The sound of feet taping echoed through the desolate alley. It was not a hurried rhythm but rather a leisurely full of confidence one. Qing Yun eyes narrowed as he got up to his feet and touched his right shoulder that was now tainted in red blood. However, his eyes didn’t followed the figure that was slowly approaching him.

Faint golden light flashed through Qing Yun’s eyes as they swept around him with great curiosity. Barely visible glowing lines could be seen covering the space around him. Although it was not visible with the naked eye, Qing Yun could see traces of space being slightly distorted inside the alley. He spread his spiritual sense throughout the surroundings just to find that he couldn’t find any way out of the alley. It was like a maze, no matter how many time he tried he still ended up in the same place.

Has the symbol formation activated? But how could it be so strong?! Qing Yun couldn’t help but gawk in amazement. He never thought that this symbol formation would be able to form a closed space. It seems he had to reevaluate his previous thoughts. Even Demon Gate would have a hard time setting up such formation, how would those from Crimson Pavilion be able to?

Qing Yun eyes glinted with great curiosity as he studied the glowing lines around him, it seemed as if he forgot about everything else. However, at this moment his thoughts were interrupted by a cold laugh.

“What’s wrong kid, too afraid to speak anymore!”

Qing Yun finally turned his head towards the man that was now less than ten meters away from him. He appeared to have just turned middle age. Numerous scars could be seen across his body giving him a ruthless aura. There was a saber hung on his broad back.

First layer of Xiantian. Qing Yun muttered softly. However, he didn’t show any surprise nor fear despite his revelation. A cold glint flashed through his eyes as he watched the man who attacked him.

“This friend, I don’t even know you, there should be no grievance between us right?” With a smile across his face, Qing Yun said with a seemingly confused vice.

“Hehe, there is indeed no grievance between us, however, there are people who want your head and are willing pay hefty for it!”

“Oh!” Qing Yun gave a side glace to the man as his eyes kept wondering about, the flash of curiosity still present in them. The man didn’t seemed to know that they were trapped into a closed space, however, Qing Yun didn’t find this odd as it would be impossible for an ordinary practitioner to notice the closed space. Based on Qing Yun’s understanding, aside from him, there are just three people in this city that could see the closed space, Jia Xinyi’s grandfather, Su Yijun and his mother Qing Yin.

“Alright brat! There won’t be anyone coming to save you, if you resign to your fate, this grandfather will let you with an intact corpse!” The man laughed coldly as his aura swept out of his body. Strands of red mist formed around him.

Qing Yun stopped looking around and turned towards the man with a calm smile across his face. Just those who knew him in his previous live would know how dangerous that smile could truly be.

The Blood Devouring Technique again huh? Those three must have noticed the activation of the formation already, I need to finish this before they arrive.

Qing Yun hands suddenly moved and formed several hand seals.

“Sky Splitting Palm, First Change!” A low below reverberated from his mouth as his hands were warped in a glowing film. His feet stomped the ground as he leaped forward.

“Seeking your own death!” The man was surprised that Qing Yun took the initiative to attack, a mocking smile was formed on his face as he shot his fist forward. However his smile froze at this moment.

Fist and palm collided. The two figure shook and one of them flew backwards. It was Qing Yun, from this exchange it was clear that the man had the upper hand. Even so, Qing Yun didn’t seem flustered. He spun his body in mid air and swiftly descended to the ground.

“Haha, good, good, this is how is suppose to be, xiantian is indeed different! Come, I still didn’t had the chance to try my full power yet, since you delivered yourself to the death door you might as well be useful!”

Qing Yun laughed heartily despite his right hand that looked now like a bloody mess. His face was now filled with excitement as his feet shot forward once again, this time using the Nine Void Steps.

On the other hand, the middle aged man’s face was covered in fear and horror. Even a peak houtian practitioner should be left crippled by his previous fist yet Qing Yun who was just at the fourth layer of houtian ended up just with an injured arm that didn’t even seem to be too grave despite the large amount of blood that covered it.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

However he didn’t have to much time to ponder as he was sacred witless by Qing Yun’s speed. In a blink of an eye the later already arrived in front of him and shot his palm forward. The man raised his fist instantly to block it however Qing Yun suddenly sidestepped.

The middle aged man felt his scalp go numb as he was hit by Qing Yun attack. His body shot backwards before a mouthful of blood was spat out.

“Again!” However, this time he didn’t even had time to feel horror before Qing Yun excited cry sounded. The later’s body flashed and once again appeared in front of the man as he swung his palms.

At this moment the middle aged man wanted to cry but he didn’t even had time for that. He never believed that he would meet such a monster. His fist swung too and meet with Qing Yun’s palms.

A gale of wind surged from their collision as dust filled the entire area however, none of them were sent flying this time. After all the middle aged man was an xiantian warrior, no matter how strong Qing Yun was it would still be hard to completely dominate the former with his current strength.

Even so, that didn’t diminished the astonishment and fear within the middle aged man.

They both unleashed a barrages of moves. In just a blink of eye tens of moves were exchange between them, even so none of them was able to get the upper hand. Every time Qing Yun’s palm moved, glowing lines would be left behind along with the slightly distorted air.

On the other hand the middle aged man’s hands were covered in a blood red glow as they were ruthlessly shot towards Qing Yun, it was clear that he used a martial art too. Even so, he could still not get the upper hand.

The fight already went on for more than ten minutes. There was a faint golden light in Qing Yun’s eyes now and his spiritual sense was released too. He didn’t dare to slight his enemy, although he was an overlord in his previous life, he already lost the means from then, all he could do now was to use his cultivation to fight.

At this moment his three martial arts were displaying their might. With Qing Yun current cultivation it would have been impossible to fight against a xiantian warrior. It was thanks to those three arts that he could barely hold his ground against the middle aged man.

Even so, things were starting to look bad for Qing Yun. Although he could hold his ground against the middle aged man for now thanks to his cultivation and martial arts his body was way inferior to the middle aged man’s, and it was slowly falling apart. There was blood all over his body but the most sever injuries were the internal ones. His bones and meridians were affected too. In seems he body was too week to contend against a xiantian warrior.

Although the middle aged man seemed quite miserable himself, he was obviously in a better shape than Qing Yun.

Qing Yun however didn’t payed to much attention to this. His face still contained great excitement as he continued to display his martial arts against the middle aged man. As the fight continued he could feel the three martial arts evolving. Real fight was indeed the best way of training. His proficiency with the Nine Void Steps increased the most. He could now take a step as if taking six, from the beginning of the fight his speed increased greatly and he was getting closer to the true first void step.

The golden light from the Golden Demonic Eyes became more prominent and it showed signs of forming a kind of symbol inside Qing Yun’s eyes. It was slowly reaching a breakthrough, this feeling made Qing Yun even more excited as he was looking forward to the potential of this martial art the most.

The sound of fighting resounded throughout the alley for more than twenty minutes now and both of them were covered in blood, looking quite miserable. The middle aged man felt that he was going crazy, no matter what he did he couldn’t defeat Qing Yun. The later however, was still pouncing fearlessly towards the middle aged man.

“Aaah, damned brat! Accept your death!” The middle aged man screamed and brandished his saber, slashing towards Qing Yun. However his body suddenly stilled, his face white as sheet as his eyes surged with horror. He looked at the golden symbol formed inside Qing Yun eyes and his body convulsed involuntary, his legs were trembling and his body was now drenched in sweat.

The world in front of him suddenly changed, the sky was blood red and mountains of corpses were extending as far as the eyes could see. The smell of rotten flesh accompanied by screams of agony were filling the air.

At this moment Qing Yun smiled and suddenly slapped several points on his body, all of a sudden his aura surged like floodwaters. Fifth layer, sixth layer, seventh layer, eight layer, in a blink of eye his aura raised to the eight layer of houtian. His body blurred and disappeared.

The moment passed and the middle aged man found himself in the desolate alley again. His body still trembling and covered in perspiration. Before he could ascertain were Qing Yun disappeared he suddenly felt a burning pain in his chest. He looked downwards in disbelief just to see a bloody hand passing through his chest.

“It’s over!” A cold voice resounded from his back however before he could turn, a wave of energy entered his body. His meridians and dantian immediately shattered, his organs turned into a bloody mess too. His body feel to the ground lacking the slightest hint of lifeforce. It was an instant kill.

“This was a good experience for me so I gave you a painless death. You would have turned into a blood devouring puppet soon anyway, that fate is much worse than death.” Qing Yun spoke without any ripple in his voice.

…

Two pairs of eyes were watching the scene inside the closed space with astonishment. None spoke a word before the silence was broke by Old Lan’s trembling voice, “Heaven defying… heaven defying genius. Inconceivable, how could such a monster exist, no, what kind of monster could train this young monsterling.

By his side Jia Xinyi watched the fight inside the closed space with Old Lan’s help. Numerous emotions surged inside her clear eyes that seemed now somehow moist.

She watched the blood covered figure inside the closed space with trembling eyes as her feelings were overflowing with disbelief, she placed her hands of her chest as muttered in a soft and somehow disbelieving voice.

“Qing Yun, you really are that Qing Yun…”