Finally Letting Go

When all one hundred people had been thrown into the massive cauldron, eventually dissolving into a thick, viscous broth, a grotesque, meaty aroma wafted through the air. The servants standing nearby had long been terrified, their faces pale as death as they cowered in the distance. Some were even vomiting uncontrollably.

Zhou Liang, however, was in feverish high spirits. He personally tossed a large, tightly bound rat demon into the pot. Instantly, as if triggering a chain reaction, the cauldron began to wildly spew forth spiritual light and blood energy. Faint ghostly wails lingered in the air, the remnant resentment of the many slaughtered living beings.

Following the methods outlined in the Flesh and Blood Alchemy Method, Zhou Liang busied himself before the cauldron. Eventually, a fist-sized, blood-red Pill floated atop the meat broth. Wisps of blood energy swirled around it, harboring a vast amount of essence and vitality that made it appear exceptionally vivid.

Although the Pill was exceedingly gruesome, the moment it took shape, everyone present felt their hearts tremble violently, suddenly seized by a primal urge to swallow it.

Fortunately, this desire was not overpowering; a normal person's mind could suppress it.

A servant carefully scooped up the Pill and was about to present it to Zhou Bai inside the room, but Zhou Liang stopped him.

"I will deliver it myself."

The servant handed it over respectfully without suspicion, but unexpectedly, Zhou Liang grabbed the Pill and swallowed it whole!

"Sir, why did you eat it?!"

Zhou Liang could no longer hear the servant's words. The massive Pill filled his mouth, and countless violent streams of Qi burst forth from it, frantically spreading through his body, filling every inch of his flesh and blood. It was as if a mighty force was reshaping his physique, allowing him to clearly feel himself growing stronger!

"Hahaha!"

Under the terrified gazes of all the servants, Zhou Liang's frail body suddenly shot upward. In an instant, he swelled into a burly, towering giant. However, his flesh and blood had turned a gruesome crimson, looking as if he had been skinned alive-a terrifying and horrifying sight.

Zhou Liang grabbed a nearby servant and, with both massive hands, viciously tore him apart. The servant didn't even have time to scream before being ripped in two, blood splattering everywhere and mangled flesh scattering across the floor!

"Run! Zhou Liang has turned into a demon!"

The remaining servants screamed in terror, their legs trembling as they scrambled toward the exit.

Zhou Liang casually tossed the corpse to the ground. With a sudden leap, he landed before the underground prison doorway, blocking all hope of escape.

Zhou Ping, hidden in the shadows, observed this scene. The power Zhou Liang had just unleashed was comparable to an awakened cultivator circulating Spiritual Qi. It seemed that while the Flesh and Blood Alchemy Method had an abyssally low ceiling for cultivation, it provided a substantial boost to the physical body.

Zhou Changhe gazed at the fiendish Zhou Liang, the last remnants of his own mortal temptation dissipating completely. What mortal didn't envy the longevity of immortals? But to mutate into such a ghastly monster, enduring endless torment only to possess a lifespan as short as a mortal's, was truly contemptible.

Just as Zhou Liang was about to commence his slaughter, Zhou Bai heard the commotion from within the room and walked out, followed by two hulking figures, Zhou Liu and Zhou Qi.

"You are... Zhou Liang?!"

Zhou Bai was stunned for a moment, his pupils quickly shrinking.

"Hahaha, you came out on your own. That saves me the trouble of going in to kill you."

Zhou Liang laughed maniacally. His voice was no longer thin and delicate, but coarse and clamorous, sounding like a discordant chorus of men and women screaming together.

"My family has treated you well all these years, and I have never once been harsh with you. Why do you want to kill me?" Zhou Bai shouted coldly.

"Why?" Zhou Liang roared. "Because your Zhou family humiliated me, of course! Because I am taking revenge for my father!"

"Not only will I kill you, I will slaughter everyone in your Zhou family!"

"Why were you born a master, while I am nothing but a servant?! Why did my father die for your Zhou family, yet you only cared about that dog-shit Zhou Changxi, brushing off my father's funeral as an afterthought?!"

With those words, Zhou Liang abandoned the others and charged directly at Zhou Bai.

Zhou Liu and Zhou Qi took a step forward, standing like two impenetrable walls in front of Zhou Liang.

"Two mere mortals dare to stand in my way? Courting death!" Zhou Liang let out a long howl, his fists raining down upon the two men like a violent storm.

But when his fists slammed into Zhou Liu and Zhou Qi, they remained completely unharmed!

Zhou Liang felt as if he were punching solid bluestone, his palms aching agonizingly.

"Impossible! I am so powerful now, how could these two bastards possibly stop me?"

A faint azure light radiated from Zhou Liu's body. He raised a massive fist and smashed it into Zhou Liang, sending the demon flying back several zhang. Zhou Liang's entire arm was beaten until it was twisted and caved in, but under the nourishment of the blood energy, his flesh was slowly stitching itself back together.

"You are cultivators?!"

How could Zhou Liang fail to realize it now? The two men before him were no mortals; they were Zhou family cultivators-and a type of cultivator he had never even heard of!

In that brief exchange, several servants had already rushed out the door. Zhou Liang knew that if he continued to stay entangled here, the moment the rest of the Zhou family was alerted, he would be doomed.

And with these two cultivators protecting him, there was no way to kill Zhou Bai. It was better to retreat for now and seek another method of revenge in the future.

Wind seemed to gather beneath his feet as he bolted toward the doorway. The Green Jade Guards were sluggish in their movements and naturally could not catch up.

"Zhou Bai, you better protect your head well! One day, I will definitely return to kill you!"

Just as he was about to burst out of the underground prison, Zhou Liang hurled this vicious threat back over his shoulder-only to violently crash into an invisible wall of air, sending him flying backward to the ground.

Zhou Liang glared forward in fury, only to see a tall figure standing before him, his aura as unfathomably deep as an abyss!

"Zhou Ping!"

Zhou Liang was abruptly seized by visceral terror, but he quickly steadied his mind. They were both cultivators! Even if he couldn't match him in strength, surely he could still escape?

But just as he was about to exert his strength, he felt a suffocating Pressure crush down upon him, pinning him to the ground, entirely unable to move.

"Why are you so powerful?! Why is Heaven so unfair?!"

Zhou Ping paid no mind to Zhou Liang's ravings. He walked straight to Zhou Bai and asked calmly, "This kind of immortal destiny-do you still want it?"

Zhou Bai stared at the horrifying, demonic visage of Zhou Liang, and completely let go of the last shred of obsession in his heart.

"This child was wrong. I should not have clung to such things."

Zhou Ping did not speak. Instead, he stepped forward, gently stroking Zhou Bai's head, and spoke softly. "We also understand your bitterness all these years, which is why we have been searching for a method to allow mortals to cultivate. If it were truly harmless to you, why would we hide it from you?"

"You are my son. How could I ever harm you? How could I be biased and cast you aside?"

"Burn this demonic art. Do not let it remain in the world to harm others," Zhou Ping sighed.

How could he fail to guess Zhou Minghu's intentions in leaving this technique behind? He had likely wanted to glean a path to Qi Condensation from it. Fortunately, Zhou Minghu had restrained his heart and refrained from cultivating it; it was just unexpected that it would brew the disaster seen today.

Zhou Changhe and Zhou Bai both voiced their agreement. By speaking to them openly, Zhou Ping was also warning them never to harbor thoughts of this twisted immortal destiny again.

Then, Zhou Ping turned to look at Zhou Liang. With a casual flick of his sleeve, Zhou Liang's head flew from his shoulders, his eyes wide open in unresigned death.

The next day, every family and clan under the Zhou family's jurisdiction learned of a single matter: Zhou Liang had slaughtered commoners to practice a demonic path, and had now been executed.

Clans with surnames like Wang, Sun, Lin, and Niu were all struck by lingering dread upon hearing the news. Just yesterday, they had fully cooperated when Zhou Liang came to arrest 'criminals' under Zhou Bai's name. They never imagined he was a cold-blooded demonic cultivator.

But among these people, the most distressed was now Zhou Hu.

"Motherfucker! Was Zhou Liang missing a string in his brain? Even in death, he has to drag me down with him." Zhou Hu sat in his courtyard, cursing in a low, furious voice, yet feeling as if prying eyes were watching him from all directions.

He had gone through immense difficulty to be elevated into a branch lineage of the Zhou family. He had thought his fate was sealed-to share the Zhou family's longevity, his descendants forever free from worry. But now that Zhou Liang had rebelled and attempted to murder his master, how could those like him, bearing the Zhou surname but lacking the Zhou bloodline, avoid suspicion?

This was especially true since Zhou Changhe had handed him an incredibly thorny task: handling the matter of Chunlan.

Although Chunlan had served the Zhou family for over twenty years, she was also Zhou Liang's mother. Whether she was privy to the plot or not, the Zhou family would never let her remain.

But by assigning this task to Zhou Hu, he was put in an impossible position. If his punishment was too light, it would look like blatant favoritism and hidden disloyalty. If his punishment was too severe, he would be seen as cold-blooded and ungrateful to his past ties. No matter what he did, there would be no good outcome. He might even lose his status as a branch lineage member.

"No, no, I must find a way to save myself."

Looking for more free chapters? Visit www.skynovelvault.com to read over 5,000 free chapters and continue exploring more stories from SkyNovelVault.

88.181.249.5

ns88.181.249.5da2