Chapter 25: Fanning the Flames

“Li Daming, our Luo clan has no feud with you.
Why did you kill one of our people?”

One of the Luo family disciples was the first to react, his voice trembling as he shouted.

The others immediately drew their weapons, faces taut with vigilance.

‘Li Daming’ did not answer.
He merely lowered his gaze to glance at the corpse at his feet.

“I asked you a question!” the man barked again, his aura flaring a little stronger.

At last, ‘Li Daming’ lifted his head.
His eyes were icy.
“Luo Jiutian has already joined our Li clan.”

That single sentence crashed like thunder, making the faces of the Luo family disciples blanch.

“You—what did you say?”
“Impossible!”
“Nonsense!”

Shouts of disbelief erupted, each voice filled with denial.

‘Li Daming’ ignored their uproar and continued coldly:
“You tried to kill him before.
That means you deliberately set yourselves against my Li clan.
As the leader of this expedition, how could I sit idly by?
I’m here to demand an explanation on his behalf.”

The disciples almost laughed in anger.

“Even if you really wanted an explanation, you can’t just kill one of us outright!” one of them snapped, his temper flaring.
“Or is this how the Li clan always behaves—domineering and unreasonable?”

“So what if we do?” ‘Li Daming’s eyes glinted with a cold light.
“When my Li clan acts, what need do we have to explain ourselves to the likes of you?”

That declaration was like a stone hurled into a still pond—instantly stirring up waves of fury.

“You think we’re made of clay?”

“Brothers, he killed our man and still dares to be this arrogant—fight him!”

“All together!”

At the shout, six Luo disciples struck in unison.
Sword light and spells exploded through the forest, murderous intent crashing down on ‘Li Daming’ like a tidal wave.

“Fools.”

Instead of retreating, ‘Li Daming’ stepped forward, his body blurring as he darted out.

The first man had only just swung his sword-qi when a fist smashed into his face.
His skull caved in—dead on the spot.

The second man roared, activating his artifact, but a sharp elbow strike shattered his ribs.
He flew through the air, hit the ground, twitched a few times, and went still.

The third tried to flee, but a kick shattered his knee, forcing him to kneel.
Before he could cry out, his throat was crushed.

The fourth raised a talisman—only for ‘Li Daming’ to snatch it and fling it back.
It detonated with a boom, blasting him into a mangled heap along with his protective qi.

In the blink of an eye, four corpses lay sprawled across the ground.

The last two survivors stared in horror.
One dropped his sword entirely, hands trembling.
The other curled on the ground, eyes locked on ‘Li Daming’ with sheer terror.

“We’re finished…
We underestimated him completely…”

“I never even heard he’d beaten anyone before!
How can he be this strong!?”

‘Li Daming’ lowered his fists, his tone calm.
“In Tianyuan Nation, all you hear of are names like Xiao Yan and Luo Jiutian.
But the true experts never flaunt themselves.”

He stepped forward.
Dry leaves cracked beneath his foot, the sound loud in the silence.

“I may not be famous, but that doesn’t mean I am weak.
A reputation is for fools—it does not measure strength.”

The two Luo disciples stood frozen, forcing their faces to remain rigid, but inside they were desperately gathering qi.

‘Li Daming’ kept talking, voice steady but endless.

“Today, I will teach your Luo clan a lesson…
That is why… therefore… and so…”

He crept closer, his voice dropping colder with each step.

When he was less than three paces away, the two exchanged a look—and suddenly struck.

One whipped out a talisman from his sleeve.
It detonated in a flash of blinding white light.

The other slammed a spell into the ground, blasting up a storm of dust and stones.

Vision vanished in light and smoke.
The forest became chaos.

‘Li Daming’ saw only white, his sight abruptly gone.

“Run!”

The two shouted and bolted without looking back.

They never thought of winning—only of surviving.

By the time ‘Li Daming’ recovered, they had already disappeared.

He stood still, unruffled.
Not angry.
In fact, his lips curved faintly.

Of course.
He had let them go on purpose.

One of those two was carrying the recording stone.

All that rambling he’d done just now?
It was nothing but cover—buying them time to charge up and escape.
That way, the ‘news’ would be carried straight to Luo Chen.

Lowering his gaze, he looked at the four bodies.
Then he crouched down and began rifling through them for loot.

Not long later, at Luo Chen’s camp—

Luo Chen, Luo Yuanshan, and Luo Yan sat around a small pile of spirit stones, tallying their gains.

The stones had just been dug from a nearby vein.
There were plenty, neatly divided into two heaps.

Luo Chen picked up a translucent one, studying it with satisfaction.
“This trip has been worth it.
With these stones, I’ll have enough to reach Core Formation.”

Neither Luo Yuanshan nor Luo Yan spoke.
They just kept silently counting.

Suddenly, two staggering figures rushed into view, disheveled, covered in dirt, their qi unsteady.

“Young Master! Something terrible has happened!”

One dropped to his knees, face pale, gasping for breath.

Seeing them in such a state, Luo Chen’s face darkened instantly.
“What happened?”

The disciple clenched his teeth.
“We ran into Li Daming.
He struck without warning, killed four of our brothers—only the two of us escaped.”

“What?!” Luo Chen’s voice sank further.
“He dared?!”

The other added quickly:
“He said Luo Jiutian has joined the Li clan.
He came to demand justice for him.”

The words hung heavy.

Luo Yuanshan’s hands paused, but he did not raise his head—just kept quietly stacking spirit stones.

Luo Yan frowned, gaze shifting into the distance, but said nothing.

Luo Chen fixed his stare on the survivors.
“Luo Jiutian joined the Li clan?
Li Daming said this himself?”

“Yes!” the disciple nodded frantically.
“I was there! He declared it before everyone—said our Luo clan had to pay for what we did, then slaughtered them!”

“Then how did you two escape?” Luo Chen asked, his voice low.

The man hesitated, then confessed:
“We couldn’t beat him.
We used talismans and spells to blind him, then fled.”

Luo Chen said nothing for a few breaths, eyes narrowed as he processed the words.

Then the disciple suddenly remembered, fumbling in his robes.
“Right—Young Master, this is the recording stone that… that one gave me before.
I thought it’d be useless, but it turns out it recorded everything.”

“That one?”

“Yes, him.”

Luo Chen took the stone, poured qi into it, and activated it.

A wavering projection shimmered to life.
Though the image shook, Li Daming’s voice was sharp and unmistakable:

“Luo Jiutian has joined our Li clan…”

“You tried to kill him—thus setting yourselves against us…”

“…I am here to demand an explanation.”

The projection was filled with the deafening noise of battle, the cries of dying men, and the horrifying scene of Li Daming caving in a disciple’s head with a single punch.

The camp fell into dead silence.

Luo Chen squinted as the vision ended.
He tucked the stone away slowly.

After a long pause, his voice dropped low:
“The Li clan… oh, the Li clan.”

Not only had Li Daming weakened the Luo clan’s strength within the secret realm, he had humiliated Luo Chen himself, the Luo clan’s heir.

His fists clenched until his knuckles cracked.

Forcing the fury down, he glanced at the two survivors, his tone regaining calm.
“Rest and recover your qi first.”

They bowed quickly and withdrew to meditate.

Only then did Luo Yuanshan step closer, voice hushed.
“Young Master… what do we do now?”

Luo Chen did not answer right away.
His eyes roved over the spirit stone piles, then toward the forest outside.

Finally, his voice dropped cold:
“Gather everyone.”

“If the Li clan wants an explanation,” his gaze sharpened to a blade’s edge,
“Then we’ll go and give them one.”