Lin Xiao himself was slightly surprised, though he did not particularly mind being recognised.
The Ji family would have guessed his identity sooner or later. He simply had not expected it to happen so quickly.
The people of the Ji family truly were no simpletons.
“Are you going to flee, or stay and fight, buying time for the weaker members of the Ji family to escape?”
Instead of answering directly, Lin Xiao asked calmly.
Those words struck straight at their hearts.
With their strength and various methods, they still had a chance to escape.
Yet this was a Ji family branch, home to several thousand clan members and relatives, many of whom were weak. If all the experts fled, the rest would be trampled flat by the skeleton army.
Regardless of their personal feelings, even if they escaped back to the main clan, they would be scorned by countless clansmen.
Moreover, with a Ninth-layer Martial Emperor and several high-tier Martial Emperors present, if this group of experts turned and ran, where would the Ji family’s dignity be?
Where would their face be?
“Lin Xiao!!!” The Ji family’s Ninth-layer Martial Emperor elder gnashed his teeth in fury. As the presiding elder of the Thirty-Seventh Division, he would bear inescapable responsibility for anything that happened here.
Lin Xiao’s expression remained indifferent. He was not afraid of anyone escaping.
Facing Lin Xiao and the entire army, the elder trembled with rage, his fists clenched so tightly his body shook. He wanted nothing more than to charge forward and tear Lin Xiao to pieces.
But he did not.
The standoff lasted for some time.
Finally, the Ninth-layer Martial Emperor elder roared in anger, “All Ji family members at Martial Lord realm and above, come forward to meet the enemy! Everyone else, leave at once!”
Never before had the Ji family been forced to shout orders to flee in front of their own gate. These words alone were destined to disgrace the Ji family utterly.
Yet he had no choice.
Against this skeleton army, even if they fought to the last, the weaker members would never escape.
Only by sacrificing those at Martial Lord and above could the others have a chance.
Lin Xiao shook his head at the elder. “Not Martial Lord. Martial King.”
“You!” The presiding elder nearly spat blood in rage.
Fearing Lin Xiao would attack immediately, he swallowed his fury and bellowed, “All at Martial King realm and above, come forward to face the enemy! Everyone else, leave now!”
At that moment, figures began rising into the air from the Ji family compound. Anyone at Martial King realm or higher could fly.
Those below Martial King could only run, and the weaker ones were naturally slower.
Once the presiding elder’s words rang out, everyone in the Thirty-Seventh Division understood the gravity of the situation and began fleeing outward.
Lin Xiao glanced back. Many in the city had already escaped, and countless more were desperately pouring out. He turned back to the elder and shook his head. “Too bad. You missed your chance.”
With that, the skeleton commander led the army in a mighty charge towards the Ji family.
Lin Xiao remained hovering where he was, letting two ranks of skeletons march past him.
He had already warned the city dozens of li away. Most had fled, and the rest were still scrambling to escape.
His position lay between the Ji family and the city. Attacks from the Ji family would struggle to reach this far.
As long as the skeleton army did not unleash a concentrated full barrage, the shockwaves would not spread too far backward.
There was no need to wait for more Ji family members to leave.
Whether Martial King, Heavenly Martial, or even weaker, anyone from the Ji family would receive no mercy from him.
Seeing the skeleton army surge forward, the presiding elder nearly exploded with rage.
This bastard was clearly toying with him, humiliating the Ji family!
Once the army moved, none of their people could escape.
“Stop them!” the presiding elder roared.
A group of experts charged forward. Dazzling sword beams blossomed as they met the skeleton army head-on.
“Chi!” “Chi!” “Chi!”
The commander, the ten elite skeletons behind it, and the archers in the rear all struck. Ten terrifying spear beams, followed by countless arrows imbued with immense power, shot towards the Ji family experts.
“Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” …
Explosions rang out continuously. The Ji family attacks were shattered one after another.
After Lin Xiao’s evil power imprinting, those ten elite skeletons each possessed Ninth-layer Martial Emperor battle strength. Among the Ji family group, only one had reached Ninth-layer Martial Emperor. How could the rest resist?
Their attacks collapsed, and spear beams pierced straight through them.
Even the Ji family’s Ninth-layer Martial Emperor had his offence shattered and suffered grievous wounds, nearly dying on the spot.
Following the ten spear beams came over a thousand arrows. The surviving Ji family experts were riddled with shafts and killed outright. Even the Ninth-layer Martial Emperor, after blocking several arrows, took multiple hits and worsened his injuries.
Beyond that, countless arrows that were not blocked rained down on other parts of the Ji family compound. Some pierced bodies, some destroyed buildings, and others kicked up massive clouds of dust.
A few were intercepted.
After one volley from the eleven leaders and the archers, the army pressed forward, rapidly overwhelming the Thirty-Seventh Division.
The Ji family’s Ninth-layer Martial Emperor elder was the first to be engulfed. Skeletons at the front swung spears and killed him within moments.
The unstoppable skeleton tide swept over the Ji family compound and the fleeing crowds.
Buildings crumbled incessantly. Ji family members were relentlessly cut down by greatswords and heavy axes or pierced by spears.
The stronger Ji family experts began clashing with the skeleton army, metal ringing out in shrill cacophony.
Yet the skeletons vastly outnumbered them, the Ji experts were few, and the eleven leaders were overwhelmingly powerful. Wherever resistance appeared, they descended and crushed it mercilessly.
Lin Xiao hovered calmly in the rear void, watching indifferently without lifting a finger.
Behind him, those still escaping the city and the crowds watching from far away paled in horror at the scene.
The skeleton army’s combat strength was simply terrifying. Even the Ji family’s Ninth-layer Martial Emperor and their experts had been slaughtered in a single exchange.
Countless Ji family members, including some geniuses and even earth-grade talents, were crushed beneath the tide.
Few, if any, would escape that army alive.
The Ji family’s Thirty-Seventh Division was finished.
This would shake the entire Yang Province. No one had dared provoke the overlord clan in ages, yet now an entire branch had been annihilated.
One could imagine the Ji family’s reaction.
Still, knowing it was Lin Xiao, people were not entirely shocked.
He had nearly died at the Ji family’s hands multiple times. His return for vengeance was only natural.
But the scale of this revenge was simply too terrifying: destroying an entire branch in one strike.
Of course, they did not know that the Ji family had already lost one branch before this.
Every onlooker felt chills down their spines, a sense of having narrowly escaped death.
Thankfully Lin Xiao had not ordered attacks on them. Otherwise the entire city would have been flattened, and none of them would have survived.
By the time only a few hundred wounded Ji family members remained, Lin Xiao moved, flying forward to collect their storage rings.
Those few hundred were heavily injured. By the time he finished gathering rings, they would probably all be dead.
Yet just as he flew past and was about to use spiritual power to pull the presiding elder’s storage ring toward him, a voice filled with boundless fury thundered from the horizon: “Scoundrel!”
The sound wave carried terrifying force, nearly shattering Lin Xiao’s eardrums.
A heaven-shaking aura instantly blanketed half the sky. Before the person even appeared, monstrous pressure rolled over everything.
The skeletons at the very front were crushed to pieces by the pressure alone.
One after another, skeleton soldiers shattered, collapsed, and fell.
Some were directly pulverised into dust.
“Martial Saint!” Veins bulged on Lin Xiao’s forehead.
