Bustling Wu Tan City

After dealing with Ao Ba Pa, Xiao Peng swept his gaze over the devastated courtyard, his brows slightly furrowed.

He truly had not expected to kill so many people in just one night.

Xiao Peng scanned the area with his Spiritual Sense and found the Ao Ba Family's treasury.

"It was hidden quite well." Xiao Peng murmured, then reached the seemingly ordinary rockery in a few swift leaps.

Bang—

With one punch, he blasted a large hole through the rockery.

Shattered stones flew everywhere, revealing a pitch-black opening in the center of the rockery. A scent of metal and dust drifted out from within.

Xiao Peng brushed the stone chips from his sleeves and bent down to peer into the opening. He could vaguely see stone steps descending inside.

Xiao Peng leaped in, his feet landing on the stone steps with a dull thud.

The passage was pitch-black, but Xiao Peng could see everything clearly and had no need for light.

The passage was narrow and steep, its stone walls covered in damp moss that made the footing somewhat slippery.

Xiao Peng moved lightly as though walking on level ground. His Spiritual Sense had already determined that there were no traps ahead, only a heavy iron gate blocking the end of the passage.

A moment later, Xiao Peng stood before the iron gate, which had been cast from an unknown kind of black iron.

This Black Iron Gate was nothing to Xiao Peng. With the Nine Revolutions Profound Technique and a body at the Foundation Establishment Stage, tearing it down would not be difficult.

Xiao Peng raised his hand and pressed it against the Black Iron Gate, applying a little force with his palm.

Hummm—

The Black Iron Gate let out a deep hum, and the rust on its surface fell away in flakes.

With a piercing screech of twisting metal, the sturdy iron gate was forcibly torn off by Xiao Peng.

Behind the gate was a stone chamber roughly ten zhang square, its air thick with the scent of long-settled dust.

By the faint light filtering in from the passage, he could see wooden chests piled along both sides of the chamber. Some ores lay scattered in the corners, several pieces of Crimson Iron Ore glinting with a dark red luster that clearly indicated high purity.

Xiao Peng stepped inside and casually waved his hand, Spiritual Power sweeping up the chest lids.

The outermost chests were filled with Gold Coins, their gleam especially dazzling within the dim stone chamber.

The chests in the middle contained low-grade Medicinal Herbs. They were not especially rare, but they would still be enough to support a few small families for quite some time.

The innermost wooden chest was locked. Xiao Peng shattered the lock with a flick of his finger, revealing more than a dozen Dou Technique scrolls. Most were Yellow-tier, but one scroll, Collapsing Stone Fist, was labeled low-grade Mystic-tier.

"Not bad. I can sell these for money." Xiao Peng said with great satisfaction as he looked at the Dou Techniques.

If he sold everything taken from these two families and exchanged it for resources, he should be able to reach a little beyond the First Turn.

Second Turn?

Keep dreaming. If reaching the Second Turn were that easy, the Nine Revolutions Profound Technique would not be known as a body-tempering art that was difficult to cultivate.

He remembered hearing that the Nine Revolutions Profound Technique had been adapted from the Wu Clan's body-tempering methods, though he did not know whether that was true.

"Compared to the Jia Lie Family, they had more useful things." Xiao Peng murmured, his fingers brushing over the scroll covers before he stored them, along with all the other valuables, into his Storage Rings.

Ores, Gold Coins, Medicinal Herbs, scrolls...

In only a few breaths, the enormous stone chamber had been stripped clean, leaving behind only empty wooden chests.

Fortunately, he still had two Storage Rings on him. Otherwise, he truly would not have been able to fit it all.

Naturally, he would not put such things in the Storage Ring he used regularly. The other two Storage Rings had come from Ya Fei.

Xiao Peng did not linger. He turned and returned along the stone steps.

Once outside, Xiao Peng flew toward the Xiao Family on his sword.

At first, Xiao Peng had intended to uproot the problem completely and kill everyone in those two families who still breathed.

But then Xiao Peng thought of his teacher, Sect Leader Tongtian. If he wiped out every member of those two families, his teacher's impression of him would surely worsen.

After all, the world his teacher came from was not like those gangster cultivation novel worlds, where people casually exterminated entire clans at every turn.

From the way his teacher had tested him before, it was clear that his teacher had experienced certain things and had begun to place some importance on his disciples' character.

"Brother Xiao Peng really kept his abilities well hidden. He actually settled the matter of those two families so quickly."

Xiao Xun'er emerged from the shadows and spoke to herself as she watched a streak of azure light in the distance.

When she first saw Xiao Peng go to seek revenge, she could not help worrying for his safety. But seeing how easily he dealt with those people finally put her at ease.

Ling Ying spoke at that moment. "Miss, is it possible that Xiao Peng belongs to another clan?"

Xiao Xun'er shook her head. "No. Brother Xiao Peng cannot be."

She knew the other clans well. It was impossible for them to have nurtured a genius like Xiao Peng.

The Soul Clan could be ruled out immediately. Xiao Peng had previously given her the impression that he was from the Yao Clan, but Yao Clan members bore the Yao Clan's clan mark on their foreheads, and Xiao Peng had none. That ruled them out as well.

The Lightning Clan?

That was impossible too. The Lightning Clan specialized in lightning Dou Qi, while Xiao Peng did not.

The other clans were not very likely either, and they did not even know where the Xiao Family was.

Xiao Xun'er believed it was highly likely that Xiao Peng had taken an exceptionally powerful teacher, perhaps even a Dou Sheng. At the very least, his teacher should be a Half-Saint.

But one thing puzzled Xiao Xun'er: why would a powerhouse of that level come to such a remote place?

From the perspective of the Central Plains, Wu Tan City was practically a place where birds would not even shit. It was not worth visiting.

The next morning.

On the streets of Wu Tan City, in teahouses and taverns, discussions about the changes that had befallen the Jia Lie and Ao Ba Families could be heard everywhere.

"Did you hear? The Jia Lie Family head, the Ao Ba Family head, and their families' elders all died overnight!"

"That is not all. I passed by the Jia Lie Family residence this morning and saw rivers of blood inside. Even more than half their guards were dead!"

"Tsk, tsk. That was far too ruthless. Who could have done it?"

"Who else could it be? It had to be the Xiao Family! Those two families had fought the Xiao Family for so long. Now that they have fallen, would the Xiao Family not become the biggest power in Wu Tan City?"

"But does the Xiao Family have that kind of ability? Xiao Zhan, the Xiao Family head, is only a Da Dou Shi. It would be impossible for his family to wipe out two major families in one night unless many Da Dou Shi took action." The speaker thought for a moment as he spoke.

In a corner, an old man dressed in gray cloth robes stroked his beard and said leisurely, "It may not have been the Xiao Family. I got up during the night yesterday and saw a streak of azure light pass over Oba Manor. It was as fast as a shooting star. Perhaps it was some passing expert."

"An expert? In this godforsaken place? Where would we find an expert?"

The discussions rose and fell, yet no one could explain the truth.

Meanwhile, Xiao Zhan was immensely excited when he learned of this matter.

With the upper ranks of the Ao Ba Family and Jia Lie Family nearly all dead, the Xiao Family could now absorb as much of those two families' businesses as possible.

Unscrupulous?

What a joke. If this had happened to the Xiao Family, the people from those two families would probably already have been on their way to devour the Xiao Family.

Whether the Ao Ba Family and Jia Lie Family would have spared the Xiao Family was another question entirely.

After his excitement subsided, Xiao Zhan hurriedly arranged for people to take over the businesses of the Ao Ba Family and Jia Lie Family.