BAM!
Han Yexin's fist slammed into Li Zhenyu's chest, which sent him hurtling through multiple mountains, each one exploding into dust on impact.
He crashed against the final peak, skidding across the jagged rock before slumping near the edge, barely conscious, blood trailing down his lips as he tried to stand.
But before he could, Han soared towards him, then held him by his neck, turning it from left to right, mocking him.
"Is this all the great Li Yexin has to offer?"
Then BAM! He stomped him brutally on the chest, sending him falling, launching downwards like a meteor.
BOOM!
Li landed, forming a wide crater on the ground.
"Haha!" Han laughed maniacally.
"Li... I've told you over and over. You can't keep playing the hero, sometimes you have to do what's best for you and most importantly, your allies..."
Li groaned, clutching his chest as he stood up slowly.
He coughed a couple of times, trying to catch his breath. He looked up slowly with an intense gaze and locked his eyes on Han, who flew above like a fallen god.
"Han... remember when we were weak... he said with a voice strained but steady.
Remember when we were poor? Now... we have power— real power and can use it to help people, fix things. Why don't you want that, Han? Why?!."
"Hehe..."
He flew closer to Li, struggling to breathe.
"Well, I do remember Li..."
Li's expression shifted into confusion.
"So... why then? Why are you fighting me? Why do you want to kill me?"
"I do remember... Seeing all those powerful cultivators, doing whatever they wanted and and no one could stop them."
"So then why..." Li interrupted, voice cracking.
Han stared him in the eye and said coldly, "Because I told myself... I'm just going to be just like them one day."
This sent chills down Li's spine. He looked up at Han, horrified.
"But you see... Han I wasn't talented, so the sect gave up on me. My cultivation stagnated, my dreams with it..."
Thunderstorm ravaged the sky as Han raised his hands into the heavens.
"But the great Dao! The great Dao sent me a gift!"
"One that I could use to achieve my plan!" He slowly lowered his hand, pointing his index finger at Li.
"YOU!..."
Li's expression turned from confusion to fear.
"So... you've always been like this...," he muttered.
"Normally, I'd never waste my time with a low-class runt like you, but for some reason, I decided to take pity on you."
"He he."
He chuckled coldly.
"But I was fate! The Dao blessed me!, It gave me a fool with a 7 spirit roots."
"Although sometimes it annoyed me... seeing you climb stages so fast... but I let it go. Sometimes the universe gives gifts to people..."
He raised his hand slowly, fingers curled like claws.
"so that their owners can take them back."
Li chuckled "Ha!"
He coughed suddenly, blood splattering from his lips, and cleaned it with the back of his hand.
"So how're you going to take my gift, Han?!"
"With this..."
A thick black fog slowly rose from his body, his eyes turned pitch black, and his hair turned ash.
"That's impossible, the dark Dao art, I thought Ziyun destroyed it—"
"How did you think I was able to poison you?"
Han interrupted.
Li's eyes widened, his seemingly confident expression vanished, replaced by despair.
He remembered the previous day, when Ziyun insisted he try her prized 100-year-old wine.
His head dropped, facing the floor.
"To think the love of my life betrayed me." He muttered.
"I never thought you'd fall in love with that whore" Han said coldly.
"I was smart to pair both of you. Through her, I was able to get a lot of information. Your strengths, weaknesses, everything!"
Han's fists clenched. "Neli warned me… I should've listened—"
"Neli?, ha..., him. If you're hoping he'll save you, don't bother."
I already captured him yesterday."
"He was a little bit tough," Han said, rubbing his chin, "so I had to cut off his arms and legs to capture him quietly."
"I also cut off his tongue as well," he added with a grin.
"Haha!" Li laughed manically.
Han's expression turned from snarky to confused. He expected Li to despair, but he was laughing.
That laugh, He's about to do something, Han thought. He attacked him with lightning speed, aiming to end him quickly.
DUM!
A searing pain tore through Han's body, freezing him mid-attack.
"Argh!" Han screamed as he fell from the sky like an angel banished from heaven.
Boom!
He landed on the ground, just inches from Li.
Suddenly, a glowing mark ignited on his neck, pulsing with light.
The radiance surged through his veins like liquid fire, illuminating his entire body in a web of shimmering lines.
He screamed in agonizing pain and then called out to Li, "What...di— did you do!"
He looked down on Han, disgusted.
"Do you remember the overlord technique I gave you? Well... I left a little surprise inside."
"W–hat?" Han replied, confused.
"Neli suspected you of betrayal and reported it to me, although I refused to believe what he said... He replied calmly
With blood trailing down his chin, he grinned. "But I took precautions!"
"Pl—please Li, please, I'm sorry, I'll never do this a—again, please promise! Forgive me!" Han begged with tears pouring from his eyes.
"It's too late..."
"Nooo!" Han screamed.
GREAT REVERSE TECHNIQUE!!
A shimmering light enveloped Han's body, pulsating with divine intensity.
In a sudden flash, the radiance exploded outward.
So blinding it pierced the heavens themselves, painting the sky white.
For a moment, everything was light. Then, slowly, the glow began to dim. As the brilliance faded, Han's figure became visible, and it was horrifying.
His entire body had turned pitch black, like scorched obsidian. Deep cracks spread across his skin, glowing faintly like veins of molten lava.
One by one, the fractured pieces of his form began to fall away, turning to dust before they could even touch the ground.
Li's knees began to shake, and the little qi he had was exhausted. He fell over, gasping for air as life drained out of him.
My time has come..., ha! There was so much I wanted to do, Ziyun..., I she were here would have killed her also... well, the technique should've done some damage to her roots...
He breathed his last, and his life force qi disappeared; this was the death of the emperor of the Zihun Kingdom, Li Zhenyu.
LI'S INTERNAL THOUGHTS AND POV
"Ha... what's... happening? Where am I?, Li asked, confused.
He couldn't see anything but pitch black.
Light?, light are you there?, a female voice asked
"Who's that? Where are you?" Li replied. "Is this the underworld?"
Open your eyes?" the voice suggested. The voice was calm, almost coaxing...
He blinked in confusion, then realized his eyes had been closed all along.
He opened them slowly and saw a man in a white robe pointing a strange magical tool at him.
He pushed the magic tool away and backed
Into the corner of the bed.
He could now clearly see the man in the white robe. The man placed his magic tool in his robe and began to write something in his book.
A young girl was standing by his left, looking at me. Worried?.
"Light. Light, are you ok?" She asked.
"Light? Who is—"
THUMP!
A shriveling pain head shot through Li's head.
"ARGH!" He cried out, the girl rushed towards him, and the doctor tapped the emergency button to call for help.
Li began to see flashes of memories, places, people, and things that were not his, but seemed so familiar.
Nurses rushed in, and the girl was escorted out slowly. He calmed down and came to a shocking realization: He had been reincarnated into another world.