Immediately, an elderly figure in a brocade robe, with white hair but a youthful face, leaped over the crowd. His presence was graceful, yet it radiated overwhelming power.
"Old Patriarch!"
It was the Tang family's old patriarch, Tang Huai.
The Tang clan seemed to grasp at a lifeline, faces lighting up with hope. Tang Huai had been in seclusion for years; many assumed he was dead, but here he was, alive.
"The old patriarch broke through to the seventh layer of the Meridian Clearing Realm years ago! We're saved!"
One of the elders shouted excitedly. Luo Qionghua's eyes brightened.
Tang Huai's strength was legendary. Surely he could subdue the boy and put an end to this massacre. She reassured herself again and again.
But Tang Huai hadn't even landed on the ground yet.
Lin Yi leaped like lightning, faster than the eye could follow. His right fist clenched and barreled straight at the old patriarch.
"You…"
Tang Huai had assumed his presence alone would intimidate the youth, perhaps give him pause. He never expected such ruthlessness—a silent, brutal ambush. His expression tightened with alarm.
Before he could react, Lin Yi's fist was already within inches. It struck squarely against Tang Huai's face.
Boom!
A dull, earth-shattering sound.
Tang Huai's head exploded instantly. Only a headless body fell from midair to the shocked crowd below.
[Killed a Meridian Clearing Realm cultivator. Violence Points +600.]
"This…"
The Tang clan froze in disbelief. They had thought Tang Huai's arrival would turn the tide, ending this nightmare. Instead, he hadn't even landed before he was gone.
Lin Yi slowly touched down, scanning the stunned crowd with a cold gaze.
"Now… you may all take your final journey in peace."
Luo Qionghua, raised in the pampered luxury of the Luo family, had never faced such a scene. Fear gripped her. She wanted to live.
"M-Master! Please… spare me! I beg you, have mercy!"
With a thud, she fell to her knees, banging her head on the ground until blood seeped from her forehead.
"I… I will serve you! Pour your tea, make your bed, anything! Please, just let me live!"
Lin Yi shook his head.
"I am not that General Cao; I have no fondness for married women."
Before she could process his words, Lin Yi appeared before her in an instant.
Terrified, Luo Qionghua looked up—and saw a fist rapidly enlarging in her vision.
Boom!
The punch struck her chest with unstoppable force. A blood-red hole tore through her torso; life was extinguished in an instant.
The remaining Tang elders and disciples felt the cold grip of terror. Cold sweat drenched them as panic surged through their hearts.
Cries of pleading filled the air. Many fell to their knees, hoping their groveling might move Lin Yi, perhaps granting them a sliver of mercy.
They were gravely mistaken.
In the next instant, Lin Yi surged like a gale into the crowd.
"Ah!"
"No!"
"…"
The screams and chaos of the Tang estate echoed as the boy's slaughter continued, unstoppable and merciless.
Screams of sheer agony echoed across the estate, each one more gut-wrenching than the last.
Blood and shredded flesh flew through the air. Limbs and broken arms scattered like ragdolls.
In just a brief moment, the Tang estate's front yard had transformed into a horrifying battlefield of carnage—an absolute bloodbath.
[Killed 4 Meridian Clearing Realm cultivators, 32 Bone-Tempering Realm cultivators, 85 Body-Refining Realm cultivators. Violence Points +32,200][Remaining Violence Points: 44,200]
"Quite the harvest," Lin Yi murmured, eyes glinting as he surveyed the pile of accumulated points.
He then opened the system panel.
"Xiao Bao, enhance cultivation!"
[Spend 11,000 Violence Points, cultivate to the Sixth Layer of the Breath Condensation Realm][…][Spend 13,000 Violence Points, cultivate to the Eighth Layer of the Breath Condensation Realm][Remaining Violence Points: 8,200]
His spiritual energy now flowed more fully than before. Nourished by this power, his body had become even more formidable—his strength had leaped to a whole new level.
Feeling the surging energy within, Lin Yi whispered to himself:
"The higher the cultivation, the more Violence Points required… I'd better speed up my work."
He closed the system panel, ignoring the carnage around him, and headed straight toward the Tang family's treasure vault.
Moments later, he located the vault.
Compared to his own family, the Tang vault was enormous—stocked with weapons, herbs, martial techniques, and more. Lin Yi casually rifled through the treasures. In a jade box, he discovered a small storage ring.
"So the Tang family even has something like this!"
With the storage ring, organizing and carrying items would be far easier. He selected some precious items and placed them inside.
While scanning the vault, a corner caught his eye—a beast-skin-bound book. Its cover bore four large characters written in an unknown blood-red ink: "Hundred Springs Flow."
Flipping through a few pages, Lin Yi's face lit up.
"A fourth-tier palm technique… not bad at all!"
The Tang family, after all, was only a second-tier clan; even their strongest cultivators were merely at the Meridian Clearing Realm. Yet here they were, storing a fourth-tier martial skill. This was an unexpected delight.
[Owner: Lin Yi][Cultivation: Eighth Layer of Breath Condensation Realm (0/14,000)][Martial Skill: Hundred Springs Flow (Entry Level) (0/500)][Violence Points: 8,200]
Lin Yi eyed the remaining Violence Points—8,200—realizing it wasn't enough for the next cultivation breakthrough.
"Since I can't advance just yet, I'll enhance this fourth-tier skill first."
He spent 7,500 Violence Points, instantly refining Hundred Springs Flow to perfection.
[Remaining Violence Points: 700]
An overwhelming surge of insight regarding the technique flooded his mind. Lin Yi raised his hand, exerting a slight force.
The air around his arms seemed to condense and become moist. Streams of water, thin as serpents, coiled around his limbs, exuding a faint chill.
He swung his palm toward the wall before him.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Hundreds of condensed water streams shot forth like arrows from a bow, lightning-fast, relentless as a sudden downpour.
Pfft! Pfft!
The solid wall crumbled under the assault, as fragile as paper. In moments, the surface was riddled with countless perforations.
Lin Yi nodded with satisfaction.