PDLP Chapter 573 The Entire Lineage of the Xiao Family's First Elder Annihilated
Chapter 573 The Entire Lineage of the Xiao Family's First Elder Annihilated
As dawn broke, a ray of slightly chilly morning light slowly tore through the thick, somber night of Mobei Prefecture.
Ulan City, an important town situated on the edge of endless yellow sand and vast Gobi Desert, awakens as usual amidst bursts of noise and the aroma of cooking.
The shops on both sides of the street had already taken down their doors early, and with the vendors' loud calls, a bustling crowd began to move back and forth on the cobblestone streets.
While ordinary people were busy making a living, low-level cultivators wandered through the markets, trying to find cheap herbs or broken magical artifacts that could improve their cultivation.
The city was full of life and energy, and everything looked no different from usual.
None of the tea drinkers chatting loudly in the streets and alleys, nor the caravans queuing at the city gates to leave the city, knew what earth-shattering and terrifying upheaval had taken place in the city of Ulan on that seemingly peaceful night.
Unbeknownst to them, on the top floor of the "Moon-Gazing Tower," which was considered by countless people to be heavily fortified, Zhang Yanran, the core disciple of the Qinglan Sect who had been swaggering in the Xiao family's hall just days before and was hailed as a prodigy, had already turned into a cold corpse, her soul completely crushed.
Unbeknownst to them, deep within the magnificent Xiao family mansion, an intensely pungent stench of blood permeated the air.
Xiao Ming, the current head of the Xiao family who had just broken through to the Fourth Extreme Realm, not only had his head crushed like an ant, but all his descendants, confidants, and elders—more than a hundred people in total—had their throats mercilessly severed by a ghostly black blade in their sleep last night.
The Xiao family, representing the glory of the Great Elder's lineage, was completely wiped out and slaughtered in a single night.
As the instigator of this bloody purge, Lin Hanzhou had already changed into a brand new, loose black robe, hiding his face deep in the shadow of the hood.
Beside him, Yingyue, whose face was also covered by a black robe, followed respectfully half a horse length behind him.
Riding their azure-scaled steeds that could travel a thousand miles a day, the two mingled among the early morning caravans and wandering cultivators as they passed through the towering city gates of Ulan City at a leisurely pace.
The guards standing watch at the city gate were yawning, and only glanced casually at the two men in black robes before looking away.
In this northern desert region, there are countless rogue cultivators who like to hide their identities. As long as the other party pays the city entry fee, they don't bother to find out the other party's true identity.
Once outside the city gates, stepping onto the ancient loess road leading to the endless wilderness, the surrounding noise gradually fades away, replaced by howling winds and swirling yellow sand.
"drive!"
Lin Hanzhou suddenly squeezed the horse's belly with both legs.
The Wind-Treading Azure-Scaled Horse beneath him let out a high-pitched neigh, and the thin bloodline of the demon beast within its body was instantly activated.
Its four hooves seemed to tread on nodes of wind element, and its speed suddenly soared, like a streak of blue lightning, carrying Lin Hanzhou into the vast desert and Gobi.
Seeing this, Yingyue did not hesitate at all, and urged her spirit horse to follow closely.
The two spirit horses galloped wildly across the desert for more than an hour, until the massive city of Ulan completely disappeared at the horizon, leaving only rolling sand dunes and huge rocks eroded into bizarre shapes. Only then did Lin Hanzhou slightly tighten the reins, gradually slowing down the horses' running speed.
Under the blazing sun, the temperature began to rise sharply.
Lin Hanzhou sat on the horse's back, his body rising and falling slightly with the horse's movements.
He slowly raised one hand, his slender fingers gently rubbing his brow. Although his expression remained calm, a hint of weariness flickered in the depths of his deep eyes.
"My current cultivation level is still too weak..."
Lin Hanzhou sighed inwardly and muttered to himself.
Although he has been reborn with the complete memories of his previous life as the Emperor of Time, he is only at the first level of the Sea of Wheels Realm.
In the vast world of cultivation, the Sea of Wheels Realm is merely the initial stage of cultivation, where one's meridians are not even fully opened, let alone capable of withstanding immense power.
Last night at Lanyue Tower, he forcibly activated his divine soul power and used an extremely domineering soul-searching technique on Zhang Yanran, who was at the sixth level of the Dao Palace.
He then went to the Xiao family, where he faced the arrogant new patriarch Xiao Ming. He directly used his divine soul pressure to suppress the other party until he could not move, and finally crushed the other party's head with one foot.
Although these actions appear casual and unhurried on the surface, each mobilization of that vast divine soul power is actually an overwhelming test for this weak brain at the Sea of Wheels realm.
At this moment, it felt as if countless tiny silver needles were constantly piercing the depths of his consciousness. Although this pain was nothing to an emperor who had experienced countless tribulations, the weakness and exhaustion that originated from the depths of his soul was very real.
"Having just been reborn, my soul power is strong, but without the nourishment of a physical body and spiritual energy, I am ultimately like a tree without roots. Last night, I only spent time searching souls and killing a mere early-stage Fourth Extreme Realm cultivator, yet my soul felt empty."
Lin Hanzhou put down his hand that was rubbing his temples and gently exhaled a breath of warm air.
However, although he was physically exhausted, he was not in a bad mood.
Recalling the one-sided massacre last night, Lin Hanzhou glanced sideways at the black-robed woman who had been silently following him like a loyal shadow.
Fortunately, I have this bodyguard named Shadowmoon by my side.
Yingyue was the black-robed woman who had been following him.
As Xiao Wu's secret bodyguard, whom he had secretly trained since childhood, she was not only extremely loyal to him, but also possessed considerable talent and strength.
He was in his early twenties and had already reached the eighth level of the Dao Palace Realm.
At the eighth level of the Dao Palace Realm, one might not be considered a top genius among the leading sects of the Great Li Dynasty, but in a remote place like Wulan City, one would definitely be considered a top expert.
If you add her expertise in assassination, she would be able to fight even against a cultivator at the ninth level of the Dao Palace Realm.
As long as she doesn't encounter a powerhouse at the Fourth Extreme Realm, she can practically do whatever she wants in Ulan City.
Last night at the Xiao family mansion, after Lin Hanzhou crushed the culprit Xiao Ming to death, he went straight to a quiet courtyard to rest.
The remaining hundred or so members of the Xiao family, including the eldest elder's close associates and guards, were all killed by Yingyue alone, who wielded that black dagger and chopped them down one by one as easily as cutting melons and vegetables.
The entire process was clean and efficient, without alerting anyone from other factions of the Xiao family, and without letting a single person escape.