Lin Kai stood at the entrance of his small courtyard.
The night wind blew gently, but the atmosphere was heavy with killing intent.
Ten men from the Li Clan stood in front of him.
All of them wore blue robes with a golden eagle emblem.
The leader, Li Feng, was a middle-aged man with a thick beard and sharp eyes.
His cultivation was at Peak Stage 6, making him much stronger than anyone Lin Kai had fought before.
Behind Li Feng were eight guards at Stage 4 and Stage 5, plus one young man who looked similar to Li Tian — probably another cousin.
Li Feng laughed arrogantly when he saw Lin Kai.
“So you are the brat who injured my nephew? You have guts, but today those guts will spill on the ground.”
Lin Kai’s expression remained cold.
“You came to my door yourself. Good. Saves me the trouble of finding you later.”
One of the guards shouted, “How dare you speak like that to Elder Li Feng! Die!”
The guard rushed forward with a long sword glowing with yellow light.
It was a basic sword technique from the Li Clan.
Lin Kai didn’t move much.
He simply raised his hand.
Black energy shot out like a whip and wrapped around the guard’s sword.
In the next second, the guard’s entire body started shaking as his Soul Core was forcibly pulled out.
“AHHHH!”
The guard’s body dried up instantly and fell to the ground like a dead leaf.
[Devoured Stage 4 Human Core] [Strength +18%] [Void Energy +120 units]
Everyone froze in shock.
Li Feng’s arrogant smile disappeared.
“What kind of evil technique is this?! All of you, attack together! Don’t let him touch you!”
The remaining eight guards attacked at the same time.
Swords, fists, and palm strikes filled the small courtyard with different colored lights.
Lin Kai activated Shadow Step.
His body turned into black smoke and moved between the attackers like a ghost.
Every time he appeared, a black tentacle would pierce someone’s chest and devour their core.
In less than a minute, five guards were already lying on the ground as dried corpses.
“Monster! He is a monster!” one guard screamed in terror and tried to run.
But Lin Kai was faster.
He appeared behind the man and placed his palm on his back.
Dark Flame Palm!
Black flames burned through the guard’s body.
The man didn’t even have time to scream before his core was absorbed.
Li Feng finally moved.
He pulled out a long silver spear and thrust it forward with full power.
The spear created a sharp sonic boom as it flew toward Lin Kai’s heart.
Lin Kai crossed his arms and blocked it directly.
The force pushed him back three steps, leaving deep marks on the ground.
“Not bad,” Lin Kai muttered.
His arms were slightly numb, but the Void Core quickly healed the damage.
Li Feng was surprised.
“You blocked my full power attack with your body? What exactly are you?”
Lin Kai didn’t answer with words.
Instead, he counterattacked.
He punched forward with Dark Flame Palm.
Black flames exploded outward, forcing Li Feng to jump back.
While Li Feng was in the air, Lin Kai used the new ability he gained earlier — Shadow Bind.
Several black chains shot out from the ground and wrapped around Li Feng’s legs.
“Get off me!” Li Feng roared and broke the chains with raw strength, but it gave Lin Kai enough time to close the distance.
Lin Kai grabbed Li Feng’s shoulder.
The Void Core inside him activated at full power.
Devour!
Black energy poured into Li Feng’s body like a hungry beast.
Li Feng’s face twisted in extreme pain.
“No! Noooo! My power… my cultivation… STOP!!!”
Li Feng struggled wildly, but it was useless.
The more he resisted, the faster the Void Core pulled his energy.
After twenty long seconds, Li Feng’s body became thin and weak.
His once powerful Stage 6 cultivation had dropped to almost nothing.
Lin Kai threw the dried-up man to the ground.
[Devoured Peak Stage 6 Human Core] [Major breakthrough achieved!] [Current Stage: Early Stage 5] [New ability unlocked: Void Eye (Basic) – Can see hidden weaknesses and energy flow in opponents]
The last remaining young man from the Li Clan fell to his knees in fear.
“Spare me! Please spare me! I am Li Wei, second son of the Li Clan’s third elder. If you kill me, my father will—”
Lin Kai looked at him coldly.
“Too noisy.”
One black tentacle pierced Li Wei’s chest and ended his life instantly.
[Devoured Stage 5 Human Core]
The entire fight was over in less than ten minutes.
The small courtyard was now filled with dried corpses.
Lin Kai breathed out slowly.
His body was filled with new power.
He could feel his muscles becoming stronger and his senses sharper.
He looked at the storage ring and stored all the valuable items from the dead — swords, money, cultivation pills, and a few technique manuals.
Just as he finished cleaning up, Su Mei arrived running.
When she saw the scene, her face turned pale.
“You… you fought the Li Clan alone?”
Lin Kai nodded.
“They came looking for death.”
Su Mei looked at him with complicated eyes.
“The Li Clan won’t let this go. Their Clan Leader is a powerful Stage 9 expert. He also has connections with the City Lord.”
Lin Kai smiled faintly — the first real smile in a long time.
“Good. The stronger they are, the more power I can devour.”
He suddenly remembered something.
“Su Mei, do you know any place where I can sell these stolen weapons and get more information about the big clans?”
Su Mei thought for a moment.
“There is a black market underground called ‘Shadow Exchange’. Many rogue cultivators and shady people go there. But it’s dangerous.”
“Perfect,” Lin Kai said.
“Take me there tomorrow night.”
While they were talking, a small figure appeared at the courtyard entrance.
It was Xiao Ling.
She had followed Su Mei secretly because she was worried.
“Big Brother Kai… are you okay?” she asked with big scared eyes.
Lin Kai patted her head gently.
“I’m fine. Go back home and take care of your mother. Tomorrow I will find a better place for both of you to live.”
Xiao Ling nodded happily and ran back.
Su Mei watched this scene and softly said, “You are different from other cultivators. You are ruthless to enemies but kind to the weak.”
Lin Kai didn’t reply.
He simply said, “Go rest. Tomorrow will be busy.”
After Su Mei left, Lin Kai sat down to cultivate again.
The new energy from the Li Clan members needed to be stabilized.
While meditating, the mechanical voice spoke:
[Main Quest updated: Reach Stage 10 within 55 days (45 days remaining)] [New Side Quest: Destroy or take over one of the three big clans within 30 days] [Reward: Void King’s First Domain]
Lin Kai opened his eyes.
His purple-black pupils glowed in the dark.
“The Li Clan will be the first to fall.”
Meanwhile, in the Li Clan mansion located in the center of Azure Cloud City, chaos had erupted.
Li Tian’s father, Li Clan’s Third Elder, was roaring in anger.
“Who?! Who killed my son and brother?! Find that black flame boy no matter what! I want him alive so I can torture him for ten days and ten nights!”
An old servant whispered, “Elder… the boy might be related to that mysterious power that appeared in the Dark Forest recently…”
In another part of the city, inside Cloud Mountain Sect, a beautiful girl in white elder robes was listening to a report from Su Mei.
“So… his name is Lin Kai?” the elder murmured.
“Interesting. A boy who can devour other people’s cultivation. This might be related to the ancient legends…”
Many eyes in Azure Cloud City were slowly turning toward the same direction — toward a certain young man who had just started his journey of revenge.
End of Chapter 6