The ruins of the council hall were shrouded in smoke and dust.
Zhu Ganglie watched Zhu Zhuyun, whom Gu Tian had sent flying with a single palm strike, lie motionless, her life or death unknown. His eyes instantly turned bloodshot. She was his eldest daughter, the pride of his life and the future hope of the Zhu Family!
"Reckless fool! You dare commit murder in the Zhu Residence? Do you take me, Zhu Ganglie, for a clay doll?"
Zhu Ganglie let out a beastlike roar. The Soul Power of a Soul Douluo erupted without restraint. Deep black Soul Power surged with a violent aura, gathering behind him into the phantom of a giant Hell Spirit Cat. The cat stood several meters tall, its eyes glimmering with ghostly green light, as if it might spring out at any moment and tear his enemy to shreds.
"Seventh Soul Skill: Spirit Cat True Form! You're all going to die!"
Zhu Ganglie flashed forward like a black bolt of lightning, charging at Gu Tian. But before he could get within five meters of him, a terrifying pressure descended from the side, nearly suffocating him.
"Playing cat in front of me? You're not qualified."
Chiyan sneered and lightly beat the Fire Dragon wings on her back. Without any complicated movements, she simply raised her right hand, wrapped in dragon-scale armor, and gently pressed it against empty space.
"Boom—!"
A crimson wave of fire appeared out of nowhere, transforming into the phantom of a giant dragon claw. With the domineering force to incinerate all things, it clamped down on Zhu Ganglie's Hell Spirit Cat.
"Crack!"
The sound of breaking bones rang out clearly. Zhu Ganglie's Martial Soul, powerful enough to stand above the masses, was as fragile as a sheet of paper under the Fire Dragon King's suppression. The phantom dragon claw crushed the cat's spine, and the violent backlash of Soul Power made Zhu Ganglie spit out a huge mouthful of blood on the spot.
Before he could react, Chiyan had already teleported in front of him. Her long, shapely leg swept up in a blur and slammed into his lower abdomen.
"Bam!"
Zhu Ganglie flew like a cannonball, crashing beneath the ancestral tablets of the Zhu Family. He struggled to stand, only to discover that the extreme fire element had nearly crippled the meridians in his body. Even gathering his breath was now beyond him.
As Chiyan drew closer, step by step, the anger in Zhu Ganglie's eyes was finally replaced by boundless terror. He had never seen a powerhouse so unreasonable. The tremor deep in his soul made him realize that the woman before him really could erase the entire Zhu Family from the Star Luo Empire in an instant.
"Spare me... My lady, spare my life!"
Zhu Ganglie had none of a marshal's dignity left. He dropped to his knees with a thud on the cold ground and kowtowed frantically to Chiyan and Gu Tian. "This old man was blind! Please, my lady, for Zhuqing's sake, spare the Zhu Family!"
Gu Tian paid Zhu Ganglie no attention and instead walked slowly toward Zhu Zhuyun amid the ruins.
Zhu Zhuyun was kneeling amid the rubble. Her once elegant black leather outfit had been reduced to tatters by the explosion and its aftermath, most of the fabric scorched and charred. Large swaths of her fair, delicate skin were exposed. The violent impact had left her covered in dust and ash, creating an oddly sickly beauty.
Her torn collar had slipped down, revealing a glimpse of the pale pink silk lingerie beneath. Her slender waist showed between the edges of her damaged leather pants, and most of her long, shapely legs were exposed to the air.
Gu Tian bent down, reached out, and pinched Zhu Zhuyun's pointed chin, forcing her to lift her face and meet his gaze.
Her once-proud, pretty face was now filled with terror. Though she looked disheveled from the battle, the Zhu Family's genes were undeniably exceptional. She had long, wavy black hair and features more mature and alluring than Zhu Zhuqing's. Especially her ghostly pupils, now trembling with fear, paired with a figure far more voluptuous than those of her peers, could stir any man's desire to conquer.
"That slap earlier felt pretty satisfying, didn't it?" Gu Tian looked at her with a faint smile, gently brushing his fingers over her cheek and feeling the slight tremors born of her fear.
Zhu Zhuyun's body stiffened. She hardly dared to breathe, and could only let Gu Tian's fingers trace her face.
Gu Tian turned to Zhu Zhuqing, who had remained silent all this while.
"Zhuqing, what do you want to do with these two?" Gu Tian asked softly. "Just say the word, and I can make them disappear forever."
Zhu Zhuqing's nose twitched, and her beautiful catlike eyes brimmed with tears. She looked at her father, his face streaked with blood, then at the sister who had always humiliated her and was now as lowly as an ant. In the end, she let out a sigh.
"Brother Gu Tian... Let them go." Zhu Zhuqing's voice was hoarse. "After all, he's the one who gave birth to me."
Gu Tian raised an eyebrow and pointed at Zhu Zhuyun. "She hit you. You can hit her back right now. Ten times as hard, a hundred times as hard—it's all fine."
Hearing this, Zhu Zhuyun trembled even harder and looked toward her younger sister as if pleading for help.
Zhu Zhuqing only shook her head. Her gaze grew unusually clear and distant, as if she had seen through some shackle of fate.
Instead of walking toward Zhu Zhuyun, she went to Zhu Ganglie, who was slumped on the ground.
Chiyan gently waved her hand. A soft force lifted Zhu Ganglie and settled him securely into a large chair that was still intact.
Zhu Zhuqing stood before her father, drew a deep breath, then slowly knelt.
"Thud!"
"This bow is to thank you for giving me life."
"Thud!"
"This bow is to thank the Zhu Family for raising me these past six years."
"Thud!"
"This bow severs the bond between father and daughter."
The three kowtows were heavy and resolute. When Zhu Zhuqing lifted her head, a faint redness had appeared on her forehead.
"I have repaid the Zhu Family for raising me and you for giving me life. From this day on, I am no longer the Zhu Family's second young lady. The Star Luo Zhu Zhuqing will cease to exist." She stood and stepped behind Gu Tian, her voice so calm it made one's heart ache. "From now on, I belong to Gu Tian alone."
Gu Tian reached out and drew Zhu Zhuqing into his arms, then cast a cold look at Zhu Zhuyun on the ground.
He casually tossed a black robe from his Soul Tool, covering most of Zhu Zhuyun's exposed body.
"Put it on. Don't make a spectacle of yourself here."
After cleaning up the mess at the Zhu Residence, Gu Tian led Zhu Zhuqing and the others away. Then, with Na'er's Spatial Teleportation ability, they moved to a barren stretch of land outside Star Luo City.