Chapter 58: Exploded with a Single Punch

"Hahaha, kill me?"

Li Xingyun felt as if he had heard the greatest joke in the world.

A martial student at the peak of the third stage of the Martial Vein actually claimed he would kill him, a martial apprentice at the fourth stage of the Martial Vein?

Had he misheard?

"Before I kill you, I only want to ask one question: why did you kill those poor beggars?"

Ling Xiao truly could not understand. Those people from the Beggars' Gang had no martial arts skills at all; they were merely ordinary beggars. How could they have brought such deadly calamity upon themselves?

"Oh, it was just a matter of convenience. My swordsmanship happened to reach a breakthrough, so I was just practicing some moves!"

Li Xingyun said with utter indifference.

"What?"

Ling Xiao froze.

He had killed more than twenty people just to "practice some moves"?

Those were living, breathing human lives!

A chill emanated from his eyes; Li Xingyun had to die!

"Fine, if you want to seek justice for those beggars, then come. However, since you have killed so many disciples of my Li family, I will never let you live."

As Li Xingyun spoke, he suddenly drew his sword.

There was no flashiness to it.

This strike was extraordinarily fast!

Ling Xiao recognized this sword strike; it was the same move from the Gale Sword Technique that Li Xingyun had used against the Level 4 demon beast that day.

The opponent was not weak.

Ling Xiao did not dare to be careless.

His true qi circulated through his entire body, and his form transformed into the afterimage of a flood dragon. He had already deployed the *Cloud-Soaring Steps: Dragon Transformation*, easily dodging the strike.

He did not use his Astral Qi. Killing Li Xingyun would not be easy, and his Astral Qi was a trump card to be reserved.

He believed that if he erupted suddenly, Li Xingyun would certainly be unable to defend.

What he wanted was a one-hit kill; he could not let Li Xingyun escape, so condensing his powerful offensive strength into a single point was a necessity.

He just had to find the opportunity.

"Eh?"

Li Xingyun was momentarily stunned. The movement technique he feared most was Ling Xiao's footwork, and he hadn't expected Ling Xiao's agility to be even more exceptional than it had been back in the Fulong Mountains.

"Your footwork has improved significantly, but it's useless. The strength of the fourth stage of the Martial Vein is something you cannot comprehend!"

"Continuous Sword!"

As the two moved past each other, Li Xingyun suddenly spun around and thrust his sword.

However, this strike was clearly different from the previous one. Not only was the condensation of Astral Qi stronger, but he actually thrust out three streaks of sword qi with a single strike.

The sword qi soared through the air, severing the surrounding branches and creating a sudden, violent gale.

"Bull Demon Art: Meteor Malice Punch!"

Ling Xiao directly deployed his strongest current offensive move. The *Bull Strength* could be used for sparring, but for killing, the Meteor Malice Punch was far more suitable.

"Boom!"

With just a single punch, all three streaks of sword qi were shattered directly, turning into specks of energy that splashed in all directions, piercing through nearby rocks.

"Astral Qi?"

Li Xingyun frowned slightly. "So you have also condensed Astral Qi. No wonder you are so arrogant, but it's useless! The third stage of the Martial Vein is still the third stage. Even with Astral Qi, you are no match for me!"

Although he was somewhat surprised that Ling Xiao had shattered his three sword qi streaks with a single punch, and even more surprised that Ling Xiao had condensed Astral Qi, he was not afraid.

The gap in cultivation realms was the source of his confidence.

"Die!"

Ling Xiao's attack was not over.

The *Cloud-Soaring Steps: Dragon Transformation* was not a movement technique designed solely for escaping; it was better suited for combat!

The ninth form of the Meteor Malice Punch—Meteor Fall!

Ling Xiao's speed was simply too fast; in an instant, he was right in front of Li Xingyun.

Knowing he could not dodge, Li Xingyun could only swing his sword to defend.

"Hmph, nothing to worry about!"

He did not intend to go all out, because he planned to launch a counterattack immediately after blocking this punch to kill Ling Xiao in one fell swoop.

Gale Strike!

The strongest move of the Gale Sword was unleashed from Li Xingyun's hands, though he only used seventy percent of his power.

In an instant, sword light flashed, and the piercing sound startled the surrounding animals into fleeing. A gale-like sword qi surged from the blade, flying toward Ling Xiao.

This strike was undeniably powerful!

It was absolutely capable of killing a low-level Level 4 demon beast.

One must realize that a low-level Level 4 demon beast was equivalent to a low-level martial artist of the fourth stage of the Martial Vein.

Li Xingyun truly lived up to his reputation as a genius; his strength was far greater than that of martial artists at the same realm.

As he thrust the sword, a flash of excitement and ruthlessness appeared in Li Xingyun's eyes.

Finally, he could wash away the shame of the Fulong Mountains.

However, a moment later, his pupils suddenly contracted.

A look of terror appeared on his face.

Ling Xiao's punch was far, far stronger than he had imagined!

It was such a terrifying punch that before the fist even made contact with the sword, the horrifyingly hot Astral Qi had already nearly incinerated Li Xingyun completely.

"No—!"

Li Xingyun regretted it; he regretted why he hadn't used one hundred percent of his power.

But it was too late. With an unstoppable force, the punch shattered the so-called Gale Sword Qi and then proceeded to shatter the longsword in Li Xingyun's hand.

Ultimately, the dual fists slammed directly into Li Xingyun's body.

"Vroom!"

A massive roar erupted. Li Xingyun's body did not fly backward; instead, he was pierced directly by the punch and ended up impaled upon Ling Xiao's arms, like a skewer of mutton.

"You! You!"

Li Xingyun looked at Ling Xiao in horror before his body finally ceased all struggling, his life force completely extinguished.

Ling Xiao shook his hands, and Li Xingyun's corpse was thrown to the ground. He gave it a cold glance and then quickly cleaned up the battlefield.

It had to be said that the other disciples of the Li family did not have many good items on them; it was mostly silver, totaling about a thousand taels.

However, Li Xingyun was different.

He gave Ling Xiao a massive surprise.

This fellow actually possessed a storage ring!

Although it was only an ordinary-grade storage ring, such an item was already extremely precious.

One had to know that even in families like the four great families of Tianfeng City, such storage rings were rare, with perhaps only about ten in existence.

Even if Li Xingyun had great potential, brilliant talent, and was a direct descendant of the Li family, he likely wouldn't have been qualified to possess such a treasure.

Could someone have lent it to him?

Regardless, he would take it first!

Ordinary-grade storage rings did not have spiritual imprints or restrictions, so once obtained, they could be used immediately.

Fearing that staying too long would cause trouble, Ling Xiao did not check what was inside. Instead, he quickly left the scene and headed toward the ruined temple.

There were too many corpses to bury individually, and even if they were buried, there were many wild beasts and demon beasts in the vicinity; many might end up being dug up and eaten.

Therefore, unless one belonged to a great family with restricted graveyards, people in this world generally chose cremation.

Ling Xiao cremated his former companions from their days of begging together.

"Rest in peace! I have avenged you. I will take good care of Little Potato; I will never let him suffer a single grievance again."

Despite the profound grief in his heart, Ling Xiao understood that the dead could not be brought back to life.

He had more important matters to attend to now; otherwise, it might be his grandfather, Hong Qi, and Little Potato who would die in the future.

He did not want such things to happen again.

This was the last time!

Leaving the ruined temple, Ling Xiao returned to the Li residence.

If anyone had seen the battle between Ling Xiao and Li Xingyun, their jaws would have likely dropped to the ground in shock.

A martial student at the peak of the third stage of the Martial Vein had killed a genius martial apprentice of the fourth stage in only two moves.

Although that fourth-stage genius had been somewhat overconfident, the result was still utterly staggering.

Not long after Ling Xiao left, wild beasts darting out from the forest dragged the corpses of the Li family disciples into the woods, leaving behind only bloodstains and mangled body fragments at the scene.