’A bluff?’
...
All three of them paused after Ye Yaming’s shout. Was there an enemy hiding? Who was the boy calling?
Finally, the awkward pause ended and the helper arrived. The mutated beast soul appeared from inside Ye Yaming’s chest.
"He’s at Stage 2 already." Both the men looked shocked as they moved forward.
’No wonder the boy dared to attack. He is at the same level as us, minus the battle experience.’ The beast soul of the man faced off against Ye Yaming’s while the other man fought Ye Yaming separately.
"Weak! Did you expect to fight me without your Beast Qi?" The man chuckled as he punched.
Since Ye Yaming summoned his Beast Soul, most of his Beast Qi was drained from him. Without the Qi, the boy couldn’t resist his punches.
"AAarghhh!!!"
The man hurriedly glanced back to look at his partner. The pained cry should not have been from his partner.
’How could he?’
Ye Yaming’s Beast Soul had torn the wings of his partner’s Beast Soul.
And it did not stop at that...
’Hurry! I need to hurry!!’
He aimed at Ye Yaming’s head with his full strength, wanting to knock out the boy but Ye Yaming dodged it and got hit on his shoulder instead.
The boy snarled but continued to maintain a gap between them.
"NOOO!!!"
Another wing was torn off from his partner’s Beast Soul.
However, the Beast Soul took its time savouring the other Beast Soul instead of aiding the boy.
The Beast Soul seemed sentient.
But it was alright. He was already upon the boy. One more hit and the boy’s life would be over.
The Beast Soul would helplessly disappear after the owner’s death.
He glanced at the boy’s face for the last time before putting all his Qi into his fist.
"How?? How do you have more energy?"
He looked scared, surprised. He couldn’t move his hand anymore.
His fist was stopped!
The weak Ye Yaming had stopped his fist with a single palm.
’I was hoping to get out of this fight without injuries.’
Using the moment of shock, he pulled himself up. His leg glowed with translucent white Qi as he kicked his opponent in the chest.
He held his injured shoulder before glancing at the opponent.
"Pure Qi! You have already cultivated Pure Qi!!"
He was not an expert. The amount of Beast Qi he had was already fully consumed in sustaining the Beast Soul projection.
He was suffering from temporary weakness after the kick on his chest exhausted his Qi even further.
The vague silhouette of Beast Soul began to flicker, nearly disappearing.
’It should have hurt him more.’ He realised that Ye Yaming was not physically weak as rumoured. Otherwise, his punches would have broken the boy’s shoulder.
"Arghhh!!"
His partner spurted blood out of his mouth, screaming in pain.
He regretted escaping back then.
He regretted not having assisted Ye Feng that day.
He regretted underestimating the boy just because he was seven.
But it was already too late.
The boy was standing close to his face and it did not seem like he wanted to talk. The pained cry of his partner made him stiffen in fear.
The boy’s Beast Soul was cruelly dissecting the opponent’s Beast Soul.
Before he could even speak, begging for mercy, Ye Yaming stomped his leg on the chest.
He heard crunching noises, the sound of bones breaking, flesh tearing but he could not see.
His eyes blurred and his breathing stopped. He had not even moved his body to resist the stomping.
"Now that I am done fighting, you have come to feast?" He glanced at his mutated Beast Soul, dissatisfied.
If the Beast Soul cared then it could have intervened and saved him from his shoulder injury.
But he let it be. The injury was nothing serious.
He saw the Beast Soul devour yet another of its brethren.
While his mutated Raven was busy, Ye Yaming took his time to check his enemy’s bodies. He was disappointed because of no loot and returned back to his temporary residence after his mutated Raven was done.
"Li Shan’s task is done." He completed the task within a week. He looked at the bruises on his body and sighed.
He did not go to inform them that he had completed his first task and rested instead.
"I wonder how far the stats will go this time." The mutated Raven took on two prey this time. Both the targets were second stage.
....
"He did it!" Ren looked shocked as he informed his boss Li Shan.
He had just been informed by one of his lackeys that Ye Yaming seemed to have returned with injuries from somewhere.
Ren had not wasted a second and went ahead to search for the two men from the Ye clan, the targets his boss Li Shan had set for the young boy.
As he neared the bodies, he could smell the foul smell. The bloodstained ground spoke of the cruelty present in the battle.
Both the Ye clan men were surrounded by their blood. One had its chest stomped inward while the other one had spurted blood and was lying in the puddle.
He was shocked by the bizarre scene because it did not look like a sneak attack after examining the injuries.
The boy had fought the two adults head on and won.
A seven year old boy!
...
"Both of them?" Li Shan looked at Ren’s blank face and asked.
Ren just nodded with a blank face.
Li Shan paused in his seat. Two adult men, with combat experience, fell against a seven year old?
He had asked the boy to become a subordinate because he found his attitude good, quaint.
"Any injuries?" Li Shan enquired. He clasped his palms and leaned forward, breaking his usual composure.
"Bruises, nothing serious." Ren answered. He had not gone to check on the boy’s personality but from what his lackey had told him, it wasn’t anything serious.
Ye Yaming was not even limping, just holding and massaging his shoulder as he returned.
Li Shan looked at him for a few seconds then at the ground near his feet and chuckled.