''Well, that didn't work.'' Wang deadpanned as he sensed Li Yan rushing after them with a determined face.

''We can just kill him.'' his sister advised innocently with a finger on her chin as if she was trying to come up with answers.

Wang shook his head.

''If we stop to fight, we will spend enough time for his companions to reach us.'' he tried to come up with new plans as they rushed through the air with a speed that was over the sound speed many times over.

'Nope, nothing comes to mind.'

He sighed.

''Alright, you go without me.''

''What?!''

''We do-'' he was about to explain his reasoning but his voice was cut short by an unexpected and unusually upset Li Jing.

''Elder brother, isn't it about time you start trusting me?'' her sweet but lifeless voice reached his ears.

''Little Jing... I have always trusted you. It's just... how should I say it?'' Wang seemed to be struggling to find the right words to end his sentence.

''You don't want me to get in your way?'' she asked angrily.

''Ugh, don't. Just don't. You know I didn't mean it like that.'' he sighed as he felt like things were getting too troublesome.

''Then what did you mean?''

''I do not want to lose you Jing.'' he told her straightforwardly.

------

Seeing the things happening on the screen, some more sentimental girls and boys cried.

Some cried quietly, but most of them didn't even care enough to hide their feelings.

A muscular guy stared at them in shock.

''It's not even that touching. Have you never seen-''

''Shut up! What would you know? I had a relationship like this with my little brother as well, in the end, only one of us survived the battle.'' a woman's sorrowful voice cut him off rudely.

''My elder sister sacrificed herself to save my life. This situation... it's just too familiar for me.'' a guy sniffled.

''It can't be helped, our world is just like this. The dragon eats the tiger, you can not complain if you do not have the stren-''

''Shut the fuck up!'' he was interrupted by an angry elder.

''Go fuck your self!'' another person joined in the verbal fight.

''Do you think we don't know that?!''

''Fuck this world!'' someone complained about the situation and the natural laws of the world they lived in.

Overall, everyone either had sad or awkward faces.

''Why is killing such a common thing in our world?'' someone couldn't help but ask quietly, but her voice was heard by everyone around her.

''Don't make me start again.'' the elder who explained why their world was like this a few hours ago groaned, ''You are a cultivator at least at the stage of Deity Ascension, I'm sure you can remember the reason I gave you.''

''I-''

''I am not finished.'' he said with a stern voice before continuing.

''Not everybody has Heaven Defying talent that requires no resources, or great bloodlines that lets them accomplish great things just because they were born that way. We, almost all of us want to live long lives. Isn't the immortality aspect of cultivation the biggest motivator for most of us? Some want strength, some want riches, but everybody wants to live longer.

But, if you have no talent, you have to fight for the finite resources you can find either through your luck or your hard work. This world would mercy you if you weren't greedy. If you don't want to struggles of being a cultivator, then don't be a cultivator. You don't get to complain about the world you live in after you experience and enjoy all the good aspects of it. You chose this willingly, and if you want to, you can just cripple your cultivation and become a simple farmer.''

By the time he finished everyone was silent.

'We don't have much safety even if we become farmers.'

Some wanted to argue about the dangers of demonic cultivators and magical beasts that farmers couldn't do anything about, but they held back. They knew 'becoming a farmer' wasn't the point of the conversation.

*Sniffle*

''...''

Just when everyone thought that things were getting silent, they heard a sniffle from above them, but nobody dared to look except for a few foolish young masters.

Ice Empress didn't seem to care about her surroundings and the thoughts of others. She was quietly crying by herself.

Her eyes were staring directly into the screen, seemingly unaware of the conversation or anything that was going on outside the screen as her extremely focused state was easy to recognize for everyone.

------

''I do not want to lose you Jing.'' he told her straightforwardly.

'This is not the time to argue...' he thought as he stared at her shocked but bashful face.

''Anyways, you need to go. Three, or even maybe 4 Peak Dao Level cultivators might be coming. Don't worry, I will just delay them and escape.''

He didn't have any delusions such as defeating all of them by himself, no, that would be close to impossible even with the help of Li Jing.

Even defeating 3 Dao Peak at the same time would be close to impossible for most cultivators, but defeating 3 from an Empire? There was a reason Empires reigned supreme even after so many years had passed from the Unmatched First Emperor.

They not only had top-tier cultivation techniques, but they also had top-tier equipments. The cultivators from the royal bloodline might even have some Emperor weapons.

''You are hopeless.''

She smiled.

''I'm not a child anymore. I will stay.'' she said with a calm and determined face.

Wang looked back at her and wanted to argue but he could tell that it would be for nothing.

He turned his face back to the edge of the mist, the place where Li Yan would come out of.

'I can't transform without risking permanent damage to my foundation...'

He assessed the situation before deciding how to fight.

His fingernails elongated until they became claws that looked like they could slice through steel as if it was paper. Clean, sharp, and beautiful claws were dirtied by what could be hardly seen under them, a small hint of purple.

Li Jing behind him similarly went through her own small preparations.

He felt Li Yan get closer and closer to himself through his sharpened senses.

Wang's chest expanded before that expansion moved towards his throat and finally, it stopped as his mouth was filled to the brim as if he was a squirrel with nuts in his mouth.

He patiently waited until Li Yan appeared.

Just when he felt that Li Yan was at the edge of the blue mist, he released everything he had in his mouth.

'This won't kill him, but it will injure or at least falter him enough for me to take advantage and kill him quickly.' he went through his small plan in his head as his eyes followed after the purple smoke that filled his vision as it traveled through the air towards the blue mist.

But, just when Li Yan was supposed to get out of the mist and drown in his poison smoke, nothing happened. He didn't come out.

''What?!''