"Dian Wei! You promised to clear my name, which was never tarnished! But why are you attacking my family now?!"
"Come on, brother. You know this crime can't be erased so easily—it involves the royal family."
"Damn it. I won't let you take ShiSha! She's the only one I have left after you took everyone I loved with your filthy hands and lying mouth!"
Li Bai sliced the tip of his thumb, smearing blood on the floor to form a star and moon symbol in moments.
"Hahahaha! What resistance are you preparing now, brother Li Bai? You know I'm immune to any cultivation attack or magic thanks to the ancient artifact of the General!"
Li Bai didn't care. For him, this was the final battle where he was willing to die to save his beloved.
Li Bai completed the ritual symbol and chanted his most powerful incantation.
Suddenly, the sky turned blood-red—Li Bai's summoning magic activated. This summoned being was so powerful that Li Bai had to sacrifice half his blood flow just to call forth one of its hands.
Dian Wei mocked again, "Hah? Half your blood for just one hand? Hahahaha! You're so weak now, brother! You can't even summon a full humanoid anymore!"
Li Bai stayed focused. He sacrificed his kidney, but it wasn't enough. Then his stomach. Finally, his large intestine.
The summoned being had emerged halfway. Li Bai struggled desperately, searching for what else he could offer.
Dian Wei kept taunting him. "If you don't hurry, I'll play with ShiSha right in front of your eyes. Bring that girl here!!!!"
An unnatural bolt of lightning struck the tree beside them both. Its color was red—unusual.
ShiSha was dragged in and thrown before Li Bai, who was still sacrificing his organs to awaken the being.
ShiSha's clothes were torn off one by one. The girl tried to bite the hand pulling at her buttons but was slapped until she collapsed.
Li Bai even sacrificed his reproductive organs—both sides—then his small intestine. At this point, the nearly fully summoned being spoke to Li Bai, its master.
The summoned being said, "Why go so far to summon a creature beyond my power?"
Li Bai replied in his heart, with his final awareness, "So the one I love can survive. So I can be useful just once. I am Li Bai—I willingly die to bring you to this world."
ShiSha screamed his lover's name as she felt Li Bai's presence slowly fading.
Li Bai gazed at ShiSha one last time, his voice softly whispering amid the chaos.
"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you until old age. I'll go first."
Li Bai sacrificed his heart.
Dian Wei fell silent staring at Li Bai's corpse, but he soon burst into laughter upon seeing the summon Li Bai had called—a being not much different from an ordinary human.
"Brother... You sacrificed everything for this scrawny creature. How foolish."
Dian Wei stepped over Li Bai's body, while ShiSha sobbed loudly over Li Bai's form.
Dian Wei stopped right in front of the human Li Bai had summoned. He was curious just how strong the being was that Li Bai died for.
"My brother died summoning you. Now face the consequences!"
Dian Wei swung his axe from above down toward the human's head.
Brak!
The ground at Dian Wei's feet cracked from the swing's force. This sight was routine for Dian Wei the mercenary killer. Shattered earth usually came with his enemy's pulverized body. But this time, Dian Wei felt his axe hit a sharp edge instead of soft ground.
Dian Wei lifted his massive axe slightly and saw the summoned being's finger blocking it.
"What?!"
The summoned being said, "Say my name, or you die."
Bad luck for Dian Wei—he didn't know it. Only the summoner knew a summoned creature's name. With Li Bai dead, no one knew. That meant this summon couldn't be stopped.
"Say my name," it demanded coldly again.
Dian Wei guessed randomly. "Li Bai?"
"Wrong. The correct one is Liu Shan."
Dian Wei shuddered in terror. Now he had to kill the summoned being or die himself.
In this world, any magically summoned creature could only be killed by violence or reversal magic using a voodoo doll of the being's name. With Li Bai dead, no one could send Liu Shan back. For Dian Wei, using that method was impossible since Liu Shan had targeted him.
Seeing Liu Shan's extraordinary power, Dian Wei ordered all his mercenary forces to swarm him.
"Finish him!"
Liu Shan, who had been sitting, now rose. His body wasn't scrawny but lean and muscled. His black hair was long, his nails sharp as razors, and his teeth like a crocodile's fangs. Don't forget his eyes—like the sun in the night's darkness, black-gold pupils strikingly prominent, radiating an aura these killers had never felt before.
One step, then two growing heavier. It felt like massive boulders crushing their backs as they approached Liu Shan.
"We can't get close, boss!" one mercenary cried, voice trembling.
"Don't give up, fools! You haven't even fought him yet!"
Liu Shan grew bored waiting. Dust from the Li family ruins entered his nose.
"Hatchi!" Liu Shan sneezed comically, but the sneeze's wind formed razor-sharp blades that tore flesh and bone.
The mercenaries didn't notice Liu Shan's sneeze flying toward them. Their bodies were sliced like meat sausages—some lost arms, some legs, even some bisected but survived thanks to regeneration techniques.
Seeing Liu Shan's illogical power, the mercenaries fled—including Dian Wei, who fled while kidnapping ShiSha.
"My brother summoned something insane. Taking this girl hostage is pointless. I must run!" Dian Wei ordered himself.
But Liu Shan had already caught up, standing casually before him. Liu Shan moved at the speed of sound on a high-gravity planet like Earth.
Liu Shan: "Hand over the girl, or..."
Dian Wei: "I won't."
"I never forgive those who commit violence against the common folk. Especially if the perpetrator is a so-called honorable knight."
Liu Shan traced a circle in the air.
"Wait! What are you doing?"
Liu Shan didn't stop. He kept drawing the imaginary circle in the air, then exhaled—like blowing.
Dian Wei was shredded by dozens of small air circles that suddenly appeared on his chest and stomach.
The circles tore through skin, flesh, muscle, bone, and organs inside Dian Wei.
Dian Wei was slowly sucked into the air voids. His death was slow and agonizing.
The General's artifact Dian Wei carried was destroyed by Liu Shan's power. His hopes vanished. Farewell to the world—welcome to hell.
Liu Shan finally avenged Li Bai's tragic death.
Meanwhile, ShiSha ran back to her ruined home and Li Bai's shattered body, sobbing.