Chapter 623 - Going After Them

Li Guanqi looked at the silent Xiao Chen, knowing exactly what he was thinking.

He spoke with a careful, deliberate tone. “Xiao Chen, once you decide to act and shock the world, you have to be ruthless. The ones whose cultivation has been crippled... in your eyes, they may be innocent, unrelated to all this. That’s true—they don’t know about the Ding family’s schemes against the Xiao family. But we came here to kill. Won’t they feel resentful? Won’t they hate us?”

Xiao Chen nodded in silence. He knew Li Guanqi was right, but it was hard to adjust his mindset so quickly.

“So... the moment you see resentment or hatred in their eyes, you cannot hold back,” Li Guanqi said.

He fixed Xiao Chen with a piercing look. “If I were you, I wouldn’t have spared a single member of the six families.”

The Ding family alone had over six hundred members. More than two hundred died, and the remaining cultivators had their powers stripped.

After leaving the Ding family, Li Guanqi led Xiao Chen through the remaining four families in just half an hour.

However, when they reached the last one, the Zhou family, an invisible force seemed to block them from entering the Zhou family’s territory.

During the battle against the six Illusory Refinement Realm cultivators, with one from each family, Xiao Chen had killed their matriarch.

Apart from that old woman, the Zhou family still had two Illusory Refinement Realm experts. One was her Daoist partner, Zhou Yigu, at the mid Illusory Refinement Realm. He wore a black robe. Though his aged skin hung slightly loose, his sunken eyes were full of cold killing intent. Beside him stood another black-robed elder who bore some resemblance to him—Zhou Yiwei, Zhou Yigu’s younger brother, who had never married and devoted his life to cultivation. His talent was slightly lower, leaving him at the early Illusory Refinement Realm.

Both had been in seclusion when Zhou Yigu sensed his partner’s soul lamp shatter. He emerged from seclusion in a panic and was briefed on the situation by his subordinates.

Zhou Yigu smashed a nearby desk in a rage. “Nonsense! They’re a bunch of fools being used by the Li family as spies without even knowing it!

Hmph!

Contact the Li family immediately! Make them protect the Zhou family! Kill this brat outside our gates and show the world the consequences of provoking us!”

His subordinates hurried out to contact the powerful Li family.

Zhou Yiwei frowned from beside him. “Brother, this isn’t something that can be resolved so easily. I’ve heard that a young swordsman holds the title of Yanluo Sword Sovereign. The other five families haven’t even replied. Their strength is probably far beyond ours.”

Zhou Yigu’s eyes flickered. He knew his brother was right.

Reconciliation was impossible. The only hope was for the Li family to dispatch someone powerful enough to eliminate the threat. But before anyone could report back, the entire Zhou family territory began to shake violently.

Boom!

The sky above the buildings split. A lightning sword streaked down, landing atop the Zhou family’s main peak.

The sword light tore through the void. The two brothers reacted at once, simultaneously unleashing the same sword sutra.

One golden sword light and one red sword light rose in unison, yet the moment their two colossal sword lights met Li Guanqi’s strike, they exploded.

Boom!

The force sent both elders flying hundreds of zhang. Two dark shapes shot backward through the air, tracing blurry black streaks. Both turned pale, throats trembling as they forced down their surging blood and qi. They exchanged a glance, and each saw the gravity in the other’s eyes.

A single casual strike had pushed them both back. Every member of the Zhou family looked up.

From the black rift, two figures slowly emerged. One was a handsome young man in white robes, a massive black sword box strapped to his back. The other had an icy expression, wore blood-red robes, and held a crimson spear.

Li Guanqi’s eyes flashed. He drew his sword with a cold glint in his eyes. Without a word or further delay, he shot upwards, sword in hand.

Xiao Chen mirrored him. Their grudge needed no words.

Zhou Yigu’s eyes gleamed with golden light. “Attack with full power! Show no mercy!”

He didn’t attempt to plead or bargain, knowing there was no room for negotiation.

Lightning gathered. The violent surge of energy shook heaven and earth.

Zhou Yiwei’s eyes flickered. He frantically tried to contact the Li family. He spoke anxiously to the elder beside him, “The Li family hasn’t replied!”

Zhou Yigu maneuvered through the air, creating dozens of illusory copies of himself to attack Li Guanqi. “Keep contacting them! If the Li family doesn’t come today, our family is doomed!”

Li Guanqi detected the spatial anomaly, and a cold smile played on his lips. If his hunch was right, Meng Jiangchu should have already arrived at the Li family’s residence. There was no point in wasting time.

Boom!

Li Guanqi’s body erupted with endless lightning, transforming into countless lightning spears that exploded outward. The spears pierced through every last one of Zhou Yigu’s clones.

Li Guanqi’s speed was absolute. The elder only saw a blur before a streak of lightning flashed in his peripheral vision.

Boom!

The lotus on Li Guanqi’s Red Lotus Sword bloomed, activating both powers of his sword spirit void

“Destruction! Blade Breaker!”

Li Guanqi’s strength reached its peak.

“Heaven-Opening Tier, Sword-Unsheathing Technique!”

Whoosh!

A cold flash streaked past. Zhou Yigu spun and raised his sword to block, but Li Guanqi’s movement was faster, and his strike was faster still. Zhou Yigu barely raised his blade before the sword light struck.

Zhou Yiwei’s face twisted in horror. “Brother!”

How dare he get distracted when I’m still here?

Xiao Chen swung the Divine Blood Spear, which twisted like a dragon around Zhou Yiwei’s weapon. One strike knocked the sword aside, driving the spear straight through Zhou Yiwei’s shoulder. With a sharp twist of his wrist, the spear tip plunged downward, splitting Zhou Yiwei’s body. Xiao Chen drew back the spear and thrust again, piercing through his head.

Boom!

The head exploded like an overripe watermelon.

Zhou Yigu fared no better. The sword light split him in two, its reach stretching for thousands of zhang and cleaving the entire Zhou family’s territory in half.