Liu Xing shot through the air, the wind rustling his hair. This method was awkward, less like flying and more like being dragged by an invisible force. He would have already arrived using his shield, but he couldn't complain. It was an improvisation, after all.

As he drew closer to Wei Yi and Lihuo, he saw they weren't on equal terms. Thin, long worms extended from Wei Yi's stomach into Lihuo's right foot. The muscles in Lihuo's shoulders and biceps twitched, straining as if he were trying to jump toward Wei Yi but couldn't.

Wei Yi was controlling Lihuo's body, and Lihuo was trying to break free.

"Why?" Lihuo shouted, his face contorted with pure anger. "Why did you betray me? Aren't we friends? Aren't we going to conquer the world together? Why, Wei Yi, why?!" He began to scream, a guttural sound, as if Wei Yi had committed the worst betrayal in history.

Lihuo had truly thought of Wei Yi as a friend, not merely a demonic cultivator who offered him power. Liu Xing suspected there was real history between them, though he didn't care for Lihuo in the slightest. The man was one of the root causes of this disaster and deserved this betrayal.

Wei Yi snorted. "What? You truly believe we're friends? How naive. You call your brother a moron, but you are the greater fool. I am merely a manipulator who came to you in your time of vulnerability and tempted you with power. A classic fairy tale. Even an idiot would know that accepting my offer was the same as selling your soul to a vengeful spirit!"

"Then when you consoled me, cheered me up, and even taught me cultivation," Lihuo's snail eyes began to waver, "all of that was just an act?"

"Of course! You think I want to be your father? Hell no. I have a son, and my son is my greatest creation!"

As he shouted, the giant, reaching its hands toward the meatball, began to groan as if answering him.

"If not for that meddling Purple Moon Sect disciple, he would have been perfect!" Wei Yi's face contorted in anger. He clenched both hands, and the flesh tree growing from his hunchback began to squirm. "I had to rush the job! The lad with the Sun Serpent bloodline is actually rejecting my control, and that disciple forced me to cut so many corners. I even had to sacrifice my own cultivation to bring him to life! It's a miracle my son even formed without a core! He should have had at least seven cores, a thousand minds, a thousand faces, and a thousand bloodlines when he opened his eyes. Yet he is reduced to a being with not even a single core and dormant bloodlines!" He inhaled deeply, trying to rein in his emotions, and flashed a small, refreshing smile. "Still, I am Wei Yi, master of improvisation. While it's frustrating, the fact that I have successfully awakened my son is a win. I only need three more ingredients to make him at least less imperfect, and you," he pointed at Lihuo, "are merely one of them!"

Upon hearing that, Lihuo's expression flickered from anger to sadness to anger again. "You... you... how dare you betray me?! How dare you make me your enemy! Wei Yi, I vow I will kill you in the most painful way possible!"

"You can try," Wei Yi laughed. He swung his right hand, and the worm extending from his stomach to Lihuo's foot began to squirm. "A mere ant doesn't deserve to threaten me!"

The worm connecting them swelled like a long balloon being filled with air.

"Wei Yi, you bastard!" Lihuo tried to break free, his muscles twitching frantically, yet even he, a Sun Refining abomination who could hold off the entire Yang clan alone, was powerless before Wei Yi.

When Liu Xing assessed Wei Yi's qi, he discovered he wasn't at the peak of the Sun Refining realm at all. Instead, he had regressed to the Core Splitting realm. Still, while his qi felt closer to Liu Xing's than to the former emperor's, he somehow seemed capable of suppressing the much stronger Lihuo.

Wei Yi cackled madly. "Soon, you will be perfected, my son! Grab the main core! Be whole again!"

Liu Xing gripped his stone blade and licked his lips, his chest beating like a war drum. Their conversation was full of information he needed time to digest, but one thing struck his mind like an arrow.

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He snapped his head toward the giant, which was now holding the meatball as gently as a wounded bird. The wrongness he'd sensed from the giant finally clicked into place. It was merely at the Lock Opening realm.

The realization was insane. How could a being so big, brimming with qi, be so weak? Yet, the feeling he'd had, combined with Wei Yi's words, made Liu Xing certain of his conclusion. That "son" of Wei Yi was made from thousands of abominations who had eaten countless people with bloodlines. A perfect version would have been utterly terrifying, but its current state was a sign of its imperfection. But that wouldn't last. The giant meatball was the main core. The thought was terrifying. If the giant absorbed that core, his chance of winning would plummet to zero.

The worm extending from Wei Yi's gut was now swallowing Lihuo whole, bulging like an anaconda that had swallowed a cow. Only Lihuo's head remained. His snail eyes squirted yellow liquid, his expression a mix of sadness, anger, and betrayal, while Wei Yi laughed madly as if he had already won.

Liu Xing gripped his stone blade tightly, the distance between him and Wei Yi shrinking. Ten meters, nine, eight. The speed wasn't ideal, but he would soon arrive. His heart pounded with anxiety. He had a golden chance to kill Wei Yi in a single strike. With his invisibility and the fact that Wei Yi was no longer a Sun Refining cultivator, he should be able to cut him down. Even then, killing the giant would be hard, but at least there would be no mastermind controlling it.

When Liu Xing was only about four meters away, he plunged into the black mist surrounding them and let go of the potent qi dragging him forward. His momentum carried him toward Wei Yi as he slashed the stone blade. The slash was simple, intended to sever Wei Yi's spine. There was no fancy technique, but Liu Xing had no doubt the stone blade would cut Wei Yi like a sharp knife slicing tofu.

Adrenaline spiked, and the world slowed. He could see with certainty that Wei Yi hadn't noticed him, still laughing at Lihuo, unaware that death was approaching. But when his blade was a hair's breadth from Wei Yi's back, the flesh tree suddenly moved. A branch made from a person covered in pustules shifted, and the momentum made Wei Yi stumble to the side. Liu Xing's blade only grazed his back.

His eyes widened, and he instinctively tried to adjust his strike, but he only managed to sever the hand of the branch-person who had saved Wei Yi. As his heart hammered, Liu Xing saw Wei Yi stop laughing and snap his head toward him.

Liu Xing gritted his teeth, wondering how to attack next, when the branch-person flailed his one remaining arm, his yellow serpentine eyes looking around anxiously. But a moment later, after Liu Xing saw the face full of pustules clearly, his body stiffened. He stood frozen, his heart trying to pump his shock away, but it was too great.

That was Elder Yang Zhaoyan

Once strong and dignified, he was now fused with the flesh tree, his face gaunt beneath the pustules, his eyes yellow and anxious. He looked around, trying to find Liu Xing, trying to reach the sweet embrace of death, but he couldn't see him. Liu Xing was still invisible.

Liu Xing dismissed the question of how he'd been detected and gritted his teeth, anxiety replaced by a cold fury. His eyes snapped toward Wei Yi, who was looking around, trying to find him too. This guy was a menace. Too many lives had been lost because of him.

Steeling his heart, Liu Xing crouched, gripping the black gun so tightly his palm turned white. He pointed the stone blade at Wei Yi, activated his Lightning Cloak Technique, filled his gun with Lightning Palm bullets, and pulled the trigger six times.

The bullets flew toward Wei Yi, who, while he snapped his head toward them, didn't have time to dodge. They hit him dead in the chest. Electricity exploded, and thick ropes of lightning paralyzed him. He screamed, and Liu Xing jumped, rushing through the air until the black swirling mist parted before him.

"Who dares to attack me?!" Wei Yi shouted as he tried to bring his palms together. But before they could meet, Liu Xing appeared, his blade slashing horizontally to decapitate him.

The former Elder Yang Zhaoyan moved, his palms swirling with black fire. A thick plate of what looked like solidified air materialized, protecting Wei Yi's neck. When his stone blade hit it, a loud "ping" echoed, and his blade stopped for a heartbeat before shattering the barrier. But the small delay gave Wei Yi a chance to duck, and the blade only cut the tips of his white hair. But while Wei Yi ducked, the tree growing from his back was still in the blade's path. Liu Xing gritted his teeth and swung as hard as he could. The blade bit into the base of the flesh tree. It was hard, but not hard enough. In less than a second, the tree was severed. The stump burst with a geyser of blood, while the flesh tree, along with Elder Yang Zhaoyan, fell.

Liu Xing saw the Elder flash a small, grateful smile as he died. The sight made his anger toward Wei Yi boil over, and he changed the blade's trajectory, bringing it down.

Wei Yi's palms finally met, and a blue barrier encased him in a box. When Liu Xing's blade hit it, a spark flashed, and the barrier held for a moment before cracking and bursting into a thousand points of light.

Wei Yi rolled to the side, the stump on his back still gushing blood. "Who? How can you see me? And why can't I see you?!"

Liu Xing answered by charging his stone blade with qi, making it glow purple, and sending a crescent of energy toward Wei Yi's face. Without stopping, he also sent six Exploding Fist bullets and kicked off, flying toward him.

"Wei Yi!" Liu Xing shouted, anger lacing his voice. "Prepare to die!"

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