XXV

"Who the hell do you think you are? That was our Jiufang Family's sign that you broke!"

"Our poor sign…" Rokas gasped, picking it up and placing it back. "There, all fixed."

It fell back to the ground not long after. The disciple's frown deepened as he stared at Rokas.

"That… was the wind, not me." Rokas chuckled, scratching his hair. "Don't you recognise me at all?"

"What's this noise?" A more elderly-looking man approached from the inside.

"This bastard here dared to desecrate our sign… no less, he shows no remorse whatsoever."

"Oh? We have a place for troublemakers like you in our Jiufang Family-"

"I'm sure you do." Rokas grabbed him by the neck, choking him slightly. "But I don't really have all the time for that. Where is the low-life Patriarch and his dickhead son?"

"You dare…- cugh…"

"Man, I wish you all didn't have a stick up your ass and just told me what I wanted to know." Rokas took out his profound handle, taking the man's memories. "A meeting with the Helian Family? How sweet."

Rokas let go of the elder's neck, kicking him into the nearest wall.

'And big bro's meditating in his basement… I'll go for Yu first.'

As Rokas entered the Jiufang Family, he was met with many stares as if he was a complete stranger. Even more so, quite a few elders had seemed to gather to apprehend him. Had they forgotten…

"Do I, Jiufang Ke, have no right to step into my own family's residence!?" Rokas frowned, his roar causing many to halt. "Get out of my sight."

"How could you feasibly be Jiufang Ke? Jiufang Ke was this family's disgrace, someone who had ran away from his responsibilities and died in some ditch. The snake of our Jiufang Family… would never have such strength!"

"Elder Bing is right… but even though Jiufang Ke was our family's trash, taking his name for yourself is simply unacceptable!"

"You think you can barge into our Jiufang Family!? Think again!"

'Man… these guys are complete and utter bots.' Rokas remarked, his golden eyes turning red with frenzy. 'I can't stand them.'

From his sheer profound strength alone, everyone knelt on the ground. Some had their faces in the ground while others felt their bodies crack under the pressure. Rokas blitzed past them, letting go of his suppression right after.

'His palace should be right around here…'

BANG.

Rokas shattered the entrance with a simple kick, looking around with malicious intent. He saw several pretty servants. Then, he heard a voice erupt from one of the rooms.

"Who dares disturb my closed-door cultivation!?"

As Jiufang Yu stormed out, his eyes widened in shock but then he grinned slightly.

"How did you… little brother Ke? Yes… other than the golden eyes and brown hair, you're still the same. Even after all these years that you've disappeared… hahaha… you're still in the Earth Profound Realm?"

"Yeah…" Rokas sighed, scratching his hair. "Breaking through is just so difficult, you know… I was wondering if you had any advice for me?"

"Hahahha… you come back out of fucking nowhere after over three years, break down my gate and then proceed to ask for advice!? I was this close to a breakthrough…!"

…

"Still at the Earth Profound Realm… tsk, tsk, tsk, I can't believe trash like you can call himself my brother. You asked what I want? It's all rather simple. I want to motivate my younger brother."

…

Rokas sidestepped, dodging Jiufang Yu's attack completely as he recalled the first day of his rebirth. Then he kicked him in the spine, surely breaking something there.

"You got too much dip on your chip, big bro. Slow down."

"Guh… what's… this?" Jiufang Yu blinked in shock as he collapsed onto the ground. "Impossible…"

"When I think of the word dickhead, I always imagine you." Rokas stepped onto his back, walking forwards until his left foot was pushing Jiufang Yu's head into the ground. "And no, I'm not in the Earth Profound Realm anymore. I'm sure you've figured that out… I mean, there's a reason why your head can't seem to leave the ground."

"You bastard… how did you grow so… strong?"

"I was driven by what you did to me," Rokas replied, stepping away. "Do you have any idea how painful it was to have my poor little brother stomped out like that? No, you don't? Well, you're about to find out."

"... Wait…"

Rokas created a sledgehammer.

"You don't mean to…" Jiufang Yu turned around, facing his imminent doom.

"Look at this bad boy." Rokas raised it with both hands, aiming to slam it directly down into Jiufang Yu's crotch area. "The ballcrusher."

He managed to roll to the side, struggling up to his feet.

"Should've just stood still."

Rokas dispersed the sledgehammer, turning to Jiufang Yu as he raised his hands into a boxing stance.

"You… won't get away with this!"

In response, the young patriarch drew his sword and channelled a moss-green smoke around it which carried the shadow of a Nine-Headed Flood Dragon. He slashed his sword forwards, causing the smoke to spread across the palace. Meanwhile, he turned around and sped away into his courtyard and towards the skies.

"Did this man… run?" Rokas muttered, turning to the poisoned servants who started to weaken. 'What a drag…'

He walked over, making use of his Sky Poison Pearl to swiftly cure the poison for each of the afflicted.

"Is it really you, young master Ke?" One of the maids inquired with a strange look in her eyes.

'Who else could it be?'

"No, I'm Duke Ming," Rokas replied sarcastically as he followed the tracks of Jiufang Yu. Using his berserk attribute, he chased down after Jiufang Yu like a khajiit on skooma and kicked him into a plaza of the Demon Imperial City.

Flying over the young master, Rokas' brown hair waved wildly against the wind. His scarlet eyes narrowed onto Jiufang Yu as he recalled his humiliation.

...

"If you want vengeance… then go ahead and surpass me! Hahaha… hahaha."

"Don't even bother crying to anyone, Ke'er. No one in this world cares about weak garbage like you."

"I can hardly tell that your face was stomped only two days ago. Hmph… sadly, the Jiufang bloodline and all its benefits are wasted on trash like you."

…

The pain… it all came back to him…

That pain turned to fury, fury that only surged with greater intensity alongside the Berserk attribute.

"What's wrong… older brother? You said if I wanted vengeance, then I should go ahead and surpass you." Rokas formed a dozen swords in the sky, all strong enough to just about damage Jiufang Yu. "I've done just that and more. So why are you so reluctant to endure your punishment? Back then you sounded so… confident in yourself. Where is that confidence now!?"

"..." Jiufang Yu gulped, observing the threatening luminous scarlet swords.

"Oh right… you thought that it would never come to this, didn't you? That's why you were so content with kicking me into the ground because you… thought that I would never be able to stand up against you. Look how that turned out…"

"I… would be more worried about the… poison that I unleashed." Jiufang Yu chuckled. "Before long… my Nine Emperor Venom Body's poison will tear you apart…"

"Oh, you think so?" Rokas raised an eyebrow. "What if I told you your poison didn't do jack shit?"

"... Impossible… even a low-level Monarch would find it difficult to dispel… let alone you-…"

BAM.

BAM.

BAM.

One by one, the scarlet swords descended, exploding into Jiufang Yu upon contact. By the end of the barrage, he couldn't stand anymore. Meanwhile, a massive crowd had gathered in the plaza and it seemed as if their conflict would attract further attention. Such conflicts in the Demon Imperial City were more often than not stopped by the Twelve Guardian Families… it was one of their duties to keep the peace, after all.

"I'm not done with you."

Rokas descended, grabbing Jiufang Yu by his long ponytail and dragging him along the ground. Seeing a weapon shop, he dragged him inside and turned to the bewildered receptionist.

"Do you have any… spiked maces?" Rokas inquired. "Something with oumph and crunch behind it…"

"Yes, we have quite a few."

"Get me your best one," Rokas replied, glancing at Jiufang Yu with a devious glare.

Rather swiftly, the workers in the shop quickly found and presented a rather long black mace. At the shaft's end, there was a rather large sphere with spikes all the way around it. Rokas took it without hesitation… giving it a little spin using the metal circle at the bottom.

"I think this will do just fine."

"Ke'er… wait… we can talk about this…" Jiufang Yu struggled up, crawling away from Rokas. However, he grabbed him by his ponytail and ascended, swiftly disappearing from the scene. Within a short while, they appeared in the wilderness outside of the Demon Imperial City.

…

"You know the saddest thing?" Rokas continued spinning the mace after dropping off Jiufang Yu. "If you truly cared for me when I was at my lowest, I could've given you the world."

"... I…"

"Land, beauties, strength, power… you could've had it all. You could've stood at the top of this world, just a tad bit below me as my only brother." Rokas stepped forward. "If you so wished, I could have made you the Demon Emperor without you barely doing a thing. But you… for someone who is my so-called brother… humiliated me, walked all over my manhood and then continued to hold that self-righteous stance, standing behind that disgusting guise of 'motivating' me!"

"Damn right… you motivated me." Rokas' eyes flashed with killing intent. "You motivated me… to do this!!!"

BANG.

Rokas stopped spinning the mace, grabbing it by its grip and smashing the spiked ball straight into Jiufang Yu's crotch area.

"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

It was the loudest scream that the world might ever have known…

…

"Don't you ever speak up to me again, little brother. Before me, you are absolutely nothing but a speck of worthless dust. Even my servant girls are stronger than you! How pathetic is that, huh? The only reason why I even bother with you is because, by some miracle, we happen to share the same blood…"

…

Jiufang Yu couldn't bear the pain… the blunt damage behind the ball and then the spikes that had pierced straight into his dick. Down there, was truly a horrifying sight.

Rokas looked down at the screaming young master, standing rather still. There was satisfaction in his eyes… but equally, there was a sense of sorrow. Sorrow which strangely turned to laughter.

'How ironic… before… I had always wanted a brother.' Rokas laughed. 'And to think that this… sorry excuse… is the only brother… that I'll ever have…'

"Hahaha… hahahaha…" Rokas' laugh grew more hysterical and wild, echoing across the wilderness. "Are you… motivated now too… 'older brother'? Hahahaha… go on, surpass me… hahahahaha!"

Rokas stepped forward, smashing the mace against Jiufang Yu's face… once… twice… thrice… he kept swinging, over and over again. Once he was done, it wasn't pretty at all anymore. No matter where you looked, Jiufang Yu was a bloody mess. His back had been partially broken, his body had suffered heavy blunt damage from Rokas' swords, his dick had been smashed and now his face… no one would even be able to recognise it.

Rokas eventually dropped the mace, taking several deep breaths as he wiped away the blood that had splattered onto his face.

"... Look at what you made me do…"

"Mnn…" Jiufang Yu mumbled weakly as he had grown numb to the pain. He was barely clinging to life at this point.

"You know, once I was somewhat of a good boy. A pacifist, you could say. I didn't want to hurt anyone… I didn't want to get involved in any conflicts… I wanted to be on good terms with everyone. Even if someone was a complete dickhead, I tried… I really did. If it was the old me, I might've even forgiven you. However, I've changed so much since then. Amusingly enough, Jiufang Yu… you were the beginning of that change."

[System: 10/10 monologue.]

'I felt like getting some things off my chest…' Rokas took a deep breath. "... I'll end you here."

Finally, Rokas slowly transformed into the Nine-Headed Flood Dragon.

Jiufang Yu's last screams were accompanied by him being swallowed whole.

[Congratulations, due to consuming Jiufang Yu and the special Nine Emperor Venom Body that he had, you've gained the venomous attribute.]

'He had some worth, in the end.'

Rokas returned to his human form, changing into a set of fancy feathered black-blazing orange phoenix robes.

'Jiufang Kui is next on the revenge tour list.'