Li Shenrong stood up. The environment around him was a mixture of fiery flame and chilling ice, a scene of complete chaos. Even before the storm descended, the terrifying heat and cold were already destroying everything, and Li Shenrong stood calmly at its center.
Without even glancing at the incoming storm, Li Shenrong's eyes fell on Shen Shou or more accurately, on the man who was protecting Shen Shou and Shen Lin.
The Shen family members frowned, not understanding why Li Shenrong would stare at him at such a time.
At that moment, something extraordinary occurred. The Iceflame vortex that had been about to descend upon Li Shenrong suddenly changed direction. Shen Shou's mind exploded in fear as he saw the vortex twist violently and spin toward him.
"Take Shen Lin with you and get away from him." Li Shenrong's voice buzzed directly in his ears.
"Huh?!" Shen Shou was stunned. But under such circumstances, he acted decisively, he grabbed Shen Lin and ran far away.
The Shen family head's pupils shrunk. He chose to evade but the Vortex continued to chase after him. The Iceflame Qi disaster didn't even descend as it was hellbent on killing the Shen family head.
"Family head…!" Many members cried out in alarm.
Shen Bao had no time to dodge. He could only forcefully try to withstand the torrential fragments of Ice and Fire Law. His Qi and blood churned violently, one moment scalding hot to the point of vaporization, the next moment freezing solid.
Owing to his strong cultivation, a late stage Dao Sovereign, he barely managed to endure. Many were confused as to what ominous act had the family head committed to be targeted by such a disaster?
It was completely unheard of!
Just as the Shen family elders and protectors were about to take action, drastic changes occurred.
Inside the massive vortex, a terrifying roar echoed out. The sound was unlike anything a human could produce. Everyone felt their minds go blank for a few seconds. Shen Yu frowned, circulating his Qi to erase the negative effects clouding his mind.
Under everyone's stunned gaze, Shen Bao, the Shen family head suddenly began tearing his own skin. The flesh over his body was ripped open entirely, exposing red muscles and tendons that looked horrifying beyond words.
"Eh?! What's happening to Big Brother Bao!?" Shen Shou cried out in shock.
Sharp silvery claws protruded from Shen Bao's fingers. With both hands, he grabbed the top of his head, the claws digging deep into his skull. Then, with a violent pull, he tore his own head open from both sides. Blood gushed out like a fountain.
The muscles on his body began to disintegrate. From within the collapsing corpse, a strange creature crawled out.
Bathed in blood, its skin was an unnaturally purple. A pure white horn protruded from its forehead, and a single dark eye glowed menacingly in the center of its face. As it appeared, its body flickered between reality and illusion. It glared viciously at Li Shenrong before disappearing into thin air.
Everyone was dumbfounded. Not a single person could comprehend what they had just witnessed. The Iceflame disaster chased after the Shen family head, the Shen family head turned out to be a monster and vanished. The situation was so bizarre. As the crowd thought deeply, a chill crept into their hearts.
A monster had been impersonating the Shen family head, and no one in the Shen family had realized it.
Losing its target, the Iceflame vortex spun violently, becoming even more ferocious as if enraged.
Just as it was about to descend completely and cause immense destruction, Li Shenrong stepped forward, arriving directly beneath its center.
He clenched his hands, the nirvanic calamity fist art circulating to the maximum. With his advancement in cultivation along with the nourishment from the Grand Dao, the power of his nirvanic arts had been elevated to the next level. The space itself trembled as if on the verge of collapse.
And then, he punched. "Nirvanic Calamity Fist." One fist to bring calamity, subdue buddha and devils! A supreme art since the dawn of creation, just how powerful was it!
Under that single punch, everything was reduced to dust. The fist intent was so terrifying that a humongous mushroom shape vacuum was created above the sky, devoid of Qi and Air. When the violent wind and devastating power finally subsided, the Iceflame Qi disaster was nowhere to be seen, it had completely vanished.
"Pinch me… am I dreaming?" Someone muttered in disbelief.
The spectators were tongue tied, the members of the Shen family had their jaws touching the ground.
"Is this the power that Heavenly King could unleash?"
"This kid is a monster! Where did he pop up from?"
"He must be cultivating a supreme fist art!"
"How could he be so strong….."
Some were dazed, some deep in thought, while others still found it hard to believe that a Heavenly King had just used one punch to vanquish such a terrifying natural calamity.
Shen Shou and Shen Lin quickly appeared beside Li Shenrong. Shen Yu also flew down.
"Greetings, Young Master Li…" After witnessing his strength, Shen Yu's tone shifted ninety degrees, full of respect.
Li Shenrong smiled, "I remember someone tried to block the energy flow of heaven and earth during my comprehension…"
Shen Yu felt a tug of fear in his heart as he quickly denied. "I was panicked and nervous, please forgive me for making a fool of myself."
Not a single Shen family members dared to object, they felt it was natural. Their mind was still occupied with the scenes of earlier events.
She Yu cordially invited Li Shenrong into the main hall. They wanted to know more about the situation and Shen Bao. They even carefully preserved the remaining skin of Shen Bao, projecting it before everyone within the hall.
"Does anyone know what is this thing?" Shen Yu asked, solemnly.
Many elders examined the bloody skin, trying to discern some clue, but found nothing. It still carried Shen Bao's aura, yet no trace of that creature remained.
A vexed expression appeared on everyone's face.
"Lord Yu, does it mean the family head is dead?" An elder asked cautiously.
Everyone exchanged glances.
"No! How could my father die! He must've gone somewhere and the monster chose to impersonate him!" Shen Lin spoke, her tone was trembling. She tried hard not to cry.
"What little Lin said could also be true…" Shen Shou said from the side.
"The previous family head is missing, elder brother Bao's whereabouts unknown. The Yang radiance sect and the Tie family will be knocking our doors soon. The situation is extremely precarious…." Shen Yu spoke solemnly.
"When i went out for business, little Lin tagged along with us and someone from our family sent assassin to kill her." At the moment Shen Shou spoke.
"What! Someone dares to cause trouble at this juncture!" Third elder Kang snorted coldly, he was furious.
Shen Lin secretly glanced at him, sighing.
"Explain." Shen Yu asked.
Shen Shou meticulously recounted everything in detail, saliva flying everywhere, adding dramatic exclamations and exaggerated screams that sounded like a pig being slaughtered.
All the core members of the Shen family twitched their eyelids, silently creating distance lest they be contaminated by the fatty's antics.
After a while, he finished and drained an entire wine pot in one gulp.
"We should thank the young master Li again for his generosity." The elders expressed gratitude with great enthusiasm. Still, some had complicated expressions because Li Shenrong was like a ticking time bomb. They didn't want to offend the Sacred Sword ground, they also hoped to get onto the thigh of the Gu family as well as having some connection with the Ancient Blazing Heaven star dynasty. But the prerequisite is that Li Shenrong must win.
"It was no matter. I saved them out of convenience." Li Shenrong replied nonchalantly.
Today, seeing Li Shenrong's prowess, Shen Yu felt confident in him but still it was a gamble he had to take. He couldn't offend either side and their situation didn't permit to choose. So Shen Yu could only greet his teeth and express goodwill to Li Shenrong.
The discussion shifted to the strange creature again. Everyone was in deep thought. Shen Yu suddenly turned to Li Shenrong. "Young master Li, back at that time you seem to have noticed something. Do you perhaps know something about it?"
Li Shenrong nodded, "I indeed know, at first i wasn't sure myself."
Everyone's attention focused on him.
"Could you please explain to us young master…." Elder Kang spoke.
Li Shenrong smiled, his eyes shifted toward Shen Lin. "It's all thanks to her."
"On the airship, she unconsciously mentioned certain details that made me suspicious. She said she had sensed a strange aura around her father and that she once saw him secretly cultivating an odd technique."
"Yes." Shen Lin said, her voice trembling. "At one time, I mistakenly saw those long silver claws. When I asked, he said it was part of a new cultivation technique and told me to keep it secret. I still believed he was my father, but… one day, he told me to throw away the pendant my mother gave me. I refused, but he said it was old and useless, that he'd give me a better one." Her voice quivered. "That's when I grew suspicious. My father would never ask me to throw away that pendant."
"I mentioned it casually to Brother Li, and it must have aroused his suspicions." She added softly.
"That's right." Li Shenrong nodded with a faint smile. "The creature is known as a Shape Stealing Spirit, from the Duoxing Spirit Clan, one of the clans among the Hundred Spirit Race. Their innate talent allows them to steal a person's body, imitate their victim, and blend seamlessly among humans to achieve their goals."
"Shape Stealing spirit? Duoxing clan? Hundred spirits race? I've never heard any of it…" everyone exchanged glances among themselves.
"It is only natural that none of you heard of it. Among the hundred spirits race, only three races were exiled. They couldn't live under the Heavenly Dao and could only hide inside small dimensional space." Li Shenrong said.
"Since they are cursed, the Heavenly Dao itself is their nemesis. They can deceive the entire world but not the Heavens. The Iceflame Qi disaster was a natural calamity carrying the will of the Heavenly Dao. Upon close contact, the creature was immediately exposed."
Everyone nodded their head repeatedly in understanding. "No wonder! The disaster was hellbent on killing him."
"Young master does it mean that creature killed our Family head?" She Yu asked.
Li Shenrong nodded. His affirmation caused Shen Lin to cry out loud. She broke down in tears.
"Don't cry sister, i shall take revenge for our father's death!" A stern voice sounded as a young man in blue robe walked in. His face was cold.
"Shen Jie you are back.." Seeing the youth, Shen Yu smiled.
Shen Jie was Shen Lin's elder brother who had joined the Jade Sky kingdom. After hearing news of the Shen family's misfortune, he had rushed back without hesitation.