"Butterfly prism palm!" A young lady shouted out with her palm releasing purple aura in the shape of a butterfly wing. She sent a strike at the man at the center of the town square.
When her palm made contact with the man's chest, her entire body shook, and blood spurted out from her mouth, ears, and eyes. The young girl fainted, suffering internal injuries by her own attack!
The butterfly prism usually would send her own energy vibrations onto the opponent's body, leading to ruptures in the opponent's organs and vessels. However, when she made contact, the vibrations couldn't enter the man's body and instead redirected back to her. Her own attack caused her demise!
A few people from the crowd picked up the girl, horrified by her internal injuries. She was on the brink of death, and even if she did survive at best, her cultivation will be reduced by one tier, or at worse, she will be crippled.
The girl never expected her attack to harm her and since the man said he won't do anything, she never conjured any defensive techniques and only focused on the attack. The cultivation world is cruel where one mishap could turn you from a prodigy into a cripple.
Who was the guy who unintentionally ruined this girl's future? Of course, it's Xuan Li!
Not understanding how severe the girl's injuries were, he exclaimed, "Who's next! Does no one here want my inheritance?"
Somewhere inside the crowd, Iris was watching the mages and cultivators try to kill this man but failed. Anything they tried would destroy the surroundings but not him. At first, she thought the man's body would be weakened gradually or all the damage he takes will build-up to the point that he will die from exhaustion. However, after the 12th person tried, she realised that the man isn't exhausted at all! There was no change to his appearance except that the man seemed to be losing hope.
Iris tried to read Xuan Li's cultivation/magic level but there was not even a sprinkle of Qi or Mana emanating from his body. If she didn't see him survive attacks from level 1 and 2 cultivators and mages then she would have believed he was a mere mortal.
"I am next!" A neat blond-haired man calmly called out. He was quite handsome and gave off the air of superiority. Seeing him, the crowd gasped.
"Oh my god"
"It's Sir Charles! The special guest of the village!"
"Shit! He is a Qi Awakening cultivator!"
"Of course! He has access to the heavenly noble sect resources!"
"He is one of the younger generations geniuses in the heavenly noble sect! They dote on him a lot!"
"Why the hell is here?"
The crowd was in slight chaos by a tier 3 cultivator's appearance! The villager knew there was a special guest but didn't think he would come down here!
"He decided to try? This will be interesting" Iris thought to herself. As the body was a tier 3 mage, she was able to sense the tier 3 cultivator for a while. Those of the same tier could sense each other unless they use special techniques or treasures to conceal themselves. Both of them knew of each other but paid no mind.
However, when Charles made his appearance, he immediately let out his Qi, revealing his level to everyone. Iris frowned and guessed he was the type to show off.
Though Xuan Li couldn't distinguish levels, he could feel a suffocating force from the man named Charles. Once he heard the crowd that he was a Qi Awakening cultivitor, he grew excited.
'That's stronger than those level 1 and 2's. Come on Charles, I believe in you!' He excitedly thought.
"Oh. Tier 3. I must say I am impressed, it's not easy to reach such a level. I have high hopes for you." Xuan Li calmly spoke to Charles.
"Thank you." Charles cupped his hand and bowed slightly. In this world, the strong are respected. Even though Charles was tier 3 and had a lot of pride, he believed Xuan Li was much stronger. So he paid his respect.
Charles flicked his wrist, a pure golden sword with red gems around its hilt flashed into existence.
The crowd gasped in amazement.
"I call this blade, Exodus! May you rest in peace" Charles jumped at Xuan Li!
"JUDGEMENT!" Charles slashed down at Xuan Li and a golden beam of light followed straight after.
The golden beam of light descended at Xuan Li, completely enveloping him, creating a bright light that reached the entire town square. The crowd, including Iris, was blinded by the bright golden light.
'This mortal attracts such talented individuals! First, the couple mage who can use a synchro spell and now a cultivator who practices one of the righteous cultivation art!" The black panther thought while he closed his eyes.
Once the golden pillar of light dissipated and after a minute the crowd managed to open their eyes.
What they saw was Charles having a downward slash motion next to Xuan Li.
Xuan Li was standing motionless for a few seconds. The robe he had was mostly gone, leaving red marks all over his body as if he had been burnt alive. Steam was emanating from his body but he still was alive as his fingers twitched constantly.
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Charles stood up and sighed. "It seems I have failed. Your sins were too light to kill you. Howe-"
Before Charles could finish, Xuan Li coughed a mouthful of blood and dropped on one knee: gasping for air.
The crowd was shocked! Not only was this the first time they saw injuries on Xuan Li but he also dropped on one knee coughing up blood.
The next moment, Xuan Li barfed out a black oozing substance!
The crowd gasped.
Many of the cultivators and mages were shocked!
'So much impurities! This level of impurity is even worse than the average mortals. Why does such a powerful cultivator have this much? He should be around a tier 4 or above yet such impurities?' Iris thought in disbelief.
"Wow. It seems your sins aren't that minimal...oh! You tried to kill yourself, didn't you? Suicide is considered a great sin and you must have caused the minor sin of harming oneself!" Charles voiced out to the crowd. He was known as a genius and highly intellectual despite his show-off personality. From Xuan Li wanting to reward the one that killed him and the strong reaction from Judgement, he deduced that Li must have attempted self-harm and suicide!
"You're fortunate! Judgment is a technique that increased my damage based on the sins my opponent has committed! As you're a far higher level and only caused one great sin and few minor sins, you survived my attack. Overall, you're a good person!" Charles explained to Xuan Li, who was trying to get his bearings.
What Charles said was true. However another effect of Judgement was that if the opponent survives their retribution,most of their sins will be eliminated causing their body to purify! Only mortals would accumulate these impurities the more they sinned. And since Xuan Li was also a mortal, the Judgement should have killed him. This is because Charles is a tier 3 cultivator, so a damage boost would further overkill him. The only way a mortal would survive against Charles is if they haven't committed a single sin!
Charles cultivation grants him enormous power but he cannot harm the innocent no matter how hard he tries!
However, Xuan Li has committed a few sins and he is a mortal but survived! This was all thanks to his strong body that took the power of judgement and allowed Li to survive. As he survived, Judgement purified his body depending on the sins and since for a mortal, his sins are large, his body underwent full purification.
Even Xuan Li, himself felt much more free and clear-minded after all the impurities from his sins left his body.
He slowly stood up and stared at Charles in astonishment. However, he quickly turned back to a neutral expression.
"Well done. You have been the closest to kill me. However, I am a righteous man. Maybe once you get stronger, if I am still alive, you can try again." Xuan Li calmly spoke to Charles but on the line 'righteous man' the crowd looked at him in disbelief!
'Great master....who are you trying to fool?'
'We all see the large amount of black impurity on the floor.'
The crowd was shocked at Xuan Li's shameless remark! Righteous, our ass! However, they wouldn't dare voice out such thoughts at him.
Charles bowed and said, "If you are ever free, come by my manor! I will be staying here for another ten days." Once he finished speaking, he walked away.
Though Xuan Li's sins have been purified, it did not change his will of death. Just cause your sins are forgiven does not mean you won't make them again.
So once Charles left, he lost all hope. That guy was a tier 3 cultivator, and though he damaged him considerably, it did not kill him. In fact, most of his injuries have been fully healed already! He was about to tell the crowd that it was clear no one else would be able to match Charles's level and leave, but someone called out.
"Let me have a go!" A delicate yet cold feminine voice sounded through the crowd.
Xuan Li sighed.
"Fine. However, this is the last one. It's clear there will be no one that can match that fellow Charles' strength." Xuan Li calmly said.
Who was the woman that called out? Of course, it was Iris!
She believed this man would be a good practice to try out this body's potential.