In no time at all, the stone platform had become a river of blood, littered with gruesome fragments of corpses, while the air was thick with a wild and bloody stench.
At that moment, the members of the Liu Family finally learned the true meaning of despair and helplessness!
This near-cruel massacre lasted only a few minutes before the Liu family members collapsed into pools of blood one by one, dying without an intact corpse.
Fresh blood seeped into the flagstones in a steady stream, and shattered limbs lay about in a haphazard, horrifying, and shocking mess.
Rumble—
High above in the sky, less than a third of the Black Demon Thunder's power had been consumed.
Yet a moment later, that patch of black thunderclouds gradually scattered, and the curtain of lightning enveloping the sky above the Ye Residence turned transparent before vanishing entirely.
That oppressive, destructive aura vanished in an instant, allowing the members of the Ye Family to finally draw a heavy breath of relief.
As for the entire Liu Family... they had been completely annihilated!
Even that giant rock scorpion's physical body had long been riddled with holes under the bombardment of the Black Demon Thunder, dead beyond all doubt.
At that moment, everyone shifted their gazes, looking with utmost reverence toward the green-robed figure standing on one side of the stone platform—Ye Han!
The total annihilation of the entire Liu Family was all because of him!
"I never would have thought that the one to save our Ye Family would actually be him."
The First Elder and several other elders exchanged deep glances. They knew that without Ye Han, the Ye Family would have been finished long ago!
Guilt welled up in their hearts; the Ye Family had once subjected Ye Han to such ruthless and merciless humiliation.
Ye Han glanced indifferently at the corpses on the ground, then walked toward the enormous carcass of the giant rock scorpion.
Seeing that this behemoth was completely devoid of any breath of life, he inwardly felt a twinge of regret.
If this giant rock scorpion could have been used by him, it would undoubtedly have been a powerful assistant.
It was just a pity that the giant rock scorpion's physical body had already been battered to a pulp under the frenzied bombardment of the Black Demon Thunder.
However, although the giant rock scorpion's physical body was destroyed, the treasures on it were still numerous.
With this thought, Ye Han's hand was enveloped in a halo of golden light as he chopped downward.
Plop!
The head and abdomen of the giant rock scorpion were torn open by a surge of palm energy, and a sphere of light emanating a brown glow, along with a crystal-clear piece of bone, tumbled out.
"This is... the Giant Rock Scorpion Spirit Soul!"
Upon seeing this sphere of light, the First Elder and the others also crowded around with burning gazes.
Inside this palm-sized sphere of light was the miniature spirit body of a giant rock scorpion.
This was a fierce beast spirit soul!
Fierce beast spirit souls were precious treasures for cultivation.
Especially after stepping into the Spirit Soul Realm, one needed fierce beast spirit souls for cultivation.
And the higher the grade of the fierce beast spirit soul, the stronger the power it provided.
If Ye Baili had been able to use this giant rock scorpion spirit soul for his cultivation back then, his chances of winning the battle against Liu Zhentian today would have been much higher.
"Han'er, this giant rock scorpion spirit soul is no ordinary thing; it is at least a ninth-grade spirit soul. If you use it for cultivation when you advance to the Spirit Soul Realm in the future, it will undoubtedly be of immense benefit to the enhancement of your own strength."
A trace of sharp light flickered in the First Elder's eyes as he said in a deep voice.
"Indeed, with your talent, you will likely advance to the Spirit Soul Realm within a few years. This spirit soul is far too important for you."
The remaining elders stroked their beards and nodded in agreement.
However, Ye Han looked down upon this ninth-grade spirit soul altogether in his heart.
He had already decided that when he broke through to the Spirit Soul Realm, he would need to use a spirit soul of an even higher grade to replace this giant rock scorpion.
Naturally, he had no intention of giving it to these Ye Family elders either.
After all, he still remembered what these old things had done to him previously.
"I wonder if there are any spirit arts hidden within this beast bone?"
Ye Han put away the spirit soul, and his gaze then fell upon the beast bone in the palm of his hand.
Within the beast bones of any fierce beast, there was a certain probability of a spirit art being born.
For instance, the Heavenly Lion Golden-Shattering Roar he had previously acquired was obtained from the beast bone of a Blazing Heavenly Lion Beast.
At this thought, Ye Han released a wisp of divine soul to immerse into the beast bone. A few minutes later, he threw the beast bone in his hand aside with a trace of disappointment.
Because this section of beast bone had not given birth to a spirit art.
Following that, Ye Han looked toward the First Elder and said in a deep voice,
"First Elder, reorganize the troops. Right now is the best time for us to settle accounts with the Liu Family..."
"Settle accounts with the Liu Family?!"
Hearing these words, everyone drew a sharp breath.
The several elders all nodded; the present moment was indeed the time to cut the weeds and eradicate the roots!
With that said, the Ye Family forces gathered once more and marched imposingly toward the Liu Family estate.
...
Liu Family Estate.
In this spacious and luxurious courtyard, there were still quite a few Liu Family experts garrisoned and patrolling.
Situated in the center of the stone platform stood two white-haired elders: they were none other than Elder Liu Yue and Elder Liu Xuan, who had been left behind by the Liu Family to guard the estate.
"It has already been several hours, and the Patriarch hasn't sent any news back. Could something have happened?"
Elder Liu Yue frowned; for some reason, he always felt a sense of unease.
"Rest assured, so many experts from my Liu Family set out this time that the Ye Family will absolutely not be able to withstand them. Besides, don't forget that our Liu Family's guardian fierce beast, the giant rock scorpion, also went out. I imagine that by now, the entire upper and lower Ye Family has been completely wiped out."
Elder Liu Xuan shook his head and said arrogantly.
Hearing this, Elder Liu Yue pondered and nodded.
At the very least, the two Spirit Soul Realm experts, Liu Zhentian and the giant rock scorpion, were enough to sweep through the entire Ye Family.
Yet right at this moment, a bone-chilling voice echoed from an unknown direction.
"Stop waiting, your Liu Family has already been completely wiped out!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
"We are under attack!"
"Ah!"
One roaring sound after another resounded through the entire Liu Family estate.
At that moment, with a loud bang, the gates of the Liu Family's main hall were blasted apart, and several Liu Family disciples, covered in blood and with their bones shattered, were hurled right in front of the two elders.
"What?!"
The pupils of Liu Yue and Liu Xuan constricted. They raised their heads and saw black-robed figures pouring in one after another.
"The Ye Family forces!"
Thunder struck their minds; at that moment, the two of them froze stupidly on the spot, utterly motionless.
"Kill them all, leave none alive!"
Ye Han stepped through the gates of the Liu Family estate, his tone ice-cold.
"Understood!"
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
Behind him, hundreds of Ye Family disciples erupted with spiritual energy, swarming forward to surround and slaughter the Liu Family disciples.
Thud, thud, thud!
"Ah!!"
Chaos erupted across the entire Liu Family estate.
It was only at this moment that Elder Liu Xuan and Elder Liu Yue finally snapped back to their senses. Their faces instantly turned ashen, and they almost staggered and fell to the ground.
They knew that Liu Zhentian's plan to encircle and annihilate the Ye Family had failed!
"Your Liu Family is finished!"
This icy declaration struck like a heavy peal of thunder, making the legs of Elder Liu Yue and Elder Liu Xuan grow weak to the point of almost collapsing.
Impossible, how could the Liu Family have lost?
With Liu Zhentian's strength, coupled with a Late Spirit Soul Realm giant rock scorpion, it should have been more than enough for the Liu Family to annihilate a mere Ye Family!
Could it be that the Ye Family had experts helping them from the shadows?
The complexions of Liu Yue and the other turned so pale that not a trace of blood remained. Their minds seemed to have suffered a heavy blow, their eyes glazed as they muttered to themselves incessantly.
However...
Screams rang out all around them, rapidly dragging them back to reality.
The two of them raised their heads in panic and saw the Liu Family engulfed in soaring flames, witnessing the scene of countless people being slaughtered, their eyeballs trembling violently.
Thud, thud, thud!
"Ah!"
Cries of agony echoed amidst the flashing glint of swords and sabers; almost in an instant, the entire Liu Family turned into a river of blood!
"Your Liu Family meticulously plotted to wipe out my entire Ye Family. Today, you are merely reaping what you sow and bringing this upon yourselves; you have no one else to blame."
Ye Han looked at the two Liu Family elders, his expression indifferent.
At that moment, the gazes of Elder Liu Yue and Elder Liu Xuan turned venomous and resentful. Threads of blood surfaced in their pupils, and their eyes split open in fury!
"Little bastard! Even if this old man has to risk his very old life, I'll drag you down with me to the grave!"
Boom!
Elder Liu Yue roared hysterically, his wild hair flying as he clawed at the air, a half-step Spirit Soul Realm aura violently bursting forth from his entire body!
Swish—
His figure shot out like an arrow, his palm gathering ferocious spiritual energy as he sought to kill Ye Han with a single strike!
"Liu Yue, do you take this old man for a mere ornament!"
At that moment, an imposing roar rang out from behind, shaking the very void and making it undulate up and down.
Only to see Ye Baili give a cold snort, stepping forward as thick spiritual energy on both palms erupted with spiritual light, transforming his palms into fists.
Roar!
The sound of a tiger's roar emerged from this fist, and the faint figure of a golden tiger could be seen. Under Liu Yue's horrified gaze, with a loud bang, the power in Liu Yue's palm crumbled into nothingness. That heavy fist landed squarely on the crown of his head, cracking his skull like a watermelon, and he dropped dead to the ground in an instant.
Swish, swish, swish—
Behind him, several Ye Family elders exchanged glances and simultaneously swarmed toward Elder Liu Xuan, erupting into a heaven-shaking battle.
However, two fists could ultimately not fend off four hands. Before long, under the fierce encirclement, Elder Liu Xuan also met a regretful end!
Hoo, hoo, hoo!
Throughout the entire Liu Family estate, flames soared into the sky, and palace after palace turned to ash within the raging fires.
On the ground, corpses lay scattered across the pools of blood, their eyes wide with eternal resentment.
Ye Han felt no shred of sympathy; he knew that if the Ye Family had been defeated today, the Liu Family would likewise have slaughtered every last member of the Ye Family!
This cruel massacre finally came to an end after lasting for half an hour.
"Young Patriarch, we have captured some of the younger generation of the Liu Family alive. How should we deal with them?"
At that moment, the Second Elder brought forward dozens of Liu family members who were only seven or eight years old.
These young boys and girls looked terrified, shivering all over, their tender faces stained with blood.
"Spare us, spare us! We are willing to serve the Ye Family like cattle and horses!"
The oldest among them, who was still barely fourteen or fifteen years old, dropped heavily to his knees with a thud.
Behind him, these Liu Family members knelt down one after another.
Yet among this dozen or so young members of the Liu Family, there was only one adorable girl of seven or eight years old with a ponytail who did not kneel.
At that moment, she clenched her delicate fists, her round eyes staring fiercely at Ye Han.
Unlike the terror of the other family members, she bit her lower lip and showed no trace of panic whatsoever.
"What is your name?"
Ye Han looked at the young girl and asked in a deep voice.
"Liu Qingling."
The young girl replied coldly.
"Admirable courage. I will spare your life. If you have the ability in the future, you can come and take your revenge on me."
A trace of admiration flashed across Ye Han's face, and then his peripheral vision swept toward the elders behind him as he said in a deep voice,
"As for the rest, kill them!"
Upon hearing these words, those young members of the Liu Family collapsed to the ground limply, their crotches soaked with urine and their faces as pale as paper.
They never expected that cowardly pleading would only make Ye Han despise and loathe them even more!
Thud, thud, thud!
splashes of fresh blood filled the air, and within moments, apart from Liu Qingling, the dozen or so Liu Family youngsters all fell into pools of blood.
Liu Qingling stood coldly amidst the pile of corpses, her tender little face also stained with blood.
Yet there was still no trace of panic on her face.
"When I grow up, I will definitely kill you!"
With those words, Liu Qingling walked out of the Liu Estate.
"Young Patriarch, to eradicate the roots completely, why did you let that little brat go?"
Behind him, the members of the Ye Family looked puzzled and somewhat uncomprehending.
Ye Han did not reply; it wasn't because a feeling of compassion had stirred within him.
Rather, he appreciated the fact that at such a tender age, Liu Qingling already possessed this kind of disposition; it was truly quite extraordinary.
Moreover, at that very instant, Ye Han seemed to recall the despair he felt back then when he was cast into the alchemy furnace by the Danwu Great Emperor to be burned alive.
This shared empathy made him decide to give Liu Qingling a chance!
He probably never imagined that the girl he let go today would, ten years later, become a terrifying existence across the entire Firmament Continent...
After destroying the Liu Family, the Ye Family began searching the estate for the family's treasures.
As one of the four major families of Yancheng, the martial arts manuals, weapons, and countless cultivation resources left behind by the Liu Family...
For the Ye Family, these were all rare and bountiful fortunes.
However, after several hours of searching, the entire Liu Family estate was actually empty!
Aside from a small amount of cultivation resources and spiritual stones, there were simply no other precious treasures to be found.
"What is going on?"
Ye Han was utterly baffled. For a grand family like the Liu Family, it was impossible for them to have only this little bit of cultivation resources. Could they have transferred them away in advance?
That also seemed unlikely; the Liu Family surely hadn't expected that they would suffer such a crushing defeat.
"Young Patriarch!"
At that moment, several family members ran over panting. Catching their breaths, one of them said,
"We found that on the back mountain of the Liu Family, there seems to be a secret cave. Within that secret cave might be where the Liu Family's treasury is hidden."
"Oh?"
Hearing these words, Ye Han, the First Elder, and the others couldn't help but reveal joyful expressions.
"Lead the way!"
With that, Ye Han followed this group of people in a rush toward the back mountain of the Liu Family.
Before long, the group climbed a moderately tall, black mountain range at the back of the Liu Family estate.
Soon enough, halfway up the mountain, there was a secluded spot entwined with countless ancient vines, where the faint outline of a vermilion stone door could be seen.
"This Liu Zhentian is truly cunning!"
Seeing the stone door, Ye Baili walked over slowly. None of them would have expected that the Liu Family would place their treasury in such an isolated location.
"Young Patriarch, this is the key we found on a Liu Family elder. It seems to be the key to opening this stone door."
That family member took out a palm-sized iron key, and Ye Han nodded, instructing,
"Open the secret cave."
"Understood!"
With that, a crowd of Ye Family members excitedly swarmed forward, and the elder inserted the key into the stone door.
Rumble!
The stone door trembled and slowly opened, wisps of black mist gushing out from the cracks in the door.
Just as everyone was about to enter, suddenly, the sounds of whistling echoed from within the black mist.
Swish, swish, swish!
From amidst the black mist, poisoned arrows shot outward!
"Hidden weapons! Everyone, be careful!"
Swish, swish, swish—
The moment the secret cave opened, a volley of poisoned arrows charged with fierce momentum suddenly shot out from the black mist.
"There are poisoned arrows! Everyone, be careful!"
Ye Han's expression changed slightly, and he immediately stomped his foot down heavily, his figure leaping into the air. With a slight sway of his body, the barrage of poisoned arrows narrowly grazed past him.
Thud, thud, thud!
However, some of the personnel behind him failed to react in time; in the blink of an eye, their bodies were pierced by the poisoned arrows, and they fell dead to the ground.
Hiss—
The rest of the people saw the corpses on the ground and retreated in terror, their faces turning pale as lingering fear gripped their hearts.
"That old bastard Liu Zhentian actually laid poisoned arrow traps inside the secret cave!"
Ye Baili glanced at the corpses on the ground, his heart instantly blazing with fury.
Had they not already been extremely cautious, the Ye Family would have suffered even heavier losses.
"With such tight defense here, complete with hidden weapon traps, it seems this cave dwelling is undoubtedly the treasury of the Liu Family."
Ye Han frowned and said in a deep voice.
Since the Liu Family had gone to such great lengths to set up traps here, it meant that something extremely precious must be hidden within this secret cave.
With this thought, he glanced indifferently at the crowd and added,
"Everyone step back a few paces and let me test whether there are any other hidden weapons here."
Boom!
With that, Ye Han took a deep breath, and the spiritual energy within his body surged forth, blasting directly into the cave entrance.
This time, however, no poisoned arrows shot out from the black mist.
"It seems the hidden weapons concealed within the secret cave can only be triggered once and are now spent."
Seeing that Ye Han was safe and sound, the First Elder and the others behind him couldn't help looking at each other in relief as they breathed easier.
"The cave entrance is clear of hidden weapons, we can enter the secret cave. However, it's best if everyone remains cautious and doesn't casually touch the items inside for the time being. Danger lurks everywhere here; there's no guarantee there aren't other hidden weapons inside."
A moment later, Ye Han's voice echoed from within the cave. The crowd of family members raised their torches and swarmed inside.
Upon entering the secret cave, a spacious stone chamber came into view.
Ye Han swept his torch forward, and in the center of the stone chamber, rows of ancient wooden racks were unexpectedly placed.
"These are... weapons?!"
The several elders gazed toward the wooden racks, seeing various weapons neatly arranged upon them—sabers, swords, and more, in a dazzling array.
These weapons all emitted a faint halo, making them exceptionally eye-catching.
This immediately left everyone thrilled, and they rushed forward to inspect them.
They never expected that what was displayed on these racks were actually the treasured weapons of the Liu Family!
"Spirit weapons! There are actually spirit weapons here!"
Some of the family members hoisted a silver sword into the air and shouted excitedly.
This sword was named the Star-Moon Sword, a tier-three spirit weapon.
Spirit weapons were precious treasures indeed; even the Ye Family possessed very few of them.
If they could acquire this batch of weapons from the Liu Family, it would undoubtedly elevate the foundation and strength of the Ye Family!
Consequently, the crowd quickly began counting these weapons.
Ye Han walked along, examining and toying with the weapons. Most of them were mortal-grade weapons, and those worthy of being called spirit weapons were exceedingly few.
"Golden Crow Saber, tier-three mortal weapon."
"Zhuge Crossbow, tier-two spirit weapon."
"Blazing Sun Sword, tier-four spirit weapon..."
"..."
This collection could be considered quite abundant.
Although the Ye Family was also one of the four major families, upon seeing this collection belonging to the Liu Family, they had to admit they were outmatched.
"Young Patriarch, there are a total of over thirteen hundred weapons stored here."
"Among them are over twelve hundred mortal-grade weapons ranging from the first to ninth tiers, as well as over a hundred spirit weapons of varying grades."
A short while later, an elder walked over with a beaming smile and cupped his fists in salute.
Behind him, the disciples of the Ye Family also wore blooming, excited smiles on their faces.
"Carefully pack up these weapons and transport them all back to the Ye Family for safekeeping later."
Ye Han nodded and said in a deep voice.
Following that, his gaze shifted toward the other stone chambers within the secret cave.
There was more than one stone chamber in this secret cave, and the other chambers likely held the Liu Family's treasures as well.
Entering the second stone chamber, rows of ancient scrolls were placed upon the wooden racks.
Perhaps due to having gone unmanaged for a long time, most of these scrolls were covered in dust and had turned yellowish.
"Tier-three spirit art, Blazing Spirit Palm."
Ye Han casually flipped open a scroll, and the three characters "Blazing Spirit Palm" came into view.