146: The End of the Thundercloud Clan

Tianshu Peak, at its summit.

Seven-colored divine light swirled and flowed, like flowing immortal mist, illuminating this second divine mountain, only inferior to Ziwei Peak, making it dreamlike and illusory. The extremely dense divine Qi almost materialized; every breath seemed to draw in the most fundamental essence of heaven and earth, making the Divine Soul cheer with joy.

In front of the thatched cottage, on the bluestone platform.

Lin Ye stood with his hands behind his back, his robes fluttering. His pair of dark eyes, half divine and half demonic, calmly overlooked the magnificent giant city bathed in the morning light below, and the boundless, perilous Desolate God Domain outside the city.

Exactly three days had passed since the shocking incident at the god ascension tower.

guest elder of Tianxuan City!

This person, who just three days ago was merely a Wild God new to the Divine Realm, despised by everyone, and even extorted just to enter the city, had now ascended to the heavens, becoming one of the highest authorities in this vast divine city, with the most exalted status and immense power!

This dramatic shift in identity and status brought not only honor and awe.

But also a heavy responsibility, and absolute power sufficient for him to establish himself in this cruel Divine Realm!

"Thunder Cloud Clan..."

Lin Ye slowly uttered these four words.

He had not forgotten the five patrol members who had ambushed him like hyenas in the wilderness of the Desolate God Domain, and their insulting words: "mine slave" and "blood food"!

Although those jumping clowns had long been crushed by him with a casual flick of his hand.

This debt, however, could not be settled just like that!

Lin Ye was never a Saint who repaid evil with good!

He would retaliate for every grievance! He would cut the grass and pull out the roots!

This was his fundamental Law for survival in this cruel world!

"Since you yourselves... delivered yourselves to my doorstep."

Lin Ye slowly raised his hand, and the guest elder Token, crafted entirely from purple-gold divine jade and symbolizing supreme authority, quietly floated in his palm.

A cold, murderous intent, like the gaze of death, flashed in his dark eyes!

"Then... don't blame me."

...Tianxuan City, City Lord's Mansion, within a side hall specifically used to handle the city's affairs.

Today, the atmosphere was particularly heavy.

Several middle-aged men, dressed in the core steward attire of the City Lord's Mansion, all with cultivation reaching the Half-God Realm, sat upright, their faces filled with an indescribable complexity.

Their gazes subconsciously focused on the head seat in the main hall.

There, on the seat that should have been empty, symbolizing the esteemed position of "guest elder," now sat a youth who even looked a bit naive!

It was Lin Ye!

Exactly three days had passed since the newly promoted Elder Lin, full of endless mystery and legendary color, officially took up residence on Tianshu Peak.

In these three days, this was his first appearance in this hall, which symbolized the center of power in Tianxuan City!

And his very first words shocked the hearts of all the core stewards present!

"Gentlemen," Lin Ye's voice was calm, without a ripple, yet it seemed to contain an undeniable authority, "I am new here and not yet familiar with the city's affairs."

"However, there is one thing I must ask."

His dark eyes slowly swept over each steward present, his gaze calm, yet seemingly able to penetrate people's hearts!

"I heard that our Tianxuan City has strict Laws prohibiting all forms of slave trade, especially against those 'fellow cultivators' who have just ascended from the Lower Realm. There are even explicit regulations to treat them well, guide them, and help them integrate into the Divine Realm as quickly as possible."

"Is this... true?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the hall instantly became even more... eerie!

A few stewards subconsciously showed a hint of unnaturalness on their faces.

The eldest-looking old man, whose cultivation had also reached the Half-God Middle Stage Realm, cleared his throat, stood up, and bowed respectfully to Lin Ye: "Rep... Reporting to Elder Lin, this is... indeed true. This is an iron Law personally set by the God Emperor ten thousand years ago, and no one may violate it."

"Oh? Is that so?" Lin Ye's lips slowly curved into a playful smile, "Then why... just three days ago, did I encounter a patrol team calling themselves the 'Thunder Cloud Clan' in the Desolate God Domain outside the city, openly attempting... to capture me and my companions as mine slaves and refine us into blood food?"

Their faces instantly turned pale!

Thunder Cloud Clan!

As expected... it had come!

"El... Elder Lin..." The old steward's voice carried an uncontrollable tremor, "This matter... this matter must be a misunderstanding! Although the Thunder Cloud Clan acts arrogantly, they... they would never dare violate the God Emperor's iron Law..."

"Misunderstanding?" Lin Ye's smile grew colder, "Then, I wonder... how do you explain this?"

Before his voice fell!

He suddenly flicked his sleeve!

Buzz!

Five rhomboid divine spark fragments, emitting a faint silver lightning glow and filled with violent and unwilling Qi, instantly appeared in the center of the hall!

These were the last relics of the five Thunder Cloud Clan patrol members he had already blasted to dust!

And next to these five divine spark fragments, there was also a strange token, entirely black, with a ferocious blood-red character " Slaughter" (butcher) branded on it!

"Blood... blood butcher Token?!"

The moment he recognized the token, the old steward shrieked as if he had seen a ghost, his voice filled with endless horror and disbelief!

"This... this is impossible! Blood Butcher... Blood Butcher he... how could he..."

"It seems, gentlemen, you recognize this item?" Lin Ye's gaze, like two invisible sharp swords, firmly locked onto the several stewards who were already in disarray, "Then, I wonder... do you know what 'profound' relationship exists between the owner of this token and the Thunder Cloud Clan?"

He gave them no further chance to explain!

He slowly stood up and gently placed a Jade Slip, already prepared and condensed from Divine Thought, on the table.

"This contains all the evidence of the Thunder Cloud Clan's collusion with 'Ascension Hunters' over the past few centuries, secretly hunting and selling 'Wild Gods,' degrading them into mine slaves, and using them as blood food."

"Including the time, place, and quantity of every transaction between them and the 'Blood Butcher' Blood Butcher... and the names of the 'Wild Gods' they cruelly murdered."

"I believe, with your abilities, it shouldn't be difficult... to verify the authenticity of this evidence, right?"

Lin Ye's voice remained calm.

But to the ears of those core stewards, it was like... a death sentence!

They never expected!

This seemingly harmless youth had, in just these three short days, unearthed all the filth and evil hidden beneath the Thunder Cloud Clan's glamorous facade, turning it inside out?!

And, he had concrete evidence!

"Elder Lin... you... you are..." The old steward's voice was already hoarse beyond recognition, and his once shrewd eyes were now filled only with endless fear and... pleading.

"Me?" Lin Ye smiled.

His smile was bright, yet... chillingly cold.

"I merely wish to seek... justice... for those 'fellow cultivators' who tragically died at their hands."

...Half a day later.

Tianxuan City, City Lord's Mansion, atop the towering divine pagoda in its deepest reaches.

Heavenly Profound Divine Emperor sat quietly on a cushion that seemed to be woven from endless starlight.

Before him, a Jade Slip emitting faint Divine Thought fluctuations floated.

It was the "evidence of guilt" presented by Lin Ye.

After a long while, he slowly opened his pale golden eyes, which seemed to contain the cycles of birth and death of the sun, moon, and stars. He slowly raised his hand and gently pointed down at the vast divine city below, which had already returned to calm.

"The Thunder Cloud Clan, defying the Law and harming fellow cultivators, is unforgivable."

A calm voice, devoid of any emotion, like a final decree, slowly sounded.

"Annihilate."

...That night.

The entire Tianxuan City trembled!

Without any warning!

Above the Nine Heavens, the previously calm gray sky was suddenly torn apart by endless purple lightning, filled with destructive Qi!

Terrifying lightning pillars, thick as mountains, descended from the sky like a world-ending divine punishment! They struck with unparalleled precision upon the Thunder Cloud Mountain Range in the northern part of the city, which was perpetually shrouded in silver thunderclouds!

"Rumble!!!"

The earth wailed!

Mountains collapsed!

The magnificent palace, built from ten-thousand-year-old lightning-struck wood, symbolizing the Thunder Cloud Clan's supreme glory, along with the hundreds of core clan members still in their sleep, could not even withstand a single breath under that world-ending lightning punishment. They were instantly leveled like fragile sandcastles, turning into dust scattered across the sky!

Immediately following!

Tens of thousands of City Lord's Mansion Imperial Guards, clad in heavy black armor and radiating an icy Qi, surged forth like a tide of death from Hell, surrounding the area from all directions!

The slaughtering blades in their hands, without the slightest hesitation, cut down the collateral clan members of the Thunder Cloud Clan, who were already terrified and fleeing in all directions!

Slaughter!

In just one night!

The Thunder Cloud Clan, a hegemonic force that had been entrenched in Tianxuan City for tens of thousands of years, deeply rooted and immensely powerful, was completely wiped from this world as if by an invisible hand!

Uprooted!

Leaving no one alive!

...The next day, early morning.

When the first ray of morning light once again shone upon this vast divine city, all the surviving beings, looking towards the direction of the northern part of the city, which had already become a scorched earth ruin, their eyes were filled with an indescribable... fear!

When an emperor is enraged, millions of corpses lie prostrate!

This was... the might of a God Emperor!

And amidst this atmosphere of awe and fear, a decree issued by the City Lord's Mansion itself, stamped with the God Emperor's seal, spread like wildfire, instantly reaching every corner of the entire Tianxuan City!

"The Thunder Cloud Clan, having acted against the Way and committed heinous crimes, has been executed!"

"All its clan property, mineral veins, and shops... shall be confiscated!"

"In consideration of guest elder Lin Ye's meritorious exposure, and having been harassed by their clan members..."

"Therefore, three medium-sized Divine Stone mines, ten core shops, and all land deeds belonging to the Thunder Cloud Clan in the 'Chaotic Stone Wasteland' are hereby transferred to Elder Lin Ye's name as... compensation!"

Compensation?!

Looking at the outrageously long list of "compensation," everyone's hearts violently twitched due to this unprecedentedly grand gesture!

It was as if nearly thirty percent of the core wealth of an already annihilated hegemonic force had been forcibly placed into the hands of that youth!

For a time, all gazes directed towards Tianshu Peak became... distinctly different!

Awe! Fear! And... a hint of uncontrollable fanaticism!

They knew that from today onwards, Tianxuan City had given birth to a truly new... giant!

...Tianshu Peak, at its summit.

Inside the thatched cottage.

Lin Ye sat quietly cross-legged.

He listened to the clamor and discussions like a tide coming from down the mountain, feeling the complex gazes directed towards this peak.

He slowly extended his hand, looking at his fair, slender hands, which seemed to contain enough power to overturn the entire world.

Power... Is this... the taste of power?

No need to act personally.

Just a flick of a finger, presenting a piece of "evidence."

And a behemoth that he once had to look up to could be... annihilated overnight!

This feeling was so... captivating.

And... so, alarming!

He slowly closed his eyes, forcibly suppressing the intoxicating pleasure of power that could make anyone lose themselves, deep into his heart.

He knew that all of this was merely... a mirage.

The high and mighty God Emperor could grant him this power today.

One day, he could just as easily... take it back!

Only one's own strength!

That was eternal! That was... fundamental!

With a thought, he once again summoned the Chaos Jade Slip that had already been branded deep within his Divine Soul!

"Cang Xuan God Emperor Scripture"!

"Divine Origin..."

He murmured softly, his dark eyes flashing with unprecedented determination!

"I, am coming!"