

Fortunately, he had long since become a Vampire. The speed of his metabolism was hundreds of times faster than that of an ordinary person. He had once wondered whether Vampires' powerful recovery abilities and near-immortality were related to this.

Had it been an ordinary person who suffered such severe injuries, getting out of bed in less than three to five months would have been nearly impossible!

But he needed only two or three days at most to fully recover! That was why he had dared to let Li Huangran strike him. He was no fool; he would never make a losing deal.

"Heh, you're quite the stubborn one. You're rather different from what I heard. But that's what makes you a man. If you really were the soft, weak coward people spoke of before, I wouldn't have bothered whether you lived or died!"

Xiao Qing slapped Li Ye's weakened shoulder, nearly causing him to collapse on the spot.

"Why did you help me?!"

Li Ye was filled with confusion. Xiao Qing merely chuckled, then glanced around before lowering his voice. "This isn't the place to talk. Where are you staying now? Let's go there first."

"Alright!"

Li Ye was not one to dawdle. He nodded.

"Can you still walk?"

"I'm not dead yet!"

As the two quickly departed, the events that had just taken place spread through all of Wuzhou City in less than half a day.

For a time, the frenzy caused by the approaching year-end and the three great Lineages' annual contest among the younger generation gained a strange new flavor.

"Have you heard? That Li Family trash from back then, no one knows what happened to him, but not only can he cultivate now, his strength has risen at lightning speed! He even broke two of Li Yue's ribs and frightened off Yu Wen Tianhua and Wu Wenhao of the Yu Family and Wu Family!"

"I know! I know! I was there that day! The entire Virtue Moon Tower was blown apart! You have no idea—Li Ye likely obtained the peerless secret manual his father left behind, mastered some divine art, and now wants to prove himself! What? You don't know who his father is? You must be from out of town, then. You've never even heard of Li Kainian, the once-in-a-generation prodigy of Wuzhou City? Right! That trash... no, Li Ye of the Li Family, is that man's son!"

As more and more people spread the news, the rumors became increasingly fantastical, and several different versions eventually emerged. The most outrageous claimed that the Virtue Moon Tower had been reduced to ruins with one slap, that Li Ye had sent the three great Lineages' three geniuses flying with a single palm, and that he had fiercely fought the Li Family's Third Master, an established eighth-level Spirit Martial Realm expert, until the Third Master fled in panic.

In any case, the tale grew more outlandish the more it spread, to the point that anyone hearing it found it hard to believe.

After the three great Lineages learned of the matter, their reactions differed greatly. The Yu Family and Wu Family, in particular, seemed to have gone completely silent, and no one knew what they thought.

As for the Li Family, it caused an enormous uproar!

Of course, all that came later. At this moment, in Li Ye's shabby little courtyard, Xiao Qing clicked his tongue as he watched Aunt Yun emerge from the room, stunningly beautiful and gentle as water. He winked at Li Ye and chuckled. "Never thought you had a beauty hidden in a golden house! This lady has real flavor! She may be a little older, but compared to those little girls, she has far more of a woman's charm! You've got good taste, kid!"

"Get lost!"

By now, Li Ye had seen through Xiao Qing's character somewhat. He looked rough and boorish, but beneath that roughness lay careful thought. On the way back, he had spouted nonsense nonstop, but Li Ye could tell he was using that method to comfort him.

Understanding was one thing, but how could he tolerate Xiao Qing saying that his beloved Aunt Yun was a beauty he had hidden away?

Xiao Qing merely chuckled without speaking. As for Aunt Yun, she was only slightly surprised by the sudden appearance of a stranger. She did not take Xiao Qing's suggestive words to heart. Instead, she gave Li Ye a gentle smile, while traces of reproach and heartache flashed through her bright eyes.

"You went out fighting again? You're already so grown up, yet you still act like a child! Come, let Aunt Yun have a look!"

Only in front of Aunt Yun could Li Ye lower all his guard. Perhaps it was the influence of that other soul within him, but in any case, he was gradually beginning to feel as though he belonged in this world.

"Aunt Yun, I'm fine. Oh, right, this is my friend. We have some things to discuss."

Aunt Yun did not ask anything. She merely nodded gently. "You two talk. I'll make something for you to eat."

With that, she drifted away. Watching that graceful figure, Li Ye honestly felt somewhat guilty. Such an incomparably beautiful woman should have had a good home, so why had she wasted her youth caring for trash like him? Could it really have been a debt of love his missing nominal father had incurred back then?