The old man instinctively took a step back. Then blood suddenly began flowing from his ears.
He looked up at Yi Chen in panic. Yi Chen still floated silently in midair, wreathed in a hazy azure aura. His gaze was sharp and icy, chilling enough to strike terror into the heart, like a cold wind blowing from the depths of the Nine Hells.
With a deafening rip, the black robe wrapped around the old man's body suddenly exploded, exposing his frame.
It was a gigantic skeleton, seemingly a full twenty meters tall and as massive as a small mountain. His bones were silvery white, as though cast entirely from metal.
Across his chest and abdomen, six ribs jutted like sharp arrows. Each was set with a fist-sized crystal whose surface was covered in strange patterns.
A shrill wail escaped the old man's mouth. His whole body convulsed, then shrank considerably, returning to its original appearance in the blink of an eye. Only his once handsome, dashing face had become gaunt and shriveled, his skin wrinkled. He looked like a withered tree on the verge of death, as though a hundred years had ravaged him overnight.
Yi Chen casually struck the old man's waist with his palm. An immense force blasted into the old man's body. He went rigid, his mouth fell open, and wisps of black smoke spurted from all seven facial orifices. He swayed several times before slowly collapsing to the ground.
Yi Chen walked over to the old man with a smile, looked down at him, and said, "Hello, esteemed sir. What should I call you?"
The old man snarled venomously, "You'll never learn my name."
Yi Chen nodded. "Then are you a member of the Abel Family? Hmm, or perhaps you have another name: 'Dark Spirits'? That name really suits you, because you truly are a pack of garbage harboring filth and corruption."
The old man's eyes widened in utter horror. "You know about us?"
Yi Chen nodded with a grin. "How could I not? The Abel Family is an enormous, supremely powerful clan."
The old man demanded through gritted teeth, "Who exactly are you? Who are you? Don't you know how terrifying the Abel Family is?"
Yi Chen nodded with a smile. "Yes, I know. Of course I know. But what do you think? If I weren't an enemy of the Abel Family, why would I be here talking to you today? Hmm?"
Yi Chen extended his right hand. A fist-sized ball of green light danced at his fingertips.
A sinister, icy force enveloped the old man, making his entire body tremble and shudder uncontrollably.
Yi Chen said calmly, "What I hate most are people like you. You're always using your power and influence to suppress others, but you've forgotten that in this world, the strong always devour the weak. Victory is the only rule."
Yi Chen raised his hand and commanded sharply, "Let me absorb your power."
To his horror, the old man discovered that all the concentrated power within him was rapidly being devoured. Worse still, that power flowed uncontrollably through Yi Chen's eyes into the space between his brows. An illusory image flickered across his forehead.
The old man cried out in terror, "You're..."
Yi Chen waved a hand. "Who I am doesn't matter. What matters is that your Abel Family should cease to exist, or you'll cause even more trouble. Aren't you so overbearing? Aren't you so proud? You are very powerful, but you've provoked me, and I don't mind destroying your entire Family."
The light faded from the old man's eyes.
He said bitterly, "That's right. We did provoke you and your people. But if we'd known your power was this great, we wouldn't have dared provoke you even on pain of death. Unfortunately, we were too greedy. We thought you were merely a junior..."
Yi Chen sighed and shook his head. "But since you've already offended me, why give up the chance to take revenge?"
The old man stared blankly at Yi Chen, then suddenly gave three loud laughs. Slowly, he closed his eyes. "Fine. You won, and I lost. But you want to kill everyone in our Family? Do you think our Family has no strength left to resist? Hmph, don't forget who we are..."
The moment he finished speaking, the old man suddenly screamed in agony. Countless densely packed white hairs sprouted from his head. The skin on his face contorted, and thick veins bulged out from within his body. His muscles swelled wildly, and in an instant he grew to four or five meters tall, as hideous and terrifying as a monster of steel.
Yi Chen narrowed his eyes at the transformation, pondering, The Abel Family's secret arts really are uncanny. Although my Soul Power is stronger than his, it doesn't seem to have much effect on his body.
The old man groaned in pain. His eyes had turned into concentric rings of white light, and he grew nearly another three feet taller.
He glared furiously at Yi Chen and growled, "You bastard. Aren't you afraid of being punished?"
Yi Chen picked at his ear and said lazily, "I don't believe the Abel Family would hunt me down for someone like you. If they wanted to make trouble for me, they'd have come long ago. Why wait until now?"
The old man roared in fury, "You wretched devil! I'll show you the Abel Family's mighty power. Just you wait!"
Yi Chen shrugged and was about to act when a sudden sense of danger surged from the depths of his heart. He hurriedly hurled himself away.
A mass of fiery red mist burst from the old man's body, carrying faint traces of a pungent sulfurous smell, and slammed violently into the spot where Yi Chen had just stood.
The ground instantly shattered. The place where Yi Chen had been standing became a pit roughly three meters deep.
Yi Chen was nearly smashed into the pit. Fortunately, he escaped in time, or the red mist would certainly have injured him.
Even so, a wave of weakness and aching swept through Yi Chen's body, and sweat broke out all over him.
Yi Chen cursed angrily, "You damned bastard! You actually ambushed me. Are you tired of living?"
A red cloud slowly rose and formed a gigantic human face suspended in midair. His build bore a strong resemblance to the old man's; only his face was different.
He said coldly, "You insolent wretch. You're nothing but a mere mortal, yet you dare insult our Family. You deserve to die..."
He raised his hand, and a streak of blazing fire sprang from it, slashing toward Yi Chen.
Yi Chen gave a strange laugh. "A mortal? So what if I'm a mortal? A mortal can kill you!"
A pitch-black short sword abruptly appeared behind Yi Chen. Accompanied by his incantation, a streak of dark light shot into the top of the red cloud's head.
The red cloud let out a terrified scream. His body rapidly disintegrated, turning into a blood-red streak of light that hurtled toward Yi Chen.