Chapter 415: A Cold Massacre

The city of Crimson Valley had earned its name from the rust-colored cliffs that surrounded it on three sides, creating a natural fortress that had made it ideal for commerce and, more importantly, for those who preferred to conduct business away from the prying eyes of imperial family.Unlike most major cities in Grand Xia, Crimson Valley operated under a unique governance structure, as there were no present of any sect, families or clans. Instead, the Chamber of Commerce held absolute authority, and their influence was so pervasive and their economic leverage so comprehensive that even the Emperor himself would think twice before moving against them directly.

It was the perfect sanctuary for organizations that thrived in the shadows.

The Devouring Petal Pavilion had recognized this opportunity decades ago. They’d quietly established their headquarters in the eastern district, purchasing properties through intermediary merchants, building their compound behind the legitimate facade of a merchant caravan waystation.

Over the years, they’d expanded their control until an entire section of the district answered to them, their operatives embedded so thoroughly in the local business structure that extracting them would require tearing apart the district’s entire economic foundation.

The Chamber of Commerce knew, of course. But as long as the Pavilion maintained order in their territory, paid their taxes promptly, and avoided causing incidents that would draw imperial attention, the Chamber was content to look the other way. Business was business, after all, and assassination was simply another service being rendered in the grand marketplace.

This arrangement had worked flawlessly for years, until Liam walked into their territory.

The young assassin had led him through the city gates and into the eastern district, his face pale, his hands shaking. Word spread fast from observers stationed throughout the district, who recognized one of their own walking beside a strangely dressed teenager, and the reports flooded toward headquarters within minutes.

The response was immediate. Kill the intruder. Kill the traitor. Do it now.

Eight Foundation Establishment assassins materialized from the crowd as Liam reached the first intersection, with their poisoned blades and killing techniques aimed at vital points.

Liam’s hand moved and the lead assassin’s head separated from his shoulders, spinning through the air before his body even registered it was dead. Blood sprayed in a crimson arc across the street.

The second assassin’s chest exploded inward as Liam’s palm strike caved his ribcage, bone fragments puncturing lungs and heart. He was dead before he hit the ground.

The remaining six scattered, as they decided to attacked from different angles, in a coordinated and precise manner.

Unfortunately for them, Liam’s telekinesis caught all six simultaneously.

He clenched his fist and six bodies imploded. Bone shattered, organs ruptured and blood erupted from mouths, noses, eyes, ears. Their corpses dropped like broken puppets, leaking red across the paving stones.

Liam didn’t pay attention to them, as he kept walking.

The young assassin beside him had gone pale, but he kept moving, kept leading the way toward the headquarters. Behind them, civilians screamed and fled.

A dozen more assassins poured from the buildings—Foundation Establishment, mid-stage, attacking in a coordinated wave. Spiritual energy techniques filled the air, deadly projectiles converging on Liam from twelve directions simultaneously.

Liam didn’t slow down and he let his racial aura flow outward.

Twelve attackers collapsed mid-technique, crushed flat against the street. Their bones cracked and blood pooled beneath them, as their techniques dissipated harmlessly as their concentration shattered.

Liam walked past without looking.

The moment his aura’s pressure lifted, he flicked his fingers and ywelve necks snapped with sharp cracks that echoed down the street.

Three Golden Core assassins dropped from rooftops, their movements blurring with advanced techniques.

The first one’s sword thrust toward Liam’s spine with enough force to pierce steel.

Liam caught the blade with two fingers and the assassin’s eyes widened.

Liam yanked the sword forward, pulling the assassin off-balance, and drove his other hand through the man’s chest. His fingers punched through the sternum, closed around the Golden Core, and crushed it.

The assassin’s scream cut off as Liam ripped his hand back out, bringing the shattered Core fragments with it. The body collapsed, spiritual energy dissipating from the massive wound.

The second Golden Core expert launched a palm strike wreathed in golden spiritual energy.

Liam’s palm met his and the spiritual energy shattered like glass. The assassin’s arm exploded from shoulder to fingertips, blood and bone fragments spraying across the street. Before the man could scream, Liam’s other hand shot forward and tore his throat out.

Hot blood gushed over Liam’s hand. The assassin gurgled, drowning in his own blood, and fell.

The third Golden Core assassin tried to flee.

Liam’s telekinesis caught him mid-movement and slammed him into the ground with bone-breaking force. The street cracked beneath the impact.

Liam walked over and stomped on the man’s head. Skull fragments and brain matter splattered across the stones.

The next moment, a formation array activated beneath Liam’s feet and spiritual energy blades began materializing to shred him into pieces.

His aura flared and the formation shattered. The carved symbols exploded, stone fragments flying outward.

Six assassins maintaining the formation from concealed positions screamed as spiritual backlash tore through their bodies. Blood erupted from their mouths. They collapsed, dead from internal ruptures.

A group of fifteen Foundation Establishment assassins attacked from both sides of the street, trying to overwhelm him with numbers.

Liam raised both hands.

His telekinesis seized all fifteen simultaneously. He brought his hands together in a sharp clap.

Fifteen bodies flew toward each other at tremendous speed and collided in the center of the street with a wet, crunching impact. The result was a mess of blood, organs, and broken flesh splattered across the buildings on both sides.

Four more Golden Core experts attacked together, their techniques combining into a massive dragon of spiritual energy that roared toward Liam with the power to level buildings.

Liam punched forward and his fist met the dragon’s head. The entire technique collapsed, with spiritual energy dissipating in a flash of light. The backlash hit all four assassins simultaneously, their Cores destabilizing from the disrupted energy flow.

Liam was already moving. He closed the distance to the first assassin in an instant, grabbed the man’s head with both hands, and twisted. The neck snapped and the body dropped to the ground.

The second assassin swung desperately. Liam ducked under the blade and drove his fingers up under the man’s ribcage, piercing through muscle and bone to grasp the beating heart. He ripped it out. The assassin’s eyes went wide, mouth opening in a silent scream, before he collapsed.

The third tried to run. Liam’s hand shot out, grabbed the back of the man’s head, and slammed it into a stone wall with enough force to shatter the skull, causing brain matter and blood to paint the wall red.

The fourth assassin fell to his knees, begging, but Liam didn’t listen, as his hand chopped down like a blade, cutting through the man’s neck and severing the spine. The head rolled away and the body toppled to the ground.

Liam continued walking forward at a steady pace, and everything in his path died.

An assassin on a rooftop launched poisoned needles. Liam’s hand moved in a blur, catching every needle mid-flight. He threw them back. Each needle found an eye socket. The assassin fell from the roof, dead before he hit the ground.

Bodies littered the street now, blood ran between the paving stones in rivers and the air stank of death.

And still Liam walked forward with a never changing expression on his face.

By the time he reached the compound entrance, the street was a charnel house, painted red with their blood, littered with their broken corpses.

The young assassin who’d guided him stopped at the compound gates, his face chalk-white, vomit staining his clothes where he’d been unable to hold it back any longer.

"This is it," he managed to whisper.

Liam nodded. "You can go."

The young man fled without another word, but before he could move two more steps, he fell heedless to the ground, causing Liam to turn in a particular direction.

An assassin appeared from the shadows of the building around Liam. The spiritual pressure emanating from him was far more intense than any other assassin Liam had faced together.

Liam had easily killed even assassins in the mid stage Golden Core realm, but this assassin looks stronger than them, which means he’s in the late stage.

Finally, I hope this long walk of boredom will get interesting.