Before another word could be spoken, a violent gust of wind swept through the courtyard.
A young man in his twenties strode in with hurried steps, his expression dark enough to make the surrounding servants instinctively retreat. His aura surged uncontrollably, causing the very air to tremble.
"Tian Yongheng!"
His furious roar echoed across the courtyard.
Tian Yongheng immediately turned around, surprise flashing across his face.
"Brother Chen?"
He hurried forward, asking in a polite tone, "What happened?"
Even Qin Ningguang sheathed her sword and approached, her brows slightly furrowed.
"Brother, why are you so agitated?"
The newcomer was Qin Chen, the eldest young master of the Jiangnan Branch of the Qin Family and Qin Ningguang's elder brother.
Despite his youthful appearance, he had cultivated for more than four centuries and had already stepped into the middle stages of the Acquired Realm, making him one of the most outstanding experts among the younger generation in the surrounding hundreds of thousands of miles.
However, at this moment, there was only rage in his eyes.
He glared at Tian Yongheng as though looking at a sworn enemy.
"What happened?" Qin Chen repeated coldly.
"You still dare ask me what happened after your Tian Family Head nearly murdered my father and launched an attack on our clan?"
His words struck Tian Yongheng like thunder.
"What!?"
His expression froze.
"Brother Chen, there must be some misunderstanding. I truly know nothing about this."
He took another step forward, only for Qin Chen to shove him back with a burst of Spiritual Energy.
"You know nothing?"
The killing intent surrounding Qin Chen intensified.
"Your family's experts had already surrounded our ancestral estate. If Grandfather hadn't emerged from seclusion in time, the Qin Family branch in Jiangnan would have been annihilated."
Tian Yongheng's face paled.
"No... it cannot be... that's impossible!"
He shook his head repeatedly, "My father would never order such a thing. There must be some mistake, yes, that's it..."
"I've heard enough."
Qin Chen reached out, grabbed Tian Yongheng by the collar, and before anyone could react, transformed into a streak of light that shot toward the horizon.
The speed was astonishing, displaying the terrifying might of a Acquired Realm cultivator.
Qin Ningguang hesitated for only a moment before following after him.
The Jiangnan Branches of both the Tian Family and the Qin Family were descendants of two of the Four Great Immortal Families of the Central Continent.
For one branch to openly attack another was tantamount to declaring war between colossal powers; such conflicts were almost unheard of.
Precisely because of that, Qin Chen's accusations felt even more unbelievable.
Within moments, they arrived outside the Tian Family estate.
Qin Chen casually flung Tian Yongheng onto the ground.
The latter stumbled several steps before regaining his balance.
Ignoring the pain, he looked up, his pupils contracting violently.
The once majestic surroundings had become a field of death as thousands upon thousands of corpses littered the earth.
The bodies of cultivators lay scattered across several miles, staining the land crimson.
Broken weapons, shattered artifacts, and collapsed buildings testified to the ferocity of the battle that had taken place.
The air permeated with the smell of blood for miles around, making one feel suffocated.
Among the dead were elders Tian Yongheng recognized instantly.
Powerful Golden Core Realm cultivators who had once seemed invincible now lay motionless, their lifeless eyes staring toward the heavens.
These beings who were capable of shattering mountains and rivers, collapsing heaven and earth, none of them had survived.
His breathing became ragged.
Then, his gaze settled upon a familiar figure.
A middle aged man sat slumped on the ruined stone steps in a kneeling posture, his robes torn and stained with blood.
A sword was plunged into the ground at his feet, his hands gripping it tightly, unable to let go even in death.
His eyes were vacant, his expression empty, as though his spirit had already departed.
"F... Father...?"
The words barely escaped Tian Yongheng's lips.
The man was none other than Tian Yuan, that proud Family Head who had always stood tall now appeared utterly broken.
A few meters away lay the body of a woman dressed in elegant robes.
She was completely still, the blood beneath her having already dried up.
Tian Yongheng's legs nearly gave way.
"Mother..."
His voice cracked, boundless waves erupting from his heart.
"How... how could this happen?"
His mind became blank.
The world around him seemed distant, muffled, unreal.
Only one thought echoed endlessly within his consciousness.
Why?
Why had everything changed in a single day?
As Tian Yongheng stood frozen, an ancient voice descended from above.
"So this is Tian Yuan's son?"
High in the sky floated an elderly man with long white hair and an equally long beard.
His mere presence distorted the surrounding void, and countless strands of Spirit Qi instinctively bent around him.
Void Refinement Realm, standing at the near pinnacle of a region.
He looked down at Tian Yongheng as one might observe an insignificant insect.
Beside him stood Qin Long, the current head of the Jiangnan Qin Family branch and the father of Qin Chen and Qin Ningguang.
Qin Long bowed respectfully.
"Yes, Father."
The old man's expression remained indifferent.
"In that case, I shall leave the boy to your judgment."
The next instant, his figure vanished completely without leaving behind even a ripple.
His arrival and departure were equally silent; only the lingering pressure proved he had ever been there.
Tian Yongheng forced himself to look toward Qin Long, his eyes bloodshot..
"Uncle Long..."
His voice trembled, incomparably hoarse, a stark contrast to the voice that was brimming with vitality and youth just moments ago.
"What happened here?"
Qin Long's face remained expressionless.
"Didn't Chen'er already explain it to you? Our family acted only in self-defense. Your Tian Family attempted to exterminate the Qin Family branch, we just retaliated."
His explanation was calm to the extreme.
No one present truly believed it.
The rogue cultivators and members of other factions watching from afar exchanged uneasy glances but remained silent.
Anyone with common sense could tell that something was terribly wrong.
A conflict of this magnitude could not erupt without warning.
The story of the Tian Family suddenly deciding to destroy the Qin Family was riddled with flaws.
More importantly, both families were branches of two supreme powers ruling the Central Continent.
Such a war should have shaken the entire cultivation world, at least in the Jiangnan Region, yet everything had unfolded with terrifying speed, almost as of it had been carefully arranged in advance.
Many secretly suspected that the main branches, those supreme powers entrenched in the Central Continent, were involved.
If that was the case, then the destruction of the Jiangnan Tian Family must have concealed a secret so enormous that none of them dared to speculate further.
Sometimes, ignorance was the only path to survival.
At that moment, Qin Ningguang finally arrived.
The instant she saw the sea of corpses, her face turned pale.
"Father..."
She stared around in disbelief.
"What happened here?"
Qin Chen calmly recounted the official explanation.
After hearing it, Qin Ningguang's eyes flickered almost imperceptibly.
She knew her father, her brother, and she also knew enough about the cultivation world to recognize that the story made little sense.
Something else had happened, something even hidden from a genius such as herself.
Nevertheless, she suppressed every doubt in her heart.
Turning toward Tian Yongheng, she asked in an icy voice, "Young Master Tian, can you explain why your family attacked ours?"
Tian Yongheng stood speechless.
His mind was still consumed by the sight of his fallen mother and broken father.
How could he have any explanation when he himself understood nothing?
Before he could utter a single word, Qin Chen stepped forward.
"There is no need."
His eyes gleamed with murderous intent.
"The crimes of the Tian Family deserve death."
He casually raised one hand.
A sharp humming sound echoed through the battlefield as Sword Qi condensed at his fingertips.
*Whoosh!*
The brilliant streak shot toward Tian Yongheng with overwhelming speed.
The attack was merciless, carrying enough power to erase him completely.
For an instant, death seemed inevitable, just a little short of reaching him.
However, just as the Sword Qi was about to reach him, the surrounding space twisted strangely.
A mysterious figure appeared out of nowhere, seized Tian Yongheng by the shoulder, and vanished.
The Sword Qi struck only empty air.
Silence immediately descended throughout the surroundings.
Before long, countless expressions changed simultaneously.
The figure had disappeared so quickly that even many Golden Core cultivators failed to react.
When Divine Senses spread across the surrounding hundreds, thousands of miles, Tian Yongheng's aura was already gone.
Tens of thousands, possibly even hundreds of thousands of miles away.
Someone whispered in disbelief,
"An Escape Talisman..."
And not an ordinary one at that!
The speed displayed far exceeded the limits of common teleportation treasures.
Even Qin Chen's expression stiffened as Qin Long narrowed his eyes.
Qin Ningguang stared toward the empty horizon with a blank expression.
Such a talisman could only have been crafted by an existence standing at the Immortal Ascension Realm or beyond.
Its value was simply immeasurable.
Its appearance here was nothing short of shocking.
For the first time since she got to know about everything, uncertainty crept into Qin Ningguang's heart.
It seemed the destruction of the Tian Family was far from the end.
She had a very bad feeling about all of this.