Chapter 94: Demise
Xu Min's eyes were as cold as ice while he looked at the young master of the Snow Mountain family. By his side was Ye Ling whose eyes were just as cold. Xu Min took the sword in his hand and pointed it at the man in front of him.
"Come on!" he called out, making it clear who his target was. Even the usually confident Young Master felt his heart shiver when he felt Xu Min’s aura gradually becoming more and more imposing. Qi billowed from his body to create a clear barrier around his body. While the sword in his hands absorbed so much Qi, its humming became louder and louder.
Gritting his teeth, the young master started cursing himself and his family for having made such a powerful enemy. If Xu Min remained just a two-star Warrior as he seemed at the start, then there would be no reason for his family to be forced into such dire straits. However, now that they knew he was a five-star Warrior they felt as though they had kicked a hornet's nest.
Xu Min saw this young master was not advancing. All he did was grip his weapon tighter, and he could not help but snort. It was about time to start the battle!
The first time the young master had met Xu Min his strength had been low. So low, in fact, that he could kill him with a flicker of his hand, but today the powerful energy which exploded from Xu Min's body caught him by surprise. It had even surpassed his energy levels!
As a result, this young master could not help but be inwardly startled. The imposing power surged as Xu Min stomped on the ground and shot forward like an arrow released from the bow. The sword was in his hands; the entire air was crackling with energy as he shot past. A majestic power surged from his body as though he had an unending amount of Qi.
The young master was shocked, but he had been trained well. As he saw Xu Min move towards him, his reactions were swift. A loud bang sounded out as wild, and violent Qi exploded from Xu Min's body causing even the leaves on the ground to explode into dust. Every spectator was pushed backward by the violent force caused by the collision.
The young master's body was jolted backward by this berserk force of Xu Min. After a good ten steps, he finally came to a halt. A small streak of blood was trickling down the corner of his lips.
Xu Min was also forced a step back from the collision. Nevertheless, he had the upper hand, and only one step was taken backwards. From the outcome, everyone could see who had the upper hand in this exchange, but some started to argue whether or not Xu Min had the energy to continue such attacks. It had to drain his Qi pool immensely.
Everyone's eyes swiftly looked towards the extremely miserable young master, and they felt startled in their hearts. It was simply unexpected that one of the top geniuses of the younger generations had been forced into such a state after only one exchange from a fairly unknown figure.
Moving forward, the young master's face was grim. His hands gripped harder on the handle of his weapon. He casually wiped the blood away from the corner of his lips. Although it seemed as though he was not too injured, only he knew exactly just how terrible the situation was for him. He had already become severely wounded, and he only had enough energy to make one all out attack.
"Let's quickly settle this!" he roared into the sky. Qi appeared all over him. Xu Min grinned. This man was clearly an external expert like himself. Thus he used the energy to enhance his strength and the strength of his weapon.
Xu Min was both an internal and external expert, but he had no time to focus on the internal aspects. All he knew was the Shattering Palm stance and the Radiant Jade Shower. He could consider the spirit bow a way to use internal energy as well as his Devouring World. However, these were not true stances. They were just ways to use the Qi and fell in a third category between internal and external practice.
Suddenly Xu Min smiled and closed his eyes for the moment. He felt the entire world merge with him. Slowly a small red hue appeared around his body before the sword lit aflame. Not only this but the wind around him started to pick up. The light breeze turned into a storm, yet Xu Min stood in the middle of it, and nothing happened to him. It was as though the storm was incapable of touching him.
Seeing how the sword had become lit aflame and the wind was picking up, all the experts were getting worried. It was clear Xu Min made the storm, but how? They had never before heard of an expert who could affect the weather nor had they heard about a sword that turned red like a flame.
Although Xu Min had flames flaring from his sword, his eyes were as cold as before. He sent a beam of swordlight towards the young master, instantly slicing off one of his legs.
"Aaaah!" the scream resounded in the wind and was carried far. The blood started gushing out, and everyone could smell the stench.
Xu Min lifted his head and shot another swordlight at the young master's last leg. This was removed just as swiftly as the first. His opponent instantly crashed into the ground because he could not stand any longer.
These beams of swordlight were incredibly sharp and swift. Even when the young man did his very best to protect himself, he failed. He could not help but scream out in miserable pain.
"We will kill you!" he yelled with a hate filled voice that was on the verge of insanity. "If you kill me, we will never let you off the hook. You will die a painful death; we will make you wish you were..."
No more words were spoken as one more swordlight shone. The head of the young master rolled away from his body and moved no more.
"As if you would ever let me go," Xu Min sneered at the corpse. He had released the wind energy that his Qi had absorbed while fighting the fairy in the Blood Pagoda. It was as though he had connected with the wind. When he entered the stage of being one with the world, the wind came to his beck and call.
Xu Min was aware of how strong the young master had been and to defeat him he needed his strength at its peak. Consequently, to reach the peak, he released all his Qi and became one with the world. He relied on the fire energy and used the wind to make a favorable environment.
"I still need to improve on my usage of wind Qi and the Wind," he mumbled to himself, but for now he was satisfied with his performance.
Although Xu Min had used almost all of the cards available to him, he did not mind. He had proven that his strength was simply outstanding. He smiled happily as he went towards the other Snow Mountain people.
"Give me the bounty you placed on my head," he said casually. He took all items on the young master and placed them within his robe. The members of Snow Mountain dared not delay. Although Ye Ling was supposed to deal with them, the fight between him and the young master had been so swift that no one else had the time to attack. Therefore, they were still all alive.
No one dared to waste any time. They rushed to hand over the materials that they would have traded for Xu Min's head. The young man took them unceremoniously. He placed them all within his storage treasure and packed it away within the robe. By now he was the highest ranked expert in the entire Immortal Valley Ranking, and no one dared to rob him.
Had he fought a serious fight against the young master, a fight where he had to put his life with on the line then, of course, many warriors would be like wolves, waiting to throw themselves at him when he was trying to heal himself. However, this was not the case. Although Xu Min had used most of his trump cards, no one knew that. Everyone feared that there was still more powerful attacks he possessed.
Xu Min was aware of this, but he felt rather carefree at the moment. No one was willing to attack him unless they had a major force; Xu Min was certain that no one was able to make such a force or faction out of nowhere.
Chuckling Xu Min did not care about the rest of the Snow Mountains, experts, none of them could pose any threat to him. He turned his back to them as he walked back to where Ouyang Xiu was standing.
Although Ouyang Xiu had expected Xu Min had hidden strengths, he never expected it to be that outstanding. He was deeply shocked and shaken. Still, he quickly collected himself. He broke into laughter as he slapped Xu Min on the shoulder.
"Brother Xu is not simple as he appeared! I feel fortunate to have become your friend rather than an enemy!" Ouyang Xiu exclaimed, and he meant these words with all his heart.
Even if it was impossible for the Ouyang family to recruit Xu Min, it was a good idea to be friends with him. He was a young man, a very young man, and still, he had such outstanding strength! The future aspirations for this expert were unlimited.
Ouyang Xiu was excited. To have noticed Xu Min was a great benefit for him. Even if he could not win the highest ranking in the Immortal Valley rankings then so be it. He felt that friendship with Xu Min was much more important.
Outside the Immortal Valley Ranking, everyone was silent as they looked at the Snow Mountain people. Some had pity in their eyes, others satisfaction at Snow Mountain’s genius demise schadenfreude. The allies of Snow Mountains’ eyes were filled with hate as they looked at Xu Min while their enemies were gloating and were incapable of hiding their smiles.
This young master who just died by Xu Min was the absolute strongest person in the younger generation of Snow Mountain. To have lost him was the same as losing a future asset and their respectability. They needed experts like him to lead their sect to higher grounds, but now it seemed as though their hope of becoming a stronger would have to wait until another peerless genius appeared in their family.
This was obviously of great excitement to the other families and sects, but it also sealed Xu Min’s fate. Snow Mountain would do anything to kill Xu Min. Even if the rule of the Guardians was to ensure that no one took revenge for what happened in the Immortal Valley Ranking, who was to enforce such rule? If Snow Mountain assassinated Xu Min, who could blame them?
Everyone was aware of this but to be honest; no one truly cared about it. Xu Min was indeed a genius unlike any they had seen before, but he was not a part of their sects and families. Even though they wished to befriend him, it meant nothing to them if he died. He had already been incredibly useful to them for killing some of Snow Mountain's main fighters.