"An imposter?" Fang Yuan chuckled, the sound low and edged with mockery.
He descended slowly, as if the sky itself bent to his will.
When his boots touched the courtyard stone, the weight of his presence crashed down like a collapsing mountain.
Those who had not knelt were driven to their knees instantly, their bones creaking under the invisible pressure.
With each step Fang Yuan took forward, the oppressive force deepened, pushing them lower, grinding pride and defiance alike into the dust.
Even the air quivered around him, thick with killing intent and divine authority, as though heaven itself acknowledged his claim.
Fang Yuan’s steps were unhurried, each one ringing in the ears of those forced to kneel.
At last, he stopped before the elder who had dared to scoff.
Without a word, he lifted his boot and pressed it against the man’s bowed head.
The elder stiffened, trembling, but Fang Yuan’s leg bore down with implacable weight, grinding him into the stone.
"An imposter, you say?" Fang Yuan’s voice was calm, almost casual, "Ignorant ones are always the bravest. As they say, Ignorance is bliss."
Crack!
Bone shattered.
The elder’s skull burst like a lon underfoot, spraying blood and brain matter across the courtyard stones.
The silence that followed was deafening. Every other Gu clansman felt an icy blade trace their spines, the chill of death coiling around their hearts.
Then—
Two figures erged from within the manor.
The first wore the embroidered robes of authority, the orchid motif gleaming faintly in the dim light.
His bearing was unmistakably that of the Patriarch of the Gu Family himself, face tight with fury and dread.
Beside him walked another man, his aura sharp as unsheathed steel.
A pair of longswords crossed his back, and the air around him thrumd with suppressed killing intent.
His presence alone twisted the atmosphere, bending it beneath the weight of a Nascent Soul cultivator’s might.
The Gu clansn who had not yet collapsed to their knees imdiately bowed lower, as though the patriarch’s arrival had granted them a fragile thread of hope.
Fang Yuan’s gaze shifted to the two new arrivals.
His eyes swept past the swordsman without pause, fixing instead on the younger figure standing at his side.
Gu Zhen.
The boy carried himself with the stern dignity of a leader, the orchid crest upon his robes marking him as the new Patriarch of the Gu Family.
With Fang Yuan having captured the boy’s father, the ex-patriarch and even his grandfather... it looked like now it seed Gu Zhen had inherited the mantle.
For a mont, Fang Yuan’s eyes narrowed.
The scene stirred an echo of his own past, his father had passed early, leaving him to shoulder the weight of the Fang Clan before his ti.
That resemblance only steeled Fang Yuan’s resolve, today, the Gu Clan would end.
Because... What if he, too, awakened a system when he reached thirty? No!... Fang Yuan was not going to take that risk.
His thoughts sharpened to a blade’s edge.
And just then, the boy parted his lips to speak.
Gu Zhen’s voice rang out, steady and firm. "That’s enough, Fang head. Leave the Gu Family’s territory at once. If you do not, we will be taking this as a formal declaration of war between the Fang and the Gu Clan."
Fang Yuan smiled faintly. "No. This is not a war."
Relief flickered across Gu Zhen’s face, his shoulders loosening as he began to speak. "Thank the heavens, it’s not—"
"But—"
The single word fell from Fang Yuan’s lips, and with it the air itself seed to collapse. His strength surged unchecked, pressing down like a mountain.
Tiles cracked, beams groaned, and every cultivator present felt their knees buckle.
Even the Nascent Soul master, proud and defiant a mont before was forced down, trembling under the weight.
Fang Yuan’s voice cut through the suffocating silence, cold and rciless.
"...it will be a massacre today."
Fang Yuan then raised his hand, and with it his sword appeared, cold steel gleaming faintly in the dim light. He did not move from where he stood.
The blade sang.
A single motion, too fast for mortal eyes to follow, split the air.
For a heartbeat, silence held. Then—
Thump. Thump.
Two heads rolled cleanly from their shoulders, blood arcing in crimson fountains across the stone.
Their bodies crumpled almost at once, the severed orchids of Gu authority falling with them.
Gasps and screams erupted from the Gu clan, but Fang Yuan’s expression did not shift.
To him, it was as though he had rely brushed dust from his sleeve.
The sword hovered at his side, still humming faintly, ready to strike again.
Fang Yuan lifted his hand, and the sword obeyed like a predator unleashed.
With a flick, it shot forward, weaving arcs of silver light. The courtyard turned into a slaughterhouse.
One after another, heads burst into the air, spinning before thudding onto the stone. Screams were cut short, bodies collapsed like wheat before a scythe.
The fragrance of blood spread thick, choking, undeniable.
Gu Zhen, forced flat beneath the crushing weight of Fang Yuan’s aura, could only press his face against the cold ground as dust filled his mouth and nostrils.
His voice ca out broken, muffled, half-strangled:
"Whyyy—! Why are you... doing this to usss?!"
Spitting grit, he tried to yell louder, but his words stumbled over each other, pompous even in despair.
"Weee are... the Gu Clan! You—dare treat us—like this?!"
Another head fell with a wet crack. Gu Zhen’s tears mixed with dust as he gagged, yet still he raged.
"Khaisang! Uuusseless cur! I hired you... to protect the clan! I paid you—everything! You were supposed to keeep us safe!"
His voice broke into a scream, muffled by stone and dirt. "Do sothing, you worthless sword-fossil!"
The rogue swordsman, Khaisang, knelt not far away, his entire fra trembling, sweat streaming like rain.
He didn’t dare lift his head.
Fang Yuan’s eyes were cold, watching the proud Gu Patriarch grovel and choke on the filth beneath his own estate.
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