"Boom!"
"You son of a bitch, I've finally found you. You sure know how to hide, making me search for you for four full days, do you have any idea?! But then again, with Zhao Li and Song Xiang not around, and only me here, all the credit will be mine alone." A delicate-featured man with a hooked nose stared viciously at the terribly weak man before him. He was the dark shadow that had appeared at the entrance of the cave. The wounds all over the body of the man who had been fighting Jian Xin just moments ago had burst open once more, evidently caused by the shockwave from earlier triggering a full relapse of his injuries.
Struck by a sudden thought, the man burst into loud laughter. "Oh, oh, oh, I shouldn't address you like that. I should call you Master Shi, Senior Brother Shi!! Tell me, Senior Brother, do you still want to see Master? If you do, then come with me. Hahahaha! Who knows, perhaps with my contribution, I can even get Elder Li to allow you one last glimpse of her before the end! Hahahaha!" Every word dripping from his mouth was meant to mock the man before him—the number one of the sect's younger generation, a prominent figure among the youth of the entire Spirit Domain, his own senior brother, and the eldest disciple of that bitch!!! As glorious as he once had been, that was how wretched this senior brother of his now appeared, and that was precisely why he felt such boundless joy!
"Liang Kuan, you... you betrayed the sect... you, you deserve to die!" Shi Wei said through gritted teeth, glaring at the man. It was this very wretch who had conspired with outsiders to kill his master! Shi Wei longed to rush forward this very second, demand to know why he had done such a thing, and tear him limb from limb! Yet his injuries reminded him relentlessly with every passing moment that he could do no such thing.
"Forget it, bringing a dead man back amounts to pretty much the same thing anyway, since she won't be able to see you either. Go to hell, Se--nior-- Bro--ther!!" Though Liang Kuan spoke casually, the fireball taking shape in his hands was anything but casual. The fireball slowly grew, radiating an intensely scorching heat as he raised his hand and hurled it straight at Shi Wei.
"Boom~"
"Well, well! Senior Brother truly lives up to his name, still this formidable even after tumbling down from the Peak Golden Core Realm. Yet did you ever imagine you'd end up being chased around by me—an Early Golden Core cultivator you used to look down upon? Hahahaha, let's keep going!" Seeing Shi Wei dodge his fireball, Liang Kuan felt no surprise at all; after all, Shi Wei was Shi Wei. If Shi Wei were so easily killed, where would the thrill of revenge come from?! Just imagine what a wonderful feeling it was to trample someone as dazzling as the stars beneath his feet! Under Shi Wei's shadow, Liang Kuan had felt that his existence was utterly devoid of dignity! Clearly, he himself was that bitch's biological son, yet she had always favored Shi Wei—whether it was opportunities, treasures, or chances to show his face in public, everything went to him! He himself had nothing at all! At this thought, the fury in Liang Kuan's heart blazed even hotter, and the power of his fireballs steadily escalated.
The fireball missed Shi Wei and slammed into the ground, kicking up billowing clouds of dust. The thick dust instantly filled the entire cave, achieving the very result Shi Wei wanted, but...
"Right there!"
"Puff!"
Liang Kuan tossed out a casual fireball that struck Shi Wei squarely as he tried to fish in troubled waters amidst the dust, slamming him hard to the ground. Shi Wei vomited a large mouthful of blood, and though he forced himself back to his feet, he could not straighten his back and was forced to hunch over. Watching this wretched display, Liang Kuan felt an immense surge of satisfaction and couldn't help taunting, "Don't you go thinking I couldn't find you. Don't forget who I am—the smell of charcoal ash on you is far too strong, way stronger than everything else around! Absolutely sickening! It's polluting my nose."
"Done playing, Flame Pellet!" A scorching aura erupted from Liang Kuan's body as strands of dark red Spiritual Power wove themselves into tiny streams, converging in his palm to form a black fireball the size of an egg. Despite being smaller than the previous massive fireball, this one possessed several times the destructive power. Even Jian Xin, hiding in the distance, could feel the blistering heat. She truly couldn't fathom how Shi Wei had managed to hold on this long, nor could she understand how someone could conjure a fireball right out of the palm of their hand.
Shi Wei gripped his Broken Blade tightly, his hunchbacked frame filled with an extraordinary tenacity. A layer of gloomy, eerie black Qi suffused his body as he hurled himself desperately toward the fireball, shouting, "Bone Breaker!"
"Swish!" To the utter astonishment of Jian Xin, who was hiding beneath a boulder, the fireball was actually sliced apart by a blade! That tiny yet terrifyingly powerful fireball had been cleaved in two by a blade that looked utterly ragged?!
After cutting through the fireball, Shi Wei used the momentum to slash toward Liang Kuan. "Ah? Ah!!!"
"Slap!"
"Bang!"
Seeing Shi Wei emerge unscathed gave Liang Kuan a start, but he reacted swiftly, kicking Shi Wei flying against the wall. At the same time, a gash was carved into his own leg by Shi Wei. Yet he paid no heed to the wound on his leg, his eyes locked fixedly on the blade in Shi Wei's hand as he roared at the top of his lungs: "Aaaaaah! That bitch gave you things that are so good, why? Why?!"
"Why? Why? Because you're the eldest disciple? I'm her son too! Why? Why?! That bitch! That bitch, why, why, why?! You're nothing more than a son of a bitch! Why?! Why are you the senior brother? Why? Why do I have to call you senior brother, why? Why?! I refuse to accept this! If those things were in my hands, I could have achieved such formidable strength as well! Such immense prestige! I could have swept through the branches of Jiuyou Hall just the same! I could have built my own Shadow Society just the same! I could have pressed down on everyone else until they couldn't even breathe! I could have trampled them beneath my feet just the same! I could have made that bitch proud just the same! But why? Why is all of this yours?!!" Gazing at that blade—a weapon that, in Jian Xin's eyes, hardly even qualified as a blade—Liang Kuan became violently agitated. His eyes bloodshot, he cursed incessantly, frantically raining fireballs down across the cave to vent his grievances, along with his bitter hatred for both Shi Wei and his own mother.
Liang Kuan's fireballs pounded the cave, shattering stone wall after stone wall, yet not a single one managed to strike the standing Shi Wei. Faint, shadowy black phantoms flickered over Shi Wei's body, making him look like a vengeful ghost crawled straight from the depths of hell. Suddenly, he let out a miserable cry, "Aaaaaah! Puff!" "Thud." Yet as the phantom materialized further, Shi Wei seemed struck by an overwhelming impact, crashing to the ground and unable to rise again.
Meanwhile, Liang Kuan continued venting his fury like a madman. But right from the depths of the cave, a fully burning wooden staff hurtled straight toward him! "Why, why... who...?"
"Because of your character and your heart!" Jian Xin leaped out from the pile of stones, tossing out several more burning wooden staves in rapid succession. "You! Are unworthy!!"