"Qingyue!" Gongsun Yanran’s eyes grew red in the distance.
There had always been bad blood between them; they had never seen eye to eye. However, in the face of their family’s survival, such petty squabbles did nothing to shake Gongsun Qingyue’s resolve to protect his kin, even at the cost of his own life.
She had watched his head fly into the air before hitting the ground.
Everyone had their virtues and flaws. People were rarely ever purely good or purely evil.
"No! I’ll kill them! Father..." Gongsun Hao roared hoarsely.
Gongsun Tu was dead, and so was his own father. His heart was torn to shreds. He, too, would rather fight and die right here! Like a madman, he turned and sprinted back toward the fray.
Gongsun Xin intercepted him in a flash. "Are you going to waste the time your father bought with his life?" he snapped coldly. "Your younger siblings are still young. Don’t you want to protect them?"
Only then did Gongsun Hao snap back to his senses. Gritting his teeth, he scooped up his five- and six-year-old siblings, retreating swiftly.
"Gongsun Run, Gongsun Yan! Come with me!" Gongsun Xin shouted, grabbing people as he ran. More and more youths of the Direct Lineage were ushered away under his wing.
Tears streamed down their faces as they fled. Wherever they went, the crowd would automatically part to let them through, closing the gap the moment they passed.
Those who stepped up to seal the breach bore eyes that stared death in the face without flinching. They knew that those left behind were nothing but cannon fodder. Compared to the Direct Lineage, their lives were cheap.
Yet, there was no resentment in their hearts. They willingly accepted their fate.
It sounded unjust, but absolute fairness was a myth in this world. The Side Branches might have held a lower status and lived exhausting lives within the Gongsun Family, but the moment they stepped into the outside world, the Dapeng Race crest on their chests commanded supreme respect. Every single one of them was deeply proud of that totem!
The Golden-Winged Roc soared through the skies. Even with broken wings, it would never lower its arrogant gaze.
If these people had any grievances, it was only against their own weakness. If they were powerful—if they were geniuses of the Side Branches—they, too, would have been allowed to leave. After all, among the fleeing youths were the talented Side Branch members who had competed in the recent tournament.
So, if one found the world unfair, it was likely because they were simply too weak. The weak constantly complained of injustice, while the strong were the ones dictating that very injustice.
"Argh, you bunch of ants! Get out of my way!" Sun Zhenwu gnashed his teeth in fury.
Yet, try as he might, he couldn’t break through. The people blocking his path were all Cultivators, led by several elders of the Side Branches who possessed the strength of the Earth Spirit Realm.
United in their desperate last stand, their wills forged an impenetrable fortress. In that single moment, their strength seemed to meld into one entity. This collective power converged in the sky, manifesting into a brilliant, multicolored Golden-Winged Roc.
On the Beast Soul Continent, conviction itself was a form of power. It was just that most people couldn’t draw upon it, for it was too ethereal, too profoundly mysterious.
"Death to all who trespass against the Gongsun Family!"
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
The Gongsun Clan Members roared into the heavens.
The Dapeng Bird dive-bombed from the sky. Its talons were like peerless blades, and the furious beating of its wings whipped up a colossal tornado.
RUMBLE!
A deafening explosion ripped through the air. Sun Zhenwu and the other experts of the Sun Family were sent flying fifty meters backward by the sheer force of the gale! Sun Zhenwu spat out a mouthful of blood.
"How is this possible?!" he gasped in shock. The sheer magnitude of that power was terrifying.
Thankfully, the phantom beast dissipated after unleashing its strike and failed to condense a second time. Had it reformed, he wasn’t sure if he would have survived another blow.
After swallowing a stalk of Spirit Medicine, Sun Zhenwu forced himself to his feet.
"You’re all going to die! Every last one of you!" Unwilling to risk close combat again, he unleashed his Martial Techniques from a distance.
Beside him, the relentless war machines plowed into the fray. By refusing to retreat, the defenders had turned themselves into living targets. Devastating blows tore the Gongsun Family members in half.
A sickening rain of blood showered from the sky.
SPLATTER.
The stench was nauseating. Such was the brutal reality of a Cultivator’s world. Driven by the endless pursuit of higher status and better resources, everyone was capable of unspeakable cruelty.
Meanwhile, inside the room, Gongsun Xin and the others had arrived. An underground passage lay open before them.
"Hurry! Get down there!" Gongsun Xin’s voice trembled with urgency. He knew that with every passing second, lives were being lost outside.
The members of the Direct Lineage filed into the tunnel one after another. None of them wanted to flee, but they had no choice. Sometimes, surviving was the greatest service one could do for their family.
Off to the side, Ye Xuan desperately wanted to be the first one down, but he knew his mother. As an elder, she would inevitably wait until the younger generation had evacuated safely. No matter how anxious he was, he could only stand quietly by her side and protect her.
Since he didn’t move, Hua remained perfectly still as well. She stood silently beside him, acting as his steadfast guardian.
The clan members rapidly descended into the basement, but the Direct Lineage boasted a large number of youths—nearly three hundred in total. Some were mere infants still nursing at their mothers’ breasts. Funneling all of them through the passage would take time.
"No! I’m not leaving! I’d rather fight to the death!"
Suddenly, a member of the Direct Lineage who had just entered the passage turned around and tried to push her way back up. It was a young woman, no older than seventeen or eighteen.
"Gongsun Dance, what are you doing?!" Gongsun Xin barked.
He knew the name of every single direct descendant by heart, even if he rarely interacted with the younger generation.
"My father is dead, and so is my mother..." Tears streamed down Gongsun Dance’s face. "I don’t want to live anymore! Let me fight! Let me out!"
She kept shoving against the flow of the crowd, blocking those trying to get in. Gongsun Xin didn’t waste time arguing. His Spiritual Qi surged, forcefully pushing the girl back down the tunnel.
"Gongsun Po, you go down first!"
As his son, Gongsun Po was originally supposed to be one of the last to leave. Gongsun Xin would never allow his own flesh and blood to be the first to flee to safety. But ordering him down now served a clear purpose: he needed someone to physically stop anyone else from turning back!
Trying to return to the surface was a waste of time, and wasting time meant trading away the lives of their clansmen fighting outside. There was no room for sentimental hesitation!
"Take care, Father." Gongsun Po looked back, a hot tear slipping from his eye. He knew this might be the last time they ever saw each other. His father had no intention of leaving.
"Move! Keep up! Faster!"
Outside the courtyard.
The Gongsun Family members were fighting with unimaginable tenacity. The inner courtyard was spacious, yet it was only a thousand meters in diameter. But this short stretch of land had become an impassable chasm. Sun Zhenwu and his men were still struggling to break through.
Just then, the one-eyed monk arrived. Despite being surrounded by eight elders, he easily shattered their formation. Slaying three of them in a single breath, he charged straight toward the fray.
"I’ll handle the pursuit."
Leaving those cold words behind, the monk leaped high into the air. He used the heads of the Gongsun defenders as stepping stones, vaulting forward with terrifying speed. With every step he took, swathes of Gongsun Clan Members below were instantly crushed to death.
Inside the room, the last of the youths had finally descended into the passage. It was now Ye Xuan and Gongsun Yanran’s turn.
Suddenly, the entire house was blown to pieces.
The one-eyed monk materialized right behind them. His suffocating aura bore down on them, paralyzing Ye Xuan and Gongsun Yanran where they stood.
"Amitabha Buddha. Trying to run? I’m afraid you’re too late. Allow this humble monk to send you both to Paradise."