Chapter 81: Don’t Want to Talk? Then Don’t

Chapter 81: Chapter 81: Don’t Want to Talk? Then Don’t

Chen Yue’s eyelids rose slightly. He neither dodged nor blocked, simply watching quietly as the clawing hand loomed larger before his eyes.

Only when the gust from the claw reached his body, the very moment its Qi pricked his skin, did he slowly raise his right palm. He met the vicious claw with a strike of his own.

CRACK!

The sharp crack of breaking bone exploded through the Alchemy Room. The sound was so sudden and violent that it even drowned out the crackling of the firewood!

The savage smile and confidence on Chen Yan’s face froze the instant his palm met Chen Yue’s, transforming into boundless horror.

His claw, which could crush pig iron, felt as if it had slammed into a mountain forged from ten-thousand-year-old mystic iron.

That seemingly casual palm strike contained a terrifying, immense force he couldn’t possibly comprehend, along with a concussive power condensed to its absolute limit.

The moment it touched Chen Yue’s palm, the five fingers of Chen Yan’s right hand, along with his palm and wrist, shattered, warped, and twisted inch by inch like rotten twigs.

The excruciating pain from his shattered bones washed over him like a tide, causing his vision to go black. An agonized scream threatened to erupt from his throat.

But before the scream could escape his throat, Chen Yue’s hand shot forward, its momentum undiminished. His fingers spread like an iron pincer. In the instant Chen Yan faltered from the pain, Chen Yue’s hand had already closed precisely around his neck.

An irresistible force surged forth, and Chen Yue lifted Chen Yan’s heavy, two-hundred-pound body off the ground with a single arm as easily as if he were picking up a chick.

"Guh... Hkk..."

Chen Yan’s eyes bulged, filled with incredulous terror and the agony of suffocation.

His good left hand desperately clawed and pounded at the arm clamped around his neck, while his feet kicked wildly in the air.

However, Chen Yue’s arm was steady as a rock, completely unmoving. His five fingers were like a vise cast from refined steel; no matter how Chen Yan struggled, he couldn’t budge them in the slightest.

His face rapidly turned from red to purple, then from purple to a deathly blue. Only gurgling sounds escaped his throat.

It all happened too fast. From Chen Yan’s explosive attack to Chen Yue shattering his hand, seizing his throat, and hoisting him into the air, barely a single breath had passed.

Only then did Chen Zhige, still in shock, seem to snap out of his stupor. He gasped sharply and stumbled back several steps until his back slammed hard against the cold wall, the color draining from his face.

He stared at Chen Yue as if he were seeing a ghost in broad daylight!

’Is this the young Pill Master who’s only in the Skin Refining Realm?’

’Chen Yan is a Bone Forging Realm expert, and he couldn’t even withstand a single one of his moves?’

BANG!

Just then, the heavy wooden door of the Alchemy Room was thrown open from the outside!

A figure with an aura as deep as the sea was the first to step inside. It was none other than the Chen Mansion’s Marrow Refining Realm expert, Chen Xuanli. His expression was grim, his gaze electric as it instantly swept across the scene within the Alchemy Room.

The collapsed forms of Lin Quan and the apprentice, the horror-struck Chen Zhige, and the young man holding Chen Yan in mid-air by the neck with one arm.

Chen Xuanli’s eyes narrowed involuntarily, a flicker of stunned disbelief in their depths.

He had rushed over immediately after receiving an urgent summons from the Alchemy Room’s alarm, never expecting to walk into a scene like this.

Right after, two more figures rushed into the Alchemy Room behind Chen Xuanli.

One was the Chen Family Patriarch, Chen Jing, and the other was another of the family’s Bone Forging Realm elders, Chen Hao.

The two had clearly also rushed over after receiving the summons. When they saw the situation inside the room, unconcealable shock and disbelief appeared on their faces!

’Chen Yan has been taken down by Chen Yue?’

’And from the looks of his twisted right hand, he’s been grievously wounded!’

’How is this possible!’

’They thought they had investigated Chen Yue’s background thoroughly. His Cultivation was at the Skin Refining Realm at best. How could he possibly be a match for Chen Yan?’

"Chen Yue! What are you doing! Put Elder Chen Yan down, now!" Chen Jing shouted, his voice laced with shock and fury.

’Chen Yan is a vital part of the Chen Family’s strength, and he’s my elder. How can I let anything happen to him?’

Chen Yue slowly turned his head, his calm gaze sweeping over the three core members of the Chen Family at the doorway.

His arm still held Chen Yan steady as his voice cut through the man’s gurgling gasps, reaching everyone’s ears clearly:

"Put him down? I was about to ask you something. We were all getting along just fine.

I perform Alchemy for you in good faith, and you use the Elixirs to gain resources. It was mutually beneficial. What was so bad about that? Why did you have to turn on me? Were the Elixirs I made not good enough? Or was the compensation I asked for too high? Hmm?"

Chen Hao’s gaze was fixed on the hand Chen Yue had wrapped around Chen Yan’s neck. He looked from there to Chen Yue’s calm face and said in a heavy tone:

"Chen Yue, let’s talk this over! First, let go of Elder Chen Yan! Whatever the misunderstanding, we can sit down and discuss it! There’s no need for things to get to this point!"

Chen Jing immediately chimed in, his tone softening into a placating one:

"That’s right! Chen Yue, I believe the Chen Family has treated you well. We not only provided you a place to live but also brought you into the inner courtyard and spared no effort in nurturing you.

Is there anything we can’t discuss? Why must we damage our good relationship? Let Elder Chen Yan go first. Everything is negotiable!"

"Everything is negotiable? Treated me well?"

Hearing this, a brilliant smile suddenly appeared on Chen Yue’s face. His gaze swept over the unconscious Lin Quan on the ground, then to Chen Xuanli and the other two with their shifting expressions. His voice turned abruptly cold:

"How amusing. I just asked you why you moved against me, and you didn’t answer. Now that your man has been captured, you’re suddenly willing to talk. Before you used this Seductive Fragrance... why didn’t you come talk to me then?"

As his voice fell, the temperature in the Alchemy Room instantly dropped to freezing.

The expressions of Chen Xuanli, Chen Jing, and Chen Hao all changed. Chen Yue’s words had torn away their final, hypocritical fig leaf.

Meanwhile, Chen Yan’s struggles in Chen Yue’s grasp grew weaker, his gaze turning vacant. He clearly wouldn’t last much longer.

A plot they had believed to be foolproof had suddenly taken an entirely unexpected turn.

Control of the situation had slipped directly into the hands of the young Pill Master they had intended to use as a mere ingredient.

Faced with Chen Yue’s accusation and Chen Yan’s wretched, near-death state, Chen Xuanli knew that any further excuses were futile.

He took a deep breath, suppressed his inner turmoil, and his face regained the grim dignity befitting a Marrow Refining Realm expert. He looked directly at Chen Yue.

"Chen Yue, the Chen Family was indeed in the wrong today. We made the first mistake. But Youlin County is not at peace right now; this is no time for internal strife."

Chen Xuanli paused, then continued in a softer tone:

"Put Chen Yan down first. Whatever grievances you have, whatever demands you make of the family, I hereby promise they will all be met! Let’s sit down and talk this through properly!"

Chen Jing immediately added in an urgent tone:

"Yes! Chen Yue, everything is negotiable! The share of Elixirs, Rare Medicinal Materials, even the family’s Martial Arts... whatever you want, we can discuss it. Just let Elder Chen Yan go first!"

One appealed to reason while the other offered temptations. They worked in tandem, attempting to pull Chen Yue back into a framework where a deal could be struck.

Chen Yue’s gaze slowly swept over Chen Xuanli’s earnest expression, flickered past Chen Jing’s anxious face, and finally landed on Chen Zhige, who stood near the distant Pill Furnace.

Chen Yue listened quietly, his expression impassive.

The fingers of Chen Yue’s left hand, clamped around Chen Yan’s neck, suddenly released their grip.

"HAAH!"

Like a fish thrown back into water, Chen Yan’s mouth gaped open as he greedily tried to suck in a life-saving breath. The ecstatic joy of a near-death escape erupted in his eyes.

However, that ecstasy lasted for less than a second.

In the instant Chen Yan’s body began to fall, Chen Yue’s left hand had already clenched into a fist.

A flicker of Gang Qi vanished as soon as it appeared on his fist, concentrating the immense force of the Tiger Roar Golden Bell Shield and the ferocious Power of the Great Vajra Palm. Devoid of any flourish, the fist slammed squarely into the center of Chen Yan’s now-exposed chest.

THUMP!!!

With a sickening, heart-stopping thud, Chen Yan’s eyes bulged, filled with incredulous despair.

He clearly felt a destructive power explode from his chest, instantly shattering his breastbone, destroying his heart, and even bursting out through his back.

RIP! The robe on his back tore apart as the flesh beneath bulged out grotesquely, forming the clear outline of a fist.

PFFT!

Chen Yan couldn’t even manage a scream as his body, trailing a ghastly mist of blood, was sent flying toward Chen Xuanli and the others at the door. His breathing ceased instantly. He was dead!

At the same time, Chen Yue’s cold voice rang out clearly in the Alchemy Room:

"Since all you can do is dodge the question, then there’s nothing left to discuss."

"CHEN YAN!!!"

Watching helplessly as Chen Yan was killed with a single punch and his body hurtled toward them, Chen Hao’s eyes nearly split with rage. He let out a roar of absolute grief and fury.

He and Chen Yan had always been close. Seeing his friend’s gruesome death, his reason was instantly consumed by rage and hatred.

His eyes turned bloodshot. He stomped a foot, and the stone floor beneath him cracked. Like a crazed tiger unleashed from its cage, he lunged straight for Chen Yue with the tragic aura of one bent on mutual destruction.

His right hand blurred to his waist, producing a dagger that gleamed with a sinister blue light. It became a vicious streak of cold light, stabbing straight for Chen Yue’s unprotected neck.

He had abandoned all defense, seeking only to kill his enemy in a single strike and avenge Chen Yan.

"Chen Yue, you dare!"

At almost the same instant Chen Hao lunged, Chen Xuanli’s expression had become as dark as a thundercloud.

’Chen Yue brazenly killed Chen Yan right in front of me. This is a declaration of war to the death against our Chen Mansion!’

As a Marrow Refining Realm expert, Chen Xuanli’s Body Technique was far faster and more unpredictable than Chen Hao’s. With just a slight flicker of his form, he moved second but arrived first, crossing several dozen feet in an instant like a phantom to appear before Chen Yue ahead of Chen Hao.

Simultaneously, his right hand blurred to his waist. A silver glint, like a viper striking from its den, burst forth with a sharp hiss.

It was a Soft Sword, thin as a cicada’s wing. The blade quivered, instantly weaving a cold, deadly web of sword light that whistled as it coiled toward Chen Yue’s neck from a bizarre and treacherous angle.

This strike was fast, unpredictable, and deadly!

Infused with the pure Power of Chen Xuanli’s Marrow Refining Realm, it was strong enough to slice through refined iron chains as if they were tofu.

He was aiming for a clean decapitation!

’As long as it’s quick enough, even a corpse can be refined into a Human Pill.’