Chapter 70 – The Xue clan’s annhilation

AUGUST 7, 2023 PUTTTY3 COMMENTS

“There’s no need to leave, is there?” a voice echoed from the rubble before them.

The faces of everyone present turned pale with fear and shock, freezing them in place.

Confronting the individual who had taken the life of their Sky Reaching realm ancestor, they were acutely aware of their own powerlessness in his presence.

Xue Zhan withdrew his outstretched arm, which had been reaching for his ancestor’s body in an attempt to bring his body back for a proper burial. He staggered, his pupils dilating in shock as he followed the voice’s origin.

The sole person to recognize the voice was Xue Zhan, making his shock tenfold compared to others. Emerging from the rubble were three figures, led by a pensive-looking young man in simple cotton attire, his head bowed in contemplation.

Behind him, two individuals trailed, their weary faces marred by blood oozing from their mouths. One of them bore fists stained with blood, adding to the grim scene.

The bloodstains on their hands bore undeniable proof that this seemingly ordinary pair had taken the life of the Xue clan’s ancestor.

“The Xue clan’s ‘Ice Crystal Divine Barrier’ truly lives up to its reputation. It took a hundred years off the lifespans of my subordinates to shatter it.” The young man grumbled sorrowfully.

His face lifted, revealing a cruel expression adorned with eyes brimming with scorn and malice, the unmistakable twist of his lips baring his contempt.

A hushed astonishment filled the air.

They had all recognised this young man.

“Murong Lin! How could it be you?” Someone that was more familiar with Murong Lin shouted, his gaze filled with resentment and horror.

In contrast, Xue Zhan remained notably composed. After the initial shock subsided, he eyed the two men behind Murong Lin warily and questioned, “What is your purpose here?”

“You’ve already figured it out, haven’t you?”  Murong Lin’s gaze swept over the people that cowered before him.

Their current demeanour sharply contrasted with the arrogance they typically exuded in his recollections, embodying a striking transformation.

“Hah, don’t even think about attacking, clan leader Xue. You are no match for us.” Murong Lin taunted with a slight upward tilt of his chin.

Xue Zhan’s hands gradually clenched into fists, his concealed arms withdrawing from behind his back. He was acutely aware that even the Earth-grade spiritual talisman concealed at his rear would offer little advantage against them. 

Engaging them would be a futile endeavour.

Within the boundaries of the Xue clan’s estate, explosions reverberated and anguished cries resonated, engulfing them from all cardinal directions.

The earth lay scorched, shrouded in billowing clouds of smoke, bearing an eerie semblance to hell itself.

Within Xue Zhan’s chest, anguish welled up like an open wound.

His clan members stood behind him, their gazes brimming with a potent mix of loathing and misery. Once upon a time, Murong Lin had been nothing more than a figure of disdain to them all.

Suddenly, Xue Zhan’s words rushed forth in a fervent plea, “Esteemed seniors, I am oblivious to the promises this little thief might have made you. Nevertheless, whatever price has been offered, the Xue clan is prepared to double it. Why prolong this agony? Why not conclude it here and now?”

Puzzlement flickered across Murong Lin’s features as he observed Xue Zhan’s feigned composure. He nodded slightly, issuing a command. “Break their legs first.”

The expressions of everyone present changed dramatically upon hearing his words.

Some attempted to flee, while others sank to the ground, begging for their lives.

But the ‘Flowering Steel Trees’ had never failed.

Their forms flickered like lightning through the gathered crowd.

Several were unable to stifle their curses, a blend of anguish and humiliation giving voice to their torment.

“Ahhhhhhh! Murong Lin, a wretched death awaits you!”

“Ah! You deranged bastard! Why are you doing this to us?”

“It hurts! It hurts! You deserve to die! You damned beast!”

“Please, I’m begging you, I never did anything to you, please just let me go.”

All around, they knelt or crumpled to the earth, forming a grotesque scene as a pool of blood expanded beneath their broken bodies. Murong Lin watched their degradation as he tauntingly dug at his ears, further humiliating them.

Amidst this spectacle, Murong Lin extracted a book from his bag, flipping it open casually.

“In these recent years,

The Xue clan, exploiting my princely status, amassed or forcibly seized resources within the realm of Yan, summing up to a staggering 35.49 million spirit stones. This figure excludes immovable assets such as territories, mountains, and forests.

Under the banner of my name, disciples of the Xue clan have claimed the lives of 371 individuals and 36 spirit familiars, leaving a trail of 17 razed residences within the domain of Yan. This tally does not account for incidents beyond the capital’s reach that eluded investigation.

As for me, I’ve accrued the equivalent of 3,161 spirit stones in resources from the Xue clan – a sum even a practitioner of the Manifestation realm would disregard.

Furthermore, I’ve endured verbal degradation at the hands of 178 individuals within the Xue clan, encompassing a total of 1,328 derogatory remarks. This count does not encompass those uttered beyond my hearing.”

With his statement concluded, Murong Lin allowed a moment of pregnant silence to linger, his gaze directed squarely at Xue Zhan.

He posed a deliberate question, his words measured and incisive, “Enlighten me, if you will. Why am I doing this?

The Xue clan has held me in lower regard than a mere dog, so why should I not seize this opportunity to sink my teeth into your collective fate?”

Murong Lin lifted his foot, bringing it down upon Xue Zhan’s injuries.

The bystanders stared at Murong Lin with faces etched with despair or fear.

Xue Zhan’s reaction mirrored the distress of the others, his voice erupting in a thunderous roar of anger, “Manifestation realm? Preposterous! Weren’t you just a piece of trash?!”

In the absence of blood-stained alchemical pursuits, the Murong Lin of the past would have been worthless. Likewise, without the system’s assistance, the present-day Murong Lin might have faced a similar fate.

Yet, Murong Lin’s present prowess and age unveiled to Xue Zhan a demon-like aptitude.

Internally, Xue Zhan lamented: Had you revealed your talents earlier, the Xue clan would undoubtedly have rallied behind you! Instead, you chose to conceal your abilities and harboured your resentments towards the clan, what was it all for?

Astonishment reverberated through the crowd at Murong Lin’s calculated restraint and ruthless demeanour.

No one could have foreseen that the unassuming third prince would covertly amass evidence, meticulously recording each humiliating utterance flung his way as he nurtured his grievances in silence.

He resembled a venomous serpent, his words struck with poison-laden precision.

Simultaneously, he bore the semblance of a vengeful wolf, nursing his wounds while biding his time.

Was his shrewdness a product of his inherently cold-blooded nature, or had it been moulded by external forces?

Amidst the silent onlookers, Xue Zhan sat engulfed in a vortex of emotions. Despair took root, soon to be replaced by a seething cocktail of frustration and loathing. The demise of the Xue clan had materialized under his watch.

Rage surged within him, culminating in a violent spurt of blood from his lips. His complexion flickered between white and an unsettling shade of purple.

Murong Lin deftly sidestepped the gushing blood, avoiding the blood. Taking a position at the side, he stared at the people before him.

Awareness dawned upon them; the fate of the Xue clan was irrevocably sealed, and they stood, quite possibly, as the last remnants of a once-proud lineage. Their gazes bore into Murong Lin, brimming with enmity as curses escaped from their lips with venomous contempt.

Yet, Murong Lin’s indifference remained unshaken.

In Murong Lin’s eyes, the Xue clan members before him personified arrogance, perpetuating cruelty upon those beneath them. The insults hurled by these dying souls failed to evoke any reaction within him.

“End them.” Murong Lin’s voice resonated coldly.

“I didn’t expect a protagonist to not appear even after chattering away for so long as a villain, it seems like the Xue clan was destined to fall! Tch tch tch, what a shame.”

The ‘Flowering Steel Trees’ sprang into action with the swiftness of lightning, severing the heads of those before them.

And so it transpired – Xue Zhan and the Xue clan met a harrowing end, enveloped in a cacophony of screams and cries as they succumbed to fear and anguish.

Murong Lin remained rooted in place, his thoughts drifting back to the scenes that had unfolded within the precincts of the Xue clan. Those who had once looked down upon him, spewed insults and humiliated, and exploited his name for their whims were now consumed by the inferno’s embrace.

“Raise me to the skies.” A newfound impulse surged within Murong Lin’s consciousness.

Obediently, the ‘Flowering Steel Trees’ held him gently from the sides, guiding him into the air.  He surveyed the wreckage that was once the Xue clan, before hovering at the threshold of the treasure pavilion.

A slow smile etched across his features.

Suddenly, a sensation of transformation coursed through him, as if his soul underwent a profound refining process.

An enveloping warmth teemed with energy as it cocooned his essence and flesh. The feeling resembled an intoxicating embrace, almost too pleasurable for Murong Lin to stifle a soft groan.

And then, his aura exploded. In an instant, he had broken through, ascending abruptly from the fourth layer to the fifth layer of the Manifestation realm.

Warmth coursed through his meridians as every pore on his skin relaxed from pleasure.

After a moment, he opened his eyes, his mortal form ‘Evil of Lifelessness, Lawlessness, and Formlessness’ spinning within them, radiating an air of mystery and unpredictability.

In that moment, an individual rushed over – Xue Qian Shi, the elder of the Xue clan. Falling to his knees, he uttered, “Master, all of the retrievable assets of the Xue clan have been collected.”