Chapter 169 - Life Hanging on a Thread

“They’re done for. The Chen Clan is on the verge of collapse.”

“That’s right. That goatee elder is playing with Chen Fan like he is a child. Just look at his chest. Who knows how many bones he broke?”

“Chen Fan's immense talent allows him to defy the heavens and defeat a first-level Yuanfu realm expert while being a Qi Grandmaster. However, when facing a third-level Yuanfu realm powerhouse, he can do nothing but endure a beating.”

“The martial arts realm is harsh and brutal, where a misstep could lead to death or the destruction of one's clan, implicating everyone associated.”

“I’m afraid everyone from Chen Clan is now feeling what the two clans’ members were feeling before.”

The onlooking crowd gossiped indifferently.

In the martial arts world, the sight of clans being eradicated was so common that it elicited no more than a casual response.

Today, you might be the victor, annihilating the Tan and Liu clans, but who could predict the arrival of an even mightier adversary tomorrow, ready to destroy you?

Among the spectators were individuals from the Tan and Liu clans, once formidable cultivators whose powers were crippled by the Chen Clan.

Now leading ordinary, miserable lives, they reveled in witnessing the great disaster unfolding for the Chen Clan, their faces gleaming with smiles. Their eyes brimmed with resentment, and they wished they could personally rush forward to execute the Chen Clan members.

“Hahahaha, nice kill! Nice kill!”

“The heavens are watching! The heavens are watching!”

“Patriarch, elder, are you seeing this? Are you seeing this? Hahaha, the day of reckoning has arrived for the Chen Clan. The heavens have opened their eyes! Kill, kill, kill, kill them without mercy, kill everyone from Chen Clan!”

“Kill them all! Leave no one behind!”

The remnants of the two clans gathered, laughing loudly and carefreely.

The Chen Clan had wiped out their clans, and now, an even stronger clan, the Lin Clan, wanted to exterminate the Chen Clan. How could they not feel happy?

Even if they weren't directly responsible for the Chen Clan's downfall, witnessing its extermination brought them immense satisfaction.

......

The Chen Clan couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to the remnants of the two clans. Their focus was on preventing Lin Zong from harming the younger generation of the Chen Clan.

Chen Fan bore visible injuries—his chest had caved in, his waist punctured with bloody holes, and his finger bones broken.

Covered in blood, he looked as miserable as when he fought Wang Fuchen on Scarlet Cliff. Despite pushing his power to the limit, he couldn’t compensate for the strength gap between him and Lin Zong.

His attacks couldn’t even touch a strand of Lin Zong’s hair.

However, a casual palm, punch, or finger flick from Lin Zong could leave wounds on Chen Fan.

Chen Fan resembled a baby attempting to fight an adult.

“Go, run away! You stupid fools, why are you still standing there? So many people sacrificed themselves to help you escape. Do you want their sacrifices to be for nothing?” Knocked back once more, Chen Fan spewed blood, his tough flesh splitting open upon landing at the feet of a Chen Clan genius.

However, a qi strand tore through the air, producing a noise as it pierced the brow of the Chen Clan genius.

“Little bastard, they can all forget about escaping. They can’t leave even if they have wings. Today is the day your Chen Clan perishes!

“Now, hand over that flying martial art, and I may spare a small portion of your Chen Clan. Otherwise, you will personally see them all die one by one!” Lin Zong declared coldly. He clenched his fist; two Chen Clan descendants immediately flew through the air, and he grabbed them.

“You bastard!” Chen Fan’s eyes turned bloodshot.

Puff, puff.

However, the response to his desperation was the sound of those descendants being crushed into blood mists.

“How does it feel, little bastard? Regretting killing our Lin Clan's young patriarch now? Unfortunately, regrets won't save the Chen Clan from extermination because of you!” Lin Zong taunted, grabbing two more Chen Clan descendants through the air.

These people were like ants in front of him—even his breath could end their lives.

“Bastard, let go of my son!” pleased a middle-aged Chen Clan member at the sixth level. Lin Zong had caught his son.

“Die!” Lin Zong directly struck out with a palm.

A terrifying large hand, formed from primeval force, descended, smashing the middle-aged man and everyone near him into mush.

“Father!”

“Little bastard, have you thought it through? I can do this all day!” Lin Zong said with a cold laugh. He was no different from a devil in the people’s eyes.

“Tragic! Tragic! Tragic!”

“In front of absolute strength, even the Chen Clan is completely powerless!”

“Where are Chen Tianxiong and Chen Zhengqing? The Chen Clan is facing destruction and has lost countless people, yet they are nowhere to be seen.”

“Perhaps they know that showing up wouldn’t help the situation and have made their escape. After all, they can only take revenge if they’re alive.”

“......”

“Ah!”

A miserable shriek rang as an enemy Qi Grandmaster tore off Chen Tianshi’s arm; fresh blood spewed out like a fountain.

“Grand Elder!”

“Grand Elder!”

The dozen or so elders’ expressions sank at the sight.

“Don’t mind me, hold him back!” Despite losing his arm, Chen Tianshi, tough as ever, gritted his teeth and urged his fellow clan members.

Dark clouds gathered over the city, and a fierce wind stirred. A storm seemed ready to unleash its fury.

Facing Lin Zong’s threat, Chen Fan surveyed the many dead and injured Chen Clan members, a resounding determination building within him.

Power!

He needed powerful strength!

Back then, in Dragon Mountain Blessed Land, he had experienced despair once when facing Wang Fuchen.

He had gone all out at the risk of death to defeat Wang Fuchen, but it had all been for naught. Ultimately, he opted to jump off the cliff rather than perish at Wang Fuchen's hands.

Now, a different despair gripped him—the anguish of being unable to save his clansmen.

The blood calamity had its roots in his actions, stemming from the moment he killed Lin Clan's young patriarch, Lin Ba.

“Who is it? Who dares kill my Chen Clan’s people!”

Suddenly, a formidable aura surged from the depths of the Chen Clan mansion, dispersing the dark clouds and stirring the winds and clouds in the sky.

Lin Zong sensed this aura, and his expression immediately changed.

It was apparent that this force was no weaker than his own—a third-level Yuanfu realm powerhouse was within the seemingly insignificant Chen Clan.

A cold and fierce light flashed in Lin Zong's eyes.

He brought his hands together, forming a circle. Immediately, all the cold qi condensed into an ice crystal spear covered in a pattern. It seemed capable of sealing the surrounding thousand miles in ice.

Crackle!

The ice crystal spear left his palm and spun rapidly, tearing through the air and shooting toward Chen Fan.

Whizz, whizz, whizz...

The spear tore open the air, emitting a sharp whistling noise

Chen Fan was heavily injured and was powerless to resist.

Chen Fan couldn't move an inch under the aura that could freeze a thousand miles. He could only watch as the ice crystal spear shot toward him.