699: Chapter 699 Heavenly Palace Bounty

Starlight fell, and Qingfeng City fell silent.

Over a hundred thousand Cultivators from the Cai Family had all been killed.

On the outskirts of the palace complex and along every street, nearly a million Mortals of the Cai Family sat slumped on the ground in a dense mass, trembling all over, staring at the corpses and ruins covering the ground with hollow eyes.

They were merely Mortals, possessing no Spiritual Root and unable to Cultivate.

They didn't even have the qualifications to watch the slaughter by those Cultivators just moments ago.

In the crowd, a woman of the Cai Family held the child in her arms tightly. The child was only three or four years old, eyes wide as they stared at the blood covering the ground; they neither cried nor made a fuss, as if frightened into a stupor.

The woman of the Cai Family covered the child's eyes with her hand, yet her own hand was trembling.

Not far away, a man of the Cai Family pressed his wife and two children beneath him, turning his back to the outside.

His wife was trembling and asked in a low voice, "Dear, are we going to die?"

The man of the Cai Family gritted his teeth and said nothing.

He didn't know either.

Throughout the city, various factions looked at the scene in the city center, their expressions varied.

Everyone exchanged glances, seeing disbelief and pleasant surprise in each other's eyes.

One pockmarked Nascent Soul Cultivator immediately laughed loudly and soared into the air, hovering in mid-air to look down at the scene below.

He looked at the ruins in the city, then swept his gaze over the living Mortals of the Cai Family—a dense, dark mass upon mass of them.

Suddenly, he threw his head back and laughed, "Hahaha, the Cai Family finally got what was coming to them!"

After a pause, a cold light appeared in his eyes, and he said coldly, "Ants, please enter my Human Emperor Banner for a chat."

As he spoke, he raised his hand, and a black banner unfurled in the wind, blotting out the sky and sun. The surface of the banner was as black as ink, with countless ghostly faces faintly rolling within it, emitting low whimpers.

The million Mortals of the Cai Family felt their Soul being stripped from their bodies by an invisible hand.

"What did we do wrong? We are just Mortals without a Spiritual Root!" someone cried out in despair.

"You goddamn Cultivators, I curse you to die a horrible death!"

"If there is an afterlife, I will surely avenge this blood feud!"

The woman of the Cai Family hugged the child in her arms tightly, trembling, tears streaming down.

She looked down at the child and whispered, "Don't be afraid, Mother is here, Mother is here..."

The child finally cried out, a loud wail.

The man of the Cai Family pressed his wife and children tighter, gritting his teeth, his eyes red. His wife cried beneath him, not daring to make a sound.

The Nascent Soul Cultivator was expressionless and waved his hand.

Nearly a million Mortals of the Cai Family collapsed in swathes along every street in the city. Everyone's Soul turned into streaks of light, sucked into the Human Emperor Banner.

The Souls of the woman of the Cai Family and the child also turned into streaks of light and disappeared into mid-air. The child's voice still echoed in the air, then stopped abruptly.

The man of the Cai Family, his wife beneath him, and the two children all closed their eyes. Until death, he maintained that posture—protecting his Family beneath him.

In less than half a cup of tea's time, the streets throughout Qingfeng City were densely packed with corpses.

There was no crying, no shouting; even the wind had stopped.

The Nascent Soul Cultivator put away the Human Emperor Banner, his figure flashed, turning into a streak of light, and disappeared into the night.

The entire city was deathly silent.

After another moment, the low-level Loose Cultivators hiding in the outskirts of the city emerged one after another.

They were like madmen; some flew on swords, some brought out flying Magical Artifacts, and others simply soared into the air.

From all directions of the city, countless streaks of light surged from the edges toward the city center.

These people landed in the ruins, keeping their heads down and searching incessantly.

Occasionally, someone would pick up a qiankun bag, quickly stuff it into their bosom, and then continue searching with their heads down, as if nothing had happened.

There were also some bold Mortals squatting on the streets, rummaging through the bosoms of the corpses of the Mortals of the Cai Family to pull out banknotes and gold and silver jewelry.

The news of the destruction of the Cai Family was spread by many Cultivators via transmission Jade Slip, passing from one to ten, and ten to a hundred, quickly reaching the Heavenly Palace.

Early the next morning, Elder Qi arrived at Qingfeng City on the Tuyuan Planet with several Body Integration Elders.

No one spoke along the way.

Upon arriving, the group hovered above Qingfeng City, glanced down, and all fell silent.

In the hundred-mile radius of the city center, most of the palace complex had collapsed, and dried blood stains were everywhere among the broken walls and ruins. Broken bricks and tiles were piled into small hills, and when the wind blew, the smell of blood could not dissipate.

On every street in the city, densely packed, lying, kneeling, or hugging each other, were all corpses of Mortals who had lost their Soul, nearly a million of them, like a nest of ants burned to death by fire.

Elder Qi narrowed his eyes and watched for a long time without speaking, then took out the heavenly secret plate from his sleeve.

He threw it with his hand, and the heavenly secret plate flew directly above Qingfeng City, expanding in the wind, blotting out the sky and sun, golden light falling to cover the entire city.

The compass rotated slowly, and the Law Power flowed like quicksilver, permeating every inch of the ruins and every crack in the Void Realm.

"Condense."

He shouted in a low voice, and the heavenly secret plate shook violently, with an image appearing in the golden light—

Last night, over Qingfeng City, a dozen figures in black hovered in mid-air, each wearing a Magical Artifact to conceal their faces, their features blurred and impossible to see clearly. Even their figures were flickering under the interference of the Magical Artifact, clearly having come prepared.

The image shifted: two of the black-clad figures struck, and after the two Cai Family Body Integration Cultivators were killed several times, they turned into flying ash. The Cultivators of the Cai Family rushed up crying and shouting, falling one after another. Over a hundred thousand people, in less than the time it takes to burn an incense stick, were all gone.

Elder Qi stared at the image, his brows knitting tighter and tighter.

"Where is the shadow recording stone?" He turned his head and asked.

An Elder took out a blank shadow recording stone and threw it into the air.

The shadow recording stone hung in mid-air, glowing slightly, and recorded the image projected by the heavenly secret plate without missing a single detail.

Elder Qi nodded and continued the deduction.

He formed seals with his hands, and the image on the compass changed again—

One black-clad figure pressed their hands together... another black-clad figure drew their long sword, a cold light stretching for tens of miles... In the sky, a Body Integration Stage black-clad figure looked down, occasionally striking down with a palm...

Elder Qi stared at that palm print for a long time, then withdrew the compass, and the golden light dissipated.

"The Cultivation Technique is too mixed; Buddhist Cultivation Technique, Sword Cultivator, palm techniques... the paths are all different, not from the same faction." He looked at the ruins in the city, his tone flat,

"And everyone was masked, their figures concealed by Magical Artifacts; this was a premeditated attack."

"Then what should we do?" an Elder asked.

Elder Qi did not respond; he raised his hand and beckoned, and the shadow recording stone hanging in mid-air fell back into his hand.

He took a look and handed it to the Elder. "Make copies of the shadow recording stone and distribute them everywhere—every city, every pass, every market. Wherever Cultivators gather, post a copy for me."

"And then?" The Elder took the shadow recording stone.

"Then investigate. If you find anyone with similar Cultivation Technique, watch them first; do not alert the enemy. Strive to capture them all in one net." Elder Qi's tone was indifferent.

The Elder opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but swallowed it back.

Elder Qi looked at the ruins in the city and continued, "Issue a bounty order as well, and increase the reward tenfold."

"Increase it tenfold?"

"The Cai Family is a vassal of our Heavenly Palace. If they are wiped out and we don't even make a sound, who will follow us in the future?"

No one made a sound; everyone was eager to find the culprit as soon as possible.

At the same time, everyone was worried in their hearts—would their own Family be the next one?