Strength of Spirit!

Occasions where someone intervened in the case of injustice were few and far in between. It was especially so in Wu Prefecture City, as plenty of people knew that the Li clan was very powerful. Their reputation of being Wu Prefecture City's greatest clan was not merely a hyperbole!

"I, Li Ye, appreciate your kindness, Brother. But I don't suppose you're from around here? We should be going! Or else we'll invite trouble!"

Although the big man rushed to Li Ye's rescue, Li Ye immediately advised him in a low voice. He did not want to implicate others, as he knew full well what the Li clan represented in the tiny city of Wu Prefecture!

"You want to leave? Well, it's too late!"

A cold chuckle was heard, followed by the sound of whooshing air. Everyone then watched as a forty-year-old man landed on the ground. His austere gaze swept across the Li Ye and the big man.

When the forty-year-old man laid eyes on Li Ye, the profoundly-shocked expression in the man's eyes was clearly evident.

"Third Uncle!"

Li Yue was pleased beyond expectation when he saw who it was that arrived at the scene. At the same time, he grinned coldly at Li Ye.

"Third Master of the Li clan, your junior Yuwen Tianhua offers you his humblest greetings!"

"Third Master of the Li clan, your junior Wu Wenhao offers you his humblest greetings!"

Yuwen Tianhua and Wu Wenhao stepped forward upon seeing the man's arrival. As it turned out, the man was the Li clan's Third Master, Li Huangran!

"Hmm!" Li Huangran snorted haughtily in front of those two kids. He looked at the scene at hand, pulled a long face, then began berating Li Ye!

"LI YE! You are a descendant of the Li clan. What do you think you're doing! You've joined hands with an outsider just to go against your own brethren! You're being extremely lawless. Do you really want to be exiled from the clan? You're such a disappointment!"

Hearing those words made Li Ye's already saddened heart sink to its lowest. Although he knew that they were all jackals of the same tribe, he more or less hoped that those people would cherish the ties between them and be mindful of their familial affections.

It scarcely occurred to Li Ye that Li Huangran would come to the scene with complete disregard about right and wrong. Instead, Li Ye was put in a difficult spot! Mere bias could not explain Li Huangran's actions, for it was plainly deliberate!

Li Ye even began suspecting whether Li Huangran had been observing the battle from the start, appearing only when he realized that something might happen to the prodigious Li Yue.

The truth was exactly as Li Ye had guessed—Li Huangran arrived much earlier to watch the situation unfold. Although he was shocked that the once-useless Li Ye manifested bloodsoul and changed fortunes, he was not at all worried. He only made his appearance after things began spiraling out of control!

"Third Uncle! Li Ye isn't just a misfit; he even enlisted the help of outsiders to try and mount an attack on me! I feel that there's a need for us to capture him and bring him back to let our clan deal with him!"

Li Huangran's presence made Li Yue grow a spine and he immediately began voicing out his opinion from one side.

The rest of those onlookers who knew what actually happened dared not open their mouths. The Li clan was not to be trifled with after all, and besides, whatever happened was a family matter!

"What else do you have to say, Li Ye? You have no choice but to be taken prisoner and stand trial in our clan hall!"

Once he completed his sentence, he reached forward to grab Li Ye without waiting for his rejection.

The Li clan's Third Elder, Li Huangran! He was not someone Li Yue could compare to. One single move was sufficient to elicit gasps of surprise from the public! Martial Spirit Level Eight! Few in the entire Wu Prefecture City could be considered this highly-skilled!

Li Ye did not defend himself at all, for he knew that it was completely useless. Li Huangran sided with Li Yue, so before the man even managed to do anything, Li Ye turned and made a run for it.

Martial Spirit Level Eight was not the kind of state he could cope with at the moment!

Where there was life, there was hope. If Li Huangran managed to capture him, he knew from his memories that his third uncle would deal with him, possibly even killing him, before they managed to return to the clan!

"You want to run away? How stubborn!"

Seeing as Li Ye was really making a run for it, austerity streaked across Li Huangran's eyes. His entire body was like a demon, appearing instantly before Li Ye. "Behave and follow me back to the clan court! Otherwise, do not blame me for disregarding our relationship as uncle and nephew!"

Li Huangran was the third eldest amongst the Li clan's second generation. Li Ye's father, Li Kainian, was the Li clan's second eldest. All things considered, Li Huanran was his blood-related uncle!

At that moment though, Li Huangran did not treat Li Ye as his own nephew. Chuckling menacingly, he grabbed Li Ye's shoulder at once.

Little did he expect that he would grasp thin air. Li Ye's speed far exceeded his expectations and the boy dodged his grasp by a mere brush!

"Oh? So, you're quite capable now, I see! No wonder you had the guts to attack Yue'er! Still, you're too green to this!"

Li Huangran suddenly stretched out his hand, turning it into a hawk-like claw. Gusts of wind latched on Li Ye's right shoulder. "Stay!"

That was the Hawk's Talon Technique, a technique that Li Huangran was famous for. It may only be a Yellow Rank Intermediate battle technique but Li Huangran's repeated years of polishing made it second nature to him. The might he exhibited using that technique was greater than some of those Yellow Rank Advanced techniques!

"Li Huangran!"

In that split second, he made eye contact with Li Ye's blood-red pupils. It was as though he saw an endless sea of blood and his attention was sucked deep into it. A piercing pain then assailed his mind, after which he extricated himself from that strange state of affairs.

At that point, Li Ye had already broken free of Li Huangran's control. A flicker of his silhouette and he was already thirty feet away.

"Third Uncle, be careful! The little brat knows some demonic methods!"

Li Yue shouted from behind. In his disbelief, he watched as the Martial Spirit Level Eight Li Huangran being affected by it as well. Although it was just a split second, such tiny fractions of time were often enough to solve different problems!

Feeling slightly disappointed, Li Ye's techniques were not as effective toward Li Huangran as it was toward Li Yue. It made him realize that his strength was still much too weak!

"Evil and deviant ways! You cultivated demonic techniques! Don't blame your third uncle for placing righteousness before family!"

His old face reddened before turning an ashen complexion. Li Huangran was incredibly angry and could not hold himself any longer. The vital force of his Martial Spirit Level Eight was immediately displayed in full force, making everyone there feel a kind of unbearable suffocation.

"Such terrifying vigor! Martial Spirit Level Eight is much scarier than Level Seven!"

The surrounding crowd distanced themselves as far as they could but some of the braver and more skilled souls remained there to see how things would end.

At that exact time, a crisp voice rang out. "I never thought the grand Li clan's Third Elder would lash out against his junior. I'm very enlightened by this!"

Everyone could then see a big man—the very same one that stopped Li Yue earlier—appear suddenly in front of Li Huangran while laughing heartily. "Well then, let me, your junior, experience some of your glory!"

A punch came just after he finished talking, before Li Huangran could even answer! The attack was not characterized by any technique but it managed to force a change in Li Huangran's expression. It came to Li Huangran's attention that the person who appeared out of nowhere was practically on the same level with him in terms of strength.

Pow!

Each of their attacks repelled their other. The big man, however, took a few more steps back. He was clearly the slightly weaker of the two, but he did not use any battle techniques as compared to Li Huangran, who was utilizing the Hawk's Talon Technique that had been mastered for nearly thirty years!

The difference between their ages revealed that the big man was much stronger!

"Who are you?! What business do you have interfering with our Li clan's family matters!"

Li Huangran growled, with his mind simultaneously thinking, 'This man isn't too old but he's not at all inferior to my cultivation. He looks like a brute but he seems experienced in his attacks. His background is certainly not that of an ordinary person.'

Having done such a calculation, Li Huangran was in no hurry to retaliate.

"I, Xiao Qing, am a busybody, especially when it comes to shameless ones like you. I get angry! If you really have what it takes, then don't interfere. Let the younger ones solve their own problems. Why in the world is an old fellow like you butting in for?! Don't stare at me like that! The Li clan proclaims themselves as the greatest in Wu Prefecture City, but Wu Prefecture City is such a remote and desolate place! I do not think highly of you!"

His words left Li Ye rather delirious. Even if the man was trying to help him, the man's mouth was like a loose cannon! Not only did the man butt into the Li clan's matters, he even looked down with disdain upon the inhabitants of Wu Prefecture City!

The remark elicited plenty of angry stares from the public.

"Slave1!"

Li Huangran let out a cry and the man who called himself Xiao Qing was not afraid. They then began dueling each other.

At the other end, Li Ye had his eyes set on Li Yue, his own cousin brother who earlier insulted Li Kainian repeatedly.

"Li Yue! We're gonna settle scores for everything that happened in the past years!"

"Hmph! Li Ye! Third Uncle didn't even need to interfere. I can deal with you on my own! Don't forget, if it wasn't for that peasant interrupting us, you'd be dead in my hands now!"

Those words were not mere bluff. Li Ye truly was no match for Li Yue. Despite that, Li Ye finally realized that he overlooked the two greatest gifts that came with his bloodline—the strength of his spirit and illusionary techniques!

Pairing the illusionary techniques with the Dream Heart Sutra left by Li Kainian, even someone like the Level Eight Li Huangran could fall for it. Li Yue's significantly weakened Level Seven state was surely unable to defend against it!

"Hidden Black Palm!"

Another punch was delivered by Li Yue with his palm completely covered in a thick layer of ice. He was particularly vicious as he directed his palm to Li Ye's right arm. It was clear to all that he wanted to exacerbate Li Ye's already injured right arm.

What Li Yue did not know was that Li Ye had an exceptional constitution that differed from most other people. The latter's regenerative powers were second to none! As long as it was not something fatal, he could recuperate within a ridiculously short amount of time!

"Bloodpupil's illusionary technique! Dream Heart Sutra Stage One—Dreammaker!"

Ostensibly speaking, Li Ye was not on Li Yue's level. Be that as it may, his greatest strength had yet to be fully displayed

His eyes resembled a blood-red sea in an instant and his strong spirit penetrated deep into Li Yue's eyes. It subsequently began making its assault on Li Yue's soul.

Illusionary techniques and the Dream Heart Sutra were actually effective on, and aided in, the cultivation of spirit. Everyone had their spiritual strength but most ordinary people could not perceive it, and some were so pathetic that they had little of it. Some of those ordinary people were unusual in that they were endowed with it from birth, sometimes by double that of normal persons and even tenfold on some occasions. Li Ye never kept count of it but he could feel that his spirit was stronger than an ordinary person by about a hundredfold!

That was exactly why the Level Eight Li Huanran was affected by it!

Of course, spiritual strength increased with a cultivator's state, although it was truly a pity because no one had any idea how to properly utilize it!