After the duel… Xie Qing began to feel drowsy.


    "Hm?"


    Sitting in the lotus position on his bed, the youth narrowed his eyes. His consciousness seemed foggy, and he felt tired.


    "I… feel sleepy? Strange. This is extremely strange…"


    The only reason he hadn''t fallen asleep was his cultivation level. Therefore, he suspected that this strange phenomenon was artificially induced rather than something physical.


    And after observing his surroundings a bit… Xie Qing wrinkled his nose.


    "Does this old man want to rest in peace so soon? Does he think I won''t kill him?"


    Li Su. The main reason for his drowsiness was this annoying old man. Although the old man presented himself as a straightforward warrior who would go directly at the enemy without hesitation…


    Xie Qing suspected that he was quite cunning, as evidenced by the duel incident. Therefore, he was on guard.


    "Should I pretend? But what if he wants to kill me? Then I''ll have to fight back. And afterward, it will be hard to exin where I got such strength and why I can hide it so well…" the youth put his hand on his forehead, feeling a headache.


    However, for now, he decided to pretend to be affected by the old man''s technique.


    Of course, he couldn''t just pretend to be asleep; Li Su would notice. So the youth actually had to fall asleep, but he enhanced his six senses just in case.


    ***


    "Hm… not bad. This kid managed to resist my sleep technique for so long… definitely talented," Li Su rubbed his chin, looking satisfied. He turned his gaze to the gate and, pushing it open, entered.


    Now, he was most interested in verifying his thoughts. He was curious—did this kid have a bloodline, as he suspected? If so, then…


    "I can absorb his bloodline! Make it mine! And increase my talent! I will be invincible!"


    The greed in Li Su''s eyes was unmistakable, as if he had cast off his mask of a kind old man helping the younger generation.


    "My devouring technique should work. Although I haven''t used it in a long time…"


    Li Su frowned. In fact, he was a bit worried because he hadn''t used the absorption technique in a long time due to some issues. However, he couldn''t stop, considering the benefits he could gain.


    Originally, he was a man without talent. Only by chance and luck did he find the corpse of a cultivator and absorb his Qi, allowing him to be a cultivator. Then, by killing his enemies and absorbing their Qi and life energy, he advanced to the Spiritual Ascension stage. However, this technique had serious consequences, and each time Li Su''s lifespan was shortened if he didn''t replenish it.


    Ordinary cultivators at his level could live for a hundred thousand years, but he only had a few thousand years left. And considering he was already over eight hundred years old…


    The old man was very worried. And finally, he had found a talent among the dirt.


    Entering Xie Qing''s room, Li Su looked around and checked for any dangers. His cautious nature had always saved him—so he didn''t forget to be cautious.


    "Hm. Nothing suspicious or dangerous. I worried for nothing," Li Su thought, shaking his head: "Ah, how pathetic I''ve be, fearing some weakling at the Soul Nascent stage…"


    Li Su''s face darkened. The past few years had been torturous for him. Not a single breakthrough in over a hundred years. It was driving him mad.


    However, when he remembered his goal, the darkness faded from his face, and he ced his hand on the youth''s abdomen, examining the dantian.


    "Hm?"


    Li Su furrowed his brows, and his face looked shocked.


    "Wh-what is this…"


    His hand trembled.


    "WHAT IS THIS?!"


    ***


    The dantian. In general understanding, it is a reservoir for Qi, from which a cultivator draws energy to perform techniques.


    And, logically, the dantian should contain only Qi. But…


    "Wh-what…"


    Li Su trembled. His face was a grimace of pure terror, and his skin turned pale as a sheet of paper. He couldn''t believe his eyes.


    At that moment, as he tried to examine the youth''s dantian… he felt an overwhelming aura. As if something alien was watching him.


    It was a powerful, heavy, and murderous existence. Like a reflection of darkness itself.


    However, it was not evil… Li Su didn''t sense anything demonic. But what was even worse…


    This existence. Was even more terrifying than demons!


    "I-I…"


    Li Su stuttered, and his body shook. His feet seemed rooted to the ground, and every movement of his fingers became difficult, as if they were paralyzed.


    Greed? Desire? Joy? All these emotions had long vanished from Li Su''s face. Only fear remained—perhaps the purest and most genuine human emotion.


    "W-who are you?"


    Li Su asked in terror. Unknowingly, this question escaped his lips. For his mind could notprehend what he was seeing.


    "Hm…"


    A soft hum. It seemed insignificant, yet…


    "Kha!"


    The old man coughed and fell to his knees, clutching his dantian. First, he was ovee by intense pain, and then… despair.


    "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"


    Li Su screamed, so loudly that even the Heavens would have gone deaf from his cry. His voice was filled with despair and pain.


    For… his dantian had been destroyed.


    And that meant only one thing.


    The death of his future as a cultivator.


    ***


    Xie Qing regained consciousness after twenty minutes. The first thing he saw was Elder Li Su lying on the floor. His face bore an expression of pure despair, pain, and anger.


    And he… was dead.


    "What?"


    The youth furrowed his brows, and his pupils dted. What did this mean? Why had this old geezer suddenly kicked the bucket?


    "Did he have a heart attack? Well, he was quite old…"


    …let''s not discuss how absurd his thoughts were.


    Nevertheless, although Xie Qing tried to joke, his face was grim. He felt as if someone had defecated in his garden.


    "What should I do? How can I exin ''this''? No matter who I tell, they''ll say I''m guilty. Oh, damn…"


    The youth rubbed his forehead, which throbbed with pain. Even after his death, Elder Li Su continued to cause him trouble.


    Most importantly, Xie Qing didn''t even understand how he had killed this guy. He had been asleep!


    "How strange! I feel like this has happened before…"


    Although he was puzzled, the youth was now concerned with only one problem – what should he do with the body?


    "Burn it? Bury it? Damn, how can I just cover up the death of an elder? They''ll easily find him! There must be some special technique on his body…"


    Xie Qing was lost in his thoughts when he suddenly felt a surge of energy flowing towards his residence... he frowned.


    "Damn."


    ***


    Thirty minutes earlier.


    The elders were still in their meeting. It had been going on for a week, so many of them had chosen to take a nap or engage in cultivation.


    However, they were all startled by a sound. More precisely, a scream.


    "AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"


    The sleeping elders jolted awake, and those who were cultivating opened their eyes.


    "What was that?"


    "Who screamed?"


    "The voice sounds familiar..."


    "I almost had a heart attack!"


    The elders frowned, looking worried. Suddenly, one of them shouted after a brief silence.


    "Damn! That''s Li Su''s scream!"


    "Li Su? That''s..."


    "How could this happen? Who attacked him?"


    "Ha, maybe he tried to absorb a disciple''s Qi again and couldn''t handle the consequences?"


    "Shut up. The situation seems serious."


    After a brief argument, they rushed out of the pavilion and headed towards the source of the scream.


    "This...?"


    The elders were surprised. They saw that the scream came from the residence of a disciple. Could it be that old man Li Su really tried to absorb someone but failed?


    Soon, more than twenty elders entered Xie Qing''s residence. Due to their gathering, the Devilish Qi in the air became denser.


    Entering Xie Qing''s room... the elders were puzzled.


    "What nonsense is this?"


    The elders'' expressions turned strange. They saw Xie Qing lying on the bed, with Li Su clutching his throat, his face contorted with emotion.


    Moreover, the old man looked as if all the blood had been drained from his body.


    "Could you be right, Old Zhao?"


    "Hush, I''m shocked myself..."


    Elder Old. That was the name of the elder who had suggested that Li Su tried to absorb a disciple.


    "Hmm..."


    A bald elder with a long white beard stepped forward. His red eyes expressed genuine bewilderment. His name was Zhao Zedong.


    If an analogy were to be drawn, he was a sort of leader among the inner court elders, and his cultivation level was at the eighth stage of Spiritual Ascension. In his long experience... he had never encountered such a situation.


    "Could he really have failed and suffered bacsh from his technique? It sounds like a pitiful death," thought Zhao Zedong, frowning. He was displeased with the situation: "This Li Su... all he does is cause trouble. Couldn''t he have waited just once?"


    Zhao Zedong''s head began to ache. He simply couldn''t allow the sect to find out about the death of an elder. It could cause numerous problems.


    "Handle this. Set up restrictions around the residence and keep the disciples away. I will try to resolve this situation," Zhao Zedong ordered.


    "Yes, sir!"