As expected of Li Yanfeng’s daughter, Li Xuejiao had shown tremendous improvement over the past three years, having reached fifth level Beast Vein at the mere age of fifteen. Her lifebound beast, a Flaming Hawk, was a fire-type avian lifebound beast.
Li Xuejiao called out her Flaming Hawk from her lifebound space, the most ideal place for a lifebound beast’s cultivation, before Li Tianming could complete his taunt.
The blazing great bird hovered right above Li Xuejiao. Fiery sparks danced off its feathers, its gaze sharp and piercing as it surveyed the area. Its most prominent feature was undoubtedly its talons, the crimson flame burning at the razor-sharp tips reminiscent of a poison-coated dagger.
“Big brother Tianming, since you no longer possess a lifebound beast, why not I stand aside while Huo Ling gives you a light roasting?” Li Xuejiao was clearly amused.
“Who told you that I don't have a lifebound beast?” Li Tianming strode to his room, where the chick was still asleep.
“Who are you trying to fool? Everyone knows your Midas had all its feathers plucked out and died a miserable death.”
Li Tianming simply ignored her as he entered the room and brought out the chick, which was still in deep slumber. It stirred as he picked it up by the legs.
“HEY! I was having fun with my three thousand haremettes, how dare you disturb me!” The Aeternal Infernal Phoenix clearly wasn’t happy with being dangled by the legs.
As for Li Xuejiao, she had already burst into laughter the moment she saw the chick. “Big brother Tianming, is this some sort of joke? I bet you’d make a great comedian. Did you get this chicken through the use of a blood pact?”
A blood pact was the process whereby a beastmaster that had previously lost his lifebound beast could find a possible replacement. It involved the use of a special sacrificial technique where the beastmaster would forcefully inject their own blood into a newborn wildbeast to convert it into their lifebound beast. These wildbeasts were usually found in the wilderness, did not belong to any master and were extremely aggressive, usually attacking anything in its sight.
The chick was still struggling in Li Tianming’s hands until it saw the Flaming Hawk.
“Damn, what a hot chick. Do you want to have my babies?” The chick didn’t hesitate to verbalize its vulgar intentions.
“Not only do you have a chicken as your lifebound beast, but it’s also just as perverted as you?” Li Xuejiao was scornful, “Huo Ling, devour it.”
Whoosh! The Flaming Hawk turned into a crimson blur, swooping down on the little chick, who whooped in delight.
“This must be love at first sight.” Flapping its tiny wings, the little chick charged towards the hawk, despite the painfully obvious difference in size.
“Don’t make a fool of yourself, your size simply can’t compete.” Li Tianming felt a slight headache at the chick’s bold moves, but to be honest, he couldn’t even muster up an ounce of worry. The chick was just too strong, after all.
“Try to survive this, Tianming!” Li Xuejiao had also made her move. Based on her movements, it was likely that she was about to use Blazing Palm. Flames erupted from her hands, coating her palm with a visceral energy gathered from her Crimson Beast Ki.
Renowned as a fearsome move, the Blazing Palm’s crackling fire was capable of consuming its victims with ease. More importantly, the impact from the palm was known to shatter every single bone. With a merciless glint in her eyes, Li Xuejiao directed the palm straight towards Li Tianming’s chest!
POW!
To her surprise, Li Tianming didn’t budge an inch, taking the full might of her attack squarely on his chest! It was a direct hit, one that could very well injure or even shatter his internal organs. The loud, solid thump that followed was definitely enough to pronounce him dead on the spot!
Having killed her brother, Li Xuejiao started to panic.
“Xuejiao, are you on a diet?”An indifferent smile floated onto Li Tianming’s face.
Shocked, Li Xuejiao gawked at Li Tianming’s perfectly unharmed chest. How was that possible?!
Unfortunately for her, Li Tianming gained complete fire immunity! This was one of the many boons he gained from bonding with the Aeternal Infernal Phoenix. His Aeternal Infernal Beast Ki was already the hottest type of magma in existence. Fire could do nothing to him at all.
“Behold. THIS is the real Blazing Palm!” Li Tianming took advantage of Li Xuejiao’s panic and swiftly made his move, way quicker than what she had previously achieved. Before Li Xuejiao could react, a Blazing Palm had already made its way towards her face!
POWWWW!!
“AHH!”
A loud and crisp clap echoed out into the surroundings, which was swiftly followed by a blood-curdling shriek.
The terrifying power of the Aeternal Infernal Beast Ki meant that this was no normal slap. Her face blackened instantly, turned into charred ruins, as her body soared through the air and slammed into the tallest parasol tree in the garden. Broken teeth, coagulated blood and saliva splattered onto the ground moments later, a testament to the sheer force behind that casual slap.
BAM!
Gravity woke up a few seconds later, pulling her back down onto the ground with a cruel jerk. Her body nearly came apart from the fall, and a crippling pain shot up her spine.
“Aren't you in fifth level Beast Vein? Surely you can do much better than this. Shall we move on to round two?”
“NO! Please big brother Tianming I made a mistake, no please!” Li Xuejiao screamed in terror, but that didn’t dissuade Li Tianming from sending another punch to her face.
POW!!!
“AHHH!” She shrieked even louder, as more teeth flew out of her mouth.
Once again, she was sent up the tree, except only this time, she got caught in its branches. There wasn’t an inch of her skin that wasn't scratched and torn up by the branches, and tears began to stream down her ruined cheeks. The way she shrieked sounded really like a pig, Li Tianming mused.
"Hundred points for this pirouetting pig, I’d say. And it landed on the tree perfectly too!" Li Tianming remarked, clapping slowly as he marveled at his work.
He grinned as he saw his mother’s relieved smile. For Wei Jing, the letter of divorce meant nothing to her compared to seeing her son make a comeback.
“Well done, my son!” She gave him a thumbs up, just as how she always used to.
“Well, I have good genes.” Li Tianming returned the praise.
At that very instant, she seemed to appear young once more, the smile on her face hinting at her former beauty.
It was at this moment that Madam Huang let out a shriek. “Help! Li Tianming has committed murder!”