Chapter 493: Oh No, the Shen Family Was Wiped Out Too Soon

“What a loving father and filial son. Such touching family affection,” Qi Suian snarked.

Shi Hanwen’s eldest son had plundered the Shi Family’s assets with his mother and younger siblings under the cover of darkness, then fled.

But he was smart enough not to touch the assets of Azure Flame Peak.

The nature of the two was completely different. One was private property, the other was public.

The former belonged to their family, while the latter belonged to the entire Yanghuang Sect. If he had touched it, he would have been signing his own death warrant.

The day after his eldest son vanished, Shi Hanwen learned the news and was so furious he could barely breathe.

The Shi Family then descended into chaos. Some were secretly delighted, others plotted to seize power, but no one else considered fleeing.

Although Shi Hanwen was paralyzed, he was still a Peak Master. Until Sect Leader Xu Ziyang stripped him of his position, the Shi Family remained prominent.

It was just that those who knew the truth were already ignoring them.

The only reason no one had made a move against them was that the timing wasn’t right.

To act now wouldn’t be to offend the paralyzed Shi Hanwen, but Sect Leader Xu Ziyang.

It wouldn’t be too late to strike after he lost his Peak Master position.

They could afford to wait that long.

After watching this whole farce play out, Qi Suian stopped paying attention to the Shi Family’s situation.

Qi Suian didn’t care about the eldest son who had fled. The man’s actions constituted desertion. When the time came for Shi Hanwen’s final reckoning, a warrant would be issued for his son’s arrest as well.

Even if he survived, he’d have to live in hiding. If he ever dared to show his face, someone would take his head to claim the bounty.

“I was just planning to teach Shi Hanwen a lesson. I never thought a strange twist of fate would lead to his entire family’s demise.”

“I guess that’s a good thing,” Qi Suian mused, his mood improving. “Especially since he’ll likely be tormented for some time before he finally dies.”

Qi Suian had always been the type to avenge every slight. He wasn’t magnanimous; he held grudges easily.

‘There’s still Xu Ziyang…’ Qi Suian suddenly remembered the main culprit.

Shi Hanwen was just a blade, at best. The one who gave the order was the Sect Leader of the Yanghuang Sect, Xu Ziyang.

As for the others, they weren’t involved, so for now, Qi Suian had no plans to wipe out the entire Yanghuang Sect.

‘I can’t move against him yet. If Xu Ziyang dies, the Yanghuang Sect will, at the very least, descend into internal chaos.’

‘And I’d have to personally train Zuo Fan afterward. What a pain.’

‘I’ll let him live a while longer, then.’

‘As long as he doesn’t provoke me again. Otherwise…heh…’ Qi Suian decided to play it safe. It wouldn’t be too late to kill Xu Ziyang once he was no longer useful.

‘Sigh, I’ve really degenerated. I used to hate all this political maneuvering, and now look at me, putting aside my usual slash-and-burn approach.’

Qi Suian couldn’t help but feel a bit wistful, thinking his personal cultivation and moral development were progressing quite nicely.

So far, he had only indirectly wiped out the entire Shen and Shi Families. With such a low body count, he was practically a saint compared to his former self.

If he hadn’t been working on his temperament, the entire Yanghuang Sect, from top to bottom—mountain included—would have already been stuffed into the Melting Furnace as fuel.

‘It’s true what they say: no pressure, no motivation. Even I’ve started slacking off.’

‘A pity the AI Brain isn’t here. A digital sycophant like that would surely talk me into it.’ Without the AI Brain around, things had certainly become more troublesome for Qi Suian.

He was hearing far less praise.

The AI Brain was still lost in a tangle of rules. Qi Suian’s progress in untangling them was slow, and he hadn’t reached it yet.

He was using the Tai Sui God as a shell, but its modules were all gone, tangled up in that mess of rules.

To get it out, he first had to unravel the rules formed by the Tai Sui God’s four traits. Only then could he proceed.

He didn’t even know where those four rules were located. The rules within his body were a complete mess, so it would take some time to recover the AI Brain.

Turning his attention to the cosmos, Qi Suian saw that Fei had already visited numerous planets. Each one was desolate and silent, so it had switched to feeding mode.

Wherever it went, it devoured any resource it could get its maw on—planets, asteroid belts, anything. The motto was: bite first, ask questions later.

When he eventually reabsorbed it, Qi Suian would also get a nice boost.

What else could he do? It was already out there, so he might as well get some return on his investment.

Otherwise, it would be a huge loss.

‘The traces of a predatory cosmic race are becoming more frequent. It seems this area has shifted from a hunting ground to a colonial zone.’

Through the traces Fei sent back, Qi Suian discovered more clues and data.

Hunting grounds are disposable, so everything about them is cruder.

A colonial zone is different. It requires maintenance, which naturally involves a greater investment rather than just crude exploitation.

That was why Fei was able to find more traces there.

‘Does this mean I’m getting close to this cosmic race’s home world?’ Qi Suian had no intention of going there for now.

He could go if he wanted to. By using Fei as a beacon, he could shatter space and arrive at its location instantly.

But there was no point in going now. It was, after all, just a colonial zone.

Even if it held some value, it wasn’t enough to justify the cost of him making the trip.

Besides, Fei was more than sufficient for the task. It wasn’t just capable of collection; it could even break down into fibrous bodies for decentralized reconnaissance.

‘I’ll see when it gets there. The colonial zone is probably of a high level.’

‘The resources required to cultivate such a powerful cosmic race must have been immense.’

‘But it’s also clear they weren’t solely reliant on plunder. They could farm their own resources.’

“This was indeed a formidable species,” Qi Suian mused. “Good thing they’re extinct.”

It wasn’t that Qi Suian was afraid of them. His individual power was now at a level where he didn’t fear an entire civilization. He was simply pondering what could have caused the extinction of such a powerful cosmic race.

Since they had colonial zones, it was highly unlikely they starved to death.

If it wasn’t starvation, it couldn’t have been internal strife, could it?

Qi Suian found that hard to believe, as internal strife was unlikely to lead to complete extinction.

After some thought, he gave up on the question.

‘I’m getting too curious. It’s best not to get involved in things like this.’

‘After all, as long as I don’t go poking around where I shouldn’t, the chance of something bad happening is minuscule.’

‘If I really go exploring, who knows what kind of strange things I might unearth.’

Qi Suian knew he was powerful, but he wasn’t invincible.

Not to mention he had encountered beings far more terrifying than entire worlds, like the Spider God and the Ancient Serpent Satan.

So, messing around for no reason could lead to an encounter with one of those terrifying existences.

In their presence, he was as fragile as an infant.

Having temporarily dismissed the idea of leaving, he went back to sorting and adapting to his own rules and power, while also researching technologies related to world-travel and concealment.

After all, he still had the “Apocalypse Game” targeting him. If he wanted to slaughter it and use it as sustenance, he first had to guarantee his own safety.

“Hm? Zuo Fan is back from his training in the Red Flame Spirit Realm.”

“He even brought back a Yang Flame Spirit, and the formation of his protagonist’s halo has progressed even further.”

“He’s still about two-thirds of the way from a complete protagonist’s halo.”

“With a bit more effort, he should be able to make it.”

Although Qi Suian was always keeping an eye on him, he was only collecting data and feedback, not monitoring his every move.

Thus, he didn’t particularly care about Zuo Fan’s specific encounters or experiences.

To Qi Suian, these were trivialities. The feedback on Zuo Fan’s growth was the data he needed; the experiences that produced it were largely irrelevant.

‘He went looking for Xu Ziyang as soon as he got back. He must be planning to settle the score with the Shen Family.’

‘Damn it, I wiped them out too soon. I’ve lost an observation opportunity.’ Qi Suian slapped his thigh. He’d been so focused on his own satisfaction that he’d devoured Zuo Fan’s EXP pack.

This would not only hinder Zuo Fan’s progress but could also affect the development of his protagonist’s halo—a particularly crucial element.

The growth progress didn’t matter; that could be solved by having the Yanghuang Sect pour more resources into him. The halo was the real problem.

‘Fortunately, the right people aren’t all dead yet. There should be other opportunities to make up for this.’

‘Just wasted a bit of time.’ Qi Suian started to wonder, ‘Maybe I should give Zuo Fan another upgrade?’

‘Just having the Pure Yang Wuji Heart Method and the Innate Li Fire Sword Technique makes Zuo Fan seem a bit too… ordinary.’

‘If I want to speed up his progress, I’ll need to give him something more potent.’

—————–

“What?! The entire Shen Family was executed?” Zuo Fan looked completely bewildered.

‘That shouldn’t be possible,’ he thought. ‘Given the Shen Family’s power and influence, they would definitely be held accountable and punished, but… executing the entire family is something that should never happen.’

“We have Boss Tang to thank for that. He returned two Spiritual Techniques our Yanghuang Sect had lost long ago—the Pure Yang Wuji Heart Method and the Innate Li Fire Sword Technique—and this was the condition he requested in exchange,” Xu Ziyang said, without a hint of shame.

Zuo Fan’s brow furrowed. ‘Lost by the Yanghuang Sect? Isn’t that their family’s heirloom technique?’

But his expression quickly smoothed over. ‘There must be more to this story.’

“Don’t overthink it. It’s the absolute truth. If you don’t believe me, you can go to Tang’s Candy Shop and ask Boss Tang yourself.”

“But before that, you need to pay a visit to Peak Master Shi. He’s had… an incident.”

“As a disciple of Azure Flame Peak, you must not neglect the proper courtesies.” Xu Ziyang casually changed the subject.

Zuo Fan was even more confused. “What happened to Peak Master Shi?”

“It’s a long story, so I’ll give you the short version.” Xu Ziyang explained that Shi Hanwen was paralyzed, then added, “I intend for you to take over Azure Flame Peak and become its new Peak Master.”

“Especially since you’ve already reached the initial mastery of the Pure Yang Wuji Heart Method and the Innate Li Fire Sword Technique, your strength should be sufficient.”

Those few sentences left Zuo Fan even more dumbfounded. He started to wonder if he’d been training in the Red Flame Spirit Realm for several years, otherwise how could such earth-shaking changes have occurred in the outside world?

“Sect Leader, please postpone the matter of the peak mastership. I’d like to visit Peak Master Shi first.” Zuo Fan didn’t know the full situation, so it was better to demur for now and avoid any unexpected trouble.

His strength had indeed improved significantly, but he was still only at the mid-tier level among Spirit Masters—far from qualified to be a Peak Master.

Taking the position of Peak Master was not appropriate.