Brothers.

Seeing Di Tian's overbearing strength, the four men trembled slightly, and hesitation grasped their beings. The one who stood directly in front of Di Tian immediately sent a sound transmission to the minds of his teammates, furiously questioning them. 'Didn't the client say that he was at the 10th level of the Elementary Profound Realm!?' 'Are you blind!? His aura shows that he's at the first level of the Nascent Profound Realm! But...the weakest one of us is at the 3rd level...how is he even fighting back...?' 'What do we do!? We can't escape now! Didn't the client say that he would be close by? Dammit! Hold him off! I'll send a sound transmission to the rest of the team so they can meet us here!' 'Then hurry! We only have about 100 breaths left before the Burning Heaven Clan is alerted!' Immediately, three of the men steeled their resolves and rushed at Di Tian with their poisoned blades extended as the last man pulled out a sound transmission jade. 'A distraction as the last one calls reinforcements? I can't let them succeed!' Di Tian's eyes flicked towards each of the incoming enemies as he imprinted each of their positions in his mind. He then glanced to his left to tell Murong Ye to escape, only to find the boy looking at him with fierce but sickly eyes. "I won't leave, Brother Di!" Murong Ye drew his sword and prepared for battle earnestly, even though he was on deaths door. Di Tian smiled. "That's how a man should act!" He then turned his attention back to his enemies, more specifically, the last man calling for reinforcements. A crimson aura appeared over his body as red glowing claws started growing out of his hands. This was part of the inheritance of the Monarch Of Destruction. Over the years he had only managed to unlock the basics, but it was enough to suppress some foolish cultivators who couldn't see that they were outmatched. His countenance was calm as his crimson hair started to fluttered wildly "Then, be destroyed.." BOOM! Before the trio could even react, Di Tian stomped on the ground and appeared between them incredible speed. Their leader, who was quite a bit stronger, could barely keep up with Di Tian's speed, but before he could warn them, it was too late. In a blur, Di Tian delivered a punch to each of their midsections, sending them flying back. "R-retreat!" The leader shouted out these words in an attempt to escape, but they were barely even managing to get up after being attacked. How could they run? But, even though he suppressed them with ease, he didn't forget that they were trained professionals. 'One of them at the 7th Nascent Profound Realm, the three I just defeated are at the 6th level, and the two that I knocked out first are at the 3rd and 4th levels. Seems that I've underestimated how strong I've actually become.' The surrounding crowd was shocked silent as they looked at the current scenario. Since when was a junior so strong?! Most of the younger generation who were watching the battle was sure that even Xiao Luocheng, the current number one genius of the city, couldn't suppress these cultivators so fast. As Di Tian was about to completely knock them out, he sensed a familiar aura surging towards the leader of the assassins. It was Murong Ye! Di Tian immediately turned around and saw the young man valiantly brandishing his sword against the leader of the men, someone who was at least 5 realms above him! Shockingly enough, he didn't seem to be doing too bad. Only for the first few seconds though. "Tch!" The leader clicked his tongue as he continued dodging Murong Ye's longsword with extreme ease. In the next moment, as the latter was going for a decisive horizontal slash, the leader of the men quickly drew a knife and prepared to stab Murong Ye in the chest. He was left wide open. If these attacks hit, Murong Ye would be dead. CLANG! Just as the knife was about to pierce his chest, a crimson light flashed by. It was Di Tian, blocking the man's knife with his claws! "Brother Di!" Without looking back, he responded, "Find an opening to knock him out as we fight! If you can't, just knock out the rest! Remember, don't kill them! Murong Ye drew back his attack as a tinge of anger assailed his being. "What do you mean don't kill them? They almost killed me! Tch! Dammit! I hate the way you think!" CLANG! TING! FANG! SHWING! Di Tian ignored him as he fought relentlessly against the leader, claws against steel. After trading dozens of blows, the leader finally found an opening as he slipped his knife past one of Di Tian's claws and slashed the webbing of his hands, cutting his entire palm in half! "Gurgh!" Di Tian made grunted quietly from the pain but still continued to fight, using one hand. Now, he was at a considerable disadvantage. But he didn't accept defeat. The more they traded blows, the more overbearing his profound energy became. 'How is this guy so strong and he's only 16 years old? His profound energy is so heavy that I'm starting to fall back! And how is he still fighting back with only one hand?!' The leader started to panic as his profound energy began to wane against Di Tian's oppressive might. "Enough of this!" The leader managed to gain an opening and break their deadlock by jumping back. Distance was all he needed. An extreme amount of green energy started emanating from his hands as he threw his knife to the side. "Now the real battle begins! Secret Art: Skull-" But alas, he was too slow. Di Tian had already closed in on him with a straight hook to his face, sending him whirling towards the nearest wall. With a flash, Di Tian then tripped him down and as he fell, delivered a lightning fast flash kick to his chest, completely rupturing his bones and profound veins. That's when something strange happened. A voice assasiled his ears. A voice from deep within. One filled with such arrogance and power that Di Tian's soul shook at his words. "Finish Him." Those two words caused a surge of emotion to rise within him as he clenched his fists and prepared to strike him down. "Di Tian! So that's your game eh? You wanted me to knock them out so you can kill them all by yourself?!" The moment Murong Ye's voice entered his mind, he quickly caught himself and stopped his punch, his hand hovering over the man's skull. The crimson aura disappeared as he straightened himself up and rubbed his head, trying to make sense of what just happened. "What was that voice..." Murong Ye, who now looked a little bit better, approached him and laid his hand on Di Tian's shoulder. When he noticed Di Tian's destroyed hand he quickly drew a pill out of his spatial ring and extended it towards the former. "Brother Di! Your hand!" Di Tian snapped out of his stupor and looked at Murong Ye, his eyes filled with gratitude. "Ye, if you hadn't stopped me..." Murong Ye shoved the medicine in Di Tian's mouth as he tried to speak, stopping his speech. "Yeah, yeah. Thank me by backing off Lan Xueruo in the future. You rascal, you think I don't know you have a thing for my future wife? It's alright though, since you injured your hand, it's only right you stay home tonight. Let your big brother handle Lan Xueruo. I'll come by and tell you how it goes later, hehe." Di Tian swallowed the pill and squinted his eyes at Murong Ye. This guy was really thinking several steps ahead of him, especially considering they were just in a life or death battle. "Heh, now that you know, that means we're in fair competition. May the best man win." Murong Ye laughed triumphantly as he muttered, "The best man has already won. You just don't know it yet." Di Tian clicked his tongue and glanced around at the men left knocked out on the road. Something had to be done about them. As the assassin's had predicted before, it didn't take long for some cultivators from the Burning Heaven Clan to arrive. They all followed behind Fen Ziluan. The moment he saw Di Tian's state, he rushed towards him and stared at his hand while glancing at all of the men knocked out on the ground. Veins started popping out of Fen Ziluan's head as he thought about what could've happened to Di Tian. Even though he was angry, he still tried to remain calm as he assessed the situation. "Di Tian, how are you faring?" As Fen Ziluan said this to Di Tian, he didn't even look at him. His eyes were locked on to the assassins while flames started to erupt from his body. Di Tian knew exactly what he was about to do. Even the onlookers could sense it as some of them tried to cover the eyes of their children. "The bleeding has stopped because of Murong Ye's pill. So I'm fine. My hand will heal soon enough. I was planning to take them into custody for questioning, that's why I spared them-" BOOM! In the next moment, flames in the shape of a tiger erupted from Fen Ziluan's body and devoured the leader of the assassin's, who didn't even have time to scream before the flames destroyed him. "Brother Fen, you-" Fen Ziluan raised his hand as he slowly walked over to the other assassin's. "Do you think they would have spared you, had they the chance?" Di Tian obviously knew the answer to that question. They were sent here to assassinate him. He highly doubted that one of them would suddenly have a change of mind and spare him at the last second. "No. But just because they want to kill me, means I should kill them." BOOM! Di Tian flinched at this sight. Another one, dead. "Why do you not want to kill them?" The flaming tiger stalked two of the men who were knocked out close to each other and pounced on them, it's destructive flames ravaging their flesh with ease. "Because I need to be the better man. Killing is wrong. Everyone deserves a second chance at life even if they did something wrong." Fen Ziluan chuckled. "I see. So my brother is one that repays enmity with kindness. A man among men. It's interesting that you say though. If you think they deserve a second chance at life, why don't you stop me from killing them? You're stronger than me, you know." Now, they were only two men left. The first two that Di Tian had knocked out. One of them was just starting to wake up as the flaming tiger approached them. The moment the man tried to make a move, the flaming tiger pounced on him and started ripping his body apart while burning him alive. It was a vicious scene. "Because, realistically, they do deserve to die for trying to take the life of another. But I won't be the one to take their lives. I can't. It's not right. " Fen Ziluan watched coldly as his tiger slowly ate the man in front of him while screams died out. "I'm disappointed. But it's to be expected. You don't know how the world works. All you do is cultivate within the clan, train with father and spend your time at brothels. In this world, mercy is repaid with enmity and kindess with destruction. Your enemies are going to take advantage of your kind nature and turn it against you in such a manner that you won't even be able to retaliate until it's too late." Di Tian said nothing as he refused to believe that so many people in the world had such disregard for life. There was no way most people were like this. "Three words, brother. Might makes right. When you figure out who you are and stop basing your ideals on morals that don't exist in this world, you'll understand the weight of these words. Until then, try to keep your head on your shoulders. As much as I try to be indifferent, if you die, I'll burn this entire city to the ground. You are my brother until the end." Fen Ziluan's gaze softened as he killed the last man and turned towards Di Tian. "I'll think about what you said...Brother Fen." Fen Ziluan's face lit up as he heard this. This was in direct contrast to the mood he was in not even a minute ago. For a boy around Di Tian's age, Fen Ziluan was indeed, strange. "Good! That's all I wanted to hear. Men, make sure the young master is taken care of and escort him back to the Di clan safely. I have something to take care of." Di Tian and Murong Ye, who just stood quietly by this entire time, headed back to the Di Clan to heal his wounds. Di Tian pondered on the situation as he went. Unbeknownst to him though, a certain figure was observing him from afar this entire time, completely interested in what would happen next.

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