With Xu Shenzhi’s final compromise—handing over the incredibly precious strand of Innate Spiritual Qi—the sounds of slaughter within the Huang Family Mansion began to die down.
The Huang Family’s forces had already been stretched thin against the hundreds of wolf-like soldiers from the Military Preparation Camp.
With the successive deaths of their mainstays, the grand-uncle and Elder Huang Ke, the Huang Family’s remaining will to resist flickered out like a candle in the wind.
The massacre had begun.
Though Patriarch Huang Dongchun still clung to a sliver of life, both his arms were ruined. Gravely wounded and near death, he lay paralyzed on the ground, a broken man forced to watch as his century-old lineage was rcilessly butchered. His eyes were etched with despair and regret.
In just a quarter of an hour, the war cries inside the Huang Family Mansion had grown sparse, replaced by the scattered moans of the dying and the nauseating, heavy stench of blood hanging in the air.
Xu Shenzhi was only now beginning to recover from the imnse shock. As he gazed upon the scene before him—a veritable purgatory of bodies strewn everywhere—a flicker of pity and sorrow crossed his eyes.
He knew, however, that he was powerless to stop it.
Before crossing blades with Chen Sheng, he had known the man would be trouble. Yet, deep down, he had harbored a sense of superiority, born from his status as a mber of a Noble Family from the Prefecture City and an Inner Sect Disciple of the Iron Sword Sect. He had assud Chen Sheng would have to show him so courtesy.
Unfortunately, he had overestimated his background and, more importantly, underestimated Chen Sheng’s ruthlessness and power.
Only after a direct confrontation did he realize just how grievously mistaken he had been.
That terrifying, foot-long blade light Chen Sheng had unleashed was the clear mark of a cultivator at the peak of Foundation Establishnt, perhaps even one with a foot across the Innate Threshold.
The man’s physical resilience made Xu Shenzhi feel as if he were facing a Martial Monk from Golden Spring Temple, fad for their Body Refining techniques. His foundation was far more solid than any of his peers.
’With the power he’s shown,’ Xu Shenzhi concluded, ’even in Ning’an Prefecture City, a place teeming with hidden masters, he’d be considered among the best of his generation. Below the Innate realm, he’d be nearly unrivaled.’
What terrified him even more was Chen Sheng’s utterly unrestrained thods. Once the man had an advantage, he struck like lightning, completely without scruple.
Thus, despite his sympathy, he dared not say another word to intervene. He was terrified of provoking this Evil God and bringing an even greater disaster down on Han Ling’Er. He did not fear death, but he dreaded the thought of Chen Sheng using his junior sister as a threat again.
And this ti, he had no second strand of Innate Spiritual Qi to trade.
The echoes of slaughter still ringing in the air, Chen Sheng’s expression remained unchanged, as if this blood-soaked landscape were just a common sight. He walked slowly toward the collapsed form of the Huang Family Patriarch, Huang Dongchun.
Huang Dongchun struggled to raise his head. As he watched the approaching figure in the dark official robes, the look of grief and fury on his face vanished, swiftly replaced by a pallor of resignation. He rasped:
"Com... Commander Chen..."
"Does Clan Leader Huang have any last words?"
Chen Sheng paused, looking down with an indifferent gaze at the man who had once been the master of a powerful Noble Family, the hegemon of Changshan Mountain.
He recalled when he first arrived on Changshan Mountain with Wu Kuang to assu his post. This Clan Leader Huang and Gao Yuanfeng had been so insufferably arrogant. Though they feigned politeness for Wu Kuang’s sake, he still rembered the condescending, scrutinizing gaze they held.
Now, how the tables had turned. The one who had looked down upon him was now groveling at his feet.
’This taste of power shifting, of the weak and strong trading places... it’s truly... exhilarating.’
"Back then... it was my Huang Family... we were blind to have offended you, Commander... I deserve a thousand deaths and am willing to submit to justice..."
Huang Dongchun’s breath was faint as he pleaded haltingly, "I only ask... I only ask that Commander Chen show rcy in the na of heaven’s grace... and spare my ignorant wives and young children... I am willing to offer all the wealth the Huang Family has amassed over the past century... and even... even the locations of our hidden treasuries..."
At this mont, Huang Dongchun had long since lost his earlier fiery temper. He didn’t even dare to speak Chen Sheng’s na directly anymore.
At death’s door, forced to witness the annihilation of his family, Huang Dongchun’s heart filled with boundless regret.
If only he hadn’t provoked this Slaughter God, things might have turned out differently. They might even have survived, like the Yang Family. But alas, the world sells no dicine for regret.
The only thing he could do now was play his final card in exchange for a glimr of hope for his bloodline’s survival.
"You jest, Clan Leader Huang."
Chen Sheng’s face still wore that smile—seemingly warm, but in reality, bone-chilling. "Once the Huang Family is gone, everything you own will naturally beco mine. Why would I need you to ’offer’ it? As for the won and children... your wives are not children, and your sons are not won.
So... this rcy you speak of is not sothing I can grant."
Hearing this, the last spark of light in Huang Dongchun’s eyes died completely. He closed them in utter despair, and as if using his final ounce of strength, he exhaled a ragged, bloody breath and rasped a curse:
"Chen Sheng... you butcher people without a thought, you make a habit of wiping out entire families... You are so cruel... you will be damned by the heavens! One day, you too will face... total annihilation!"
"I don’t know if that day will co."
Chen Sheng chuckled, his tone flat and emotionless. "But one thing is certain: your Huang Family won’t be around to see it."
With that, he turned away impassively.
Yan Ming, standing at attention behind him, did not hesitate. His hand rose, and his blade fell.
"PSHHT—!"
Huang Dongchun’s head tumbled to the ground amidst a spray of blood. The once-glorious Patriarch of the Huang Family was dead.
"Uncle!"
A tremor ran through Xu Shenzhi. Unable to watch, he lowered his gaze.
...
"Sir, all four hundred fifty-three mbers of the Huang Family have been put to the sword. None escaped."
Li Huai Sheng strode forward, bowed, and reported, his voice laced with a grim finality.
Yang Yi stood to one side, his head bowed, silent.
The blood of the Huang Family was on the Yang Family’s hands, too.
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