Volume 1, Chapter 212 – The Ruthlessly Decisive Grand Elder

“Bzz…”

The entire world suddenly fell still!

Everyone locked in battle froze mid-motion!

It was as though an invisible hand had forcibly pressed the pause button on time itself!

Only their thoughts could still function.

Everyone, whether they were members of the Liu family, the Zhao family, or those men in black.

Even the Bloodfiend Old Demon, whose baleful energy soared to the heavens, realized in horror—

They could not move!

They could not even twitch a finger or shift their gaze!

They had been utterly immobilized where they stood!

“Th-this is?!”

Unprecedented terror erupted in the Bloodfiend Old Demon’s eyes!

He desperately circulated his middle-stage Spirit Transformation cultivation, trying to break free of the invisible restraint.

Yet it was useless!

He felt like an insect trapped in amber, completely sealed in place!

Then, everyone felt the temperature around them plummet!

At some unknown moment, a figure had silently appeared in the sky.

Clad in snow-white robes, with dark hair cascading like a waterfall, her beauty was cold and peerless, as though she embodied all the frost and snow in the world.

She merely stood there quietly. Not a trace of spiritual power rippled from her body, yet she naturally exuded a supreme majesty that looked down upon all living beings.

Her eyes were tranquil and emotionless as they swept over the battlefield below, where everyone stood like frozen statues.

At last, her gaze settled on the Bloodfiend Old Demon, who clutched a crimson banner, his vicious face rigid with terror.

The newcomer was none other than Li Hanyi, Grand Elder of Yaochi Immortal Palace!

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Her arrival had been so abrupt, so soundless, and yet somehow… entirely inevitable.

“A mere Spirit Transformation ant!”

Li Hanyi’s cool voice rang out, carrying undisguised contempt.

“Who gave you the nerve?”

The instant her words fell—

“Crack!”

A faint, crisp sound rang out.

The Ten Thousand Souls Banner in the Bloodfiend Old Demon’s hand, a profound-rank supreme-grade artifact overflowing with baleful energy, did not even have time to let out a wail.

Starting at the top of its pole, it shattered and disintegrated inch by inch, turning into the finest powder, which drifted down in a soft flurry!

With his artifact destroyed and their minds linked, the Bloodfiend Old Demon violently spat out a mouthful of blood!

Yet even then, his body remained tightly bound. He could not move in the slightest!

The blood hung eerily frozen in the air before him.

Li Hanyi’s gaze shifted slightly, falling upon the Bloodfiend Old Demon’s terrified face.

Slowly, she raised one slender, jade-white hand and gently squeezed it in his direction through the air.

“Argh—!!!”

The Bloodfiend Old Demon let out a shriek of agony!

He could clearly feel his Nascent Soul being forcibly stripped from his dantian and dragged out by an irresistible force!

Yet he still could not move so much as an inch.

Several breaths later—

A tiny Nascent Soul, identical in appearance to the Bloodfiend Old Demon, was slowly “pulled” through the crown of his head as though by an invisible hand!

His Nascent Soul had been forcibly extracted!

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For a cultivator, that was almost tantamount to a death sentence!

Even if the Nascent Soul managed to escape, rebuilding a body and recovering one’s cultivation would take a very long time.

At that moment, the Bloodfiend Old Demon’s Nascent Soul was suspended above Li Hanyi’s palm, struggling ceaselessly.

With a thought, Li Hanyi drove a thread of divine sense directly into the Nascent Soul’s core consciousness!

Soul Search!

Without a word of needless explanation or a shred of hesitation, Li Hanyi had chosen the most direct method!

“Urgh… ah…”

The Bloodfiend Old Demon’s Nascent Soul rolled its eyes back and convulsed violently, strange, rasping noises escaping its mouth.

After only a few breaths, Li Hanyi withdrew her divine sense.

She gently closed her hand, and the Bloodfiend Old Demon’s Nascent Soul instantly turned into a wisp of green smoke, vanishing completely between heaven and earth.

Body and soul annihilated!

A Spirit Transformation cultivator who had been so imposing just moments ago had been casually crushed like an ant before the Grand Elder of Yaochi Immortal Palace!

He had not even possessed the slightest chance to resist.

Silence.

A deathly silence still blanketed the Liu family estate.

The invisible force of “restraint” that had filled the place moments earlier had already quietly dissipated.

Yet no one dared to move. No one even dared to breathe too loudly.

All of them were still lost in the shock of what they had just witnessed!

Liu Beichuan, Liu Beihai, Zhao Yang, and every member of the Liu and Zhao families stared dumbfoundedly at the figure in the air.

Watching that Spirit Transformation cultivator scatter like dust, their hearts pounded wildly, their backs already drenched in cold sweat!

In the blink of an eye, a Spirit Transformation cultivator had been reduced to ashes!

As for the men in black, especially Chen Xuanying and the Chen family’s core members, their faces were now ashen, and they trembled from head to toe like leaves in the wind!

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The Bloodfiend Old Demon, a middle-stage Spirit Transformation cultivator, was simply gone?

He had not even been able to struggle?!

It was over!

Completely over!

“Thud!”

“Thud! Thud!”

No one knew who was the first to kneel. Then, like a row of dominoes toppling over—

Every man in black, Chen Xuanying included, went weak at the knees and crashed heavily to the ground!

They kowtowed frantically!

“Spare us, Senior! Please spare us!”

“We were forced into it! That old demon made us come!”

“Mercy! Please spare us! We’ll never dare do it again!”

Their cries and pleas filled the air, standing in stark contrast to their former arrogance and cruelty.

Li Hanyi did not even spare them a glance.

Her eyes fell upon the severely wounded Liu Beichuan below, then upon the Liu family members lying in pools of blood.

Her brows drew together ever so slightly, almost imperceptibly.

She raised her other hand, palm facing upward.

A vast surge of spiritual energy emerged from her palm, then transformed into a rain of light that gently scattered down.

Wherever the rain of light passed, color visibly returned to Liu Beichuan’s paper-white face.

The other injured members of the Liu and Zhao families likewise felt a warm current flowing into their bodies, and their injuries began to improve noticeably.

“Thank you, Senior, for saving our lives!”

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Supported by Liu Beihai, Liu Beichuan struggled to his feet and bowed deeply toward Li Hanyi in the sky, his voice choked with emotion.

The remaining Liu family members also knelt and bowed, their relief at surviving the disaster mingling with their reverence for the strong.

Zhao Yang, too, led the Zhao family in a respectful salute.

Li Hanyi gave a slight nod, accepting their gesture.

Her gaze turned toward the group of black-clad men kneeling and begging for mercy, particularly Chen Xuanying, whose face was ashen.

Feeling that gaze fall upon him, Chen Xuanying felt as though his very soul were about to freeze solid!

“This junior, Chen Xuanying, greets Senior…”

He lay prostrate on the ground, his voice trembling so badly it was barely recognizable.

“Why?”

Li Hanyi asked only two words.

But Chen Xuanying understood that she was asking why he had targeted the Liu family.

“Th-this junior… this junior was momentarily blinded by moment…”

His words came out in a jumble. He did not dare conceal anything, pouring out the Bloodfiend Old Demon’s coveting of the Liu family’s resources as though emptying a basket of beans.

Naturally, he concealed the fact that he himself had also been driven by greed.

He claimed only that he had been coerced by the Bloodfiend Old Demon and had acted out of necessity.

Li Hanyi listened quietly, without a trace of expression on her face.

Only after he had finished did she slowly speak.

“Nothing but lies. You deserve to die!”

Li Hanyi’s words pierced Chen Xuanying’s heart like an ice spike, making it seem as though all the blood in his body had frozen in an instant!