The two Little Flame Eagles instantly dashed toward the door. Their wings hadn’t even grown feathers yet, making their run a bit clumsy and stumbling. However, the way they looked at the Second Elder was like looking at prey.
"Ying Da, Ying Er, come back..." Ye Ling’Er was greatly alarmed and cried out through gritted teeth.
Although Flame Eagles were level-four Beasts, these two hadn’t even reached adulthood yet.
The two Flame Eagles acted as if they hadn’t heard her, swiftly reaching the doorway. They seemed to know they were no match for the Second Elder in close combat, so they didn’t approach him. Instead, they opened their beaks toward him from a distance.
The flame marks on their foreheads suddenly lit up brightly, and a cluster of sparks appeared in their mouths. The sparks grew larger and larger, forming a fireball that shot toward the Second Elder.
Caught completely off guard, the Second Elder’s entire body instantly burst into flames.
"CHIRP CHIRP!"
The two Flame Eagles chirped incessantly, seemingly very pleased with themselves.
"Ying Da, Ying Er... you can actually breathe fire?" Ye Ling’Er was dumbfounded. In her memory, only certain powerful Beasts could breathe fire or spout water.
Unfortunately, the two Flame Birds were too weak. Although the fire packed a powerful punch, the Second Elder managed to extinguish the flames after unleashing his Spiritual Qi with all his might. He was left looking rather pathetic, though, with his entire body scorched black.
"To think they are Flame Eagles with an awakened flame bloodline! Mere chicks, yet they managed to hurt me! But what a pity, did you really think two birds could stop me? Today, I will make rivers of blood flow in the Ye family—"
The Second Elder’s words were cut short. Ye Zeyun’s voice rang out across the courtyard.
"Clan Protection Grand Array, activate!"
As his words fell, a barrier suddenly materialized, enveloping and protecting the main courtyard. This barrier took the form of a massive, coiled cyan snake. The cyan snake’s body shielded the main courtyard, while its enormous head reared high, looking down upon the Second Elder. Its serpentine eyes were cold and merciless.
"Impossible! This is impossible!" The Second Elder was dumbstruck, his face written with disbelief. "Wasn’t the Ning family’s Cyan Snake Array broken by Wuzong? How does it still exist?!"
He had seen this Array before. The Ning family had managed to survive for a millennium solely because of it.
The moment his voice faded, the cyan snake opened its massive jaws and dove straight down.
BAM!
A muffled explosion echoed. The Second Elder’s body was directly blown apart. Although he had intended to flee at the very first second, how could he possibly escape? The cyan snake was far faster than him.
The power of the Array was also much stronger than before. This was because Ye Xuan had given Ye Zeyun quite a few Array Banners. With the Array Banners providing energy, the Array’s might had been completely restored.
"That... was an instant kill!"
"Heh, the Zhang family is nothing but a joke."
The Ye family members stood up from the ground, smirks of mockery hanging on their lips. And here they thought the Zhang family was so strong. Was this it?
"The Patriarch is amazing as always. He anticipated this from the very beginning."
"With the Array protecting us from now on, who could possibly destroy us?"
Meanwhile, in the Zhang Family Main Town.
Although Ye Xuan had Patriarch Zhang by the throat, he hadn’t killed him. Instead, he carried Patriarch Zhang like a ragdoll and swaggered straight into the Zhang Family Main Town.
His actions left the town’s residents utterly flabbergasted. The high and mighty Town Mayor had actually been subdued by a young man... and was now being paraded through the streets like a criminal.
Good heavens, how had the world gone so mad?! Was the continent about to be destroyed? Were cockroaches about to take over the world?
"Ye Xuan, what exactly are you trying to do? Humiliate me?" Patriarch Zhang spat out, using his remaining arm to cover his face. "You can humiliate me all you want, but your clansmen must be in a miserable state right now! Your Ye family has surely become a river of blood! However, if you kneel and apologize right now, I can still give you a chance. As long as I crush the other piece of the Twin Jade, the Second Elder will stop."
Right now, he wished he could just dig a hole and bury himself in it. It was too humiliating. It was a complete loss of face. Ye Xuan had stripped him of every last shred of dignity!
Ye Xuan didn’t reply. Instead, he picked up his pace and headed for the Zhang family estate. Upon entering, Ye Xuan didn’t go on a killing spree. He merely killed a few blind Zhang family members who foolishly got in his way.
"Ye Xuan, what exactly do you want?!" Patriarch Zhang asked once again.
Ye Xuan finally broke his silence and asked, "Where is the room that stores the Life and Death Jades?"
"Life and Death Jades?" Although he had no idea what was going through Ye Xuan’s mind, he still pointed the way.
Soon, the two of them arrived at the room storing the Twin Jades.
"Ye Xuan, what are you doing here?"
"Where is the Second Elder’s Life and Death Jade located?" Ye Xuan asked in return.
"The Second Elder? So you wanted to see his Life and Death Jade. Do you honestly think the Second Elder could die? Heh, what a jo—" Patriarch Zhang originally wanted to finish his joke, but his words came to a screeching halt.
He stared at the spot where the Second Elder’s Life and Death Jade was kept, his pupils dilating as if he had just seen a ghost. Because the Second Elder’s Life and Death Jade was shattered.
"No! Impossible!"
Patriarch Zhang suddenly felt all the strength leave his body, and he slumped weakly onto the floor. The Second Elder was actually dead! How could this be possible? The Ye family’s strongest combatant was standing right in front of him. Who else in the Ye family could possibly kill the Second Elder?
At this moment, Patriarch Zhang finally understood Ye Xuan’s intentions.
"Ye Xuan, you win. To think your Ye family actually has another hidden expert," Patriarch Zhang said, seeming to age ten years in an instant. "I will pay tribute. I will pay tribute! Please, just don’t harm my Zhang family members."
He knew that Ye Xuan merely wanted to force his submission!
Ye Xuan said flatly, "If I wanted to go on a massacre, I wouldn’t have brought you here. I simply wanted to tell you that you cannot begin to fathom the foundation of my Ye family. I am only giving you this one chance. If you harbor any treacherous thoughts next time, I will exterminate your entire Zhang family. I, Ye Xuan, always keep my word. Now, take me to the Zhang family’s storage room."
"The storage room?"
The storage room was of paramount importance to any family.
"What, you won’t let me in?"
"I wouldn’t dare. I wouldn’t dare."
Ten minutes later, Ye Xuan arrived at the Zhang family’s storage room. He hadn’t come here to search for treasures, but simply to see if there were any Spirit Medicines that could be used to refine a Vessel Continuation Pill.
Some of the medicinal ingredients required for the Vessel Continuation Pill were extremely obscure. Anyone who wasn’t a Pill Master wouldn’t even be able to recognize them. He had roughly browsed through the Ye family’s medicinal herbs, and they were still missing one or two auxiliary ingredients.
The Zhang family’s storage room was incredibly massive; one couldn’t even see the end of it at a glance. Swords, Guns, and Sticks, medicinal herbs and weapons—it had absolutely everything. There were even quite a few Martial Arts Books, neatly arranged in a specific area.
After strolling around for a bit, Ye Xuan headed straight for the medicinal herb section. The Zhang family had a vast variety of medicinal herbs. They ranged all the way from the mortal grade to the spirit grade. Mortal-grade herbs were the most abundant, while spirit-grade herbs were the rarest.
After browsing for a while, Ye Xuan frowned and asked, "Why aren’t there any spirit-grade Spirit Medicines that can increase one’s cultivation level?"
Patriarch Zhang explained, "My lord, spirit-grade Spirit Medicines capable of increasing cultivation are incredibly precious! They can elevate the cultivation of Super Spirit Realm experts. Whenever our Zhang family finds a stalk, we immediately consume it. There are none left over."
Ye Xuan didn’t say much more; he knew better than anyone just how precious resources were. Even with all the resources the Ning family had left behind, there similarly hadn’t been any spirit-grade Spirit Medicines that could increase cultivation. He had only managed to find a single stalk of Smiling Flower inside Zhang Wuzong’s Qiankun Bag.