Chapter 74: Thunderstorm Over Feilei

Feilei City.

Outside the city.

Columns of rain cascaded down, as if the heavens, witnessing mankind’s cruelty, had unleashed a torrent to wash the world clean.

Inside a quiet pavilion.

A solitary figure sat draped in black, his face concealed behind a cat-faced mask. Hunched with age, he was meticulously carving a wooden sculpture with his chisel.

The shattering impact of the raindrops merged with a howling gust that burst into the pavilion, sending drifting wood shavings from his chisel swirling about.

In a moment, the sculpture took shape.

It was neither a Buddha nor any deity.

Instead, it portrayed the graceful, pure image of a woman. Clad in flowing silk and holding a Python’s Head Fine Sword, her glance over her shoulder carried a hint of bold spirit.

The eyes behind the cat mask lingered thoughtfully on the rough, intricate details of the carving.

Forty years—youthful beauty faded in an instant like wilting blossoms…

No one remains young forever.

Even though he had shed much of his divine aura, his descent from the mountain wasn’t solely for the Prodigy but more to see his long-lost love.

Alas, time is a razor-sharp blade that even cultivators cannot defy.

Without a divine foundation, sustaining life force becomes impossible, and beauty inevitably withers.

Outside the pavilion, wild winds roared, carrying the relentless downpour.

From all four directions, overwhelming divine presences twisted the skies, keeping the storm at bay.

Four masked figures stood in the rain at a distance, forming a circle around the pavilion—and, more precisely, around the old man wearing the cat mask.

“Four divine foundations attacking at once—with such a formation, something significant is about to unfold in the city.”

The old man murmured softly.

He looked toward the four, their divine auras blazing like the midday sun.

“Fen Nu Zhen Jun, Xin E Jing Gang, Fen Nu Mi Tuo, and… Xuan Si Liu Jian…”

“The Xu Family truly stands among the elite. With others set to challenge your foundation, why, instead of standing guard, do you get all lovey-dovey with me?”

Li Qingshan laughed.

Unabashed disdain and lethal intent shone in his eyes.

……

……

Xu Family Divine Cultivation Institute.

The vast courtyard lay in chaos—debris scattered everywhere and countless sword marks slicing through the blue stone pavement.

Amid dark clouds, electric serpents danced!

“Huff… huff…”

Granny Mu, drenched and pale as death, clutched her Python’s Head Long Sword as it trembled uncontrollably.

Around her,

Yang Family cultivators wearing childlike masks glared at her with cold, piercing eyes.

“In the end… I really have grown old…”

Granny Mu’s heart sank.

Her life force could no longer sustain such an arduous battle.

“Xu Mu, give up. We only want to take the Prodigy… You don’t need to risk your life. After all, as a cultivator at the peak of Yangxing Ruhe, you should value your own life.”

Leading the group, a burly man wielding a Heavy Hammer spoke in a deep, measured tone.

His coarse voice, loaded with raw life force and divine might, aimed to unsettle Granny Mu and instill terror; once fear took root, his Xin E Jing Gang power would swiftly erode her spirit.

This battle was utterly one-sided.

In truth, there had never been any suspense.

“Yang Kaihe… don’t think that a mask can fool this old lady!”

“The entire Yang Family wears Lingying masks? Have you all joined the Lingying Sect? Ridiculous! A proud Feilei lineage acting so furtively—bah!”

Granny Mu raised her Python’s Head Fine Sword, its blade still gleaming brilliantly after decades, flashing a piercing, icy light.

“If you dare snatch Xu Mu’s children, you’ll have to trample over this old woman’s corpse!”

Divine might ignited like sudden flames!

It burned quietly amidst the storm.

Granny Mu chose to fight with every ounce of strength she had; at her age, there was nothing left to lose.

“If you decline my toast… then prepare for a punishment drink.”

A calm voice emerged from the burly man wearing a startled girl’s mask.

In the next instant, he swung the Heavy Hammer with a sudden, powerful arc.

A surge of life force erupted; his muscular frame coiled like a serpent as his shudder shattered the raindrops into a fine spray.

Yet just as Yang Kaihe prepared to swing his hammer and finish the weakened old woman off…

His ears suddenly perked up!

The eyes behind Yang Kaihe’s mask narrowed sharply.

A familiar cracking sound of explosions tore through the rain.

It was like the harrowing cry of a bird having its tail feathers plucked in one swift tug!

“Explosion?!”

A pitch-black wooden crow, its wings aglow with burning sparks, curled its wings like a speeding dark arrow and screeched as it shot forward!

The Heavy Hammer was hoisted and smashed toward the speeding black crow!

Boom—!

An explosion erupted!

Rolling flames burst forth in an instant, and a powerful shockwave swept away the innumerable raindrops falling from the dark clouds!

Granny Mu, ready to risk her life, stood dumbfounded.

Watching Yang Kaihe stagger back, engulfed in firelight, awe crept into her eyes.

She abruptly whirled around, her vigorous movement sending sprays of water exploding like lotus petals.

What met her gaze was a towering, even more imposing figure than Yang Kaihe!

Dark and massive as a mountain, that figure bore a small girl on his shoulder whose eyes were fixed on the explosion, shining brilliantly.

“Li Nuǎnxi?”

Granny Mu’s brows furrowed.

Then she peered at the imposing figure’s face, only to see an adorably cute expression reminiscent of a baby calf… Damn! Ogre!

Granny Mu’s expression turned ashen as she cried out in shock.

The hand gripping her sword seemed suddenly drained of all strength.

Ogre…

The ruthless Ogre, notorious for twisting little children’s heads!

“XiXi, run!”

Granny Mu’s despair was palpable.

With predators on every side…

why must these children suffer so terribly!

Are Prodigies doomed to be nothing more than stepping stones on another’s path to cultivation?!

“Granny, Ogre’s here! He’s come to save you!”

Yet Granny Mu soon heard excited shouts as XiXi waved her little hands. The girl’s cheeks were flushed, clutching an oil-paper umbrella, her eyes sparkling as she showed no sign of fear from Ogre’s clutches.

It was… not at all as she had imagined.

Granny Mu was stunned.

Ogre merely cast a brief, indifferent glance in her direction.

“Fall back.”

The indifferent command carried a rough, formidable force.

Granny Mu instinctively clutched her Python’s Head Fine Sword and backed away several paces.

She then saw Ogre wielding a bizarre contraption—several metal tubes aimed at the airborne Yang Kaihe, flung by the explosion.

The metal tubes whirled at high speed, rotating in a single breath as though cycling through life and death a hundred times.

“Da-da-da-da-da-da-da…”

Brilliant tongues of flame erupted from the tube openings, resembling a fire lotus blooming in the storm.

A wooden black crow burst from the contraption, its fiery tail blazing like a meteor, and dashed toward Yang Kaihe with a piercing scream.

It engulfed Yang Kaihe in an instant!

Explosion after explosion blossomed like fireworks that even torrential rain could not quench.

Ogre lifted his chin, his eyes reflecting the flames as a cold, murderous intent surged wildly.

Anyone who dared harm his precious daughter…

must perish!

Li Che’s wish was simple: to give his daughter a pure, untainted world.

Thus, he would cleanse all the filth!

Nanmu Gatling Muduya…

Roar!

The rapidly spinning metal tubes gradually came to a halt as blue smoke drifted from their openings.

Granny Mu, drenched in sweat, turned her head toward Yang Kaihe…

but what she saw was Yang Kaihe—whose martial spirit and Yangxing Ruhe had once defined him—now reduced to utter misery: his clothes tattered, flesh torn from the explosions, and his mask shattered to reveal a face contorted in terror.

“Ogre… Ogre!”

Fresh blood dripped from Yang Kaihe’s mouth.

He recalled the time in the alley when Ogre had relentlessly blasted him.

Back then, others had helped share the burden.

But today…

he faced the bombardment alone!

Had he not made a breakthrough in martial arts, that first round of mechanized bombardment would have killed him!

Run!

Yang Kaihe stamped his feet heavily, intent on hurling his Heavy Hammer to carve out an escape.

But…

Ogre, still clutching the bizarre contraption in one hand, activated it once more.

Countless explosive black crows surged forth, their blazing tails lashing out!

“No! No—!”

Boom, boom, boom, boom!

Yang Kaihe, who had barely taken a few steps, was instantly engulfed once again by flames.

As another series of explosions ended and the firelight subsided,

Yang Kaihe lay as nothing more than a charred corpse, radiating intense heat and completely lifeless.

“Sixty rounds aren’t enough; then another sixty!”

“I’ve prepared six thousand rounds—still not enough to kill you?”

Li Che stated coolly.

Yet beneath his mask, his brows furrowed ever so slightly; the power of Nanmu Gatling Muduya indeed needed further refinement.

If even one Yang Kaihe requires such prolonged bombardment, then against divine cultivators, even six thousand rounds might not suffice to kill.

The torrential rain continued while the entire Divine Cultivation Institute lay in eerie silence.

The remaining Yang Family cultivators stood frozen, stupefied.

None could have imagined that Yang Family’s most promising disciple—closest to divine potential—would be blasted to death so suddenly.

Ogre hadn’t even made a personal move.

In the next moment, these elite Yang cultivators had their hair stand on end.

They frantically fled from outside the Xu Family Divine Cultivation Institute…

Li Che stole a glance and, unsparing in his attack, unleashed a volley of Muduya projectiles—each screaming as they trailed blazing tails.

Accompanied by a courtyard bursting with crimson fireworks!

All these elite Yang cultivators met the same fate as Yang Kaihe, perishing amidst the artistry of explosions.

XiXi sat on Ogre’s shoulder…

beaming with joy.

What a spectacular fireworks display this explosive rain was!

It left an indelible mark on her tender heart!

“Fireworks… I want to play with fireworks too!”

Fireworks and XiXi… they go even better together!

They completely annihilated the elite Yang cultivators.

Ogre methodically searched through the corpses; aside from retrieving a Qian Kun Jade from Yang Kaihe’s body, the others yielded only a dozen or so leaves.

After finishing his grim task, he strode out of the stupefied Divine Cultivation Institute.

Taking XiXi with him.

Granny Mu finally regained her senses. Leaning on a Python’s Head Wooden Cane and her rain-soaked, frail frame, she gave chase…

“Ogre… hero, where are you taking XiXi?”

In the rain.

The mountain-like Ogre paused to carefully adjust the crooked oil-paper umbrella in XiXi’s small hands.

Then he resumed his march.

A deep, foreboding voice laden with murderous intent cut through the storm and reached Granny Mu’s ears.

“To the Yang Family.”

“To set off fireworks.”

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