Chapter 14: A Killing Intent

As he looked at the offerings the spirits brought and listened to their words, Li Mingxing's expression grew colder and colder. He realized that his magnanimity had led these spirits to believe he was easily bullied, and now their words grew increasingly audacious. Yet the spirits failed to notice this, simply placing the leather goods they intended as payment for his help on the ground and boldly stating their demands.

The more Li Mingxing listened, the angrier he became. These spirits actually intended for him to help them seize a strange altar not far away, claiming that if he did so, they would reward him with enough provisions to survive here for half a year. Li Mingxing didn't even bother to reply; he remembered the witch in the underworld who had paid him handsomely for his assistance. These spirits, by contrast, thought a mere supply of food would suffice—a clear sign of their contempt.

Noticing Li Mingxing's increasingly icy demeanor, the spirits finally paused and asked cautiously, "Sir, are you dissatisfied with our proposal?"

"Don't you think your request is a bit much?" Li Mingxing replied coldly.

"Not at all," one spirit responded. "You have come to this place with no way out. Only with our help can you survive, and half a year's food is crucial for you. At the very least, you don't know how to prepare sandworm meat so that it's not poisonous."

"I have no need for that," Li Mingxing said evenly. "You should leave now, while I'm still in a good mood. Don't miss your last chance."

The spirits finally understood and withdrew, but Li Mingxing had no intention of letting them go. He still had several tasks to complete and needed a great deal of flesh and souls.

After the spirits had retreated, Li Mingxing summoned a harpy and said, "Go inform Yin Haitao and have them deal with these spirits. We're going to investigate the place those spirits mentioned—perhaps we'll find something worthwhile."

With that, his troops followed him onward. About three minutes after they set out, a wave of bloodshed swept through the area behind them. Soon, Yin Haitao and Mida Ling arrived with the giant elephant and the rest of the troops.

Standing by Li Mingxing's side, Mida Ling said fearfully, "Your subordinates are truly..."

"Ruthless, aren't they? There's no helping it. At first, I wanted to communicate with them peacefully, but you have no idea how arrogant they became," Li Mingxing replied, his anger yet unspent.

"It seems that after more than ten thousand years underground, they've forgotten who truly rules this world," Mida Ling agreed after hearing his explanation. But then she added, "However, you shouldn't always resort to such measures. The authority of a leader is not built on slaughter."

"But a leader cannot avoid bloodshed entirely," Li Mingxing said quietly.

"It depends on how you balance things. I just hope you don't fall into endless violence," Mida Ling sighed.

In the end, however, her hopes were destined to be dashed, for Li Mingxing, as an agent of darkness, was the embodiment of slaughter and intrigue.

Each act of violence, whether he realized it or not, made Li Mingxing stronger—especially these seemingly pointless massacres, which provided the best opportunities to increase his power.

On the road that followed, Li Mingxing spoke no more of such matters, nor did they encounter any other settlements. The path only grew ever darker.

Fortunately, most of Li Mingxing's followers had lived in the underworld for many years and were accustomed to the darkness. Even Li Mingxing himself had some degree of night vision, so instead of being flustered, he moved even faster in the gloom.

After about two days, Li Mingxing and his party finally entered a much larger cavern—five times the size of the one where he had originally landed. Here, Li Mingxing saw fossilized corpses, some with only upper bodies remaining, some with six arms and a serpent's tail, and others towering seven or eight meters high.

Among the corpses, he discovered strange soils—red, blue, black, and white earth, some of it embedded with gemstones.

Li Mingxing understood at once: this was almost certainly the site of a battle from the Elemental Wars ten millennia ago. Clearly, the spirits had discovered something here and hoped to use him as their cannon fodder.

The thought rankled him; those spirits presumed to use him, when they themselves were better suited for such a role. If word of this got out among the other trainee heroes, he'd lose all face in the Inner World.

The more he dwelled on it, the angrier he became, wandering the ancient battlefield in an attempt to calm his mind. But the further he went, the less peace he found, until eventually, he was seized by the urge to kill or destroy everything around him.

Just as Li Mingxing reached his limit, a shadow flashed past him, jolting him awake as if he had just been fished out of water. He realized that, had that shadow not interrupted him, he might have been lost entirely to his bloodlust.

Though he had never consulted his mentor about such matters, Li Mingxing—well-read in martial arts novels—understood what was happening. This was a heart demon, born unconsciously from the power and bloodshed he had accumulated. If left unresolved, he would eventually become a machine driven solely by the urge to kill.

He had prepared for this eventuality, having made arrangements to help himself through such a crisis. But he had never expected his heart demon to surface so abruptly, and in such circumstances.

At that moment, over forty spirit warriors appeared around him, their eyes full of intent to drive Li Mingxing and his troops away. To him, this meant yet another brutal slaughter.

Struggling to suppress his murderous intent, Li Mingxing began to retreat, unaware that this movement dispelled the spirits' last hesitation. They raised their strange tubes and fired round stone bullets at him.

The bullets were not especially powerful, but they hurt Li Mingxing enough that he could suppress his heart demon no longer. With a furious roar, he hurled himself at the spirits like a bolt of purple lightning.

His subordinates were startled by his ferocity and moved to help, only to be blocked by the Blackstone Warrior. "Let him fight. If he can't overcome this trial, he doesn't deserve to be our leader."

Hearing this, the others held back. Having grown up in darkness, they felt little loyalty to their superiors; only strength could win their allegiance. Now was Li Mingxing's chance to prove his worth.

Driven by the spirits' attack, Li Mingxing had lost all conscious thought—there was only one word in his mind: "Kill."

He plunged into the midst of the spirits, ignoring the stone bullets that struck him. With every blow, every slash, a spirit fell.

The spirits, cowardly by nature, panicked after losing just a few of their number, their formation dissolving in chaos.

Seizing the opportunity, Li Mingxing attacked even faster. He tore off a spirit's head in his jaws and let out another roar, preparing to finish off several more nearby.

But just then, a strange voice sounded. Under its influence, several of the spirits he had just slain rose to their feet once more.

Momentarily regaining his clarity, Li Mingxing was shocked. He instantly understood the nature of this power and scanned his surroundings, searching for the enemy responsible for resurrecting the spirits.

No matter how he searched, however, he could not find the source. In the process, he missed his chance to attack, allowing the spirits to reform their battle lines.

Frustrated, Li Mingxing realized this was not the time to hesitate. If he killed a few more spirits, the enemy would surely try to revive them, and then he could pinpoint their location.

He hunched his body low, using techniques he had learned from the battle leopard to increase his speed.

The spirits, having just reformed their ranks, were caught off guard by Li Mingxing's sudden attack. As they loaded more stone bullets into their tubes, Li Mingxing was already upon them.

This time, instead of killing outright, Li Mingxing shattered the spirits' weapons and wounded them, purposefully leaving them alive. This demoralized them even more than death, and soon the disarmed spirits lost all will to fight, fleeing back the way they'd come.

As they ran, Li Mingxing finally caught sight of his true target—the enemy capable of reviving the dead spirits.