Sun Juguang’s right hand was crushed to pieces by the sudden surge of Spiritual Qi.
His life could be spared, but he still had to pay a price.
"Senior, why didn’t you stop me?" Ye Xuan asked, glancing at the storyteller.
He knew that with the storyteller’s strength, he could have easily saved Sun Juguang. He could have intervened the very moment the Spiritual Qi fluctuated.
The storyteller replied indifferently, "I asked you to let him go, and you did, didn’t you?" He then turned his gaze to Sun Juguang and said calmly, "You may leave. Take this letter and deliver it to Tan Jingang. While you’re at it, pass on a message for me: ask him why the Celestial Secret Pavilion, which has always remained neutral, chose to intervene in the city conquest battle this time."
Clutching the letter, Sun Juguang cast a lingering look at Ye Xuan and the storyteller before slowly trudging down the town wall.
Standing nearby, Ye Xuan’s eyes narrowed. This storyteller had actually prepared the letter in advance. Did he have the power of foresight? Moreover, what exactly was his connection to the Celestial Secret Pavilion? Was he an old acquaintance of the previous Pavilion Master?
"May I ask your name, Senior? How should I address you?"
"Just call me... Man Tian, then."
"Senior Man Tianthen..."
"Not Man Tianthen, it’s Man Tian. ’Then’ was just a filler word."
Ye Xuan’s face twitched. He cupped his fists and asked, "Senior Man Tian, how do you plan to help the Ye Family?"
"I know a place with treacherous terrain that is easy to defend and hard to attack. You can set up camp there. I guarantee you won’t be tracked down. Shall we leave right now?"
"Now? No, I still need to make a trip to Hero City."
"Hero City? You’re quite bold. Are you planning to silence them all and seize their resources? But traveling back and forth from here will likely take you eight or nine days."
"That won’t be necessary. With a Level Six Flying Beast, three days for a round trip is more than enough." As Ye Xuan spoke, he looked down below the town wall.
At the base of the wall lay a massive Beast. It was the Sun Family’s Long-beaked Eagle. The creature hadn’t died from its fall from the sky; it was merely injured.
"If that’s the case, the timing works out. It will take at least two or three days for the news of you killing the City Lord to spread to all the cities. Once they receive the news, they’ll still need to gather for a meeting. You have plenty of time. I will wait for you here in Ye Family Town."
Ye Xuan nodded, then leapt off the wall and approached the Long-beaked Eagle, which was paralyzed on the ground with internal injuries.
Seeing Ye Xuan approach, the Long-beaked Eagle glared at him with ferocious eyes, looking as if it wanted to swallow him whole. Suddenly, a Golden Dragon coiled around Ye Xuan’s body. The Golden Dragon wasn’t large, only about three meters in size. However, the Long Wei still made the Long-beaked Eagle tremble in fear. It groveled on the ground, not even daring to lift its head, and the fierce light in its eyes vanished without a trace.
To force the Long-beaked Eagle into submission, Ye Xuan delivered a flurry of punches and kicks, inflicting even more injuries upon it. He then took out an Earth-grade Healing Spirit Medicine and forced it down the bird’s throat.
The Long-beaked Eagle recovered slightly and was barely able to move. Ye Xuan immediately jumped onto its back and retracted his Dragon Soul Power. Flapping its wings, the Long-beaked Eagle slowly took to the air. It wasn’t flying aimlessly; it was entirely under Ye Xuan’s control.
To deal with a Beast, one had to strike fear into its heart and make it submit.
"Grandpa, have our clansmen clean up the mess here. Wait for my return, and then we will leave."
After leaving these instructions, Ye Xuan steered the Long-beaked Eagle toward Hero City. To eliminate a weed, one had to pull it up by the roots. He had to completely destroy the Sun Family, and he needed to pay a visit to their resource vault.
"A futile effort. But fortunately, it’s not entirely without gain," the storyteller muttered, shaking his head on the town wall. His figure then faded away, disappearing into thin air.
At the same time, in the Sun Family’s discussion hall.
Sun Zhenwu had taken most of the Elders with him this time, leaving only two behind to guard the Sun Family estate. This meeting was organized by these two remaining Elders.
"Elders, why have you gathered us here?" asked a member of the Direct Lineage. He was Sun Zhenwu’s eldest son.
The two Elders’ faces were incredibly grim. One of them let out a heavy breath and finally spoke.
"The Patriarch... is dead."
"What?!"
Everyone present felt a loud ringing in their heads, as if a massive bell were continuously tolling within their minds.
"Impossible! That’s absolutely impossible!"
"How could Father die? Didn’t they go to a Three-Star Main Town? Is there anyone in a Three-Star Main Town capable of killing him? Even if there is, who would have the guts to murder a City Lord?!"
"Exactly! Killing a City Lord is a guaranteed death sentence! Who would be reckless enough to do such a thing?"
"I know you are shocked; we are too. But the truth is, the Life and Death Jades of the Patriarch and all the Elders who went to the Three-Star Main Town have completely shattered."
"All of them shattered? This... this..."
"Elder, what exactly is going on?"
"I don’t know the details. I only know that the Sun Family might be in massive trouble. For the enemy to dare kill a City Lord, they must be a ruthless desperado."
"Elder, are you saying that we are also in danger?"
"That’s right. Since he dared to kill the City Lord, he naturally wouldn’t hesitate to strike at us. If nothing unexpected happens, the killer will come for the Sun Family very soon. Therefore, we must flee."
"Flee? Elder, won’t that make us the laughingstock of the entire city? Besides, aren’t you overthinking this?"
"I hope I’m overthinking it. But if the enemy does come, it will mean the annihilation of our entire clan. We cannot afford to risk that outcome. Even if other City Lords try to come to our aid, there will be a time delay. I fear we won’t survive long enough for them to arrive."
The speed of a Level Six Beast was extraordinary; a journey that usually took four days was completed in less than one.
By now, the night was deep. The Sun Family estate was eerily quiet.
The Long-beaked Eagle circled in the air before landing at the resource vault. Under the moonlight, the vault’s grand doors were clearly visible. With the Supreme Elder gone, there was no one left to activate the Array on the doors.
Ye Xuan swiftly killed the two guards and walked straight in.
The resource vault was completely empty, save for a few low-level items. All Spirit Medicines of the Ghost-grade and above were gone.
"Oh no!" Ye Xuan exclaimed, as if a realization had just struck him. He immediately unleashed his Golden Dragon and began a massacre throughout the City Lord’s Mansion.
That night, a Hundred-Feet Golden Dragon appeared in the sky above the city. The Golden Dragon was majestic and imposing, overlooking the entire metropolis. The spectacle was utterly terrifying. The experts within the city rushed to their rooftops in shock.
"That’s a Dragon Soul! No wonder I felt it was hard to even walk."
"Who could have possibly awakened a Divine Beast?"
"The golden light seems to be originating from the City Lord’s Mansion. Could it be... that the heavens are about to change again?"
In the City Lord’s Mansion.
Ye Xuan furrowed his brows. He had killed so many people, yet all of them seemed to be members of the Side Branches. He hadn’t encountered a single person from the Direct Lineage. There wasn’t a single shadow in the main courtyard, either.
If his guess was right, the Direct Lineage had already fled.
"I made a mistake. I shouldn’t have killed Sun Zhenwu so early!" Ye Xuan’s expression darkened. He knew that it must have been news of Sun Zhenwu’s death that prompted the Sun Family members to escape. Since they were running away, they would naturally take all the resources they could carry.
Suddenly, a wave of panic washed over Ye Xuan.
Since the Sun Family had fled, could they have killed his Eldest Uncle before leaving? If his Eldest Uncle was dead, Ye Xuan would never be able to forgive himself.