Family, All Together

Squelch!

The long spear pierced through Situ Aoshi's chest without any resistance.

The Third Elder froze for a moment. Just as he was about to pull back his spear and retreat, he found the shaft caught in a vice-like grip by an iron hand.

At the same time, his own throat was once again seized by Situ Aoshi.

"Do you know?"

Situ Aoshi looked down at the spear protruding from his chest. There was not a shred of pain on his face, only endless mockery.

"Even if you burn away your very life, in front of me, you are still nothing but an insect."

"The power of the Celestial Realm is beyond your imagination!"

"Your essence blood is mine!"

With that, Situ Aoshi let go of the spear. Then, quick as lightning, his hand plunged straight through the Third Elder's chest!

He ripped his heart right out.

"Urgh..."

The Third Elder looked down, only to see a bloody hand protruding from his own chest.

Grasped in that hand was a still-beating heart.

"This is the price of betraying me!"

Situ Aoshi declared coldly, and then his five fingers violently clenched.

Splat!

The heart was instantly crushed, sending blood and gore splattering in all directions.

The Third Elder's eyes widened, the light in his pupils dissipating at a visible rate.

But before he could completely die, a terrifying suction force erupted from Situ Aoshi's palm. The Third Elder's entire body shriveled up at an extreme speed. His burning essence blood, along with his remaining life force, was sucked completely dry within three breaths!

A mummified corpse fell powerlessly to the ground.

Situ Aoshi casually tossed the dried corpse aside and abruptly turned his head to look at Lin Mo. The brutality and killing intent in his eyes were almost tangible.

He thought he would see a face filled with horror and panic.

But all he saw was Lin Mo, still standing there with his hands in his pockets, even letting out a lazy yawn.

"Why are you looking at me?"

Lin Mo tilted his head, looking completely innocent.

"Take your time absorbing it, no rush. I have plenty of time. We can talk after you're done."

This flippant remark made Situ Aoshi's heart skip a beat.

This kid actually wasn't afraid of him?

Even if one's power increased, their mental fortitude still needed to be tempered.

He had just used the most cruel method to devour a Grandmaster who had burned away his life force!

Although Situ Aoshi was full of doubt and suspicion, the surrounding blood mist was the resource he needed to step into a higher realm, and he could not afford to lose it.

He coldly snorted, staring vigilantly at Lin Mo while simultaneously speeding up, frantically absorbing the remaining blood mist within the formation.

Seeing this, the smile on Lin Mo's lips grew wider.

He had always fully embraced this kind of good deed—winning without drawing blood and reaping the benefits as a third party.

After all, fighting was physical labor, and it was truly exhausting.

It was much more cost-effective to wait for the other party to eat and drink their fill, turning into an even fatter pig, before making a move.

At this time, Lin Mo wasn't idle either.

Murder and arson yield belts of gold, while repairing bridges and mending roads leaves one without a corpse.

Since he had already taken action, there was naturally no reason to return empty-handed.

His divine sense spread out like an invisible net, instantly covering the entire Situ family estate.

In some corners, there were indeed a few survivors huddled together, trembling and not even daring to breathe loudly.

However, they were all servants and lackeys of different surnames. Lin Mo's divine sense swept past them, too lazy to waste time on them.

His target was very clear—the Situ family's treasure pavilion, storehouses, and the personal collections of the various elders.

After all, he had also learned from Li Sanguang.

Implementing a policy to loot it all.

First, he would see what was useful and could be taken, such as medicinal herbs and the like.

The pills given by the system couldn't be used by others, but the ones he refined himself were fine.

Sure enough, in the storehouse, Lin Mo found many precious medicinal herbs that couldn't be found outside.

Lin Mo was like a mouse that had entered a rice granary, his eyes shining brightly as he began to calculate in his heart how to pack all these things up and take them away.

On the other side, at the center of the bloody stench.

Situ Aoshi was gulping down the pervasive blood mist, his entire being seemingly turning into a black hole.

That scarlet mist, originally formed from the essence blood of thousands of Situ family members, was now being forcibly compressed and refined by him.

The blood mist faded and shrank at a visible speed, ultimately transforming into streaks of blood that drilled into Situ Aoshi's seven orifices and all of his bones.

Bizarre, blood-red patterns surfaced on his skin, and the aura he exuded climbed steadily higher, frantic and wicked.

Lin Mo withdrew his divine sense from the treasure pavilion and let it fall back onto Situ Aoshi.

"Burp."

Situ Aoshi actually let out a satisfied burp, the breath he exhaled carrying a heavy stench of blood.

He slowly opened his eyes, a bloody light flowing within his pupils, carrying an indifference akin to looking down on ants.

He opened his hand, and with just a single thought.

Buzz—

With a soft tremor, the Burning Shadow Spear that had fallen in the distance turned into a streak of black light and instantly flew back into his palm.

With the long spear in hand, his imposing aura surged wildly once more.

"This is power! The power of the Situ clan is now entirely gathered within me!"

Situ Aoshi's voice was hoarse and elated as he pointed the tip of his spear straight at Lin Mo.

"I will use your head to sacrifice to the rebirth of my clan! Then, I will become the one and only god of the Hidden Sects, and re-propagate an even more powerful Situ family!"

After listening to this, Lin Mo simply shook his head gently.

"You're so ugly, yet you dream so beautifully."

He commented indifferently, and then flipped his left hand.

An ancient, unadorned long banner appeared in his hand. It was the Human Emperor Banner.

Thwack.

Lin Mo casually thrust it down, and the Human Emperor Banner easily pierced into the hard bluestone ground.

In an instant, a purple energy so dense it appeared black exploded outward like a tidal wave, centered on the Human Emperor Banner.

Wherever this purple energy passed, space itself seemed to freeze. A chilling wind howled, and the sudden wailing of ghosts arose.

The most important thing for a family, of course, is to stay neatly together.

If you're going to escort Buddha, escort him all the way to the West; if you're going to do a good deed, see it through to the end.

This wave truly was a perfect family reunion.

The purple energy swept out frantically. Within the entire Situ family estate, all the souls of the recently deceased that had yet to dissipate, no matter where they were hiding, were forcibly seized in this instant and swept into the tide of purple energy.

Situ Aoshi's heart violently skipped a beat. A chill originating from his very soul made his scalp go numb.

He sensed a fatal danger!

Exerting force in his legs, he didn't even think before turning around to dash out of the range of this bizarre purple energy.

Situ Aoshi felt that something was wrong; he stomped his foot, wanting to charge out.

However, he only took one step before his body suddenly sank.

It was as if he had been grabbed tightly by countless pairs of icy hands, rendering him unable to move.

Situ Aoshi looked down in horror.

He saw that his feet, legs, and body were somehow covered in densely packed, illusory shadows.

Those shadows twisted and struggled, their pained and venomous faces staring fixedly at him.

"Old Patriarch! Why did you attack us!"

The soul of an elder who had once been incredibly respectful to him was now tightly hugging his thigh, his voice shrill and mournful.

"What did we do wrong? Why did you suck our essence blood dry!"

"My child... my child was only three years old!"

"Give me back my life... give me back my essence blood!"

These were all members of the Situ family, and even many retainers of different surnames who had been loyal to the Situ family for generations.

All of their lifetime cultivation and essence blood had become the nourishment for Situ Aoshi's power.

At this very moment, under the influence of the Human Emperor's Banner, they transformed into the most terrifying, soul-reaping fiends.