When the dwarf said he was from the Ye family, he couldn't help but puff out his chest, as if he suddenly had backing. His voice grew a bit stronger, showing he was quite confident in the reputation of the Ye family from Qin Ye Ridge.
Seeing the dwarf's courage seem to increase instantly, Han Li knew that this Qin Ye Ridge Ye family must be a renowned cultivation clan.
However, even with such a powerful family behind him, the dwarf had been panicked at the start. This meant either he was lying to Han Li, or he was such an insignificant pawn within his own clan that his life didn't matter at all.
Han Li made his judgment in a flash, concluding that disposing of the dwarf wouldn't bring much trouble later.
This realization swept away the last lingering hesitation in Han Li's heart, and his killing intent surged even stronger.
After all, a cultivator with magical power inferior to his own and such foolish behavior was a rare sight! Even without this death duel, Han Li would never have let such a convenient prey slip away. Moreover, judging by the dwarf's words and demeanor, he wasn't a good person either, so Han Li had no qualms about taking action.
"The Ye family from Qin Ridge? That famous Ye family?" Han Li put on a look of surprise, as if he couldn't believe it.
Since the dwarf dared to use that name as backing, the family must hold considerable prestige among cultivators, Han Li thought to himself.
"That's right, that very Ye family. Since you know the Ye family's name, surely you won't deliberately make things difficult for me, right?" Seeing his bluff having a significant effect, the dwarf immediately spoke in a louder voice.
"The Ye family?..." Han Li pretended to hesitate, scratching his scalp, portraying an air of indecisive incompetence.
Seeing this, the dwarf was secretly delighted and immediately began to plead and threaten simultaneously, playing his part desperately, afraid the situation would turn against him.
"How about this, I'll take you to see an elder of the clan, and let them decide how to handle you. How does that sound?" Han Li said, seeming rather troubled.
"There's no need for such trouble! It's just a small matter. If you need an elder to decide even this little thing, it will likely leave a bad impression and greatly hinder your future prospects!" The dwarf was startled upon hearing this and quickly pretended to care, hastening to dissuade him.
The Golden Light Elder had already completely taken Han Li for an inexperienced youth. He assumed the other was the type who had cultivated bitterly within his clan since childhood and had only recently come out to the mundane world to gain experience. This also explained why someone so young possessed such deep magical power.
"Thank you for the reminder, brother!" Han Li seemed very touched. He lowered his head in thought for a moment, then reached into his robe and pulled out the talisman painted with a small sword.
"This is our first meeting, and you're already so considerate toward me. I should return this treasure to you," Han Li said sincerely, with a hint of reluctance still on his face.
The dwarf was overjoyed. He hadn't expected this young man to be so naive as to return a treasure already in his grasp.
Without a second thought, fearing the other might change his mind, he hurriedly formed a seal and waved his hand. The golden shield around his body immediately shattered and vanished completely. Then he reached out eagerly to take the talisman, shamelessly saying, "Since you are so sincere, I'll accept it!"
Just as the dwarf's hand was about to grasp the talisman, Han Li's expression suddenly changed drastically. He looked shocked and cried out toward the dwarf's back, "Clan Head! Why have you come personally, sir?"
Hearing this, the dwarf flinched violently, too scared to even think about the treasure. He hastily turned his head to look back.
He froze. Behind him was silent and empty.
"Not good!" Even the slow-witted dwarf realized now that he had been tricked. Before he could turn back, he felt a heat in his chest, then his vision was filled with fire, and his body suddenly erupted in flames. In the blink of an eye, the dwarf was reduced to ashes in the raging fire.
Only then did Han Li let out a long sigh of relief, retracting the hand that had just shot the small fireball. Being able to kill his opponent in one strike with a simple "Fire Bullet Technique" seemed easy, but the entire process had actually required considerable thought and pressure on his part. Now that the sneak attack had succeeded so smoothly, Han Li secretly rejoiced, a bit of a smile appearing on his face.
Jia Tianlong, Wang Juechu, and the others had seen what happened clearly, but they hadn't understood a thing. Because Han Li and the dwarf didn't want others to hear their conversation, they had spoken in hushed tones the entire time. The onstanders were too far away to hear their voices clearly.
They only knew that the dwarf seemed a bit afraid when he first saw Han Li. Then, after a few exchanges, the dwarf kept pleading with him. Finally, they saw Han Li seize the moment the dwarf turned his head to conjure a small fireball out of thin air, effortlessly burning the Wild Wolf Gang's great backer—the Golden Light Elder—into a pile of white ash.
The taste in Jia Tianlong's mouth was extremely bitter, the bitterness reaching his very heart and lungs. What was going on? The originally favorable situation had taken a sudden and irreversible turn for the worse after this unremarkable Seven Mysteries Sect disciple appeared. Even the celestial master, Golden Light Elder, had been burned to death by a single fireball, thoroughly dead.
Wang Juechu, naturally, felt the complete opposite of his rival. He gripped the long sword at his waist tightly, looking with excited eyes at Han Li, who was squatting there in an inelegant pose, scratching at something on the ground. A fervent expression surfaced on Wang Juechu's face.
Han Li was also excited at this moment, but not out of elation. He was simply happy because he had found a few items among the ashes left by the dwarf that hadn't been burned.
There weren't many things: one talisman, one token, and one book.
The talisman was the one the dwarf had used to release golden light and form a golden shield. Although Han Li didn't yet know the mantra or incantation, it filled him with wild joy. He knew that what he lacked most right now were means of self-defense.
The token was a triangular black plate. On one side was engraved the two golden ancient seal characters "Ascend Immortal," and on the other was a silver character for "Order." The whole plate didn't look like metal, yet it was surprisingly heavy. He didn't know its purpose.
As for the book, Han Li had assumed that anything that could survive the Fire Bullet Technique must be extraordinary. However, after flipping through a few pages, he discovered it was a genealogy—a genealogy of the Qin surname. He didn't know what relation it had to the Golden Light Elder that the man had kept it on his person.
"This dwarf claimed to be from the Ye family, yet he carried a Qin genealogy. Could he be some illegitimate child of the Ye family?" Disappointed, Han Li speculated with a touch of malice.
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(End of Chapter)