Liu Xi, you're the only one left!

That night, a magnificent slaughter unfolded within the Jialie Family!

With the cultivation of a nine-star Da Dou Shi and the pure, scorching fire-attribute Dou Qi granted by the profound-tier high-grade cultivation technique Burning Heaven Sword Manual, Ye Xiu turned his confrontation with these enemies—none of whom exceeded the level of a Dou Shi—into a completely one-sided massacre.

In just over a dozen steps, by the time Ye Xiu reached the center of the hall near the long table that had been packed with people, the area behind him was a scene of utter carnage, littered with seven or eight corpses in various states of death.

Throughout the entire council hall, the only Jialie Family member still standing was the clan head, Jialie Bi, who stood before the main seat with a face as pale as paper and a body trembling uncontrollably.

Ye Xiu's gaze fell upon Jialie Bi.

"Now, it's your turn, Jialie Bi." Ye Xiu's voice carried not a hint of emotion. "What did you say just now? That if I crawled back to the dungeon myself, I could live a few more days?"

Cold sweat poured down Jialie Bi's forehead.

Though he pushed his five-star Da Dou Shi Dou Qi to its limit, causing pale green wind vortices to howl around his body, it brought him no sense of security whatsoever.

The oppressive pressure radiating from the youth before him was a terrifying, tyrannical force he had never experienced in his entire life!

"Ye Xiu... no, Young Friend Ye!" Jialie Bi forced himself to stay calm, squeezing out a smile that looked even worse than crying:

"A misunderstanding! This is all a misunderstanding! It's Liu Xi! Everything happened because I was bewitched by that damned Liu Xi!"

"My Jialie Family is willing to provide compensation! Ten times the compensation for your losses! From now on, my Jialie Family will treat you as an honored guest, and all our resources will be yours to use! I only ask..."

"Only ask that I spare your life?" Ye Xiu interrupted him with a cold sneer. "Didn't you just say that a lowly servant boy wouldn't matter if he died?"

Jialie Bi's words were choked in his throat, his face turning a sickly shade of green and white.

He knew that begging for his life was no longer an option.

The other party's intent to kill was absolute!

Despair often gives birth to a final, desperate madness.

"You little bastard! You forced me to do this!" A beast-like ferocity erupted in Jialie Bi's eyes as his five-star Da Dou Shi Dou Qi burned without reservation, even showing faint signs of overdrawing his life force.

He slammed his hands together to form a complex seal, and the pale green Dou Qi around him instantly turned violent, emitting a faint, destructive aura.

"Die with me!!"

Jialie Bi roared, his entire body becoming like a human-shaped storm as he charged madly toward Ye Xiu!

Wherever he passed, the ground cracked, tables and chairs were shredded by invisible wind blades, and the violent energy destroyed every decoration in the hall!

The mockery on Ye Xiu's face grew even more pronounced.

"Heh, daring to show off your petty tricks before an expert."

Ye Xiu took a step forward, and his Dou Qi erupted with a boom!

A tyrannical, crimson-gold radiance instantly flooded the entire council hall, suppressing the violent green wind vortex until it dimmed into nothingness!

The scorching heat caused the wooden furniture to spontaneously combust, and there were even signs of the floor beneath Ye Xiu's feet beginning to melt!

Under the illumination of this sun-like crimson-gold Dou Qi, Ye Xiu looked like a god of fire.

He raised his right hand, spread his five fingers, and pressed down into the empty air toward the charging Jialie Bi.

"Suppress!"

A roar echoed, sounding like a muffled peal of thunder!

Under this mid-air press from Ye Xiu, it was as if Jialie Bi had been struck by an invisible, colossal palm of flame!

"Pfft—!"

Jialie Bi's forward momentum came to an abrupt halt, and the violent green Dou Qi on his body rapidly dissipated!

"No... impossible..." Blood streamed from Jialie Bi's seven orifices. He felt a terrifying, supreme, and masculine power ignite the Dou Qi he had gathered for his self-detonation in a single instant!

Ye Xiu raised his hand and struck again!

"Boom—!"

Jialie Bi's body instantly transformed into a fiercely burning human torch!

The flames roared and crackled!

In just two or three breaths, the flames faded away.

In their place remained only a small pile of gray-white embers drifting in the wind.

The Jialie Family head, five-star Da Dou Shi Jialie Bi, had been utterly annihilated, body and soul!

Ye Xiu slowly withdrew his hand, and the hall fell into a deathly silence.

The once-solemn council hall now resembled a hellish purgatory!

Ye Xiu's gaze swept over the corpses and ashes covering the floor, then he walked to the main seat and picked up an exquisite jade bottle from the table. Inside were several pale green medicinal pills—the very "Rejuvenation Powder" the Jialie Family had used to suppress the Xiao Clan.

He pinched one out, sniffed it, and then sneered in disdain:

"Crude and filled with impurities. The efficacy isn't even half that of a standard Rejuvenation Powder; it's only good for swindling ignorant mercenaries. Liu Xi? What a piece of trash."

He tossed the jade bottle onto the ground, shattering it to pieces.

This level of medicinal pill was beneath his notice.

Ye Xiu then gathered the remaining Storage Rings from the floor. There was quite a lot inside, totaling at least five or six hundred thousand gold coins.

After putting away the Storage Ring, Ye Xiu cast his gaze beyond the meeting hall, toward the depths of the Jialie Family estate.

That was the direction of the Alchemy Room.

"Liu Xi, you're the only one left. Hehehe!"

The night wind was biting.

Ye Xiu walked toward the isolated courtyard deep within the estate.

As he drew closer, the scent of blood that had permeated the air was gradually replaced by the smell of rouge and powder.

The Alchemy Room was brightly lit, and faint sounds of men and women flirting, along with some unbearable whispers, drifted out.

A cold glint flashed in Ye Xiu's eyes, and a cruel sneer curled the corners of his mouth.

He arrived silently before the bedroom door, not even bothering to push the ajar door open; he simply raised his foot and delivered a fierce kick!

"BOOM--!"

The heavy wooden door and its frame shattered instantly. Amidst the flying wood splinters, the scene inside was laid bare.

On the wide bed, a bloated, pale-faced young man was pressing down on a beautiful maid. Their clothes were in disarray, and they were clearly in the heat of the moment.

The sudden loud noise and the intruder caused the maid to let out a shrill scream as she hurriedly grabbed a quilt to cover her body.

The young man was stunned for a moment, then turned around in a rage: "Which blind dog is it?! How dare you ruin my good--"

His angry cursing came to an abrupt halt.

Because he saw a strange youth standing at the doorway. The youth was wearing blood-stained servant robes and his face still looked youthful, but the icy killing intent in his eyes made him, a man who usually threw his weight around relying on his status as a first-grade Alchemist, feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

"You are..." Liu Xi felt the youth looked somewhat familiar. A pale, frail figure from the dungeon flashed through his mind, and his pupils shrank. "Ye Xiu?! How could you possibly be here?!"

He could not finish his sentence.

Ye Xiu did not even look at him, his gaze landing on the maid who was trying to shrink into the corner of the bed.

He recognized this woman; she was someone Jialie Bi had specially selected and sent to serve Liu Xi to curry favor with him.

Before Ye Xiu had been thrown into the dungeon, he had worked as a servant cleaning this courtyard, and in the beginning, he had often been harassed and mocked by this woman.