The head of the Liu family looked at Li Tan with apprehensive eyes and coldly snorted, “Young man, I’ve heard about you these past few days. At first, I thought it was just a show, but now it seems to be true. However, your biggest mistake was not running away with your tail between your legs!”
“You brat, if you had fled just now, you might have succeeded based on your strength, but now that you’ve stayed, it’s a death sentence!”
An elder of the Liu family arrogantly raised his head.
Li Tan narrowed his eyes slightly and calmly said, “Is that so? An old saying goes that overconfidence leads to defeat. Haven’t you considered that I stayed because I was fully prepared?”
“Hahaha! No matter what preparations you’ve made, you can’t possibly be our match!”
The Liu family elder laughed wildly, clearly very confident in their strength.
This was a natural reaction. After all, they had a total of seven Xiantian realm cultivators, two of whom were mysterious members of the Black Robe organization. On Li Zhen’s side, even including the ten-year-old Li Tan, there were only three people.
In their eyes, three against seven was absolutely no contest.
“Li Tan, what a pity indeed! If you had fled, I would have lost sleep over it, but since you stayed, no matter how profound your secrets or how great your future achievements, today you will not escape death!”
The head of the Liu family raised his long sword toward Li Tan, and an overwhelming pressure surged rapidly forward along with his true energy.
If it were just an ordinary cultivator, they would have been forced back several steps by the impact, as he intended to test Li Tan’s true strength.
However, Li Tan did not move at all, and his strength could not be estimated.
At least it could be confirmed—he was definitely not an ordinary cultivator from the Houtian realm.
(Note: “后天” in cultivation contexts is typically translated as “Houtian” (realm) in pinyin to maintain cultural specificity, as it refers to a foundational stage in many xianxia cultivation systems. If the original intended “acquired/postnatal” meaning, alternative translations could be considered based on context.)
The Liu family head’s caution and murderous intent grew even stronger.
“Tan’er, listen to your father for once—run now! We’ll hold them off. As long as the green hills remain, there’s no fear of no firewood. Don’t act on impulse!”
Li Zhen was very worried.
Indeed, although emotionally he wanted to believe that Li Tan had come prepared, after the Liu family head’s words, rationally he knew he must urge Li Tan to escape.
As long as Li Tan escaped, even if they all died here, the Li family would not perish and would eventually be able to return to Linjiang.
“Dear nephew, Li’s words are wise. Here, I apologize to the Li family on behalf of my daughter’s matter.”
At this final moment, almost certain of their deaths and that the Lin family would suffer devastating damage, he apologized in hopes that Li Tan might one day spare his family.
“Come!” bellowed Patriarch Liu. Three Xiantian elders swiftly moved to seal off all possible escape routes in the vicinity.
“Tan’er, now is the time!”
Li Zhen shouted and grabbed his sword, rushing forward.
“Hmph, wishful thinking! You won’t escape!” The Liu family head was determined to kill Li Tan right here.
He clearly understood that if Li Tan escaped, it would bring endless trouble in the future!
Blades clashed, true energies collided, causing a violent explosion, instantly kicking up dust and debris! But in an instant, the encirclement and resistance ended.
Li Zhen let out a sigh of relief—he and Lin Long had successfully intercepted the surrounding Xiantian elders.
The Liu family head’s face was extremely grim; he knew Li Tan would definitely escape, and the people he had stationed outside would be powerless to stop him.
However, when the dust cleared, the roles of both sides had swapped.
Li Zhen’s expression was as grim as could be, while the Liu family head was smiling as happily as ever.
“Hahaha! Li Tan, Li Tan! I just praised you highly, but now it seems you’re nothing more than an arrogant fool.”
“Tan’er, oh no!”
Li Zhen looked at the completely cut-off escape route and felt helpless.
“This!”
Lin Long was equally helpless and prepared himself for a final desperate battle.
Now, they could only pray for a miracle.
At this time, Li Tan, who had been silent for so long, finally spoke.
He looked at the Liu family head expressionlessly and said, “Killing makes her unhappy, so I don’t like it. I’ll give you one chance—ruin your own cultivation, and I’ll spare you.”
Stunned for a moment, the Liu family head laughed as if he had heard the world’s funniest joke, clutching his stomach in uncontrollable laughter.
Li Zhen, however, felt a sense of confusion. He calmed down and thought carefully—his son did have a mysterious master. Could it be that he dared to speak like this because he had his master’s backing?
Thus, hope flickered in his heart.
“Attack, kill him!”
Finally, the Liu family head gave the order, and everyone else sprang into action.
“I’ve already been as merciful as I can be.”
A barely perceptible golden gleam flashed in Li Tan’s eyes. Then, like a ghost, he appeared before one of the Liu elders, placing a palm directly on the elder’s forehead.
Crack! The sound of bones breaking echoed out, and the elder instantly lost his life force, collapsing to the ground with a thud.
Li Tan then landed, casually brushing the dust off his hands.
The perfect execution of the Spiritual Tempest and Maya Steps slightly drained his spiritual energy, but his true energy remained almost untouched.
An early-stage Xiantian cultivator was instantly killed without any resistance!
“Curses!”
Another Liu elder, confused by his companion’s passive defeat, quickly attacked Li Tan from behind.
Li Tan slowly turned around, swinging his rusty sword at him. The elder swung his sword in response.
However, his sword didn’t even make a sound upon collision—it was severed like tofu, followed by his head, which was also separated from his body.
Thud! Blood spurted everywhere.
Instantly, the entire training ground fell silent. Everyone stared at Li Tan as if he were a monster.
Especially the Liu family members, who were not only shocked but overwhelmed with fear.
These were two innate cultivators! Either of them could easily annihilate a small clan, yet they had perished without even a chance to react.
In truth, if it had been a real fight, Li Tan wouldn’t have killed them so easily—he would at least have had to exert himself a little. But his opponents had underestimated him.
Underestimating an enemy is a fatal mistake.
The Liu family head sweated profusely, swallowed hard, and looked at the two Black Robe members, “Esteemed sirs, that young man is strange. Please assist us!”
But before the words were fully out, he saw Li Tan swiftly dart forward, cutting the throats of the two Black Robe experts who stood frozen in place.
Li Tan turned his head indifferently toward him, “Now is still the time to surrender.”
Li Tan had nearly exhausted all his spiritual energy by instantly killing the two Black Robe members, channeling the full power of the Coiling Dragon Fist through his sword. Now, his condition was almost at its breaking point. Continuing the fight would be no easy task.
The Liu family head stood frozen, and the remaining two elders wore expressions of utter despair.
As expected, moments later, they threw down their weapons and knelt on the ground.
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