"Oh~, I can, I did and I will do it again."
Wade laughed like a psychotic maniac as a lifeless body dropped behind him.
A boy about the same age as him lay in the pool of his own blood, with a dagger sticking through his neck.
"I didn't expect the stable boy would be your kin. How dumb was it for him to try to ambush me? Don't worry, I will make sure you reunite him in this full moon!"
Wade's words enraged the old man even further. Grief and vengeance were the only things on his mind as he rushed at Wade with frenzied eyes.
"You son of a bitch! He was my last family! The legacy of my only son! You took him from me!"
The old man screamed at the top of his lungs, his eyes had turned bloodshot. Clearly, Wade's taunts had pushed him to the edge.
Wade's gaze turned cold.
"Hey, old fart, I understand I just offed your grandson, but why did you dare to insult my mother? Looks like you will become charcoal today."
Wade calmly walked toward the old man, his eyes contained a murderous glint that wished to tear this scrawny body apart.
The old man felt fear for the first time in a long while. He slowly backed away but was unfortunate to hit a wall.
"Old fart, your crime was going against me today. I don't give a damn about your shady dealings but I also have certain principles to uphold."
"Today you will die."
The old man became wide-eyed with panic. He promptly dropped the two maces and dashed toward the exit.
But before he could even cross five meters, sharp pain assaulted the back of his knee as he fell face-first onto the floor.
"ARGHHH!!!"
He hollered in pain, looking at his pierced knee with sheer terror.
Wade simply smiled at him and walked over to pick up the maces. Then, he took slow, leisurely steps toward the helpless old man.
"S-Spare m-me!"
The old man pleaded for his life but he lost all hope after seeing Wade's eyes along with a sadistic smile.
"Wouldn't it be foolish to spare my enemies? Give me one reason."
The old man trembled. The fear and pain he felt almost knocked him out but a timely hit on his second healthy knee woke him up.
"ARGHHH!!!"
"Come on, I don't have the eternity for your gears to fire up."
The helpless man curled up into a bloodied ball, holding both of his pierced and shattered knees.
"I-I saw a fire element qi crystal deep in the forest. S-south west from here, about f-five kilometers."
He mouthed with a shaky voice, desperately hoping that this would be enough. However, what he got instead was a hit on his collarbone that completely smashed it along with his right shoulder.
"ARHGGG!!!"
"Tell me the truth."
Wade coldly ordered, disregarding the pleading wails.
"I-I-it is the truth. There are t-ten fire element qi crystals! Please! No more!"
Wade thought about it for a while and then smashed the old man's skull, finally ending his misery.
———
Outside, Wade watched as the inn burned down.
The horse neighed in fear, trying to gallop away from the heat but Wade firmly held the reins, engraving the moment into his memory.
"Many said that the first kill would be emotional but I feel nothing. Taking a human life or a chicken's feels the same."
"Haah~, I guess I overreacted with my intimidation tactics. Father taught me well, the act of a psychotic maniac. I wonder how a scholarly man like him could teach such things to a five-year-old me back then."
———
Half an hour later.
Wade stopped in front of a huge mountain.
There was nothing but a single gaping cave that had an uncanny feel to it.
"It should be here."
He forced the horse to enter the cave despite its protests.
'I need you to be a decoy just in case.'
The inside was pitch black and dry, lacking any form of life, even the usual scorpions were nowhere to be seen.
However, the darkness was soon broken by a bioluminescent light from the cave minerals. Instead of being relieved, Wade began to feel more pressure as his horse became rooted in place.
"I guess that is as far as you can take me."
He hopped off the horse and walked deeper by himself. All around, naturally formed crystals coated the cave walls, making it look like a fantasy scene.
'I can't sense any Qi.'
He strode further and further till the natural minerals began to shine with scorching red.
Wade could feel the heat on his skin. He knew if he went deeper his black martial robes would incinerate into ash.
Without batting an eye, he swiftly stripped down and neatly folded his clothes on the ground. The jagged ground beneath his feet felt especially sharp and hot, making him quite uncomfortable.
Out of nowhere, an idea popped into his mind.
'I should perform the exercises of devourer!'
Without wasting a single moment, he started the routine and slowly shifted himself further into the cave. Although the process was painfully slow, he no longer felt the heat and pain from his soles. Instead, he steadily felt his body becoming lighter and stronger. Wade's own body heat climbed too, reddening his entire skin.
The number of red natural minerals increased as he neared the source of the heat and after an entire hour, Wade found a huge open space.
In front of him, there was a single shining red pond that emitted a dangerous aura, making his hair stand on end.
The moment he saw it, his eyes nearly bulged out of his skull as he remembered one of his father's teachings.
"Goddammit! That's no fire qi crystals! That's a beast transformation pond! This entire place is full of blood essence! That bastard fooled me!"
Wade felt the ground shake as small loose rocks fell from the cave ceiling.
He swiftly dodged while keeping an eye over the ripping bloody pond.
Slowly, a scaled triangular head emerged from the pond. Its silver scales reflected the bloody liquid's shine, creating a mesmerizing contrast.
"Shit."