"If you're talking about that waste who only uses his family name to scare people, then yes."
"You're asking for death!" Li Kongcai roared in anger.
He swung his palm towards Zhang Ergou.
In an instant, the world seemed to change color, the wind howled, and with his palm strike, Li Kongcai lifted a small mountain.
Liu Yaxuan, standing behind Zhang Ergou, was greatly alarmed.
Was this the terrifying power of a Nascent Soul stage cultivator?
She was so scared she couldn't move, her legs trembling uncontrollably.
Zhang Ergou's expression was solemn.
Li Kongcai, in his rage, attacked without holding back.
His strike was clearly aimed at killing him.
However, the current Zhang Ergou was no longer the one who could be easily manipulated.
With a gentle push backward, he sent Liu Yaxuan flying back more than ten feet.
Then, Zhang Ergou leaped into the void.
"Fire Spirit Fist."
Zhang Ergou let out a low cry, and a crimson fist, wrapped in spiritual fire, rapidly grew in size.
The crimson fist print gradually enlarged in the air.
Bang!
A deafening roar echoed through the heavens and earth.
The crimson fist print collided with the small mountain, kicking up dust and smoke that dyed the void crimson.
Li Kongcai's pupils contracted.
Although he hadn't used his full strength in the previous strike, it was still not something a typical early Nascent Soul cultivator could withstand.
Yet, Zhang Ergou, with a single, seemingly effortless punch, had matched him.
In this first probing exchange, he had lost.
After all, Zhang Ergou had only recently broken through to the early Nascent Soul stage, while he was a veteran cultivator in the late Nascent Soul stage. To be outmatched by Zhang Ergou was unbearable for Li Kongcai.
If earlier he had been driven by anger to avenge his son, then this first exchange had solidified his resolve to kill Zhang Ergou.
To reach the early Nascent Soul stage at such a young age, and to so easily block his attack, even a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator would have struggled. If Zhang Ergou were allowed to grow, he would undoubtedly pose a significant threat to the Liuhai Sect.
Li Kongcai's reasons for killing Zhang Ergou were no longer solely for revenge; now, he had an additional imperative: to eliminate a future formidable opponent for his sect.
"Kid, I truly underestimated you."
Seeing his first move fail, Li Kongcai immediately raised his palm again.
An even more ferocious attack, like a dark cloud, descended upon Zhang Ergou.
"Break!"
In a flash, Zhang Ergou simultaneously thrust out a palm.
But this time, Zhang Ergou's move was silent, as if he were merely posing.
A chill surged from Li Kongcai's heart; he had a bad premonition.
Boom!
The palm print in the air shattered completely, as if struck by something terrifying.
Li Kongcai focused, Zhang Ergou's previous attack had been silent, with no fluctuations in spiritual energy.
Puff!
Suddenly, he felt something violently strike him. Caught off guard, he spat out a mouthful of blood.
Li Kongcai wiped the blood from his lips, his eyes filled with disbelief.
He had actually been injured by Zhang Ergou.
How was this possible? Even if he had been careless, he had no idea how Zhang Ergou had managed to injure him. Even if he had been prepared, he probably couldn't have dodged that strange attack.
Li Kongcai was astonished to realize that even now, he couldn't fathom how Zhang Ergou had executed that attack.
Liu Yaxuan, watching from afar, was so shocked her mouth hung open.
She knew Zhang Ergou was powerful, but his prowess far exceeded her imagination. The old man in the void was at least above the Nascent Soul stage, yet Zhang Ergou was fighting him to a standstill, and later even injured him. How could she not be astonished?
Zhang Ergou was also surprised. When he was at the Foundation Establishment stage, he had used this same move to catch the Golden Core late-stage Chi Yu off guard and injure him. Now, at the early Nascent Soul stage, he had only made Li Kongcai spit blood. It seemed Li Kongcai's strength was considerably greater than he had anticipated.
Zhang Ergou's expression grew serious. This battle would undoubtedly be a fierce one.
If Li Kongcai knew Zhang Ergou's thoughts, he would surely drown the ungrateful brat with his spit.
After wiping the blood from his lips, Li Kongcai's expression turned ferocious.
"Kid, if I don't take your dog life today, I'll take your surname."
"Sorry, I don't need a son as old as you."
Zhang Ergou scoffed. He had heard too many such empty threats.
"Brat, you're asking for death!"
Li Kongcai roared in fury, rapidly forming seals with his hands. The surrounding spiritual energy surged towards him at a visible rate.
The dark clouds in the sky pressed lower, as if intent on swallowing the world.
Seeing Li Kongcai gathering his power for an even more formidable attack, Zhang Ergou naturally could not wait to be passive.
Wielding his black spear, his figure transformed into a bolt of lightning, charging directly towards Li Kongcai at the center of the spiritual energy vortex.
"Petty trick."
However, before Zhang Ergou could reach Li Kongcai, who was still gathering his power, Li Kongcai suddenly opened his eyes.
With a swift palm strike, a terrifying aura spread out. A massive palm print, like a sky-cleaving blade, descended upon Zhang Ergou.
Zhang Ergou hastily retreated.
But his retreat speed was no match for Li Kongcai's long-accumulated palm strike.
Bang!
Zhang Ergou's body flew backward like a kite with a broken string.
"Ergou brother!"
Liu Yaxuan cried out in alarm and rushed towards where Zhang Ergou had fallen.
"Still too young."
Li Kongcai sneered, looking in the direction Zhang Ergou had fallen, and slowly moved.
However, with just one step, he was already a hundred meters away.
He had actually used the rare "Shrinking Ground into an Inch" technique.
Li Kongcai seemed unhurried, but in an instant, he arrived above where Zhang Ergou had fallen.
Yet, the expected scene of Zhang Ergou hitting the ground did not materialize.
He frantically searched the surroundings, but found nothing. The area was eerily silent. He couldn't find any trace of Zhang Ergou.
Li Kongcai's pupils contracted as a terrifying possibility occurred to him.
Suddenly, a whooshing sound came from behind him.
Li Kongcai turned around in a panic. A black object rapidly grew larger in his vision, and in an instant, it was in front of him.
In his haste, Li Kongcai raised his hand to block. Seeing that he couldn't evade it, he quickly dodged.
Crack!
With a crisp sound, his forearm was directly smashed and broken due to his inability to fully dodge.
"Ah, Zhang Ergou, I will tear you into a thousand pieces!"
Overwhelmed by the intense pain, Li Kongcai was thoroughly enraged by Zhang Ergou. If the older cultivators were to learn that he had been repeatedly injured by a mere youngster, they would surely mock him endlessly. For the sake of his pride, Li Kongcai had to kill Zhang Ergou to appease his burning hatred.