Chapter 32.5 - Saving 'Damsel' in Distress

Li Xinwen is only at the 4th Stage of Houtian, so the scope of his spiritual detection is not large enough to cover the whole city. So he had to go from one point to another, sending out his spiritual energy to detect Xue Rui's or the other cultivator's spiritual signature.

On his fifth stop, Li Xinwen finally managed to lock onto their location. They were currently located deep in the forest, and Li Xinwen hastened his steps. 'Xue Rui's spiritual signature is getting weaker and weaker. Lanyu!'

[Lanyu: Yes?]

'Is there anything that can help heal injuries inside the house?' Li Xinwen asked the little spirit fae. 'Preferably something that a mortal can use or consume.'

[Lanyu: Hold on, I will go check!]

[Lanyu: Found it! But master, you can't give too much to a mortal. Just give them a small drop or else, it would damage their internal organ instead!]

As soon as Lanyu said that, Li Xinwen felt the small bottle appearing in his hand. "Ah'Xiao, listen carefully. Once we arrive, Ge will set up a barrier around you and Xue Rui. You help Xue Rui with his injuries... give this to him but only one small drop, nothing more. After that, go and call Min Xiaoyu and inform him of our location," Li Xinwen said as he handed the bottle into Sun Xiao's hand. Then, he also took out his phone and placed it on Sun Xiao's other hand. "The phone password is '1313'."

"Okay. Is big brother Rui alright?" Sun Xiao asked.

"He is still alive," Li Xinwen replied. He couldn't tell Sun Xiao how bad Xue Rui's injuries are but based on his weakening spiritual signature, he could only imagine the worse.

As soon as Li Xinwen saw the group of low levelled cultivator around the beaten up Xue Rui, he immediately made his offensive move. He first formed a barrier around Xue Rui to protect him, then condensed the spiritual energies onto his palm before he pushed his palm forward. A wave of cold energies shot through and it blew the people around Xue Rui.

Some were lucky enough to protect themselves in time by giving themselves a layer of protection made of spiritual energy, but one of them was not so lucky. His forearm was now covered in ice and the ice continued to spread upwards.

"Hurry and use your spiritual energy to melt the ice!" one of his companions shouted.

"I-I can't! I can't circulate my spiritual energy! My meridians are blocked!" he replied in a panicked tone. The ice continued upwards and by now, it is almost reaching his shoulder. The group was too focused on him that they failed to notice Li Xinwen's movement. By the time they did, Li Xinwen already had one hand pierced through one of their comrade's chest.

"Getting distracted? If you don't pay attention, you'll pay with your life. Of course... not that I plan to let any of you go," Li Xinwen said before he pulled his hand out. When he did, ice began to bloom from within the wound. "Since I invited Xue Rui to join me, his safety was my responsibility. To think that someone dared to harm someone who is under my wing, I feel really insulted..."

The man with the chest wound only stared at Li Xinwen with disbelief. Compared to the first victim, the ice spreads through his body even faster and soon, he is fully enclosed in ice. Li Xinwen lightly pushed the 'ice sculpture' and it fell down to the ground with a loud crash, shattering to tiny diamond clouds of dust. The others became fearful, especially the first victim of Li Xinwen's ice. Thinking that he might share the same fate as his dead comrade, he quickly went to Li Xinwen and knelt before him.

"Brother, brother, brother! Please spare me! I-I didn't want to do it, ah! I was forced!" he said tearfully. "It was Ding Xiaobo! He's the one who's behind all this!! He said that if I don't do as he says, he will crush my father's company... I-"

"Ding Xiaobo?" Li Xinwen asked. "Which one is that?"

"It's him! He's Ding Xiaobo! His father is the head of Ding Technology which is a major investor for my father's company. If he tells his father to pull out, my father will be troubled and... that is why he left me no choice!!"

Ding Xiaobo, who was stabbed in the back by one of his lackeys have an ugly expression on his face. "You bastard! Don't think that I will let you off after this!"

"I don't think you have the chance to," Li Xinwen said out loud.

The man, who had betrayed his comrade, thought that Li Xinwen said those because he was going to be protected. So he was about to give Li Xinwen his gratitude when suddenly, his view became uncontrollable. He saw the sky, then he felt his head dropped to the ground. He could see his body which still remained in a kneeling state, but he could also see that there was no head above his shoulder. "Eh...?" the man was still confused, and he ends up dying, without understanding what happened to him.

"As I have said before," Li Xinwen used his foot to push the kneeling body down to the ground. "I don't plan on letting any of you go," as he said this, his eyes stared at the group of cultivators.

The group of cultivator could feel the coldness and they knew, Li Xinwen was serious in killing them. The two from before is already enough examples. Ding Xiaobo was also afraid now. He did not expect that Li Xinwen would be able to find them so quickly, nor did he expect that Li Xinwen could kill without feeling any remorse. What he thought was a sheep, was actually a sleeping dragon. 'But it has already come to this. It's either he dies or I die!' thought Ding Xiaobo as he rallied his people.

"Everyone, don't be afraid! He's only one person and there is six of us. His strength is only at the second stage of Houtian, as long as we work together, we'll-!"

Li Xinwen didn't have the patience to wait for Ding Xiaobo to finish. With a wave of his hand, sharp ice emerged from the ground, spreading towards the group. Remembering the effect of the ice, the group dispersed quickly. Li Xinwen also chose this time to move. He first attacked the one who was the closest to him. He intentionally didn't kill him in one move but instead, just cut off his arm and letting the ice do their job. 'Killing them quickly is simply a mercy. It's better to let them despair as death inch closer.'

Those were Li Xinwen's thought as he continued to clean up the rest. Sometimes, he would just stab their abdomen with his hand, other times, he gouged their eyes off. But regardless of the method, their ends are the same. Death by being turned to ice sculpture before shattering to dust. In just a few moments, only Ding Xiaobo is left.

Seeing that his comrades have died one by one, Ding Xiaobo's fear grew. By now, he couldn't even move his feet even if he wanted to. Let alone fighting, even if he were to run, he knew that he wouldn't survive. When he saw Li Xinwen taking a step towards him, he was so scared that he could feel something warm flowing down his pants.

When Li Xinwen saw this, he scrunched up his face in disgust and covered his nose. "I've imagined thousands of situation when I came here... but I never imagined that you would be this... pathetic," Li Xinwen said. "Xue Rui was only a mortal. He doesn't even have a sliver of spiritual energy in him and yet, you guys still bully him. Was it fun?" Li Xinwen asked.

Of course, Ding Xiaobo was unable to answer. After all, the fear has made his brain unable to process anything except the fact that he will die soon.

"Too scared to the point that you can no longer speak? Next time, remember not to mess with someone under my protection again," Li Xinwen said before realizing something. "Ah, I forgot, there will be no next time..." he added. Li Xinwen then took out his sword which he had placed inside the dimension before as he walked towards Ding Xiaobo.

"This Jian was given to me by that man whom you have just beaten up. Ever since it fell into my hand, it has yet tasted blood. It is only fitting, to use the gift I got from him, to kill you. Don't you think?" Li Xinwen smiled coldly at Ding Xiaobo as he unsheathed Shuang Ren. The blade glistened from the light and with Li Xinwen's manipulation, the spiritual energy around the area started to gather close to the blade.

When Li Xinwen was close enough, he manoeuvred the sword to cut off Ding Xiaobo's right arm, followed by his left arm. Ding Xiaobo finally made a sound as he screamed out in pain. Adrenaline seemed to shot through his body as he started to run. Unfortunately, Li Xinwen was prepared and before Ding Xiaobo could get far, he suddenly felt that his feet were stuck to the ground. Looking down, he saw that both his feet were enclosed by ice all the way to his ankle. Turning around, he could see Li Xinwen approaching him in a relaxed manner.

"P-Please... d-don't kill m-me..." Ding Xiaobo pleaded.

"When you beat Xue Rui up... how many times did he beg?" Li Xinwen asked.

"H-he didn't beg... He was a mortal but he s-still dared to fight us... S-s-so we just teach him a lesson..." Ding Xiaobo answered truthfully.

"Him, a mere mortal, against cultivators and he didn't even beg. So why should I let you go?" Li Xinwen asked as he cut off both of Ding Xiaobo's legs at the same time. Ding Xiaobo, reduced to a human stick, could only feel his body fall to the ground. He was then turned around by Li Xinwen by using his leg.

"Remember this. This blade is Xue Rui's gift to me, and it is this blade that killed you. Its name is Shuang Ren," Li Xinwen said as he then stabbed Ding Xiaobo's abdomen, piercing through his dantian. Forcing his spiritual energy in, Li Xinwen proceeded to destroy the other's cultivation, forcing him to turn back into a mortal.