22: Facing the Ye family head

Inside the Valley, a deathly silence reigned.

Grand Elder's old face, filled with shock and horror, appeared twisted and grotesque in the moonlight.

What did he see?

A Breakthrough during battle?

Or a direct surge from Early Second-Rank to a terrifying level that even he, an experienced Foundation Establishment Mid Stage Cultivator, found heart-stoppingly chilling?!

"Escape!!!"

At this moment, all dignity, all thoughts of revenge, all greed, were thrown to the winds! Only this one word remained in his heart!

If he didn't escape now, he would surely die today!

Among those in the same Realm, Yao Beasts were inherently more powerful than Cultivators.

If he faced Mysterious Ink in the Early Second-Rank, with his Foundation Establishment Mid Stage cultivation, he could fight it, or even kill it.

But facing Mysterious Ink, who was now in the Middle Second-Rank, and whose Aura was in no way weaker than that of a Yao Beast that had just broken through to Second Stage Late-Phase.

He knew he couldn't win; staying meant certain death. Escaping, going into hiding, and finding another opportunity to kill it was the safest method.

Instantly, the Grand Elder transformed into a streak of bloody light, fleeing desperately in the direction he had come from!

However, the moment he made his decision, Mysterious Ink also moved.

"Only thinking of running now?"

"Too late!"

A cold Divine Thought, like a death god's pronouncement, exploded in his mind!

Mysterious Ink, having upgraded to Middle Second-Rank, no longer wasted any words!

First, to eliminate future troubles for that kind couple!

Second, to avenge the two previous times he had been hunted!

New grudges and old grievances, today, all would be settled!

Boom!!!

Its massive python body, like a black lightning bolt tearing through the night, was more than twice as fast as before?!

Almost in the blink of an eye, it caught up from behind, instantly covering hundreds of meters.

The enormous Snake Tail, like a black divine mountain falling from the sky, descended with a terrifying pressure capable of crushing everything, smashing down directly towards that streak of bloody light!

"How could you, how could you be so powerful!"

Feeling the incomparable, terrifying power behind him, capable of utterly obliterating him, the Grand Elder cried out in horror.

Running was the right choice, because this power was in no way weaker than that of a Foundation Establishment Late Stage Cultivator.

As he spoke, his magical power circulated, raising a layer of Protective Aura around his body to block Mysterious Ink's terrifying whipping tail.

Bang!

A muffled sound rang out, and the Grand Elder, protected by his Protective Aura, was deeply embedded in the ground, creating a huge pit.

"You... how is this possible."

He looked at Mysterious Ink, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, his face filled with horror and bewilderment.

Having just broken through to Middle Second-Rank, its strength was in no way inferior to that of a Foundation Establishment Late Stage Cultivator.

With just one strike, he was almost crippled. What kind of strange snake was this?

"Nothing is impossible."

Mysterious Ink sneered coldly and struck again.

The black tail infinitely magnified in the Grand Elder's pupils.

"No!"

Unwilling, terrified sounds came from his mouth, but they were useless.

Bang—!!!

An extremely muffled explosion!

That streak of bloody light, under that world-destroying tail strike, couldn't even put up a decent resistance before it burst apart like a bubble!

Blood mist filled the sky!

The Grand Elder, who had wielded immense power and lorded over the Ye Family for decades, was thus utterly annihilated, body and soul!

...Just as the Grand Elder's last trace of Aura completely dissipated between heaven and earth.

An even more powerful and majestic green figure, as if teleporting, silently descended into this ravaged Valley.

The newcomer was none other than the Ye Family Patriarch, who, unable to rest easy, had ultimately followed the Aura and pursued them!

However, the moment he clearly saw the scene, even with his powerful Foundation Establishment Late Stage state of mind, he couldn't help but constrict his pupils and gasp in cold air!

Dead... the Grand Elder, he was actually dead!

His gaze slowly shifted from the Grand Elder's remaining, shattered robes to the black giant python not far away, bathed in moonlight and exuding a cold and terrifying Aura.

The Ye Family Patriarch's heart instantly sank to the bottom!

This... how many days had it been?!

A few days ago, outside his mansion, this Black Snake was merely an Early Second-Rank Yao Beast that could fight the Foundation Establishment Mid Stage Grand Elder to a standstill.

But now... he could clearly feel that the profound and overbearing Aura emanating from its body was more than several times stronger than before?!

This might even made him, a Foundation Establishment Late Stage powerhouse, feel a subtle, indistinct threat!

The Ye Family Patriarch's brain raced at this moment.

Attack?

Avenge the Grand Elder?

This thought merely flashed in his mind for an instant before he immediately extinguished it!

After weighing it for a moment, he knew very well that although his Realm was higher, this Black Snake before him was full of strangeness, and its combat power absolutely could not be judged by common sense!

He had no absolute certainty that he could completely eliminate it!

And once he couldn't keep it and it escaped... then what awaited the Ye Family would be a terrifying Yao Beast with infinite potential, Heaven-Defying combat power, and a blood feud with the Ye Family, retaliating endlessly in the dark!

He dared not imagine that consequence, nor could he bear it!

"Forget it..."

The Ye Family Patriarch sighed inwardly, and finally made the most rational, yet most helpless, decision.

He slowly reined in his entire Aura, cupped his hands remotely towards Mysterious Ink, and said in as calm a tone as possible: "Your Excellency, the Grand Elder... brought this upon himself, and his death is well-deserved."

"He tried to attack Your Excellency but was killed in return. This outcome is the will of heaven."

Saying that, he took out a Storage Pouch from his Huai (huái).

"Inside is a small token of goodwill from my Ye Family, with hundreds of Spirit Stones, and some Medicinal Pills for healing and Cultivation. It's nothing much."

He gently tossed the Storage Pouch onto the open ground in front of Mysterious Ink.

"Every wrong has its perpetrator, every debt its debtor. Now that the Grand Elder has been executed, can the grievances between Your Excellency and my Ye Family be... written off?"

Facing the Ye Family Patriarch's gesture of goodwill, which was almost like "ceding land and paying reparations," a barely perceptible hint of surprise flashed in Mysterious Ink's cold snake eyes.

He hadn't expected this seemingly gentle Ye Family Patriarch to be such a flexible and decisive person.

However, this suited him perfectly.

His purpose in taking action this time was originally to eliminate the Grand Elder, a major hidden danger.

Now that his goal was achieved, he naturally had no desire to be an enemy of the entire Ye Family.

Mysterious Ink's huge head slowly nodded.

Immediately, it coiled its tail, took the Storage Pouch into its possession, and without further delay, its massive python body transformed into a black shadow, instantly disappearing into the dense forest behind it, vanishing without a trace.

Watching its departing figure, the Ye Family Patriarch's body, which had been taut, finally slowly relaxed, but his back was already soaked with a layer of cold sweat.

However, his tightly furrowed brows did not relax.

"Strange..." he muttered to himself, "Why... why do I always feel that Black Snake looks very familiar?"

...When Mysterious Ink changed its size back to 1.5 meters and quietly snuck back into the Small Courtyard.

In the Kitchen, The Two Elders, who had been waiting anxiously, immediately rushed out the moment they saw its figure.

"Oh my! My little Mysterious Ink, you're finally back!"

"You child, why did you suddenly disappear? You scared us to death! We thought you went off to play somewhere again!"

The Two Elders surrounded it, asking about its well-being, their faces filled with worry and lingering fear.

Facing The Two Elders' genuine concern, a warm current flowed through Mysterious Ink's heart.

It had already prepared, opening its mouth and spitting out a piece of delicious leg meat, still warm, torn from some unlucky Yao Beast, onto the ground.

—I was hungry, so I just went out to get myself an extra meal.

Seeing this scene, Mother Ye was first stunned, then immediately "understood."

She suddenly turned her head and, with knitted brows, "scolded" her old partner beside her.

"It's all your fault! I told you to light the fire faster! Look at you, so slow and clumsy, you've starved our little Mysterious Ink! It had to go out and find food itself!"

"Uh... it's my fault, it's my fault." Father Ye was scolded with an innocent look, only able to repeatedly offer placating smiles.

Immediately, he presented, like a treasure, the "Spirit Vegetable Minced Meat" feast that had already been prepared in the Kitchen, piled up like a small mountain.

"Come, come, come! Little Mysterious Ink, eat quickly! It's all prepared for you!"

Looking at this warm and lively scene before him, Mysterious Ink felt that the last trace of cold killing intent remaining in his heart from the recent life-and-death battle quietly melted away.

It flicked its tail and began to feast.

Home, it's truly wonderful.