The assassin's eyes, once cold and professional, were now wide with primal terror. The spiritual pressure bearing down on him was unlike anything he had ever felt—ancient, heavy, and utterly suffocating. It wasn't just power; it was authority.
"You have made a mistake," Li Wei's voice was flat, devoid of anger, which made it all the more terrifying. "And you will be the message I send back to Li Jin."
The assassin reacted with the desperation of a cornered rat. He threw a cloud of blinding powder and flung three poisoned needles in a precise triangle aimed at Li Wei's vitals. It was a move that had ended dozens of lives.
To Li Wei, whose senses were honed by the Divine Dao Bone, the movements were naturally slow. He saw the flow of the assassin's Qi, the trajectory of the needles, the opening in his desperate defense. He didn't dodge the needles; his hands moved in a blur, snatching them from the air as if they were standing still.
He took a single step forward, the "Heaven-Shattering Fist" intent coalescing around his right hand. He didn't use the shattering energy. This required something more direct, more visceral.
The assassin, still blinded by his own powder, tried to back away. He never saw the hand that shot out, bypassing his guard with contemptuous ease.
Li Wei's fingers closed around the man's head.
There was a sickening CRUNCH, like a ripe melon being crushed under a boulder.
The assassin's body went rigid, then limp. Li Wei released his grip, letting the corpse slump to the forest floor. He looked at the blood and brain matter on his hand, his expression unchanging. This was the first human life he had taken. He expected to feel horror, nausea, remorse.
He felt nothing but a cold, calm certainty. This was the law of his new world: kill or be killed. His mind, tempered by hardship and the immense, dispassionate memories of an Ancient God, was unshaken. It was not a loss of humanity, but the acceptance of a sovereign's burden.
He spent the next few weeks in a state of hyper-focused predation. He hunted more ferocious beasts, pushing his Primordial Chaos Body to its limits, using the "Primordial Sovereign Scripture" to devour everything in his path. The assassin's corpse was simply another resource, stripped of anything valuable and left for the forest to reclaim.
His cultivation advanced relentlessly. The vast reservoir of energy from peak Qi Gathering beasts and the pills he bought fueled his ascent. He broke through to the 8th Stage of Qi Gathering, his foundation so compressed and solid it felt like a diamond core within his dantian.
With this new surge of power, he felt it again—the intense, building pressure against the Heavenly Seals. This time, it was different. He could feel hairline fractures forming on the second seal of his Ancient God Bloodline and the corresponding one on his Divine Dao Bone. A golden, divine light pulsed from within the cracks, promising unimaginable power.
His very soul screamed at him to push, to break them open and claim his birthright.
But he remembered the memory's warning: A foundation of sand cannot hold up a divine palace. He took a deep, steadying breath and reined in the raging Chaos Qi. He was stronger, but he was not ready. Not yet. Patience was the sharpest weapon.
---
Weeks after the assassin's death, Li Wei walked into the "Fading Moon Trading Company" in the remote town, a large pack laden with pelts, tusks, and spirit herbs on his back. The bell above the door chimed.
A woman looked up from behind the counter. She appeared to be in her mid-twenties, with sharp, intelligent eyes that held a world of experience and a mature grace that the clan's young disciples lacked. Her name was Su Lin, and over the past month, she had become his sole business contact.
"Little Brother Wei," she greeted him with a faint, knowing smile. "Your harvest is as impressive as ever. It seems the Whispering Fangs are being especially generous to you."
"Or I to them," Li Wei replied, his usual stoicism softening slightly in her presence. She was sharp, asked no probing questions, and gave him fair prices. It was a purely transactional relationship, but it was the closest thing to a neutral interaction he had.
She expertly appraised his goods, her fingers brushing over the pelt of the Dark-Tusk Boar with a raised eyebrow. "This is... exceptional quality. You've been busy." She counted out a generous stack of spirit stones and slid them across the counter.
As he gathered the stones and turned to leave, the door to the shop burst open.
A young man in flamboyant robes, flanked by two grim-faced guards, swaggered in. His gaze, arrogant and sweeping, landed first on Su Lin with a possessive gleam, then flicked to Li Wei, dripping with disdain.
"Well, well, if it isn't the pretty shopkeeper," the young man said, his voice oily. "I see you're still wasting your time trading with... mountain trash." He looked Li Wei up and down, taking in his simple, worn clothes. "That boar pelt. I'll take it. Consider it an honor that Young Master Bai of the Stormwind City Bai Clan has taken a liking to your lowly goods."
He reached for the pelt still on the counter.
Li Wei's hand shot out, not with violence, but with impossible speed, resting on the pelt before the young master could touch it.
"I've already sold it," Li Wei said, his voice quiet but cutting through the room's tension like a blade. "The transaction is complete."
Young Master Bai's smile vanished, replaced by offended fury. His two guards, both emitting the aura of 7th Stage Qi Gathering cultivators, took a menacing step forward.
"You dare refuse me?" Bai spat. "You country bumpkin. Do you have any idea who I am?"
Li Wei met his gaze, his own eyes as calm and deep as a still lake. He had just crushed a man's skull and hunted beasts that would make these guards flee in terror. This posturing noble was nothing more than a gnat.
"I know you are in my way," Li Wei said, the finality in his tone making the two guards instinctively pause. "Move."