Under the blue skies and white clouds there lay a vast and endless ocean.
The fishing boat drifted slowly, and Caroline Onassis was overcome with boredom as she looked at the report in her hands.
"Has that old woman shown any signs of reaction?"
A burly black man in front of her replied, "I'm afraid it is as rumored. Li Shuanghua did not care about this grandchild."
"Tsk, I knew it. How could a cold-blooded old woman like Li Shuanghua give up the chance to get close to the Mage King for the sake of a grandchild she hates?" Caroline shook her head and said, "What else did those old geezers say? When can I return?"
"It'll be another week. After this one week, regardless of whether Li Shuanghua takes action or not, we'll need to get rid of that chap."
"One week?!" Caroline shouted. "You want me to stay in this dratted place with no network, cell phone or television for one week?!"
Cold sweat broke out on the burly man's forehead as he answered softly, "This the Elder Council's decision…"
"A bunch of idiots, old farts, good-for-nothings, crappy…" Caroline shouted, "Who was it that came up with such lousy idea? That cute little sister of mine?! Or that uncle of mine whose head is filled with pig's intestines?"
No one replied. When Caroline was like a crazy roaring lioness, no one dared to reply.
Caroline spat, looking at the trembling burly man in front of her, and suddenly asked, "Is that chap awake?"
…
In the black nothingness, a purple flame was flashing in the distance.
"What do you wish for?"
Fang Xingjian shouted loudly, "Who are you?"
The voice ignored him and continued to say, "What do you wish for?"
"I want power. Power to make me invincible! Are you able to give me that?"
"What do you wish for?"
"Tsk." Fang Xingjian shook his head. He had been dreaming the purple flames daily, but the other party would not show any reactions regardless of what he replied, and instead just kept asking him what he wished for.
The next moment, icy cold seawater was poured all over his body.
Intense pain came from his right arm.
Fang Xingjian gradually opened his eyes.
A black lady was looking at him with a brutal gaze, similar to a tiger assessing its prey.
"Hahahaha, Fang Xingjian, you're awake?"
Fang Xingjian looked at his right arm, which kept sending signals of intense pain. When he saw the empty spot where his little finger had been, and the layer of bandages wrapped over it, a tinge of savageness flashed in his eyes. His little finger had been cut off.
"There was no other choice. We needed something to show your grandmother our sincerity." Caroline walked to stand in front of Fang Xingjian, touched his face and said, "It's too bad that that old woman really doesn't like you."
Fang Xingjian stared at her and asked, "Who are you? What do you want?"
Caroline gave a weird laugh and said, "I am Caroline Onassis. As for why we're looking for you, it's very simple. The Black Mage King is looking for a disciple, but there are currently two candidates. One of them is Fang Xingchen, while the other one is Doris Onassis.
"And that old fart is only willing to take in one disciple."
Fang Xingjian looked coldly at Caroline and said, "You guys want to use me to threaten Li Shuanghua? I can't help but say that this is a really bad move."
"Hahahaha." Caroline smiled and said, "You're right, this was a really bad move. We've sent her a letter along with your finger, but she hasn't shown any reactions as of yet.
"However, this is merely one move out of the many blows we're planning. For the next week, your Fang Clan's business, territory and members will all be receiving all sorts of blows. That old woman won't be able to hang on."
"I guess it's just too bad for me, huh?" Fang Xingjian smiled bitterly. "You guys are not just planning to snatch the position of the Black Mage King's disciple, but you also want to force the Fang Clan down from their position as one of the Five Great Clans?"
"Hehe, the Fang Clan's abilities have long been unfit to be considered on par with ours, and yet they are still hogging so many businesses which they cannot hold on to. This is not good. It's not only the other great clans, there's also quite a number of multinational companies and political groups that have their eyes set on the Fang Clan.
"We're the first to take action, but we'll definitely not be the last." Caroline's finger stroked past Fang Xingjian's shoulders as she asked, "Make a guess. Will I kill you?"
Between her words, the area where her fingers passed by felt sore, as if a blade had been there, and had torn off a huge chunk of flesh off Fang Xingjian's shoulder.
A terrible cry escaped from Fang Xingjian's mouth as he glared at Caroline and he coldly said, "You lunatic."
"Hahahahaha." Licking the blood on her fingers, she laughed loudly and said, "In the midst of these boring seas, I have to find some entertainment for myself."
Caroline put her hands together, and suddenly the air in the room changed. Countless streams of air started rubbing against each other, creating a loud rumbling, as if ten thousand horses were stampeding, or as if a waterfall was flowing backwards.
'A large-scale air shockwave?' Fang Xingjian focused his gaze. 'Is this the Onassis Clan's second job transition, the Grand Air Controller?'
Caroline revealed a perverse sense of excitement as she looked at Fang Xingjian and shouted, "If you're in pain, you must cry out. You must definitely cry out, ok?"
In the next moment, the many streams of air turned into blade Qi, consecutively rubbing against each other, and releasing a sharp sound before they all shot out towards Fang Xingjian.
In a moment, Fang Xingjian felt as if he was being dismembered, as if tens of thousands of small, sharp blades were drilling through him at the same time.
Endless sounds of puchi puchi echoed through the air, as fresh blood started filling the atmosphere, as if it were a faint layer of mist dispersing in the air.
Caroline let the blood splash on her, dying her clothes and skin in the color of red.
"Scream out, cry out, enjoy yourself!"
A twisted sense of satisfaction hung on her face, and her vision started to blur.
"My dear sister, do you think you can stand above me after you have become the Black Mage King's disciple?
"I will not let you leave.
"No one can think of escaping from me!"
Fang Xingjian's expression was twisted, his mouth open as he kept on shouting with terrible screams.
"Haha, guess how much we spent to buy your friend over?
"The lady's name is Jessica, right?
"Five million USD was all it took for her to agree to bring you here.
"You're really unpopular."
As she wantonly left one scar after another on Fang Xingjian's body, Caroline's voice was like the cry of a demoness, echoing in Fang Xingjian's ears.
"Haha, Fang Xingjian, you've never found out how your mother died, right?"
Fang Xingjian raised his bloodied head and glared at Caroline with a wild beast's gaze, as if he wanted to swallow her whole.
"Hahaha, right, right, right, this is the expression.
Do you think that your second uncle released you for your own good?
You're so naive. He wanted to dispose of his nephew's Mage Slave, to pave his way when he would fight to become the head of the clan in the future."
Caroline smiled and shouted loudly, "And your mother, hahahaha! She was a genius who had gone through the second job transition at the mere age of 16! How could she possibly have died due to birth complications? Allow me to tell you. Your mother was beaten to death by your grandmother.
"Hehehe, did you know? Your life was destined to be a tragedy from the day you were born."
"Impossible!" Fang Xingjian shouted in fury. "I don't believe this! Right. Demonic City was only created 16 years ago. My mother was only 16 years old then. How could she have gone through the second job transition? You're lying!"
"Haha, do you really think that humans only started going to Miracle World 16 years ago?"
Caroline was obviously experienced in torturing others. Each blow she dealt to Fang Xingjian gave him the most pain, but the least injury, making him drown in endless pain without the relief of fainting or death.
The most terrifying thing was her words. They were like poisonous daggers, each cutting deep lines into Fang Xingjian's heart. She kept torturing his mind endlessly from all angles, from his birth and life to his mother and friend.
Two hours later, Caroline stopped, breathless. Her face was still red from excitement as she threw Fang Xingjian a last glance before she headed outside.
At the same time, she instructed, "Heal him. We'll continue tomorrow."
"Wait a moment!" Fang Xingjian lifted his head. No part of his body seemed to be intact, as if he was an overused, old, ragged toy. He struggled to lift up his head, and asked Caroline, "How did my mother die?"
"Hahahaha, I've already told you the answer. What can I do if you won't believe it?"
During the next seven days, Fang Xingjian suffered from Caroline's inhumane torture. In the beginning, he would still try to talk back, he would still scream out. But during the last few days, he had already lost all of his strength, and did not even have enough energy to speak.
A few black-skinned men brought up the battered Fang Xingjian to the deck. Caroline looked at Fang Xingjian, who now had a lifeless gaze and showed no reaction, and she shook her head, saying, "How boring.
"Throw him into the sea."
A black guard by her side said, "My lady, should we chop off his head before tossing him down?"
"Idiot! We've come all the way from the Eastern Sea. This is the Miracle World. Do you think he can still survive in this state?" Caroline asked. "The nearest coast from here is at least 200 kilometers away.
"Moreover, in a situation where he can't even move an inch, wouldn't it be more beautiful to have him see himself slowly slapped around by the currents, eaten by the fish, and lastly dying in solitude and despair?"
The black men in the surroundings all trembled in a cold shiver, looking pitifully at Fang Xingjian before once again lifting him up.
With a splash, Fang Xingjian was tossed directly into the seas.
Caroline smiled. "Alright, then. We can finally return to Earth!"
…
Drifting in the sea, tremors of immense pain rocked Fang Xingjian's body.
He felt as if he had been cut into pieces, then tossed into a mixer and blended crazily in it. When he breathed in air once again, the fishy smell of the sea entered his lungs.
But Fang Xingjian did not care about it in the least. His mind was swallowed by a dark, bottomless pit of despair, and an endlessly burning fury was scorching his heart.
'I can't take this lying down… I can't take this lying down.
"Caroline Onassis, that b*tch!"
Faces passed through his mind, names flashed in front of his eyes. The immense pain of his body was in no way comparable to the pain in his heart. Fang Xingjian was getting weaker and weaker, but despite that, he was thoroughly drowning in vengeance and fury.
'Why is it me? Why – is – it – meee?!!'
Accompanying the explosion of thoughts of vengeance, fury, despair and many other dark emotions, the tattoo of the purple flames on Fang Xingjian's neck became increasingly defined.
In the next moment, with a bang, the purple flames started to flare up from the back of his head, encompassing his whole body, and immediately turning him into a man in flames.
But although the flames were burning, when they came into contact with the sea water, they made no reaction, as if they were illusions.
'Am I going to die?'
The expected scorching pain from being burned by the flames did not come. However, there was a numb and itching feeling extending all over Fang Xingjian's body. He felt as if his wounds were being stabilized and… and that he would no longer die.
'What is this?' Looking at the purple flames on himself, a tinge of surprise passed through Fang Xingjian's eyes.
Under the burn of the purple flames, the wounds on his body gradually healed. Even the little finger which had been cut off was quickly regenerating, growing out at a speed visible to the naked eye.