C21 Not Leaving a Single One of Them Alive!

"Hand it over? You must be joking."

Upon hearing Zhen Yu's icy threat, Jiaang Lin remained unfazed, tucking the Fire Lotus Grass into his pocket with no intention of surrendering it.

Zhen Yu's brow furrowed, the glint in his eyes growing even icier.

He hadn't anticipated Jiaang Lin's utter disregard for his threats.

"Joking? Do you really think someone of my stature would stoop to joking with a piece of trash like you?"

Zhen Yu's anger was palpable, his voice dripping with frost.

Jiaang Lin, the notorious failure of the Jiaang family, was known for his blocked meridians and inability to cultivate.

"Let me repeat myself. Hand over the Fire Lotus Grass, or I'll ensure you meet your end in the Extreme Flame Land!"

Zhen Yu threatened once more, his tone menacing.

"You overestimate your capabilities!"

Jiaang Lin retorted sharply.

"Insolent! A nobody like you dares to speak to me this way?"

With a contemptuous snort, Zhen Yu gestured, and a Body Refining Level Five Qiao family expert lunged at Jiaang Lin.

*Bang!*

A dull thud echoed.

Jiaang Lin's fist connected squarely with the Qiao family expert's face, sending him flying. He crashed to the ground, dead on impact.

One punch!

A Body Refining Level Five expert was dead!

The scene left Zhen Yu utterly astonished, and the surrounding Qiao family experts were equally stunned.

Jiaang Lin, the one who couldn't cultivate—how did he possess the strength to kill a Body Refining Level Five expert with a single punch?

"So that's why you're so arrogant. You've gained some skills recently, enough to kill a Body Refining Level Five Expert with just one punch!"

Realization dawned on Zhen Yu as he fixed his cold stare on Jiaang Lin, his body radiating murderous intent.

"Enough with the blather!"

Jiaang Lin responded, his impatience laced with sarcasm.

"Seeking your own demise!"

Zhen Yu bellowed, his Genuine Qi swirling within him as he charged at Jiaang Lin.

He had never imagined he would be ridiculed by someone as insignificant as Jiaang Lin.

Even if Jiaang Lin currently possessed the strength to kill a Body Refining Level Five Expert with a single punch, what of it?

At best, he was merely at the Body Refining Level Six. For me to kill him would be a piece of cake!

"Hmph!"

Confronted with Zhen Yu's sudden onslaught, Jiaang Lin remained unflustered, issuing a cold snort.

His right fist clenched abruptly and he hurled it forcefully at Zhen Yu.

The punch was so swift that Zhen Yu had no time to react.

*Crack!*

The sound of breaking bones echoed.

Zhen Yu, who had charged at Jiaang Lin, failed to land a blow. Instead, Jiaang Lin's fist connected squarely with his chest, sending him spewing blood and tumbling backward in a disgraceful heap, with several ribs snapped.

The acute pain twisted Zhen Yu's features as he involuntarily inhaled sharply.

His gaze fixed on Jiaang Lin, the astonishment in his eyes deepening.

One punch!

He, a Body Refining Level Seven practitioner, was grievously wounded by a single punch from Jiaang Lin!

This reality was too much for the proud Zhen Yu to stomach.

In his view, Jiaang Lin was nothing but trash.

Even with Jiaang Lin's previous feat of killing a Body Refining Level Five Expert, he couldn't possibly be stronger than himself!

But now, Zhen Yu had to face the bitter truth—he had been utterly mistaken!

Killing Jiaang Lin was far from the effortless task he had imagined.

And Jiaang Lin's cultivation level was certainly not limited to Body Refining Level Six!

"Body Refining Level Seven Peak!"

The Qiao family experts around them were once again taken aback.

Eventually, one of the Qiao family experts, at the Qi Gathering Level Two, squinted and discerned Jiaang Lin's true level of cultivation.

"It seems that the rumors spreading through Clear Water Town yesterday about you, Jiaang Lin, knocking out a Dao Artifact Hall disciple with a single punch were true after all!"

The Qiao family expert stepped forward, helped the severely injured Zhen Yu to his feet, and then fixed a chilly gaze on Jiaang Lin, speaking in an icy tone.

Indeed, Clear Water Town had been abuzz with that very rumor just the day before.

The so-called waste of the Jiaang family, within the walls of the Dao Artifact Hall, knocked out Tang Bei, a practitioner of Body Refining Level Four, with a single punch.

This news sent shockwaves through Clear Water Town, with many struggling to believe it.

The Qiao family was no exception, filled with disbelief.

This included a Qiao family expert at Qi Gathering Level Two.

Now, having witnessed Jiaang Lin kill a Body Refining Level Five expert from their own ranks with one punch, and then gravely wound Zhen Yu at Body Refining Level Seven, he was forced to reassess.

He realized that Jiaang Lin's true cultivation level was as the rumors had claimed: the tales that had spread through Clear Water Town the day before were indeed true!

Jiaang Lin, once derided as useless, had clearly shed that label.

Given his current level of cultivation, taking down Tang Bei, who was merely at Body Refining Level Four, was no challenge at all.

"You think it was a lie?"

Jiaang Lin's lips curled into a slight smirk.

"Initially, I was skeptical," the expert admitted.

"And now?"

"Now, I believe."

"So, what's next? Are you planning a group attack?"

Jiaang Lin's smile was disarming, his demeanor showing no sign of distress or confusion.

"A group attack? You flatter yourself. While you have shown some skill, Jiaang Lin, you're not such a threat that we need to band together to take you down," the Qiao family expert scoffed, his eyes brimming with contempt.

"To handle you, I alone am enough," he declared confidently.

As he spoke, he lunged forward, reaching for Jiaang Lin's shoulder.

Just then, the Red Flame Lion, previously resting at their side, sprang to life with a thunderous roar.

It charged at the Qi Gathering Level Two Qiao family expert, its massive body launching into the air, jaws aiming to clamp down fiercely.

The sudden ferocity of the Red Flame Lion, which had seemed to be asleep, caught everyone off guard.

The Qiao family expert, who had been reaching for Jiaang Lin, had his expression twist in alarm, a flicker of panic crossing his eyes.

His cultivation level was merely at Qi Gathering Level Two, whereas the Red Flame Lion's prowess was on par with a Qi Gathering Level Three cultivator. It was a whole level stronger than him.

With his Qi Gathering Level Two abilities, he stood no chance against the Red Flame Lion!

Consequently, the Qiao family expert refrained from reaching out to violently probe Jiaang Lin with the intent to capture and kill him.

Instead, he reacted swiftly, his toes tapping the ground, moving like a swift breeze to narrowly evade the Red Flame Lion's deadly pounce.

"Quite the quick reflexes," Jiaang Lin noted, a slight smile playing on his lips as he observed the Qiao family expert barely dodging the Red Flame Lion's ferocious assault.

Then, with a graceful leap, he landed effortlessly on the Red Flame Lion's back, sitting cross-legged and looking down with an air of superiority at the Qiao family experts and a pale-faced Zhen Yu.

His blood-red eyes exuded a chilling, sinister charm that made one's skin crawl. Meeting his gaze, one could almost feel their soul being ensnared.

To their astonishment, the Red Flame Lion showed no resistance to Jiaang Lin's presence on its back.

Its fierce gaze was fixed solely on them.

Zhen Yu and the Qiao family experts were left in stunned silence, their faces a picture of disbelief, as tumultuous waves of shock washed over them.

"How... How is this possible? Why isn't the Red Flame Lion attacking that bad boy?"

A Qiao family expert, coming to his senses, murmured in confusion.

At his words, Zhen Yu and the rest of the Qiao family experts were equally baffled.

They couldn't fathom why the typically savage and ruthless Red Flame Lion was behaving so submissively, showing no resistance to Jiaang Lin whatsoever!

What they didn't realize was that the Red Flame Lion was already under the influence of Jiaang Lin's Blood Eye Battle Soul.

"Kill them all, leave none alive!"

From atop the Red Flame Lion, Jiaang Lin commanded with an icy detachment.

He had always harbored a strong aversion to the Qiao family and would not allow them any opportunity to thrive or expand.

Today presented an opportunity in Celestial Peak Valley to strike a blow against the Qiao family by eliminating some of their experts, thereby weakening their power.

The Red Flame Lion let out a roar that shook the heavens, its terrifying cry causing the entire valley to tremble without cease. Boulders tumbled from the cliffs and rolled into the valley's blazing inferno below.

The lion's roar also carried with it a powerful and fearsome sonic force. Instantly, many of the Qiao family experts at Body Refining Level Five and even Level Seven were killed, blood pouring from every orifice.

Only those at the Qi Gathering Stage managed to hold their ground against the onslaught.

Zhen Yu, too, relied on the magic of a jade talisman, conjuring a barrier of light that just barely held back the devastating power of the roar.

With another roar, the Body Refining Stage masters of the Qiao family were nearly wiped out.

The Red Flame Lion then unleashed a torrent of scorching, violent crimson flames, like an enraged dragon, upon the remaining Qiao family experts. They scattered in terror, desperately trying to evade the fiery onslaught.

Zhen Yu, already wounded, stood no chance of escape and was reduced to ashes beneath the ferocious crimson flames.

Ironically, he had earlier threatened Jiaang Lin, saying that if Jiaang Lin didn't surrender the Fire Lotus Grass, he would ensure Jiaang Lin had no grave to rest in. Yet, in a twist of fate, it was Zhen Yu who met that very end.

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