One month later.
Northwest Youzhou, a position slightly towards the east.
The fifty-eighth branch of the Hong family was located within a city in this area.
This city spanned roughly a hundred li in circumference, counting as a sizeable one. It bustled with a large population and lively activity.
The various courtyards of the Hong family’s fifty-eighth branch occupied the right side of the city, covering thirty to forty li, making it the most prestigious area in the entire city.
Ordinary people had no qualification to approach this place, nor did they dare to.
At this moment, inside the fifty-eighth branch, a group of young geniuses walked out from the main gate. Each looked impressive and carried an arrogant expression. As they strode forward, they chatted loudly.
“Our family head and the Second Elder joined forces with the four great families to pressure Spirit Pool Island. I heard Spirit Pool Island insisted Lin Xiao was not on the island, and they nearly came to blows.”
“No matter how strong Spirit Pool Island is, it cannot withstand the combined might of our five major forces. However, spirit controllers have many methods and powerful trump cards. No one knows how much heavenly energy fills Spirit Pool Island. If fighting truly broke out, it would be no small trouble.”
“If it came to battle, the major forces would suffer, but Spirit Pool Island would suffer more. The main issue is that Spirit Pool Island agreed to let people search the island, yet nothing was found. The forces have no justification to press further.”
“A place like Spirit Pool Island can hide someone so well that he definitely will not be found easily. That Lin Xiao is truly detestable. Until he is eliminated, none of us can rest easy.”
“Rest assured. Our Hong family has stood for so long. A few scattered cultivators cannot threaten us. Once the family head uses the heavy weapon, the Star-Shooting Bow, he will surely kill him in one strike.”
…Just then, a young man’s figure flew low towards them and landed a dozen zhang ahead.
This youth paid them no attention, completely ignoring them. His gaze swept over the plaque above the main gate as he murmured, “This is definitely the Hong family.”
Seeing the youth show such disrespect to the Hong family, one young man immediately flew into a rage. “Who are you? How dare you act insolently at our Hong family!”
The others also grew furious. In Youzhou, the Hong family was the overlord. Not just anyone had the right to come to their doorstep.
And this fellow had flown straight here and dared to disregard them.
“I am Lin Xiao.”
Lin Xiao swept a pitying glance over the group and said calmly, “I have come precisely to act insolently at your Hong family.”
“Lin Xiao…” The young man was about to curse and flare up, then suddenly realised and cried out in shock, “What? Lin Xiao?”
The others were equally stunned. This person was Lin Xiao, the very one they had just been discussing?
Lin Xiao had come knocking at their door?
The group was so shocked they could barely react.
While they stood stunned, Lin Xiao shot upwards and backwards in retreat.
At the same time, a yellow skeletal hand flew towards the centre of the Hong family’s thirty-to-forty-li compound.
“Not good! Run! Call the elders!”
Seeing this, one youth immediately shouted in alarm.
But at that instant, an utterly evil corrosive aura erupted from the centre of the Hong family branch. In a flash, the entire sky filled with the flavour of corrosion, as if everyone had suddenly fallen into hell. The group of youths felt their hair stand on end, chilled to the bone.
Immediately after, vast rolling yellow mist and yellow power exploded outward, surging like a flood from the centre of the compound in all directions. In the blink of an eye, it swept towards the group.
“No!!!”
The youths let out terrified screams and frantically fled outward.
But it was already too late. As they tried to escape, the slowest was the first to be caught by the yellow power. His entire body corroded into a skeleton.
Those who escaped faster and looked back were terrified out of their wits. In the next moment, the corrosive power reached them too. One after another, they perished, reduced to skeletons.
Only the people on the periphery had time to scream. Inside the compound, almost no cries rang out.
There was only the “sizzle, sizzle” sound of yellow spring power filling the air.
This yellow spring power affected only the surroundings of the Hong family branch and did not spread too far.
This was because Lin Xiao had controlled his spiritual power and had not infused too much to trigger it.
Otherwise, the entire city would probably have suffered.
Towards enemies, Lin Xiao never showed mercy, but he also never slaughtered the innocent.
That was why he had gone to such trouble: entering the city discreetly, confirming the Hong family compound, and only then striking.
If this branch had been isolated, he could have resolved it directly.
Of course, before this, after entering Youzhou, the four of them had already gathered information, confirmed the rough distribution of the Hong family branches, and divided tasks to deal with them as quickly as possible.
Thus, only Lin Xiao had come to this area.
As for using the skeletal hand instead of a single palm strike, Lin Xiao naturally had other uses for it.
As the yellow spring power swept through, Lin Xiao began his sweep. Across the entire area occupied by the fifty-eighth branch, there were over two thousand skeleton frames in total.
The vast majority were surely Hong family members. As for any guests who suffered collateral damage, Lin Xiao had no time to consider them.
In a short time, Lin Xiao collected all the skeletons from the branch, along with their storage rings, filling a whole large bag.
What astonished Lin Xiao was that the yellow spring power erupted from the skeletal hand had grown even more terrifying. Human flesh could be completely corroded, leaving no survivors.
Yet wooden doors, courtyard walls, and other structures, though permeated, were not corroded. They retained their original appearance and did not collapse.
After the skeletal hand mutated in its clash with Ka Gu Kui in Shengshi City, the power it unleashed had become pure yellow spring power.
The purer this yellow spring power became, the more precise it was: corroding only flesh, not bone marrow or other materials.
One could only say this yellow spring power was extraordinarily peculiar.
Otherwise, such terrifying corrosive power, capable of directly corroding even half-step Martial Saints or Martial Saints, would have reduced the entire compound to nothing under its spread.
Of course, those structures, after being permeated by yellow spring power, were no longer as sturdy as before.
Lin Xiao did not dwell on this.
After finishing his sweep, he quickly left the city and headed for the other Hong family branches.
While flying, Lin Xiao emptied the bag, taking items from the collected storage rings and placing them into one storage ring.
