"Oh yeah, I forgot about you," Li Zhongu muttered, lifting his right leg. With a swift stomp, he brought his foot down on the Emerald Herald’s head, crushing it into a gory pulp. The remains splattered across the ground, blending with the dirt and blood of the battlefield. Despite being a Grandmaster, the Emerald Herald had been disappointingly weak.
Turning his attention back to the Treasure Knight, Li Zhongu approached with a calm, predatory grace. He pounced with lightning speed.
BAM!
The sound of his impact echoed as Li Zhongu's fist connected. But this time, he didn't stop with a punch. He grabbed the Treasure Knight’s right arm, yanking him closer. As the knight stumbled forward, Li Zhongu slapped him hard across the face with his free hand. He then seized the Treasure Knight’s head with his left hand, twisting with brutal force.
“Ahhh!” The Treasure Knight roared in pain, his muscles stretching to their breaking point. Desperation surged through him as he struggled to break free. Conjuring a shimmering club from his arsenal of treasures, he swung it wildly at Li Zhong. The club struck Li Zhongu across the face, finally forcing him to release his hold.
Seizing the opportunity, the Treasure Knight conjured a great spear and lunged at Li Zhongu, thrusting it forward with all his strength. But Li Zhongu's eyes gleamed with anticipation. He had been waiting for this moment. He sidestepped the spear thrust, his movements fluid and precise, then grabbed the Knight’s wrist, redirecting the force of the attack.
In a swift motion, Li Zhongu turned his back to the Knight, lifting the Knight’s arm over his shoulder. With a sudden twist, he drove his elbow backward, smashing it into the exposed abdomen of the Treasure Knight.
CRACK!
The armour shattered, the sound like thunder as it broke apart, and the Knight let out a guttural cry. Blood spewed from his mouth as the air was forced from his lungs. Li Zhongu wasn’t finished. In one seamless motion, he grabbed the Treasure Knight’s head, using his momentum to perform a vicious throw.
The move resembled an aikido throw but was far more brutal, using the Treasure Knight’s own skull as a pivot point. The Knight’s body flipped over Li Zhongu’s shoulder, slamming into the ground with a bone-jarring impact.
Even now, Li Zhongu had a final attack to seal the fate of his opponent. Without hesitation, he positioned his knee on the Treasure Knight’s neck, pinning him down with unrelenting pressure. The knight's eyes widened in horror as he realized what was coming.
With a brutal grip, Li Zhongu grabbed the Knight's helmeted head, his fingers digging into the crevices of the armor. He started to pull with extreme force, the sound of straining metal filling the air. The Treasure Knight's screams echoed through the battlefield, desperate and filled with fear.
“Mercy!” he begged, voice cracking in agony. “Please, I beg of you!”
But mercy was a luxury Li Zhongu wasn’t willing to offer. With a grimace of exertion, he twisted the head sharply, the muscles and sinews straining against the force. The screams grew more frantic, cutting off abruptly as a sickening snap echoed in the air. Blood spurted from the gaping neck wound, soaking the ground beneath.
With a final, violent wrench, Li Zhongu tore the head clean off the Treasure Knight’s body. A gruesome crack of bone and a rip of flesh marked the end of the knight’s life, his head coming away in Li Zhongu’s hands. The body went limp, collapsing in a heap, its final breaths shuddering out.
Li Zhongu tossed the severed head aside without a second glance, letting it roll to the ground like a discarded piece of refuse.
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With a snarl, Li Zhongu glanced around the desolate battlefield, his thoughts clouded with anger and suspicion. “Now, who the fuck was it that took the Draconic Blood Force from me?” His voice was a low growl, barely audible over the silence that had settled in the wake of the carnage.
Without wasting another moment, he turned on his heel and began to stride away, his steps firm and purposeful. Li Zhongu never rested; to him, rest was a luxury he could not afford, a weakness that time and duty would not permit. As long as his body could move, he would keep pressing forward, completing the tasks set before him. This was his way, his purpose—the way of a Dragon General.
“They better pray to the Dragons I don’t find them!” he muttered, the promise of retribution lacing every word. His figure blurred as he tapped into his Qi, propelling himself forward with the speed and grace of a predator on the hunt. Within moments, he had disappeared from the scene, leaving behind only the broken bodies of his fallen enemies and the faint echo of his fury.
True Grandmaster— Li Zhongu!
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Ling Xuan's voice was steady, almost philosophical, as he lounged atop the decayed remains of the Silver Silence Sect Master. "Sometimes I think that life has no true objective. Well, no permanent one, that is. After all, there will always come a time when one's goal has been achieved, unless they never managed to in the first place. But anyway, what do you think the life of an individual becomes after that point?" His musings filled the air as he absently gazed into the distance, seemingly oblivious to the world around him.
The sight of Ling Xuan, so casually reflective amid such horror, left the Hunter’s Bow Sect Master trembling with fear. He watched Ling Xuan with wide eyes. Overcome with dread, he fell to his knees and kowtowed. "Spare me, Senior!" he pleaded, his voice shaking.
Ling Xuan stopped his monologue, his attention turning to the pathetic figure before him. Slowly, he rose from the corpse, his expression shifting from contemplative to cold. He approached the kowtowing Sect Master, each step deliberate and measured. "Sparing you, you say?" Ling Xuan murmured, his hand reaching out to grip the Sect Master's head. His fingers tightened, a cruel smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "I'm afraid such an option is unavailable."
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Meanwhile, in the desolate ruins of the Ling Clan, Ling Feng sat amidst the wreckage, his gaze fixed on the horizon. The sound of approaching footsteps broke the silence, and without turning around, he spoke. "Who?"
"Looks like your Draconic Powers have also been strained," came the voice of Li Zhongu.
Ling Feng exhaled softly, still looking into the distance. "Oh... it's you. You finished?" he asked, his voice laced with fatigue.
Li Zhongu settled beside him, his demeanour calm. "You know the answer to that question," he replied evenly.
Ling Feng nodded, acknowledging the truth in Li Zhongu’s words. There was no need to state the obvious. The two sat in silence for a moment, the weight of their shared experiences filling the air.
"I presume you're going to retire?" Li Zhongu asked, though he already knew the answer.
Ling Feng nodded again.
The quiet stretched between them until Ling Feng finally broke it. "As for the answer to your first question, yeah, I was pulled out of my Draconic Form due to someone overstraining their Draconic Blood which led to me being influenced."
Li Zhongu nodded thoughtfully. "I guessed that. It's probably Shi Ma. He's the only one who would need to borrow from the collective force of the Draconic Blood. Lei Tianzi has already achieved the True Grandmaster State, which is far more reliable than The Draconic Blood."
"True Grandmaster, eh?" Ling Feng mumbled, contemplating the term. Both he and Li Zhongu were True Grandmasters, but compared to Lei Tianzi's level, their state felt like a mere shadow. It was the difference between a knife and a sword—both weapons, but vastly different in their power..
The True Grandmaster State represented the pinnacle of one's potential, the complete expenditure and end of the path. For some, like Ling Feng and Li Zhongu, Draconic Blood served as a crutch that allowed them to have strength similar to but not completely of that state. For others, like Lei Tianzi, true mastery was achieved through integration, becoming lightning itself through name engraving.
Their musings were interrupted by a massive explosion in the far distance, the ground trembling under its force.
“Looks like we’ve found Shi Ma,” Li Zhongu said, rising to his feet with purpose. He glanced at Ling Feng, who nodded in agreement. Without another word, Li Zhongu shot off towards the source of the explosion, with Ling Feng following close behind.