Chapter 47: Night

Night.

The old, dilapidated district was shrouded in darkness; the murky air still reeked of dampness and decay, but for most of the lower-class residents, this was already a decent place to live.

In one unremarkable residential building, muffled explosions could faintly be heard, and on severe occasions, neighbors upstairs and downstairs could feel vibrations through the floor and walls.

Someone was dissatisfied.

But no one dared to knock on the door to complain.

Because the person causing such noise could no longer be considered ordinary—he must be an evolved cultivator.

Most of those living here were commoners; they dared not offend a cultivator.

Li Yi was immersed in practicing fist techniques and had not noticed how his commotion disturbed his neighbors.

At this moment, he was drenched in sweat, eyes blazing, bare-chested, his muscles sharply defined like a fierce beast; with each movement, his fist power erupted, shattering the air and causing dust to rain down from the ceiling.

After days and nights of relentless refinement,

Li Yi had gained a deeper understanding of fist techniques, and through training, he could now generate fist power from various parts of his body.

His legs, knees, elbows, shoulders... even his fingertips could release power—he could snap his fingers and produce an explosion, driving force three inches deep.

But he had never received systematic instruction or a master to guide him; he relied solely on his own exploration and insight, so his fist techniques were chaotic, merely following the natural direction of his body’s force.

Such unstructured fist techniques were extremely dangerous.

Because every strike was a killing move, easily leading to fatal accidents if he couldn’t control his power.

But Li Yi was a novice; he didn’t understand these risks—he simply wanted to deliver the strongest possible punch, nothing more.

“Take a break, eat something to restore your strength.”

Suddenly,

Li Yi took a deep breath, lowered his stance, wiped the sweat from his body, then picked up the golden nutritional liquid on the table and gulped down two large mouthfuls.

After finishing, he immediately sat down, closed his eyes, and rested to recover his body.

Under the effect of the golden nutritional liquid, his strength recovered rapidly, his nutrients were fully replenished, and the injuries he sustained in the danger zone had completely healed, leaving no lingering issues; moreover, his muscles grew fuller, his body stronger.

After only twenty minutes of rest, Li Yi was once again mentally alert and physically energized.

This was the formidable recovery ability of a cultivator.

“I feel I’ve nearly mastered my power-emitting technique. Now I need to link these together into a unique combo—I can’t let the situation with that Biao happen again.” Li Yi thought silently.

Delivering one punch was easy, but delivering them in rapid succession required his body to adapt and adjust.

Otherwise, if one punch failed to kill, and the next didn’t follow in time, he himself could be in danger.

Yet just as Li Yi prepared to further hone his fist techniques,

Suddenly,

His phone rang.

Li Yi glanced at the screen and saw it was Lu Jue calling; without hesitation, he answered: “Hello, Lu Jue?”

On the other end, Lu Jue spoke in a hushed, serious tone: “Li Yi, don’t say anything—listen to me. Just now, a very close friend of mine contacted me—he said he received a private assignment: someone is coming tonight to kill you, and they’ll be here soon.”

“Li Yi, I don’t know if you’ve angered someone, but tonight you’re in grave danger. If you believe me, run—get out of this city. I can’t help you, I can only warn you. That’s all—I’m hanging up.”

Lu Jue’s voice was urgent; he ended the call immediately.

Receiving such a message, Li Yi froze.

Someone wanted to kill him?

How?

He trained alone at home, lived in peace, and hadn’t offended anyone.

Could it be Yang Yi?

No.

Impossible. Yang Yi had obtained the fist technique; he was probably still studying it and had no reason to kill him before mastering it.

Wait.

Suddenly,

A thought flashed through Li Yi’s mind.

“Could it be Lao Ya and his gang...? If they learned I killed a Biao, they might suspect I possess a strange artifact—and one such artifact could be enough to drive them to take desperate risks, openly killing in the old district.”

Realizing this, Li Yi’s heart pounded violently.

Was his earlier fear about to become reality?

Run!

The first thought in Li Yi’s mind was to flee.

But quickly, his gaze fell on his parents, still lying motionless in the medical pod in the bedroom, and he halted.

If he left, what would happen to his parents? Who would care for them?

What if, once he fled, they took his parents hostage?

“No. I won’t run.”

In the dim living room, Li Yi’s eyes glowed faintly, then a wave of malice surged in his heart: “Lao Ya is a cultivator. So am I. They want my life—I want theirs too.”

“If they come tonight, I’ll make sure they never leave.”

At that moment, he clenched his fists and made his decision.

Yet just then,

Li Yi’s ears twitched—he heard faint footsteps in the hallway outside, someone climbing the stairs.

Normally he wouldn’t notice; the building housed many residents, footsteps going up and down were normal.

But these footsteps were too light—far below the noise level of ordinary people, and nearly undetectable unless listened for carefully.

This meant the person ascending was deliberately suppressing his footsteps.

And not only that.

Li Yi suddenly turned his gaze to the window—he heard something climbing along the exterior wall.

“Has it come this soon?” He took a deep breath, then picked up the golden nutritional liquid on the table and drank it all in one gulp.

Fist training consumed immense strength—he needed to be fully fueled first.

Ding dong! Ding dong!

Then,

The doorbell rang.

A stranger’s voice came from outside: “Is this Mr. Li Yi’s residence? You have a package—please sign for it.”

Delivering a package at this hour?

Even a bad excuse deserves some plausibility.

Li Yi stood motionless beside the door, holding his breath.

Only a cultivator of the Spirit Medium realm could sense him through a single door.

“They’re not trying to ambush me under the guise of a delivery—they’re confirming whether I’m home before deciding to strike. And judging by this, whether I respond or not, they’ll enter to investigate. Also, there’s clearly a cultivator climbing up the wall outside the window.” Li Yi’s mind was razor-sharp; he thought silently.

“So I’m surrounded?”

“Then I’ll strike first.”

Li Yi’s eyes flickered; he lowered his head slightly, staring at his hands.

His hands trembled involuntarily.

Had his body realized he was about to kill someone?

Was it excitement—or fear?

Ding dong! Ding dong!

The doorbell rang again, more urgently.

“Mr. Li Yi—are you home?”

Outside the door, a cultivator of the Spirit Medium realm held a knife in one hand and pressed the doorbell with the other. He stood in the dim hallway, eyes gleaming with murderous intent.

Beside him stood two more Spirit Medium cultivators.

Their eyes, too, glowed faintly, fixed unblinkingly on the door.

The moment Li Yi opened it, two of them would activate their gaze technique to induce brief dizziness, then strike in unison—completing the mission instantly.

“Ding dong, ding dong~!”

The doorbell rang again.

The cultivator knocking frowned: “Could the intel be wrong? Is Li Yi not home?”

Yet just then,

“Boom!”

The old front door suddenly exploded with a deafening crash, a hole blasted open, and a fist shot out instantly, striking the cultivator standing before it.

“Huh?”

The cultivator holding the blade instinctively reacted—he narrowed his eyes and instinctively stepped back.

But it was too late.

The fist drove forward another few inches, smashing directly into the man’s face.

Terrifying fist power erupted.

Amid the sound of cracking bones, the fist sank deep into the cultivator’s face, nearly piercing clean through his skull.

Blood gushed profusely; his body convulsed unnaturally.

The cultivator instantly lost consciousness and collapsed lifelessly to the ground.

The two other cultivators outside the door were momentarily stunned by this sudden scene.

"Li Yi, you're really here," a low growl suddenly came from a corner inside the room.

The figure behind the door seemed drawn by the voice, immediately pulling back its fist and retreating swiftly.

The sound of shattering glass followed.

Several figures broke through the windows directly.

The leader was Lao Ya, who had crossed paths with Li Yi a month ago.