The baby panther touched Xuan Li's head, sending a sliver of energy to his brain, jolting Xuan Li awake. Xuan Li's eyes burst open and seeing that he was still alive, he felt disappointed and annoyed.
"Hmph what an idiot" The man snorted and proceeded to face his friend. "Alright, your tur-"
"HEY! I asked you to burn me! Not kick me!"
Before the man could finish speaking with his friend, he heard a shout from the direction Xuan Li was kicked. Shocked, he turned back and saw Xuan Li slowly standing as if he didn't just get sent flying.
After moving his head side to side, Xuan Li walked over to the guy with great determination.
"That was very painful but that level can't kill me! Please burn me!" Once he got in front of him, he knelt down with his arms cupped, pleading.
The man just stared at the pitiful person in front of him unable to utter a word. 'How the hell did he survive that? Is he a cultivator? I sensed no mana from him' The mage became cautious and flashed a red ball made of fire on his hand.
"You want to be burned? Here!!" The male slammed the ball of fire at Xuan Li. The fire burst open engulfing Xuan Li, burning him alive.
The scorching heat jumps Xuan Li from his position. "AHHH!" He wailed in pain, flinging his head and arms uncontrollably and instinctively trying to put it out.
The baby panther stared at the horrible state the mortal got himself into but simply yawned. Then it rested its chin on its paws watching the scene in amusement 'That kid survived an attack from me. That measly fire won't kill him'
Xuan Li's screams resonated that even the villagers could hear his painful screams. Some covered their ears while others giggled and smiled.
'Fuckkk, It feels like my skin is melting! This has to do it! This will surely kill me' After a few seconds, Xuan Li got used to the intense burning he felt and smiled. However, the fire began to extinguish gradually, losing all its flare.
"No no no! Come back!" Xuan Li called for the fire to return but it didn't listen to him. The man backed away from Xuan Li. He used one of his powerful fire spells but it didn't even burn a patch of his skin.
Well...the fire did burn something on Xuan Li. His clothes. Yes, he stood there butt naked as the clothes were not fireproof. Blushing, Xuan Li covered his sacred place while glaring at the mage "P-pervert! So this was your plan! You wanted to burn off my clothes and t-take advantage of me!"
The mage was speechless. Not only was he being called a pervert but his own spell also did nothing. His best affinity was fire where if any other mage on his level cast that spell, it would pale in comparison.
Boom!
A burst of aura resounded through the entire village, scaring all in its vicinity. Luckily, it was only a burst and quickly passed. However, Xuan Li, the mage and the other male looked towards the panther. Except Xuan Li, the other two felt their lives were in danger and though Xuan Li felt the hands of death for a moment, he was curious about the baby panthers power.
"Get him clothes NOW!" The baby panther growls towards them.
'A high-leveled beast?' Shocked and scared, the mage immediately flicked his wrist and a blue robe came out of nowhere. He handed it to Xuan Li with quivering hands.
"H-here" The mage stutteringly said.
"Thanks...and thank you as well" Xuan Li, surprised by the attitude change of the two guys in front of him, took the robe and dressed himself while also looking towards the panther. From everything that's happened, clearly this was not his world. This world has magic and powerful beasts like the panther. From his knowledge of reading fantasy novels, he thought if he could make it seem like the panther was his "pet", it should be easier to command the two.
'Fuck! He casually talked to that beast! Don't tell me he tamed a beast of that level. If so, this individual is at least two levels above us yet I dared to kill him' The mage looked towards his friend, who had been silently observing everything, to ask for help. The friend saw the mage's gaze and cupped his hands towards Xuan Li.
"Sir, I am terribly sorry for my friends behaviour." He sternly and politely spoke to Xuan.
Seeing this, the mage also cupped his hands and followed with respect. "Yes, I am sorry. It was due to my incompetence that I didn't see a genius like yourself"
"Hm, well it's fine. As long as you understand your mistakes. To tell you the truth, I have been trying to find a successor. That successor will inherit my treasures if they are able to kill me" Xuan Li was amazed at the stupidity of the two! To continue this farce, he spoke in a much more dignified and confident tone with his arms crossed on his back.
"Sir, if you told us from the start. We would have welcomed you with open arms. Why did you approach us so pitifully" The mage couldn't help but speak out his queries.
"My earlier actions were simply to drive your killing intent towards me. How am I meant to find my successor if the person won't try to kill me," Xuan Li followed, closing his eyes as if explaining his "actions" were a nuisance.
The two caught on and the friend said "Ah! Of course. Sorry about my friend, he is still very inexperienced, so inconsiderate words may come out from him."
Xuan Li stared at the two who were slightly bowing with their hands cupped, while laughing inside. "Well, gather everyone who you think has the power to kill me."
"Alright but sir the rest are only level 1 mages or cultivators. We are the only initial level 2 mage and cultivator while the village head is peak level two mage," the mage answered.
"That's fine. Anyone has the chance to be my successor!" Xuan Li declared.
The two ran back to the village.
"Bwahahahaha! You really fooled them" The baby panther finally spoke with amusement.
Xuan Li sighed and walked towards him and laughed, "Now, with these cultivators and mages, I will be able to die!"
The baby panther and Xuan Li conversed for a few minutes, with Xuan asking about cultivators and mages. Apparently, both have 9 levels to them with mages grow from absorbing mana through the dead bodies and beast cores while cultivators absorb Qi from the world itself.
"What if you pass out? Your fake identity will be exposed when the great immortal passes out from one attack." The panther questioned.
"Oh right...well, can't you just jolt me awake if that happens?" Xuan Li asked, hoping he would agree.
"Fine." The panther thought for a moment but agreed even though he wanted to be the one to kill Xuan Li, seeing him in pain would be pleasing to his eyes.
Their conversation halted as a group of ten people walked towards them. In the group were the mage and the friend from before, but behind them were three girls and five guys
"Sir, we have brought them. Sadly the village chief is away at the moment" The mages friend respectfully spoke.
"That's disappointing but I am sure one of you fine individuals can succeed." The group had bright smiles and confidence radiated from them.
Thus began the night of torture for Xuan Li.
At first, they tried to separately kill Xuan. One of the girls created a water bubble that encased Xuan, depleting him of his oxygen! He struggled in the bubble but passed out. Sadly, when the water bubble ended, he was jolted awake...meaning he didn't die.
Another man used some move called '100 punches' which was basically beating Xuan Li into a pulp with his superior strength. Unfortunately, at the first punch, Xuan Li was immediately sent flying. And at the same time, there was also a heart throbbing scream of the male sounded while clenching his bloodied right hand. No damage was done to Xuan's body.
Another girl tried stabbing at his pressure points with a technique called 'Pressure lock' to seal his Qi/Mana and then brought out a great sword and slashed at Xuan with all her strength. Sadly, the moment the sword touched Xuan's body, it was completely shattered. Xuan only felt a slight pain from the attack.
A few males tried to use their personal weapons like daggers, hammers and swords and hit different parts like Xuan's head,sacred place and spine but all shattered.
The mage from before tried casting a spell once again. This time, he created small stars of fire and shot them towards Xuan. They exploded upon contact, but Xuan felt the explosion and flew back, passing out once again before being jolted awake for another time immediately after.
Out of all their attempts, that one girl's water bubble caused him the most pain. However, the group wasn't done!
They began to work as a team. The water girl created a water bubble enveloping Xuan but this time two males provided their mana. Xuan Li once again was suffocated and was about to pass out. But the male mage, with two fingers, swayed in different patterns and slowly yellow electricity flowed from the two fingers. Once it charged, he shot it towards the water bubble resulting in an electric bubble.
Xuan Li, who was inside the bubble, felt the electricity piercing his body! The loss of air although wasn't killing him, but at least made him pass out, free from the pain. However, the constant electric shock was preventing him from passing out completely and since it was combined with water, the level of shock had increased.
"URGHHH!" Xuan finally screamed from the floods of water digging into his mouth and the powerful electricity piercing his nerves.
This torture lasted for hours!
The mages would supply the girl mana and rotate when their mana reserve emptied. The water bubble didn't require much mana to hold but creating it takes a lot, depending on the size. So when the girl used it the first time, she already expended a lot of her mana creating a water bubble at Xuan's size, so she couldn't hold it for long.
But now, with the help of the others, she could hold it for nearly infinite time as long as Xuan did not forcefully break it. This water bubble would be completely useless in combat as the opponent would dodge it or break it but Xuan Li wanted to die so he didn't retaliate.
The cultivators could only watch as their QI could not supply the girl and so they just provided food from the village. The group and panther just watched Xuan Li, screaming from his torture bubble of electricity.
Honestly, even for him—Xuan Li, this was a bit too much!
Even though they've been going at it for three hours, he still hasn't died!
'Hmph, this is what you get for seeking death,' The panther snorted while smiling as he watched the poor Xuan Li get tortured for the next few hours.