Chapter 15: Badge

At the main estate of the Yu Manor, the previously lavish and immaculately maintained courtyard had been reduced to a set of ruins. There were corpses and flowing blood everywhere, and the stench of blood in the air was so strong that it was downright nauseating.

All of the survivors of the Yu Family were gathered here, and there were only about two dozen of them left. Some were young and some were old, and Yu Qi and the second young master of the family were both among them.

All of them wore horrified expressions, and there were a few women among them who were trembling uncontrollably. Only Yu Qi and a few others were able to maintain some modicum of composure.

There was a particularly large number of black-suited figures here, close to 30 at a rough glance, and they had trapped the surviving members of the Yu Family in the courtyard from three sides. They were split up into small groups of around three to five people, and all of them were cultivators with most of them wielding magic tools.

Thankfully, the other elders of the Yu Family finally arrived to protect the surviving members of the Yu Family.

The Yu Family was the family of the Prosperous Nation's prime minister, so the cultivator elders assigned to the family were all quite powerful. In particular, there was a middle-aged red-robed cultivator standing in front of the surviving members of the Yu Family.

He had pockmarks all over his face and a short figure that was completely unremarkable, but red light was surging around his entire body, and he was giving off the enormous spiritual pressure of a Core Formation cultivator.

There was a crimson fire bead treasure that was hovering above his head, and several crimson balls of fire were revolving around it.

The other three elders of the Yu Family consisted of two men and a woman, and their cultivation base was inferior to that of the red-robed man, but they were also quite formidable in their own right. One of them was a black-robed young woman with a set of elegant features, but they were marred by a scar on her face. She was standing on one side of the red-robed cultivator, while another thin middle-aged man with a pair of deep-set eyes stood on his other side.

The final cultivator was a thin elderly man with dark skin, resembling an old farmer, and he was standing slightly back from the trio.

Even though there was a Core Formation cultivator among them, they were still only a group of four, and they had to prioritize the safety of the Yu Family's survivors, so they found themselves locked in an impasse against the black-suited cultivators around them.

"We can't keep going like this. Protect the young mistress and everyone else, and prepare to rush out as soon as the opportunity arises!" the red-robed cultivator instructed, then made a hand seal before opening his mouth to release a burst of red light, which vanished into the fire bead above his head.

The fire bead instantly began to rotate at a far greater speed, to the point that it had become a crimson blur.

Around a dozen giant fireballs flew out of the bead before quickly fusing together to form a thick fiery dragon that was over 100 feet in length.

The fiery dragon was covered in a layer of clear-cut red scales, and it let loose a furious roar as it swooped down into the crowd of black-suited figures up ahead.

The first group of black-suited figures were caught off guard and sent flying by the fiery dragon, with two of them being reduced to ashes on the spot.

Immediately thereafter, the fiery dragon swept its tail violently through the air to release a wave of fire, forcing all of the black-suited figures in the general vicinity to rush back in retreat.

After a brief moment of chaos, all of the black-suited cultivators steadied themselves before bombarding the fiery dragon with a barrage of attacks.

The fiery dragon's giant body swayed from side to side from the impact of the attacks, and the flames on its body were churning incessantly, but none of the attacks were sufficient to deal a fatal blow. The dragon continued to wreak havoc to its heart's content, and after just a few seconds, close to half of all of the black-suited figures were either dead or injured.

"Go!" the red-robed cultivator yelled at his three companions.

However, right at this moment, a burst of blurry black light shot forth at an incredible speed, striking the lower abdomen of the fiery dragon directly like a bolt of black lightning.

The burst of black light pierced deep into the fiery dragon's body, revealing itself to be a black arrow that was riddled with black runes.

The runes on the arrow's shaft abruptly released an enormous burst of black light before exploding violently with an almighty boom, sending a giant dark red mushroom cloud rising up into the air, causing violent tremors to run through the nearby ground.

A huge hole was instantly blown into the fiery dragon's lower abdomen, and the flames around it flashed erratically.

The red-robed cultivator and the other three elders were all stunned to see this.

Another black-suited figure had appeared at the entrance of the courtyard, and he was wielding a large black bow with black light surging around his body. The aura that he was giving off indicated that he was a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Immediately thereafter, four more black-suited figures emerged from the darkness behind him. They were all also at the peak of the Foundation Establishment Stage, wielding the same black bows that they drew and fired in unison.

Four black runed arrows shot forth, racing rapidly through the night sky like a cluster of black shooting stars.

The red-robed cultivator hurriedly made a series of hand seals to control the fiery dragon to evade the arrows, but it was far too big a target, and the archers were exceptionally skilled. In the end, it was only able to dodge one of the arrows, while the other three all struck their target.

The three runed arrows exploded in unison, and three more massive holes were blown into the fiery dragon's body.

As a result, it was unable to maintain its form any longer, and it exploded into a flurry of crimson flames that quickly fizzled out into nothingness.

The red-robed cultivator gave a muffled groan as his body swayed slightly.

Right at this moment, a ghastly screech rang out, and a streak of white light shot out of the darkness. It was several times faster than even the runed arrows from before, and it reached the red-robed cultivator in the blink of an eye.

The red-robed cultivator was greatly alarmed by this, and the crimson fire bead above his head immediately flew forward to meet the streak of white light at his behest. At the same time, he flew back while raising his hands to release two streaks of light, one blue and one red, containing a small blue sword and a crimson flying trident, respectively, both of which also flew toward the streak of white light.

The white light flashed, revealing itself to be a blade of bone that was around three feet in length with gusts of Yin wind swirling around it.

Large swathes of black threads abruptly appeared on the surface of the blade amid a faint buzzing sound, and the threads wrapped themselves around the fire bead, the blue sword, and the crimson flying trident.

The spiritual light radiating from the three treasures instantly dimmed, and they slowed down significantly, looking as if they could fall out of the air at any moment.

Meanwhile, the bone blade passed right through the three sluggish treasures in a flash, then suddenly appeared near the red-robed cultivator's head before flashing through the air like lightning.

The red-robed cultivator let loose a bloodcurdling cry that was abruptly cut short as his head slid off his neck, having been decapitated.

Blood spurted several feet up into the air like a gory geyser, and his headless body swayed momentarily before toppling to the ground.

"Daoist Master Red Robe!" the survivors of the Yu Family exclaimed in unison.

The other three elders were also horrified to see this, and they all backtracked a few steps, unsure of how to proceed.

Immediately thereafter, a young man with a set of sinister features slowly emerged from the crowd. He was none other than the man who had been spying on Yu Qi in secret back in Farbright City, but he wasn't accompanied by the gray-robed man here.

All of the surrounding black-suited figures immediately stopped what they were doing and bowed respectfully toward the young man.

With a wave of his hand, the white bone blade shot back to the young man, carrying Daoist Master Red Robe's three treasures along with it.

He took a glance at the three treasures, and a disdainful look appeared on his face, but he still stowed them away before turning to the survivors of the Yu Family with a cold expression. "Kill them all! Don't let a single one of them live!"

"Yes!" the black-suited figures hurriedly replied in unison before stepping forward to carry out his orders.

The three elders of the Yu Family looked on with grim expressions, but none of them stepped in to intervene.

Some of the women and children among the Yu Family's survivors were sobbing in despair, while others had already collapsed to the ground, and there were even a few who had soiled themselves.

"Hold on!"

A pleasant voice rang out, and Yu Qi stepped forward to confront the black-suited figures.

She had put on her male attire once again, but there was no disguising the hint of seduction in her features.

The young man's eyes immediately lit up at the sight of her, and his lecherous gaze roamed greedily over her body.

Yu Qi's face was quite pale, but she was still just barely able to maintain her composure. She fought back the urge to gouge out the deplorable young man's eyes as she pulled out a purple and golden badge before displaying it to the group.

There was an extremely vivid and detailed purple and golden flame design emblazoned upon the badge.

"How dare you slaughter the members of our Yu Family? Do you have no regard for the Cold Flame Sect?"