Chapter 105: A Bloodbath

The beauty’s smile was as fleeting and graceful as a startled swan. Even the very air seemed to freeze for a few seconds. Wang Ran, equally breathless, stared silently at the spring-breeze smile gracing Yao Jianjia’s delicate, fair face. He remained dazed for a long while, only snapping back to reality when the sound of footsteps belonging to the Lu family disciples echoed from outside.

"Senior Sister, watch me go slaughter these dogs!" As Wang Ran spoke, he flicked his palm, and spiritual energy surged instantly. It wove and coiled in mid-air, manifesting into a shimmering suit of armor that settled onto Yao Jianjia’s frame.

It was the sixth-grade spiritual artifact, the Cloud-Falling Armor.

This item possessed immense defensive capabilities, impenetrable even to ordinary Golden Core cultivators. Although Yao Jianjia’s cultivation was currently sealed and she could not actively channel the armor, wearing it as a passive layer of protection allowed her to withstand attacks from various cultivators; at the very least, she no longer needed to fear those at the Great Perfection of the Foundation Establishment stage.

A fine spiritual artifact requires formidable strength to be truly utilized. Had Yao Jianjia’s cultivation not been sealed, her innate talent as a Golden Core prodigy would have allowed her to channel this armor and transform into a goddess of war, capable of annihilating the mere Lu family in an instant.

One must understand what it means to be a direct disciple of the Only-I Sect. They are all dragons among men, phoenixes soaring above the nine heavens. The fact that Yao Jianjia stood out from thousands of disciples to become one of the only two direct disciples of the sect was proof of her terrifying strength.

In the past, let alone one Lu family, even ten of them bundled together would not have been a match for her; she could have crushed them with a single stroke. It is no exaggeration to say that for the Lu family to covet Yao Jianjia was like a toad lusting after swan meat—an utterly delusional fantasy.

Once the Cloud-Falling Armor transformed into a mist of spiritual energy and molded itself into a feminine silhouette over her slender frame, firmly protecting her, Wang Ran no longer had any worries. He let out a cold snort, his eyes flickering with a murderous glare. As his spiritual energy surged into a storm, it blasted the entire room into fragments. Several Lu family disciples outside who were too slow to react were caught in the blast, their screams cut short as they were reduced to dust.

The other Lu family disciples who arrived behind them gasped, staring at the scene in stunned silence.

The next moment, Wang Ran turned his gaze toward these disciples. The predatory ferocity in his eyes made their scalps tingle, and they scrambled backward, shrieking.

"Who is this person? How dare he come to our Lu family to stir up trouble!"

"How did he get in?"

"Quick! Go report this to Elder Lu!"

"Damn it, he’s too strong!"

The disciples wailed as Wang Ran, relying purely on his physical prowess, transformed into an ancient, monstrous beast. Wherever he passed, blood rained and cries of agony erupted; any Lu family disciple he touched was either dead or maimed.

Such a terrifying scene was beyond anything these disciples had ever heard of or witnessed. Their courage had long since shattered, and they no longer dared to show any arrogance. Wishing they had been born with more legs to run faster, they fled for their lives.

"You brat, how dare you!"

Suddenly, an angry roar erupted. A flying sword streaked across the sky, bearing an old man who trembled with rage, his eyes wide enough to split, as he surveyed the carnage.

He was the Lu family elder stationed here, possessing the cultivation of the Great Perfection of the Foundation Establishment. In his memory, it had been thirty years since anyone dared to challenge the prestige of the Lu family, ever since they became one of the two overlords of East Pole City.

That the perpetrator was merely a youth at the ninth level of Foundation Establishment made him all the more humiliated and enraged. He felt his dignity had been utterly trampled; if he could not resolve this perfectly, he would never be able to hold his head high in the Lu family again.

With a thunderous crash, Wang Ran pulverized a Lu family disciple in mid-air before turning back to look coldly at the elder. His beast-like, predatory gaze made the elder flinch, a sudden chill running down his spine.

"If you stop now, the Lu family will let bygones be bygones." For reasons unknown, the elder, who had intended to attack in a fury, found his tone shifting involuntarily upon seeing Wang Ran’s eyes. He suddenly had no desire to make an enemy of this mad youth.

"Let bygones be bygones?" Wang Ran let out a cold, mocking laugh. "With what right do you presume to offer me leniency? You need to understand—it is a question of whether *I* will spare your Lu family!"

Before the elder could react, Wang Ran vanished into a series of afterimages. His Vajra Glazed Body flared, and with indescribable momentum, he curled his fingers into a blade and slashed viciously toward the elder’s throat.

"Arrogant!" The elder roared, his figure swelling with power. As his spiritual energy surged, his robes billowed and his white hair stood on end without wind, granting him an imposing aura.

He formed a hand seal, his palms embracing the void to manifest a wave of spiritual light, which he hurled at Wang Ran.

"Go to hell, you old fool!" A sharp gleam flashed in the elder’s eyes. This strike was his most powerful technique, a four-star Daoist art he had accidentally acquired in his youth. It was precisely because of this technique that he had been able to suppress his enemies and become an elder of the Lu family.

He had even used this art to slay a half-step Golden Core demonic beast, so he was immensely confident in this strike.

But then, a scene that filled him with sheer horror unfolded. The youth did not dodge the technique at all; instead, he charged head-on, piercing straight through the wave of light without his speed being affected in the slightest. Before the elder could even react, Wang Ran was already upon him.

*Crack.*

The elder felt the world go black. When he looked down, he saw blood gushing from his neck, two finger-shaped holes pierced through it, and his life force rapidly fading away.

"How is this possible..." Before he died, the elder could not comprehend why a youth with only ninth-level Foundation Establishment cultivation could be so powerful. Filled with deep regret and remorse, his body plummeted from the sky like a falling star. It shone for only a fleeting moment before turning into a handful of dust, leaving no one to remember his existence.

The other Lu family disciples, witnessing this, were struck with terror, cold sweat drenching their backs as they desperately tried to flee.

Wang Ran flashed forward, casually grabbing a weeping Lu family disciple, and asked coldly, "Where is the tomb of the Lu family ancestor?"

"You mean the ancestral mausoleum? It... it’s beneath the main hall..." The disciple, nearly scared to death, stammered out the answer.

Upon hearing this, Wang Ran tossed the disciple toward the horizon and ignored him, his figure blurring as he arrived before the main hall.

"Life is about constantly experiencing new things. I have never dug up someone else’s ancestral grave before; I think I’ll give it a try today."

Wang Ran stood with his hands behind his back, muttering to himself. The nearby Lu family members felt their hair stand on end, nearly convinced they had misheard him.

Yao Jianjia watched the earnest-looking youth, a smile flickering in her eyes as she covered her mouth to giggle.

Wang Ran was, of course, not just speaking for the sake of it. He flicked a finger, and a ripple of spiritual energy exploded, startling the birds in the sky into flight.