Chapter 431: An Expert

"Young Master, please slow down!"

Supported by Xiaodie, the two of them prepared to leave the Tao Family in a great hurry.

However, of the two of them, one was just a little girl with no Martial Arts to speak of, and the other was in a state of severe injury, the kind who had to pant for breath after taking two steps.

Even so, Tao Xi still had to guard against whether the Tao Family members might suddenly strike at him, and he had to keep his spirits up to remain vigilant.

The Tao Family estate covered a vast area; even with no one blocking them, the burden of his severe injury meant they could not get away for a while.

Moreover, under the violent tremors, people could not even stand steadily; they were walking in a very disheveled state, and it was impossible for their speed to be fast.

A short while later, the tremors ceased somewhat, and Xiaodie hurriedly supported Tao Xi, but what she did not know was that Tao Xi's expression had changed drastically at this moment.

"Xiaodie, run quickly, otherwise it will be too late!"

"Young Master, hasn't it stabilized?"

"Stabilized, my foot! They are likely gathering their strength. The strike after gathering strength will be even more violent than before; it's hard to say whether they can block it."

Grabbing Xiaodie's hand to run, Tao Xi had a premonition that the one inside was likely no longer being suppressed.

Precisely because of this, Tao Xi felt increasingly anxious in his heart. If he hadn't been wounded by Tao Yi, he wouldn't have found even running to be such a struggle.

"Young Master, is the Tao Family really going to be finished?" Following Tao Xi as he hurried outward, Xiaodie could not help but ask aloud.

After all, she had grown up in the Tao Family since she was a child; this was her home, and it held people she knew. Hearing suddenly that the Tao Family was destined to be wiped out, she could not help but feel a sense of sorrow in her heart.

"There is no other way. Even before Father was alive, he could barely suppress it. Do you think it was really that easy for me to pry open a crack in such a Great Array? In fact, this crack had already been breached before Father passed away."

"It was precisely to seal this gap that Father suffered severe damage to his Original Qi, which allowed others to take advantage of the situation."

"If not for this, how could Tao Yi ever be a match for Father!"

"Now, I used my own blood and the techniques Father taught me to reopen a crack in the place Father had struggled to seal. What I destroyed was never this Array, but the power Father left behind."

"The one inside has been suppressed for so long; now that the Array has suddenly weakened, do you think they will take this opportunity to strike with all their might, and will they want to vent the hatred of being suppressed for so many years?"

As he walked, Tao Xi was also full of helplessness: "The Tao Family members inside don't even understand how to control the Array, so how can they maintain it? Its destruction is only a matter of time."

"When that time comes, not only the Tao Family, but the entire Dongming will be in danger. However, it is only because they are holding the line there that we can escape."

"Quick, Xiaodie, stop thinking about those useless things. Let's go quickly, mount a fast horse, and leave Dongming!"

The reason he was so urgent was actually something he hadn't mentioned. Their main branch had guarded this place for so long and suppressed it for so long that they had long since been marked with hatred by the one inside.

Even if others were not killed, their branch would definitely be wiped out. Staying here, once the one inside broke the seal, it would be a dead end for him.

It wouldn't even require the entity to break the seal; as long as it sensed his presence and the leaking power locked onto him, how could he possibly escape in his current physical state?

By letting the Tao Family members hold the line there, he could escape quickly, as far away as possible.

Just at this moment, the ground shook violently. The intense tremors collapsed the surrounding houses, causing several wide fissures to appear on the ground.

In an instant, the entire Tao Family was in chaos, and the Golden Runes also became dim under the impact. The terrifying power came like a landslide and a tsunami, vast and mighty, as if it wanted to sweep away and shatter everything.

Under the impact of that terrifying power, the gap in the Golden Runes grew larger and faster, until finally, that Rune shattered directly.

With the shattering of this Rune, the light of the entire Array became increasingly dim; although it was still trying to maintain itself, it was clearly not going to last much longer.

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As for the Tao Family experts maintaining the Array, they were all instantly severely wounded, and some even died directly under the previous impact.

"Tao Xi!" Calling out this name viciously, they discovered that they had been deceived from the start.

Tao Xi said they could stabilize the situation, but the facts proved that not only could they not stabilize it, they couldn't even hold on for a moment.

They did not understand the method of control and could only blindly input their own internal energy into the Array, not even knowing if it was useful.

The result was a backlash that directly caused them heavy casualties.

The dark and terrifying power leaked out along the cracks, directly engulfing the Tao Family experts who could not dodge in time; accompanied by screams, they were reduced to piles of white bones.

Such a situation destroyed the last bit of morale among the Tao Family experts. If the entity's power could already leak out, what was the point of maintaining the suppression? They should just run for their lives; perhaps they might be able to escape.

At this time, it depended on who was nimble-footed; those who died were the ones who couldn't run fast.

As for the culprit, Cen Ji, he was hiding on the side with a pale face. Seeing the Tao Family experts fleeing, he followed suit.

Cen Ji truly had not expected that there was such a thing beneath the Tao Family. If he had known, he wouldn't have come near this place even if it killed him.

He now wished he could slap himself twice. Letting his lust get the better of him, unable to move his legs when he saw a pretty girl—now he had ended up trapped in this mess.

If he had died under a peony flower, it might have been worth it, but he hadn't even kissed her yet and was about to lose his life here. It was a loss, a huge loss.

The dark and terrifying power continued to surge out along the cracks, spreading rapidly in one direction; anyone along the way who touched even a bit was certain to be reduced to white bones.

And the target of this power was precisely where Tao Xi was. The clever ones had already realized this and were fleeing quickly in another direction.

Tao Xi was the main branch of the Tao Family and the primary person suppressing the entity. If the one inside wanted to break the seal, it would naturally want to eliminate him first.

The hatred from being suppressed for many years was one aspect; on the other hand, it was also because he possessed the method to control the Array. If this guy were to turn back and participate in the suppression again, what would happen? Of course, he had to eliminate the one who knew how to control it first.

Watching the screams rising one after another behind him, Tao Xi's expression changed drastically. He had never expected the opponent to break the seal so quickly.

He had thought that even if the opponent could get out, it would take some time. It was he who had overestimated those useless people like Tao Yi.

"What to do, what to do!" Seeing someone behind him swallowed by the surging, terrifying power and turned into white bones, Tao Xi closed his eyes in despair.

He knew he could absolutely not escape. Clasping Xiaodie's hand tightly, he had no regrets. If he couldn't even protect Xiaodie, his only remaining relative, he might as well be dead.

But just at this moment, Xiaodie broke free from the hand he was holding, spread her arms, and blocked in front of him.

Just as Tao Xi was in complete despair, at the moment that terrifying power struck, a similarly terrifying power suddenly surged from Xiaodie's body. It was vast and righteous, firmly protecting Xiaodie within it.

The remaining Tao Family members also looked at this scene in astonishment. They could never have imagined that such terrifying power could be hidden within an ordinary little maid.

From this, it was evident that there must be an expert standing behind this little girl—an expert as high as one could possibly be.

If they had known this earlier, they wouldn't have dared to lay a finger on this little girl, even if they were given the courage to do so.

"Hmm?" In the distance, Shen Yu suddenly felt something strange; the power he had left on that little girl seemed to have been triggered.

He knew this might happen soon, but he hadn't expected it to be this fast. That Young Master Cen Ji really didn't let revenge wait overnight; he had acted so quickly.

"No!" Subsequently, Shen Yu realized something was wrong. The entity that triggered the power he had left behind seemed to carry an extreme darkness.

It was a power that could shatter souls and erode bones, powerful beyond reason; it was absolutely impossible for an ordinary person to possess it.

Under Mu Zishan's hands, there are still fish that slipped through the net? To have left behind a bit of power and caught such a big fish, to think there could be such a good thing!