The Hunt

The sinister man saw the situation turning dire and turned to flee, but two Bai family members caught up to him. Sword light flashed, and his head separated from his body.

In the blink of an eye, only Immortal Lady Yuxia remained from her side, grievously wounded and collapsed on the ground.

Baiwei approached with sword in hand, the blade tip pointing at Immortal Lady Yuxia's throat.

The other four Bai family members surrounded her, sealing off all escape routes.

Bai Qingxue also walked over, coldly regarding the mastermind behind the Wang family's extermination.

Immortal Lady Yuxia's hair was disheveled, her body covered in blood. Gone was her earlier arrogance; her eyes now held only fear and unwillingness.

"You... you dare kill me? My husband is Jade Dust Master! The Purple Sky Jade Family won't let you go! The Seventh Elder will be here any time! You're all going to die!"

Bai Qingxue walked up to her, looking down with not a trace of pity in her eyes—only icy killing intent: "The dozens of people in the Wang family, those innocent mortals—did they ever threaten you? Did you ever give them a chance to live?"

Immortal Lady Yuxia faltered, then shrieked madly: "What do those ants count for! Dying by my hand was their honor! Bai Qingxue, if you dare touch me, my husband will extract your soul and refine your spirit, ensuring you never reincarnate! And all you Bai family remnants will have your souls scattered to oblivion!"

“Unrepentant until death.” Bai Qingxue slowly raised the ice sword she had condensed in her hand, cold light flowing along her blade. "Your threats won't save you. The blood debt of the Wang family must be repaid with your life."

"No—! You can't kill me! My husband..." Immortal Lady Yuxia was terrified beyond measure, tears and snot streaming down her face, all semblance of an immortal lady gone.

Bai Qingxue didn't bother listening to her any longer. Thinking of that charred ruin, those souls silently extinguished, a cold gleam flashed in her eyes as the ice sword in her hand swept down without hesitation!

Sword light flashed, and Immortal Lady Yuxia's curses and threats cut off abruptly.

A head rolled to the ground, eyes wide open, still holding endless venom and terror. The headless body collapsed, blood staining the earth red.

This arrogant, dominating immortal lady of the Purple Sky Jade Family, who had treated human life like grass, had finally paid with her life for the monstrous sins she had committed.

Bai Qingxue looked at Yuxia's corpse. She felt no satisfaction—only an icy calm. She withdrew her ice sword and turned to Baiwei and the others: "Aunt, thank you for coming."

Baiwei shook her head, her expression serious: "Qingxue, we cannot linger here. Yuxia certainly sent a message before she died. The Seventh Elder she mentioned is very likely a Golden Core cultivator. And there's her husband, Jade Dust Master. We must leave immediately!"

“Indeed.” Bai Qingxue nodded. “Let’s go at once!”

Baiwei quickly collected the Purple Lightning Pearl and storage pouch that Immortal Lady Yuxia had dropped. Without delay, the group turned and fled at top speed on their escape light, heading in the opposite direction from Stonia, soon disappearing into the depths of the mountain forest.

In the valley, only a few corpses remained, along with mist that had not yet fully dispersed and the thick stench of blood.

About half a shichen later.

A violent streak of cyan light shot from the horizon at astonishing speed, crashing into the valley. The light faded, revealing a young man wearing jade-green Daoist robes, his face handsome as carved jade but now dark and twisted with rage. It was none other than Immortal Lady Yuxia's husband—Jade Dust Master.

He had received his Dao companion's distress signal and, without the cost to his vital blood, had used secret techniques to rush here at maximum speed. He hadn't expected to still arrive too late.

“Xia’er!” Jade Dust Master's eyes immediately fell on Immortal Lady Yuxia's decapitated corpse. His eyes nearly split with rage as he let out a howl like a wounded beast.

He threw himself beside the body, his trembling hands lifting Yuxia's head, feeling the rapidly dissipating life force and the endless resentment in her lingering soul fragment. A towering killing intent and grievance instantly shattered his reason!

"Who?! Who did this?!" Jade Dust Master roared at the heavens, his Golden Core-stage pressure erupting without restraint, making the valley rumble as rocks tumbled down.

He saw the other guards' corpses and sensed the lingering frost spiritual energy belonging to Bai Qingxue in the air, along with several other unfamiliar sword energy signatures.

"Bai Qingxue...the Bai family remnants! And accomplices!"

Jade Dust Master's teeth ground audibly, his eyes bloodshot and filled with madness and venom. "Good! Very good! You killed my beloved wife—this enmity is irreconcilable! I, Jade Dust Master, swear to the heavens that I will tear you, Bai Qingxue, into ten thousand pieces! I will extract your soul and refine your spirit! I will make you suffer every torment in existence, never to reincarnate! And everyone who helped you, every Bai family remnant—I will leave you all without a burial place!"

Violent spiritual energy raged around him, grinding the surrounding rocks and vegetation to pieces. He carefully stored Yuxia's remains, then meticulously searched the scene, capturing every trace of lingering aura.

"They fled west... They won't escape!" Jade Dust Master smiled grimly, taking out an ancient copper mirror. He bit his finger, smeared blood upon it, and formed several hand seals.

The copper mirror glowed with an eerie light. On its surface, several faint images of streams of light fleeing westward appeared.

“Tracked them...Bai Qingxue, and those damned accomplices—not one of you will escape!” Jade Dust Master put away the mirror and transformed into a cyan streak of light seeing with killing intent, chasing westward at top speed.

His speed was even faster than when he had arrived, clearly throwing all caution to the wind.

The valley returned to silence, leaving only devastation and lingering blood, foreshadowing that this vendetta sparked by mortal lives was about to escalate into an even more brutal, more frenzied chase to the death.

The storm was growing ever more fierce.

– Marine