Chapter 1533: Massacre

Chapter 1533: Chapter 1533: Massacre

Whether the Martial Sect believed it or not, Lin Tian was now already at the strength of the Late Stage Golden Elixir.

Most importantly, Lin Tian’s Golden Core had shattered into countless tiny fragments, and the power he could unleash was something ordinary Late Stage Golden Elixir experts simply could not compare to.

The simplest example was that giant python in the Dragon Transformation Pool; in Yu Yang’s estimation, it was at Late Stage Golden Elixir. Yet back then, Lin Tian had only been able to win by playing tricks and risking his life in front of it.

If it were now, he probably wouldn’t need to resort to that kind of method. He would just lift Thousand Jin Rock, explode all the Spiritual Qi in his body, and with a single slash, he could cleave open that beast’s fleshy tumor.

This was the gap in strength between then and now.

"By the way, my aunt went into seclusion with me. Has she come out yet?" Lin Tian asked.

"She came out as early as a month ago. She’s also at the strength of the Middle Stage of Golden Elixir now." The Martial Sect casually replied.

Lin Tian didn’t wait for him to continue and cut in, "This isn’t a place to talk. I still have a lot to ask you. Let’s go inside first."

Originally, Lin Tian had planned to go see his parents and Liou Qingcheng and the others first; after all, he hadn’t seen them for some time. But now that he’d run into the Martial Sect, who clearly had a bellyful of words to say, Lin Tian pushed back the matter of seeing his loved ones.

"Yes, Master."

The Martial Sect agreed and was about to walk into the house with Lin Tian. Xiang Ming followed behind with both hands supporting the Hidden Dragon Sword. They hadn’t walked more than a few steps when the Martial Sect turned back and glared at him, his voice harsh as he said, "You’re not allowed to come in! Stay outside and practice! Only when you can wield the sword one-handed and swing out the form of the Ancient Spirit Thunder Sword Skill can you rest."

At once, Xiang Ming’s little face turned into a bitter gourd; he almost dropped dead on the spot. He looked pitifully at Lin Tian, wanting him to plead on his behalf, but Lin Tian acted as if he hadn’t seen it, laughed twice, and followed the Martial Sect into the house.

...

This was Xu Shaohui’s home, but only Xv Baiping was there. When she saw Lin Tian had come out of seclusion, her face was full of joy. When she mentioned Xu Shaohui, Xv Baiping only said, "He went to the Dragon Transformation Pool."

Lin Tian understood and didn’t continue asking.

As the mistress of the house, Xv Baiping knew Lin Tian and the Martial Sect had things to discuss and thus tactfully withdrew, only telling the maids at home to brew tea and bring it over.

Sitting on the redwood official’s-hat chair, Lin Tian could smell the scent of agarwood in the air.

He had been at Xu Family Stream for some time now; summer had already turned into autumn. A whole season had passed, and he had no idea how fiercely the winds and clouds had been raging outside.

The awakening of that old monster Wang Xingkong was immensely important to the Wang Family, but for the other great families it was a great catastrophe. Lin Tian did not believe that the Wang Family would be easy to deal with.

Before the Martial Sect could speak, Lin Tian took the initiative and asked, "Do you know how long I was in seclusion this time?"

The Martial Sect answered with a grave expression, "Two months and six days."

"Two months and six days—you remember it that clearly. Seems I really kept you waiting."

The Martial Sect replied with a bitter smile; he had truly waited until his hair turned white.

"A little over three months ago, when the Wang Family was having a grand wedding, I seized the chance to visit their underground palace. I really didn’t expect that I’d end up waking the Wang Family’s old monster, Wang Xingkong. I almost died in the Wang Family that day. Fortunately, that old monster felt I had some use, so he kept me alive."

"Later he even wanted me to marry Wang Sijing. Isn’t that just complete bullshit? So I ran away that very day, and also took two of the Wang Family’s treasured artifacts, and brought my whole family to hide here in South City."

"After coming to Xu Family Stream, I went into seclusion twice—once in the Dragon Transformation Pool, and once here at Xu Family Stream. I spent almost all my time cultivating; it was basically like sealing my own ears, so I had no idea what was happening in the outside world."

"I figured if you brought Xiang Ming back to Xu Family Stream, something must have happened outside. There’s no outsiders here; whatever it is, just say it."

Lin Tian’s tone was heavy, and his heart even heavier. For a man to lead his whole family in running away was no different from being a turtle shrinking into its shell. Worst of all, it now looked like someone had suffered calamity in his place... He could see that much from the Martial Sect’s expression.

Sure enough, just as Lin Tian finished speaking, the Martial Sect’s eyes had already turned red; tears burst forth at once, flowing down the ravines of his wrinkled face, making anyone who saw it feel a sour ache in their heart.

One had to know, the Martial Sect was a Middle Stage of Golden Elixir expert with a temper as fiery as a blaze. Back then, even having a steel pipe run through his chest hadn’t made him shed a tear; yet now he was crying like a child. Lin Tian didn’t dare imagine what kind of calamity he had gone through.

Some words had clearly been stuck in the Martial Sect’s throat for far too long. Now that he’d finally seen someone he could confide in, he spoke in a choked voice, "The Wang Family are simply inhuman! That old immortal Wang Xingkong, together with Mr. Wang and Wang Manzi, slaughtered the experts of all the great families in a single day. Each family lost nearly ten experts. And that’s not all; all kinds of pills, herbs, Cultivation Techniques—as long as they were placed at Luoyan Dock—they were all completely looted!"

Lin Tian’s mouth fell open in shock; his face was filled with a boundless, overwhelming disbelief. He had never imagined...the Wang Family would push things this far!

The ancient martial clans, developing to this day, were far from as huge as people imagined; any appearance of prosperity was propped up entirely by the experts in the family.

Now, with each family losing around ten people, this was basically snapping a clan’s backbone in half!

Lin Tian lowered his head, looking at his own trembling hands; his mouth was dry and his tongue parched. So many experts were dead! This...was all the sin he had created!

The Martial Sect didn’t see Lin Tian’s expression at all; he continued, "For all the families, this has dealt a crippling blow to their foundations. Add the Wang Family’s suppression on top of that, and I’m afraid they’ll never recover. And given the Wang Family’s nature, they’ll certainly cut the grass and pull up the roots; they won’t spare the remaining experts in the great families either."

"The ones who suffered the least were the Xu Family and the Xv Family. Once you came to Xu Family Stream, the Xu Family became wary. After Xv Jiazhi returned to his clan, he immediately relayed the news about Wang Xingkong and had the experts stationed at Luoyan Dock withdraw back home at once to set up defenses."

Hearing this news did little to lighten the weight in Lin Tian’s heart. He suddenly glanced at the Martial Sect and asked, "So you ran here?"

"Yes..." After saying this word, the Martial Sect’s tears gushed out again, and he was crying so hard he could barely speak.

He calmed himself for a long time before speaking in a trembling voice, "Many in the Alliance were killed or wounded as well. Of the nine elders, only I, Old Five, and Old Eight are still alive. Those two I dragged out with my life; they took no small internal injuries."

Lin Tian drew in a deep breath into his lungs and asked in a low voice, "What about Wu Hong?"

Wu Hong was the Sixth Elder of the clans’ Alliance, and also Lin Tian’s disciple.

All he heard was the Martial Sect’s lips moving in despair as he squeezed out three words, "He’s dead too..."