Chu Kuangren looked at the red rain filling the sky and chuckled. "Legend has it that when a mighty cultivator falls, strange phenomena appear between heaven and earth. So it really is true."
According to ancient legends, when the last Emperor in this world fell, the chimes of the Great Dao echoed, and torrential rain poured everywhere for three full days.
Compared to that, what did this brief shower of red rain amount to?
Before long, the red rain stopped, and sunlight pierced the dark clouds.
Chu Kuangren stood atop the ruins, sunlight falling over him like a golden gauze robe. Everyone was still awed by his might and dared not approach. Their gazes flickered, and there was no telling what they were thinking.
They were puzzled.
Why had Chu Kuangren been able to kill White Cloud Sword Venerable?
Why did his cultivation now seem so weak?
And was the Yuanling Treasure Vault really in his possession?
There were too many questions. Until they had answers, even if Chu Kuangren were on his last breath, they would not dare act rashly.
"Lan Yu, check for any fish that slipped through the net. Leave none alive. Kill them all! I have no need for a revenge drama."
Chu Kuangren spoke calmly.
"Yes, young master." Lan Yu nodded.
And sure enough.
The two of them really did find a fish that had slipped through the net.
"Don't kill me! Don't kill me!" Ye Lei, his hair disheveled and his body covered in blood and grime, was dragged from the ruins. He knelt on the ground and begged incessantly for mercy.
At that moment, how did he look anything like the Ye Family's prodigy?
"Fellow Daoist Chu, spare my life. If you spare me, I can serve as your ox or horse. Anything you want," Ye Lei said.
"You're Li Xingchen's friend?"
Looking at him, Chu Kuangren suddenly remembered seeing him once at the banquet Li Xingchen had held for him.
A glimmer of hope appeared in Ye Lei's eyes, and he hurriedly nodded. "That's right. Li Xingchen and I are close friends. I hope you'll spare my life for his sake, Fellow Daoist Chu. I'll definitely repay you someday."
Hearing this, Chu Kuangren could not help shaking his head. "I find that rather funny. I killed your entire family, and you actually want to repay me?"
"They offended you out of their own greed, Fellow Daoist Chu. They deserved to die, and their deaths are no loss." Ye Lei wore a fawning expression. With his face covered in a mist of blood, he looked as ridiculous as a clown.
Inwardly, he hated Chu Kuangren to the core and wished he could slice him into a thousand pieces. But to survive, he had to put on a harmless facade, even if it meant slandering his own birth parents.
Only by staying alive would he have any hope of revenge!
"Oh, impressive. You really are one of a kind."
Chu Kuangren smiled, then swept the sword in his hand. Sharp Sword Qi instantly sliced off Ye Lei's head.
Even as he died, Ye Lei could not understand. He had humbled himself so thoroughly, and his acting had been flawless. Why had Chu Kuangren still refused to spare him?
Indeed, Chu Kuangren did not know whether Ye Lei had been acting or had truly been scared out of his wits. But as long as there was even the slightest chance that he might seek revenge, Chu Kuangren would never leave any trouble for himself.
Even if Ye Lei posed no threat to him at all.
"All right, time to gather the spoils."
Chu Kuangren spoke.
In this battle, he had used a strand of Hongmeng Purple Qi. That was a foundation for becoming a Saint! Even though he had never intended to use it to become a Saint, it was still Hongmeng Purple Qi, something incomparably precious.
And now it was simply gone.
How could he not recover some spoils from the City Lord's Manor?
The battle had been so terrifying that most cultivators in the City Lord's Manor had not even left intact corpses behind, only Heaven and Earth Rings.
Some of the Heaven and Earth Rings were damaged and unusable.
But even a cursory search yielded quite a few good things.
After all, with a Supreme Supreme presiding over the City Lord's Manor, however meager its resources might be, how meager could they really get?
After clearing the battlefield, Chu Kuangren prepared to leave.
At that moment, a middle-aged cultivator finally lost his restraint and stopped him. "White Cloud Sword Venerable said the Yuanling Treasure Vault was in your possession?"
Chu Kuangren nodded. "Yes. Do you want it?"
That question instantly left the middle-aged cultivator speechless.
He wanted it!
He wanted it desperately, as much as anyone possibly could.
But the sight of Chu Kuangren slaying White Cloud Sword Venerable was branded deeply into everyone's minds. None of them dared make a rash move.
Chu Kuangren swept his gaze over the others and said calmly, "The treasure vault is with me. If you want it, come and take it. But I shouldn't need to tell you what happened to White Cloud Sword Venerable."
"That must have been because you used some means to forcibly increase your strength. Something like that can't possibly be easy to use. I don't believe you can do it again," a cultivator said.
They had noticed.
Chu Kuangren no longer possessed that vast, overwhelming pressure.
"That's right. I used a strand of Hongmeng Purple Qi!"
Chu Kuangren admitted it openly.
At those words, everyone's expression changed drastically.
"Hongmeng Purple Qi, the foundation for becoming a Saint!"
"You... you actually used a strand of Hongmeng Purple Qi to forcibly raise your cultivation and kill White Cloud Sword Venerable? What a wanton waste of a heavenly treasure!"
"Damn it! If that Hongmeng Purple Qi had been given to me, I could have become a Saint within a hundred years! Why didn't you give it to me?!"
The powerful cultivators present were beginning to lose their composure.
Some threw back their heads and howled. Some wrung their wrists and sighed. Others looked at Chu Kuangren as though he had murdered their fathers.
The impact of Hongmeng Purple Qi on them was too great.
This was precisely the result Chu Kuangren wanted.
Many powerful cultivators knew that the Yuanling Treasure Vault contained an opportunity to become a Saint. Many Venerables had come with their sights set on that opportunity.
Since his possession of the Yuanling Treasure Vault had already been exposed, openly admitting now that the opportunity to become a Saint was gone would not bring him any further trouble. On the contrary, it would reduce those top experts' interest in the treasure vault and spare him considerable trouble.
The remaining cultivators would also fear the Mystic Heaven Sect behind him and dare not act.
At that thought, Chu Kuangren could not help wanting to give himself a thumbs-up for his cleverness.
Even taking ten thousand steps back, if powerful cultivators still coveted the treasure vault in his possession, he had the Seventh Ancestor beside him.
That was a Supreme Supreme at the very peak of his strength!
"To think that the illustrious White Cloud Sword Venerable would covet a junior's opportunity. And even more unexpectedly, he ended up being killed instead!"
"For a Supreme Being of his generation to meet such an end... it truly makes one sigh."
Li Ye gazed at the City Lord's Manor, now reduced to ruins, and sighed.
"All the bustling crowds beneath heaven come and go for profit. Never mind Supreme Beings-even Saints standing high above cannot escape such worldly ways," Chu Kuangren said.
In his heart, he did not consider White Cloud Sword Venerable's actions utterly unforgivable. Men died for wealth, and birds died for food. That was simply human nature.
Unfortunately, the one they had sought to harm was him.
Then there was nothing to discuss.
Supreme Being or Saint, he just had to kill them.
"All the bustling crowds beneath heaven come and go for profit... Haha! Young friend Chu, you truly have a brilliant way with words. Every utterance is a polished composition!" Li Ye praised. Never mind Li Xingchen-even he wanted to befriend Chu Kuangren.
"I was merely speaking my thoughts."
Chu Kuangren smiled helplessly, then left.
This time, no one stopped him.
Watching his retreating figure, everyone seemed to see a young Emperor rising with unstoppable momentum!
"After this battle, Chu Kuangren's name will shake the world once again!" a cultivator said with feeling.
The death of a Supreme Supreme could not be concealed.
And the person who killed him would naturally become known throughout the world as well.
Before you continue