From a moment ago until now, Niu Tong’s mind had been a chaotic mess. He had absolutely no idea what to do.
If he sold out Ye Xuan, he might die.
But if the Zhang Family found out that he was the one who had brought Ye Xuan in, and he hadn’t confessed voluntarily, his entire family would die.
Death awaited him either way, so he could only try to save his own life right now.
Niu Tong took a step forward and dropped to one knee.
"Oh? Do you know him?"
The Fourth Elder’s eyes finally lit up.
"My Lord, this person seems to be the Town Mayor of a subordinate town under the Niu Family. His name should be Ye Xuan."
As soon as he opened his mouth, Niu Tong cleanly distanced himself from Ye Xuan.
The implication was that if Ye Xuan had really committed any crimes against the Dao, it had nothing to do with the Niu Family.
"Are you sure? Did you get a clear look?"
"I did. I also asked my family just now, and they all confirmed it was him. But he doesn’t seem to have returned. I don’t know if he died inside."
"Are you certain he isn’t in your ranks?"
"He isn’t."
"In that case, has he gone into hiding?"
The Fourth Elder nodded. Ye Xuan’s absence from the scene was within his expectations.
The other party must have guessed that they might come out of the Secret Realm, so he hadn’t shown his face immediately.
However, hiding was useless.
With them guarding the entrance, there was absolutely no way Ye Xuan could escape.
"Alright, irrelevant people may leave first. One by one."
The Fourth Elder took out a large pile of Soul Crystals and finally activated the Array.
The people from the subordinate towns left in an orderly fashion, one after another.
In the end, only the Niu Family remained.
The Niu Family was panicking terribly; some of them were even on the verge of tears.
"My Lord, when will you let us go?" Niu Tong asked in a low voice.
The Fourth Elder glanced at Niu Tong, his eyes cold and devoid of emotion.
Niu Tong immediately fell to both knees and pleaded, "My Lord, if you intend to kill the Niu Family to draw him out, please don’t! It won’t be of any use!"
"Oh? You guessed it? But why?"
"To tell you the truth, this Ye Xuan has absolutely no ties to the Niu Family. In fact, he holds a grudge against us. How could he possibly reveal himself just because you kill the Niu Family?"
Hearing this, the Fourth Elder’s expression suddenly turned cold.
"A subordinate faction of your Niu Family holds a grudge against you, yet they’re still alive and well? Are you insulting my intelligence?!"
A terrifying pressure descended upon them.
Niu Tong spewed a mouthful of fresh blood.
"My Lord, listen to me, please listen to me!" Niu Tong hurriedly shouted, terrified that if he was even a second too late, he would be instantly killed by the Fourth Elder.
"Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance. Explain it to me properly. If your explanation doesn’t satisfy me, all of you will die."
"My Lord, I’m not making excuses, just stating the facts. You know of the Ning Family, right? This Ye Xuan was extremely audacious and killed the Ning Family."
"Hmm?"
The Zhang Family Elders were somewhat surprised and exchanged glances.
Then the Eighth Elder coldly shouted, "Nonsense! How could he possibly be alive if he killed the Ning Family?"
"My Lord, it’s not nonsense. Please listen to me explain in detail."
To save his own life, Niu Tong recounted Ye Xuan’s deeds in excruciating detail.
Initially, the Zhang Family thought Niu Tong was talking nonsense, but the more they listened, the more astounded they became.
"When we attacked the Ning Family, a few of their Elders were indeed missing without a Shadow, and they still haven’t sought revenge against us. Could they have been killed by this Ye Xuan?"
"It’s highly possible. What he’s saying is probably true. In that case, that brat has been hiding his true strength all along. He does possess the power of the Super Spirit Realm!"
The Elders’ expressions grew grave.
At this time, the Fourth Elder walked over to Zhang Wuzong, who had been standing to the side without saying a single word.
"Town Mayor, what do you think? Should we kill these people?"
The Fourth Elder’s words made Niu Tong want to cry.
Why was it always him, old Niu, getting hurt?
Ever since he found out about Ye Xuan of the Ye Family, nothing good had happened to him.
For this training expedition, he had begged and pleaded with everyone, repeatedly warning Ye Xuan not to offend the Zhang Family.
But looking at it now, Ye Xuan had offended them anyway.
"You are Town Mayor Wuzong! No wonder you possess such an extraordinary aura; I don’t even dare to look at you directly. Town Mayor, sir, you have to seek justice for us! My Niu Family truly has absolutely no connection to that Ye Xuan."
Niu Tong incessantly kowtowed and begged Zhang Wuzong for mercy.
Behind him, the Niu Family fell to their knees as well, terrified of being implicated.
Zhang Wuzong pondered for a moment and said, "Is the Ye Family that Ye Xuan belongs to very strong?"
"Not at all. Aside from Ye Xuan, the rest of them only have cultivation bases in the Strong Spirit Realm."
"The Strong Spirit Realm? Such an insignificant family of ants dared to touch the Zhang Family. In that case, you can deal with his family yourself."
"Yes. Without Ye Xuan, I could wipe out the Ye Family ten times over with a wave of my hand."
"Very well. I will give your Niu Family a chance to atone. It seems this Ye Xuan has hidden himself and has no intention of leaving the Secret Realm. Since killing you won’t draw him out, you will capture the entire Ye Family and bring them to me. I’ll give you five days—that should be enough, right? Remember, the entire Ye Family!"
"Enough, it’s enough! As long as Ye Xuan isn’t at the Ye Family estate, I guarantee I will capture everyone and bring them to you."
"Alright, you may go."
"Town Mayor, what about my clansmen?"
"Them?" Zhang Wuzong sneered coldly.
Suddenly, a Spiritual Energy Wave appeared in the sky.
Spiritual Energy Swords materialized without warning.
The next moment, a rain of swords descended from the heavens.
With the exception of Niu Tong, the entire Niu Family, including the Town Mayors of their subordinate towns, were killed.
Although the Niu Family had no ties to the Ye Family, they were the ones who had brought him here after all.
If he let the Niu Family go completely unharmed, the Zhang Family would lose all its prestige.
"No! My Lord, what are you..."
Niu Tong’s eyes nearly split open, his rims instantly turning crimson.
For this trip to the Secret Realm, he had brought every capable person the Niu Family had to offer.
With this massacre, almost all the Niu Family’s experts were gone.
"Didn’t you say it yourself? You alone can wipe out the Ye Family with a wave of your hand. So just leave. You won’t be needing them." Zhang Wuzong smiled callously, then continued, "What? Are you still not leaving? Do you want to stay here forever, too?"
"I’m leaving! I’ll leave."
Gritting his teeth, Niu Tong left the Teleportation Array.
"Town Mayor, what do we do now? Do we just wait for him to capture those people?"
"Wait for him, but also send men to search. Even if you have to dig three feet into the ground, find him for me."
...
Ye Xuan remained completely oblivious to these events surrounding the Secret Realm.
He had already swallowed the Beast Pill.
The Frenzy energy swept through his body like a raging storm.
But Ye Xuan quickly noticed that this energy was rapidly dissipating.
It seeped out through his pores, overflowing from his body and returning to the heavens and the earth.
This was the reason why cultivators could absorb less than a tenth of a Beast Pill’s power.
The power of a Beast was, ultimately, different from that of a human.
Although the source of power shared the same fundamental nature, converting and absorbing it required time.
"What a waste. If only I could absorb all of the Beast Pill’s energy," Ye Xuan sighed.
Whether his sigh had somehow taken effect, he didn’t know.
A mysterious power was suddenly released from his Sea of Consciousness.
The energy that was originally dissipating and overflowing from his body was instantly locked within him.