Fifth Source of Bloodlust Energy
“Lie Shang?” exclaimed Mu Yu, spinning around to face the young man he never detected there. Mu Yu saw a flame flicker in Lie Shang’s red eyes for a split second. “What are you doing here?”
“This is not the right place for this. Follow me.”
“Wait, I need a favour.”
“What?”
Mu Yu let Gao Yixing go for the meantime and recollected himself. “I know a victim of celestial flames. Can you get rid of it?”
Lie Shang nodded and then followed Mu Yu back to Mystic Beast Store.
“Mr. Xuan, may I ask where Ms. Xuan is?”
“She’s resting in her room. Is something the matter?”
“Bring her out please.”
“No need,” stated Lie Shang, snapping his fingers.
Xuan Sitong screamed as she watched the flame leave her mother and evaporate. She cried, “Father! Father, the celestial flames are gone!”
Xuan Zhengtang ran inside to check on his wife.
“You don’t mind revealing your ability to them?” Mu Yu asked.
“I trust them if you trust them,” answered Lie Shang. “Follow me.”
“I want to kill Tian Ziming and Gao Yixing.”
“They’re dead even without you killing them. You don’t need to waste your time.”
Mu Yu checked back on the Xuans, then picked up Xiaoshuai to go with Lie Shang.
Lie Shang opened the door to an abandoned house, unleashing the cobwebs, dust and putrid stench.
“You live here?” Mu Yu questioned.
“Mm.”
Sauntering in, Lie Shang released a steam of fire through the house. By the time the fire was extinguished – which only last a second – the house was sparkling clean and new.
“A five elements formation?”
“Shifu forbade us from learning humankind’s formations, but he never said we couldn’t learn five elements formations,” responded Lie Shang, clothes eye-catchingly red.
“You… obtained bloodlust energy?”
“Who’s the kid?” Lie Shang inquired, referring to Xiaoshuai, who was standing on the table.
“Xiaoshuai, Shifu’s sword spirit. You met him before.” Mu Yu joined Lie Shang at the table. “What are you doing here?”
“You shouldn’t have revealed your bloodlust energy yesterday.”
“I… wanted to protect the city.”
“Yeah? What did you get in return?”
“You and First Brother were the ones who wanted to protect mankind at Clearwater City!”
“I’m fed up.” Lie Shang sighed.
Both of them were sick of the people they tried to save turning out to be nothing more than cowards, backstabbers, bullies and so forth.
“… Count me in. Nonetheless, I promised to protect this city. I have to clean up my own mess.”
“You mean the promise to He Jinglong? Can’t argue he is an exemplary gentleman. Still, you won’t gain anything from rescuing those ungrateful people; they won’t even feel grateful.”
“To hell with their gratitude. I just want to do right by me.”
Lie Shang pointed to the teapot.
“You like tea?” Mu Yu inquired, surprised and realising just how little he knew about Lie Shang. Upon touching the teapot, Mu Yu discovered it was cold.
“Shifu is a fan. He told me I should learn to drink tea because tea calms the mind. That’s why I’ve become a fan,” elucidated Lie Shang, heading out to fetch water from the well and boiling it on his way in. He poured both of them a cup of green tea and mentioned, “Shifu said you must clear your mind before you drink.”
“It tastes bitter,” Mu Yu commented after a sip.
Lie Shang gently swished the tea and had a whiff prior to drinking. “Tea no longer calms me as it did prior to leaving Mount Dustfallen. Shifu advocates protecting cultivators, but I don’t see the value in doing so or a reason to offer my help.”
“You have my vote. Even so, I attracted them here, so I need to clean up.”
Bored out of his skin, Xiaoshuai poured Lie Shang’s tea into Mu Yu’s cup and then back ceaselessly. He then lined the cups up in a Luohan Formation and giggled to himself.
“They’re here for me,” stated Lie Shang, breaking the silence between them.
“What? They’re here for you?”
Lie Shang nodded. “I’ve been here for several months to spy on them. Fire Priest has been trying to capture me, but I’ve hidden my bloodlust energy. He noticed my presence when I entered the mountain yesterday. Accordingly, he called in the cavalry.”
“That means… I caused them to mistake my bloodlust energy for you yesterday?”
“Yes.” Lie Shang indifferently continued, “You know what I found out yesterday?”
“What?”
“They plan to wipe out the city in five days using Five Elements Annihilation Formation in order to coalesce the bloodlust energy.”
“Why did they suddenly mount an assault yesterday, in that case?”
“Because they wanted to strike pre-emptively in case the cultivators abandoned the city.”
“Ah… Those three titans are their priests?”
“Yeah, Fire Priest, Earth Priest and Metal Priest.”
“How come they also have bloodlust energy?”
“They found all of the spirit lords’ bloodlust energy and are using some method to draw on the same energy. As it’s a mere loan, they have to endlessly kill if they want to sustain the energy. They’ve already wiped out three human cities; this will be the fourth,” Lie Shang informed aloofly.
“Why do they need to go there? I thought they’d seek the five of us out. Shouldn’t it make more sense to free the spirit lords to reinstate their leaders?”
“From what I know, they haven’t found any of us. Only defeat awaits them if they can’t find their sprit lords. That’s why they’re trying to gain the power and launch the pre-emptive strike, procuring the bloodlust energy before war officially commences.”
“Why hasn’t Third Realm Palace lifted a finger if they’ve destroyed three human cities already?” Xiaoshuai inquired. When Mu Yu and Lie Shang looked his way, Xiaoshuai poked his tongue and shrugged. “Oh, I forgot about the soul energy.”
Mu Yu turned back to Lie Shang. “Where did you acquire your bloodlust energy from?”
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