Su Chen's gaze swept over the familiar faces of the Su family compound, warmth softening his transcendent aura. His eyes first met Su Xiaotian's—the stern patriarch now visibly trembling, moisture gathering at the corners of his eyes.
"Father," Su Chen's voice was a calm river after years of absence, "I've returned."
Su Hai, the towering second uncle whose beard had gained streaks of silver, stepped forward with a throaty laugh. He clasped Su Chen's shoulders, his calloused palms firm. "Look at you! Taller than this old man now!" His eyes crinkled with pride. "And that face… hah! The heavens themselves must've carved it. Half the maidens in Fengyang will faint when they see you!"
But Su Chen's attention had already shifted. Standing slightly apart, her moon-white robes fluttering like captured starlight, was Su Qingxue. Her knuckles were pale where they gripped each other, the usual ice in her eyes melted into a pool of vulnerable longing. When Su Chen spoke her name—"Xue'er"—it shattered her composure.
With a choked sob, she flew across the courtyard, crashing into Su Chen's embrace. Her arms locked around his neck, face buried against the pristine white fabric of his robe. "Brother…" Her voice was muffled, thick with tears she'd held back for five years. "You… you finally came home!"
Qin Tian, still reeking of blood and dust near the hall entrance, felt his gut twist. His Extreme Yin Divine Body—the woman he'd already claimed in his mind—was pressed against another man. Jealousy, hot and corrosive, flooded his veins. He dug his nails into his palms until blood welled.
Su Chen tightened his hold around Su Qingxue. His hand spanned the delicate arch of her lower back, fingers brushing the dip of her waist. Through the thin silk, he felt the warmth of her skin, the impossible softness of her body. Her full breasts pressed firmly against his Primordial Immortal Bone—a sensation that threatened to unravel his control. He shot Qin Tian a fleeting glance, a ghost of a smirk playing on his lips as he deliberately pulled Su Qingxue closer.
Su Qingshuang, bouncing on her toes nearby, finally couldn't wait. "Brother! What about me?"
Su Chen released Su Qingxue (reluctantly) and turned. With a fond smile, he ruffled Su Qingshuang's dark hair. "Look at you, Shuang'er. All grown up."
She puffed her cheeks, indignant. "She gets a hug that lasts forever, and I just get head pats? That's unfair!"
Su Chen chuckled, the sound like distant wind chimes. "Later. I'll hug you until you complain."
The Reckoning
The lighthearted moment shattered as Su Chen's gaze landed on the intruders. Huang Yuantu, Wang Li, and their combined forces stood frozen, their earlier arrogance replaced by dawning terror. The pressure radiating from the nine Blue Luans overhead, the golden-armored guards—it all screamed Holy Land.
Huang Yuantu's knees hit the cobblestones with a sickening crack. "True Chuan Su Chen!" he wailed, forehead pressing into the dirt. "Mercy! The Huang family forced us! We had no choice!"
Beside him, Wang Li—Su Xiaotian's once-trusted friend—stood rigid, face bloodless. Then, slowly, he too sank to his knees. "Brother Su…" His voice cracked. "I… I thought I was protecting the Su family by cooperating! Spare the Wang family! For the sake of our past!"
Su Chen's expression frosted over. The warmth vanished, replaced by the glacial calm of a mountain peak. "Elder Chu." His voice cut through the pleas. "Eradicate the Huang, Wang, and Huang lineages within Fengyang's walls. Leave no root."
Elder Chu Liang stepped forward. No fanfare, no grand gestures. He simply raised a wrinkled hand and pushed.
BOOOOOOM—!
Space itself seemed to compact. A soundless wave of annihilation radiated outward. Huang Yuantu, Wang Li, and every warrior who'd followed them disintegrated. Not into gore, but into motes of shimmering dust that caught the sunlight before vanishing. The courtyard fell utterly silent, the air thick with the scent of ozone and finality.
Su Xiaotian stared, breath caught in his throat. Huang Yuantu and Wang Li had been Princes, peers he'd struggled against for decades. Annihilated like gnats. This was the power of a Holy Land elder.
Su Chen didn't flinch. "You heard the True Chuan," Elder Chu stated, his voice devoid of emotion. "Purge the nests."
The golden-armored guards snapped fists to chests in unison. "By your will!" Golden light erupted around them as they shot into the sky, streaking towards the Huang and Wang family compounds like falling stars.
Annihilation
At the Huang family estate, chaos reigned. Panicked servants scrambled, elders shouted futile orders. Huang Yun—Huang Tian's father, a bear of a man with a booming voice—stood in the central courtyard, face purple with rage.
"WHO DARES?!" he roared skyward as golden light bathed the compound. "MY SON IS HUANG TIAN! HEIR TO ELDER XUESHA OF THE NETHERWORLD SECT! YOU WILL SUFFER ETERNAL TORMENT FOR—"
A golden-armored guard materialized above him, hovering like an avenging god. His voice, amplified by power, rolled over the screaming compound: "You threatened the kin of a Holy Land True Chuan. Your bloodline ends today."
He didn't draw his weapon. He simply pointed. A beam of condensed golden light, thinner than a thread, lanced down. It touched Huang Yun's forehead.
For a heartbeat, nothing. Then Huang Yun's eyes widened—before his entire body, and the grand hall behind him, silently unraveled into golden ash. The beam widened, becoming a scouring wave. Walls dissolved. Screams cut off mid-shriek. Within ten breaths, the Huang compound was a smoldering, empty crater.
Similar scenes played out at the Wang family holdings. Resistance was futile. Grand arrays shattered like glass. Patriarchs who summoned ancestral treasures watched them melt in their hands. The golden guards were methodical, merciless, final. Fengyang City trembled under the silent apocalypse.
Reward
As the last echoes of destruction faded over Fengyang, a chime resonated within Su Chen's consciousness:
"Ding! Congratulations, Host, on successfully altering the plot trajectory!"
"Reward issued: God-Level Qi-Observing Technique!"