Kill!

"Zhou Heng, what do you think you're doing? Release my son at once!" Zhou Jianming's voice carried a hint of panic.

If Zhou Heng were still the Zhou Heng of before, even if he had a sword pressed to Zhou Kan's neck, Zhou Jianming would still have the ability to rescue Zhou Kan the instant Zhou Heng made a move!

But from the power of that earlier strike, it was clear that Zhou Heng's strength was formidable—so formidable that even this Ninth Layer of Body Refining expert had no confidence in defeating him, let alone saving someone!

Now, seeing his son hoisted up like a dead dog, Zhou Jianming's concern naturally threw him into disarray.

"The time should be about right," Zhou Heng suddenly said something irrelevant.

"What?" Zhou Jianming was stunned, completely baffled by Zhou Heng's words, but he pricked up his ears and soon sensed many people rushing toward them. In no time, over a dozen people poured through the main gate.

The commotion earlier had been considerable, and this Separate Courtyard wasn't too remote either—it was only natural that people would come to investigate.

Taking in the scene in the courtyard, everyone was stunned. They couldn't even recognize Zhou Kan's face, let alone understand what had happened. They only assumed some reckless thief had come to cause trouble in the family.

"Still one missing." Zhou Heng's gaze swept around; he was waiting for Zhou Xianming's arrival.

"Zhou Heng, what exactly are you trying to do!" Zhou Jianming, afraid to act rashly for fear of harming his son, could only suppress his fury and speak in a low voice.

"How did you treat my father?" Zhou Heng said, holding back his anger. "My father was a family elder. How many contributions did he make to the family? Yet after he was severely injured, not only did the family refuse to spend any effort on healing him, they stripped him of his elder position. Even a servant could bully him at will!"

"Is this how the family treats its own? Or is it that some people have such an iron grip that they disregard the family's interests, just to settle personal scores?"

"Shut your mouth, you brat! Don't spout nonsense and slander others!" Zhou Jianming roared in rebuke. If his son weren't still in Zhou Heng's hands, he would have leaped forward and captured him. Some things, even if everyone knew them, simply could not be spoken aloud.

"Zhou Heng, you've already been expelled from the family. Now, put him down and get out!"

"Hmph, the Zhou family is not a place where you and your son can do as you please." Zhou Heng gave a faint smile and tightened his grip on Zhou Kan's neck. A cracking sound of bones grinding together followed. Choked and breathless, Zhou Kan's limbs twitched, and he actually woke up.

"Father! Father!" Zhou Kan saw his own father right in front of him and squeezed out a hoarse, desperate voice from his throat. His limbs stirred slightly, as if begging Zhou Jianming for help.

"Kan'er!" Zhou Jianming had only this one son, whom he doted on beyond measure. Seeing his beloved child's head swollen like a pig's, looking at him with such pitiful eyes, his heart felt as if it were being cut to pieces.

What? That pig-faced person was Zhou Kan?

The Zhou family members who had gathered were all shocked. Only then did they realize something truly serious had happened!

Zhou Heng actually dared to use this to threaten Zhou Jianming—what nerve!

But that wasn't right!

Hadn't Zhou Kan just broken through to the Bone Refining Realm a month ago, with the family throwing a grand celebration for it? How could he be caught in Zhou Heng's hands like a dead dog? Had he fallen into some trap?

Even more impossible—if a Bone Refining Realm martial artist could be ambushed by someone at the First Layer of Body Refining, they might as well go smash their head against a tofu block.

Only then did they think to sense Zhou Heng's aura.

"Bone Refining Realm!"

Among those present were several Bone Refining Realm experts. Sensing that Zhou Heng's aura, though perhaps slightly weaker, was definitely of the same level, their expressions changed sharply as they exclaimed.

The others, upon hearing this, were dumbfounded!

Zhou Heng couldn't cultivate—this had been confirmed by the family many times. How had he suddenly become a Bone Refining Realm existence?

"Hmph, what's all this noise and disorder? Aren't you afraid of making a fool of yourselves before our honored guest?" A commanding, dignified voice rang out, and everyone immediately fell silent, each showing absolute respect.

Zhou Xianming had arrived!

He was one of the family's six Blood Refining Realm experts, and the only one to reach the Twelfth Layer of Body Refining. It was this unique strength that had secured his position as Great Elder, turning the Zhou Family almost into his personal fiefdom.

Under such accumulated authority, who dared not show fear and reverence?

The crowd parted to make way, and two old men walked in side by side. One had white beard and white brows, a burly frame, and an air of authority from long-standing power. The other looked somewhat younger, around fifty or so, dressed in a green robe, exuding a certain detached, worldly ease.

The white-bearded, white-browed old man was Zhou Xianming, the de facto ruler of the Zhou Family. But who was the other half-old man?

For Zhou Xianming to call him an honored guest and walk shoulder to shoulder with him, the other's status was certainly no lower than his own!

Zhou Heng sensed the Green-Robed Elder's aura and his expression tightened. Though he couldn't directly see through the other's cultivation, he could compare it to Zhou Xianming's, and the conclusion was that they were evenly matched.

Another Twelfth Layer of Body Refining expert!

Zhou Heng had originally had some confidence in stirring the other four elders to challenge Zhou Xianming. But with an additional Twelfth Layer expert, the two of them together would form an unbreakable alliance—no one could crack it!

Who was this Green-Robed Elder?

But now the arrow had been loosed; there was no turning back! Was he supposed to just sit by and watch his father be humiliated and slowly die from his injuries?

He couldn't do it!

Zhou Heng revealed a murderous smile. "Anyone who tries to harm my father will pay with blood!"

Without mercy, he swung his sword, driving it up from under Zhou Kan's jaw. With the sharpness of the Frost Cold Sword and the power of the Bone Refining Realm, the blade pierced straight through the top of Zhou Kan's head! Blood sprayed as he raised his right arm, lifting Zhou Kan's entire body like a banner.

"Kan'er!" Zhou Jianming let out a piercing, anguished cry. His body lunged forward, charging recklessly at Zhou Heng.

He would kill this brat!

First Form of Heaven-Soaring!

Zhou Heng withdrew his longsword and instantly entered a state of utter stillness, his mind merging with heaven and earth, as if he could pierce through all mysteries of the world.

Heaven and earth pressed down, heaven and earth rejected. Zhou Jianming's movement faltered, his mind seized, suffering an utterly inexcusable pause!

The sword light flashed, like a stunning bolt of silk through the sky!

Whoosh, a head soared into the air, arced through the sky, and landed on the ground. Its momentum not yet spent, it rolled along, coming to a stop right at Zhou Xianming's feet.

Only at this moment did Zhou Xianming realize that the person Zhou Heng held in his hand like a dead dog was his grandson! And in just a few short seconds, his only son and grandson had both been cleanly killed by Zhou Heng with a single sword stroke!

Looking at his son's severed head, his body trembled violently, a sharp pain struck his chest, and he spat out a mouthful of old blood, staining his chest with a patch of blood.

"You little beast, I'll tear you into ten thousand pieces!" Zhou Xianming clutched his chest, his eyes blazing as if about to spit fire.

How formidable was an expert of the Blood Refining Realm? Their surging blood energy could even stun a person unconscious. With this rage, Zhou Xianming erupted with terrifying might, waves of invisible force radiating from his body like surging tides, forcing those around him to step back involuntarily, step after step!

But Zhou Heng remained unmoved. After all, he was a martial artist of the Bone Refining Realm—how could he be intimidated by the aura of a Blood Refining Realm cultivator? Besides, the Heaven-Soaring Nine Styles he cultivated were profoundly mysterious, emphasizing overwhelming others with momentum; he was even less likely to be suppressed by Zhou Xianming.

"Old man, you have a heart too—do you feel pain?" Zhou Heng declared loudly. "Your son and grandson were family, but wasn't my father family too? When you indulged your son in violence and your grandson in evil, did you ever think that we are all members of the Zhou Family?"

"Someone who only cares for personal gain—what right do they have to sit in the position of elder?"

"I propose that Zhou Xianming be stripped of his elder position!"

A single stone stirred a thousand waves!

Only now did the stunned members of the Zhou Family snap back to their senses.

Zhou Heng had killed Zhou Kan! Zhou Heng had killed Zhou Jianming!

Sss!

How dare he! And how could he!

Zhou Kan might have been caught off guard—after all, no one would expect a cripple who couldn't cultivate to suddenly possess Bone Refining Realm cultivation! But Zhou Jianming had attacked in fury with full force, and he was at the Ninth Layer of Body Refining!

Killed with a single sword strike!

What overwhelming combat power!

Was the Zhou Family... about to change?

"A brat with yellow mouth, how dare you judge my merits and faults!" Zhou Xianming snorted coldly. "Gross insubordination, murdering kin—your crime is unforgivable!"

The old man lunged forward like a fierce eagle, charging straight at Zhou Heng.

Flying Cloud Steps!

Boom! Zhou Xianming's sure-kill strike hit nothing but air, his claw tearing straight through the bluestone floor, sending chunks of broken brick and dirt flying into the air.

The crowd was shocked once more!

Zhou Heng had actually dodged that strike!

And damn, the kid was even counterattacking!

Zhou Heng didn't use the Cloud-Soaring Nine Styles—even the first style consumed too much of his energy, and he had no confidence in killing an old veteran at the peak of the Twelfth Layer of Body Refining within ten moves!

Flying Waterfall Sword Technique!

Zhou Heng activated Flying Cloud Steps, his body spinning around Zhou Xianming in a blur, appearing in front one moment and behind the next. If anyone stared directly at him, within seconds they'd feel dizzy and nauseous.

The battle had actually reached a stalemate!

How was that possible!

A kid at the Bone Refining Realm, and just barely at that, could actually trade blows with a Blood Refining Realm expert at the peak of the Twelfth Layer of Body Refining? No, not just trade blows—he was dominating!

Zhou Heng was actually suppressing Zhou Xianming!

That's right! With the wonder of Flying Cloud Steps, Zhou Heng had no need to worry about his rear, focusing entirely on a relentless assault against Zhou Xianming!

And though the Flying Waterfall Sword Technique couldn't compare to the Cloud-Soaring Nine Styles, as a secret technique of the Nine Spirits Sect, it was far from ordinary. His long sword swept out like cascading waterfalls falling from the sky, a magnificent sight.

Zhou Xianming roared in fury. In terms of true cultivation, Zhou Heng couldn't hold a candle to him, but this brat had a bizarre footwork that made it impossible to land a hit! And the Frost Cold Sword was so sharp it could sever even a Bone Refining Realm martial artist's bones with a single stroke—he dared not take it head-on either!

He absolutely couldn't let this kid lead him by the nose!

Zhou Xianming turned his gaze toward the inner courtyard.