Everyone abruptly turned toward the spot where Jin Hao had fallen, but there was no movement or sign of life from him, and no one knew how he was.
"Young master!"
The old man accompanying him let out a piercing cry. With a flicker, he appeared beside the rubble and dug Jin Hao's body out.
Everyone's pupils abruptly contracted. Jin Hao, who had been so lofty and boundlessly arrogant just moments ago, was now charred from head to toe, without any sign of life!
Had they not known this was Jin Hao himself, they would have thought it was some beggar's charred corpse!
"Dead? Jin Hao actually died?"
The first elder, second elder, and the other lineage higher-ups all looked at the composed Mu Yan in utter horror.
Compared to the charred Jin Hao, Mu Yan, clean and untouched by even a speck of dust, possessed an indescribable presence.
No one could believe that the former trash had defeated the Gold and Jade Sect's greatest genius with a single move, even killing him so decisively!
Such strength was truly terrifying!
When had his strength grown to this extent?
Mu Lei could not believe his eyes either. He had thought his son had only just entered the Golden Core realm and was far weaker than Jin Hao, who was at the Golden Core realm second layer.
But the strength Mu Yan displayed had thoroughly convinced him!
What followed was tremendous pride and satisfaction.
Not only was his son not trash, but he was also a supreme genius who could utterly trounce the Gold and Jade Sect's genius!
Who would still dare say his son was no good now?
Just look at Jin Hao-that was how they would end up!
The muscles in Mu Kun's face twitched. This outcome had never occurred to him. Jin Hao was so strong, so why had he still lost to Mu Yan?
And Mu Yan had even killed him?
Damn it, was the Gold and Jade Sect's genius really this useless?
He could not accept this outcome!
What he wanted to see was Jin Hao decisively killing Mu Yan. Only that could ease his hatred for Mu Yan.
Unreconciled, Mu Kun was also filled with despair. If even Jin Hao was no match for Mu Yan, who else could bring Mu Yan to heel?
Meanwhile, Mu Tingting stared blankly at Mu Yan, an unprecedented bitterness and regret welling up in her heart.
Was my choice wrong? If... if I had kept holding to my own wishes, could I still have been the little girl by Brother Mu Yan's side?
At that thought, Mu Tingting suddenly wanted to cry. She truly regretted it!
Mu Yan stood proudly in the arena. He had not even moved his feet; with just a single palm strike, he had utterly slain Jin Hao.
That bearing also left Gu Yingluo, who had been on tenterhooks all this time, staring in a daze.
"Brother Mu Yan..."
Gu Yingluo murmured absently before coming back to her senses and cheering in overwhelming joy. "That was amazing! Brother Mu Yan!"
Jin Hao's formidable strength was acknowledged by the Gold and Jade Sect's entire younger generation.
As far as she knew, never mind Mu Yan when he could not cultivate-even the extraordinarily talented Mu Yan of the past might not have been able to catch up to Jin Hao.
But now that Mu Yan had blasted Jin Hao to death with one palm strike, Gu Yingluo was immensely excited and happy!
So her Brother Mu Yan was not trash after all!
Only the old man holding Jin Hao's corpse trembled all over with rage, his eyes turning bloodred with extreme hatred.
He slowly turned around and fixed Mu Yan with a deathly stare, his voice ice-cold. "You dared kill my young master? Not only will I kill you, but I'll make the entire Mu Household join him in the grave!"
As his words fell, an icy killing intent instantly enveloped the entire Mu Household!
Dark clouds began spreading across the sky, and heaven and earth seemed to fall still!
Terrifying waves of presence seeped out of the old man's body and spread throughout the Mu Household. Everyone felt as though countless venomous snakes were crawling all over their bodies!
"This presence... could it... could it be at the Nascent Soul level?"
At the Golden Core realm peak, the first elder was already the highest-realm expert in the Mu Household.
Yet even he trembled all over upon coming into contact with this presence!
His instincts told him that this old man only needed to twitch a finger, and he would die without a burial place, like an ant crushed beneath an elephant's foot!
"He probably isn't even an ordinary Nascent Soul realm cultivator. We're finished! Our Mu Household has brought a terrible calamity upon itself!"
The second elder was so frightened that even his lips had turned white, and his voice trembled.
Just now, they had been so preoccupied with their shock at Mu Yan's strength that they had overlooked the enormous consequences of killing Jin Hao!
Jin Hao was the Gold and Jade Sect's young master. His death would certainly send tremendous shock waves through the sect!
When that time came, never mind the entire Gold and Jade Sect descending upon them-this old man alone would be enough to wipe out the entire Mu Household!
The first elder strained his throat, screaming at Mu Yan at the top of his lungs. "Mu Yan, you bastard, hurry up and submit to death! You brought this terrible calamity upon yourself. Don't drag the Mu Household into it!"
"Mu Yan killed him! It has nothing to do with us! If you want to kill someone, kill him! Senior, please don't kill us! It really has nothing to do with us!"
The second elder also began shouting in despair, doing his utmost to distance himself from Mu Yan.
Even Mu Kun pointed at Mu Yan at that moment, issuing orders with a savage expression. "Mu Yan! Hurry up and go to your death! Don't take us with you! Don't become the lineage's eternal sinner!"
These people could not wait to see Mu Yan die. Now, they were even more desperate to sever all ties with him. Perhaps that was the only way they could save their own lives.
For a time, many people frantically accused Mu Yan, all saying that he should not have fought Jin Hao, much less killed him!
It would have been fine if Jin Hao had killed him, but since he had killed Jin Hao, it was a huge problem!
Listening to everyone's accusations and curses, Mu Yan remained unmoved. He even felt like laughing.
He had long since seen through this so-called lineage.
When they saw value in using you, they put you on a pedestal. Once you were useless, they could not wait to kill you.
Did they really think that his voluntarily submitting to death would let the Mu Household escape this calamity?
How naive!
The moment he killed Jin Hao, the entire Mu Household had already landed on the Gold and Jade Sect's kill list.
The old man cared nothing for any of that. He raised his head and cried out in grief. In an instant, fierce winds rose, and countless bolts of lightning swam back and forth within the dark clouds.
Faced with such irresistible, absolute strength, every member of the Mu Household had fallen into utter despair!
Mu Lei gritted his teeth, preparing to use his own life to hold the old man back and give Mu Yan a chance to escape.
It was the only solution he could think of!
"Elder, I'll leave the rest to you."
At that moment, however, Mu Yan turned toward the silent Zhang Laosi and spoke with a smile.
Zhang Laosi nodded. Then his body suddenly vanished from where he stood. When he reappeared, he was already in front of the old man.
"Could you stop that infernal howling?"
Zhang Laosi spoke impatiently, then casually raised his hand and brought it down on top of the old man's head.
The old man's eyes blazed with fury. Just as he was about to blast apart the person who had suddenly appeared before him, he discovered to his astonishment that every bit of power throughout his body had been firmly sealed.
Never mind his spiritual power-he could not even blink!
The look in the old man's eyes instantly changed from fury to terror and unprecedented panic.
Anyone who could instantly immobilize him and prevent him from using even the slightest bit of power was definitely a supreme expert beyond the Nascent Soul realm.
Moreover, he had to be at least an expert within the Spirit Transformation realm, perhaps even at the Spirit Transformation realm peak!
When had a pathetic little lineage like the Mu Household gained such a peerless expert?
Before he had any chance to beg for mercy, Zhang Laosi's palm landed on the crown of his head.
The motion was as ordinary and simple as patting a watermelon, yet that utterly unremarkable palm strike ended the life of a Nascent Soul realm peak expert!