45: Chapter 45 demands an explanation!
Although a faint smile hung on Chu Ran's face, the indifference and chill it contained were so palpable it felt as if an invisible layer of frost had enveloped Zhou Ming...
The tone of his voice was as flat as stagnant water, yet the chill pierced through to the marrow like a cold current, making Zhou Ming shudder uncontrollably...
At this moment, in Zhou Ming's eyes, Chu Ran was like King Yama descending from the underworld, radiating a suffocating pressure and murderous aura.
"Right! Right, right, right! Lu Jingkong's injuries have nothing to do with me! They did it all, I don't know anything!" At the thought of the duo's miserable state, Zhou Ming felt a surge of lingering fear and waved his hands repeatedly.
"Oh?"
Chu Ran raised an eyebrow, a playful look appearing on his face. "I heard that in prestigious families like yours, everyone has a token symbolizing their identity, and they carry it with them at all times, never letting it leave their side, right..."
Chu Ran leaned into Zhou Ming's ear. "Take out your token and let me see it."
Hearing these words, Zhou Ming's heart instantly sank to the bottom.
Where would he even get a token now! When they were making their move on Lu Jingkong earlier, that fellow Zhou Jianming insisted that his own token wasn't high-class enough, so he deliberately left his behind instead!
Damn it!
Just as he was feigning a search on his person while wearing a troubled expression, knowing full well it would lead nowhere, a hand suddenly appeared before him. The object in it made his eyes light up instantly.
"Is it this one?"
"Yes, yes, yes, that's it."
Ecstatic, Zhou Ming reached out to take it, but suddenly realized something. His expression changed drastically, and he stiffly raised his head to meet Chu Ran's tilted, smiling face.
What Chu Ran held in his hand was precisely the token symbolizing Zhou Ming's identity!
Zhou Ming's hand was already resting on the token, but he didn't dare take it...
His token had appeared at the scene of Lu Jingkong's 'accident.' As long as the other party wasn't a fool, they would surely connect the dots...
Cold sweat began to seep from the surface of Zhou Ming's skin. He forced a very ugly, bitter smile onto his face.
"Heh, can we settle this peacefully?"
Hearing this, Chu Ran couldn't hold it in and let out a laugh.
"..."
He didn't say a word and turned to leave.
The moment he turned, the token engraved with gilded patterns that was held in his hand slipped from his slender fingertips and hit the ground with a crisp thud, splitting into two halves...
And shattering along with the token was Zhou Ming's life force...
"You can't kill me! You wouldn't dare kill me! You..."
Zhou Ming's face was full of terror. His fingers dug forcefully into the soil of the flower bed as he stared fixedly at the shadows hugging the ground, surging toward him like a thick blood-mist...
A few breaths later, the Blood Shadow Mosquito Beast slowly dispersed, the crimson on their wingtips becoming even more intense.
Only a shriveled husk remained in the corner, clothes hanging loosely over skin and bones, without even a trace of a living person's aura left behind...
Dead...
Three people of significant status in the Zhou Family had died just like that...
Mu Zhiyu's current state of mind could no longer be described as just shocked; she found the back of the young man before her so unfamiliar...
So this was his true strength...
She and the beautiful woman beside her, Mu Ziyan, looked at each other, awkward smiles appearing on their lips...
In the face of the power Chu Ran had displayed, their coming to rescue him seemed somewhat ridiculous...
A hint of surprise also appeared on Mu Ziyan's originally cold face. Her intervention wasn't entirely due to Mu Zhiyu's request, but rather the result of the Mu Family Head's instructions.
Before they set out, the Family Head had said this young man's identity was unusual and that she must do her best to protect him. Originally, she was puzzled as to why the Mu Family Head was willing to oppose the Zhou Family for an outsider from the Northern Region, but now she knew...
Owning three top-tier Monarch Grade Spirit Beasts before the age of twenty—any family would focus on cultivating such a person at all costs!
Since the other party had no background, it was the perfect time to show goodwill and try to recruit him...
"If you had said you had this kind of strength earlier, I wouldn't have worried about you..." Mu Zhiyu pouted, looking a bit aggrieved. "Now Aunt Ziyan and I look like clowns instead..."
Chu Ran felt that Mu Zhiyu's slightly manipulative act actually revealed a bit of cuteness...
"Your reaction just now actually gave me a fright," Chu Ran said in surprise.
Earlier, facing Zhou Jianming's attack, she hadn't even blinked. She had almost subconsciously thrown up a shield and blocked him, without even considering if that treasure could withstand the opponent's fierce assault...
If Chu Ran hadn't pulled her back, this girl probably really would have tried to tank that move head-on...
This girl really has a temper; when something happens, she really steps up...
"Anyway, they definitely wouldn't dare lay a hand on me. Besides, Zhou Jianming's attack wasn't enough to break the defense of my Lifebound Treasure." Mu Zhiyu shook the glowing jade necklace around her neck, speaking with certainty.
The Mu Family had several Eighth Revolution peak elders, and one had even begun to show signs of sensing Power of Laws...
If anything happened to her, the daughter the whole family held in the palm of their hands, those family elders would turn the entire Zhou Family upside down...
Seeing that the matter was mostly handled, Chu Ran and the two from the Mu Family prepared to leave.
Just as their feet were about to step out of the Zhou Family's main gate, an indifferent voice rang out, making the very space tremble.
"To think you can leave so easily after killing people from my Zhou Family... I'm afraid you haven't shown my Zhou Family any respect?"
In the next moment, a hunched figure in a yellow robe with a long, grizzled beard walked slowly through the void, landing right above the Zhou Family's door plaque, gazing down at the trio below.
The aura radiating from this person caused the three Monarch Grade Spirit Beasts to take up combat stances.
And the rain of fire descending from the Dragon Sparrow was also intercepted in mid-air, sucked into a vortex that appeared out of thin air!
Chaos Domain!
Chu Ran stared at the newcomer. He could feel this old man's strength—he was very strong!
The ability of a Chaos-type Professional is to create an energy vortex that absorbs damage, and they can then convert that absorbed damage into their own means of attack!
For Chu Ran's three terrifying Monarch Grade Spirit Beasts, which were entirely focused on offensive methods, this was practically a natural nemesis!
Although the absorption capacity of the energy vortex was linked to one's cultivation level and was not without a limit.
But the person before him had easily absorbed the entire sky full of fire rain, which was enough to prove that his strength was not something the likes of Zhou Jianming or Zhou Jianyuan could even compare to...
Moreover, even if the indiscriminate bombardment from the Dragon Sparrow and Thunder Flood Dragon could reach the vortex's absorption limit, the terrifying energy storm once the vortex could no longer hold it wouldn't just vanish; it would most likely be used to attack them...
Chu Ran might be able to withstand the attack through his equipment defense and Symbiosis, but Mu Zhiyu and the beautiful woman standing right next to him might not...
"Zhou Tianhun!"
Mu Ziyan's brow furrowed. She hadn't expected that the terrifying phenomenon of Chu Ran summoning his spirit beasts would even alert the Zhou Family Head...
External rumors said he had reached the peak of the Eighth Revolution long ago and gone into seclusion, and looking at his current momentum, he had clearly already sensed a trace of Power of Laws...
The situation was not good...
"Family Head Zhou, they were the ones who made the first move today. This boy was only acting in self-defense," Mu Ziyan said calmly, taking a step forward.
"Insolence! Your Mu Family is not worthy of interfering in the affairs of my Zhou Family!"
Zhou Tianhun stepped forcefully into the void. A powerful shockwave instantly appeared below. Mu Ziyan, who was standing in front of the two, was pushed back several meters. She had to perform two sword techniques in quick succession and use her scabbard against the ground to barely steady herself...
Zhou Tianhun didn't even look at Mu Ziyan. His eyes were fixed straight on Chu Ran as he let out a cold snort. "You brat, you are quite arrogant. Having killed three of my Zhou Family members today, if you don't leave an explanation, this old man will certainly not let you depart!"
"You old man..." Mu Zhiyu was about to launch into a tirade when Chu Ran stopped her.
Chu Ran slowly raised his head, looking at the imposing old man above, a flippant smile appearing on his face.
"What kind of explanation do you want?"