Uproot Them All

Half an hour later.

Within Green Maple Valley, every able fighter was mobilized.

They set off in four directions, killing intent surging to the heavens.

Jin Family Town.

The Jin Family's main stronghold.

In the rear courtyard.

A gorgeously dressed, strikingly beautiful woman paced back and forth through the courtyard.

She kept muttering, "Heavens above, bless Master and let his plans succeed."

The two young maidservants attending her exchanged helpless looks and shook their heads.

Ever since the Family Patriarch had left at dawn, the Madam had been acting distracted and strange.

Every half hour, she would ask, "Has the Family Patriarch returned yet?"

Though they did not know what the Family Patriarch had gone out to do, he had taken all the clan's experts with him. The two maidservants thought that he must have gone to handle some important matter.

Only the noblewoman knew what her Master had gone to do.

Though her husband had repeatedly assured her before leaving that this operation would be foolproof.

She could not shake the ominous feeling in her heart.

After all, that was a great family with more than two hundred years of inheritance—its roots ran deep, its foundations were profound. Who knew what hidden cards they might still have up their sleeves?

Sadly, she was merely a woman with limited cultivation. She could not offer any help and could only pray at home for the heavens to bless her husband's journey.

Suddenly.

The woman's right eyelid began twitching wildly.

The ominous feeling in her heart grew stronger still.

As the saying went, a twitching left eye brought wealth, while a twitching right eye brought disaster.

Could something have happened to Master?

The woman pressed her palms together, her expression becoming ever more devout.

"Ancestors of the Jin Family above, you must bless the Jin Family—bless Master!"

At the same time.

Outside Xiao Yan Town.

A party of several dozen black-robed warriors arrived without a sound.

At their head was a burly middle-aged man with well-developed muscles.

He wore a short beard, and his eyes shone with spirit.

This man was the Li Family's Fourth Elder, Li Xuanzong. He possessed Body Cultivation Grand Completion, wielded a pair of iron fists with exceptional skill, and once had the proud record of killing a Rogue Cultivator of the same realm within ten exchanges.

Li Xuanzong reined in his horse before a small hill.

From this spot, he could take in all of Jin Family Town at a glance.

Looking at the still relatively prosperous town.

A trace of coldness surfaced on Li Xuanzong's face.

He swept out a hand and said in a deep voice, "By the Family Head's order, wipe out the Jin Family. Leave neither chicken nor dog alive. Anyone who obstructs us will be killed without mercy!"

The crisp, uniform sound of blades being drawn was the finest response.

"Kill!"

Several dozen riders cracked their whips and spurred their horses into a furious charge.

The thunder of hooves shaking the earth rocked all of Jin Family Town.

Seeing a band of black-robed cavalry charging into Jin Family Town with ill intent.

The townsfolk began screaming as they fled in every direction.

Some seemed never to have witnessed such a scene before. Terrified out of their wits, they stood frozen where they were.

The galloping black-robed riders swung their weapons. Cold flashes swept through the air, blood sprayed, and heads rolled to the ground.

Headless corpses collapsed onto the ground, drawing terrified screams from countless townspeople.

Very soon.

The group charged up to the Jin Family gates without slowing. Two guards had just opened their mouths to rebuke them when their heads were cut off outright.

Li Xuanzong left several men to guard the exits.

The rest stormed into the residence, killing anyone they saw and cutting down every person they encountered.

For a time, blood flowed through the Jin Family estate like a river.

In the rear courtyard, the woman's right eyelid twitched even faster.

Just then, a Jin Family clansman drenched in blood staggered in.

He cried out mournfully, "Madam... run... our enemies have come... to our door..."

After saying that, he toppled to the ground, his neck going limp as he breathed his last.

The woman's vision went black, and she nearly fainted. Her ominous premonition had truly come to pass.

These so-called enemies had to be the Green Maple Li Clan's retaliation.

As for her Master, he was surely already more dead than alive.

She could not collapse yet.

Forcibly suppressing the grief in her heart.

The woman hurriedly ordered, "A Cui, A Bi, disaster has befallen the Jin Family. Take the young master through the secret passage at once. Go to the Song Family and have them arrange for you to leave Baihe County. Go far away, and never come back."

The two maidservants nodded and anxiously asked, "What about you, Madam?"

The woman gave a miserable smile. "I am a wife of the Jin Family. I shall live and die with the Jin Family!"

Having said that.

She took a sword from the weapon rack and went out to meet them.

At this moment.

The slaughter within the Jin Family estate had already reached its end. Severed limbs and broken corpses lay everywhere, while Jin Family clansmen after clansmen fell in pools of blood.

The Jin Family's defenses had been hollowed out. Against these vicious black-robed warriors, they had no power to resist whatsoever.

The woman who emerged happened to see a black-robed warrior behead a child of four or five.

The woman clenched her fists so tightly they nearly shattered.

"You beasts!"

Waving the sword in her hand, she slashed straight at that black-robed warrior.

The black-robed warrior could not dodge in time and was about to be cleaved apart when a pair of iron fists appeared in time, smashing into the blade with a hum as sparks burst forth.

"I never expected the Jin Family Matriarch to be a Body Realm expert as well!"

Li Xuanzong looked at the beautiful noblewoman before him, surprise in his expression.

"Li Xuanzong, you even kill children of four or five. Your Li Family has committed every evil under heaven. Retribution will come for you."

The Jin Family Matriarch cursed furiously.

The Jin Family had once been a subsidiary family of the Li Family. As the Jin Family Matriarch, she had naturally dealt with the Li Family's upper ranks many times.

With only one glance, she recognized the man before her.

Li Xuanzong sneered. "How laughable. Madam Jin, you should know perfectly well what your Jin Family has done. The victor becomes king, the loser becomes bandit. If my Li Family had lost today, wouldn't our fate have been even worse?"

Madam Jin's face turned pale.

"Hmph. From this day onward, the Jin Family will be erased from Baihe County!"

With that, his iron fists shot forth, attacking Madam Jin.

Though Madam Jin had resolved to die and attacked fiercely, she was ultimately only at Body Cultivation Minor Completion.

The two exchanged only several moves.

Before Li Xuanzong seized an opening and smashed his fist into Madam Jin's beautiful face.

The overwhelming force instantly pulverized Madam Jin's head. Red and white matter splattered across the ground.

Her headless body fell to the ground.

Li Xuanzong withdrew his fist and said expressionlessly to those beside him, "Madam Jin was no less than a heroine among women, far stronger than many men. Find a coffin and bury her."

"Yes."

Ten minutes later.

Those beside him reported, "Elder, of the Jin Family's one hundred and seventy-one members, only three are unaccounted for. They likely escaped through the secret passage we just discovered. Everyone else has been slain!"

Li Xuanzong frowned.

He asked, "Who escaped?"

"The Jin Family Patriarch's son and two maidservants."

"Hmph, how did you fools handle this? You actually let them escape right under your noses. Chase them! If they are not killed, we will never let this rest!"

"Yes!"

Half an hour later.

The three fleeing master and servants were found. Li Xuanzong raised his blade and brought it down, ending all three lives.

Once the last remnants were cleared away, the Jin Family estate was set ablaze. The raging fire burned for nearly two hours before finally dying out.

The first to be destroyed was the Jin Family.

Then the Great Saber Sect, the Zhang Family, and the Zou Family followed in the Jin Family's footsteps.

More than a thousand lives were lost on the spot.

The Four Great Powers were erased from existence.

As the news spread, all of Baihe County was shaken.

How many years had it been since Baihe County had seen such a storm of blood and slaughter?