Putting on a Show and Leaving

"So it's you?"

Li Yu shot into the sky, looking at the wailing old man and Lin Jia, who was standing dumbfounded, and frowned slightly.

"Ce-Celestial Venerable, we... we..."

Lin Jia flinched when she saw Li Yu approach, stammering.

"The Li Family's backup plan was you? I see."

Li Yu now understood the whole story. This must have been the Li Family's doing, using the Source Ore to lure the Yanhsia Grotto-heaven into dealing with him. The people from Yanhsia Grotto-heaven were unknowingly being used as pawns by the Li Family.

A mere mortal managed to play a group of cultivators for fools. The head of the Li Family is truly not simple.

Li Yu let out a cold laugh. Provoke me, and no matter how capable you are, you'll only meet your death.

"You've been played by the Li Family."

Li Yu glanced at the old man and Lin Jia, shaking his head. "The Li Family merely wanted to use you to deal with me. To be manipulated like this by someone else for such a small benefit, you're truly quite foolish."

Li Yu sighed, no longer paying attention to Lin Jia and the old man. He turned and flew away, heading towards the small town.

"Yeah! Truly foolish!"

The old man's face was filled with bitterness. "This lesson is profound enough. It's truly fortunate that the Celestial Venerable didn't wipe out our Yanhsia Grotto-heaven in his rage!"

"The Li Family, huh?"

The old man looked in the direction of the small town, clenching his fists tightly. "How dare they use us as pawns? I'll exterminate your entire clan!"

"Let's go!"

A beam of light shot up, and the old man, with Lin Jia, flew towards the small town.

At this time, Li Yu had already returned to the small town.

"Hmm? What is this..."

Seeing the collapsed door of the small shop, and the messy, overturned tables and chairs inside, Li Yu's brow twitched, and anger surged within him.

"The Li Family did this? They kidnapped Old Jiang and Little Tingting? They're asking for death!"

Li Yu turned to look in the direction of the Li Family compound, his eyes turning icy cold. "They truly stop at nothing! What a tactic. Unfortunately, such tactics are meaningless against me."

A beam of light shot up, and Li Yu's figure instantly landed in front of the Li Family's main gate.

"Boom!"

Li Yu flicked his sleeve, and a powerful gust of wind erupted, directly blasting the lacquered main gate of the Li Family compound away.

"Who?"

"How dare you!"

"You're courting death!"

A commotion of shouts and roars came from within the Li Family compound, and a group of burly men holding weapons rushed out menacingly.

"Kid, you're courting death..."

"Scram!"

Before the guards could finish speaking, Li Yu roared and flicked his sleeve. A gust of wind surged, sending them flying.

"Who dares to cause trouble at my Li Family?"

A middle-aged man with a sallow complexion, leading a group of guards, charged over angrily.

"Oh dear..."

Upon seeing Li Yu's appearance, the sallow-faced middle-aged man let out a strange cry and turned to run. He left a squad of guards standing there, looking at each other in bewilderment.

"Hmph!"

Li Yu waved his hand again, sending the guards blocking his path flying, and continued to advance.

At this moment, all the people from the Li Family had rushed out.

The Li Family head, along with two young men in their early twenties, and a large group of guards armed with weapons behind them, surrounded Li Yu.

"It's you?"

The Li Family head looked at Li Yu with surprise. "You're still alive? Didn't you go to Dongshan? You're lucky. But you actually dare to deliver yourself to our doorstep to die?"

The Li Family head waved to the two young men beside him. "Third, Fifth, take him down!"

"Yes."

The two young cultivators waved their hands, scattering a shower of silver light. Two shiny silver short swords whizzed out, slashing down at Li Yu.

"Scram!"

Li Yu's eyes widened, and he let out a roar at the two young cultivators.

He extracted a trace of power from the Heart of the Demon Emperor from the System, infusing it into this roar. The formidable power of the Great Emperor's peerless might was like using a dragon-slaying saber to kill a chicken.

With a single roar, the two incoming silver swords turned into dust.

Immediately after, the bodies of the two young cultivators trembled and exploded into a mist of blood, leaving no trace of their remains.

"Ah! You…"

The head of the Li family was so shocked his face turned ashen.

"Ah! A ghost!"

The surrounding guards, seeing the scene, were terrified out of their wits. They dropped their weapons, let out screams, and fled in all directions.

"Where are Old Jiang and Little Tingting? Hand them over, and I'll give you a quick death."

Li Yu looked at the head of the Li family expressionlessly, his calm tone carrying an bone-chilling coldness.

"Old Jiang? Little Tingting?"

The head of the Li family's eyes lit up, and he immediately felt more confident. "You want the Jiang family grandparents? Heh heh, kid, the Jiang family grandparents are in my hands. If you don't want them to die, then you'll have to…"

"What gives you the confidence? To think that this is enough to threaten me?"

Li Yu sneered dismissively and flicked his finger. With a crisp "snap," the head of the Li family exploded into a mist of blood.

"Truly ignorant."

Li Yu snorted coldly and strode into the courtyard.

"System, pinpoint the location of the Taiyin Physique."

The System immediately displayed Little Tingting's location in Li Yu's mind.

"Is it there?"

Following the System's directions, Li Yu hurried along and soon arrived at the place where Little Tingting and Old Jiang were being held.

A very ordinary room.

With a "boom," Li Yu kicked the door open.

"Who? Who are you?"

A young man, about twenty years old, holding a short knife, warily watched Li Yu enter.

"Big brother, you're here."

Little Tingting, bound to a pillar, saw Li Yu enter and cried out in surprise.

"Benefactor, be careful. He's a cultivator."

Old Jiang's heart leaped with joy upon seeing Li Yu enter, but he immediately became worried for him.

"Kid, so it's you! If you dare take another step forward, I'll kill them."

The young man placed the short knife against Little Tingting's neck and menacingly shouted at Li Yu.

"Is this all you've got?"

Li Yu snorted, "Did you think I wouldn't consider this? That I wouldn't anticipate you might use them to threaten me?"

With a "snap," Li Yu snapped his fingers.

Brilliant golden light instantly flared.

On Little Tingting and Old Jiang, the radiant golden light enveloped them both, forming a suit of shimmering golden armor.

"This…"

The young man's expression changed. He fiercely slashed the short knife at Little Tingting, but it was blocked by the golden light, unable to harm her in the slightest.

"Clang!"

Li Yu waved his hand at his waist, and the clear, melodious sound of the Soul-Shaking Bell rang out.

The young man's face stiffened, and with a "plop," he fell to the ground.

That single chime of the Soul-Shaking Bell had directly shattered his soul.

"The Li family is gone. You are safe now."

Li Yu waved his hand, untying the ropes binding the two, and led Old Jiang and Little Tingting out of the room.

"Whoosh!"

A streak of escaping light landed on the ground, and Lin Jia and the elder from Yanhsia Grotto-heaven revealed themselves.

"You personally took action?"

The elder looked at the chaotic scene of the Li family and then at Li Yu in surprise, thinking, What kind of fortune did the Li family have to warrant a Celestial Venerable's personal intervention?

"Mm!"

Li Yu nodded, pointed at Old Jiang and Little Tingting, and said to the elder, "Their surname is Jiang! From now on, you will look after them until their family finds them."

"Yes!"

The elder bowed and accepted the order, but his heart churned with immense shock. Their surname was Jiang? In this world, anyone surnamed Jiang who was worth a Celestial Venerable's personal attention could only be the renowned Jiang family.

The elder suddenly felt a sense of relief. If these two truly came from that Jiang family, and Yanhsia Grotto-heaven was implicated, then a disaster of annihilation would be imminent.

"Old man, Little Tingting. You are safe now with people from Yanhsia Grotto-heaven looking after you. I must be going."

Li Yu said with a smile to Old Jiang and Little Tingting.

"You're leaving?"

Tears welled up in Little Tingting's eyes. "Big brother, are you leaving? Then… who will comb your hair?"

"Uh…"

Li Yu paused, then smiled and shook his head.

Little Tingting was really cute, really… Okay, he couldn't think about it any further.

"I'm leaving."

Li Yu waved his hand, his escaping light shot into the sky, and he disappeared into the horizon.

"Big brother, why did you leave? I still wanted to comb your hair!"

Little Tingting pursed her lips, tears falling one by one from her eyes.

"…"

Lin Jia and the old man from Yanhsia Grotto-heaven were speechless for a long time.

Combing the Celestial Venerable's hair? I'd love such a good opportunity too!