Endless Clone Emperor

"Burp!"

"This beef tastes amazing!"

"Too bad I don't have enough spirit stones right now, or I'd head to the brothel to blow off some steam."

"Ah well, I'll go in a few days… hehehe…"

Li Lichang, drunk and slurring his words, laughed obscenely as he imagined his upcoming visit to the brothel. He had just finished a hearty meal of wine and meat, feeling satisfied and carefree.

Soon, he arrived home.

Unlike Su Zhan's rundown, leaky wooden shack, Li Lichang lived in a proper tiled house—a luxury that had cost him the lives of at least a hundred people.

*Crack—*

As Li Lichang stepped inside, he reached back to close the door.

But suddenly, a hand shot out, stopping the door from shutting.

A familiar face came into view.

It was Su Zhan.

Su Zhan's eyes were calm, his face expressionless. "I need to talk to you."

"You?" Li Lichang squinted, smirking lazily. "What, you here to kill me while I'm drunk? To get your revenge?"

"You should know I'm stronger than you now."

His tone dripped with arrogance and disdain.

It was true. After teaming up with the bullies in the mine, Li Lichang had gained plenty of spirit stones, which he used for both spending and cultivation. Meanwhile, Su Zhan, struggling just to survive, had no time to meditate or practice. He spent every day mining, barely scraping by. Naturally, he couldn't keep up with Li Lichang's progress.

"Stronger than me? Are you sure?"

As soon as the words left Su Zhan's mouth, his eyes turned fierce. In a flash, he pulled out a dagger and thrust it toward Li Lichang's abdomen!

But before the blade could connect, Li Lichang's large hand shot out, gripping Su Zhan's wrist tightly.

The force was so strong that the dagger couldn't move an inch closer.

"Heh, Su Zhan," Li Lichang sneered, "I knew you were stupid, but I didn't think you'd be this stupid. I just told you—you're no match for me now—"

*Sssshhk!*

A faint sound of flesh being cut interrupted Li Lichang's words.

To an ordinary person, the sound might have been imperceptible, but Li Lichang, at the first level of the Mortal Realm, had heightened senses. His hearing was more than twice as sharp as a normal person's.

His eyes widened in shock, disbelief, and fear. He felt something warm and wet trickling down his neck.

He reached up to touch it—dark red blood glistened under the moonlight.

Then, the blood began to gush out uncontrollably.

Li Lichang's anger flared, but before he could turn to see who was behind him, the deep wound on his neck made him freeze. He didn't dare move.

*Swish! Swish! Swish!*

The person behind him kept stabbing—knife after knife plunging into his back.

"Who is it?! Who's there?!" Li Lichang wanted to scream, to struggle, to escape.

But the "person" behind him—clearly at least at the first level of the Mortal Realm—held him tightly by the shoulders, making it impossible to break free.

With his vitals repeatedly stabbed, even Li Lichang's strength, capable of breaking metal and stone, was useless. He could only stand there, helpless.

"Help—!" he tried to shout, but the hand gripping his shoulder immediately clamped over his mouth, silencing him.

Li Lichang's eyes darted down to the hand covering his mouth, and terror flooded his veins.

What… what was this hand? It was cold as ice, lifeless, yet eerily human-like. It felt unreal, like an illusion.

"Mmmph! Mmmph!" Li Lichang thrashed violently, his mind a whirlwind of confusion, fear, and panic.

The resilience of a first-level Mortal Realm cultivator was remarkable. A normal person would have died instantly from such wounds, but Li Lichang clung to life, struggling desperately. He tried to pry the hand off his mouth, even biting it with all his strength.

But —Xiao Hei's hand—felt no pain. It didn't budge.

"Relax," Su Zhan said with a cheerful smile, stepping closer. "It's normal to feel dizzy and in pain when you're bleeding like this."

"Mmmph! Mmmph!" Li Lichang's eyes pleaded, all traces of arrogance gone, replaced by sheer desperation.

"You're so tenacious," Su Zhan remarked, almost amused. "Guess I'll have to finish this myself."

*Swish!*

Without hesitation, Su Zhan plunged the dagger into Li Lichang's heart, twisting it to widen the wound.

Li Lichang's body convulsed in agony, his muffled screams barely audible.

"Xiao Hei, you can stop now. Just keep his mouth covered. I'll handle the rest."

Su Zhan stabbed again and again—abdomen, heart, spleen—each strike precise and brutal.

Who said revenge wasn't satisfying?

For Su Zhan, this was better than a feast after a day of starvation.

Especially seeing the fear, despair, and helplessness in Li Lichang's eyes… Su Zhan felt a deep, almost euphoric satisfaction.

By the time Su Zhan stopped, Li Lichang's body was a bloody mess. Su Zhan hadn't even noticed when the struggling stopped or when Li Lichang finally died.

All he knew was that when Xiao Hei let go, Li Lichang's lifeless body crumpled to the ground, already growing cold.

"That felt good," Su Zhan murmured, exhaling deeply as he looked at the pool of blood spreading across the floor. He felt no guilt, no panic—just pure satisfaction.

As for the smell of blood? It didn't matter. In this place, the scent of blood was as common as the air they breathed.

If Su Zhan hadn't wanted to avoid drawing too much attention, he might have let Li Lichang scream for help. But for now, silence was golden.