As Shangguan Qingyun's words fell, a powerful wave of spiritual energy indeed erupted from his body, and the coercion brought by this spiritual energy actually surpassed that of the Dao Sovereign Realm.
Faced with such a bizarre scene, let alone Shangguan Youran being dumbfounded, even Lin Moran and his nine helpers trembled violently all over.
"Shangguan Qingyun, you... you..." Lin Moran stepped back repeatedly, so frightened that he couldn't even utter a complete sentence.
As for the nine experts, they also retreated a few steps.
"Father, your cultivation... your injuries..." Shangguan Youran felt as if she were in a dream, completely unable to believe everything she was seeing.
For nearly twenty years, apart from the years spent cultivating in the Thousand Illusions Sect, Shangguan Qingyun had always been the epitome of weakness, incompetence, greed, and lack of ambition in Shangguan Youran's eyes.
Yet today, this ordinary old man had burst out with such terrifying cultivation.
How could Shangguan Youran not be dumbfounded by such a massive contrast between before and after?
"Youran, Dad's injuries haven't recovered. Over the years, it's already remarkable that this broken body of mine could store this much spiritual energy. However, your father only has this final battle left." Shangguan Qingyun looked at Shangguan Youran, deep affection and reluctance flashing in his eyes.
"Dad, what do you mean by that?" Shangguan Youran shouted sternly.
"Youran, you've grown up. From now on, you must learn to take care of yourself, because Dad can no longer stay by your side."
"Huiguang, I leave my daughter in your hands," Shangguan Qingyun said to the two of them in the tone of someone making final arrangements.
"Patron Shangguan..." Huiguang wanted to say something, but didn't know what to say.
"Alright, leave quickly, because this Shangguan Residence... is about to collapse." At this point, the aura around Shangguan Qingyun suddenly changed. For a moment, the violent coercion in the secret chamber felt like the firmament collapsing.
"Dad, I'm not leaving! If we go, we go together! Dad, I will never abandon you and leave you to your fate!" Shangguan Youran shouted with a heart-wrenching cry.
"Youran, Dad has already mobilized his spiritual energy. The few remaining intact meridians in my body can only withstand me unleashing my strength one last time. Even without this fight, Dad won't survive. Let Dad protect you one last time!"
"Huiguang, take Youran away! Don't let me die in vain!" Shangguan Qingyun roared.
"Amitabha!" Huiguang pressed his palms together, chanted a Buddhist mantra toward Shangguan Qingyun, and then pulled Shangguan Youran toward the stone tunnel in the back.
"Dad! Dad! I'm not leaving! Dad..."
"Youran, don't let your father's painstaking efforts go to waste. Live well. Isn't Lin Zhenshan still in the Lin Family? You can avenge your father in the future."
As soon as Huiguang finished speaking, he paid no more attention to Shangguan Youran's struggle, scooped her up around the waist, and strode away.
Just as Huiguang and Youran were leaving, Lin Moran's body also quietly crept toward the entrance, but he was spotted by Shangguan Qingyun.
Shangguan Qingyun fixed his eyes on Lin Moran, then pointed his right hand at Lin Moran's back. A ray of white light shot out from his fingertip and plunged straight into Lin Moran's back.
Lin Moran turned his head in agony, looking at Shangguan Qingyun in utter disbelief. His blood-stained mouth opened and closed, but in the end, without uttering a single word, he fell forward with a face full of reluctance.
Seeing how terrifying Shangguan Qingyun was, the other nine men naturally lost any will to fight.
"Senior Shangguan, this matter is a misunderstanding. Actually, there is no grudge between us. We'll leave right now, how about that?" The leading Dao Master Realm expert took two steps back and bowed to Shangguan Qingyun.
"A misunderstanding? Leave?"
"If I didn't have this kind of strength, would you have let us go?" As he spoke, Shangguan Qingyun slowly raised his right hand.
Feeling the irresistible, violent spiritual energy surging on Shangguan Qingyun's palm, the leader spoke again: "Senior, we are all disciples of Sword Manor. We registered our soul tablets when we entered the manor. If we die here, our sect will naturally investigate your children."
"Let us leave, and we'll pretend this never happened. Sword Manor will definitely not trouble your daughter, how's that?" The Dao Master Realm expert continued to persuade.
"Is that so? But I don't want to die so miserably either, so I still have to drag a few more people down with me." As these pathetic words fell, Shangguan Qingyun's palm finally pressed down toward the ground.
The moment Shangguan Qingyun made this motion, the spiritual energy gathered in his palm fully erupted. The violent spiritual energy surged like a breached dam, instantly filling the entire underground secret chamber, and the secret chamber suffered a violent explosion under the impact of this violent energy.
Facing a Dao Sovereign expert's full-strength, charged attack, the nine Sword Manor experts had zero chance of resisting. They could only watch helplessly as the blade-like spiritual energy swept across their bodies, only to be swallowed up by the falling boulders from above.
Shangguan Youran and Huiguang, who had just stepped out of the Shangguan Residence, suddenly felt the ground shake. The very next moment, the entire Shangguan Residence began to collapse...
"Father... Dad!" Shangguan Youran broke free from Huiguang's embrace, dropped to her knees at the edge of the collapsed Shangguan Residence, tears streaming down her face as she wept bitterly.
Meanwhile, Huiguang sat cross-legged on the spot, chanting scriptures to deliver Shangguan Qingyun's departed soul.
...
At the peak of a towering mountain brimming with spiritual energy, where white clouds floated just below eye level, a sword-wielding disciple rushed in panic toward a white-haired old man who was sitting with eyes closed in meditation, surrounded by swirling sword qi.
"Master, the soul tablets of the seventh junior brother and the eight fellow disciples have shattered."
The white-haired old man abruptly opened his eyes, and two beams of sword qi shot out from them.
...
The Lin Residence.
Lin Zhenshan was sitting with a smile on his face, sipping small cups of wine while waiting for his son to return in triumph with the spoils of war, when suddenly a servant rushed in in a panic.
"Master, this is bad!"
"What could possibly make you so panicked? Have you forgotten the rules of the Lin Family?" Lin Zhenshan put down his wine cup and rebuked.
"Master, the young master and those nine men from Sword Manor have all... all been buried beneath the Shangguan Residence."
"What?" Hearing this, Lin Zhenshan sprang to his feet, shattering his wine cup into powder.
"What did you say? What happened to my son?" Lin Zhenshan strode over to the servant, grabbed him by the collar, and roared coldly.
"Master, you told me to go check on the young master's progress. When I arrived, I happened to see the Shangguan Residence collapsing, and neither the young master nor the Sword Manor disciples managed to come out." The servant looked terrified, dreading that his master might kill him in a fit of rage.
"Slap!" Lin Zhenshan's face turned livid as he ruthlessly flung the servant away.
"My son is dead? My son is dead?"
"What about the Shangguan family? What about the God-Summoning Incense?" Lin Zhenshan grabbed his own hair like a madman, shouting into the empty air.
"Master, Shangguan Qingyun was also buried underground, but his daughter and a bald man are fine," the servant said, struggling to his feet and wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth.
"Pursue them! Send men after them right now!"
"I must get back the God-Summoning Incense, and I will make sure Shangguan Youran and Huiguang don't even have bones left!" Lin Zhenshan roared, his voice as booming as an ox's.