"The ravine is secure. It's time to report back to Fort Torrent." Jian Xuan said.

"Agreed," Li Yu said. "Kael, you can return to the sanctuary. Well done."

Kael’s stoic face was a mixture of emotions. He had been dragged into a fanatical performance, shouted a creed to a non-existent god and unleashed his full power in a way he rarely had. A part of him was deeply uncomfortable but another larger part was undeniably thrilled. "Praise... the crab," he muttered almost by reflex before stepping back through the portal Li Yu opened.

"He's a natural!" Jian Xuan beamed. "A true convert! Brother Li, you can head back first or wait here. I, however, must make one final victory lap. The unbelievers who are still hiding in their little rat-holes must hear the chant one final time! It must be seared into their cowardly souls as a warning!"

Before Li Yu could even sigh, Jian Xuan shot into the sky like a white-and-gold rocket as he chanted away at the top of his lungs.

Li Yu just shook his head, a small smile on his face. He was no longer in any doubt. The line between performance and reality had vanished. Jian Xuan was, in his heart of hearts, the First Prophet of the Abyssal Crab Cult. He was a true believer. He had truly created his own cult whether he knew it himself or not.

‘Is this how the Beast Revolution Faction or the others started as well?’ Li Yu couldn’t help but ponder.

Li Yu settled down on the spire to wait, his gaze sweeping over the vast iron-red landscape. He was alone, a single white-robed figure in a vast empty wilderness.

But not for long.

A subtle ripple in the air appeared thirty meters in front of him. A figure shimmered into existence. It was an old man with a thin beard, a kindly wrinkled face and the unassuming robes of a traveling scholar.

The moment he appeared, Li Yu's calm vanished, replaced by a cold violent wave of pure unadulterated hostility. The trauma of his last encounter with an "ugly old man," the one who had crippled him was still a raw open wound.

Clang.

His black staff, Star-Crusher, was in his hands instantly. It wasn't a warning. It was a pre-emptive threat. His 7th-level Core Formation aura erupted but it was far more than that. It was the crushing, oppressive weight of his monstrous foundation, an aura that felt more like a Soul Formation expert's than a Core disciple's.

The old man’s kindly expression froze. His eyes widened, not just at the sudden overwhelming hostility, but at something... else. He looked genuinely and profoundly surprised, as if some fundamental law of the universe had just failed him. He had been expecting... something. A reaction. Dizziness. Weakness. But the young man in front of him was at his absolute peak, radiating power.

"Peace, young one!" the old man said, raising his hands in a placating gesture. "I am not here to fight! I simply wish to talk..."

"Old men who appear from nowhere are never 'not here to fight'," Li Yu’s voice was as cold as ice."You have three breaths to state your purpose. If I find it lacking, this staff goes through your skull."

The old man was visibly hesitant. This wasn't going to plan. His eyes darted around, as if looking for his target's allies. He was supposed to be catching this Abyssal Crab Cult member, not fighting him at full strength. His mission was to incapacitate and capture, not to engage in a pitched battle.

"I... I am merely a traveler, curious about the... uh... Crab God..." he stammered clearly confused at both why his technique wasn’t working and why this young man was so hostile and aggressive as soon as meeting him.

Li Yu's eyes narrowed. The hesitation, the fumbling words, the shocked, confused look—it was all the confirmation he needed.

"Too slow," Li Yu said.

He didn't wait. He didn't ask another question. His trauma and his caution screamed at him to end the threat now.

He moved. He erupted. He lunged forward, closing the thirty-meter gap in an instant, his black staff raised.

The old man's kindly facade vanished, replaced by a snarl of pure fury. "Insolent brat! You are too unreasonable! You dare attack a Soul Formation expert?!"

The old man unleashed his true aura—Second Level Soul Formation. A powerful barrier of spiritual energy snapped into existence around him. He was ready to block the blow and teach this arrogant Core Formation disciple a lesson.

SMASH!

Li Yu's staff connected with the barrier. The sound was not a 'clang'; it was a 'KRA-KOOM!' The old man's barrier shattered like a pane of glass. The force of the blow, ridiculously, impossibly powerful for a 7th-level Core disciple, slammed into his raised arms. He felt his bones crack and he was sent blasting backward, tumbling through the air for over a hundred meters before he could regain his balance, his arms completely numb.

"How!?" he shrieked, his voice filled with disbelief. "Your strength...! You are not a Core Formation disciple!"

"I hate old men who ambush me!" was Li Yu's only reply, his face a mask of cold fury.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

The old man was now in a full panic. His plan, his mission, had gone horribly, catastrophically wrong. He was sent to capture one of these cultists, told they were just a 7th-level Core disciple and a 4th-level Soul Formation. His job was to take the weaker one, the boy, by surprise.

He had released his ultimate silent weapon the moment he appeared—an ambient, untraceable, soul-paralyzing poison called 'Void-Wraith's Kiss.' It should have had the boy on his knees by the tim he appeared, his spiritual sea locked in seconds.

But it had done nothing.

Now, he was facing an un-poisoned monster whose physical strength defied all logic. He frantically began waving his hands, releasing a second, more potent and visible cloud of black-green mist, a desperate defensive measure.

Li Yu saw the man waving his hands, saw the mist. He couldn't sense what it was, only that it was some kind of technique. But he felt nothing. No dizziness, no weakness, no threat. While he didn’t feel anything, he used his water arts to create swirling vortexes all around the area to suck in whatever it was the man was sending out.

He decided to end this now.

He didn't give the old man a moment to recover. He stopped his charge, planted his feet, and led with his most powerful, invisible attack.

"Leviathan's Strike!"

A silent, invisible wave of pure, soul-crushing terror slammed into the old man.

The man screamed, a high-pitched, choked-off sound but it was only in his mind. His soul, that of a mere 2nd-level Soul Formation, was leagues weaker than Li Yu's monstrous fortified one. It was a hammer blow to his consciousness. He was dazed, his vision swimming, his thoughts shattering. 'His... his SOUL?!' he tried to think, but the thought dissolved into static.

Li Yu was already moving. As he charged forward again, he raised his free hand. "Abyssal Javelins!"

Dozens of black, void-infused energy javelins materialized in the air and shot forward like a volley of deadly artillery. Along with the javelins, ice projectiles in the shape of blades, swords and needles also rained down towards the old man. Li Yu was going all out in his rage.

The old man, his mind reeling from the soul attack, tried to form another barrier but he was too slow, his reactions sluggish. The javelins punched through his hasty defense. Several slammed into his chest and shoulders, tearing through flesh and bone.

But Li Yu was not relying on the javelins to kill. He had closed the distance in the same instant the javelins hit. He was upon the old man, his black staff raised high.

"I'll start with the legs!" Li Yu roared, his own trauma surfacing in a wave of cold calculated rage.

He brought the staff down.

CRUNCH.

The old man's world exploded. His entire lower half, from the waist down, was simply... gone. Obliterated into a fine red mist by the concussive force of the blow.

He was still conscious, his body in freefall, his mind a symphony of agony and disbelief. He looked at Li Yu, who was now below him, staff at the ready. "Please..." he gurgled, blood pouring from his mouth. "Mercy... who... what are you?!"

"I'm just a disciple," Li Yu said, his voice devoid of all emotion. He void-stepped, appearing above the falling torso.

He brought the staff down again.

SMASH.

The old man's head, shoulders, and chest were pulped, ending his existence.

Li Yu landed on the bloodstained rock, breathing heavily. It was not from exertion but from unadulterated rage. He stared at the gory remains, his white robe still pristine, not a single drop having touched him. He was furious that another damned old man had tried to ambush him.

Just then, his merit token vibrated sharply at his waist.

He took a deep breath calming his fury and channeled a wisp of spiritual energy into it. "This is Li Yu."

Grand Elder Theron's voice, sharp and urgent, came through. "Li Yu! My token just registered a priority-kill notification near your position! Did you just fight... an old man? Someone who uses poison?"

Li Yu frowned, confused. "Poison?" He looked at the pulped mess on the ground. "No. I didn't sense any poison. But yes, I just killed an old man. He ambushed me. A 2nd-level Soul Formation."

There was a stunned silence on the other end, then Theron's voice came back, even more urgent. "Poison or not, that was 'Vespertine,' the Shadow-Hand Venom Lord! He's a 2nd Soul Formation assassin, one of their most dangerous, and yes, his entire arsenal is poison! I was informed just yesterday that he wiped out a large number of our disciples and I was going to his last known location to track him down. Where are you? Stay exactly where you are. Do not move from that spot. I am coming to you. Now!"

The connection was cut after Li Yu told him where he was. Li Yu looked at the token. "A priority-kill notification?" So the token did alert the high command when a high-value enemy was killed. That was a useful feature.

He stood and waited. In the far distance, he could hear Jian's triumphant chanting on its return journey. A few minutes later, a powerful aura, Theron's, approached at high speed.

But Theron didn't land. He stopped a few hundred meters in the air, directly above Li Yu.

"Purge!" Theron's voice boomed.

An instant later, a miniature controlled tornado descended upon the canyon spire. A ferocious cleansing wind roared over the area, scouring the rocks, ripping up dust,and peeling the very moss from the stones. It felt like the air itself was being scrubbed clean.

After a full minute, the wind died down and Theron landed his face grim.

"What was that for?" Li Yu asked, his pristine robe flapping in the after-gust.

"I had to clear the air," Theron said, his eyes scanning the area, his nose twitching. "To make sure any residual poison was dispersed."

"Poison?" Li Yu said, his confusion genuine. "I told you, he didn't use any. I was on top of him the whole time. I didn't sense anything. No spiritual disruption, nothing."

Theron looked at Li Yu, then at the pulped body, then at the air again. “The man is known for 'Void-Wraith's Kiss.' Odorless, colorless and it attacks the spiritual sea. It's undetectable by normal means. That's his signature move."

Li Yu then had a look of dawning understanding on his face. "That's why he was so surprised when I attacked. That's why he looked confused throughout the battle. His mission was to incapacitate me. He must have released it the moment he arrived. It should have had a Core Formation disciple like me on my knees in seconds with my spiritual sea locked."

It all clicked. The old man's look of shock. His hesitation. His frantic, "pathetic" hand-waving. The poison was his primary weapon. And it had failed. Completely.

He was instantly thrown back to the memory of the marriage contest. The entire grand hall, filled with cultivators all collapsing, all poisoned. Everyone... except him.

'Could it be?' he thought, his mind racing, the implications of this revelation settling over him. 'Am I... truly immune to all poisons?' This was a new, hidden card in his hand, a defensive ability potentially very valuable. He would need to find out. He would need to test this.