After parting ways with Su Biyun, Xu Shang returned to the Xu Family estate, where numerous guards kept a strict watch at the entrance.
Seeing Xu Shang approach, the guards greeted him respectfully, "Young Master Xu!" and promptly opened the main gates.
As Xu Shang walked into the courtyard, a middle-aged man sat in the head seat, exuding an aura of natural authority. This man was none other than the head of the Xu Family and Xu Shang's father, Xu Yan. Looking at Xu Shang, a flicker of complicated emotion crossed Xu Yan's eyes as he spoke, "Shang'er, you're back."
Xu Shang nodded and asked in confusion, "Where is Mother?"
Clearing his throat, Xu Yan replied, "Your mother is already asleep. I've been waiting here to inform you that tomorrow you will accompany me and everyone else in the Xu Family to the ancestral backyard for the sacrificial ceremony."
"Understood, Father. Since you have nothing else to say, I'll go back to my room to rest," Xu Shang rubbed his eyes and headed back to his quarters.
Sanqing Town, located in the remote Rentian Empire within the Northern Domain of the Spirit Ancient Realm, was guarded by four prominent families: the Xu Family, the Su Family, the Lu Family, and the Ye Family. Among them, the Xu Family stood firmly as the head of the four!
Yet, the four families engaged in constant open struggles and secret rivalries. Although Xu Yan was the strongest among the four family heads, possessing the strength of the first tier of the Spirit Opening Realm, he was helpless against the fact that Xu Shang could not cultivate. For years, he had investigated the issue without making the slightest headway.
Even though Xu Shang's inability to cultivate might have led others to look down on him, he treated the Xu Family guards exceptionally well, which completely changed their perspective of him.
Early the next morning, as Xu Shang stepped out of his room, he caught sight of his mother, Xu Yuehua. She possessed delicate facial features and elegant contours, with skin as fair and flawless as if untouched by the passage of time. Her soft lips always curved into a smile, radiating a warm glow.
Xu Shang accompanied the rest of the Xu Family to the backyard, where an ancient sacrificial altar stood amidst a solemn and oppressive atmosphere.
With sacrificial offerings laid out upon the altar, Xu Yan led the crowd in burning incense and paying respects.
When the ceremony concluded, Xu Yan looked at Xu Shang with a grave expression and said, "Shang'er, this ritual is to pray for the peace and prosperity of our family. You are now a grown man, and you must shoulder the responsibility of protecting the family from now on."
With a resolute gaze, Xu Shang nodded to show he understood. Just then, a strange gust of wind swept through, and the flames on the altar suddenly flared up with abnormal intensity.
Xu Yan's expression shifted slightly as he murmured under his breath, "What could this mean...?" He stared intently at the flames, as if trying to divine some omen within them, when suddenly, the flames shot straight up into the sky.
Before anyone could make sense of it, dark clouds instantly gathered across the sky, accompanied by flashes of lightning and rumbling thunder. As the heavy clouds churned and merged together, leaving everyone dumbfounded, a strange and hoarse voice boomed from the heavens: "You trapped me for over six hundred years, but in the end, Bone Dragon, you still couldn't hold me!"
The flames in the sky slowly morphed into a human figure. With a tall and slender build, he wore a pitch-black robe that made his skin appear even fairer. A trace of unruliness hung between his brows, and his deep, piercing eyes seemed capable of seeing through all illusions straight to the core of one's soul.
Then, the man's face twitched slightly, and he slowly raised his right hand. At first, it was merely a sesame-sized pebble, but within the span of a few blinks, the stone grew to the size of a meteor, wreathed in roaring flames!
Xu Yan hurriedly shouted at the top of his lungs, "Everyone, scatter!" With that, he unleashed his full strength and flew toward the meteor, attempting to block its descent. However, the meteor's power was simply too overwhelming; Xu Yan's defense shattered instantly, and he was sent crashing straight down to the ground.
This overwhelming suppression threw the entire Xu Family into a state of panic. Xu Yan, Xu Yuehua, and the elders who had reached the Body Inscription Realm all threw themselves recklessly toward the meteor to protect the younger generation. Knowing that their time was short, they cast one last look at their children before throwing everything into the defense.
In an instant, the flames radiating from the meteor consumed everyone to ashes...
With bloodshot eyes, Xu Shang screamed in absolute breakdown, "Father! Mother...!"
Just as the meteor was about to crash into the ground, a silver object no larger than a palm beside the altar suddenly began to flash, emitting an intensely dazzling light.
Shielding his eyes, Xu Shang caught a faint glimpse of a dragon. However, it was nothing more than a skeleton, which explained its silver hue, and clenched tightly in the bone dragon's jaws was an orb!
The bone dragon then soared toward the meteor. In the night sky, the massive meteor burst apart with a deafening explosion, and a powerful shockwave swept outward, plunging everything around it into chaos. Faint wisps of flame appeared on the bodies of the surviving Xu Family members; while not immediately lethal, they were unable to extinguish the flames, turning it into a form of endless torture!
When the dust and smoke finally cleared, Xu Shang looked closely and saw that the palm-sized bone dragon had grown to an immense size. Its serpentine body coiled and wound like a churning giant python, radiating a formidable life force.
The bone dragon had used its own body to shield the remaining members of the Xu Family, though several of its own bones had snapped in the process.
The eerie man reappeared, looking down at the bone dragon with utter disdain as he sneered, "Your cultivation hasn't even recovered yet, and yet you go out of your way to save this bunch of useless mortals."
Gazing at the eerie man, the bone dragon rasped in a hoarse voice, "You are merely the dark side of the Tiangang Orb, yet you dare to act so arrogant. Today, this deity shall seal you away once more."
*The dark side of the Tiangang Orb?* Hearing this name, a shock went through Xu Shang's heart. Could this be the legendary orb from the ancient era of the Four Dragons Seizing the Pearl?
The eerie man let out a cold laugh, an even more terrifying aura radiating from his entire body. With a wave of his hand, a jet-black flame hurtled toward the bone dragon.
The bone dragon exhaled a blast of white mist from its jaws, which collided with the black flame, producing a series of sharp, cracking sounds.
As the two sides remained locked in a stalemate, the bone dragon suddenly opened its jaws and spat out the Tiangang Orb. The orb burst into a dazzling radiance that shot straight toward the eerie man.
Seeing this, the eerie man's expression changed drastically. He tried to dodge, but it was already too late. The piercing light instantly cut through his body, wringing a shriek of agony from him.
As the radiance gradually faded, the eerie man's figure slowly dissolved, leaving behind a drifting soul fragment as he roared, "Bone Dragon, just you wait! I will find you again..."
Watching the scene unfold before him, a hint of exhaustion flashed in the bone dragon's eyes. Taking the Tiangang Orb back into its jaws, it descended to the ground, its massive form shrinking once more back to the size of a palm!
With a vacant stare, Xu Shang stood frozen, silently watching the bone dragon until the screams of the remaining Xu Family members finally jolted him back to his senses...
Lacking any cultivation, Xu Shang could do nothing to help. He hastily ran outside, at which point the palm-sized bone dragon burrowed directly into his body, though Xu Shang felt no unusual sensation at all.
Galloping furiously on horseback the entire way, Xu Shang arrived at the gates of the Ye Family, dropped to his knees, and cried out in despair, "The Xu Family has suffered a catastrophe! I beg the Ye Family for help..." Upon seeing Xu Shang, the head of the Ye Family stepped forward.
Walking right up to Xu Shang, he delivered a fierce kick and barked, "Where did this lunatic come from?"
Clutching his stomach, waves of intense pain wracked Xu Shang's body, causing him to writhe and struggle, yet he did not let out a single cry of pain. When the excruciating pain finally subsided, Xu Shang dragged his battered and exhausted body to the gates of the Lu Family.
Xu Shang knelt once again, though lacking the strength to break down, he whispered softly, "The Xu Family has suffered a catastrophe! I beg the Lu Family to step in and save us!"
Yet only silence answered him. Seeing that no one would respond, Xu Shang was forced once more to drag his injured body forward, prostrating himself step by step all the way to the Su Family to plead for assistance.
At that moment, a middle-aged man appeared—cold-blooded and ruthless, using any means necessary to achieve his goals. His actions were notoriously unpredictable, leaving people guessing what he would do next.
Su Lie approached Xu Shang and demanded to know what had happened. Feeling a glimmer of hope, Xu Shang recounted everything to Su Lie in complete detail.
Upon hearing the story, Su Lie laughed instead of getting angry, booming, "Heavenly justice runs its full cycle! With the Xu Family gone, I will become the strongest person in Sanqing Town!"
Hearing this, Xu Shang tried to plead with him to save the surviving members of the Xu Family, but Su Lie scoffed, "They're just a bunch of damned plebeians. If they die, they die; there's no need to save them."
Furious, Xu Shang gripped his wounds, but the pain made him unable to utter a word...
"Or perhaps if you crawl between my legs, I might consider it," Su Lie mocked with a jeer.
Clenching his fists and taking a deep breath, Xu Shang asked, "Are you certain?"
Annoyed, Su Lie retorted, "This isn't the time for you to be negotiating. Think of the remaining plebeians in your Xu Family."
Closing his eyes in anger, Xu Shang dropped to his knees on the ground and began crawling forward, step by step.
"Well, look at that, you're actually doing it! Hahaha, just look at yourself now—do you even have the qualifications to speak to me?" Su Lie taunted before turning and walking away.
Just as Xu Shang got back to his feet and prepared to leave the Su Family estate, he saw Su Biyun come running toward him. Rushing to his side, she supported him and asked with concern, "What happened?"
Bursting into tears of despair, Xu Shang cried out, "The Xu Family is gone! Father and Mother are gone too!" With that, he dropped to his knees once more and pleaded, "Su Biyun, I beg you, please save them!"
Su Biyun opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, Su Lie returned and barked angrily, "Yun'er!"
Xu Shang glanced at Su Lie, then shifted his gaze back to Su Biyun, repeating frantically, "I'm begging you, please save them!"
Biting her lower lip and hesitating for a moment, Su Biyun said, "I'm sorry, Brother Xu Shang, I can't help you."
An indescribable bitterness churned within Xu Shang's heart, surging straight up to his throat and filling his mouth with the taste of blood. His gaze grew dull and lifeless, his trance-like expression twisted into a self-deprecating smile. His thin lips parted and closed several times, but ultimately, he swallowed back the full belly of accusations he had wanted to hurl.
Su Biyun wanted to say something to make him stay, but Xu Shang stood up, refused to look back, and finally left the Su Family.
Returning to the backyard of the Xu Family estate, Xu Shang watched with his own eyes as one person after another screamed in agony, watched with his own eyes as one after another passed away with unfulfilled resentment in their eyes. He was utterly powerless, right down to the very last person's death.
Large, scalding tears fell, splashing onto Xu Shang's arms. Without a shred of mercy, he bit down hard into his own flesh. Fresh blood welled up, slowly trickling down his pale wrist to drip into the dark soil. Moonlight filtered through the sparse branches of the flower trees, casting mottled, frost-like shadows across his desolate figure.
Xu Shang slowly relaxed his grip; the flesh on his wrist was torn open and terrifyingly gruesome. He seemed to have lost his mind, standing frozen and mute, unable to speak a word. He reached out to press his hand against her face, his voice rasping like the wail of a ghost.
The dim moonlight spilled over the moss-grown flagstone path, filling the air with a profound and bone-chilling desolation.