A crushing sword force loomed over the entire Golden Snake Sect. The hundred-zhang lightning sword was no mere threat.

Fu Dongsheng’s pupils quivered. He bowed deeply. “Senior! Whatever transgression my sect has committed, I beg your forgiveness! Name your terms.”

Li Guanqi looked down at the man. Li Guanqi’s aura erupted, and everyone except Fu Dongsheng fell from the sky.

He sneered. “Forgiveness? Very well...”

Fu Dongsheng sighed in relief, but before he could speak, a stinging heat prickled across his skin. He jerked his head up.

The hundred-zhang lightning sword was already descending upon the Golden Snake Sect.

A single strike tore the void into a long rift, sword qi ripping through the nothingness. The entire sect split in two. The winding range split apart beneath the sword light, peaks and pavilions shattering on contact. Several elders caught in its path failed to dodge in time and instantly died.

The earth trembled, and the peaks shook. When the sword light faded, the Golden Snake Sect's territory lay in ruins, with nothing but debris and broken walls. Deep chasms scarred the mountain faces, their impossibly smooth stone walls still crackling with residual sword qi and lightning.

Fu Dongsheng stared, shaken to his core. He'd been about to raise his head and spit threats, but the words died in his throat.

His gaze drifted to the woman floating in midair beside Li Guanqi. The medicinal pill in her mouth was already dissolving, its pure energy spreading through her body. Her damaged meridians and torn flesh knitted together, healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Li Guanqi’s eyes burned with rage. Fu Dongsheng's heart hammered at the sight of the destruction around him. Tu Shan and the youth had to share an extraordinary bond; otherwise, he would never have come straight to their doorstep. He'd never imagined the woman he’d captured would have such a powerful backer.

Fu Dongsheng kept his head low, eyes flickering. He couldn’t win, so he would submit. A few dead sect members meant nothing as long as he himself still breathed. That sword strike told him everything he needed to know—the youth was not someone he could provoke.

“Senior... there must have been some misunderstanding! Look, everything in my storage ring is for y—”

Whoosh!

Fu Dongsheng felt a sudden heat across his neck. He reached up. His hand came away slick with blood.

A voice as cold as ice came from beside him. "After killing you, those things will be mine anyway."

A head rolled to the ground.

“Ahhh! The sect master’s been killed!”

“Run! Run!”

Chaos erupted through the Golden Snake Sect. One after another, the disciples tore off their robes and scattered in every direction.

Li Guanqi walked through the wreckage with an icy expression. His divine consciousness swept outward and locked onto Fu Dongsheng's son. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

He came to a secluded courtyard. When he pushed open the door, he found a severely injured youth with an unstable aura lying beside a woman.

“What's gotten into you today...” the youth was saying to her. Then he spotted Li Guanqi and flinched. “Who are you?!”

Four lightning spears condensed at Li Guanqi's side.

Fu An frowned and roared angrily, “Who are you? How dare you barge into my room?! Someone! Seize him!”

The woman clutched the bedsheet, jabbing a finger at Li Guanqi. “Where did this blind idiot come from? Get on your knees and crawl out! You've completely ruined my mood!”

But by then, Fu An had already sensed something was wrong. Beyond the door, screams and wailing echoed from every direction. The sect was falling apart.

Li Guanqi smirked. He’d laid a barrier around Fu An’s courtyard the moment his sword fell. He crooked a finger, and the lightning spears shot forward.

Before the arrogant woman could say more, a spear punched through her neck, and scalding blood splattered across Fu An's face. He went rigid. The force pinned her corpse to the wall, dangling in the air beside him. Fu An's eyes widened at the sight. Without the slightest hesitation, he turned to flee.

Lightning spears lanced through his limbs from behind, slamming him face-first into the ground and pinning him in place.

Fu An lay in agony, craning his head up at Li Guanqi, screaming, “Do you know who I am?! My father is Fu Dongsheng! You wouldn't dare kill me! Release me now! If you touch me, my father will tear you apart!”

Li Guanqi frowned slightly. He raised a hand, and a wisp of sword qi shot out, shattering the floor tiles and gouging a deep line into the stone.

He rose and walked through the blood-soaked room without another word. He had no interest in killing the rest. He left the Golden Snake Sect with the still-unconscious Tu Shan in tow.

Not long after, Yan Chong arrived above the Golden Snake Sect and froze. A deep chasm scarred the earth, stretching a thousand zhang. He couldn’t imagine what kind of person could cause such devastation.

***

Meanwhile, in an elegant room on the top floor of a building somewhere on the Yanchang Plain, Sun Zhen lay sprawled on the ground, face flushed, snoring away.

A man who shared seventy percent of his features watched him coldly.

He sat in a nearby chair, slender fingers turning a wine cup with idle precision. He wore a blue-trimmed embroidered robe with a jade satin belt, and a patterned white jade ornament held his hair in place. His features were sharp and clean, the corners of his single-lidded eyes angled slightly upward. Everything about him radiated cold composure.

The still-sleeping Sun Zhen shuddered, sensing a wave of chill wash over him. He cracked his eyes open and saw the sullen figure looming nearby.

Jolted awake, he sat up, hurriedly burning the alcohol from his system and bowing in salute.

"Elder Brother..."

Sun Tianqi's eyes lifted. He raised his hand and slapped Sun Zhen across the face.

Smack!

A blood-red handprint bloomed on Sun Zhen's cheek, the skin swelling instantly. Sun Zhen kept his head down and said nothing.

Sun Tianqi looked at his newly sobered brother, crossed his legs, and took a sip of wine. His voice was calm.

"The task the clan entrusted to you... This is your result?"

Sun Zhen swallowed. He opened his mouth to speak, but Sun Tianqi was already rising, casting a sidelong glance down at him.

"Useless trash."