Chapter 492 - Disposing of Yang Hu
Yang Hu’s heart was filled with hatred.
His clan, his descendants, it was all over for them!
The most resentful thing was that, among the heavenly materials and earthly treasures Yang Hu used to condense this clone, there originally weren’t many that contained parts of his bloodline. Amid the continuous, subsequent tempering, he regarded this clone more as a magical treasure. As a result, although it became quite powerful, even if he found someone to produce an heir, that trace of remaining bloodline made it impossible for any offspring to be his true descendant.
In other words, if everyone in the Yang Clan was killed, then Yang Hu’s lineage would no longer exist in this world. He would become the last of his family line!
Yang Hu was originally part of a cadet branch. It was to the point that he was just an illegitimate son of a cadet branch. Since he was a child, he had been bullied and humiliated by many of the main branch’s children. If it wasn’t for his sufficient aptitude, the Yang Clan wouldn’t have paid any attention to this son of a mistress. This lowly life experience left Yang Hu with poor self-esteem, but his outstanding aptitude made him feel arrogant. This contributed to Yang Hu’s twisted mentality.
From the beginning, he wholeheartedly wanted to return to the Yang Clan. Later on, he wanted to become part of the main branch. When he turned his own branch into the main branch, and demoted the main branch into a cadet branch, he grasped the entire Yang Clan in the palm of his hand. From that moment on, he lifted his head and blew off his pent-up grievances. He was filled with pride and elation — It could be said that the Yang Clan was his obsession!
He wanted to make his own bloodline into the Yang Clan’s noblest lineage. Moreover, he had succeeded. But now, everything had gone up in smoke...
Undoubtedly, Gu Zuo’s way of handling things had stabbed his weakest point.
If it wasn’t for this kind of obsession, Yang Hu wouldn’t have allowed his descendants to be this domineering, which provoked so many enemies. He also wouldn’t have courted trouble with Ten Ultimates Sect for the sake of a descendant, which brought about the present situation. However, his obsession was still an obsession. Even now, he was incapable of escaping and hiding by himself to the disregard of his remaining descendants.
Yang Hu’s heart was practically bleeding.
He resisted his own impulse, turned around, and prepared to leave.
But at this moment, several more pieces of information appeared on that announcement sheet. Among them, one article of revealing script stopped him in his tracks and stung his eyes.
The content of this mission was the following:
Offering a reward for the clone of the Yang Clan’s Royal Realm powerhouse, Yang Hu. If anyone can capture this clone, ten types of profound-level medicinal pills will be provided based on the mission taker’s preference. The pharmacist refining these pills also promises that when he breaks through to the realm of pill kings, a high grade earth-level pill will be given as a gift. This promise will be valid until the death of the pharmacist.
Yang Hu felt alarmed from the bottom of his heart.
From this information, he keenly realized — “The pharmacist refining these pills.” He didn’t dare to believe it. Could it be that these medicinal pills were all refined by a single person? Wasn’t this a huge undertaking by Ten Ultimates Sect? Why did this kind of pharmacist want to make trouble with him?!
When all was said and done, Yang Hu wasn’t stupid. He knew that since the Dark Tower issued this information, it meant that these carefully chosen sentences were the truth. In other words, the calamity his Yang Clan encountered was entirely due to a single pharmacist?
If it was Ten Ultimates Sect that took action, he could still withstand it. After all, it wouldn’t be surprising for that huge colossus to do something like this. But how could one pharmacist be so capable?
Yang Hu couldn’t imagine who that person was. All that he could think of was the one he offended most recently. However, it was merely the prodigy from Ten Ultimates Sect he easily killed.
That prodigy’s strength was just at the Atomic Realm. Unexpectedly, that prodigy could make such a terrifying profound-level pharmacist avenge him with such disregard for everything? In addition, there were millions of battle slaves from the Blood Transformation Palace Master who were spread all over the world looking for traces of Yang Hu... If it really was his mistake for killing this prodigy, to what horrifying degree had the innate talents of this prodigy reached?
Yang Hu’s thoughts were in a whirl.
He didn’t know whether to expect the pharmacist and Ten Ultimates Sect to be one group of people, or to hope that they were two separate groups. If it was the former, then he couldn’t estimate the value of the prodigy he killed. If it was the latter, then he offended both parties at the same time, which made it even more...
With his imagination running wild for a while, Yang Hu silently retreated and concealed himself.
However, in order to search out enough information, he still switched into all sorts of disguises and came to the Dark Tower every day.
On this day, the news changed again.
[Announcement to the world. Thirty-four younger generations of the Yang Clan have already been arrested. All of the others have been executed. From this day onwards, the cultivations of five people will be crippled. If Yang Hu still does not show himself after seven days, one person will be killed once a day until Yang Hu appears!]
There was also an accompanying message left by that pharmacist.
[Ten Ultimates City, Clear River Tower. Numerous younger generations of the Yang Clan are being held captive, silently waiting for Yang Hu.]
Yang Hu’s pupils suddenly shrank.
He realized that this was an ultimatum. If he took too long and still wasn’t willing to show himself, then the end result was certainly going to be the disappearance of the last of his Yang Clan’s bloodline!
This coercion was upright and out in the open, but Yang Hu had no choice but to pay attention to this kind of coercion... He had to proceed towards Ten Ultimates City.
At this very moment, he didn’t dare to hesitate in the slightest any longer. He turned around, and headed to this city’s teleportation array.
In Yang Hu’s heart, he still held onto a meager hope.
If he could convince that pharmacist to let him off... He would be willing to become that pharmacist’s follower, and serve him for life.
For a dead prodigy, no matter how talented one was, it would all be in vain. As for himself, he had once reached the Royal Realm. Currently, his power wasn’t weak. So long as there were enough resources, he could recover very quickly.
His value ought to have been more important than that dead man.
Clear River Tower.
This wasn’t a restaurant, nor was it a courtesan building. Located by the banks of a river, though it was only relatively ancient, it had become a “scenic point” because it had been preserved over the long passage of time.
Nearby, there was also a large peach grove. Within this peach grove, one could lose themselves among the peach blossoms. Although, as far as many martial artists were concerned, this wouldn’t negatively affect them at all. After being occupied by Ten Ultimates Sect, it had turned into a rest-stop where sect disciples could entertain their friends and go for scenic walks in the spring.
But this building had been reserved by one person half a month ago.
This place’s reputation wasn’t small, so the price wasn’t too cheap either. However, the thing this visitor used as payment was a flawless profound-level medicinal pill — For this kind of price tag, not to mention reserving the place for one to two months, no one would say anything if he reserved it for one to two years.
The tower’s height was approximately sixty meters tall. Inside the pavilion at the top, a person wearing black robes was sitting with his legs crossed. In front of him was a pill furnace, and he was right in the middle of refining a type of pill.
Behind the black-robed person, a pair of low Royal Realm powerhouses were standing on either side. From their appearances, they should’ve been members of some servile race. The lowest force capable of utilizing Royal Realm servile races were silver-ranked organizations — There were no doubts as to where they came from.
It was just that these two people didn’t say anything, and the black-robed person didn’t reveal his face. Who could say that they must’ve been from Ten Ultimates Sect?
And since it couldn’t be confirmed, one couldn’t say that certain things were done by Ten Ultimates Sect.
On the banister of this building, there were thirty-something people fastened side by side. They seemed to more or less resemble one another. Even though some didn’t have many similarities in terms of appearance, their qi emissions were all from the same lineage and the cultivation methods they practiced were largely of the same origin.
Right now, these people didn’t look too old, but their expressions were very dispirited. It was as if they had already lost all hope — Or perhaps, only a strand of impossible yearning remained.
There were many people below the Clear River Tower. They were leisurely waiting at some stone tables and stone platforms, sipping tea and tasting wine. They wore looks of interest, and when several watched the black-robed person in the tower, their expressions were filled with rapt fascination.
They had come to join in on the fun. The majority were quite interested in this profound-level pharmacist, but all of them wanted to know what the final outcome would be like after this pharmacist made such a hefty world-wide bounty.
Even if they wasted a bit of time on this, it seemed to be worth it.
After refining a furnace of medicinal pills, the person in black robes opened his mouth: “The time has come.”
The moment he finished speaking, a Royal Realm powerhouse flashed out, extended a hand, and snatched five younger generations of the Yang Clan. Soon after, he bent his fingers and flicked them. These Yang Clan descendants revealed pained expressions on their faces. The imposing auras across their bodies withered and wasted away... No, it ought to be said that not a single wisp of imposing aura remained. They listlessly laid on the ground like ordinary people who had been seriously injured.
Upon seeing this, the other Yang Clan members showed alarmed looks.
They hurriedly curled in on themselves, but this kind of huddling had no way of stopping this matter.
At this moment, the number of Yang Clan younger generations who were already crippled reached twenty people.
Every time, the hearts of the Yang Clan members were filled with resentment, but every time, absolutely nothing would change.
In the beginning, they only hated the pharmacist who issued the bounty. And now, they already started hating the person who caused such a huge disaster — If it wasn’t for that person, they wouldn’t have suffered like this!
Also, the venerable ancestor...
Why didn’t the venerable ancestor come to rescue them?
Could it be that he had already abandoned them...
The black-robed person, Gu Zuo, saw that the shine in their eyes had also disappeared, but he didn’t say anything.
After the bounty was issued, the Blood Transformation Palace Master thought that he had done a pretty good job. While Gu Zuo had nothing to hide, it seemed that the palace master also believed that, so long as he didn’t admit to it, no trouble would arise. As a result, the palace master directly gave Gu Zuo two Royal Realm battle slaves under his command in order to protect Gu Zuo’s safety.
After all, Gu Zuo was still fishing for Yang Hu, but it wasn’t known what Yang Hu would do if he was pushed to the extreme.
Gu Zuo was naturally grateful in his heart. With two Royal Realm powerhouses at his side, many things had become more convenient for him. He also had more confidence in handling matters.
Just like now. If he had to face so many pairs of eyes by himself under the protection of a Celestial Realm powerhouse, and also had to guard against the dangers brought about by this spacious and vacant area, he would naturally feel a little nervous. However, there were two Royal Realms present, so it was extremely safe.
After Gu Zuo had the five people crippled, he took out several medicinal pills, and prepared to refine the next furnace.
As for that previous furnace, he directly handed over the batch of pills to Ying Yu, and ordered him to take them down for bartering — Right. While he was refining medicine in this place, he was also accumulating precious ingredients for himself. If he needed certain rare or unfamiliar medicinal pills one day, he wasn’t willing to experience delays or be unable to do anything because of a shortage of ingredients.
All of a sudden, just as Gu Zuo was warming up the furnace, his fingers halted and he retrieved the wondrous fire.
He sensed that there were powerful qi emissions far away that were rushing over at incomparably ferocious speeds.
After that, the two Royal Realms on the left and right each swatted out a palm!
The owner of those qi emissions seemed to be wearing something with powerful defenses. After swiftly passing through the gap of the attacks, this person carefully landed on top of a large boulder across from the Clear River Tower.
That large boulder was fifty-four meters tall, and was some distance from the building. Normally, because it was too smooth and boring, almost no one would climb it. At this moment, an Ascendant Realm martial artist was standing on it. His appearance and qi emissions weren’t similar to the Yang Hu whom Gu Zuo saw before — But that didn’t matter. From the look in his eyes and the strange feeling emanating from him, Gu Zuo recognized this person immediately!
Yang Hu stood on the boulder and clearly saw the younger generations in front of the Clear River Tower’s banister. After a quick count, not a single person among the thirty-four was missing. It was just that more than half of them had been crippled. Many of them had lost their fighting spirit. If they didn’t adjust themselves, they probably wouldn’t be able to achieve much in the future.
But within Yang Hu’s heart, he faintly breathed a sigh of relief.
It was okay. He arrived quickly, and none of these descendants had perished early...
Merely, there was still a tough battle to fight right now.
Yang Hu looked at the Clear River Tower. He cupped his hands, and said: “Honorable pharmacist, they say that it’s better to squash one’s enmity rather than keeping it alive. You have already vented your fury. For these remaining Yang Clan children, I hope that you will show mercy and not lower yourself to their level.
“I, Yang Hu, am not talented, but I’m willing to follow this pharmacist and serve you for all my life. I only ask this pharmacist to let them go so they have a way to survive, and to leave a little lineage for my Yang Clan...”
But before Yang Hu could finish expressing his thoughts, Gu Zuo had already spoken again: “There’s no need to speak so much. My hatred towards you is unending. If you want to save the lives of these Yang Clan younger generations, just kill yourself. Saying anything else is pointless.”
Yang Hu’s complexion suddenly became extremely unsightly. He struggled greatly, and said: “Wasn’t he just a talented companion? I don’t fear death, but—”
Gu Zuo interrupted him again: “Talk is cheap. If you don’t die, your Yang Clan descendants will be wiped out. I don’t mind having people go and kill you again in the future.”
Every sentence he spoke was very straightforward, without even a word of concealment.
— Yes. Now that they had reached this point, what else was there to hide?
At this time, Yang Hu had no other paths he could walk down.
He smiled bitterly: “Having lived free and unhindered for two thousand years and brought about new changes to my Yang Clan with great difficulty, I, Yang Hu, would’ve never imagined that I would be destroyed in your hands...”
Then, several of the Yang Clan members who hadn’t been crippled struggled to get up and threw themselves in front of the banister with expressions of panic filling their eyes.
Gu Zuo’s heart moved. He gestured to a Royal Realm powerhouse on the side.
In a split second, the Yang Clan younger generations recovered their voices. At once, they shouted: “Venerable ancestor, quickly run away! While the green hills last, there will be wood to burn. Once the venerable ancestor focuses on cultivating for several hundred years and your strength advances, you can avenge us! Quickly escape—”
Yang Hu’s complexion was mournful and miserable: “How can I abandon you guys and leave? Don’t say anything else...”
As he spoke, he slowly raised his hand, and pointed it at the top of his skull. His entire person was completely shrouded in despair. In a moment, he was going to shatter his own head.
The Yang Clan younger generations became more frantic. Even the ones who were crippled hurriedly leaned over the banister. They desperately reached out their hands to make grasping motions down below as if they wanted to stop Yang Hu.
“Venerable ancestor, don’t do it!”
“Get away! I don’t believe he can cover the heavens with a single hand. Sooner or later, I believe you’ll avenge us!”
“Venerable ancestor, the Yang Clan is relying on you! Don’t do anything for useless cripples like us. None of us blame you. Just get out of here!”
One after another, they shouted themselves hoarse. And every one of them had faces filled with powerful emotions.
Seeing this, Gu Zuo gave a cold laugh: “Your Yang Clan’s behavior makes me look like a villain.”
After he spoke, the attentions of Yang Hu, the members of the Yang Clan, and those below fell onto him.
Gu Zuo’s voice was clear and distinct: “Yang Hu indulged his descendant who plundered the citizens of Swallowtail City at the domain’s fringes and practiced evil arts. After being discovered by a member of Ten Ultimates Sect, he was executed. But Yang Hu, you don’t distinguish between right and wrong, and you persecute the weak. You used Royal Realm strength to deal with an Atomic Realm younger generation. If I hadn’t put out this bounty, your Yang Clan would still be free and unfettered. Did your clan spare even the slightest regret for Swallowtail City or that Atomic Realm prodigy?
“Yang Hu, you’re arrogant and despotic. Who knows how many evil deeds you’ve committed in the past for the sake of resources? As for your Yang Clan’s descendants, there are expenses for food and clothing, the pleasantries of life, and the practice of cultivation. Which ones aren’t riddled with blood stains? Which ones aren’t built upon the suffering of others? Now that they’ve been caught and wiped out, they act like they have sincere feelings.”
In fact, the sincerity and pain of the Yang Clan members really were real. However, after Gu Zuo spoke to them like this, the grief and indignation of being separated in life and death suddenly seemed dishonest and phony.
Gu Zuo curled his lips: “Okay, don’t bother with the melodramatic farewells. No matter how many displays you make, those who should die will die. Yang Hu, you’re going to die right now. I’ll leave your Yang Clan descendants their lives, and I’ll let them pass down their bloodline. But if you delay any longer, I’ll kill every last person in your Yang Clan.”
Yang Hu’s breathing hitched.
The expressions of the Yang Clan members also turned blank.
When everyone below saw this, their moods were very subtle.
Wasn’t this too...decisive?
Yang Hu’s complexion was like a painter’s palette. His face constantly changed from nauseous green to deathly pale, from flushed red to furious purple.
He didn’t know how much time had passed — Even if it was only a few seconds, the seconds felt like years to him. In a hoarse voice, he said: “I hope that you’ll do as you say.”
This time around, Yang Hu didn’t show any performances. The hand he lifted up came straight down, and struck the Tianling Acupoint at the top of his head.
Following this, after the sound of a muffled crunch, his entire skull burst apart. Red and white brain matter flowed down, and his corpse fell into a pool of his own blood.
Under the coercion of a profound-level pharmacist, a Royal Realm powerhouse was forced to commit suicide in order to save his own descendants!
“Venerable ancestor—”
“Don’t!”
“A bastard like you won’t have a good—” Before he could say the last word, his voice had already disappeared again.
Gu Zuo glanced at Yang Hu’s corpse. Finally, those lingering evil thoughts and loathsome feelings slowly faded away.
However, in his heart, he still didn’t feel like he had been relieved of a heavy burden. Instead, he spoke emotionlessly: “Cripple everyone in the Yang Clan.”
Bang, bang, bang!
After a dozen or so muffled thuds, the strength of all the Yang Clan’s younger generations were crippled. If a discerning person carefully examined their bodies, that person would discover that not only was their pure strength crippled, even their meridians were destroyed. In the future, if they wanted to practice martial arts, it would be impossible. And for anyone who had the potential to become a pharmacist, the medicinal beads within their palms were also shattered. If they wanted to refine medicine, it was also impossible.
One of the Yang Clan members painfully shouted: “You said you wouldn’t—”
Gu Zuo’s voice was flat: “I only said that I wouldn’t kill you all.”
But how could he let them keep their strength and cause trouble? Even if it was just a minor inconvenience, he wouldn’t allow it!
Gu Zuo said: “From now on, you guys should also experience the lives of ordinary people who have no strength and are at the mercy of others.”
After saying this, he no longer cared about the Yang Clan.
Under Gu Zuo’s commands, the Royal Realm martial artists lifted the restrictions on the Yang Clan members. Right now, their bodies were very weak and feeble. While supporting one another, they walked down the Clear River Tower step by step.
Someone from the Yang Clan trudged over and carried Yang Hu’s corpse on their back, but Gu Zuo didn’t stop this. Each of the Yang Clan members seemed to want to rush over and tear him to pieces. Although they all had an intense hatred for Gu Zuo, he simply ignored them.
The enemy was already dead. As for them causing a nuisance... If he crippled them like this, and they still managed to return in a swirl of dust to get their revenge, then it could be considered a skill.
Gu Zuo wasn’t afraid of such a challenge.
Once the Yang Clan members left, Gu Zuo didn’t stay at the Clear River Tower. He stood up, put away the pill furnace, and disappeared into the building with the help of a Royal Realm powerhouse.
Matters were more or less settled, and the knot in his heart was unraveled. After this, he ought to quietly wait within Ten Ultimates Sect and refine medicine. He would wait for big brother’s return.
He believed that big brother would definitely return safe and sound...
Within the void. In a place of deathly stillness.
Amid the faint glimmer of light, a figure was floating.
Behind this figure, there was an incredibly gigantic image. It was so large that it could practically carry the heavens and support the earth!
When one got closer, one could see the true appearance of this figure.
This was...a human skeleton.
The entire body of these remains seemed to be bones cast out of silver.
However, this skeleton wasn’t completely without flesh and blood.
If someone examined attentively, they would find bits of flesh left on each of its bones like specks of blood. One wouldn’t see these things at all unless they looked carefully. Within the body of this skeleton, some of the five viscera and six bowels also remained. Most of all were the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys. At least one third of these internal organs were preserved and surrounded by five light groups of different colors.
At the same time, there was a ball of radiant light on the skull’s forehead and the region of the abdomen.
The one on the skull was a ball of white light. As for the radiance on the abdomen, it presented a hazy, gray color.
There was only a thin layer of gray light. If one looked closely, it would be discovered that the gray light was composed of fragments. They should’ve been scattered and disordered, but at this moment, they were weaved together into a sheet that wrapped around six incomparably deep and distant black points... Those were qi oceans. There were as many as six qi oceans.
The six qi oceans were continuously absorbing something, which involved the gray light. At the same time, another streak of indistinct power would emerge from a certain qi ocean, and slowly connect with the enormous image behind the skeleton. Within that enormous image, there seemed to be a kind of power being drawn back and poured into the qi oceans. After that, it would be fed back again. Little by little, the connection was deepened.
On these bones, the traces of flesh appeared to be gradually growing at extremely slow speeds.
Meanwhile, in another qi ocean of the skeleton, a streak of shadow flashed out.
T/N: Thanks for the correction, Charysa.
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