Mu Fan’s knees buckled and landed on the ground with a loud bang, he was the only one feeling the full force of Li Shen’s pressure.
This pressure by Li Shen wasn’t from the laws of gravity or his Divine Will, but simply him manipulating the Spiritual Qi in the surroundings to constrict the space in a hundred-meter radius.
This was thanks to his understanding of Qi.
As Mu Fan struggled under this pressure several Sword Qi made of flames appeared above him, and his heart shook.
Li Shen’s killing intent was directed towards him and it felt like he was about to kill him.
With a thought from Li Shen, those flame Qi Swords fell towards Mu Fan. Sensing death approaching, Mu Fan instinctively called out for his Blade Will. The one Li Shen specifically said not to use.
However, before he could, Li Shen raised his finger and pointed at Mu Fan.
An inexplicable power enveloped him and seeped into his dantian to shackle his Blade Will.
Mu Fan sensing this was shocked. He now had no way to retaliate.
“Fine!! I understand what you're trying to say!!”
Mu Fan yelled in a hurry with his head down and eyes closed.
Suddenly, the pressure he felt on his shoulders lifted. He opened his eyes to see the multiple Fire Sword Qi just inches away from his face fading away.
Li Shen coldly looked at him, and he lowered back his head feeling ashamed.
“Backed into a corner you immediately resort to a move that could cripple you. You’re weak, all of you are.”
Li Shen looked at others as he said that.
He then turned back to Mu Fan and continued.
“You didn’t believe you’re Blade Intent was enough to get you out of that life and death situation so you resort to your trump card. Do you even know what Blade Intent is? It’s the manifestation of in Intent, the Intent to forcefully cut down anything and anyone one in its way.”
Li Shen’s expression became derisive.
“If you don’t have confidence in wielding it then why have it? You might as well develop dozens of trump cards that can cripple you so you can use them repeatedly in life and death situations.”
Mu Fan still had his head lowered, not daring to look up.
Li Shen had just pointed out a flaw in him that Li Shen had been trying to make him see for himself.
That’s why Li Shen insisted that he and the others focus on Martial Arts. If Mu Fan had, he would have found this flaw without Li Shen putting him in a life and death situation.
But it was better to wake him up now before he actually ran headway into a similar position with someone other than Li Shen holding the guillotine.
And not just Mu Fan, all of them had flaws.
Fang Chen was too fixated on his master’s Sword Formation that he refused to give up on forming all Nine Qi Seas at once, completely ignoring the high wall of difficulty.
Fei Yin had gotten too comfortable and lost the drive to get stronger.
Lihua was too fixated on her Clan’s techniques that she lost her originality and to try find a path of her own.
Yang Su was too indecisive at times and that shows in his cultivation as well as his relationship with Ling Xia. Li Shen wasn’t glad he chose his cultivation over her, he was happy that he finally made a decision.
Either way, he would have still supported him wholeheartedly.
And as for Jun, his flaw was that he allowed his Physique to dictate his state of mind instead of controlling it.
That flaw of his had gotten him crippled, almost dying if Li Shen hadn’t stepped in.
Li Shen didn’t want to see any of them in similar situations as Jun today, not if he could help it.
He understood that he can’t expect them to make wise decisions every time, after all, they were practically immature kids when compared to his experiences. With Fei Yin being the oldest at nineteen, Jun being the youngest at fourteen, Yang Su at sixteen, Mu Fan at seventeen, and lastly Fang Chen and Lihua who was eighteen.
But he had a responsibility as their Faction Leader to lead and make the best decisions for everyone. And his decision now was giving them a wake-up call, the cultivation world wasn’t one where mistakes can be made without repercussions.
Li Shen created a safe environment for them in the academy, but once they go outside then he won’t be able to protect them, and he refused to baby them every step of the way.
But call him a grumpy parent who was overprotective of letting their kids outside, though he has a right to feel apprehension for their safety when that outside world was a dog-eat-dog world.
Li Shen had already come to terms that except for maybe Jun, he wasn’t a guardian or parent to them. But as their Faction Leader, he took on a similar role.
Sighing in his heart, Li Shen turned away from a sulking Mu Fan.
He then reiterated his words from before.
“Stay here, and wait till I return, I’m not done with this conversation.”
Li Shen then left to take the teleportation circle to leave the academy.
Later, in the dead of night, a figure could be seen floating in mid-air above a bustling City.
He wore a featureless mask and shabby-looking clothes.
His red eyes behind the mask, which seemed like a beast observing the wilderness for its prey, watched the city down below.
Li Shen took out an information storage jade slip and confirmed this was the city Huifen mentioned.
Although he couldn’t get the location of this Poison Progenitor, Li Shen was planning on raiding every Demonic Cult secret base which the Mercenary Association had knowledge of, that belong to the Poison Demonic Sect until he found that person.
This was him raging war on the Poison Demonic Sect.
The ramifications of what that entails were dashed out the window. He had already held back when his members were crucified, but hat happened to Jun was fueling him to find that person to behead him, and he won’t stop searching until he did.
Even if the two incidents are unrelated, Jun almost dying had provoked Li Shen's anger. And he won't hold back when he's angry.
After confirming that this was the correct city, Li Shen put away the jade slip before his gaze on the city focused.
His red eyes turned golden before the world in his vision turned black and was filled with Heavenly Laws in the form of golden threads.
Immediately, Li Shen saw an unnatural flow of laws in the city. A cluster of black miasma was mixed in.
This was the influence of Demonic Qi and it disgusted him to no end.
After looking for a moment, Li Shen’s eyes stopped at where the miasma was most dense, which was the northern section of the city.
Li Shen’s eyes regained the red color and a killing intent burst from them.
This was the start of something monumental, a bloodbath that was going to rock the entire Maple Continent to its core.
In the future, when one asked what had caused the grudge between the enigmatic Faceless Hero and the Poison Demonic Sect, the answer one would get would be varied. No one will know that it was because a powerful Top Chosen from the Poison Sect had almost killed his second disciple.
This event was going to push the name of the Faceless Hero into the spotlight even more and would come to be known as the Blood Feud between the Poison Demonic Sect and the Faceless Hero.
**
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