Chapter 251: Crushing the Situ Family
The scene left everyone stunned. The audacity of Ghost Manor was beyond belief—they had even dared to strike ruthlessly at the Crown Prince himself!
When a Martial Soul Avatar is injured, the Martial Artist's true body also suffers damage.
Murong Hua landed on the ground, shook his sleeves, and followed Ning Xiaochuan as they strode away. With a cold laugh, he called back, "Crown Prince, no need to see us off!"
The Crown Prince's Martial Soul Avatar had been severely wounded, forcing the Profound Qi Spear out of its body. The glow of his Martial Soul dimmed visibly, his vitality damaged.
He did not pursue Murong Hua and Ning Xiaochuan. Instead, a cloud materialized beneath his feet, and he rode it away.
For Martial Artists, soaring through clouds was impossible. But a Martial Soul Avatar, being a manifestation of essence, energy, and spirit without physical form, could traverse the skies and earth freely. Even if separated from its true body by thousands of kilometers, it could still think and act independently.
Its only weakness was that its combat power paled in comparison to the true body. Once injured, the true body would also suffer.
The Crown Prince had dared to release his Martial Soul Avatar because he was certain Ghost Manor wouldn’t dare attack him. Yet, he never imagined that his status as the Crown Prince would fail to intimidate the wicked members of Ghost Manor.
Too arrogant!
The Crown Prince’s Martial Soul Avatar flew back to a grand and opulent palace in the Imperial City, merging with his true body.
A trickle of blood seeped from the Crown Prince’s lips as he opened his eyes, his gaze turning icy and ruthless. "Ghost Manor… how bold. Young Master Chuan!"
Boom!
The Crown Prince’s body blurred into an afterimage as he stormed out of the palace, standing atop a towering stone platform like an unshakable mountain. A golden cloud gathered above his head, and his martial energy swirled into a massive vortex.
All the maids and servants in the Crown Prince’s palace knelt on the ground, trembling uncontrollably, bewildered by his sudden fury.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A group of fully armored warriors rushed in, kneeling in perfect unison before the Crown Prince.
Gradually, the Crown Prince’s rage subsided. He issued a command: "Dispatch the military from Son of Heaven Pass to suppress Ghost Manor!"
---
The streets of Yunhu Gathering were paved with blue stone slabs, but today, they were far noisier than usual.
The blue stone roads were littered with bloody corpses, their wounds still oozing fresh blood. The stench of iron filled the air, nauseating to the extreme.
It was like a battlefield of carnage, terrifying the Martial Artists of Yunhu Gathering into keeping their distance.
Ning Xiaochuan and Murong Hua had already left.
When the experts of the Situ Family arrived and saw the carnage, they trembled with fury. Enraged, they immediately sent word back to their family: Young Master Chuan had come to Yunhu Gathering.
Tonight would undoubtedly be a sleepless night for the Situ Family.
The Situ Family’s estate was the largest complex in Yunhu Gathering, filled with pavilions, towers, artificial mountains, and ponds. In the back mountains stood a massive forging pool, lined with copper furnaces. Thousands of slaves toiled, hauling ores to smelt metal and forge weapons.
The back mountains of the Situ Family housed the largest forging base in the Imperial City.
"Family Head, Ghost Manor has gone too far! We must fight them to the death!" Lin Zhanglao, supported by two servants, emerged with visible injuries, coughing up blood intermittently.
The head of the Situ Family was named Situ Ao, a formidable figure and the family’s strongest expert.
At this moment, Situ Ao sat in the highest seat of the grand hall, his hands gripping the armrests tightly, his gaze cold and stern. He said, "No one knows where Ghost Manor is located? No one knows how high Young Master Chuan's cultivation is? How are we supposed to fight them to the death?"
"Are we just going to take this beating passively?" Lin Zhanglao's heart was filled with resentment, especially after being sent flying with a single palm strike from Ghost Manor's Right Guardian King today, which he found deeply humiliating.
Fire God Child's Martial Soul Avatar flew out, condensing into a ball of flames that hovered in the center of the grand hall, flickering incessantly. The temperature in the entire hall rose rapidly, and small tongues of fire appeared in the air. From within the flames came a haughty voice: "Young Master Chuan has already taken the initiative to invite us to meet at Huantian Cliff tomorrow. Then tomorrow, we will wipe out Ghost Manor in one fell swoop."
"Greetings to the Martial Venerable Fire God Child!"
Including Situ Ao, all the Martial Artists of the Situ Family bowed respectfully, their eyes filled with awe. The arrival of a Martial Venerable commanded reverence from all Martial Artists under heaven. Even kneeling in worship was considered appropriate. Fire God Child was indeed a Martial Venerable.
Lin Zhanglao said, "But Young Master Chuan is making outrageous demands—three senior Forging Masters, ten intermediate Forging Masters, and a hundred junior Forging Masters. That’s practically all the Forging Masters the Situ Family has. He’s trying to bleed us dry!"
"How can you be so foolish? Just because he told us to bring the Forging Masters, we must comply? Select a hundred and thirteen Martial Artists, disguise them as Forging Masters, and catch them off guard." Fire God Child's voice was cold and arrogant, suffocating the Martial Artists of the Situ Family in the hall.
"Everything shall proceed according to the arrangements of the Martial Venerable Fire God Child. Tomorrow, we will gather all the Martial Artists of the Situ Family and head to Huantian Cliff to annihilate Ghost Manor completely."
Situ Ao stood up and issued the order to everyone.
Yunhu Gathering was a vast marketplace, spanning a wide area with towering mountains and steep cliffs. In some of the deep, ancient forests, ferocious Mystic Beasts roamed, making it a place ordinary people dared not venture into alone.
The Situ Family's patriarch, Situ Ao, personally led over a hundred Forging Masters to Huantian Cliff, accompanied by only sixteen Martial Artists, demonstrating great sincerity. Of course, these Forging Masters were not real—they were Martial Artists in disguise. Hidden in the shadows, a large number of Martial Artists had also infiltrated Huantian Cliff, preparing to deal a heavy blow to Ghost Manor.
"Young Master Chuan, I have arrived. Now hand over my daughter!" Situ Ao stood at the base of the cliff, channeling his Martial Arts Profound Qi to amplify his voice, which echoed across the mountains.
"Whoosh!"
A black figure flew out from the forest, draped in a thick black robe, standing atop a Fifth-grade Flying Beast as it soared halfway up the cliff. This black-robed figure was none other than Ghost Manor's Left Guardian King—Lin Sanzhi.
Lin Sanzhi had only three fingers and was blind, yet his Martial Arts cultivation was astonishingly high. He had long since entered the Earthly Venerable Realm and was Ghost Manor's top expert.
"The Situ Family truly cares deeply for their daughter, to actually bring all their Forging Masters!" Lin Sanzhi's voice was aged, laced with amusement.
Situ Ao said solemnly, "Left Guardian King, why hasn’t Young Master Chuan shown himself yet?"
Lin Sanzhi raised his head and glanced at the sky, leisurely saying, "Why is the Situ Family in such a hurry? There’s still half an hour until noon. Our Manor Lord might still be enjoying the company of Miss Situ right now. How dare I disturb his lordship’s pleasure? Haha!"
"You—!"
Situ Ao clenched his fists tightly, barely restraining the urge to order Lin Sanzhi’s immediate execution by a thousand cuts.
But he held himself back, thinking inwardly, Young Master Chuan hasn’t shown himself yet. We can’t alert the enemy. Let you gloat for now—soon, you won’t even have the chance to cry.
The Crown Prince stood atop a distant ridge, gazing thoughtfully toward Huantian Cliff.
"How many troops have been mobilized from Son of Heaven Pass?" the Crown Prince asked.
An old eunuch hunched over, bowing respectfully. "Thirty thousand troops have surrounded Huantian Cliff entirely. Not even a fly could escape. Your Highness, is it really necessary to deploy the military just for Ghost Manor?"
The Crown Prince replied coldly, "That’s none of your concern. I tasked you with investigating Ghost Manor’s background. What have you uncovered?"
The old eunuch answered, "Ghost Manor was established only two years ago, stirring chaos in the Imperial City Border Market and subduing many unsavory factions. However, no one knows its exact location. The Manor Lord is known as 'Young Master Chuan,' an extremely mysterious figure who rarely appears. Usually, the Ghost Envoy manages the manor’s affairs, issuing orders on his behalf."
"Ghost Manor also has two formidable experts, titled the Left and Right Guardian Kings. The one who injured Your Highness’s Martial Soul Avatar yesterday was the Right Guardian King of Ghost Manor."
The Crown Prince snorted. "If you can’t uncover Young Master Chuan’s origins, surely you can find out who these Guardian Kings are. Two supreme experts don’t just appear out of thin air."
"We couldn’t find anything," the old eunuch said nervously, fearing the Crown Prince’s wrath.
He added, "There are rumors that everyone in Ghost Manor has died once before—that they are all... ghosts. To enter Ghost Manor, one must first experience death. Of course, these are just legends."
The Crown Prince remained composed, though his brow furrowed slightly. "Why hasn’t Young Master Chuan appeared yet?"
"Your Highness, this old servant fears there may be a trap. Ghost Manor has many experts—they couldn’t possibly miss the ambush," the old eunuch whispered.
The Crown Prince’s expression darkened as a sense of foreboding gripped him. "Damn it! Young Master Chuan must already be at the Situ Family’s estate. We must return!"
With a sweep of his palm, the Crown Prince unleashed a golden beam of light that shot into the sky.
"ROAR!"
A deafening dragon roar shook the earth.
A massive Winged Dragon, its body covered in scales, emerged from the clouds. Its enormous wings blotted out the sky, each claw stretching dozens of meters long, with individual scales as large as winnowing baskets.
This was a true Dragon.
Its draconic aura radiated outward, causing the Mystic Beasts in the mountains to tremble in fear.
The Crown Prince leaped onto the Winged Dragon’s back and sped back toward the Situ Family.
Upon landing, he strode through the estate’s gates—only to find it reduced to ruins. Walls had collapsed, towers lay shattered, corpses littered the ground, and flames still burned in many places.
The forging base of the Situ Family in the back mountains had been completely looted, with not a single forging copper furnace left behind.
Lin Zhanglao rushed out from the sea of flames, a broken sword embedded in his body, and knelt before the Crown Prince, his mouth full of blood. "Y-Your Highness... the evil members of Ghost Manor... have taken all the Forging Masters away..."
With these words, Lin Zhanglao breathed his last, and the flames consumed his body, reducing it to ashes.
The Crown Prince's face darkened to the extreme as he saw a blood-written message left on a ruined wall— "Many thanks to His Highness the Crown Prince and the esteemed head of the Situ Family for your generous gifts. The honorable Forging Masters have been invited by this Manor Lord to Ghost Manor as guests. Do not worry. —Young Master Chuan."
BOOM!
The Crown Prince struck out with a single palm, shattering the wall into grains of sand.
Too infuriating!
Not long after, Fire God Child and Situ Ao returned.
The Situ Family had already been reduced to a sea of flames.
At the sight of this, Situ Ao's vision darkened, his breath caught in his throat, and he nearly fainted from sheer rage.
The Crown Prince said coldly, "Fire God Child, how many of Ghost Manor's evil members did you capture at Huantian Cliff? Interrogate them harshly—we must uncover Ghost Manor's location. I will tear Young Master Chuan to pieces!"
Fire God Child's expression was also grim as he shook his head. "At Huantian Cliff, aside from the Left Guardian King, there were no other evil members of Ghost Manor. And the Left Guardian King possesses Martial Venerable-level cultivation. If he wanted to escape, there was no way to stop him."
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