Sundering Nature

Original and most updated translations are from volare. Please don’t read elsewhere and stop supporting theft.

TL: Zhao

Editing: Krisaia

The arrow interrupted Li Yiming’s attack and Bing Shuai quickly jumped on the occasion to deliver a devastating blow to Li Yiming’s chest, sending him flying back.

The impact of Bing Shuai’s attack was powerful enough to freeze the entire segment of the beach behind him solid. Before Li Yiming could fall to the ground, Bing Shuai caught up to him and snatched his neck.

"Tell me... How did you recover after I destroyed your vein last time?" Bing Shuai asked.

Li Yiming struggled fruitlessly as blood filled his eyes. He was on the verge of losing consciousness.

"I told you that I wanted to make an ice sculpture out of you." Bing Shuai was savoring his revenge. Ice entered Li Yiming’s body, causing his face to become white as a sheet of paper, and frost to permeate his skin and numb his muscles.

"A sage? You’re a sage?" Bing Shuai looked with fear in his eyes. His decision to take precautionary measures and attack Li Yiming by surprise turned out to be a wise one Becoming a sage that early was synonymous to having endless potential. Moreover, it meant that Li Yiming was an incredibly valuable subject for his experiments.

Bai Ze roared in anger as she freed herself from the entanglement of Yu Runkai and flew straight toward Bing Shuai.

"Aren’t you a loyal one!" Bing Shuai lowered his hand.

A giant iceberg fell from the sky and crushed Bai Ze. Although she made every effort to free herself, she was far too young to possess the strength to rival Bing Shuai’s attack.

"You surprise me. Every time I meet you, you give me a reason to let you live." Bing Shuai turned his attention back to Li Yiming.

"Unfortunately, you’ll wish that you were dead..." Bing Shuai’s palm turned blue once again as he controlled his energy and applied it on Li Yiming’s four limbs, making sure to avoid his vitals.

Fang Shui’er frowned as she looked away, feeling uneasy at the sight of Bing Shuai’s torturing Li Yiming.

Yu Runkai continued to laugh cruelly as he walked toward Bai Ze.

"Stop it. I’ll let you get away with a quick death..." A voice suddenly came from behind.

"Oh?" Bing Shuai turned around and smiled. The Mr. Kong look-alike, who had remained silent until now decided, had finally decided to speak up.

"You could have decided to kill him anywhere else... but here... I cannot allow that... " The man dressed in a tuxedo said as he slowly paced toward Bing Shuai.

"Ridiculous." Bing Shuai looked at the man coldly and sent an ice shard in his direction.

"Mr. Kong" let out a sigh and continued walking, completely unfazed by the attack.

Bing Shuai’s attack went through "Mr. Kong" as if he were thin air.

’As I thought...’ Bing Shuai smiled coldly and was suddenly interested by what the man had to offer. He had guessed correctly that the look-alike was a mere shadow who could do no harm.

"All I’ve ever wanted was to stay here and live a happy life, but it appears that it was never meant to be..." The man ignored Bing Shuai completely and stopped right in front of Li Yiming. He put his hand on the latter’s shoulder.

"What are you trying to do?" Bing Shuai frowned and pulled Li Yiming’s body away.

The Mr. Kong look-alike vanished like a ghost as Li Yiming’s body moved away from him.

"I’ve told you that you could have died a quick death, but you wouldn’t listen." Li Yiming suddenly opened his eyes.

His eyes stared right into Bing Shuai’s, with a tinge of golden glow deep within his irises. Bing Shuai was instantly instilled with fear, recalling the same eyes back in Hangzhou, before Li Yiming made him suffer a defeat he was not going to forget anytime soon.

Bing Shuai shuddered at the bloodthirstiness he discovered in Li Yiming’s eyes and struck his chest out of panic — he could no longer afford to keep Li Yiming alive.

Li Yiming smiled back at Bing Shuai and continued to stare straight into his eyes.

Bing Shuai tunneled all of his energy toward Li Yiming’s body, instantly encasing the latter’s body in a solid chunk of ice. He then released his grip.

The attack itself was strong enough to gravely injure a sage, but this time, Bing Shuai had his doubts. He looked at the block of ice on the ground with wariness, feeling Li Yiming’s aura growing stronger by the second.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

As fissures appeared in the block of ice, Bing Shuai quickly moved to create a barrier around it. Yu Runkai had shifted his attention from Bai Ze and looked at Li Yiming with a severe countenance, while Fang Shui’er drew her bow back in anticipation.

Paff!

The block of ice suddenly disintegrated into a huge puff of vapor.

Yu Runkai emitted a roar and charged at the silhouette within the fog.

Li Yiming parried Yu Runkai’s attack effortlessly and struck back at Yu Runkai’s stomach. Yu Runkai had his body nearly split into two, exploding into a cloud of emerald flesh and dying on the spot.

As the water vapors gradually dispersed, Li Yiming emerged from the smoke. He looked the same as ever, only his hair had turned from white to a dark purple color.

"Even after all these years... I still can’t throw a good punch..." Li Yiming’s lips curled as he looked at his own fist, unsatisfied with the blow he had just delivered.

"You... Who are you?" Bing Shuai could feel nothing but trepidation as he asked. Li Yiming killed Yu Runkai at a speed that not even he himself could achieve.

"Oh? Not running away? How wise of you. I’ll reward you for knowing your own limits. Tell me, should I break your left hand, or crush your right leg first?" Li Yiming closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The metal orb floating right besides him slowly morphed into a long staff.

"You..." Bing Shuai’s morale was shattered after witnessing the dragon motifs and the runic glyphs on the staff, and he instantly shot himself away from the scene like a cannonball.

"My staff... Ah... This feeling never changes..." Li Yiming stared at his weapon, entranced by its feeling and completely ignoring Bing Shuai.

"Why aren’t you leaving?" Li Yiming looked at Fang Shui’er, who remained immobile.

"To what avail?" Fang Shui’er smiled and removed her armor.

"Interesting." Li Yiming shook his head and looked in the direction Bing Shuai escaped.

"A shame. If I had more time I’d be able to enjoy myself some more..." Li Yiming suddenly disappeared.

Bing Shuai continued flying away at full speed, knowing that if it was truly Mr. Kong, he would have not a sliver of a chance against him. He recalled saying that he would end his own life if he was forced to fight Mr. Kong. However, even that was a luxury he could not afford as this body was his only clone left.

Bing Shuai continued to escape on the sea, hoping that he would not be chased down by Li Yiming. He now deeply regretting showing up in this domain to dispose of Li Yiming.

"You are a courageous one. It has been a long time since I’ve met someone who dared try to run away from me." Li Yiming’s voice was heard as his body gradually condensed in front of Bing Shuai.

Bing Shuai stopped right in his tracks, looking at the man standing in front of him in horror.

"Have you decided yet? I don’t have much time." Li Yiming put his staff back on his shoulder and looked at Bing Shuai impatiently.

Bing Shuai extended both of his arms. Nine pillars of water emerged from the ocean, transforming into colossal ice snakes, lashing out at Li Yiming. Bing Shuai had no choice but to fight for his life.

"Oh, a trick? How amusing." Li Yiming laughed and directed his staff at Bing Shuai.

"If you aren’t willing to choose, then don’t hate me for breaking my promise!" Li Yiming swung his staff at the ice snakes.

Crack!

One ice snake shattered as Li Yiming smashed its head. He thrust his staff into the mouth of the second one, piercing through its body.

"How boring." Li Yiming looked at the ice fragments in disdain and turned his attention toward Bing Shuai.

"Let’s start with your hand..." Li Yiming slipped through the remaining ice snakes and suddenly appeared in front of Bing Shuai.

Bing Shuai roared in anger as his arms became instantly covered by a thick layer of ice. He crossed his arms and to block Li Yiming’s staff.

Crack!

Both of Bing Shuai’s frozen arms were instantly split from the rest of his body.

Another sweep of the staff at Bing Shuai’s legs, and he fell from the sky in an explosion of blood.

"Noooo!" Bing Shuai shrieked in agony, before getting his body drilled by the staff from below.

"Kids sure have a lot of tricks up their sleeves nowadays..." Li Yiming smiled at the corpse which hung from his staff. With a quick shove, he threw the body into the air, and his metal staff suddenly blew up in size.

"I’ll turn you to dust..." The giant staff smashed down at Bing Shuai’s corpse, completely disintegrating it and dragging it all the way down to the bottom of the ocean. The intensity of the impact was enough to split the water into two such that the ocean floor became visible.

"Noooo!" A second shriek, even more desperate than the first one, was heard. A shadow which hid at the bottom of the ocean was obliterated by Li Yiming’s strike.

* * *

"What?" In the capital, a young girl with pale eyes jumped up in terror, looking toward the east.

"Uncle Bing’s life karma... It’s gone! Who is it!?"

The young girl clenched her teeth and a silver rune appeared on her forehead. A second later, she spat out a mouthful of blood and fell to the ground. ’I can’t see... How is that possible?’