Instant Kill

1,721 words

Chapter 355: Instant Kill

Han Li watched the two men without expression, saying nothing. But in his heart, he was quite certain that these two were almost certainly deeply connected to the destruction of Qi Yunxiao’s residence.

As expected, the moment Han Li remained silent, the young man could not hold back any longer and barked:

“Who are you, and what is your relationship with that brat surnamed Qi?”

Hearing this, Han Li merely cast a cold glance at him and then ignored him, turning his gaze instead to the old man. Clearly, in terms of cultivation level, this was the one who truly held authority here.

Seeing Han Li treat him with such contempt, the young man was furious. Though he knew Han Li was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, his family was one of the most famous clans in Yuanwu Country. He had never been treated like this before.

Moreover, he was already boiling with rage over the Qi Yunxiao affair. Gritting his teeth, he began to lift the magic tool in his hand.

But the moment his arm moved, the old man beside him grabbed his wrist.

“Hold! We don’t know this person’s background yet. If we’re going to make a move, we need to ask clearly first!” the old man said, his expression calm.

After speaking, he cast a puzzled glance at Qu Hun behind Han Li. He could not sense any sign of life from the figure, yet there was a fluctuation of magical power—it was baffling.

Han Li’s eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this.

This old man was also at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, just like him. The fact that he spoke this way showed he had sensed that Han Li was not someone to be trifled with, a hint of caution in his demeanor.

“Was this place destroyed by you?” Han Li asked unhurriedly.

“What is your relationship with this Qi Yunxiao? Are you from the Qi Clan?” The old man did not answer Han Li’s question but instead asked another of his own.

Han Li frowned slightly. It seemed the other party was not going to speak honestly. He would have to try a different approach.

“It seems neither of us wants to answer the other’s questions. How about this: for every question you answer, I’ll answer one of yours. That saves us both time.” Han Li raised an eyebrow as he spoke.

The old man was startled, then his eyes rolled for a moment before he readily agreed.

“Since I proposed the method, I’ll let you ask first.” Han Li said indifferently.

“Are you a member of the Qi Clan?” The old man did not stand on ceremony and immediately asked.

“No.” Han Li answered without the slightest hesitation.

Hearing Han Li’s firm denial, both the old man and the young man were taken aback, suspicion flickering in their eyes.

“Is Qi Yunxiao dead or alive?” Han Li asked leisurely.

“He’s still alive!” After a moment of hesitation, the old man answered.

The moment the word “alive” entered his ears, Han Li’s heart settled.

“What is your relationship with Qi Yunxiao?” the old man asked cautiously again.

“A transactional relationship.” Han Li replied coldly.

“Transactional?” Surprise flickered in the old man’s eyes.

“Where is Qi Yunxiao now?” Han Li asked, seeming quite casual, but inwardly he was extremely concerned.

“I cannot tell you that!” The old man refused without a second thought.

“Then let me ask another question. Why did you attack Qi Yunxiao?” Han Li did not show any anger and asked again immediately.

“He killed someone from our Fu Clan. Doesn’t he deserve to die?” The young man interjected with a cold laugh.

The old man frowned, a trace of displeasure on his face, but he said nothing to stop him.

“Fu Clan!”

As soon as Han Li heard this, he immediately recalled those Qi Condensation cultivators who had died by his hand while trying to save Xin Ruyin. A murderous intent surged within him.

“I see. But are only the two of you here? What if a formidable figure from the Qi Clan shows up? Would you two be enough?” Han Li showed no change on the surface, instead asking quite casually.

“Why would the Qi Clan oppose our Fu Clan over a mere collateral member? Aren’t the two of us enough for the job?” the young man said proudly, hearing Han Li’s question.

“So, it’s just the two of you here,” Han Li said, his voice suddenly turning low.

“What do you mean by that?” The young man flushed with anger and was about to say more, but the old man sensed something was wrong and quickly interrupted.

But it was already too late. Han Li suddenly waved both hands, and two streaks of black light shot through the air toward the young man. At the same time, he slapped his storage pouch, and over a dozen beams of white light flew out, transforming into over a dozen puppet beasts and puppet soldiers.

The moment these puppets appeared, they immediately unleashed a barrage of light beams and light arrows toward the enemy.

Seeing this, the old man was horrified. Without a second thought, his form flickered, and he appeared in front of the young man. He raised his hand, and a coin-shaped magic tool flew out, expanding to the size of a tabletop in an instant, shielding the two of them.

Immediately, multicolored lights exploded in a series of crackling impacts against the coin’s surface, forcing the old man and his coin magic tool back step by step. He was both shocked and enraged.

But just then, a miserable scream came from behind him, from the young man. The old man’s heart tightened, and he hurriedly turned his head to look. However, his head only managed to turn halfway before he felt a chill at his neck, and his vision went black. He knew nothing more.

The moment the old man’s headless body crashed to the ground, Han Li’s figure appeared out of thin air in the air behind them. On the ring finger of his right hand, a faint shimmer of light could be seen—the transparent thread magic tool.

Earlier, Han Li had used the overwhelming attack of the Black Talon and the puppets to keep the old man occupied. Meanwhile, he had activated his Smoke Step technique, crossing over twenty zhang from the Divine Wind Boat in just a few breaths to appear behind the two of them. Then he had used the thread to effortlessly sever their heads.

All of this had been so simple for Han Li! It had taken practically no effort at all!

Ridiculous, really!

In battles between Foundation Establishment cultivators, low-grade elemental barriers were utterly incapable of withstanding top-grade magic tool attacks. High-grade protective barriers took too long to cast, and instant-cast talismans were simply unavailable (or if they were, they cost an astronomical price). So, most people relied solely on defensive magic tools for protection during combat, rarely using full-body protective shields, which they considered utterly useless.

But this very fact had provided Han Li with no small number of opportunities!

Most of those demonic cultivators he had faced during the border skirmishes had died in exactly this way—without ever understanding what had hit them.

Thinking back on it now, his methods were very similar to the killing techniques used by the Black Fiend Cult’s Blood Servant Fiend. The same lightning-fast, relentless strike aimed at an instant kill.

It was a pity that this method could only be used when the enemy was on the ground. If not for that, he would have little to fear among Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Thinking this, Han Li gave a slight shake of his head, feeling a great sense of regret.

He strode over to the headless corpses, searched their bodies, and took their storage pouches. Giving them a quick check with his spiritual sense, he felt a bit disappointed.

Although there were two or three top-grade magic tools inside, they were very ordinary items, of no great use to him. However, the coin magic tool was a relatively rare defensive artifact.

With this in mind, Han Li waved his hand at the coin magic tool, which had already returned to its original form. The artifact immediately flew up from the ground into his hand.

After inspecting it with some satisfaction, he casually tossed two small fireballs at the corpses, burning them to ashes.

Then, he and Qu Hun circled the area once in the air before flying off.

This time, he headed directly for the small mountain where Xin Ruyin lived. He hoped that her residence was secluded enough that it had not met the same fate.

Two or three hours later, Han Li arrived at the nameless small mountain where Xin Ruyin resided.

Seeing that the mountain was still shrouded in mist, completely intact, Han Li was overjoyed.

After a moment’s thought, he did not dare to descend recklessly. Instead, he stopped in midair halfway up the mountain, took a sound transmission talisman from his bosom, spoke a few soft words into it, and then tossed it down.

The flame formed by the sound transmission talisman flickered a few times in the air below before suddenly disappearing. At the same time, a thick cloud of mist rose up, completely engulfing Han Li’s figure.

Han Li felt his vision blur, and suddenly found himself surrounded by towering trees over a hundred zhang tall. He was like an ant trapped in a giant forest. Startled, he forced himself to remain still.

He knew that Xin Ruyin, having received the sound transmission talisman, would soon guide him inside.

Indeed, after a moment, the giant trees around him turned back into mist like an illusion. Then, the mist in front of him churned, revealing a passage about a zhang wide.

Without hesitation, Han Li urged the Divine Wind Boat forward and entered with Qu Hun.

The passage was very long. Han Li flew about sixty or seventy zhang before he finally saw the faint outline of the exit. His spirits lifted.

But just as he was about six or seven zhang from the exit, a somewhat hoarse woman’s voice suddenly rang out.

“Senior Han, who is that person behind you? You shouldn’t have brought a stranger here.”

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Reading Guide Decoding

Foundation Establishment Meta and the Three-Second Execution

Cultural / Xianxia Notes

The Birth of a Foundation Establishment Meta: One of the most quietly revolutionary observations in this chapter is Han Li’s realization about Foundation Establishment combat meta. Low-grade elemental barriers (五行罩) can’t stop top-grade magic tools, and high-grade barriers are too slow to cast and have no cheap instant-cast talismans available. So the entire Foundation Establishment tier has collectively agreed to rely on defensive magic tools (防御法器) instead of full-body shields. This creates a massive vulnerability to speed-based flanking—exactly what Han Li exploits here. It’s a rare example of the novel showing how the cultivation world’s system (what’s available, what’s too expensive, what’s a chicken rib) shapes its combat tactics just as much as individual power does.

Smoke Step + Transparent Thread = Mortal Stream Assassin’s Kit: Han Li’s signature ground-combat combo is on full display: the Smoke Step (罗烟步) closes distance faster than the eye can track, and the near-transparent thread (近似透明的丝线) provides an undetectable, blade-sharp killing edge. This isn’t a flashy technique—it’s a low-cost, high-lethality toolset that doesn’t rely on mana consumption or rare resources. It’s the ultimate expression of the Mortal Stream principle: use what the system overlooks to beat those who rely on the system.

The Fu Clan’s Blind Spot: The young cultivator’s arrogance—“Why would the Qi Clan oppose us over a collateral member?”—is a textbook example of how clan politics in the cultivation world creates predictable behavior. He assumes that his family’s name is a universal shield, not realizing that a rogue cultivator like Han Li has no clan loyalty to exploit.

Chapter Overview

Forget the diplomatic parlor games of the last few chapters—this one gets straight to the point. Han Li lands at the ruined site of Qi Yunxiao’s residence, finds two Fu Clan cultivators still lurking around, and decides that a conversation is only useful if it serves his intel-gathering. The moment he confirms that only these two are present, the “talk” turns into a three-second execution. There’s no drawn-out magic duel, no dramatic speech about revenge, no last-minute bargaining—just cold, lightning-fast surgery performed with a transparent thread, a handful of puppets, and a feint that would make an assassin proud. The chapter then closes with Han Li arriving at Xin Ruyin’s hidden mountain, where the mist is still intact, but a new voice greets him with suspicion: who is the soulless figure behind him? The tension shifts from external threat to internal trust—a classic Mortal Stream pivot.

Key Plot Points

Han Li arrives at the destroyed residence and immediately spots the two Fu Clan cultivators lying in wait. His internal calculation clicks into place: these two are connected to the attack.
The young Fu Clan disciple tries to intimidate Han Li with his family name and almost attacks, but the elder stops him—a sign that the elder recognizes Han Li’s cultivation level and is wary.
Han Li proposes a prisoner’s-dilemma style Q&A exchange. The elder accepts, but the negotiation is a farce: Han Li confirms Qi Yunxiao is alive, the elder admits the Fu Clan attacked him for killing their members.
Once Han Li confirms that only these two are present and no backup is waiting, he executes them in a single, coordinated ambush: puppets and the Black Talon draw the elder’s attention, while Han Li himself uses Smoke Step to flank and decapitate both with the transparent thread.
The narration pauses for a tactical reflection: Foundation Establishment cultivators rarely use full-body defensive barriers because they’re too slow to cast, making them vulnerable to speed-based assassins. Han Li notes this is the same tactic that killed most of the demonic cultivators he fought.
Han Li loots the corpses, finds one useful coin-shaped defensive artifact, then burns the evidence and flies to Xin Ruyin’s hidden mountain.
He arrives safely—the mist formation is intact—and sends a sound transmission talisman. The mist opens, but as he approaches the exit, a woman’s voice (not Xin Ruyin’s) challenges him for bringing a stranger (Qu Hun).

Reading Guide

Get ready for some brutally efficient combat, folks. This chapter is a masterclass in how not to be a Foundation Establishment cultivator: don’t monologue, don’t let your guard down just because it’s a “negotiation,” and never assume that a low-key rogue cultivator isn’t already calculating your decapitation vector. Han Li’s kill is so clean it’s almost anticlimactic—and that’s the point. The Mortal Stream doesn’t reward flashy showdowns; it rewards preparation, misdirection, and the willingness to strike the second the math checks out.

Also, keep an eye on that new voice at the end. Xin Ruyin’s hideout is secure, but a stranger’s challenge suggests that the “safe house” may not be as safe as Han Li hopes. The tension is no longer about Qi Yunxiao’s fate—it’s about who else knows about this secret mountain, and whether Han Li’s reputation precedes him in ways he doesn’t control.