Seeing the few people trembling in silence, Liu Xi smiled faintly, his expression cold and detached as his calm voice drifted out.
"What's wrong? Not agreeing?"
Blood-red fear flashed across Xue Lingzi's eyes under Liu Xi's gaze. Forty billion Sovereign Spiritual Liquids—if that price was truly demanded, the Blood God Clan would be completely stripped bare. Even as a universal currency, their entire treasury barely held ten billion; paying forty was impossible.
"My lord, even if you kill us, the Blood God Clan cannot produce forty billion Sovereign Spiritual Liquids. I beg you, please show mercy!"
He abandoned all pretense of dignity, falling to his knees and pleading in desperation. To him, humiliation was a small price compared to survival.
Li Wushuang and Gu Aotian sneered inwardly but could not hide the hope flickering in their eyes. They regretted coming here at all; now, even buying their lives with riches would be a blessing.
"It's not impossible…" Liu Xi said lightly.
Instantly, joy flashed across their faces. As long as he agreed to negotiate, there was room to bargain.
'Just as expected from a lower-world bumpkin,' Xue Lingzi thought with a glint of cunning, 'as long as he compromises once, we can keep pressing.'
Their calculating eyes were clear as day to Liu Xi, who found it laughable. Did they think he was some soft-hearted saint?
Rising from the boulder, he looked down at them, his cold gaze sharp enough to pierce bone. "Bodhisattva."
The moment his voice fell, the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree responded. Strands of pure, crystalline Spiritual Energy descended like ribbons of light. They looked weightless—yet each strand carried the might to crush heaven and earth.
Before anyone could react, one of the faint streams fell upon an old man in tattered blood robes.
With a thunderous bang, the man's body exploded on the spot, flesh and blood scattering like rain before anyone could even scream.
The air reeked of iron.
Blood splattered across everyone's faces, and Xue Lingzi froze for several heartbeats before letting out a strangled cry.
"Xue Yi!"
The slain man was one of his Earth Sovereigns—his clan's pillar of strength—obliterated in an instant, body and soul.
"Now it's thirty billion," Liu Xi said softly, his tone colder than a blade. "Should I lower it again? I'm quite a generous person, you know."
The icy words made everyone shiver.
"No—no need! Thirty billion! We'll pay, just spare our lives!" Xue Lingzi nearly lost his mind. Every Earth Sovereign was the foundation of their power; losing even one was a wound that would bleed for generations.
"And what about you two?" Liu Xi's gaze shifted toward Li Wushuang and Gu Aotian.
"My lord, actually… their clans are quite poor," Luo Tianshen interjected smoothly, lowering his head with a faint smile. "Even ten billion would be their limit. Perhaps you could grant them some leniency?"
Liu Xi turned his eyes on him, amused. To think the upright Luo Tianshen could be this sly.
Li Wushuang and Gu Aotian's faces turned ashen; they glared at Luo Tianshen with venomous hatred.
"My lord, the Strength God Clan truly cannot pay forty billion. Please allow us to use resources as compensation instead!" Li Wushuang pleaded, his towering frame collapsing to its knees like a beaten hound.
Gu Aotian followed suit, abandoning all pride. "I… as well!"
"Fine," Liu Xi said coldly. "But don't think of fooling me. You're allowed to report each other—anyone who exposes deceit will be rewarded. As for the one caught cheating…"
He didn't finish, but the implication was clear enough.
All three clans instantly lost any thought of scheming—especially with Luo Tianshen eyeing them like a hungry wolf.
Luo Tianshen, meanwhile, felt both relieved and regretful. If these three clans were crippled further, the Luo God Clan might finally rise again. Yet his fleeting satisfaction froze when Liu Xi's next words dropped like thunder.
"As for the Luo God Clan's twenty billion Sovereign Spiritual Liquids… shall I lower it for you?"
"Ah—twenty billion…" Luo Tianshen was stunned. After a long pause, he forced a bitter smile and stammered, "No need, my lord… the Luo God Clan still has some reserves. Twenty billion, we can manage…"
He wiped the sweat from his brow, heart aching as though he'd just carved his flesh. But when he thought of the Blood God Clan losing one Earth Sovereign and still paying thirty billion—while the other two owed forty—his mood lightened absurdly.
They were all being fleeced, but at least he'd been spared the worst.
Once everyone understood Liu Xi's ruthlessness, no one dared resist. The four clan leaders were released under strict terms: they were to return and gather the ransom within the set time. If they failed, Liu Xi would personally visit—with the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree at his side.
After they departed, Liu Xi dismissed the remaining captives to one side, leaving the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree to watch them. Then, he sat cross-legged once more. It was time to abandon his Dou Qi and fully embrace the Spiritual Energy system of this world.
Closing his eyes, he guided his focus inward. Within his meridians, Dou Qi and Spiritual Energy tangled chaotically, nullifying each other. It was time to decide.
"Get out of me!"
With a deep roar, Liu Xi unleashed the floodgates. Torrents of Dou Qi erupted from within, surging like a tidal wave through his body and bursting outward through every pore.
The vast sea of energy rose like a storm, shaking heaven and earth. The skies darkened, winds howled, and thunder cracked—his accumulated Dou Qi raging like a collapsing ocean.
Even the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree trembled under the pressure.
From a distance, the surviving Earth Sovereigns watched in terror as the young man floated in midair, surrounded by an overwhelming storm of Dou Qi that tore through the heavens. Their souls quaked in instinctive fear.
This wasn't the aura of an ordinary expert. It was the unmistakable dominance of a Heavenly Sovereign.
Only such beings possessed this kind of world-suppressing presence.
For an entire day and night, the earth trembled beneath that power.
When the last trace of Dou Qi finally dissipated, an unfamiliar emptiness filled Liu Xi's heart.
He had truly abolished his Dou Qi.
(End of Chapter)
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