Chapter 119: Instant Kill

"Forget it, I'll wait a bit longer—Hai Bodong has waited this long; a few more minutes won't hurt." After much deliberation, Xiao Yan decided to leave the old fox Hai Bodong alone for now, not breaking his flame sealing just yet, letting him suffer loneliness and emptiness for a while.

Far away in Shimo City, Hai Bodong suddenly sneezed.

Xiao Yan turned his gaze toward the northwest, where Shimo City lay.

"I've been out for nearly half a month—it's time to go back."

Xiao Yan locked onto the direction, spread his EagleWings, and flew toward Shimo City. For Xiao Yan now, having Qing Lin use the Qi San Hua Tong to control the Seven-Colored Devouring Sky Serpent was the top priority.

After the Burnt Decision evolved into an Earth-Rank cultivation technique, Xiao Yan's use of Eagle Wings was nearly on par with that of a Dou Wang, since most Dou Wangs did not possess Earth-Rank cultivation techniques.

If he added the burst of the Three Infernal Flames and the enhancement of a Fifth-Rank Alchemist's Soul Force, Xiao Yan's flight speed could rival even a Dou Huang!

Yet even though Xiao Yan could fly, he still took a full day, stopping and starting, to return to Shimo City.

Finally, the silhouette of a city smaller than Yan City slowly appeared on the horizon.

His fire wings shot across the dark sky like a meteor, plunging straight into the airspace above Shimo City.

"Huh? The flag's gone." Xiao Yan's eyes narrowed—he saw from afar that the Mo Tie Mercenary Corps flag, once hung high atop the pavilion, had been severed.

Xiao Yan's heart lurched; his Dou Qi surged instantly, and with a boom, he shattered the ground beneath him, landing before the gate.

"Something's happened!"

The courtyard of the Mo Tie Mercenary Corps had been destroyed—the main gate was blown to pieces, and the surrounding walls had collapsed over a wide area.

After scanning the entire courtyard with his Soul Force, Xiao Yan instantly appeared at the collapsed fence, swept his hand, and cleared away all rubble, revealing the wounded mercenary buried beneath the debris, barely clinging to life.

"Hey, snap out of it! What happened? Where are Big Brother and Second Brother?"

Xiao Yan didn't hesitate—he pulled out a Four-Grade Da Huan Xue Dan and shoved it straight into the wounded mercenary's mouth.

The Da Huan Xue Dan dissolved into a warm stream, seeping into every wound; the mercenary's pale face instantly flushed with color.

Seeing Xiao Yan's face, the mercenary's eyes welled with tears. "Cough, cough, cough—Third Boss?! Am I dead?"

"If you were dead, how could you be seeing me? What happened?!"

After being scolded by Xiao Yan, the mercenary realized he was still alive and hurriedly said: "It's bad, Third Boss! Hurry to the old headquarters of the Sand Mercenary Corps—we were attacked by the Mo Family! Big Boss and Second Boss led the others south to meet Luo Bu; we don't know their current situation."

"Go save the injured brothers. The rest is my problem." Xiao Yan tossed down several vials of elixirs, then turned grim-faced and shot south like a streaking meteor.

Someone had dared to touch his Achilles' heel!

In the spacious former training ground of the Sand Mercenary Corps, a dense crowd stood divided—on one side, faces wore mocking smirks; on the other, mercenaries wearing the Mo Tie Mercenary Corps Class Badges radiated unhidden killing intent.

"Xuan Mo Iron Staff!" Luo Bu activated Dou Qi Armor; his long staff emitted waves of Dou Qi as he swung it horizontally.

"Hah! Is that your Dou Qi? You're just a High Dou Shi? What trash Dou Techniques do you train? Compared to our Mo Family's Mystic Rank Dou Ji, you're nothing but garbage. All of you—die!"

A massive fist formed, clenched tightly, its surface swirling with furious yellow Dou Qi before exploding outward. Violent winds and ferocious force slammed directly into Luo Bu's sweeping iron staff.

CRASH—the metal staff dented inward; the punch's force remained unrelenting, striking Luo Bu squarely on the chest.

PENG—the Dou Qi Armor shattered instantly; Luo Bu spat blood and flew backward like a cut kite.

With a boom, he crashed into a building—inside the hall, Xiao Ding and Xiao Li were both severely wounded, sitting cross-legged in healing posture.

If Xiao Yan hadn't left behind some elixirs, they wouldn't have made it this far.

Though everyone used Xuan Jie Low Grade Dou Ji and were all One-Star High Dou Shi, their cultivation depth and cultivation method ranks differed—Luo Bu was a mercenary, so his cultivation time couldn't compare to that of family-born disciples.

Luo Bu was the only High Dou Shi left in the mercenary corps, but the Mo Family had not just three High Dou Shi Elders, but dozens of Dou Shi—their combat power was on an entirely different level.

"Blame yourselves for possessing a Snake-Man with the Qi San Hua Tong. Some things, our Grand Elder doesn't want anyone to speak of. So you'll have to become silent corpses."

Xiao Ding glared venomously at all the Mo Family members—he never imagined Qing Lin's Qi San Hua Tong had been discovered, and had drawn the Mo Family of Yan City.

Xiao Ding forced himself to stand, and instead of anger, he laughed: "Yan City Mo Family? Fine. Very fine. I hope you can bear the wrath of my third brother."

Mo Yi, who had just thrown Luo Bu, sneered: "Your third brother? That 'genius' your mercenary corps talks about? Hah! Genius? Even if your third brother were stronger, could he surpass Yun Lan Sect? Our Mo Family stands behind Yun Lan Sect! Do you know what happens when you offend Yun Lan Sect?!"

"Oh? So there are consequences? Three years ago, I offended them once—but somehow, there were no consequences."

Suddenly, a gentle voice echoed from all directions, like a demonic chant directly piercing every person's mind.

Hearing the voice, Xiao Ding and Xiao Li instantly exhaled in relief.

"You brat, why can't you ever show up a little earlier? Always right on the edge." Xiao Li, now relaxed, immediately teased Xiao Yan.

At some point, a figure had appeared out of thin air inside the hall.

Xiao Yan smiled, pulled several elixirs from his storage ring, and handed them to Xiao Ding and Xiao Li, shrugging: "The top scholar saves his mother—just in time."

The Mo Family members, startled by Xiao Yan's sudden appearance, all flinched; Mo Yi subtly signaled them to slowly encircle Xiao Yan.

"You're the Third Boss of the Mo Tie Mercenary Corps?"

Xiao Yan, with his back to Mo Yi, turned his head toward the wounded Luo Bu, tossed him an elixir, and smiled: "Boss Luo, congratulations—you've been promoted. You're still the boss. The Fourth Boss of the Mo Tie Mercenary Corps is now you."

Luo Bu stared, dumbfounded, at the smiling boy, then snapped back to reality: "Third Boss, be careful—they're all Mo Family disciples. Three of them are High Dou Shi Elders, all extremely strong. I'm no match for them."

Hearing this, Xiao Yan finally turned to face the dozens behind him. Looking at the sea of black-clad figures, he spoke calmly, without joy or sorrow: "They're gone now."

HU—suddenly, boundless Black Flame surged from Space, crashing like a tidal wave, engulfing every member of the Mo Family.

In less than half a second, the dozens of Mo Family members vanished into nothingness—without even a cry.

(End of Chapter)