Crushed: Lei Le's Death

Lei Le did not recognize Xia Kong as he descended from above, but among the family servants who had defected to him and stabbed Ya Fei in the back, someone had already recognized the young man. They hurriedly lowered their voices and told Lei Le that Xia Kong was close to Ya Fei and had long since broken through to Dou Shi.

Hearing this, jealousy blazed through Lei Le's heart like wildfire.

Xia Kong landed lightly. In those brief moments in the air, he had already taken in the confrontation in the corridor. He and Xiao Yi Xian landed steadily beside Ya Fei, shoulder to shoulder.

Xia Kong turned his head and gave Ya Fei a teasing look, then swept a casual glance over Lei Le. His voice dripped with mockery and disdain. "Sister Ya Fei, who's this little turtle-spawn bastard? Why's he swaggering around like a complete halfwit? Even his words are leaking air. Does he always walk with his nostrils pointed at the sky and trip himself into looking like this? Now that's rotten luck."

Xia Kong's comical expression and snide tone made Ya Fei and Xiao Yi Xian cover their lips and giggle.

Ya Fei's trusted followers had no such reservations and naturally burst into laughter as well. But Lei Le's people could only choke back their amusement under his savage, almost man-eating glare. Even his guard, Carl, kept twitching at the corners of her mouth, looking as though she wanted to laugh but could not.

Xia Kong gave her an exceedingly strange feeling. She could not see through him at all and dared not act rashly!

Listening to those barbed insults from the private room's doorway, Xiao Yan felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity. Although the two had never properly spoken, he already felt a little closer to Xia Kong for no clear reason.

"Stop fooling around. He's Mittel Lei Le, and he has a Dou Ling elder in the clan backing him. He most likely came to Wutan City to investigate the source of the medicinal herbs in my possession, but he chose the most direct and stupidest method. And just now, he even tried to take my life..."

A veil of grievance settled over Ya Fei's brows, and tears seemed to shimmer in her eyes as she poured out all the frustration that had accumulated over the past few days.

Xia Kong knew Ya Fei was acting. With her personality, how could she possibly shed tears in public? Still, he had to pretend not to notice rather than pull the stage out from under her.

"Enough. You don't need to say any more. I don't care whether they're a Dou Ling or a Dou Wang. Whoever tries to hurt you, I'll kill them." Xia Kong's voice abruptly turned cold.

Those murderous words brought only warmth to Ya Fei's and Xiao Yi Xian's hearts.

"Kill me? What big words!"

Lei Le threw back his head as though he had heard the greatest joke in the world. An instant later, his expression turned utterly sinister, and he barked, "Carl, kill them too! Remember, before you kill them, force them to reveal how they control that magic beast!"

After instructing Carl, he turned to Ya Fei, his words filthy beyond measure. "Ya Fei, you colluded with outsiders to murder your own clansmen. Today is the day you die. But if you're willing to submit to me, I can cover up what happened here."

That shameless speech, turning black into white, made Ya Fei laugh in fury. Her earlier melancholy vanished without a trace.

Xia Kong could not be bothered to waste another word and attacked directly.

He pressed two fingers together like a sword and rapidly circulated the Azure Wood Sword Art. A streak of dark azure sword energy whistled forth, stabbing straight toward the space between Lei Le's brows!

An overwhelming sense of mortal danger enveloped Lei Le in an instant. Forgetting all dignity, he screamed, "Carl, save me!"

Carl, a three-star great Dou master, reacted quickly enough. In that hair's-breadth moment, she reached out and yanked Lei Le aside, barely pulling him clear.

Lei Le's life was saved, but the sword energy grazed his right ear. Blood sprayed as the ear was sliced clean off and tumbled to the floor.

Lei Le clutched the bleeding side of his face, howling in agony.

"What are you standing there for? Kill him, and that bitch Ya Fei-"

Before he could finish his foul words, Xia Kong's second streak of sword energy followed, this time aiming straight for Lei Le's head.

This time, Carl was standing right beside Lei Le and stepped in front of him without hesitation.

The dark azure sword energy slammed into her ocher Dou Qi Armor. A piercing metallic scrape stabbed at everyone's eardrums. Lei Le trembled all over in terror and clamped shut that foul mouth full of gold, no longer daring to spew his bluster.

After taking the strike head-on, Carl silently assessed Xia Kong's strength, presumptuously concluding that he was roughly a One-Star Great Dou Master and still within her ability to handle. The last trace of wariness toward him instantly vanished from her heart.

She hesitated no longer. Stamping hard against the floor, she charged straight at Xia Kong with a heavy, oppressive force.

"She's a three-star great Dou master. Should I use my trump card to help you?" Ya Fei asked, concern coloring her voice.

"No need. She'll make a good sparring partner. I'll leave the others to you. Do whatever you wish with Lei Le. There's no need to fear the power behind him."

After giving that calm instruction and reminder, Xia Kong focused all his attention on the charging Carl.

Although he had yet to condense Dou Qi Armor, the gauze-like Dou Qi mantle flowing around his body still radiated formidable power.

Xia Kong believed that if he opened with the high-grade Profound Tier Dou Technique, Blossom Sword Cluster, he stood a very good chance of killing Carl with a single stroke. Yet he had not used that move from the outset. It was not mercy. Though he had fought third-rank magic beasts several times, this was his first battle against a human Da Dou Shi, and it was an ideal opportunity to hone himself.

"Packed Earth Fist!"

Dense, violent earth-type Dou Qi gathered around Carl's fist. She punched toward the space between Xia Kong's brows, intent on showing off her abilities before Lei Le.

"Heh. Nothing but brute strength, without a trace of finesse in your moves."

Xia Kong mocked her softly, abruptly shifting sideways. He drew his arm back to gather force, then blasted out a palm strike.

"Scorching Wood Palm!"

An enormous, densely condensed palm imprint formed in an instant and collided violently with Carl's fist.

Boom! A thunderous blast erupted! Violent Dou Qi shock waves swept in every direction, shredding every gauze curtain and lantern in the corridor.

"They're both high Yellow-Tier Dou Techniques. How can this be happening?"

Carl felt the power in her fist rapidly dwindling, while Xia Kong's palm imprint remained solid. Within it, orange-red lines resembling veins of flame were slowly flowing.

"Burst."

Xia Kong parted his thin lips and uttered a single word.

Flames exploded with a roar. Wood splinters flew, and thick smoke churned. Carl hurtled backward like a heavy weight cut loose from its cord. Patches of flesh across her body were scorched black, and a dense web of cracks spread over her sturdy Dou Qi Armor.

An eight-star Dou Shi had repelled a three-star great Dou master in a single move.

Every onlooker erupted in astonishment. Ya Fei's people broke into earthshaking cheers, while the followers Lei Le had bought hung their heads, their hearts filled with regret.

Only Xia Kong himself and Yao Lao inside the ring were unsurprised by the outcome.

Xia Kong's total Dou Qi already rivaled that of a Da Dou Shi, and his physical body was comparable to a third-rank magic beast. On top of that, he had long since mastered Scorching Wood Palm to great completion. Carl, by contrast, had nothing particularly outstanding about her, and her Packed Earth Fist was merely at the proficient level. The outcome had been decided from the start.

"Heh. It seems I overestimated you. At this level, you don't even deserve my full strength, let alone qualify as a whetstone for me."

Xia Kong's calm words were steeped in mockery.

"Boy, don't be so arrogant! Take my Mountain-Breaking Seal!"

Ignoring her injuries, Carl seized the moment while Xia Kong was not pressing his advantage and unleashed her final trump card, an intermediate Black-Tier Dou Technique.

Xia Kong stood quietly in place, still hoping his opponent could force him to exert a little more strength. Just then, a short, shrill scream came from the second floor-it was Lei Le's dying cry.

Xia Kong knew it was time to bring this dull confrontation to an end.

Carl heard the scream too. Panic seized her heart, and she formed her hand seals with mounting haste. A huge dark-yellow hand imprint took shape and bore down with crushing force. Lei Le was dead. If she stayed in Wutan City, death would be inevitable; if she returned to the Imperial Capital and explained what had happened, she would not survive either. Her only path to survival was to flee beyond the borders of the Jia Ma Empire. All she wanted was to drive Xia Kong back and use the opening to escape.

"Too slow. Far too slow."

Xia Kong spoke coldly, and a three-foot sword appeared in his hand. With a turn of his wrist, an elegant sword flourish bloomed. Sword energy condensed into an azure lotus and swept forth with the sword's light.

The azure lotus effortlessly tore apart the Mountain-Breaking Seal and, its power undiminished, rushed straight toward the center of Carl's back!

Several sharp hisses rang out!

Her supposedly indestructible earth-type Dou Qi Armor was instantly shredded by the sword energy. The fierce sword energy also pierced a horrifying hole clean through her back. Flesh and organs sprayed in all directions, leaving foul pools of blood across the floor.

"How could he be this strong..."

With those unwilling final words, Carl crashed heavily to the ground. She had originally planned to turn on Lei Le once the matter was settled and seize the precious spiritual plants, dreaming of breaking through to Dou Ling, or even Dou Wang, and living free and unfettered. Now all of it returned to dust along with her.

The auction house corridor fell deathly silent. Apart from Yao Lao inside the ring, everyone stood frozen in place, not daring to draw a deep breath.

Yao Lao's voice slowly sounded in Xiao Yan's mind, unmistakably approving. "Very good. He uses all manner of Dou Techniques skillfully and acts with ruthless decisiveness. This boy will surely achieve great things in the future."