Chapter 83: Destroying with Ease

Chapter 83: Chapter 83: Destroying with Ease

Chen Xuanli felt a violent tremor run through his sword. The web of his thumb split open again, splattering blood. The Hundred Refinement Soft Sword in his hand let out a mournful cry, unable to bear the force, and was knocked high into the air by the palm strike, nearly flying from his grasp.

The impact sent Chen Xuanli’s Qi Blood surging violently upward. A sweet taste filled his throat, and he nearly coughed up blood. He staggered, his technique instantly falling into disarray.

’How could he see through my Profound Light Shadow Splitting’s Core Sword Techniques so easily?!’ The thought sent colossal waves of shock through Chen Xuanli’s mind.

However, Chen Yue’s attacks came one after another, giving him no chance to catch his breath and regroup.

ROAR!

A terrifying tiger’s roar, like that of a primeval overlord from the dawn of time, exploded without warning not just in Chen Xuanli’s ears, but deep within his very soul.

Tiger’s Roar Shatters the God!

The sound waves were formless, yet they carried a ferocious power that could shatter one’s will. In the distance, Chen Jing and Chen Zhige felt a loud BUZZ in their minds, as if a heavy hammer had smashed into the crowns of their skulls. Their vision went black, and their consciousness instantly blanked out.

Even Chen Xuanli, a Marrow Refining Realm master whose Heart Spirit was far tougher and more condensed than an ordinary person’s, felt his mind violently shake under the impact of Tiger’s Roar Shatters the God, a technique that specifically targeted the Heart Spirit. His Divine Soul wavered as if countless steel needles were simultaneously piercing his spirit.

Chen Xuanli’s follow-up sword techniques, which he had been readying, his circulating Qi Blood, and even his will to fight all stagnated and fell into chaos under this sudden assault on his Divine Soul.

In a battle between experts, a single instant decides everything!

BANG!

Chen Yue took a single step, his body closing to within three feet of Chen Xuanli. His right palm, wreathed in Gang Qi, carried a cold killing intent as it shot straight for Chen Xuanli’s head, devoid of any flourish.

Before the Palm Force even arrived, its chilling aura of death made Chen Xuanli’s scalp tingle and his hair stand on end.

The profound shadow of death, like ice water poured over his head, shocked Chen Xuanli awake from the stun of Tiger’s Roar Shatters the God.

Driven by his survival instincts, Chen Xuanli desperately raised his uninjured left hand to block his face. At the same time, he frantically swung the rising Soft Sword in a contorted arc toward Chen Yue’s temple, trying to force him to alter his attack.

However, this hasty block and counterattack lacked the force, speed, and precision of his usual form. His left hand blocked with less than half its usual power, and the Soft Sword’s swing was all form and no substance.

CRACK!

The crisp sound of bone breaking, chilling to the marrow, echoed clearly through the Alchemy Room.

Chen Yue’s Palm Force, strong enough to shatter stone tablets, instantly pulverized Chen Xuanli’s left arm bone. The arm twisted at a bizarre angle and fell limp.

The palm’s momentum was barely hindered. It continued forward unabated, viciously striking toward Chen Xuanli’s head, which was tilted slightly back in horror.

As for the Soft Sword swinging at Chen Yue’s temple, the moment it touched the layer of Gang Qi on his body, a powerful obstructive and repulsive force stopped it dead. The sword tip bent with a groaning CREAK, unable to advance another inch.

Chen Xuanli’s eyes were wide as he watched helplessly, Chen Yue’s palm rapidly growing larger in his vision.

He desperately tried to twist his neck, to move his body and dodge the fatal blow, but the distance between them was too short, and Chen Yue was too fast. He had only just recovered from the Heart Spirit shock; his body simply couldn’t react in time.

THUD!

A dull thud.

Chen Yue’s Great Vajra Palm landed squarely on Chen Xuanli’s face.

His nose collapsed instantly, his facial bones shattered, and his features twisted into a blurry mass of flesh and blood.

Chen Xuanli’s burly frame shuddered violently. The light in his eyes flickered like a candle in the wind.

Chen Yue’s movements didn’t pause for a moment. As his right palm connected, his left fist had already shot out from his waist, smashing viciously into Chen Xuanli’s chest, which was left wide open by the palm strike!

BOOM!!!

Another heart-stopping thud. Chen Xuanli’s chest visibly caved in around the point of impact, and the fabric on his back exploded outward.

The force of the punch penetrated his body, instantly shattering his still-beating heart!

"Urk..."

A short syllable escaped Chen Xuanli’s throat as the last vestiges of his life were completely extinguished.

His entire body was sent flying by that final punch. He was thrown backward, crashed heavily onto the stone courtyard ground outside the Alchemy Room, and rolled several times before finally coming to a stop, limp and motionless.

Chen Xuanli stared wide-eyed at the sky, endless regret and a sense of absurdity welling up in his gaze before coming to an abrupt halt in the next instant.

Chen Xuanli, who once dominated Youlin County, was dead.

Inside and outside the Alchemy Room, there was dead silence.

Only the firewood continued to burn, crackling softly, and the thick, inescapable stench of blood hung in the air.

Chen Jing and Chen Zhige were still collapsed on the ground, not yet fully recovered from the shock of Tiger’s Roar Shatters the God. They remained completely oblivious to the reality-shattering scene before them.

Chen Yue slowly retracted his fist. He stood at the entrance to the Alchemy Room, the light of the fire casting his shadow long upon the ground.

As the lingering aftershocks of the terrifying roar that struck the Divine Soul slowly faded, Chen Jing’s consciousness struggled to surface, like a diver ascending from the deep sea, and he finally regained a sliver of clarity.

He let out a groan and forced his heavy eyelids open. His vision swam into a blurry focus.

The first thing that came into view was the familiar figure sprawled in a twisted posture on the stone courtyard ground.

Chen Jing’s pupils abruptly shrank to pinpoints. His heart felt as if it were being squeezed by an invisible hand, nearly stopping its beat. A boundless chill mixed with absolute terror instantly froze his blood and thoughts.

He subconsciously turned his neck, his terrified gaze falling upon the entrance to the Alchemy Room.

In his line of sight, a figure like a Demon God stood quietly. The flickering firelight outlined a calm, almost indifferent, profile and the dark red specks staining his robes.

Then, Chen Jing saw those calm, rippleless eyes turn toward him.

A nearly suffocated hiss escaped Chen Jing’s throat. He wanted to speak, to beg for mercy, to explain, to say something—anything—to salvage the unsalvageable situation.

But it was all too late.

He didn’t even see how Chen Yue moved. His vision blurred, and the figure appeared before him like a phantom, just inches away.

Chen Jing could even smell the scent coming from him—a mixture of blood and medicinal herbs.

The next instant, Chen Jing felt an extremely brief, violent tremor in his chest.

It was as if something had exploded inside him, or as if a red-hot iron awl had pierced through him in an instant.

All of Chen Jing’s strength, along with his unspoken words, his roiling fear, and the last lingering trace of hope for his family’s future, vanished without a trace in that single tremor.

"Ugh..."

Chen Jing let out a barely audible grunt as the last bit of light in his pupils rapidly dimmed.

His body swayed, lost all support, and collapsed backward, falling heavily onto the cold ground. His eyes were wide open, staring blankly at the dark beams above the Alchemy Room, completely lifeless.

The Patriarch of the Chen Family died without ever understanding why a scheme he was certain would succeed had turned into the annihilation of the Chen Family’s entire core leadership.

Chen Yue’s gaze didn’t linger on Chen Jing’s corpse for even a moment. It shifted to the figure inside the Alchemy Room who had just fully awakened from the lingering effects of Tiger’s Roar Shatters the God.

Chen Zhige shook his groggy head and managed to prop himself up.

As his vacant gaze swept over the scene inside and outside the Alchemy Room, the last trace of color instantly drained from his face, leaving it ashen white. His body began to tremble violently, as if he had a high fever.

"No... Don’t... Don’t kill me!!"

When Chen Yue’s eyes fell upon him, Chen Zhige let out a scream of utter terror. He scrambled backward with his hands and feet, crawling desperately until his back hit the cold wall, with nowhere left to retreat.

Tears and snot streamed down his face. His voice was hoarse and broken, filled with endless pleading and fear:

"Spare me! Spare my life! What do you want? Pill Formulas? All the secret Pill Formulas of the Chen Mansion, I’ll give them all to you! And the ultimate Secret Technique to improve one’s talent for Alchemy! I know it! I really know it! As long as you let me live, I’ll give you anything! Everything!!"

Chen Zhige babbled incoherently, frantically throwing out every bargaining chip he could think of, just to trade for a sliver of a chance to live.

Those eyes, once filled with arrogance and cunning, now held nothing but the most pathetic begging.

Chen Yue watched him, his face devoid of any expression.

Perhaps before he had acted, he might have wanted to ask why, to uncover the root of this unprovoked scheme.

But now, with Chen Xuanli, Chen Jing, Chen Yan, and Chen Hao all dead, and the core leadership of the Chen Mansion almost completely wiped out by his hand, the enmity between them had become a sea of blood. There was no room for reconciliation.

Asking for the reason was now meaningless.

He took a step, his figure instantly crossing a distance of several yards to appear before Chen Zhige.

Reflected in Chen Zhige’s pupils was a slowly rising palm, and behind it, a pair of ice-cold eyes.

He opened his mouth wide, a strange gurgle rattling in his throat, but he could no longer utter a single word.

THUMP!

With a soft sound, Chen Yue’s palm landed on the crown of Chen Zhige’s head.

The Palm Force penetrated his skull, instantly shattering his brain and extinguishing all signs of life.

Chen Zhige’s body trembled violently, the last spark of light in his eyes completely annihilated. He then lost all strength and slid limply down the wall to the floor, motionless.

From his mouth, nose, and ears, trickles of viscous, dark green blood with a strange, sweet, and foul odor slowly seeped out, a stark contrast to his pale face.

"Hm?"

Chen Yue’s brow twitched. Seeing the unnatural green blood, a flicker of surprise passed through his eyes.

’This Chen Zhige’s constitution seems a bit strange.’

But none of that mattered anymore.

Chen Yue didn’t linger by the corpse. He quickly bent down and searched the bodies of Chen Xuanli, Chen Jing, Chen Yan, and the others.

Aside from some scattered silver taels, gold leaves, a few bottles of Elixirs, and a green jade Token on Chen Jing’s body that signified his status as Patriarch, there was nothing else of particular value.

Returning to the Alchemy Room, Chen Yue first checked on Lin Quan’s condition.

His breathing was steady and his pulse was strong. The drug had simply invaded his Heart Spirit, sending him into a deep sleep, but he had no other injuries.

Chen Yue relaxed. His gaze swept over the spacious but now-ruined Alchemy Room as he walked over to the desk and the bookshelf next to it by the wall.