Chapter 197: The Xiao Family Annihilated!

Boom!

Their collision took place in a flash.

In everyone's eyes, they saw only a flash of golden light, then the collision of a golden fist imprint and a cyan palm, and then, at the point of contact, it was like the blazing sun in the sky, erupting with blindingly intense light.

Only after an instant did it sound like waves crashing against shore, a tsunami booming against reefs, deep and vast.

Boom!

The earth shuddered violently; a terrifying shockwave expanded in concentric circles, blowing some weaker warriors in the courtyard into stumbling retreat.

Fierce gusts carved shocking scars across the ground.

Where they clashed, the ground sank evenly; the hard blue stone slabs were shaken to dust, forming a circular pit about ten zhang wide.

"Little beast!"

After crashing to the ground, Xiao Changgong's heart filled with shock and anger.

If he hadn't been severely wounded by Nie Jin Feng's blow, how could this little beast have injured him so badly?

Thinking again that Nie Jin Feng would soon return, then the Xiao family would have no chance of victory and would be thrown into prison by the Demon Suppression Office; Xiao Changgong's heart surged with boundless intense fear.

"Run!"

"Get out of here!"

Xiao Changgong's tone was manic, as if gone mad, he lunged at Qin Shuo again.

And the Xiao clan elders instantly grasped the situation, all lashing out to break out of the Xiao family.

"You want to run? Impossible!"

Seeing the Xiao family attempting to break out, Yang Si's anger flared; he roared, bringing down his long-handled heavy axe like a mountain to block their path.

Other Demon Suppression Office colonels, seeing this, also moved to obstruct.

Bang!

The heavy axe fell.

A huge trench a hundred zhang long tore the Xiao family's rear courtyard in two.

As one of the few Great Perfection of Organ Refinement experts in the Demon Suppression Office, Yang Si's strength even surpassed that of the Flying Star General.

Exerting himself fully now, his strike gave the terrifying illusion of wanting to cleave heaven and earth together.

"Yang Si, you too want to be an enemy of my Xiao family?"

Amid the swirling dust, an Xiao clan elder cried out in shock and anger, yet dared not face Yang Si's edge, hastily changing his escape direction.

"You colluding with demons' scum, you almost tricked my grandfather Yang—today, none of you will escape!"

Yang Si's voice thundered; his great axe swept sideways, like a shifting mountain, cleaving at the waist the dozen or so Xiao family guards blocking the way.

Just thinking of those old pigs and dogs actually hiding demons in the ancestral hall and deceiving him, his anger surged like a raging tide.

If Qin Shuo hadn't detected it in time, I would have personally let loose a gang of demons that feed on humans.

Thinking this, Yang Si's anger flared, his force increasing by another third.

He resented that Qin Shuo had overnight risen to Cloud Dragon Colonel, putting him on equal footing.

Moreover, he resented that Qin Shuo had deep trust from the Office Chief, overpowering him and gaining command of this Xiao family search.

But these, compared to slaying demons, are utterly insignificant.

With Yang Si's involvement, the pressure on the Xiao family's guest elders and clan elders doubled.

Meanwhile, Qin Shuo, using Divine Travel's agile footwork, exchanged blows with the heavily wounded Xiao Changgong, give and take.

For a moment, shouts of killing shook the Xiao family's rear courtyard, descending into utter chaos.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh~

The hidden warriors previously lurking in various parts of the Xiao family now sprang out, firing crossbows in unison; in the blink of an eye, whole ranks of Demon Suppression Office colonels fell.

"You old pigs and dogs, so you were prepared all along!"

Qin Shuo dodged a volley of heavy crossbow bolts, then stamped his foot, his body shooting up into midair.

Pop!

He smashed the sandalwood bow case behind him with a palm, seized the thunder‑strike ironwood bow, and unfurled a pair of silver‑white moon wings, letting his body hover in midair without falling.

The next moment, he spread his arms and drew the bow to a full moon.

Boom!

As if heavenly thunderbolts fell!

The instant the arrow left the bow, vast sheets of lightning exploded.

The Xiao family only saw lightning burst forth, as if thunderbolts crashed down, then saw the hidden warriors around the rear courtyard explode one by one into a mist of blood.

Bang!

Bang bang bang bang!

Arrows tore the air, thunderbolts blasted repeatedly!

At this moment, Qin Shuo seemed like a thunder god descending; each arrow erupted with the sound of thunderbolts exploding.

Though only one person shooting arrows, he had the momentum of ten thousand arrows firing together.

Bang bang bang!

One after another, the hidden crossbow warriors in the dark were pierced; the violent thunderbolt energy exploded inside them, blood spurting, flesh flying.

In just a few breaths, over a dozen warriors fell dead on the spot.

Qin Shuo's thunderbolt arrow, learned from Nie Jin Feng, thus his shooting speed reached the limit of eight arrows in an instant,

and even surpassed that, able to fire ten arrows in different directions within a single instant.

After all, he had Heavenly Wolf Divine Awareness assisting him; those warriors, no matter how well hidden, were to him as if standing in an open field.

Furthermore, with the Four Symbols' power, his shooting speed exceeding that of the famed Eight‑Armed Evil Dragon Nie Jin Feng is quite normal.

"You little beast, I'll cut you to pieces alive!"

On the ground, Xiao Changgong's eyes nearly burst as he tried to leap into the air to pounce and kill Qin Shuò, who was hovering mid‑air.

However, Qin Shuò did not clash head‑on; instead, he used his advantage of being able to fly, continuously firing his bow to eliminate the Xiao family assassins hidden in the darkness, thereby reducing casualties of the Demon‑Suppression Office.

In less than the time it takes to finish half a cup of tea, Qin Shuò had completely cleared out those Xiao family assassins wielding bows and crossbows.

Meanwhile, in the courtyard, the Xiao family's direct descendants, under the protection of the elders, finally carved a bloody path and broke out of the Demon‑Suppression Office's encirclement.

After all, the Xiao family is one of the Four Great Clans of Yunzhou; besides Xiao Changgong, they have no fewer than four experts at the Visceral Refining stage.

Thus, although Yang Si is fierce, he can withstand the combined assault of Xiao Changgong and one of the elders,

but the remaining three Visceral Refining experts are far beyond what an ordinary Demon‑Suppression Office commandant can oppose.

Even when Yang Jing and another Golden Eagle commandant desperately led men to block them, they were still broken through by those three Xiao family guest retainers, who fought their way out of the encirclement.

"Run!"

Seeing the Xiao family's core disciples successfully break through the siege,

Xiao Changgong also ceased fighting, decisively breaking off his entanglement with Yang Si and fleeing separately with the Visceral Refining–perfected Xiao family elder.

"Want to run?"

Hovering in mid‑air, Qin Shuò had the ground situation as clear as the palm of his hand.

Seeing Xiao Changgong attempt to flee, Qin Shuò immediately drew his bow again, harnessing the power of heaven and earth within a hundred‑zhang radius with the Whale‑Swallows‑the‑Sea technique, transforming it into a terrifyingly fierce storm‑arrow that shot downward.

Boom—

The arrow fell like a hurricane from the heavens, landing right before Xiao Changgong.

Had the Xiao family patriarch not been keen‑sensed and dodged sideways at the critical moment, this arrow would have pierced him through.

"You little beast, if you dare, come down and fight this old man!"

Xiao Changgong's eyes nearly burst, and his hatred for Qin Shuò reached its peak.

If the timing were right, he would truly want to burn everything and personally exterminate this little bastard who caused the Xiao family's downfall.

"You old pig‑dog, if you dare, come up to heaven and fight this Qin lord!" Qin Shuò sneered coldly.

Although that old fogey is already a spent force, having been severely wounded by Nie Jinfeng and then struck by my own Gongong fist, his strength has dwindled to less than thirty percent.

But the more critical the moment, the less Qin Shuò wanted to take risks.

Even a cornered rabbit will bite, let alone Xiao Changgong, a treacherous cultivator who has condensed true Gang into a furnace.

If the opponent possessed some mutual‑destruction trick, in his desperate straits what he would most want to take down with him would likely be Qin Shuò.

"Qin, today's grudge for destroying my family—I, the Xiao clan, will surely settle the score with you someday; just wait, old man!"

Seeing Qin Shuò unmoved by provocation and unwilling to return to the ground to fight him, Xiao Changgong also abandoned the idea of fighting to the death and once again sprinted at full speed.

"I'll be waiting!"

Qin Shuò shook his silver‑white wings, closely pursuing Xiao Changgong from behind, continuously drawing his bow to block his escape route!

"Ah!"

Xiao Changgong hated to the point of madness.

His sense of urgency and fear reached its zenith.

He clearly understood Qin Shuò's plan: to buy time, waiting for Nie Jinfeng or Fu Lingyun to return with reinforcements.

If either of those two arrived, he would have no chance of survival.

"You bastard, you beast—once this old man escapes today's calamity, I will someday slaughter your Qin clan to the last man…"

Xiao Changgong's visage turned ferocious, his eyes blood‑red; seeing the city gate draw near, his heart involuntarily leapt with joy.

Once he left Yunzhou City, with his strength his chances of escape would increase by thirty percent.

But the next instant, his expression changed drastically, despair and fear welling up on his face.

Cry—

A piercing bird cry that seemed to split the heavens like a sword exploded above Yunzhou City.

At the same time, a cold, solemn voice laden with authority and killing intent rang in his ear:

"Xiao Changgong, your Xiao family has gall to actually dare collude with demons!"