Chapter 21: Dark
"Yu Tian! Yu Tian!" Shan Qian Xue shook the unconscious boy but to no avail.
Strands of dark energy sprouted like roots from where the void seed entered his body, coating his veins black. Yu Tian's breathing was slightly laboured as the demonic Qi continued to expand within him.
"You!" Li You Zi's voice became ominous as he glared at his uncle, eyes filled with unbridled fury.
Li Changpu seemed unfazed while he calmly observed Yu Tian's condition. Internally, he was actually extremely shocked from how much affinity the boy had with the void seed.
A cultivator's affinity with demonic Qi decreased as they got older. This was due to practicing the righteous dao and it being the natural enemy of demonic dao. The only exceptions were those who were exposed to demonic Qi and started cultivating the energy near or at birth.
In turn, one would have the highest affinity at birth when their Qi is the most malleable.
Even Li Changpu had to go through brutal agony when he defected to the demonic path, but managed to survive the process thanks to his master. The void seed was an experiment his master tasked him to perform, in order to find ones capable of controlling its power.
It also contained the very origin that demonic Qi derived from; the primordial element. This meant that it was the purest and most condensed form of demonic Qi.
Compared to others, Yu Tian seemed so tame in absorbing the void seed that Li Changpu even began to wonder if he'd really given it to him.
"[Martial Spirit Fusion]!"
"Oh?" Li Changpu's attention was turned to his nephew who fused with his martial spirit.
Waves of powerful Qi exploded from Li You Zi. The whitening hair on his head and face has turned the shade of orange red, and his stature seemed to become upright and majestic. A Qi armour of identical colour also enveloped his body.
The top of his robe also exploded, revealing a solid 8-pack underneath. Countless old battle-scars lined his otherwise flawless body, as if it were a slab of marble carelessly chiselled away by a drunken artist.
"Deciding to fight seriously now, nephew?" Li Changpu taunted with a smile.
"You have no idea what you've done!" Li You Zi roared.
He didn't know what the void seed did, but the current patriarch knew that it couldn't be anything good coming from the demonic path.
Now that the rest of the family members were safely evacuated thanks to the help from the Shan clan, Li You Zi can fight with all his strength. He knew that he didn't have much of a chance against a Battle Ancestor like Li Changpu, but hopefully he can buy enough time for the others to recover.
If they went all-out together, then there was still a slight chance for victory.
"[Soaring Falcon Talon]!" Getting into a stance, Li You Zi inhaled deeply and crossed his arms with his fingers curled into claws.
The Qi around him turned into shades of darkening red, before transforming into spheres of flames that orbited around his body. With a massive grunt of exertion, Li You Zi swung his arm towards Li Changpu and shot a massive wave of energy in the shape of a bird at him.
"Screech!" The firebird let out a cry as if it were alive as it travelled towards its target, causing the ground around it to crumble and break from the astounding pressure of the attack.
"Even your signature move is pointless against me, nephew." Placing his hands together, Li Changpu made a hand sign.
"Martial skill: [Seven Sin Devour]."
Li Changpu's Infernal Hydra slithered in front of him, now coated with a dark purple Qi. All seven heads opened their mouths as they charged towards the huge firebird.
Colliding with one another, the Infernal Hydra's heads all bit down on various parts of the energy. Massive cracks rang out in the surroundings as Li Changpu's martial spirit broke the firebird into pieces.
Li You Zi panted lightly after delivering his attack. He gritted his teeth when he realized his signature technique had no effect on Li Changpu.
However, he needed to continue buying time. Li You Zi's eyes briefly flickered to his recovering comrades, and to the dying Li Chang. The blows that Li Changpu gave him seemed fatal, and there was no one currently able to help him.
Li You Zi grit his teeth when he sensed danger behind him.
"Forgotten about me, cousin?" Li Cheung smiled evilly as he launched another [Phoenix Burst] from behind.
Having also fused with his martial spirit using [Martial Spirit Fusion], his appearance became more serpentine while his flames turned black just like Li Changpu. Demonic Qi armour adorned his body.
Forced to shield himself with his arms, Li You Zi was blasted back by the explosion, sliding on his feet. Li Cheung's techniques have also become empowered due to his fused form.
Following up with his technique, Li Cheung struck forwards with two outstretched palms covered with black flames. "Die!"
The two War Masters began to exchange blows in the air. Lashing out with a kick, Li You Zi pushed Li Cheung back to nearly dodge a piercing finger that would've penetrated his brain. His arms still hissed with smoke from withstanding the [Phoenix Burst].
[Fireball]
Both cultivators clashed again that caused the surrounding earth to crack. After another brief exchange, Li You Zi fired off multiple exploding fireballs that created distance between himself and his opponent.
Gaining enough space, Li You Zi crossed his arms again with fingers curled. "[Soaring Falcon Talon]!"
"[Flame Shield]!" Li Cheung prepared to defend against his cousin's attack.
Shooting another massive firebird, it collided directly with the shield of dark flames that Li Cheung produced around himself. Li You Zi's technique slowly managed to shatter the shield and send the grand elder crashing down from the blast.
"What?" Li Cheung spat out a mouthful of blood while looking up with a hateful glare.
Trying to get up, several stone pillars erupted out of the ground, interlocking the space between his limbs so the grand elder couldn't move. Two more blades of wind and shadow Qi followed, decapitating Li Cheung's head cleanly off his neck.
"F-Father..." Confused at how the world suddenly turned upside down, Li Cheung desperately tried to reach a hand towards Li Changpu, but his body wouldn't respond.
Everything then turned dark, and the grand elder breathed his last.
Li Changpu shook his head in disapproval. Even now, his elder brother's son was still stronger than his own, and this was with the power of the demonic path.
Li Cheung's death was unfortunate, while his other son seemed to be just as close to death's gate as well. Luckily, his lifespan was already extended greatly thanks to the breakthroughs provided by demonic Qi.
He could always have more children to replace them eventually.
It was also unfortunate that there were two prime experiment targets, yet there was only one void seed. The former patriarch looked at Shan Qian Xue in regret.
Luckily, there was the option that he could simply bring them both away, though he had to first deal with the annoying mosquitoes present.
"[Martial Spirit Fusion]!"
Shan Dong Hai and the others finally broke free from his [Infernal Gaze], radiating with powerful auras as they all entered their fused forms. Li Changpu knew that his ability wouldn't work on his opponents again, as they were now prepared and avoided looking at him directly.
The former patriarch decided to stop playing around. His pupils turned purple again with his Infernal Hydra as he made another hand sign.
"[Ignite]." Whispering out the name of the strongest technique in the Li clan, the surroundings suddenly began to increase in temperature.
"[Sand Barrier!]" Sensing something was wrong, Shan Dong Hai erected another barrier to protect them.
However, it proved useless against the continuously increasing temperatures. The heat continued to get hotter and become painful.
Li You Zi realized the technique that his uncle was using. As fire cultivators, they developed natural resistance to flames and could withstand this technique, but Shan Dong Hai and the others who cultivated other elements would not be able to survive.
"Hold your breaths!" Li You Zi hollered. "Yun elder, blow the air away right now!"
Although a bit confused, they followed his words and immediately felt themselves cooling down, suppressing sighs of relief. Li Changpu frowned slightly when his nephew stopped [Ignite] from burning the others inside out.
It didn't matter too much though. [Ignite] had another usage.
"I don't have to use oxygen, nephew." The former patriarch's eyes glowed again.
This time, dark Qi scattered from underneath Li Changpu's feet. They flew towards the Yun clan representative before any of them could react, disappearing into his body.
"[Ignite]." Dark flames erupted from his target's body as they began to burn him inside out.
The elder's screams of agony rang out in the surroundings as he desperately tried to resist the demonic Qi. The others watched in horror as his screams were cut off abruptly, his body eventually reduced to ash.
"Now there's no one else to manipulate the air for you." Li Changpu nodded in satisfaction. "[Ignite]."
The Sima clan's elder met the same fate. Trying desperately to remove the flames but to no avail, he gave up and impaled his heart with a hand coated with shadow Qi, escaping the torture by suicide.
Only ashes remained from where the cultivator was.
"Just the two of you are left." Li Changpu smiled.
Although he had expended the majority of his Qi using [Ignite], the former patriarch was still confident in dealing with Li You Zi and Shan Dong Hai.
...
"Grandpa!" Shan Qian Xue was stunned from witnessing the events.
Trusting her instincts, she knew that it was hopeless and both Li You Zi and her grandpa wouldn't win against Li Changpu.
His hold still prevented her from getting away with Yu Tian. Shan Qian Xue also noticed that her friend's veins have all turned black after being hit by whatever was intended for her.
She was too lost in hopelessness to notice the peculiar changes on Yu Tian's body. His wounds slowly closed and a dark aura began to dimly glow, concentrating onto his right arm.
"Qian Xue, come!" The little tomgirl was stunned to see Li Mei Ling.
Her physique was already weakened from trying to withstand Li Chang's Qi. Having no cultivation, Li Mei Ling will definitely be unable to survive once Li Changpu notices her.
"Auntie, you need to get out of here!" Shan Qian Xue pleaded with the woman.
"Hurry!" Ignoring her words, Li Mei Ling struggled to pick both of the children up.
...
"Oh?" Sensing a presence trying to escape with Yu Tian and Shan Qian Xue, Li Changpu sent a blast of Qi towards the location instinctively.
"Mei Ling!" Seeing where the attack was going, Li You Zi's heart skipped a beat when he saw his daughter there. He was unable to catch up to the blast. "NO!"
...
"Hurr-" The sound of a dull thud was heard as Li Mei Ling's words were suddenly cut off.
Shan Qian Xue's eyes and mouth widened in horror as blood splashed onto her face. The tomgirl let out a loud scream as she caught onto Li Mei Ling's falling body.
"Auntie, no!"
...
"Another mosquito." Li Changpu paid no heed to the commotion anymore.
He turned back just in time to see Li You Zi rush him while launching an onslaught of blows in hysterical fury. It proved ineffective in penetrating the dark Qi armour that surrounded Li Changpu.
Grabbing onto Li You Zi's neck with an arm, the former patriarch slammed him down onto the ground. Li Changpu then kicked his nephew away into the charging Shan Dong Hai, causing both of them to fly back and crash into trees, breaking the trunks from the tremendous force.
"Now to check on my subjects." Li Changpu turned around to surprisingly find Yu Tian standing before him. "Oh?"
The boy's pupils were both glowing a eerie blood-red, and his entire body radiated a dark aura. Most peculiar was his right arm, shrouded completely in black energy and shaped like an unusual beast's head.
Li Changpu has never seen this before, and didn't even sense the boy's presence approaching. However, knowing the cultivation difference between them, he didn't dwell much on it.
"Interesting." The former patriarch relaxed while he curiously observed Yu Tian's condition.
The former god was expressionless as he stared back. The wounds that he had sustained from the battle with Li Hao Ran had completely faded. Lifting his transformed arm, Yu Tian casually waved it up and down in a chopping motion.
Li Changpu was completely unprepared when an invisible force suddenly brushed by, slicing his arm cleanly off at the shoulder. The demonic cultivator could only stare in mute shock as blood slowly gushed out from the stump of where his arm used to be.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Helldragon_xd
Helldragon_xd 1. Qi technique: [Soaring Falcon Talon]. Signature Qi technique of Li You Zi, that he can only use during [Martial Spirit Fusion]. Summons a powerful firebird projectile that can lock on an enemy.
2. Martial skill: [Seven Sin Devour]. A martial spirit skill aquired by the Infernal Hydra, able to nullify an attack defensively or attack offensively. Ineffective against cultivators with same or higher cultivation.
3. Qi technique: [Ignite]. The strongest technique of the Li clan, and also the most difficult to master and utilise. Using the oxygen in the target's body, expend a huge amount of one's internal Qi to ignite the oxygen and set the target ablaze from inside out. The more targets and larger the area/distance, the more Qi required.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone