238: Chapter 239 The Prodigy Returns! The Price of Humiliation!

Dragon Tomb, the edge of the Skeleton Wasteland.

Amidst a messy pile of white bones, several figures struggled to climb up from the ground.

It was Xiao Kuangyun, Han Qianchi, and their group.

Having been swept by the energy shockwave that surged from behind the bronze door earlier, they had fainted on the spot.

Now slowly regaining consciousness, everyone felt a splitting headache, and their bones felt like they were falling apart.

"Cough... cough cough!"

Xiao Kuangyun clutched his chest and coughed up a few mouthfuls of blood-streaked saliva.

He looked around blankly at the familiar skeletons and the dim sky.

Then, his memories came flooding back.

That man who was like a Devil King.

That giant bronze door that had been violently pushed open.

That IOU signed in blood, enough to doom him for eternity.

In an instant, fear gripped his heart once more.

"He... he didn't chase us out?" Xiao Kuangyun asked in a hoarse voice, his eyes looking toward the direction of that magnificent palace in the distance with terror.

"Probably... not." Han Qianchi's face looked worse than the white bones. He stood up by leaning against a giant rib, his legs still weak. "That energy was so terrifying; we almost died just from being hit by the shockwave. He rushed inside... maybe..."

He couldn't go on.

But everyone understood what he meant.

That Devil King might have died inside.

As soon as this thought emerged, an indescribable sense of gratification welled up in their hearts simultaneously.

It's good that he's dead!

He deserved to die!

A monster like that shouldn't exist in this world at all!

But immediately after, a deeper sense of despair and humiliation completely submerged that bit of gratification.

The man might be dead.

But that IOU was real.

It bore their blood fingerprints and their Family seals; there was no escaping it.

At the thought of returning to the Family and having to face that "life-buying money" which was enough to shake their Foundation, Xiao Kuangyun felt his vision go dark.

His position as the heir was now completely unstable.

He might even be treated as a discarded pawn by the Family, directly expelled from the house, using his life to appease the fury of the Elders who would be enraged by the drained resources.

"Let's go..."

Xiao Kuangyun gritted his teeth and squeezed out a single word from between them.

He didn't dare stay here for another second.

This place was a lifelong nightmare for him.

Supporting each other, like a pack of stray dogs, the group stumbled toward the exit of the Dragon Tomb.

When they arrived, they were high-spirited, superior top-tier Prodigies of the Federation.

When they returned, they were defeated dogs who had lost their souls and had their spirits broken.

...

Outside the light gate of the Dragon Tomb's exit.

The teams sent by several large Families to receive them had already been waiting here for a long time.

Leading them was an old butler from the Kyoto Xiao Family, with hair and beard completely white, yet his back was ramrod straight and his gaze sharp.

He was currently frowning, looking at the calm light gate.

"They've been in there for so long without any news. Could something have happened?" a deacon from the Han Family said uneasily.

"What could happen?" The old butler glanced at him and spoke flatly. "The news from Family Head Qingcang said this operation was foolproof. Not only were there gold-tier assassins from the Shadow Blade Alliance providing support, but the elites of our families were also inside. Dealing with a kid who just started school, could he really turn the world upside down?"

Despite his words, he felt a faint sense of unease in his heart.

This operation was led by the Li Family, with a massive investment.

Their Xiao Family and the Han Family had also been promised great benefits, which was why they sent out their own Qilins.

Logically, it should have been over long ago.

Just as everyone was getting impatient, the light gate finally showed a ripple.

"They're out!"

Everyone's spirits lifted as they all looked toward the light gate together.

The light gate flickered, and several wretched figures stumbled out from within, collapsing onto the ground.

It was Xiao Kuangyun and the others.

"Young Lord!"

The old butler of the Xiao Family's expression changed, and he was the first to rush forward, helping up the nearly exhausted Xiao Kuangyun.

When he saw Xiao Kuangyun's despondent and terror-stricken face, his heart skipped a beat.

"Young Lord, what happened to you? Where are the others? Where is the Li Family's team?" the old butler asked urgently.

"Dead..."

Xiao Kuangyun's lips trembled as he stared blankly ahead, repeatedly muttering those two words.

"All dead... everyone's dead..."

"What?!"

As soon as these words were spoken, all the people waiting outside erupted in an uproar.

Dead?

All dead?

The elite death warriors sent in by the Li Family and the assassins from the Shadow Blade Alliance were just gone?

"What on earth happened?!" The old butler grabbed Xiao Kuangyun's shoulders and shook him vigorously, trying to wake him up.

"A devil... he's a devil..."

Xiao Kuangyun It's like being provoked.， He suddenly shoved the old butler away.， crouching on the ground with her head in her hands， Shaking all over。

"He's not human! He's just a monster in human skin! We were all tricked! That old bastard Li Qingcang screwed us all over!"

He roared incoherently, his mental state clearly on the verge of collapse.

Han Qianchi and the other Prodigies were in a similar state, their faces ashen. They couldn't say a complete sentence no matter what they were asked, their mouths just repeating "devil," "monster," and "all dead."

The old butler's heart sank bit by bit.

He realized that this matter had likely far exceeded everyone's expectations.

He stopped questioning these mentally unstable young masters and instead gave orders to the guard unit behind him.

"Immediately send the Young Lord and the others back to the Family for mental healing!"

"Then, immediately block all news of this! Before the Family uncovers the truth, if anyone dares to leak a single word of what they saw or heard here today, they shall be executed without mercy!"

A trace of ruthlessness flashed in the old butler's eyes.

He knew that a massive storm was about to arrive.

...

Kyoto, the Xiao Family's ancestral home.

Inside a secret room.

The Xiao Family Head, a majestic-looking middle-aged man, was looking at the report transmitted back on the light screen in front of him.

The content of the report was very simple.

Xiao Kuangyun and his group had returned safely.

But all the forces sent by the Li Family were completely wiped out.

No one knew what had happened deep within the Dragon Tomb.

Xiao Kuangyun and the others had suffered extreme mental trauma and were undergoing the highest level of mental counseling, temporarily unable to provide any useful information.

"Useless!"

The Xiao Family Head slammed his palm on the table, and a crack appeared in the fine mahogany tabletop.

"The heir of my Xiao Family was actually scared witless by a green brat! It's an absolute disgrace!"

He was angry not just at Xiao Kuangyun's cowardice.

But also at the failure of this operation.

Several of their Families had joined forces and laid an inescapable net, yet they couldn't even take down one Lin Qi, and instead lost so many men.

If word of this got out, where would the faces of these wealthy clans go?

"Family Head, please calm your anger." Standing to the side was the old butler who had returned from the Dragon Tomb exit. "The Young Lord's condition is very wrong. I'm afraid... he might have encountered something beyond our imagination inside."

"Beyond imagination?" The Xiao Family Head sneered. "What could be beyond imagination? Isn't it just that Lin Qi's strength is a bit greater? Since he was a child, what kind of situation has Kuangyun not seen? How could he be scared like this?"

Just then, an attendant hurried in from outside, holding a sealed box in his hands.

"Family Head, this was found in Young Lord Kuangyun's personal clothing."

The Xiao Family Head frowned and gestured for the old butler to open it.

The old butler took the box and opened it carefully.

Inside was a rolled-up piece of parchment.

The moment he unfurled the parchment and saw the content, he was struck as if by lightning, freezing instantly on the spot.

His hands began to tremble uncontrollably, and the color drained from his face at a visible rate.

"What's wrong?" The Xiao Family Head sensed something was amiss and asked in a deep voice.

The old butler seemed not to hear, merely staring fixedly at the parchment with a look as if he had seen a ghost.

The Xiao Family Head walked over impatiently and snatched the parchment away.

With just one look, his pupils suddenly shrank to the size of needlepoints.

"The Kyoto Xiao Family is willing to exchange seventy years of mining rights for the 'Northern Territory No. 37' rare mineral vein for Xiao Kuangyun's life."

"In addition, a complete formula for the lost S-rank potion [Dragon Blood Boiling Agent]."

"One single-use highest-authority pass for the Family Secret Realm [Dragon-Locking Well]."

...

Line after line of shocking words were like red-hot branding irons, searing into his eyes.

At the very bottom was Xiao Kuangyun's name and a bright red, eye-piercing blood fingerprint.

"This... this is..."

The Xiao Family Head's voice was trembling.

This wasn't an IOU.

This was a deed of sale!

It sold out the entire Foundation of the Xiao Family for the next hundred years!

"Pfft!"

A mouthful of blood suddenly sprayed from the Xiao Family Head's mouth, splattering onto the parchment.

His vision went dark, his body swayed, and he fell straight backward.

"Family Head!"

The old butler cried out in alarm and rushed forward to support him.

An unprecedented storm was officially detonated within these top-tier wealthy clans!