Smashed to Pieces

"Fire! Fire!"

Seeing Chen Yuan shatter the shield formation in an instant, Zhu Chengze immediately ducked behind the many retainers and roared at the top of his lungs.

After undergoing Blood Fiend Body Tempering, Chen Yuan's five senses had become exceptionally sharp. When there were only a few arrows, he relied on his perception to evade them directly. When there were too many, a single slash of his blade shattered them all.

After that volley of arrows, quite a few Zhu Family retainers were injured by friendly fire instead, prompting them to curse loudly.

Yet Chen Yuan seemed unstoppable. He weaved back and forth among the Zhu Family retainers, leaving behind great sprays of blood and countless severed limbs. He was ferocious and ruthless to the extreme.

Of the hundred or so retainers present, nearly half were slaughtered by Chen Yuan in the blink of an eye.

In an instant, the Zhu Family retainers broke down and scattered in every direction.

But when those Zhu Family retainers looked back, they discovered that Zhu Chengze, who had been directing them from the rear, had already vanished.

Zhu Chengze cherished his life greatly.

The moment he saw that things were going wrong, he turned and fled. Yet he never ordered the Zhu Family retainers to retreat, using their lives entirely to buy himself time.

After killing another dozen or so people, Chen Yuan felt the timing was about right and leaped directly out of the Zhu Family residence.

It did not matter if Zhu Chengze escaped. He had never been Chen Yuan's target in the first place.

Not long after Chen Yuan left, Zhu Chaofeng and Zhu Chengan hurried back to the Zhu Family with their men.

The moment they saw the signal Zhu Chengze had sent, they were shocked. They had not expected that bastard to be so bold as to actually attack their home head-on.

Realizing that they had fallen for the enemy's ploy to lure the tiger from the mountain, they immediately rushed back.

When they pushed open the gates and saw the courtyard strewn with severed limbs and broken bodies, Zhu Chaofeng's vision went black.

He had never imagined that he would lose two sons in a single day!

"Father! Elder Brother!"

Just as Zhu Chaofeng was searching the ground for his son's corpse, Zhu Chengze suddenly poked his head out from behind a rockery.

"Third Brother, you're alive!?"

Zhu Chengze revealed a smile uglier than crying. "I led over a hundred retainers in trying to surround and kill that man, but we simply couldn't stop him. All the retainers fled.

"The moment I saw things were going badly, I escaped. That man did not continue pursuing me. He must have realized that Father and Elder Brother had returned with reinforcements."

This time, Zhu Chaofeng did not rebuke him. He merely sighed. "It's good that you're all right. Let those retainers scatter if they want. As long as we have money, the Zhu Family will never lack retainers."

"Father, where's Second Brother?" Zhu Chengan suddenly asked.

"I was afraid that bastard was hiding too well, so I sent Second Brother to investigate the cliffs near the edge of the city."

Lone Mountain City was built atop a mountain and surrounded by sheer cliffs. Few people ever went there, so it truly was a suitable place to hide.

After saying that, Zhu Chaofeng suddenly sensed that something was wrong. His expression abruptly changed. "Damn it! Go save Second Brother!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Zhu Chaofeng grabbed Zhu Chengan and sped toward where his second son, Zhu Chengguo, was.

The enemy truly had been luring the tiger from the mountain, but he had done it twice in succession!

His target had never been the weakest, Zhu Chengze, but Zhu Chengguo, whose strength was second only to Zhu Chaofeng's!

At this moment, Zhu Chengguo was also hurrying back toward the Zhu Family.

However, he had taken his men farther out, so he was the slowest to return.

Chen Yuan stood atop a building, gazing down at the group below.

Among the Five Tigers of the Zhu Family, aside from Zhu Chengzong, who was not in the Zhu Family residence, Zhu Chengguo was the strongest. He possessed cultivation at the middle stage of the Qi Forging Realm.

In terms of realm alone, Zhu Chengguo was even one minor realm higher than Chen Yuan.

But realm was realm, and combat strength was combat strength.

A lower realm did not mean one could not kill.

At that moment, Zhu Chengguo suddenly felt a chill rise in his heart.

He abruptly stopped. In the next instant, heaven-shaking killing intent erupted above his head!

Chen Yuan leaped down from the rooftop, activating the Source of Killing Intent and drawing the Blood Fiend into his body. The Surging Waves, Flowing Clouds Formula surged at full force, shrouding his entire body in dazzling crimson Blood Fiend energy!

Once Zhu Chaofeng returned to the Zhu Family, he would surely notice something was wrong and come to reinforce them immediately.

Thus, to avoid being besieged by three Qi Forging Realm experts, Chen Yuan had to kill Zhu Chengguo as quickly as possible.

To be safe, Chen Yuan directly invoked the Source of Killing Intent and unleashed his strongest power.

For now, he could only guarantee that the Blood Fiend entering his body would not lose control for five breaths. But five breaths were more than enough to kill Zhu Chengguo.

Dazzling Blood Fiend energy blazed atop the Azure Dragon Blooddrinker. Autumn Wind Slash descended, bringing with it scarlet blade shadows that filled the sky.

This was no longer an autumn wind sweeping the earth, but boundless bloody rain and foul wind suddenly descending.

Within a radius of ten feet, every martial artist touched by it was instantly torn apart by that incomparably tyrannical Blood Fiend Power.

Zhu Chengguo let out a furious roar. His internal force surged madly through his body, and sword light flickered from his longsword. In an instant, he produced sixteen sword blossoms to meet Chen Yuan's attack.

However, the Zhu Family's Heavenly Water Qi Condensation Formula was merely an ordinary low-grade Profound Tier internal art. Its cultivation speed was decent enough, but its explosive power was weak.

Under that supremely tyrannical Blood Fiend blade light, the sword blossoms shattered, the sword light dispersed, and the longsword in Zhu Chengguo's hand was instantly torn into fragments!

Even Zhu Chengguo's right hand was wounded by the Blood Fiend energy. Blood poured from deep wounds that exposed the bone.

Instead of retreating, Zhu Chengguo advanced. He rapidly tapped several acupoints around his body, and his blood and qi instantly began burning wildly. In the blink of an eye, an incomparably violent black fiendish aura erupted!

This was a secret method from the Zhu Family's secret technique, the Black Fiend, Fire Cloud Palm.

It burned blood and qi to strengthen fiendish energy. Though its explosive power was astonishing, the damage was irreversible. It could even scorch one's meridians and turn one into a cripple for life.

Boundless, violent Black Fiend Force surged over Zhu Chengguo's palms.

With one palm strike, black-red palm force burst through the air in blazing firelight from the Black Fiend Force, like fiery clouds descending, dazzling against the night.

Chen Yuan also struck with his palm. Crimson Blood Fiend Power converged into a massive handprint, and boundless killing calamity suddenly descended!

The Bloodslaughter Heaven-Calamity Hand was incomparably domineering. With a single palm strike, all true qi of every attribute in the surrounding area was completely suppressed in an instant.

Zhu Chengguo's Black Fiend, Fire Cloud Palm appeared immensely powerful, but beneath Chen Yuan's Bloodslaughter Heaven-Calamity Hand, the fire clouds were extinguished in an instant, and the Black Fiend Force was suppressed and dissolved.

Before he could react, the handprint descended. Astonishing Blood Fiend Power poured into his body, and Zhu Chengguo was forcibly blasted into pieces by that palm!

Chen Yuan took a deep breath and circulated all his internal force to suppress his own blood and qi.

Three breaths.

One slash and one palm strike. Killing Zhu Chengguo had taken only three breaths.

The Zhu Family retainers around them were already scared senseless.

From their perspective, Chen Yuan had suddenly descended with a slash, then brought down a palm and forcibly blown Zhu Chengguo apart.

The entire sequence happened with the speed of a rabbit rising and a falcon diving, so fast that they could not comprehend it.

They had become Zhu Family retainers, so they were no strangers to the slaughter of the martial world.

But beheading someone with a blade and forcibly blasting someone into a pile of mangled flesh with a palm were entirely different things.

Was this even human?

After standing there in a daze for a moment, the Zhu Family retainers under Zhu Chengguo's command fled in terror in every direction.

It was not that they were cowardly. Chen Yuan's palm strike had simply been too horrifying. It had shattered every last bit of their courage.

At this moment, Zhu Chaofeng and the other man finally arrived. Seeing the Zhu Family retainers fleeing in every direction, Zhu Chaofeng roared angrily, "Why are you running!? Where's Second Brother? Where is he!?"

But which of those Zhu Family retainers still had the mind to care about Zhu Chaofeng?

The Zhu Family paid well enough, but it was not worth fighting such a terrifying opponent to the death for them!

"Stop shouting. Your son is right here. These on the ground are him, and some pieces are on the roof too."

Chen Yuan pointed at the pile of mangled flesh on the ground. Part of it had splattered onto the rooftop as well.

Zhu Chaofeng's face turned deathly pale. His bloodshot eyes fixed on Chen Yuan.

He had never imagined that the man who had killed two of his sons and nearly caused the Zhu Family to collapse was so young, even younger than his youngest son, Zhu Chengzong.

"Who exactly are you!? Why have you dealt such a ruthless blow to my Zhu Family!?"

Zhu Chaofeng asked through gritted teeth.

Chen Yuan gently shook his head. "Every member of the Zhu Family asks me that whenever they see me. I'm merely a blade catcher. I accepted a job to wipe out your Zhu Family."

"It's only the extermination of a family. Your Zhu Family has done plenty of such things yourselves. Why are you making such a fuss?"

"A blade catcher? Do you think I'm an idiot? Even if that bitch from the Chu Family sold herself, she still couldn't have hired an expert like you to deal with my Zhu Family!"

No matter what, Zhu Chaofeng refused to believe that the expert before him, who had killed two of his sons, had been hired by Chu Hongshang to avenge the Chu Family.

"Ah, I'm telling the truth. Why won't you believe me?"

Chen Yuan shook his head, looking utterly helpless.

"Kill him!"

Zhu Chaofeng roared. True qi erupted around him as he lunged toward Chen Yuan.

Zhu Chengan also attacked with all his strength, following close behind.

But Chen Yuan had only just suppressed the boiling Blood Fiend energy. He had no desire to fight these two to the death.

The power of the Surging Waves, Flowing Clouds Formula erupted to its limit. With one leap, he crossed several yards and vanished into the night in an instant.