Chapter 142: The Fall of the He Family

Jiang Xianhe's eyes were filled with the aura of death. He knew very well in his heart that with his cultivation at the eighth stage of the Qi Sea realm, it was utterly impossible for him to be a match for Ling Chi.

Sure enough, in the very next instant, a blood-red blade-light slashed downward. The towering, murderous intent left his mind in a daze. He desperately tried to swing his great spear in defense, but it was already too late.

The blood-red blade-light cleaved through his neck, and his massive head flew into the air.

Before his death, he suddenly remembered the scene from his early childhood when he was a stray, adopted by He Zhixian's father.

"Foster father, Xianhe has lived up to the grace of saving my life. To die within the borders of Shenzhou, I have no regrets. Alive, I am a man of Shenzhou; in death, I am a ghost of Shenzhou."

Jiang Xianhe muttered inwardly, and then he lost consciousness forever.

"Little bastard, I'll carve you into pieces alive!"

He Zhixian had lost his most basic judgment. His strength was even inferior to Jiang Xianhe's; how could he possibly match Ling Chi?

"I beseech the Second Ancestor to step forth and annihilate this formidable enemy!" He Zhixian let out a roar like a trapped beast in a cage.

A sigh echoed through the air, followed by the appearance of an elderly man with white hair and a white beard standing atop the carriage ahead. The imposing aura of a martial artist at the Spirit Pearl realm suppressed the entire scene.

"Hahaha, you never expected this, did you? My Second Ancestor broke through to the Spirit Pearl realm a few months ago. Even if Sun Xuan were to arrive in person right now, he wouldn't be able to save you."

"You butchered my son and daughter, and today I am going to skin you alive," He Zhixian shouted, looking completely unhinged.

The mere pressure of a first-stage Spirit Pearl realm expert was not even regarded by Ling Chi.

With a flick of his blade, he looked at He Zhixian.

"Is it only your son and daughter? Your precious son He Zhongye also died by my hands. I cut him in half, and his death was truly miserable."

Ling Chi taunted him right to his face, unleashing countless strands of blood-red blade-light that shredded the He family guards into nothingness. Even cultivators in the late stage of the Qi Sea realm could not withstand a single strike from Ling Chi.

He Zhixian could only roar in impotent fury, slamming his palm down to shatter the carriage into pieces, acting in agonizing torment like a victim.

"Young man, your talent is extraordinary. It would be a pity to die here. Why not retreat now? Wouldn't it be wonderful to preserve your life?"

The old man's expression looked relaxed and casual, but his heart was beating frantically.

The killing intent radiating from this youth was the most ferocious he had ever witnessed in his life, and the fact that he was deeply versed in the Dao of Thunder made his aura terrifying enough to palpitate his own heart.

"He is here to exterminate our entire He family, and you are still standing there talking about how wonderful it is, you @™＊％＊!"

Upon hearing his family's Second Ancestor actually trying to persuade the enemy to retreat, He Zhixian was so enraged he almost vomited blood. Right on the spot, he began hurling profanities at his own ancestor.

"You unfilial beast, shut your mouth this instant!"

With a stern shout from the old man, a surge of pressure forced He Zhixian flat onto the ground.

They say the older one gets, the more afraid of death one becomes, and this saying proved true indeed. Given his current condition, it was hard to say whether he could even defeat this youth brimming with killing intent.

"Old wretch, you already have one foot in the grave, yet you still dare to come out and act as someone's last resort. Today, I will have you die here."

Ling Chi had been observing the old man all along, and seeing his cultivation burst forth, his heart instantly settled.

In an instant, he soared straight up from the ground, accompanied by countless bolts of lightning as he closed in to kill the old man.

The Second Ancestor of the He family was instantly infuriated by Ling Chi's humiliation, thinking to himself that this brat truly regarded him as a toothless cat.

"I'll let you experience what a true Spirit Pearl realm expert is!" Hardening his heart, the old man unleashed his entire cultivation on the spot.

The old man leaped into the air, water-attribute spiritual Qi converging around his body. Deep blue water arrows condensed around him, and then they shrieked through the air toward Ling Chi.

[Indestructible Yang-Thunder Body]

With a fierce roar from Ling Chi, purple-gold light flooded his entire body. Without dodging or evading, he directly took the water arrows head-on and charged forward.

The water arrows clattered against his body like striking metal, completely failing to halt Ling Chi's momentum.

"He Lao'er, you're quite pathetic yourself!"

Ling Chi's blade momentum had already cleaved its way in front of the He family's Second Ancestor, who hastily drew his long sword to engage Ling Chi in combat.

The horse-chopping saber carried immense weight and terrifying offensive momentum.

The old man held his long sword with both hands, blocking left and right, fighting in an extremely passive state.

[Hum] [Ha]

Two miniature dragons made of thunderous mist shot forth, striking straight at the old man's forehead. The two-fold breath of Hum and Ha was designed to slaughter the soul and shatter the spirit.

A stabbing pain shot through the old man's brain, causing his physical reactions to slow by half a beat. His heart hammered like a drum, and amidst his dizziness, he heard the sound of a blade humming. Hurriedly, he twisted his body to dodge.

Ling Chi instantly closed the distance, a streak of blood-red blade-light slashing past as an arm went flying.

Had the old man not twisted his body at the crucial moment to evade his vital spots, Ling Chi's blade would have already severed his neck.

Clutching the wound on his severed arm, blood gushed like a fountain through the old man's fingers. Already aged and frail, he was now rendered even weaker.

"Wait, wait! Let's talk this over properly..."

Ling Chi was not the type to let someone off after gaining the upper hand, giving him no opportunity to beg for mercy.

The Evil-Slaying blade swept out in an arc, and the old man's aged head flew high into the sky. It spun around a few times in mid-air before dropping heavily in front of He Zhixian.

With his eyes still wide open in death, the old man glared fixedly at He Zhixian, as if silently demanding why he had provoked such a formidable enemy.

Nearly three thousand wisps of thunderous spiritual Qi fed back into him, causing Ling Chi's spirit to jolt with alertness.

He Zhixian's eyes widened in horror as if he had been struck by lightning.

This was an expert of the Spirit Pearl realm, not some stray dog from the street, yet Ling Chi had cleanly and effortlessly slain him in such a short time.

Gazing at his Second Ancestor's head, a rare trace of remorse appeared in He Zhixian's eyes. If not for his own obstinacy, his Second Ancestor, who was over a hundred years old, would not have died such a death.

Seeing him in such torment, Ling Chi felt a momentary stirring of pity. With a wave of his horse-chopping saber, He Zhixian's head was neatly arranged right beside his Second Ancestor's.

A sea of thunder swept across the entire surroundings, engulfing everyone in the He family. All that remained were charred, charcoal-like corpses, bizarrely scattered along the darkened riverbed.

The He family was now thoroughly exterminated, their ancestral lineage wiped clean.

With six or seven thousand wisps of thunderous spiritual Qi feeding back into him, the threshold of the Spirit Pearl realm began to loosen; he could break through at any time he desired.

Ling Chi suppressed his cultivation; now was not the time for a breakthrough.

Taking advantage of the fact that Sun Xuan had not yet arrived, he quickly began scavenging the area.

Ultimately, a universe bag was recovered from the bodies of the old man and He Zhixian. Without examining it closely, he shoved it straight into his bosom.

Now he possessed three universe bags, which left him somewhat speechless. When he needed them, he didn't even have one; now he had more than he had places to put them, and they couldn't be placed inside other universe bags.

He would find time later to properly sort them out—he could either leave the other two for Zhao Qing or sell them to the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce, keeping only the largest one for himself.

Speaking of universe bags, Ling Chi retrieved Qu Zhang's corpse and placed it alongside the He family ancestors. Fortunately, there was no air inside the universe bag, otherwise Qu Zhang's body would have rotted beyond recognition.

By this point, even if the universe bag was exposed, he was fully capable of protecting it.

Qu Zhang had been a major thorn in Cao Hubao's side; handing him over to the latter might even yield some cultivation resources.

Having joined the Jing'an Bureau for so long, aside from collecting a modest salary and forging two treasured sabers, he had gained nothing else.

Ling Chi looked around. The fire ignited by the burning carriage had yet to die down, and the draft horses and members of the He family lay scattered across the ground, scorched into charcoal.

"The battle is already over? You brat move remarkably fast!"

Sun Xuan's voice drifted from ahead, carrying a tone of appreciation in his voice.

Glancing at the field of pitch-black charred remains, Sun Xuan's eyebrows twitched. The commotion caused by a thunder cultivator was simply too vast; he had heard the sounds from more than ten miles away and had rushed over as quickly as possible.

"My Lord, this subordinate heard the fellow named He say that this riverbed runs directly through the Xishan mountain range and leads straight to the frontier wilderness outside the passes."

"The entire He family intended to follow this riverbed and defect directly to the Taixi Dynasty."

Ling Chi went straight to the point, informing Sun Xuan of the key details. As for how the passage should be dealt with, that was no longer his concern.