Chapter 50: You Love to Smile So Much, Why Aren't You Smiling Now?

"Detonate!"

"Why isn't it detonating?"

As time ticked away, Donggong Chang felt a growing surge of panic in his heart.

"Rest assured, it won't explode."

With those words, Li Moxuan tucked the item straight into his embrace as if it belonged to him all along.

Harvesting this spirit stone left Li Moxuan in high spirits. Using a perfectly fine spirit stone to craft such a crude bomb was nothing short of a heinous waste of heavenly treasures. It was far more cost-effective to absorb the spiritual energy contained within the stone.

Donggong Chang was thoroughly panicked.

"How can this be? This is a spiritual bomb, how is it possible that it didn't go off?"

A sudden realization dawned on Donggong Chang, and he raised his head, staring at Li Moxuan in sheer shock.

"You? Could it be your doing? You must have used some despicable method to disrupt the detonation mechanism of the spirit bomb, you damned wretch!"

Li Moxuan smiled faintly.

"Heh... Your guess is close enough, but your phrasing deeply displeases me!"

*Slap...*

Li Moxuan walked slowly up to Donggong Chang and dealt him a vicious slap across the face.

Before Donggong Chang could even react, Li Moxuan swept his hand outward, sending a surge of robust and formidable spiritual energy rushing directly into Donggong Chang's soul, violently forcing a read of his memories.

This soul-searching technique would cause tremendous psychological trauma to the victim, leaving a high probability that they would end up a complete idiot.

However, Li Moxuan did not care about that in the least.

The fellow was dead either way, sooner or later.

A moment later, Donggong Chang was foaming at the mouth, lying on the ground, rolling his eyes, and convulsing violently under Li Moxuan's assault.

With a wave of Li Moxuan's right hand, a sheet of golden flame enveloped Donggong Chang's body.

In an instant, he was reduced to ashes.

Li Moxuan had successfully obtained the intelligence regarding the other two hall masters just as he wished. As for the elusive master of the Violent Wind Hall, whose dragon tail was seen without its head, even the three hall masters themselves had no idea of his true identity or whereabouts.

Since the figure was so mysterious, Li Moxuan chose to ignore them for the time being.

As for the origin of the spirit stone, it was no great secret.

It was an extremely precious self-defense artifact, priceless and impossible to buy with gold alone. Even Donggong Chang's spirit stone had been acquired purely by chance at some underground auction.

Li Moxuan sighed helplessly.

"I thought I'd be able to track down the mastermind behind the scenes and acquire a large batch of spirit stones, but I never imagined they would be as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns."

With such scarce spirit stones, even finding them would yield little profit, so Li Moxuan couldn't be bothered to pursue it further.

Having finished this business, Li Moxuan prepared to go track down the other two hall masters.

At that very moment.

A wave of chaotic footsteps echoed from outside.

They were rapidly entering Donggong Chang's villa.

A crowd of over a hundred people burst in, radiating a fierce and aggressive aura.

At the lead were a man and a woman.

The man appeared to be in his forties, dressed in a full set of black garments. He had a sturdy build, a face full of rugged flesh, and looked rather formidable. His actual strength was that of a late-stage Grandmaster martial artist.

The woman looked to be in her thirties, possessing above-average looks but maintained with exceptional care. With an alluring figure featuring an exaggerated bust and hips, she wore a tight red dress that left her ample cleavage nearly bursting out of the fabric, while her rounded, plump legs were sheathed in thin black silk stockings, making her exceptionally seductive and carrying a slight aura of bewitching charm.

Yet this woman was no mere vase; she was a genuine mid-stage Grandmaster martial artist.

As for the hundred-odd people behind them, over a dozen were at the Innate Realm, while the rest were nothing more than a bunch of cannon fodder at the acquired realm.

Li Moxuan raised an eyebrow slightly.

Better to arrive at a fortunate time than an early one.

Based on Donggong Chang's memories, Li Moxuan instantly recognized their identities.

They were none other than the second hall master of the Violent Wind Hall, Bei Hong, and the third hall master, Nangong Jin.

---

Upon seeing a strange young man in Donggong Chang's room, the second hall master, Bei Hong, frowned and interrogated him.

"Where is Donggong Chang? Who are you? Why are you here?"

Bei Hong had received intelligence stating that the first hall master, Donggong Chang, was collaborating with Lin Mofei of the Lin family in an attempt to swallow the entire Violent Wind Hall.

Naturally, Bei Hong was well aware of Donggong Chang's ambitions, so he had brought men along to call him to account.

Never did he expect to run into Li Moxuan instead.

Li Moxuan said indifferently,

"Those fellows? They're all dead!"

"Hahaha..."

The third hall master, Nangong Jin, covered her delicate mouth and let out a coy, tinkling laugh.

She laughed so hard that her shoulders shook violently, causing her snow-white, ample bosom to bounce frantically in a blinding display of white.

"Little brother, lying is quite wrong, you know. Donggong Chang is a mid-stage Grandmaster expert no matter how you look at it, and he commands over a hundred experts under him. Who on earth could possibly take them down?"

"Hahaha..."

The crowd of martial artists burst into roaring laughter, mocking Li Moxuan mercilessly.

They looked at him as if he were an absolute fool.

"Hehehe..."

Li Moxuan chuckled as well.

Inside the villa, everyone raised their heads and laughed out loud, creating an indescribably bizarre atmosphere.

"You say they're all dead? Then where are the bodies? Who are you? You still haven't answered my question."

"You'd better give me a straight, honest account of everything, or you won't be walking out of here alive."

Bei Hong stared at Li Moxuan. He could sense no traces of internal energy on Li Moxuan whatsoever, yet the youth spoke such absurd words—he might just be a mentally unhinged homeless vagrant.

However, Donggong Chang's men had truly vanished into thin air.

Regardless of the situation, even if Donggong Chang had defected from the Violent Wind Hall, they needed to see him alive or recover his corpse if dead.

"Their bodies? They've already been reduced to ashes!"

Li Moxuan glanced casually at the pile of ash on the floor.

"Hahaha..."

The martial artists of the Violent Wind Hall erupted into even more frantic laughter.

"Is this guy a stand-up comedian?"

"How did we run into such an idiot in the middle of the night?"

"It's hilarious to death, they turned into ashes? If that's true, I'll eat a huge mouthful of—"

Right as the crowd was mocking him, Li Moxuan merely flicked his hand casually.

A wisp of spiritual energy instantly landed on an acquired-realm martial artist who was laughing so hard he was doubled over.

*Whoosh...*

A flash of golden flame flickered and vanished in an instant.

The acquired martial artist's body instantly transformed into a pile of ash, dropping vertically onto the floor.

One person, one pile.

Witnessing such a bizarre scene, the crowd that had been roaring with laughter abruptly sealed their lips.

Absolute silence filled the entire villa.

The smiles froze stiffly on everyone's faces as they stood rooted to the spot in a daze.

The laughter hadn't vanished; rather, it had transferred entirely to Li Moxuan's face.

Li Moxuan laughed out loud.

"Laugh? Didn't you all love laughing so much? Keep laughing!"

Yet at this very moment, Li Moxuan's smile resembled the grin of a devil.

The complexions of everyone present turned deadly pale.

Just by casually waving his hand, an acquired martial artist had spontaneously combusted without a source of fire?

One had to know that even when sent to a crematorium, it took half a day of burning, and it still couldn't reduce a body to such fine, powdery ash.

The opponent had achieved this with a mere wave of his hand? What kind of fire was that?

Why did it possess such terrifying temperatures?

Li Moxuan sighed helplessly.

"I'm clearly telling the truth, why won't anyone believe me?"

Li Moxuan waved his hand once more.

Another martial artist at the Innate Realm was once again reduced to flying ash.

Just like a Death Note—whoever he pointed at died on the spot.

*Swish swish swish...*

Shocked to the point where their pupils constricted to pinpricks, the hundred-odd martial artists rapidly retreated by a distance.

They were terrified of being targeted by Li Moxuan again.

Bei Hong's complexion turned a deep shade of purple as he said in a deep voice,

"No wonder you're so arrogant. So you're an expert in bizarre arts."

In the martial world, apart from conventional martial artists, eccentric individuals possessing strange arts were countless.

There were plenty of people who practiced various unorthodox escaping techniques and bizarre mystic arts.

Aside from martial artists, there were those who cultivated Daoist formation techniques, talisman arts, and ghost-taming arts in great numbers.

Not only that, but there were also exceptional individuals proficient in witchcraft, curses, gu-poisoning, physiognomy, and divination.

Such people possessed similarly bizarre and unpredictable methods that were difficult to contend with.

In their eyes, Li Moxuan's Daoist mystic fire was categorized as witchcraft or cursework.

Killing people through such bizarre and heretical methods was indeed difficult to comprehend and naturally inspired terror.

However, to martial artists of peak cultivation, these side-door heresies were utterly useless.

Those formidable martial artists possessed powerful internal energy to protect their bodies, making their physiques as indestructible as vajra, rendering them impervious to ordinary gu-insects and poisons.

Bei Hong's remark provided the crowd with a very 'rational' explanation.

Since it wasn't something entirely unknown, it wasn't quite as terrifying anymore.

"Everyone be careful, circulate your internal energy and don't give him an opening."

The emotions of the martial artists gradually calmed down.

"Understood, Hall Master!"

In an instant, the martial artists present all began circulating their internal energy.

A faint aura materialized over their bodies, actually looking quite imposing for a moment.

Watching these fellows comforting themselves, the corners of Li Moxuan's mouth curled into a trace of disdainful amusement.

While these guys lacked brains, they were at least passable if used as cannon fodder.

Having only Xue Ming under his command was likely not quite enough.

If he could manage to take over this Violent Wind Hall for his own use, that wouldn't be bad either.

Now that Donggong Chang was dead, these fellows harbored no personal enmity toward him anyway.

"Speak honestly, exactly where is Donggong Chang? My patience is limited."

Bei Hong's tone began to sharpen.

Nangong Jin batted her eyelashes, swaying her dazzlingly white chest while her peach-blossom eyes constantly appraised Li Moxuan up and down, lingering especially on his lower half.

Then, she tried to persuade him in a sweet, coquettish voice,

"Little brother, you'd better just spill it. If you listen to big sister, considering how handsome and dashing you are, big sister will make you feel oh-so-good!"

Hearing that voice, the martial artists present all shivered involuntarily, some even experiencing physical reactions, but knowing this woman was no simple character, none of them dared harbor the slightest hint of desecration.

Li Moxuan let out a lingering sigh.

"Human beings truly are the hardest creatures to persuade."