In Jiang Family Town, the flames consuming the Elder Courtyard had been extinguished. Only a single courtyard was burned down, with no further casualties.
The corpses of Jiang Long and the others were brought to the ancestral hall. Jiang Hu and the earlier victims had not yet been buried; Jiang Xiaotian had decreed they would wait until Jiang Han’s corpse was brought back as a sacrifice before holding the rites.
The patrol members and clansmen slain by Jiang Han later were all placed here as well. Adding Jiang Long’s group of four, the number of coffins arranged within the ancestral hall now approached twenty…
Upon returning with the main force, Jiang Xiaotian saw the charred courtyard and the lifeless bodies of Jiang Long and the others. His face turned deathly pale with rage, his body swaying as he nearly collapsed.
Jiang Hu and Jiang Xiong were one thing, but Jiang Long was one of the juniors he valued most. He was the genius with the highest chance of breaking through to the Profound Nether Realm within the clan.
Now, having been slaughtered by Jiang Han, not only had he lost a nephew, but his lineage had suffered the agonizing loss of a future powerhouse.
His sole comfort was that Jiang Li had not been taken away.
Jiang Long had done a very clever thing: he had bound Jiang Li and hidden her in the woodshed of that large courtyard. Anticipating a potential surprise attack from Jiang Han, he had left himself a hidden move.
Who could have expected that Jiang Han would actually launch a surprise attack on Jiang Family Town, reaping Jiang Long’s life in the process.
“Pass down my orders! Withdraw all clansmen!”
After a moment of dark deliberation, Jiang Xiaotian issued the command, recalling the patrol members stationed at the foot of the Heavenly Fox Mountain Range.
Holding that position was meaningless. Jiang Han possessed the Burrowing Technique, coming and going without a trace. Hunting him down out there was no longer realistic. Leaving those patrol members outside would only result in pointless sacrifices.
“Third Elder, are we not going to kill Jiang Han?”
A middle-aged man stared at Jiang Xiaotian with bloodshot eyes. His son had been a patrol member and was currently lying in one of the coffins inside the ancestral hall. Naturally, he was unwilling to let this go.
“No!”
Jiang Xiaotian waved his hand. “Jiang Han possesses an earth-evading demonic technique. Chasing him is no different from fishing for a needle in the sea. Our clan has already suffered disastrous losses; we cannot send the rest of our people to their deaths. Lord Han will arrive to wed Jiang Li in a few days. We will hold a grand ceremony then. Jiang Han cannot possibly watch Jiang Li be taken to Yunmeng City without doing anything. He will definitely appear.”
“We simply need to wait by the stump for the rabbit to strike, waiting for him to deliver himself to our door. Rest assured, no matter what, I will not let Jiang Han off. There must be an accounting for the deaths of so many clansmen.”
When he spoke the word “accounting,” Jiang Xiaotian’s tone grew noticeably heavier.
Jiang Han’s surprise attack had caused a massive uproar, yet the Patriarch of the Jiang clan had not appeared. This meant the Patriarch was at the most critical juncture of his breakthrough to the Mountain and Sea Realm, and would likely emerge from Secluded Cultivation soon.
With such a catastrophe occurring and so many lives lost, he not only had to answer to the clansmen, but he also had to answer to the Patriarch. Otherwise, his position as the Third Elder would not be secure.
At this thought, Jiang Xiaotian clenched his fists. The scar on his face twisted, his eyes brimming with absolute venom as he muttered, “Jiang Han, you must die… you must die!” Read the latest chapters at g.com.
…
Jiang Han did not return to the Heavenly Fox Mountain Range. After escaping Jiang Family Town, he thought for a moment and headed to the cave behind the waterfall where he had sheltered previously.
He had not rested well during this entire ordeal. Having failed to find Jiang Li tonight, his mind and body were utterly exhausted. He only wanted to get a good sleep.
In the Heavenly Fox Mountain Range, even though he could hide underground, the earth was crawling with Earth Dragon Beasts. How could he sleep in peace?
Slipping soundlessly into the cave behind the waterfall, Jiang Han ate a few wild fruits, leaned against the stone wall, and fell into a deep slumber.
Despite the safety of the cave, Jiang Han jolted awake seven or eight times that night.
Even the distant screech of a wild cat would snap him instantly awake, his body coiled and ready for battle.
He awoke completely after daybreak. Eating a few more wild fruits, he did not venture outside, opting instead to cultivate within the cave.
Moving during the day was too dangerous. He had ambushed Jiang Family Town the night before, slaughtered Jiang Long, and burned down the Elder Courtyard. Jiang Xiaotian was likely driven mad with rage by now. Venturing out would be a death wish; Jiang Family Town would be heavily guarded, and they would certainly not give him another chance to slaughter as he pleased.
He had over twenty bottles of pills on him. He decided to refine them all over the next few days to see if he could break through to the seventh level of the Purple Mansion Realm. Every minor realm he advanced would push his combat strength higher.
In truth, the best way to elevate his combat prowess was to Awaken another divine ability.
The problem was that he did not recognize a single one of the remaining Demon Beasts carved onto the Heavenly Beast Cauldron. This meant they either did not exist in the Heavenly Fox Mountain Range, or they were at least Rank Two Demon Beasts.
Rank Two Demon Beasts possessed power comparable to the Profound Nether Realm. Meeting one meant certain death, so obtaining another divine ability in the short term was all but impossible.
He did not understand profound techniques and possessed no secret manuals. The only path left was to frantically refine pills and see if he could rapidly advance to the seventh level of the Purple Mansion Realm.
He cultivated for an entire day, only moving out after night fell. He advanced with extreme caution; at the slightest rustle of grass or gust of wind, he would immediately conceal himself. If anything felt amiss, he would instantly burrow into the earth and flee.
To his surprise, there was not a single person outside Jiang Family Town. He circled the foot of the Heavenly Fox Mountain Range and found the path leading up the mountain completely deserted as well.
He doubled back to the outskirts of Jiang Family Town and carefully crept closer through a tunnel to investigate, eventually confirming a grim reality.
The martial artists of the Jiang clan had entirely pulled back their lines. The town was on maximum alert. It was obvious Jiang Xiaotian had given up the hunt.
Jiang Xiaotian could not possibly let him go. There were only two reasons for such a maneuver: either it was a diversion-openly recalling his forces to defend while secretly tracking Jiang Han in the shadows…
…Or Jiang Xiaotian had completely abandoned the pursuit, simply waiting for the day of Jiang Li’s wedding for Jiang Han to deliver himself to their doorstep.
Jiang Xiaotian had accurately calculated that he would never abandon Jiang Li!
And he had truly never once thought of abandoning her. As long as he could save Jiang Li, he would not hesitate even if his body was ground to dust and his bones shattered. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
Torches blazed along the streets of Jiang Family Town. The patrol teams were out in full force, moving in squads of ten, guarding the town day and night.
Jiang Han scouted for a while and knew he had no opening. Even if one presented itself, it would undoubtedly be a trap, with Jiang Xiaotian likely waiting in the shadows with his blade drawn.
He did not hesitate. He decisively withdrew, returning to the cave behind the waterfall to resume his cultivation and rest.
The following days played out exactly the same!
Not a single clansman stepped out of Jiang Family Town. The town remained heavily fortified day and night. At the slightest disturbance, a large force of patrol experts would instantly swarm to reinforce the area.
Jiang Xiaotian stationed himself in the Elder Courtyard, personally guarding Jiang Li. Jiang Han found absolutely no opening to exploit.
Bitter and frustrated, yet out of options, Jiang Han could only gorge on wild fruits to stave off hunger, locking himself in the cave to cultivate bitterly day and night.
The twenty-odd bottles of pills were rapidly refined. These pills were highly precious; no one else would cultivate in such a reckless manner.
Endlessly refining pills without pause-even Jiang Xiaotian’s own son could not afford to squander resources so extravagantly…
Under this frenzied consumption of pills, Jiang Han’s cultivation speed exploded. The seventh-layer Divine Altar within his Purple Mansion Secret Cache was already more than half constructed. He estimated that once all the pills were refined, the seventh-layer Divine Altar would be nearly complete.
With the Jiang clan making no moves and Jiang Han seemingly vanishing from the face of the earth, the surrounding villages and towns gradually returned to peace after the recent uproar.
However, everyone knew that Han Shiqi would be arriving at Jiang Family Town very soon to wed Jiang Li.
On that day, Jiang Han would absolutely appear!
When that time came, the curtain would finally fall on this bloody conflict. Of course… no one favored Jiang Han’s odds. It was the unanimous consensus that Jiang Han would thoroughly perish on that day.
Inside the Lucky Gambling House, there was an astronomical payout of one to a thousand, betting on whether Jiang Han could successfully rescue Jiang Li.
Yet despite the massive odds, not a single person placed a bet!
Not even a single Profound Stone was wagered.
Han Shiqi was a grand figure from the Yunmeng Pavilion. His realm was not considered high among the pavilion’s upper echelons-in fact, it could even be considered low, sitting only at the fifth level of the Profound Nether Realm.
But to Jiang Han, the fifth level of the Profound Nether Realm was an insurmountable powerhouse. Furthermore, Han Shiqi’s entourage would certainly include a retinue of martial artists from the Yunmeng Pavilion, possibly hiding more Profound Nether Realm experts.
Add to that Jiang Xiaotian and the Jiang Family Town patrol teams. With so many experts gathered, if Jiang Han dared to show up and snatch the bride, only one fate awaited him.
He would be reduced to ashes!