65 THE SLAUGHTER OF ZI (1/2)

In the eye of most cultivators, Western Continent's Zi Clan was just an average power in a land where giant monsters such as the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect reigned supreme.

To the higher ups of the cultivation world, Zi clan was instead a minor branch of Northern Continent's esteemed Zhao Clan, placed as an outpost to keep an eye on the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect's happenings. After all, some of the main branch's Young Masters were disciples there, while the ancestral grounds of Zhao were located too far to be able to respond in the case of an emergency; on a whole other continent, even.

As the publically recognized number one Sect for cultivators in the world, it was as such no wonder that great powers such as the Zhao Clan would want to send their talented younglings to the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect to study the path of cultivation under the best possible circumstances.

Therefore, the main branches of Clans and the like would set-up side branches in the vicinity of all major Sects. In the case of Zhao, who were separated by too much of a distance, they were also sure to develop the Zi Clan so that they'd be able to take care of smaller happenings in regards to the Young Masters, only contacting Zhao in the case of major accidents.

Again, the average cultivator wouldn't possibly know of such things. Needless to say, such behind-the-curtains, under-the-table kinds of things were still known to a select few in the right places, so that things wouldn't escalate to conflicts involving Continents.

Due to that, even to this day few had dared to clash their swords, even to a now waning Zi Clan: despite them not hiding their weakness to their political opponents, clashing with Zi head on would mean angering the monster that stood behind them.

Zhao was a beast that had been piling up treasures and cultivation resources for millennia on end. Some liked to call the Clan of Zhao the sleeping dragon of Northern Continent, a force that had never shown their full hand.

And after the events of a thousand years ago, nobody knows just how much power such a hidden dragon might have amassed!

That was also one of the reasons that, when a figure staged a scene of slaughter that enveloped the entirety of the clan grounds, the Zi members were astonished before they were terrified: it would only be later that the disbelief would be replaced by horror. Their arrogance as the tail of a dragon in a snake kingdom left them vulnerable to the teeth of one such snake.

As if to make things worse, luck just had it that, roughly two hours before the crack of dawn, the Clan Head and his elite guard corps had actually set off to complete a very important mission. The people living in the large mansion of Zi had even gathered to send them all off with cheers and bright smiles, waving the torches in their arms and wishing them good luck on the expedition.

This person was tiny, young, merely a child. Quite a few people, in fact, would have long since dismissed it as a suicidal attempt to wrong the esteemed Zi Clan as an inexperienced youngster.

Of course, that was before the black clothes had been dyed a bright crimson from the blood of the hundreds of people that he had cut down; even redder was the pavement, rivers of vermillion lifeblood trailing the path of that small figure drenched in scarlet.

That stained pavement had once been littered with corpses. Now though, they had all long since met Blindlight's fauces, promoting from plant fertilizer into dragon fuel.

It was only a matter of time. Little more than two hours later, Cheng Hao comfortably laid atop the prestigious throne at the top a long set of stairs, within the Zi Clan Mansion's Main Hall, admiring the dawn break.

And as he lay there, witnessing the grounds bathing in that light, the golden-eyed reborn soul couldn't help but secretly praise in his mind: this Zi clan sure had quite the sense of style...

After all those halls and buildings were similar to those of the most conspicuous clans he had seen a thousand years ago.

I guess now these would be called vintage, uh? A thousand years is quite a long time after all...

Eventually, Cheng Hao turned his gaze towards the person next to the throne. He was really old. Maybe in his late eighties, perhaps in his early nineties. Currently, he was looking at Cheng Hao with a complex gaze, but eventually that fell to the three severed heads at his feet: one high Superior Stage, one half a step into the Sung Stage, secluded protectors of Zi Clan from a previous generation; both had fallen today, at the hands of a Basic Stage eight-year old. As for the third head laying beside those two, it only had an Advanced Stage cultivation, but her position as the first wife of the Clan Head, had once been looked up to by many.

Today, independently from power or status, they all returned to dust.

The old man was the only survivor out of the massacre of the Zi Clan, the only reason being… that this elderly was only the Zi Clan's groundskeeper, an unwilling slave of ar to the Zi Head.

Thus, Cheng Hao had no direct enmity towards him, nor found it necessary to kill him outright. Especially given the old man had no cultivation, so he didn't yet pose a treat, and he had spared no effort helping the young child after knowing Cheng Hao's motive was to eradicate Zi: many hidden rooms had been pointed out, completely weeding out all those that had been hiding in hope of escaping Cheng Hao's slaughter.

The old man had a head full of long, white hair. His brown eyes were sharp while his straight nose, thick eyebrows and big mouth giving him a somewhat heroic air.

Although his age was nearing the end of his life expectancy, his body was as straight as a spear and his muscles still bulged from beneath his clothes. Even though he didn't have a cultivation, his frame could still be referred to as that only those who had trained for their whole life could ever hope to compare to: just like Zi Clan cultivators, he used to be a body cultivator too, and one that was well into the Outstanding Mortal Physique, just a little bit further away from the actual peak of the second Tier. Now, with the sealing of his cultivation base, even that had degraded back to just a mere Initial Mortal Physique.

”Young friend, is something the matter?” Seeing the complicated gaze in Cheng Hao's eyes the old man asked, worried.

The boy's expression softened after hearing the concern in the man's voice. They had talked quite a bit in the few hours that had passed after the massacre and he had come to know the old man's situation.