Outside the main hall of the Xiao Imperial Palace, masked experts wearing ghost-face masks slaughtered wantonly throughout the palace grounds.

At the head of the group stood a tall figure in a dark purple cloak—Su Chen. Leading the members of the Life-Slaughter Hall, he unleashed a bloody purge on the entire Xiao Family. He had no interest in personally acting against the insignificant soldiers of the Xiao Imperial Clan. His gaze was fixed on a palace ahead. That was his true target.

Boom!

A fierce, murderous aura erupted. A black halberd swept forward with a lethal strike.

"An ant trying to shake a tree—how ridiculous."

Su Chen chuckled lightly. His figure flickered. Under Xiao Xuance's horrified gaze, one hand directly seized his face. Purple-black airflow rose around Su Chen like flames, making him resemble a demon sovereign descending upon the mortal world.

Xiao Yueli, who had not gone far, witnessed the scene and cried out in grief, "Big Brother!"

Xiao Jin pulled his struggling sister back, suppressing his own sorrow as he said, "Little Sister, don't go back! You are no match for him. We must take Father and leave. We cannot let Big Brother die in vain!"

Xiao Yueli's cry of alarm drew Su Chen's attention.

"Trying to escape? How naïve."

Su Chen's gaze turned ice-cold.

Xiao Xuance desperately clung to Su Chen's body. A black flood dragon of accumulated battlefield killing intent erupted from within him. "Bastard… I won't let you harm Third Brother and Little Sister!"

He intended to self-detonate to stall Su Chen. When he looked up, however, he saw only disappointment in those star-annihilating eyes…

Xiao Xuance lost consciousness as his body exploded apart. He never understood why that figure had shown such disappointment.

"Too weak. Even after burning everything, this is all the strength he could muster."

Su Chen felt deeply disappointed.

The undefeated great general of the Xiao Imperial Clan, Xiao Xuance, was simply too weak. Even after his final desperate burst, killing him only condensed the tiniest wisp of killing intent—far from enough to nurture the Killing God Demon Embryo.

Su Chen calmly turned his gaze in the direction Xiao Jin and Xiao Yueli had fled. He had a feeling that Xiao Sha's brothers and sisters might still bring him some pleasant surprises.

With a casual wave of his hand, he ordered the Life-Slaughter Hall members behind him to continue the massacre of the Xiao Imperial Clan. The palace was soon filled with the thick stench of blood, flashing blades, roaring fires—just like the scene in the Lu Clan six hundred years ago when Su Chen had first opened his eyes in this life.

Xiao Sha, as Young Master Wusheng, had preemptively killed off far too many geniuses. Families like the Lu Clan were not unique. If Xiao Sha had lived and the Xiao Family had flourished, the current fate of the Xiao Family would have been the Lu Clan's. The only difference was that Su Chen would not give the Xiao Family any chance of survival. He would leave no one alive.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Damn it… how did he catch up so quickly!"

Xiao Jin's face turned extremely ugly.

He said to Xiao Yueli, "Little Sister, I will hold him back. You take Father and escape immediately. Whatever you do, do not look back!"

Xiao Yueli was blasted backward by Xiao Jin's aura.

"Third Brother!"

Tears streamed down Xiao Yueli's face like rain on pear blossoms. Enduring the pain, she fled under Xiao Jin's furious roar.

"What touching sibling affection."

Su Chen watched Xiao Yueli leave without any intention of stopping her. His gaze fell on Xiao Jin, causing cold sweat to pour down the latter's back. In Xiao Jin's eyes, something incomparably terrifying was slowly taking shape.

Xiao Jin forced down his fear and asked, "Who are you? Why are you attacking my Xiao Family? Aren't you afraid that when my fourth brother emerges from seclusion, he will come for revenge?"

Su Chen narrowed his eyes. His words made Xiao Jin's entire body stiffen.

"You want to buy time? To give your foolish little sister a slim chance to escape?"

Su Chen looked at the terrified Xiao Jin with indifference. "Today, no one from your Xiao Family will escape. As for your fourth brother Xiao Sha, I think someone who controls the lifelines of the entire Xiao Clan should already know that he died long ago. After you die, if Xiao Sha is willing to wait for you for a hundred years on the Bridge of Nether, perhaps you will see him there."

Hearing the death of Xiao Sha confirmed from Su Chen's own mouth, Xiao Jin trembled violently, his eyes turning blood-red. Endless rage and grief surged into his heart.

"I'm going to… kill you!"

Xiao Jin's aura exploded. He frantically burned his own talent and lifespan. In just a few breaths, his once-youthful appearance aged dramatically. His withered hand reached out to strike Su Chen.

Su Chen severed Xiao Jin's arms with a single slash, then ended his life with one decisive strike. He felt the killing intent within his body grow noticeably more solid, bringing him one step closer to condensing the Killing God Demon Embryo.

"Truly worthy of being Xiao Sha's blood brother. One person is worth tens of thousands of ordinary martial artists. Even killing a divine body genius cannot compare to the nourishment provided by killing a brother."

Su Chen felt somewhat unsatisfied. If Xiao Sha had had a dozen or so brothers and sisters, he might have been able to form the Killing God Demon Embryo today. Unfortunately, Xiao Sha only had four siblings.

When she sensed Xiao Jin's aura vanish, Xiao Yueli fell into utter despair. She finally reached the place where her father was in seclusion.

"Who dares to attack our Xiao Imperial Clan?!"

Xiao Yueli's father emerged from closed-door cultivation. His aura surged like a raging river. At this critical moment, he had successfully broken through to the Nirvana realm.

Seeing the tragic state of the entire Xiao Imperial Clan, rage ignited in his heart. He charged straight toward Su Chen's location.

Xiao Yueli was horrified and shouted urgently, "Father… come back quickly…"

It was already too late. She only heard her father roar furiously, "Yueli, don't worry. Your father will definitely slay this enemy!"

Despair filled Xiao Yueli's face. Even if her father had broken through to the Nirvana realm, what could he do?

Her eldest brother and third brother had already died at the hands of that terrifying demonic figure.

"No… I must survive!"

A fierce will to live suddenly surged in Xiao Yueli's heart. She knew she could not die here.

Enduring the grief, she continued to flee.

Su Chen looked with interest at the middle-aged man in yellow imperial robes charging toward him. He knew this must be Xiao Sha's father. The remnants of Xiao Sha's destiny had actually allowed him to break through to the Nirvana realm in the midst of crisis… Unfortunately, the Nirvana realm was far from enough to resolve the Xiao Family's catastrophe.

The Xiao Patriarch was furious. But only for an instant. He quickly regained his composure.

Su Chen's eyes turned ice-cold. He lifted the man as easily as picking up a chick. The joy of breaking through to the Nirvana realm was doused like ice water poured over his head.

"What a waste."

Su Chen discovered that the killing intent he gained from the Xiao Patriarch was pathetically weak.

Just as he was about to crush the man to death, Frost suddenly condensed in the air.

Amid drifting clouds and mist, a woman in profound blue robes appeared, walking barefoot through the void as ripples formed icy steps beneath her feet.

"Sha Shengzi, you are courting death!"

The woman's eyes burned with murderous intent that soared into the heavens.

Su Chen turned his head.

"Finally, someone interesting has arrived."

His Killing God Demon Embryo now had a proper target.

…