Chapter 125: Dead Battle!

"Yes!"

【Corpse detected. Retrieve?】

"Yes!"

……

Occasionally shifting position, he plucked cards from afar.

Chen Mu's gaze locked remotely onto Great Willow Manor.

……

Great Willow Manor had become a slaughterhouse.

Former pavilions and towers now lay as shattered walls and broken ruins.

Blood stained the blue stone slabs; corpses lay scattered in every direction, limbs and remains scattered everywhere.

The air reeked of thick, nauseating blood and the acrid stench of colliding Qi.

The allied forces of Golden Sun Gate, the Zhou family, and the Wang family held absolute superiority through sheer numbers and their peak cultivators.

Though Great Willow Manor's defenders fought to the death, they were steadily pushed back under the overwhelming fury and vengeful will of the three clans, suffering heavy casualties.

Screams, roars, clashing weapons, and explosive Qi bursts wove together into a symphony of death.

At the heart of the battlefield, Jin Yao was drenched in blood, wild as a mad tiger.

His Wu Gong was extremely high, reaching the Ninth Stage of Heaven; his "Great Willow Whistling Palm" balanced hardness and softness, wielding immense power, as he single-handedly held off three equally ranked masters: Cai Yunru, Zhou Bowen, and Wang Zhongqiu.

Cai Yunru's Golden Sun Blade Qi burned fiercely and ruthlessly; Zhou Bowen's Shatter-Stone Palm was brutally powerful; Wang Zhongqiu's Spirit Serpent Sword Art was cunning and vicious.

Though their coordination was poor, their hatred fueled them to unleash twelve-tenths of their strength.

"Jin Yao! Give back my son's life!" Zhou Bowen's eyes burned red; he ignored his own defense, striking one palm after another at Jin Yao in a frenzy.

"Avenge my junior brother!" Cai Yunru's blade never strayed from Jin Yao's vital points.

Jin Yao struggled to defend himself, new wounds appearing constantly on his body.

He knew today could not end peacefully; a mad gleam flashed in his eyes.

"You forced me into this!"

He roared, his internal Qi suddenly flowing in a grotesque pattern; blood seeped faintly through his skin, his aura surging violently as he prepared to unleash a life-burning secret technique for one final gambit.

"Watch out!" Wang Zhongqiu cried out.

Yet, at the precise instant when Jin Yao's old strength had faded and new power had not yet formed, just as the secret technique was about to ignite—a faint, invisible force shot from nowhere, striking precisely at a Qi node on his waist!

Jin Yao's body froze rigid; his surging aura collapsed like a punctured balloon; he spat a mouthful of reversed blood—

"Wah~"

Jin Yao staggered, stumbling backward.

"Perfect opportunity!"

Though Cai Yunru, Zhou Bowen, and Wang Zhongqiu did not understand what had happened, seasoned warriors that they were, they would never miss such a divine chance.

Blade light, palm shadows, and sword rays instantly engulfed the frozen Jin Yao!

Plos!

Boom~

Boom!

The Golden Sun Blade split his protective Qi; the Shatter-Stone Palm crushed his chest; the Spirit Serpent Sword pierced his throat!

Jin Yao's eyes bulged wide, filled with defiance and disbelief; finally, his body crashed to the ground, life extinguished.

Seeing their lord dead, Great Willow Manor's side collapsed in morale; the remaining resistance was swiftly annihilated by the three-clan alliance.

The clamor of battle faded, leaving only the moans of the wounded and the crackling of burning buildings.

Cai Yunru, Zhou Bowen, and Wang Zhongqiu were all gasping for breath, wounded and utterly drained.

They stared at Jin Yao's corpse—relief at avenging their grudges mingled with deep exhaustion.

"Search! Even if you dig down three feet, find the murderer who cultivated demonic arts!"

Zhou Bowen ordered hoarsely; disciples from the three clans began cautiously scouring the devastated manor.

Yet, just as everyone's vigilance slackened, preparing to search thoroughly—

"Boom—!"

A deafening roar erupted from the rear mountain of the manor.

The entire earth shook violently, as if a dragon had turned beneath the ground.

A thick, unyielding pillar of crimson light shot skyward.

A terrifying, savage, heart-stopping pressure surged like a tidal wave across the entire manor.

Everyone present—whether ordinary post-heaven disciples or peak cultivators like Cai Yunru—felt their breath choke, their hearts gripped by an invisible hand!

"W-what is that?!" someone screamed in terror.

Under countless horrified gazes, a figure shot out from the shattered cave in the rear mountain like a crimson meteor, hovering mid-air!

He wore tattered cultivation robes, his hair wild, thick, blood-like Qi coiled around his body; his eyes burned crimson, devoid of any humanity—only endless greed and lust for slaughter.

Beneath his skin, blood seemed to flow, exuding a nauseating stench of blood.

It was Pei Renguang!

He appeared to be in a critical phase—his aura immensely powerful yet unstable and agitated.

His crimson eyes swept over the corpses and terrified crowd below; he licked his lips with his tongue, emitting a rasping sound like sandpaper scraping.

"Ji ji ji… so much… so much blood food… Perfect! Perfect to help me complete the final step!"

Pei Renguang sensed the powerful, battle-weary yet still potent "blood food" auras below—especially Cai Yunru, Zhou Bowen, and Wang Zhongqiu, which to him were perfect elixirs!

"Pei Renguang? It's you?!"

Cai Yunru and the others were stunned and furious, instantly understanding everything.

But Pei Renguang gave them no time to react; his blood-red figure surged down like a phantom, directly targeting the strongest—Cai Yunru, Zhou Bowen, and Wang Zhongqiu!

"Damn it!"

"Fight him to the death!"

The three, shocked and enraged, forced up their remaining true qi and launched a desperate counterattack.

The other surviving masters from the three families, sensing the critical moment, gritted their teeth and joined the fray.

The remaining survivors fell back to the perimeter, occasionally launching surprise attacks.

A battle far more brutal than before erupted instantly!

Pei Renguang's "Devour Heaven Demonic Art" was eerily tyrannical—every gesture sent waves of blood surging, churning the air and draining essence, internal strength, and true qi from afar!

Time and again, warriors from the three families were caught off-guard, screaming as they were drained into half-dried corpses, replenishing Pei Renguang's depletion.

Cai Yunru's Golden Sun Blade Qi shattered under the blood mire; Zhou Bowen's palm force was effortlessly swallowed; Wang Zhongqiu's sword techniques could not pierce the blood罡!

This was an unequal fight to the death.

Though Pei Renguang seemed unstable and his art far from perfected, the power he displayed already far surpassed ordinary Ninth Stage Innate!

Screams rose and fell as warriors from the three families fell one after another.

In the end, Cai Yunru's skull was crushed by a blood palm; Zhou Bowen was blasted away into the ruins, unconscious; Wang Zhongqiu was pierced through the heart by a blood arrow…

All the Ninth Stage Innate masters who joined the siege were defeated—dead or mortally wounded!

The warriors below the Innate stage were annihilated entirely!

Huh~

The mountain wind carried the stench of blood, drifting everywhere.

Pei Renguang stood amid a mountain of corpses and seas of blood, his blood aura thicker than ever—but he had paid a price: numerous deep wounds, bone-showing and gashing his body, his breath chaotic and ragged, clearly suffering severe internal injuries.

He gasped heavily, his crimson eyes filled with madness and agony.

"Just a little more… just one final bit…"

He muttered weakly, preparing to channel his art and absorb the blood qi—

Shhh!

A solitary, icy sword qi suddenly descended across the void!