sovbooks Chapter 224 Night in Suzhou, Jiangnan
Chapter 224 Night in Suzhou, Jiangnan
Deep within the Cui family mansion lies the forbidden ancestral shrine.
The atmosphere here is so oppressive it's suffocating.
A tall, elderly man in a dark gold robe slowly emerged from the deepest shadows of the ancestral hall.
With each step he took, the bluestone slabs beneath his feet silently turned to dust.
Behind him followed three people, two men and one woman, all exuding an aura as deep and boundless as the ocean.
The true strength of the Cui family lies in its four Celestial Realm ancestors!
The old man in the golden robe leading the group was none other than Cui Zhenyue, the pillar of the Cui family and a half-step immortal.
"How many years has it been..." Cui Zhenyue looked up at the cold moon in the night sky, his voice hoarse as if iron were grinding against stone.
"No one dares to kill so many people in my Cui family."
Not far in front of him, the thirty-six Heavenly Guards had gathered and formed a circular formation.
On the rooftop, Yuan Tiangang and Jing Ke stood side by side.
"A half-step terrestrial immortal," Yuan Tiangang finally spoke, his voice clearly reaching everyone's ears.
"Unfortunately, he wasn't a real god after all."
Cui Zhenyue's gaze flashed like lightning as he stared at Yuan Tiangang:
"Yuan Tiangang, Lin Chen sent you here to die? With you, this assassin, and this bunch of ants, you think you can destroy my Cui family?"
"Give it a try?" Yuan Tiangang replied with only two words.
"Arrogant!" A red-haired old man at the early stage of the Celestial Realm roared from behind Cui Zhenyue.
"Big brother, let me tear this charlatan's thing apart!"
The red-haired old man transformed into a streak of crimson light and charged straight at Yuan Tiangang!
The celestial beings unleashed their full power, and the sounds of wind and thunder could be heard in the air!
Yuan Tiangang did not move.
Jing Ke, who was beside him, did not move.
It's the ground that's moving.
The red-haired old man had only rushed halfway when the bluestone slab beneath his feet suddenly shattered!
It wasn't shattered by his energy, but rather torn apart from the inside by a terrifying force!
Three dark figures (three Heavenly Guards) emerged from the ground like evil spirits, each wielding a specially made Qi-breaking cone.
With swirling black true energy, it stabbed fiercely at the red-haired old man's lower body vitals from three extremely tricky angles!
"How dare you, you rat!" The red-haired old man was shocked but not flustered. He unleashed his protective aura, which was about to send the three of them flying.
However, the black true energy attached to those three Qi-breaking cones had strong corrosive and penetrating properties. The moment they came into contact with the protective energy, they made a strange "hissing" sound and instantly pierced half an inch into the target!
The red-haired old man felt the pain and his body froze.
In that brief moment of hesitation...
Jing Ke on the rooftop has disappeared.
In the next instant, he appeared beside the red-haired old man, his short sword silently thrusting out, aiming straight for the old man's temple.
fast!
It's still that kind of unreasonable speed!
The red-haired old man was terrified and desperately turned his head, simultaneously striking Jing Ke with a palm.
"puff!"
The short sword grazed his cheek, drawing a trail of blood.
His palm missed its target.
Jing Ke's figure vanished instantly like a ghost, and when he reappeared, he was already three zhang away, as if he had never moved.
The red-haired old man covered his bleeding cheek, shocked and angry, but mostly terrified.
If that sword strike had landed...
Little did he know, Jing Ke hadn't used his full strength at all.
Because all thirty-six Heavenly Guards were breaking through their limits, Yuan Tiangang intentionally used the Cui family as a test.
"The Earth Killing Formation is for entanglement, the Human Extinction Formation is for breaking through defenses, and the Heavenly Gang Formation is for killing." Yuan Tiangang's voice rang out calmly.
"Old Master Cui, what do you think of this arrangement? Is it pleasing to the eye?"
Cui Zhenyue's face turned ashen.
He could tell that the formation formed by these thirty-six people was extremely strange.
It can not only connect the energy of everyone into one, but also withstand the pressure of heaven and man.
They can have a clear division of labor, with different combinations specifically for harassing the enemy, breaking through defenses, and assassinating.
And then there's that enigmatic assassin on the rooftop...
"Form the Four Symbols Mountain-Suppressing Formation!" Cui Zhenyue decisively gave the order.
We can't let them lead us by the nose anymore!
The other two celestial beings behind him also instantly appeared and stood in four directions with the red-haired old man.
With Cui Zhenyue in the center, the four of them suddenly connected.
A visible, four-colored mountain phantom formed from condensed true energy suddenly appeared above their heads!
A terrifying pressure swept outwards like a landslide and a tsunami!
"town!"
Cui Zhenyue pressed his fingers down like a sword.
The four-colored mountain phantoms, carrying immense force, crashed down upon the formation of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Guards!
This is the true power of a half-step terrestrial immortal, enough to raze half a city to the ground!
The thirty-six Heavenly Guards all groaned in unison, the ground beneath their feet cracking inch by inch, and blood trickling from the corners of their mouths.
But the formation remained intact! Everyone's eyes were filled with a cold and resolute gaze.
Just as the illusory mountain was about to solidify.
Yuan Tiangang, who had been observing from the sidelines, finally made his move.
He took a step forward.
Just one step.
There was no earth-shattering momentum, nor any fancy movements.
He simply raised his right hand, extended his index finger, and gently touched the four-colored mountain phantoms that were crashing down.
A barely perceptible glint of light flashed at the fingertips.
"Pop".
A soft sound, like a bubble bursting.
The incomparably powerful four-colored mountain phantom, like a punctured illusion, twisted and trembled violently.
Then... it shattered into countless points of light, dissipating in the night wind.
"!!!"
Cui Zhenyue and the other three were struck dumb, taking a step back in unison, their faces turning deathly pale.
His internal energy surged, and the formation was actually broken by this one finger!
"You...you..." Cui Zhenyue stared intently at Yuan Tiangang's retracted index finger, his eyes revealing horror and fear for the first time.
"You're not a half-step Celestial? You...you are..."
"Who I am is unimportant." Yuan Tiangang lowered his hand, his tone remaining calm.
"The important thing is that the Cui family's era ends tonight."
He stopped looking at Cui Zhenyue and turned his gaze to the Snow Dragon Riders who had been gathering strength on the periphery.
"Dragon Rider".
"charge."
"Exterminate the entire family."
The command is brief.
"Clang—!" The three hundred Snow Dragon Riders simultaneously raised their lances.
There were no shouts, only the rumble of hooves crushing the bluestone slabs as the warhorses began to trot and accelerate.
The three hundred iron cavalry, their true energy flowing together, faintly transformed into a roaring silver dragon phantom during their charge.
Carrying an aura of iron-blooded ruthlessness capable of crushing everything, they stormed into the mansion from all directions, breaching the walls.
They launched a final assault on the remaining guards, clansmen, and the last remaining members of the Cui family who had fled in panic!
Iron cavalry, like dragons, arrive under the moon.
Yuan Tiangang silently watched the battlefield engulfed in blood, his black robe remaining motionless amidst the night wind and murderous aura.
The roar of the charging cavalry drowned out all the screams.
"BOOM!!!"
Like a hot knife cutting through butter, the Cui family's ancestral home is being crushed into ruins at an alarming rate.
Cui Zhenyue's face turned ashen, and he raised his hand to unleash a powerful attack, but Yuan Tiangang's gaze fell upon him.
Just a fleeting glance.
Cui Zhenyue felt his hair stand on end, as if he were being stared at by a ferocious beast.
His cultivation level of a half-step terrestrial immortal actually froze him in place, and he dared not move an inch!
"Whoosh—!"
Jing Ke's short sword silently slashed across the neck of the old woman in the mid-stage of the Celestial Realm.
The old woman clutched her bleeding throat, staring incredulously at Jing Ke who had somehow gotten close to her, before collapsing to the ground with a thud.
The other fat ancestor, who was at the early stage of the Celestial Realm, was so frightened that he turned around and rushed into the ancestral hall, trying to activate the last escape passage.
"puff--"
Jing Ke's figure disappeared again, the short sword piercing through the fat man's head and face, bringing out a spray of red and white matter.
The fat man rushed forward a few more steps before collapsing like a piece of wood.
In the blink of an eye, two out of four were gone.
The red-haired old man was terrified and cried out to Cui Zhenyue:
"Brother! Let's go! As long as we're alive..."
Before he could finish speaking, the true essence of the thirty-six Heavenly Guards gathered together, a flash of light appeared, and the red-haired old man instantly vanished into nothingness.
As Cui Zhenyue watched his brothers die a gruesome death, as the Cui family ancestral home vanished before his very eyes, and as his clansmen were crushed into mincemeat, he let out a beast-like roar:
"Lin Chen—!!!"
His true energy burned wildly, his golden robe bulged, and he was about to self-destruct his dantian, taking everyone with him!
Yuan Tiangang finally frowned slightly, but calmly raised his hand and shook hands.
Cui Zhenyue's swollen body was immediately suppressed and unable to move.
Cui Zhenyue's face showed despair as he glared at Yuan Tiangang with hatred and roared:
"What goes around comes around; the Cui family's fate today could be the Lin family's fate tomorrow."
Yuan Tiangang sneered, "That's none of your business."
After saying that, he squeezed hard, and Cui Zhenyue's body was slowly squeezed into a ball.
Yuan Tiangang flicked his hand, turned to look at the thirty-six Heavenly Generals, and said calmly:
"Leave no one alive!"
"yes!"
The thirty-six Heavenly Generals responded in unison, and then dispersed.