Chapter 77: Melee

In this chaotic battle, which could be called a catastrophe, a young man wearing the ordinary grey cloth clothes of a Loose Cultivator and a bamboo hat walked through the fire-ravaged Xiao Family residence as if he were strolling in a garden.

It was Chu Chang.

He did not participate in the stupid scramble of the Loose Cultivators for a few low-grade Spirit Stones.

His goal was clear: the core treasury of the Xiao Family and finding the whereabouts of Xiao He.

Along the way, many Loose Cultivators or members of the Xiao Family with bloodshot eyes tried to attack him.

"Kid, leave your Qiankun Bag behind!"

Two burly Loose Cultivators holding steel blades blocked Chu Chang's path with ferocious expressions.

Chu Chang did not even pause his steps. The eyes beneath his bamboo hat narrowed slightly, and a wisp of dark golden Pure Yang True Qi shot out like a fine needle.

Poof! Poof!!

Two soft sounds rang out. A blood hole appeared in the foreheads of both Loose Cultivators, piercing through from front to back. They collapsed to the ground, eyes wide open, dead with grievances.

Chu Chang's figure flickered like an illusion, passing directly through their corpses and heading towards the "Myriad Medicine Garden" in the back mountain of the Xiao Family.

The Xiao Family's ability to establish a foothold in Qingzhou relied heavily on the several Spirit Medicine production sites they controlled.

And the Myriad Medicine Garden was the most important of them all.

At this moment, the Formation of the Myriad Medicine Garden had been violently broken by the Loose Cultivators, and hundreds of them were inside, crazily digging for Spirit Medicine.

"That is a three-hundred-year-old Purple Ganoderma! Nobody grab it!"

"Get lost! I'll chop you with one sword!"

In the garden, the Loose Cultivators had gone completely mad over the Spirit Medicine. Broken branches and leaves mixed with blood, and the soil was dyed black and red.

Chu Chang watched coldly, his figure darting like a ghost towards a cold pool in the deepest part of the medicine garden.

His Divine Sense was extremely sharp, and he had long since sensed an unusual fluctuation of spiritual power there.

Arriving at the edge of the cold pool, he saw, on a reef in the center of the water, a crystal-clear lotus flower emitting a faint cold aura: the "Ice Soul Origin Lotus".

This was one of the main ingredients for refining the Medicinal Pill for a Breakthrough from the Foundation Establishment Realm to the Purple Mansion Realm, worth ten thousand gold!

At this moment, three Loose Cultivators at the Middle Stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm were fighting fiercely by the cold pool, clearly all wanting to monopolize this rare treasure.

"Haha, since you three Fellow Daoists cannot make up your minds, then I shall not be modest."

Chu Chang laughed lightly, and his figure suddenly disappeared from where he stood.

"Who is it?!"

The three were shocked. Before they could react, a dark golden fist print descended like the great sun, carrying an incomparably scorching temperature, instantly evaporating most of the water vapor in the cold pool.

Boom!

The violent fist force sent the three of them flying back while vomiting blood, slamming them heavily into the mud.

By the time they struggled to lift their heads, the "Ice Soul Origin Lotus" on the reef in the center of the cold pool had vanished, and the figure of the young man in the grey clothes and bamboo hat had long since disappeared into the billowing thick smoke.

"Damn it! It's an expert at the Peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm!"

"He hid his cultivation! Run quickly, don't provoke such a ruthless character!"

The three were terrified, not even daring to treat their injuries, and scrambled to flee from the cold pool.

Chu Chang placed the Ice Soul Origin Lotus into a specially made jade box and tossed it into his Qiankun Bag, his mouth curling up slightly. The feeling of fishing in troubled waters was indeed quite good. The people's wealth that the Xiao Family had scraped together for hundreds of years would be partially collected by him today.

As the battle deepened, the Xiao Family courtyard completely turned into an abyss of disorder.

In front of the Xiao Family's Scripture Pavilion, thousands of Loose Cultivators blocked the entrance, fighting fiercely over a remnant Yellow Rank Cultivation Technique.

"This 《Violent Wind Saber Technique》 is mine!"

A veteran Loose Cultivator had just tucked the Secret Manual into his bosom when a rusty long sword pierced through his back.

The one who ambushed him was a young Loose Cultivator who looked only sixteen or seventeen, his face still carrying youthful innocence, but his eyes were incomparably vicious.

The young Loose Cultivator pulled out his sword and snatched the Secret Manual, but before he could rejoice, a giant millstone fell from above, crushing him into meat paste.

Such human tragedies were playing out in every corner of the Xiao Family.

And in the living quarters of the Xiao Family women, it was even more chaotic.

Some evil Cultivators and Loose Cultivators with twisted minds rushed into the inner chambers with lewd smiles, disregarding the women's crying and struggling, committing acts of banditry.

Of course, some kicked an iron plate.

Several Loose Cultivators rushed into a boudoir with grim smiles, attempting to assault a Xiao Family maiden inside.

However, the maiden suddenly tore off the disguise on her face, revealing a terrifying countenance covered in bulging veins and exposed fangs.

"Demonic Cultivator?!"

The few were terrified, but before they could run, they were instantly entangled by the black Evil Qi surging from the maiden's body. Their flesh and blood were sucked dry within a few breaths, turning them into shriveled skeletons.

"Roar!"

Not only this maiden, but in every courtyard of the Xiao Family, a group of "Blood Slaves" with blood-red eyes, shriveled skin, and immense strength suddenly appeared.

These were Puppets that the Xiao Family had secretly refined using living people, originally intended to be gifted to the Blood Fiend Sect. Now that the Xiao Family was on the verge of destruction, Xiao Wanshan could not care about anything else and released all of these trump cards.

"Ah! It's a demonic creature! The Xiao Family really did collude with the Demonic Path!"

"Heavens, this monster's skin is harder than refined iron, my Flying Sword cannot cut it!"

The appearance of the Blood Slaves caused massive casualties to those Loose Cultivators who only cared about plundering wealth. The originally one-sided looting instantly turned into a bitter tug-of-war.

…

…

…

Chu Chang had already passed through the chaotic residential area and arrived at the Forbidden Land of the Xiao Family, the back mountain.

Compared to the noise and chaos of the front mountain, it felt somewhat too quiet here.

The air was filled with a thick bloody stench, even more pungent than the smell in the pile of dead bodies on the front mountain.

Chu Chang followed the bloody stench and finally stopped in front of a huge cave.

At the cave entrance, more than a dozen corpses of Xiao Family members lay scattered. Their deaths were extremely miserable; all the blood in their bodies seemed to have been instantly drained by something, turning them into dried corpses.

Inside the cave, faint roars like wild beasts and weak cries for help could be heard.

Chu Chang lowered his bamboo hat, restrained his aura, and drifted into the cave like a falling leaf.

The cave was extremely deep, and the stone walls were covered with strange red runes, emitting a faint and bewitching light.

At the end of the cave was a huge blood pool, and the blood inside was boiling and bubbling violently.

At this moment, in the center of the blood pool, a man who was completely naked, with black demonic patterns covering the surface of his skin, was sitting cross-legged.

It was Xiao He!!!

At this moment, where was any of the elegance and glory of the former top Genius of the Divine Sword Sect in Xiao He?

One of his arms was already shriveled and twisted, his eyes were pitch black with no whites, and his whole body exuded a nauseating bloody and brutal aura.

Beside the blood pool, the Xiao Family Head, Xiao Wanshan, was pushing young Xiao Family members into the blood pool with a crazed expression.

Those members, once they fell into the blood pool, let out shrill screams, their bodies melting rapidly and turning into pure blood essence, merging into Xiao He's body.

"He'er! Quick! Absorb all this blood essence! As long as you break through to the Purple Mansion Realm, we can kill all those scumbags outside! Revitalize our Xiao Family!" Xiao Wanshan roared hysterically.

Xiao He roared in pain, the demonic patterns on his face wriggling constantly: "Power… I need more power! Chu Chang… Wu Zhan… all of you must die!"

"I am afraid you will not have that chance."

A calm and indifferent voice suddenly rang out in the silent cave.

Xiao Wanshan and Xiao He were both shocked and turned their heads abruptly to look at the cave entrance.

A young man in a grey bamboo hat walked out slowly. He stretched out his slender, fair hand, took off his bamboo hat, revealing a handsome but cold-as-iron face.

"Chu Chang?!"

Xiao He's eyes instantly turned blood-red, and the monstrous hatred twisted his face completely: "It's you! It's you, you scumbag! You destroyed everything I had!"

Chu Chang looked at Xiao He, who was like a demon in the blood pool, with no pity in his eyes, only endless coldness: "Xiao He, those who do too much injustice will suffer their own destruction. Today, I will use your life to pay tribute to those innocent souls you harmed."

"Hahahaha! Just by you?!" Xiao He laughed crazily, and the blood in the pool soared into the sky, turning into countless ferocious Blood Dragons circling around him. "I have now obtained the true Legacy of the Holy Gate, and my Foundation Establishment Breakthrough is imminent! Go to hell!"

Boom!

The blood pool exploded, turning into towering waves of blood, carrying the sounds of endless wronged souls and evil ghosts, sweeping towards Chu Chang like a landslide!

Inside the blood pool, the viscous blood rolled violently like boiling magma.

As one Xiao Family member after another was ruthlessly thrown into it, that pungent bloody stench almost materialized, condensing into a thick layer of blood mist in the narrow space of the cave.

"Chu Chang! You persistent scumbag!"

Xiao He sat in the center of the blood water, his face looking hideous and terrifying due to extreme pain and distortion.

His only intact right hand tightly gripped the white bone skeleton beneath him, and the black demonic patterns, like venomous centipedes, wriggled crazily under his skin, even spreading to his cheeks and the corners of his eyes.

"Today, I will peel off your skin as a congratulatory gift for my stepping into the Purple Mansion Realm!"

Boom!!!

With Xiao He's roar, waves of blood several feet high surged up from the blood pool. The blood waves wriggled and deformed in mid-air, turning into a blood-colored ghost claw the size of a millstone, carrying the screeching cries of wronged souls, tearing through the air, and rushing straight towards Chu Chang's face.

This strike already vaguely carried the pressure of the Purple Mansion Realm, and the corrosive power contained within the blood energy was enough to instantly dissolve the protective True Qi of an ordinary Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator.

Chu Chang's expression was calm as water, neither dodging nor evading.

He slowly raised his right hand and clenched his five fingers into a fist. In an instant, a golden True Qi of supreme Yang and hardness erupted from his fist Peak, like a scorching sun rising in this dark and damp cave. The blinding golden light instantly dispersed the surrounding cold blood mist, illuminating the twisted demonic patterns on the stone walls.

"Break!"

Chu Chang let out a deep shout and punched out.

The golden Pure Yang fist print turned into a thick beam of light, crashing towards the blood-colored ghost claw.

Bang!!!

The golden light and blood light collided violently in mid-air, emitting a deafening loud noise.

The violent aftermath turned into rings of visible air waves, sweeping horizontally in a circle.

The hard stone walls cracked under the impact of this force, and countless gravel fell like rain, smashing into the blood pool, instantly being corroded until not even residue remained.

The golden Pure Yang True Qi was naturally the nemesis of these filthy blood lights.

The seemingly overwhelming blood-colored ghost claw, the moment it touched the Pure Yang fist print, sounded like snow meeting boiling oil, making a "hissing" melting sound, and was evaporated by more than half in a breath.

"How is this possible?!"

Xiao He's pupils contracted violently.

He could feel, when did Chu Chang's cultivation become so terrifying? That pure-to-the-extreme Pure Yang True Force even made the Demonic Path True Qi in his body develop an instinctive fear.

"He'er, don't panic! Father will buy you time!"

Just at this moment, a loud shout came from the side. The Xiao Family Head, Xiao Wanshan, had arrived at the edge of the blood pool at some point.

His eyes were red, his face was full of madness, and his whole body exuded the powerful aura of the Peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm.

He knew clearly that today the Xiao Family was already a setting sun, and the only way to survive was to let Xiao He completely absorb all the energy in this blood pool and forcibly break through to the Purple Mansion Realm!

As long as the Xiao Family produced a Purple Mansion Realm Demonic Cultivator, combined with the Old Ancestor, everyone besieging the Xiao Family today would have to die!

"Son, keep absorbing! Don't worry about him!"

Xiao Wanshan shouted crazily at Xiao He in the blood pool, then turned his head, staring at Chu Chang with a hideous expression: "Chu Chang, you brat, if you want to kill my son, pass me first! Die!"

Xiao Wanshan put his hands together and then pushed forward violently.

A white bone spear shimmering with eerie green light whistled out from his sleeve. The tip of the spear was wrapped in countless pale green wronged souls, carrying an extremely vicious sound of breaking the air, pointing directly at Chu Chang's chest.

This was the Demonic Path Magic Treasure secretly inherited by the Xiao Family, the Hundred Ghost Soul-Devouring Spear!!!