Chapter 1586: The Fall of the Murong Family

The Murong Royal Family resided in Chongzhou.

Murong Yuyao successfully formed her Nascent Soul, and the Murong family held a grand celebration to commemorate her achievement.

In a secluded small courtyard with blue-tiled roofs, Murong Bo was speaking with a plump and graceful middle-aged woman.

The Murong family had a total of five Nascent Soul cultivators, though the outside world only knew of four. The fifth Nascent Soul cultivator had been stationed in the Scripture Repository for years; even members of the Murong family were unaware that this elder was a Nascent Soul cultivator.

"Yuyao has formed her Nascent Soul, haha! Once Yuhua reaches the Nascent Soul stage, we will have six Nascent Soul cultivators. When we gather eight, we can open the secret realm left by our ancestors. I heard that realm contains Cold Marrow, which can increase the chances of monster beasts advancing to the fourth tier. Besides Cold Marrow, there are also numerous rare treasures. Opening that realm will allow our Murong family to truly soar!"

Murong Bo smiled broadly. After tens of thousands of years, the Murong family finally had hope of restoring their ancestral glory, perhaps even replacing the Great Yan Imperial Family.

"It's a pity we didn't capture Situ Mei," the middle-aged woman said with some regret, "otherwise, we could have gained more territory from the Sun Moon Palace."

The Murong Royal Family was a branch of the Murong clan from the South Sea. To escape danger, they had relocated and developed in the Central Plains Immortal Cultivation World, transforming into one of the Great Yan Dynasty's foreign kings.

The Murong family's development within the Great Yan Dynasty had reached its limit. To break through this bottleneck, they had set their sights on the South Sea, hoping to acquire better territory.

The Sun Moon Palace had offered a hefty reward for Situ Mei, including islands. Murong Bo personally intervened, severely injuring Situ Mei, but unfortunately, she still managed to escape. Afterward, the Sun Moon Palace granted the Murong Royal Family over a dozen islands, the best of which possessed a top-grade third-tier spiritual vein.

The Murong Royal Family was not satisfied. To obtain an island with a fourth-tier spiritual vein, they dispatched many individuals to search for Situ Mei, but none of their efforts were successful.

Murong Bo nodded. "Indeed," he said. "Who would have thought she could be rescued right under our noses? The Grand Princess searched the entire Dongli Realm and found over a dozen suspects, but a thorough investigation later revealed that all of them had alibis. To rescue Situ Mei right under our eyes, this person must be at least a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator and certainly possesses a flying spiritual treasure or some kind of secret talisman."

"If we had known Situ Mei had such powerful accomplices," Murong Bo continued, "we wouldn't have gotten involved."

Murong Bo felt a pang of remorse. The thought of a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator secretly observing the Murong Royal Family sent shivers down his spine.

Li Jiong had warned him that Situ Mei always exacted revenge with extremely cruel methods. As the die was cast, Murong Bo had no choice but to deploy more people, hoping to find and eliminate Situ Mei.

"Regret it now? It's too late," a cold female voice suddenly declared. "A Nascent Soul ceremony? Hmph, I'll turn it into a mourning ceremony."

The cold female voice suddenly rang out. As soon as the words fell, ripples spread across the void, and a flash of white light appeared. It was a white flying shuttle, about a zhang (approximately 3.3 meters) in length, glowing with continuous spiritual light. Situ Mei and three other Nascent Soul cultivators stood upon the white jade shuttle.

Apart from Song Yuzhen, the other three wore gleaming bronze masks. The masks emanated powerful spiritual energy, clearly indicating they were magical artifacts.

Even a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator employing secret techniques would be unable to discern their true identities.

Situ Mei's group consisted of one late-stage and three mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, while the Murong family had only two mid-stage and three early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators.

"How dare you trespass into our Murong Royal Family's stronghold!" Murong Bo exclaimed. "You're asking for death!"

Murong Bo was initially startled but quickly reacted. With a flick of his sleeve, a dazzling blue light shot out, heading directly towards Situ Mei and her three companions.

Situ Mei's body glowed with silver light. She clasped her hands together, then parted them, and a crescent-shaped silver light blade, the Silver Moon Spirit-Slaying Blade, appeared out of thin air.

With a flash of silver, the Silver Moon Spirit-Slaying Blade shot forth, cleaving the blue light in half and flying straight towards Murong Bo.

Murong Bo quickly conjured a gleaming blue shield, which instantly expanded to cover his entire body. At the same time, numerous blue runes appeared on his skin, transforming into a dense blue armor that enveloped him.

With a muffled thud, the Silver Moon Spirit-Slaying Blade struck the blue shield, leaving several small cracks on its surface.

"Boom!"

A deafening roar echoed from high in the sky. A massive five-colored thundercloud suddenly materialized, flashing with lightning and rumbling with thunder. Streaks of lightning, thick as a waist, writhed continuously within it.

After a mighty peal of thunder, dozens of thick bolts of lightning descended from the sky, striking Murong Bo. The lightning was multi-colored, resembling fireworks.

"Kill them all, leave no one alive!" a man said coldly. "Turn the Murong Royal Family's Nascent Soul ceremony into a funeral!"

The man spoke coldly, holding a spiritual energy-infused banner. The banner's surface was filled with five-colored electric arcs, radiating a ferocious aura.

The Murong Royal Family's Nascent Soul ceremony was still several months away. They had deliberately chosen this time to attack the Murong family, hoping to wipe them out completely. During the ceremony, many experts would surely attend, making it much more troublesome to eliminate the Murong Royal Family then.

A somewhat hunchbacked Nascent Soul cultivator conjured a green-glowing banner. He cast a spell, and the banner grew larger in the wind, emitting a series of mournful wails. Chilling winds swept through the area, and the formerly clear sky suddenly became overcast with dark clouds as strong gales raged.

The aftershocks of the battle alarmed the Murong family cultivators, who rushed out of their residences, eager to support Murong Bo.

The green banner's surface instantly expanded, and five ghostly figures of various shapes flew out, pouncing on the Murong family members who had come to reinforce.

A ghostly figure pierced through a Murong family member's body, causing them to immediately collapse and turn into a dried corpse.

With Situ Mei's four cultivators and five Nascent Soul-tier ghostly entities, it was more than enough to destroy the Murong family.

In a certain secret chamber, Murong Yuyao sat cross-legged on a blue futon, her eyes lightly closed.

It had been over two years since she formed her Nascent Soul, and the family was preparing to hold a grand ceremony for her. Murong Yuyao had no objections.

Just then, sensing something, she suddenly opened her eyes, took out a pale blue formation plate, and cast a spell. A hurried male voice immediately rang out: "Aunt, something terrible has happened! Situ Mei has brought people to attack us! There are four Nascent Soul cultivators and five Nascent Soul-tier ghostly entities!"

"What? Situ Mei?" Murong Yuyao's face blanched with shock and confusion. "Why isn't the clan protection formation reacting? How did they manage to break in without any alert?"

Cries of old people and children, mixed with a huge explosion, came from the blue formation plate.

Murong Yuyao dared not delay and immediately rushed out of the secret chamber.

As soon as she burst out, she saw a five-colored thunder curtain in the distance. Murong family cultivators who approached were blasted into dust by the five-colored lightning. Five hideous ghostly figures darted everywhere, and Murong family members fell one by one.

The entire Murong family compound resembled a living hell. A somewhat disheveled figure flew out from the five-colored lightning.

He was covered in wounds, bleeding profusely, his aura weak, and his left shoulder scorched black.

"Yuyao, hurry and go! Situ Mei is going to destroy our Murong family!" Murong Bo cried out, his expression filled with grief.

"Leave? Ask if I, Situ Mei, will allow that," Situ Mei's cold voice suddenly rang out. "I said, I'll turn this Nascent Soul ceremony into a funeral."

As her words fell, the five hideous ghostly figures lunged at Murong Bo.

Murong Bo's body began to swell violently. Murong Yuyao seemed to realize something and gasped, "No..."

"Boom!"

With a deafening explosion, Murong Bo self-detonated. Dazzling blue light engulfed an area of over ten li (approximately 5 kilometers) radius.

Murong Yuyao's expression was sorrowful. She bit her lip, transformed into a streak of light, and fled through the air.

She hadn't gone far when a crescent-shaped light blade shot towards her.

Just then, a blue tornado, over a hundred zhang (approximately 330 meters) tall, swept in and blocked the silver light blade.

"Boom!"

A massive roar erupted as the blue tornado and the silver light blade annihilated each other, unleashing a powerful wave of air.

A white-haired old man in a blue robe, riding a colossal lion-roc beast, flew into the air. The old man exuded an astonishing spiritual pressure, revealing him to be a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.

"Uncle Twenty-two!"

Murong Yuyao exclaimed in surprise, as she had not known this clan uncle was a Nascent Soul cultivator.

"Yuyao, run!" the old man in blue urged deeply. "Run as far as you can, and don't show yourself easily."

Murong Yuyao nodded, her escape light surging. Behind her, a deafening roar and the cries of her clansmen echoed.

"Situ Mei, if I don't avenge this, I am no longer human!" Murong Yuyao muttered through clenched teeth, tears welling in her eyes. She accelerated her escape.

A few days later, news of the Murong Royal Family's annihilation quickly spread throughout the Great Yan Dynasty. According to reliable sources, the Heavenly Demon Sect of the Great Qin Dynasty was responsible. After this news broke, major powers in the Great Yan Dynasty heightened their vigilance, and relations between the Great Yan and Great Qin Dynasties became tense once again.