“Are you guys ready?” Yuan asked Meixiu and the others after returning to the starting city.
“I’m ready.” Chu Liuxiang nodded.
“Same.” Meixiu said.
Li Jinxi silently nodded.
“Great. Now then… which way is the Stairway to Heaven?” Yuan asked his companions.
Xiao Hua appeared the next moment and pointed in a certain direction.
“Since I don’t want to take up too much of your time, let’s fly there.” Yuan said afterward.
“Fly?” Li Jinxi raised her eyebrows.
Yuan then used Qi Manifestation to wrap his spiritual energy around them before lifting them into the air.
Although Meixiu and Chu Liuxiang were used to the feeling of flight, this was Li Jinxi’s first time flying in such a manner.
“Brother Yuan, do you need help?” Xiao Hua asked him.
“It’s fine. I have plenty of spiritual energy.” He said.
Thus, they began flying towards the Stairway to Heaven, unaware of the army waiting for them.
Meanwhile, somewhere near the Stairway to Heaven.
“Patriarch Gu, there is still no sign of this ‘Yuan’. Do you think the information provided to us could be fake? It’s already been a week since we’ve started camping out here.” An elder of the Gu Family said.
“No, that’s not possible. The person who provided me this information is a reputable source. He wouldn’t lie to me.” Patriarch Gu said.
And he continued, “We’ll wait here for a whole month if we have to. Stay vigilant. You never know when he’ll show up.”
“Yes.”
Meanwhile, inside the House of Riches, Gu Xiulan was lying on the couch staring at the Spirit Jade Feng Yuxiang gave to her when someone knocked on her door.
“What is it?” Gu Xiulan stored the Spirit Jade away and turned to look at the door.
“Manager, have you heard? Patriarch Gu left the Gu Family with over a thousand experts and stationed themselves around the Stairway to Heaven.”
“What? When did this happen?” Gu Xiulan frowned.
“About a week ago.”
“Do you know why?”
“No, I don’t.”
After pondering for a moment, two figures suddenly appeared inside her head.
‘Oh no! Don’t tell me it’s because of them!’ Gu Xiulan immediately sat up on the bed and retrieved a communication jade slip.
“Damn it! He’s not picking up! What’s that idiot doing?!”
Gu Xiulan rushed outside and said, “I will be away for a bit!”
After leaving the House of Riches, Gu Xiulan began flying towards the direction of the Stairway to Heaven.
‘I really hope I won’t be too late to stop their foolishness!’ She prayed as she flew.
–
–
–
“Hmm? Why are there so many people here?” Yuan wondered out loud as they approached the Stairway to Heaven and noticed the people at the bottom.
“Halt!”
A loud voice suddenly resounded, and a figure with the strength of a Spirit Grandmaster approached them a moment later.
“State your name!” The Spirit Grandmaster demanded.
“Huh? Why do I have to give you my name?” Yuan raised an eyebrow.
“Insolence! You’re standing before the Gu Family, one of Seven Legacy Families! I will not repeat myself! Identify yourselves!” The Spirit Grandmaster repeated.
‘Gu Family, huh? Why are they out here? Are they waiting for us— for me?’ Yuan wondered inwardly.
“My name is Tian Chenyu.” Yuan calmly responded.
He turned to look at the others and nodded his head.
“Chu Liuxiang.”
“Meixiu.”
“Li Jinxi.”
“Xiao Hua.”
The ladies all introduced themselves.
The Spirit Grandmaster looked at the list in his hand. When he couldn’t see any of their names on it, he nodded and said, “You may pass.”
“Thank you.” Yuan didn’t say anything else and began flying away.
However, he suddenly turned around and extended his hand, catching a sword that had been flying at him.
Yuan glanced at the sword in his grasp before looking at the Spirit Grandmaster.
“What’s the meaning of this?” He asked.
“Do you really take me for a fool, Yuan?” The Spirit Grandmaster sneered.
“How dare you attack Brother Yuan’s back…” Xiao Hua’s eyes flickered with killing intent.
“Wait, Xiao Hua.” Yuan beckoned her to stop.
“How did you know?” He then asked the Spirit Grandmaster.
The Spirit Grandmaster then retrieved a jade slip and activated it, which immediately projected Yuan’s face.
‘That looks like the disciple examination… Someone had captured my appearance through the broadcast, huh?’ Yuan quickly realized how the Spirit Grandmaster knew his true identity.
The Spirit Grandmaster then retrieved a talisman and activated it.
The talisman suddenly exploded with light, just like a firework.
When the rest of the Gu Family noticed the firework, they immediately started approaching their location, and within moments, hundreds of experts surrounded Yuan and his group.
“I was worried that you wouldn’t come, bandit who dared to rob my Gu Family.” Patriarch Gu showed up shortly afterward.
“Yuan… What’s going on here?” Li Jinxi asked him.
“Don’t worry, I will handle it. Feng Feng, Xiao Hua, Yingying, I will leave them in your hands.”
Feng Yuxiang and Lan Yingying appeared the next moment and formed a triangle around Meixiu and the others with Xiao Hua.
“Where the hell did they come from?”
“Wow, I have never seen so many jade beauties in one place before…”
The Gu Family was shocked by Feng Yuxiang and Lan Yingying’s sudden appearance.
“You called a whole army just to punish me? I’m flattered.” Yuan said to Patriarch Gu.
“I admire your ability to stay calm in such a situation, so I am going to give you a way out. Hand over the treasures that you had stolen from my family and I will let you leave with your life. However, you will no longer be a cultivator.”
“…”
Yuan glanced at Meixiu and the others.
Although Tian Chenyu has killed other cultivators before, they were all demon worshippers that have colluded with demons, so it doesn’t make it any easier for Yuan to kill these people even with Tian Chenyu’s memories and experience.
Furthermore, he didn’t want Meixiu and the others to see him slaughtering other people.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I never stole anything from your family. What had happened was—”
“I don’t care about your side of the story. You have something that belongs to my family and that’s all it matters.” Patriarch Gu interrupted.
“If you insist on opposing my Gu Family, then you leave me no other choice. Since you stole something from me, it is only fair that I take something from you.”
Patriarch Gu pointed at the ladies behind him and spoke in a cold voice, “After I kill you, I will take back my treasures along with your women and make them my Gu Family’s slaves for the rest of their lives, and everyone here will have a chance to enjoy them!”
When Patriarch Gu’s people heard his words, they immediately began shouting in excitement.
“Is that so…” Yuan lowered his head and muttered in a low voice.
A cold voice suddenly resounded in his head the next moment.
‘Regardless if they are Immortal or God, slaughter all that obstruct your path! Let your bloodlust consume the heavens and all those within it! Kill these ants that dares to covet your women! Let them know true fear!’
When Yuan heard the Evil God’s voice, his eyes suddenly turned blood red, and his body began oozing with killing intent so intense that it was possible to see with one’s bare eyes.
“Y-Young Master…”
Feng Yuxiang swallowed nervously when she noticed red mist filled with killing intent being discharged from Yuan’s body, resembling the miasma at the Demons’ Valley, and it gave her a sensation of dread and despair that not even demons could achieve.
“Brother Yuan…” Xiao Hua’s body trembled in fear when she sensed Yuan’s killing intent. This is the second time that she’s seen him in such a state. The first time she saw it she was reminded of her father, and it was even more so this time, almost as though her father was standing in Yuan’s place right now.
“W-Watch out! There’s something off about him!” Patriarch Gu immediately warned the others, and this was before Yuan’s killing intent reached him.
Once he felt Yuan’s killing intent, it made his blood turn cold, and it felt like his body had turned into an ice statue.
When the others with a lower cultivation sensed Yuan’s killing intent, they started screaming with madness, almost as though they’d lost their mind or they were actively being tortured.
The entire area quickly became filled with shrieks and people screaming, almost as though they’d suddenly entered the deepest parts of hell.
