The two Tendon Refining Realm warriors instinctively tried to defend against the flash of the blade, but to their horror, its speed was completely beyond their imagination.
With their strength, they couldn't possibly withstand it!
All they could do was watch helplessly as the dazzling blade flashed before their eyes. Then their throats turned cold, and a feeling of suffocation swept over them.
They clutched their throats and fell into the pool of blood, their faces full of unwillingness.
"Today... leave no one alive!"
Killing intent flashed in Liu Chu's eyes. The long blade in his hand swept through the air like a gale scattering fallen leaves, swiftly reaping one Li Family warrior after another without the slightest mercy.
The principle of not letting calamity befall a family only applied if its blessings hadn't been shared with the family!
The Li Family warriors had enjoyed the Li Family's benefits, so they had to shoulder its misfortunes together!
The Li Family Patriarch and the others had captured Liu Chu—not to play a game of hide-and-seek.
If Liu Chu had been too weak and fallen into the hands of the Li Family Great Elder, the consequences were easy to imagine. They would have been utterly horrific.
Pfft! Pfft!
Liu Chu's blade was a reaper's scythe, madly cutting down the Li Family warriors who had already broken and fled.
Amid a chorus of screams, blood sprayed and heads hit the ground. Not one of the warriors could withstand a single strike from Liu Chu.
At times, Liu Chu's single swing even killed several Li Family warriors at once.
Even a Tendon Refining Realm warrior was, in his eyes, no more than a one-strike kill.
The two remaining Li Family Tendon Refining Realm warriors also failed to escape their fate. Liu Chu caught up with them first and killed them before they could flee.
Swish!
A frigid blade flash swept past, killing the last warrior. Only then did Liu Chu stop his slaughter.
In an instant, silence fell before the main hall.
All the Li Family warriors had become corpses, piled across the ground, their blood staining the entire courtyard red.
"There's no time. I can't stay here long!"
Liu Chu immediately searched the Li Family Patriarch and several elders. Before long, he found a stack of banknotes and a manual.
"A thousand taels of silver!"
Liu Chu was astonished. He hadn't expected the Li Family to be so wealthy.
He looked at the manual in his hand and saw that it was a blade technique called the Jingfeng Blade Technique.
The Li Family Great Elder and the Li Family Patriarch both practiced fist techniques, so this blade technique clearly wasn't the Li Family's most powerful martial art!
It was most likely a blade technique one of the elders had happened upon and kept on hand to study and practice whenever the opportunity arose.
Suddenly, Liu Chu looked up toward a spot not far away.
"Someone's coming!"
Liu Chu lamented silently. What a shame. There isn't enough time to break into the Li Family treasury.
Judging by the thousand taels of silver he'd found on the Li Family Patriarch and the elders, the Li Family's fortune had to be immense. Its treasury likely held a great deal more silver.
But though Liu Chu had killed the Li Family warriors very quickly, he had still alerted the authorities.
"Quickly! Keep up!"
"The Li Family's in an uproar. It sounds like powerful martial artists and bandits are fighting. Don't let your guard down!"
Shouts rang out from outside, mixed with hurried footsteps. The authorities had clearly noticed the disturbance at the Li Family estate.
"The Li Family Patriarch is dead. It won't be easy to open the treasury, and besides, there might not even be any real treasures inside!"
Liu Chu's gaze flickered. He didn't linger. With a leap and a few quick bounds, he vaulted over a secluded section of the courtyard wall and disappeared.
From the secret chamber of the Green Tiger Gang's leader, he knew that these factions usually kept hidden rooms for storing their true treasures.
And with the Li Family Patriarch dead, finding the secret chamber wouldn't be easy.
Even if the Li Family Patriarch were still alive, after killing so many of his clansmen, getting him to talk would be nearly impossible.
Not long after Liu Chu left, a squad of constables hurried to the scene.
When they saw the corpses covering the Li Family estate, they drew in a sharp breath!
Severed limbs littered the ground, and blood flowed like a river. The familiar faces of the Li Family—people they might once have met, or merely glimpsed from afar—had all become corpses.
Among them was the Li Family Patriarch, a Bone Refining Realm expert, along with several elders and stewards of the Li Family, all Tendon Refining Realm experts.
And that wasn't even counting the dozen or so Skin Refining Realm warriors!
Almost all the Li Family's warriors had gathered here, only to be wiped out in one fell swoop!
"The Li Family is finished..."
The same thought flashed through every constable's mind.
The Li Family Patriarch was dead.
A Bone Refining Realm expert was gone.
The Li Family's Tendon and Skin Refining Realm warriors, from top to bottom, were all dead.
Only a few orphans and widows who hadn't taken part in the fight had survived.
But it was easy to imagine that their fate wouldn't be much better.
The Li Family had stood in Zhaojiang City for a hundred years, relying on its share of bloody, ruthless methods. Countless rivals had been suppressed by them.
Now that the Li Family had fallen, those old rivals would likely emerge from hiding and begin taking revenge in a frenzy!
The Li Family's remaining members wouldn't be able to hold on to such a vast estate.
In fact, once the constables had recovered from their shock, they had already begun to entertain thoughts of their own.
Qunxian Residence.
Liu Chu and Chen He sat in a secluded spot, with dish after dish of rare delicacies laid out before them.
"I never thought you'd still remember your promise to treat me to a feast, Junior Brother Liu."
Chen He smiled. "In just a few months, you've grown strong enough to defeat a Tendon Refining Realm warrior with a single strike. I'm truly envious."
"Meanwhile, I'm still only at the Skin Refining Realm. Comparing myself to you is enough to make anyone furious!"
Liu Chu picked up a bite of Gathering of Immortals and teased him with a smile. "Then work hard and try to catch up with me!"
"Best not. I don't want to end up injuring myself like Xu Haoran."
Chen He shook his head, well aware of his own limits.
"Come to think of it, there's been a lot happening lately. I heard the Li Family was wiped out a couple of days ago."
Chen He suddenly sighed.
"Oh? The Li Family was wiped out? What happened?"
Liu Chu pretended to be astonished.
"The Li Family's destruction has caused quite a stir. Apparently, they offended the Black Dragon Gang's leader, who came for revenge under cover of night and wiped out the entire family!"
Chen He clearly knew a lot about such things. He lowered his voice. "Speaking of the Black Dragon Gang's leader, he's an extraordinary figure. They say he appeared out of nowhere, killed the Green Tiger Gang's leader, and brought the whole gang to heel. He's shrouded in mystery."
"Then, when the Wild Wolf Gang tested him, he went straight to their territory, accepted their challenge, and killed their leader with a few strikes before absorbing the Wild Wolf Gang!"
"Now he controls the territory of three gangs. His strength can't be underestimated. I wonder what the Li Family did to make an enemy of him..."
Chen He chattered on, spittle flying.
Hearing this, Liu Chu silently shook his head.
He had invited Chen He out to gather information and listen to what the patrons at Qunxian Residence were saying.
As it turned out, the whole place really was buzzing with talk about the Li Family's destruction.
But quite a few people were pointing the finger at his Black Dragon Gang.
Even Chen He thought the Black Dragon Gang was highly suspect.
The reasons were simple. First, the Black Dragon Gang had risen abruptly and rapidly, and its leader was mysterious and powerful.
Second, before the Li Family was destroyed, its chief steward had visited the Black Dragon Gang, then returned with a livid face.
Those two things had cast plenty of suspicion on the Black Dragon Gang.
It looks like I can't afford to drag my feet. I have to gather the remaining Treasure Fish and finish the sacrifice as soon as possible.
That way, even if the authorities decide to investigate to the bitter end, I can just run for it!
After they finished their drinks, Liu Chu said goodbye to Chen He and returned to the Black Dragon Gang. He immediately summoned Han Qi and Feng Sheng and ordered them to buy up the remaining Treasure Fish as quickly as possible.
Then he resumed his cultivation, waiting for the authorities to come investigate.
"As long as my strength is great enough, everything else is just a passing cloud!"
Liu Chu had full confidence in his strength and wasn't frightened by the prospect of an investigation.
Besides, every eyewitness had died by his blade. The authorities' hopes of gathering evidence were nothing but wishful thinking.
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