Chapter 89: Destroying the Zhao Family

A hundred miles east of Dayuan City, Crouching Tiger Mountain.

The mountains here stretched continuously, shaped like a crouching tiger, with Spiritual Qi rising in the valleys as a faint white mist. This was the ancestral land of the Zhao Family, one of the three major families of Dayuan City.

Unlike the Iron Sword Sect, which focused on the Dao of weaponry, the Zhao Family was famous for cultivating Spirit Medicine, taming Spirit Beasts, and managing trade routes.

In the cultivation world of the Great Yuan Dynasty, the Zhao Family had always played the role of a "peacemaker," keeping a low profile and pleasing all sides.

However, in the secret letter that Sect Master Lin Wuwen had broadcast to the world, the Zhao Family was the most unfathomable link.

Although they rarely directly intercepted and killed Loose Cultivators, the Spirit Stones required to run the Formations in the restricted area, the special Spirit Medicine needed to mask the blood Qi, and the trade routes used to transport the remnant Souls of those "blood food" out of the territory were all secretly provided by the Zhao Family.

It could be said that without the Zhao Family's cover, the Demonic Path dealings of Sect Master Lin Wuwen and the Iron Sword Sect would have been exposed a century ago.

At this moment, inside the Zhao Family's ancestral land, "Crouching Tiger Villa," the atmosphere was a hundred times more tense than usual.

Zhao Wufeng, the head of the Zhao Family, stood in front of the Family discussion hall. Looking at the rolling dark clouds in the sky, his face was so gloomy it looked as if it could drip water.

"Head, the Divine Sword Sect's warships have already passed Breeze Ridge! In at most the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, they will arrive here!" A Golden Core Stage deacon of the Zhao Family ran into the courtyard, rolling and crawling, his voice carrying a sob.

"What is there to panic about?!"

Zhao Wufeng barked angrily, his voice laced with the pressure of the Middle Stage Purple Mansion Realm, shocking the deacon into collapsing to the ground.

Zhao Wufeng was over four hundred years old. He had kept himself in excellent condition, looking like a forty-year-old middle-aged scholar, but at this moment, his eyes were filled with malice and madness.

"Sect Master Tie Kuangtu, that brainless brute, relying on nothing but his brute strength, only knew how to stubbornly defend his mountain gate. He deserved to be destroyed!" Zhao Wufeng snorted coldly, looking around at the high-ranking members of the Zhao Family.

Behind him stood five Golden Core Stage Family Elders, as well as three mysterious figures in black robes whose auras were somewhat cold.

"Our Zhao Family is not the Iron Sword Sect. We have the tacit permission of the Dayuan City Lord's Mansion, as well as this Ten Thousand Beasts Devouring Heaven Formation!" Zhao Wufeng said through gritted teeth. "Moreover, the Xiao Family's Old Ancestor has already sent a message to this seat. As long as we can hold off that Chu Chang for half a day, the experts from the City Lord's Mansion and the Xiao Family's army will flank them from behind, wiping out this remnant crowd of the Divine Sword Sect in one fell swoop!"

"The head is right! Our Zhao Family has raised tens of thousands of Tier One and Tier Two Spirit Beasts. Just the beast tide alone can exhaust them to death!" a Zhao Family Elder agreed, a flash of ruthlessness in his eyes.

"Open the Hundred Beasts Blood Pool and awaken the Heaven-Shaking Divine Bull!"

Zhao Wufeng took a deep breath and sharply gave the order.

As his command was delivered, the entire Crouching Tiger Mountain began to tremble slightly. Countless Spirit Beasts kept in the valleys let out uneasy roars, and a thick aura of blood and violence quickly gathered above the Zhao Family estate.

Looking at the Formation patterns beneath his feet that were beginning to glow with blood-red light, Zhao Wufeng felt slightly more at ease.

For this day, the Zhao Family had prepared for hundreds of years.

"Chu Chang, since you insist on completely wiping us out, this seat will let you see what it truly means to leave not even a trace of your bones!"

The dark clouds in the sky hung extremely low, as if they were going to crush the entire Crouching Tiger Mountain.

Suddenly, a violent spatial fluctuation rippled through the air as three massive bluestone warships pierced through the thick cloud layer. Like three ancient behemoths, they hovered directly above the Zhao Family estate with a rumbling sound of thunder.

On the decks of the warships, the Disciples of the Divine Sword Sect each had their hands on their sword hilts, their faces carrying a solemn and murderous aura.

At the bow of the foremost warship, Chu Chang stood clad in black, his hands clasped behind his back, coldly looking down at the Zhao Family estate below, which was enveloped in a blood-red light barrier.

Behind him, nine figures radiating towering Death Qi stood in perfect unison.

Leading them was Sect Master Lin Wuwen, his eyes hollow, his dark-gold skin gleaming with a cold luster under the dim sky.

Beside him were the newly refined "Eight Fiends of the Heavenly Demon."

They consisted of Great Elder Zhao Wuji, Sect Master Tie Kuangtu, and the corpses of six Golden Core Elders who originally belonged to the Iron Sword Sect and the Divine Sword Sect.

At this moment, they were all clad in pitch-black demonic armor. Their exposed skin appeared dark iron-colored, with black Soul-controlling runes crawling across it like spiderwebs.

Upon seeing the faces of Great Elder Zhao Wuji and Sect Master Tie Kuangtu, a commotion instantly erupted inside the Zhao Family estate below.

"Is that… the Grand Elder of the Divine Sword Sect, Great Elder Zhao Wuji?!"

"And Sect Master Tie Kuangtu! Isn't he dead? Why is he standing there?"

"Those are Puppets! Heavens, that Chu Chang refined them all into Puppets!"

The morale of the Zhao Family Disciples plummeted to rock bottom in an instant.

Refining former Purple Mansion Realm experts into Puppets was a method even more cruel and terrifying than those of ordinary Demonic Path Cultivators.

"Zhao Wufeng, come out and meet your death."

Chu Chang looked down and spoke calmly.

"Chu Chang!"

Zhao Wufeng soared into midair. Separated by the blood-red defensive barrier, he stared intently at Chu Chang, his eyes flickering with wariness and malice.

"As the Supreme Deacon of the Divine Sword Sect, instead of thinking about how to recuperate, you destroy the various forces of our Great Yuan Dynasty under the guise of acting on behalf of Heaven! How is your behavior any different from the Demonic Path? The Great Yuan Imperial Dynasty will absolutely not let you off!"

"Demonic Path?"

Chu Chang chuckled softly, his smile appearing incredibly cold against the dark background.

"When you raised Loose Cultivators like livestock for blood food, why didn't you talk about the Demonic Path? When you secretly colluded to harm your fellow Cultivators, why didn't you talk about the laws of the Great Yuan Imperial Dynasty?"

Chu Chang raised his hand slightly. "This seat will give you ten breaths of time. Surrender, or not a single Soul will be left alive."

"Arrogant child! Do you truly think my Zhao Family is as easy to deal with as the Iron Sword Sect?"

Zhao Wufeng laughed in extreme anger. With a fierce wave of his sleeve, he shouted, "Ten Thousand Beasts Devouring Heaven, rise!"

Rumble!

As Zhao Wufeng's voice fell, a mountain-toppling roar of wild beasts suddenly echoed from the valleys surrounding the Zhao Family estate.

Countless wolves, tigers, leopards, birds, and beasts emerged from the forests in all directions like a black tide, their eyes blood-red and their bodies radiating a violent, bloody aura.

These Spirit Beasts had clearly been fed some kind of berserk drugs. They had completely lost their sanity, leaving only their bloodthirsty instincts.

Even more terrifyingly, in a massive blood pool at the back of the estate, a giant rhinoceros-like Spirit Beast, dozens of Zhang tall and covered in black scales, slowly stood up.

That was the Tier Four Elementary Spirit Beast, the Heaven-Shaking Divine Bull, which the Zhao Family had worshiped for a century!

"Roar!"

The Heaven-Shaking Divine Bull let out a dull roar. With every step it took, the earth trembled violently.

"Chu Chang, even if you have nine Purple Mansion-level Puppets, how many can you kill in the face of this army of ten thousand beasts? Hahahaha!" Zhao Wufeng laughed maniacally.

Facing this overwhelming beast tide, Chu Chang's expression did not waver at all.

"Sect Master Lin Wuwen, go deal with that beast."

"Eight Fiends of the Heavenly Demon, follow this seat to slaughter the Zhao Family."

"Yes, Master."

The nine Puppets let out a hoarse low growl in unison.

Whoosh!

With a flicker of his body, Sect Master Lin Wuwen transformed into a streak of dark-gold lightning in the sky, charging straight toward the massive Heaven-Shaking Divine Bull.

Meanwhile, under the control of Chu Chang's Divine Sense, the Eight Fiends of the Heavenly Demon, including Great Elder Zhao Wuji and Sect Master Tie Kuangtu, crashed down like eight black meteors into the beast tide that covered the hills and plains.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The moment the Eight Fiends landed, the earth shook. Their terrifying Physical Body strength directly blasted the Spirit Beasts within a hundred-Zhang radius into blood mist.

"Kill!"

Sect Master Tie Kuangtu's Puppet let out an unconscious roar. Although he had lost the intelligence of his lifetime, his combat instincts had become even more frenzied under the enhancement of the Heavenly Demon Puppet Technique.

He used no weapons, relying solely on his arms covered in dark iron-colored dragon patterns to charge directly into the densest part of the beast tide.

Rip!

A Tier Two wild lion with strength equivalent to the Foundation Establishment Stage pounced. Without even looking, Sect Master Tie Kuangtu reached out, clamped the lion's upper and lower jaws, and ripped them apart with a violent tear!

Blood rained down from the sky!

That wild lion was actually ripped in half by him!

On the other side, Great Elder Zhao Wuji, who had been turned into a Puppet, radiated cold Nether Demonic Qi. Wherever he passed, ice froze everything. The moment countless Spirit Beasts touched the black demonic Qi, they were frozen into ice sculptures, which then shattered into a flurry of black dust under the impact of the demonic Qi.

This was not a battle at all; it was a one-sided slaughter.

To these Spirit Beasts, most of which were only Tier One or Tier Two, Golden Core and Foundation Establishment-level Puppets were simply an insurmountable nightmare.

"This… how is this possible?!"

Standing inside the blood-red light barrier, Zhao Wufeng was completely dumbfounded as he watched the army of ten thousand beasts he was so proud of get decimated in just a hundred breaths.

Those were the resources accumulated by the Zhao Family over several generations!

However, what made him feel even more despondent was the loud crash coming from behind.

Boom!

Sect Master Lin Wuwen had already engaged in battle with the massive Heaven-Shaking Divine Bull.

Although the Heaven-Shaking Divine Bull was massive and possessed staggering strength, its speed was far inferior to Sect Master Lin Wuwen's. Relying on his ghost-like movement technique, Sect Master Lin Wuwen flickered continuously around the bull's massive body, leaving a deep fist print on its thick scales with every punch.

"Roar!"

The Divine Bull roared in pain. Its single horn unleashed a sky full of yellow earth-attribute energy, attempting to suppress Sect Master Lin Wuwen.

But Sect Master Lin Wuwen did not dodge. Relying on his Heavenly Demon Body, which had been refined anew by Chaos True Essence, he forcefully withstood the strike, then leaped up and landed directly on the Divine Bull's head.

"Die."

Sect Master Lin Wuwen curved his fingers into claws and thrust them fiercely into the Divine Bull's skull.

[Heavenly Demon Soul Devouring!]

Violent demonic Qi surged frantically along his arm into the Divine Bull's mind, tearing the Tier Four Spirit Beast's Soul to shreds.

The mountain-like Heaven-Shaking Divine Bull, in发出一声不甘的哀鸣后, crashed down, smashing countless pavilions and terraces behind it.

"No! Divine Bull!"

Zhao Wufeng's mouth twitched in sheer heartache.

Right at this moment, Chu Chang, who had been standing at the bow of the warship, finally moved.

With a flash of his body, he instantly appeared above the Zhao Family estate's blood-red protective Formation.

"This turtle shell, this seat shall dismantle it for you."

Chu Chang slowly raised his right hand. In his palm, the black ancient sword "Duanchen," which he had seized from the Iron Sword Sect, was emitting a faint, cold glow. Although this sword was currently just a damaged sword that had not been fully unsealed, its hardness surpassed even ordinary top-grade Magic Treasures.

"Break."

Chu Chang infused the Chaos True Essence within his body into the Duanchen Sword and lightly slashed at the blood-red light barrier below.

Rip!

A tiny but extremely condensed gray Sword Qi flashed past.

The moment the seemingly indestructible "Ten Thousand Beasts Devouring Heaven Formation" light barrier contacted this gray Sword Qi, it split open silently with a massive tear, like a piece of fragile white paper sliced by a sharp blade.

"What?!"

Zhao Wufeng and the Elders of the Zhao Family completely had their Souls fly away and spirits scatter.

Even when facing a full-strength strike from a Late Stage Purple Mansion Realm Cultivator, this grand Formation could hold out for a while. Yet now, it was broken by this young man with a casual slash?

"Retreat! Quickly retreat to the back mountain where the Old Ancestor is in secluded cultivation!"

Zhao Wufeng shrieked. Utterly disregarding the lives of the Disciples, he turned into a streak of light and flew frantically toward an isolated peak at the back of the estate.

"Want to run?"

Chu Chang sneered. Leaving an afterimage where he stood, he caught up to Zhao Wufeng in the next instant.

"Head, watch out!"

The Grand Elder of the Zhao Family, an old man of the Late Stage Golden Core, gritted his teeth. He suddenly spun around and sacrificed a black Hundred Beasts Banner, which transformed into a sky full of demonic shadows to block Chu Chang, attempting to buy time for Zhao Wufeng to escape.

However, Chu Chang did not even pause his steps.

"Scram."

He simply threw out a casual palm strike.

[Chaos Great Capturing Hand!]

A massive golden hand materialized out of thin air, directly crushing the sky full of demonic shadows. In the process, it grabbed the Late Stage Golden Core Grand Elder of the Zhao Family in its palm and squeezed hard.

Bang!

A mist of blood erupted in midair, and a Golden Core was instantly retrieved by Chu Chang.

By this time, Zhao Wufeng had already flown to the isolated peak. He cried out in desperation, "Old Ancestor, save me! Chu Chang is coming to kill me!"

Rumble!

The stone door of the isolated peak burst open with a rumble, and a powerful, decaying, yet exceptionally violent aura awakened from within.

"Who dares to behave so insolently in my Zhao Family?!"

An ancient voice filled with endless rage rang out.

Following that, a withered old man on the brink of death, his face covered in age spots, slowly stepped out of the Immortal Cave.

This was the sole pillar of the Zhao Family, the Zhao Family's Old Ancestor Zhao Tianqiong, who had lived for nearly five hundred years and whose cultivation had reached the Late Stage Purple Mansion Realm.

However, when Zhao Tianqiong saw Chu Chang pursuing him, along with Sect Master Lin Wuwen and the Eight Fiends of the Heavenly Demon rapidly closing in from behind, his originally furious expression instantly froze.

"Sect Master Lin Wuwen? And Sect Master Tie Kuangtu and Great Elder Zhao Wuji? How did they…"

Zhao Tianqiong had lived a long life, after all. He saw at a glance that these experts had all become Puppet dolls who could not help themselves.

"Old Ancestor, let's fight them to the death! The reinforcements from the Dayuan City Lord's Mansion will arrive any moment!" Zhao Wufeng shouted as if grasping at a lifesaver.

Zhao Tianqiong's face fluctuated with uncertainty. Looking at the calm Chu Chang and then at his Family, where blood already ran like a river, he took a deep breath.

"Fellow Daoist's methods are heaven-reaching. My Zhao Family yields."

Zhao Tianqiong cupped his hands to Chu Chang, his tone actually carrying a trace of pleading. "Today's matter is of our Zhao Family's own making. Our Zhao Family is willing to hand over all our assets and withdraw from the Great Yuan Dynasty from now on. We only beg Fellow Daoist to allow my Zhao Family to preserve a line of descendants, how about it?"

"Old Ancestor?!" Zhao Wufeng was filled with utter disbelief.

Chu Chang looked at Zhao Tianqiong indifferently and said calmly, "To cut the grass without removing the roots only allows it to grow again when the spring breeze blows. Do you think this seat would make such a low-level mistake?"

"Are you determined to force this old man to drag you down with me?!" A flash of madness appeared in Zhao Tianqiong's eyes. "Although this old man does not have much Lifespan left, if I self-detonate, it will still be enough to tear a layer of skin off you!"

"You won't have the chance to self-detonate."

Before Chu Chang's voice could even fade, Sect Master Lin Wuwen behind him, along with Sect Master Tie Kuangtu and Great Elder Zhao Wuji from the Eight Fiends of the Heavenly Demon, had already locked onto Zhao Tianqiong in a triangular Formation.

"Kill."

Boom!

The three Purple Mansion combatants struck simultaneously, and violent energy instantly enveloped Zhao Tianqiong.

Zhao Tianqiong was, after all, old and frail, with his Qi and blood severely depleted. Facing the siege of three Puppets of the same tier who felt no pain and possessed incredibly tough physical bodies, he lasted only a dozen rounds before Sect Master Tie Kuangtu shattered his ribs with a single punch, causing him to cough up blood.

"Ahhh! Little beast, you forced my hand!"

With disheveled hair and a distorted, hideous face, Zhao Tianqiong suddenly slapped his own chest, spitting a mouthful of essence blood onto a golden spirit talisman in his hand.

Buzz!

The spirit talisman instantly transformed into a blinding golden light, wrapping his entire body within.

"A substitute Puppet talisman? No, it's the Golden Cicada Shedding Shell Talisman!" Chu Chang's brow furrowed slightly.

Before Sect Master Lin Wuwen's attack could land, the golden light dissipated. Zhao Tianqiong, who had been standing there, actually turned into an empty, shriveled cicada shell, while his true body appeared in the sky ten miles away, fleeing frantically toward Dayuan City as a blurred afterimage.

As for Zhao Wufeng, who was left behind, he was completely abandoned by his own Old Ancestor.

"Old Ancestor! You abandoned me?!"

Zhao Wufeng shrieked in despair.

"You have no value anymore."

Chu Chang did not even spare Zhao Wufeng a glance. Sect Master Lin Wuwen casually struck down with his palm, directly smashing Zhao Wufeng's head into his chest cavity, destroying both his body and Soul.

Looking at Zhao Tianqiong, who had already fled to the horizon and was now just a black speck, several Golden Core Elders of the Divine Sword Sect hurriedly stepped forward.

"Supreme Deacon, that old fellow practices a wind-attribute Cultivation Technique, so his speed is extremely fast. Moreover, he is clearly going to Dayuan City to bring reinforcements. If we pursue him now, we might run straight into an ambush by the City Lord's Mansion and the Xiao Family!"