The Fourth Elder sneered. "You dog of less than an ant, the Lu Family raised you. Being able to pave the way for Young Master Lu Ran should be your hon—"
Screech!
The blade aura pierced through his chest like a silver dragon, abruptly cutting off the Fourth Elder's words.
The other five elders recoiled in horror, only to see Lu Chen's figure flash repeatedly. The Second Elder and Fifth Elder, who had participated in stripping his bloodline, had their heads roll to the ground one after another.
Amid the blood mist, Lu Chen sheathed his blade and stood still. He said blandly to Lu Changqing, "I won't kill you, but don't stop me either. Otherwise, there will be no mercy."
Cold sweat poured down the Fourth Elder's back, and his courage froze with terror.
"You little beast! My son Lu Ran is a prodigy of Tianyu Academy. How dare you—"
Lu Ran's father, Lu Yong, rushed out from the inner courtyard. Golden Core Realm pressure gathered in his palm as a palm seal crashed down.
Lu Chen's eyes flashed sharply. The old bastard had actually entered the Golden Core Realm.
It seemed that because of his son, he had received quite a few benefits!
Lu Chen neither dodged nor evaded. His right fist, carrying a tremendous force of over a thousand newtons, met the attack head-on.
Boom!
The palm seal shattered, and Lu Yong's right arm exploded into a spray of blood.
Before he could scream, Lu Chen had already seized his throat. "The father of a prodigy? So what if you're in the Golden Core Realm? You're still nothing but an ant."
His five fingers clenched, crushing the man's throat bone to pieces.
The family head, Lu Kang, finally appeared. Seeing this scene, his eyes split wide with fury.
"You whelp! Today, I'll make sure your soul is utterly destroyed! Ancestor, come quickly!"
As he roared, an aged figure tore through the air from the ancestral hall—it was the Lu Family's Golden Core Realm ancestor, who had been in seclusion.
He stood suspended in the air, his withered palm pressing down from afar. The spiritual energy within a hundred yards suddenly condensed into a mountain-sized giant hand that came crashing down.
Lu Chen crossed his arms and took it head-on. The bluestone beneath his feet exploded into powder, his knees sank three inches into the ground, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"A sixth-level Qi Surge Realm cultivator can withstand thirty percent of my spiritual power. No wonder you dared to return!" the ancestor sneered. Lightning flickered around his fingertips. "Let's see how you handle this move!"
Nine Tribulation Thunder Seal!
Nine bolts of purple lightning transformed into horned dragons and lunged down to devour him.
Lu Chen's pupils constricted. The Myriad Manifestations Furnace erupted from his dantian, its opening spreading like an abyss to swallow half the lightning into the furnace.
The remaining lightning serpents blasted into his back. His protective aura instantly collapsed, leaving his flesh scorched black and curling open.
"Cough, cough... old dog..."
Lu Chen spat out bloody foam as three clones separated from his body.
Four layers of Qi and Blood Domain stacked atop one another like waves of blood. The spiritual energy around the ancestor was forcibly suppressed, and the thunder seal's radiance suddenly dimmed.
"Qi and Blood Domain!" The ancestor's expression shifted slightly as he bit through his tongue and spat out Essence Blood.
The blood mist merged into the thunder seal, temporarily raising his cultivation to the fifth level of the Golden Core Realm.
The nine thunder dragons swelled tenfold. Their horns pierced through the domain's restraints, and the furnace let out a mournful cry beneath an unbearable burden.
"Explode for me!" Lu Chen roared as one clone charged fearlessly into the thunder seal.
The furnace outside his body exploded the instant it made contact, as baleful flames and lightning intertwined and annihilated each other.
While the ancestor formed hand seals to calm the backlash, the remaining two clones turned into blood-red rainbows and charged forward. The Soul Severing Saber shone as brightly as the blazing sun.
Clang—
The blade struck the ancestor's protective golden bell, sending sparks flying. Cracks spread across its surface like a spiderweb.
Lu Chen's true body seized the chance to leap into the sky. The energy stored within the furnace poured down in a torrent.
"Break!" He gripped the saber with both hands and slashed downward through the air, two thousand newtons of force accompanied by an explosive burst of energy.
The golden bell exploded with a bang, and the ancestor flew backward with his breastbone caved in.
Lu Chen pounced like a starving tiger on its prey, driving the blade tip into the man's dantian and twisting.
"Agh!" The instant his Golden Core was taken by the furnace, the ancestor's body visibly shriveled and withered.
Lu Chen crushed the aged man's head beneath his foot, then stored his corpse inside one of the external furnaces.
The onlookers in the street were silent as cicadas in winter.
When that blood-dripping bone blade turned toward them, no one dared meet his gaze.
Lu Kang was scared out of his wits.
Martial Dao Cultivators were stronger than immortal cultivators of the same realm, but no one had ever heard of them challenging above their level—let alone witnessed it with their own eyes. And the one Lu Chen had killed was the Lu Family's ancestor.
"You little beast, I should have killed you back then!" Lu Kang was filled with hatred and regret as he lunged forward desperately.
His attack missed.
Lu Chen appeared behind him and cut off one of his arms with a single slash.
Amid his screams, Lu Chen grabbed his neck and shattered his dantian qi sea.
The clean, decisive brutality made everyone's hair stand on end.
Gripping Lu Kang by the neck, Lu Chen shot to the gates of the Lu residence. Facing the crowd gathering around him, he said:
"The Lu Family stole my bloodline. The disaster they face today is the result of their own sins!"
The Soul Severing Saber lifted Lu Kang. "And you, as the Lu Family head, allowed others to strip away my bloodline. You even sold me to the beast-fighting arena in Cangwu City. Despicable, shameless, vile—you deserve to die!"
Splurt!
Amid screams, Lu Kang was split into two.
The entire scene fell deathly silent.
Everyone was deeply shaken by Lu Chen's words.
Not only had his bloodline been stripped away, but he had also been sold into slavery.
Too much information had been exposed.
One had to know that slavery was only permitted in the northern lands of Yan. No one dared do such a thing within Great Yan.
"Impudence!" The Chixiao City Lord arrived treading on clouds alongside a Nascent Soul Elder from Tianyu Academy.
"Lu Ran is a core disciple of the academy. How dare you slander him!"
Lu Chen looked up and sneered. "Since when did the city lord need to breathe according to Tianyu Academy's whim? Are you an official of Great Yan, or an official of the academy?"
"Or are you afraid of Lu Ran?"
"Impudence!" the city lord thundered, flicking a finger. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth condensed into a cage. "Demon, submit to execution!"
Just as Lu Chen was about to risk his life in a final fight, a hunched figure abruptly appeared before the cage. The gray-robed elder tapped the ground lightly with his wooden staff, and the cage exploded apart.
"What imposing official authority!" The elder lifted his hood, revealing a weathered face.
"Y-you... you... Old Ancestor Tianyan!" The elder from Tianyu Academy turned pale.
The city lord was also shaken to the core. He hurriedly descended and respectfully performed a deep bow.
"Go apologize to the imperial clan yourself," the elder said coldly.
The city lord's face turned white. He knew he was in serious trouble.
"As for matters between juniors, let them fight and contend for themselves. Adults should not meddle and disgrace themselves like this."
Old Ancestor Tianyan glanced at the elder from Tianyu Academy.
The other man quickly bowed.
"If you wish to make a move, then have your academy head come out. I'll wait for him at Tianyan Academy!"
"N-no, I wouldn't dare!" Cold sweat appeared on the elder's forehead as well.
Although Tianyan Academy had declined until it was nearly empty, this man's status was still there.
He was one of Great Yan's pillars holding up the sky!
What was he? Merely an academy instructor.
"Spit out what you took, then go to the capital to apologize as well. These old arms and legs followed you all the way here. Heh, this kid is not bad!"
The elder smiled at Lu Chen, then suddenly snorted.
"You really are ruthless. You nearly buried this old man in the beast-fighting arena!"
Lu Chen frowned. "Who are you? Why are you involving yourself in my affairs?"
"I was saving you. Couldn't you tell?"
"What was that following earlier about?"
"I saw you throw Cangwu City into chaos, wipe out Black Collar Prison Heaven Cave, and all of this..."
As he spoke, the elder pointed at the Lu residence.
Lu Chen's scalp went numb.
Everything he had done had actually been exposed before this man, not to mention the Myriad Manifestations Furnace.
What did this old bastard want?
But the city lord and the elder from Tianyu Academy were both filled with disbelief.
"Why?"
"This old man wants to take you to Tianyan Academy in Yanjing. Lu Ran can enter Tianyu Academy, and you are qualified to enter Tianyan Academy too. Are you interested?"
Lu Chen froze, then stammered, "Tianyan... Academy? Why haven't I heard of it?"
The corners of the city lord's and Tianyu Academy elder's mouths twitched.
The elder burst into laughter. "Of course you haven't heard of it. We accept none but monsters."
"Also, that brat Lu Ran has become Tianyu Academy's this..."
As he spoke, he raised a thumb. "He has caught the eye of their academy head. If you enter there, there will be nothing but trouble for you. You might even lose your life!"
"But Tianyan, hehe, I'm the ancestor. If I bring you in, who would dare act up? This old man will crush them to death."
Cough!
The city lord and the elder from Tianyu Academy coughed, quickly closed their mouths, and turned to leave, only for Lu Chen to block their path.
Before you continue