Chapter 81: Li Xiaotian

The azure sky was being swallowed by the blazing sun.

The cool breeze in the forest was devoured by wild sand, and waves of scorching heat rolled in like a tide. The entire world seemed to have transformed into a world of sand, forcing the aircraft to land in the wasteland.

Sand and dust flew up in great clouds, scattering on the wind!

The hatch opened, and Jiang Qin leaped out warily, leaving footprints in the sand.

He swept a glance around, found nothing, and said coldly, "Sneaking around and hiding your head—if you've already pulled me into your Domain, why bother hiding? Or are you afraid that the moment you show your face, I'll kill you?"

The gale howled, and a burst of applause rang out.

"Your mind is calmer than I expected. It was worth waiting several days for you."

A figure suddenly appeared a hundred meters directly in front of Jiang Qin.

His build was as burly as an iron tower, his bronze muscles radiating a savage, honed-to-the-extreme ferocity. An inch-long old scar on his temple lent him an extra air of viciousness and murderous intent.

The next second.

An Invisible Slash cleaved straight through the middle of his skull!

But no blood flowed from the wound—only fine grains of sand. In the span of a breath, the man's entire body turned to sand and was scattered by the wind.

Seeing this, Jiang Qin's brow furrowed even deeper.

He didn't know much about Domains, and would be at a serious disadvantage in a real fight.

But the Domain had also severed his distress signal, making it impossible to contact the outside world. Even the thunder power he could command was suppressed within this Domain, unable to unleash its full might.

"Young people are always impatient. I, Li Xiaotian, am no great villain either—even if I let you die, I'll let you die with clarity."

The middle-aged man reappeared, cold light glinting in his eyes.

"You killed my only daughter. She was very talented. I had planned to announce our relationship once she broke through to the Divine Image Realm Realm, but—she was killed by you! If it weren't for that woman Cangling, you should have died seven days ago!"

Jiang Qin's mind raced, flashing through person after person.

Not yet at the Divine Image Realm Realm, killed by him… and he had only just left the East China Headquarters not long ago when this man struck decisively—he was definitely someone inside the Zhenling Bureau.

In the end, he locked his suspicions onto one person.

"Li Ruyue of the Li Family in Hanyue City—she's your daughter."

"I had suspected before that there were people from those three families in the upper echelons of the Zhenling Bureau, but after investigating, I found nothing. I never expected the Li Family's true backer to actually be a Law Enforcement Officer. That does surprise me."

Li Xiaotian sneered, "It's no use begging for mercy now. But if you kneel down and gouge out your own eyes and cripple your own limbs, I can make your death a little quicker."

Jiang Qin, however, shook his head.

"No. I'm not surprised the Li Family has a backer like you—I'm surprised that a Law Enforcement Officer like you is actually… this much of a waste!"

The young man laughed aloud, his words dripping with mockery.

"You know what those three families do behind the scenes, so you never revealed your connection to the Li Family. You didn't even let your own daughter take your surname—no… perhaps she never even knew your identity. You were afraid of being tied to the Li Family, afraid that if the Li Family's crimes came to light, you'd be dragged in with them. That's why you never told her who you were."

"And now, you come to find me for revenge under the banner of avenging your daughter—how truly—disgusting!"

Li Xiaotian's face darkened completely, and the wild sand around him whirled into a frenzy.

"If those are your last words, then you can go die now!"

The sandstorm within a kilometer converged into several tornadoes. These were no ordinary tornadoes—everything within the Domain was conjured from Domain Power, and its destructive force was naturally extraordinary.

Just then—

A startling sword-light tore through that layer of Domain barrier!

Whether yellow sand or blazing sun, all were shattered beneath this sword!

A familiar, calm voice echoed in Jiang Qin's ear:

"Even when beating a dog, one must look at its owner. Bullying my adjutant like this, using your age to bully the young—Law Enforcement Officer Li, are you trying to provoke me?"

The yellow sand and blazing sun dissipated, and the surroundings returned to reality.

Cangling stood in the air, her raised finger slowly lowering as she faced off against Li Xiaotian—yet by her gaze, it seemed she didn't take him seriously at all.

"What do you mean 'even when beating a dog, one must look at its owner'… whose dog is whose! If you don't know how to use a phrase, don't just throw it around."

Jiang Qin was covered in black lines of exasperation and couldn't help but complain.

At the same time, he breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

Li Xiaotian's face was ugly. "Cangling, how did you show up here?"

He had gone to great lengths to wait until Jiang Qin and Cangling were separated, precisely to avoid facing Cangling head-on. And once Headquarters discovered he had attacked Jiang Qin, given the honors Jiang Qin possessed, even as a Law Enforcement Officer, he would have to pay a terrible price.

"Yue Beishan sent me here."

"Did you really think no one knew what you were doing? Headquarters not pursuing it was giving you a chance. And just now, your only chance to live was used up by you."

A Law Enforcement Officer was a high-end combat asset of Headquarters; losing even one would cause an upheaval.

From Yue Beishan's standpoint, Li Xiaotian's past leaks of information about the three great families of Hanyue weren't a big deal—clear water breeds no fish, he understood that well, so he gave Li Xiaotian a chance.

Completely cut ties with the Li Family; everything before and after stays the same.

But if he sought out Jiang Qin for revenge, then sorry… even if you are a Law Enforcement Officer, you can't escape being stripped of your position.

Knowing he could no longer touch Jiang Qin, Li Xiaotian stared at him with a cold, venomous gaze.

"Kid, the future is long. We'll see!"

"You'd better not fall into my hands!"

Having said that, he wasted no more words and decisively burned his own Domain to use a secret technique.

A Space Rift appeared before him, sucking his entire body in. The rift closed in an instant—all of it happened in the blink of an eye.

Having earned the enmity of an Earth Martial Realm powerhouse, Jiang Qin's mouth twitched, and he turned his head to look at Cangling in the air.

"Why didn't you stop him?"

Cangling landed beside him and unceremoniously flicked him on the forehead.

"Don't say it so lightly. Unless I could one-shot kill him, I couldn't stop him from using his secret technique. His body is very tough—to kill him, I'd need at least… two swords. And he should also be connected to the Church of the Gods."

"How do you know that?"

"The aura on him disgusts me. Only those who've come into contact with gods from another realm carry that kind of taint — I'm very sensitive to this sort of thing."

No wonder.

Jiang Qin's heart cleared in sudden understanding.

If it were simply for the sake of avenging his daughter, it wouldn't be worth Li Xiaotian risking his cover being blown — but if this fellow was one of the Church of the Gods' people, then it all made sense.

After all, that bunch of cultists hated him down to the bone.

The two of them walked toward the aircraft, one ahead and one behind.

"Cangling, you're free for the next couple of days anyway — want to come with me to Modu for some fun?"

"Heh, I think you just want to drag me along as a bodyguard so you don't get attacked halfway there again… You're clearly a weakling, yet you're quite the troublemaker. Give me one reason to be your bodyguard."

"This still-charming old granny, you don't want your dutiful, hardworking, handsome and loaded top-tier workhorse adjutant to suddenly die a tragic death, do you?"

"…"