17: Chapter 17 Second-Order Deadly Formation, Geng Metal Sword Thunder Formation!

The front hall of the Spirit Herb Pavilion.

The heavy spirit wood door was blasted to pieces by violent spells, wood splinters and blood splattering through the air.

"Retreat! Retreat into the inner courtyard!"

Su Tie was covered in blood, the rusty iron sword in his hand full of notches.

Leading a dozen or so collateral clan members who were also covered in wounds and wore looks of despair, he was forced back all the way to the inner courtyard patio of the Spirit Herb Pavilion.

Before them, a deacon of the Zhao family, accompanied by two cultivators of the same rank and over a dozen subordinates, stepped into the inner courtyard while grinning maliciously, treading upon a floor covered in corpses.

Three cultivators at the Qi Refining 7th Layer, plus over a dozen at the middle Qi Refining Stage.

This force was simply not something Su Tie and his group of collateral members, who farmed at the bottom and lacked even magical artifacts, could contend with.

"Run, why aren't you running anymore?"

The Zhao family deacon casually flicked the blood off his blade, his gaze sweeping over Su Tie and the others like he was inspecting pigs and sheep waiting to be slaughtered, before finally landing on Su Yu, who was walking slowly out of the inner hall.

Looking at Su Yu, who was dressed in brocade robes and appeared calm, the Zhao family deacon could not help but burst into loud laughter.

"I wondered who it was, so it turns out to be that notorious vicious dog under Su Hao."

"Manager Su, your master used his own father as a meat shield and ran away himself, leaving you, a spineless dog, here to guard the house."

"What, have you still not figured out the situation?"

The Zhao family deacon stepped forward, releasing his Qi Refining 7th Layer pressure without reservation, pinning everyone present firmly in place.

"Hand over the array talisman for the Spirit Herb Pavilion's warehouse, and then have those delicate wives and concubines of yours come out to serve us masters."

"If they serve us comfortably, I, your master, will make the call and grant you, this piece of trash, a quick death!"

Su Tie and the others gritted their teeth, closing their eyes in despair.

It was over.

Expecting Su Yu, this spineless coward who only knew how to be greedy, lustful, and sycophantic despite only being at the Qi Refining 5th Layer, to fight for his life?

He would probably kneel on the ground and kowtow for mercy the very next second.

However, to everyone's surprise, Su Yu did not kneel.

He merely looked calmly at the three Qi Refining 7th Layer cultivators before him, while one hand beneath his sleeve suddenly formed an extremely complex array seal.

"The warehouse is underground, go get it yourselves."

The moment his voice fell.

"Hum—!"

Throughout the underground of the entire Spirit Herb Pavilion, the nodes that Su Yu had buried using thousands of spirit stones embezzled over five years suddenly erupted with a blinding golden light.

Tier 2 Killing Array, Geng Metal Sword Thunder Array!

Violent Metal-element spiritual energy transformed into dozens of tangible sword qi thunderbolts, exploding thunderously within the narrow patio.

"A Tier 2 grand array?! Not good, retreat!"

The Zhao family deacon's expression changed wildly; he never expected that such a grand array would be hidden beneath the underground of a dilapidated shop.

But under the suppression and dizziness caused by the power of the thunder, their movements suffered a fatal stagnation.

In that half-breath of stagnation, Su Yu moved.

"Clang!"

A flash of green light unsheathed from his waist, the low-grade magical artifact green edge sword transforming into a cold, swimming dragon.

In the world of immortal cultivation, once a cultivator at the Qi Refining Stage is closed in upon, if they lack protective artifacts, they are as fragile as paper.

Su Yu's movement technique was fast to the extreme, carrying the absolute killing instinct honed in a past life amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood, instantly closing in on the first Qi Refining 7th Layer cultivator who had been stunned by the array.

With a turn of the blade, he sliced through the opponent's throat without any obstruction.

Immediately after, he shifted his footsteps, and utilizing the terrifying explosive power of his waist and abdomen, he slammed into the second cultivator's embrace.

Su Yu's left hand formed a claw, carrying violent true energy as he struck straight at the vital point, crushing the opponent's Dantian alive.

"You—!"

The Zhao family deacon finally broke free from the array's dizziness, his eyes splitting with rage as he erected a spiritual energy shield, just about to unleash his magical artifact.

But Su Yu's green edge sword had already wrapped itself in an indomitable, overbearing sword intent, piercing through that hastily condensed shield and running straight through his heart.

Sword out, man dead.

From the eruption of the array to the death of all three Qi Refining 7th Layer experts, the entire process took no more than two or three short breaths.

The inner courtyard returned to a deathly silence.

Only the sound of rain washing over the blood-stained ground remained.

Su Tie and the dozen or so remaining collateral clan members stood frozen in place as if their souls had been drained, their brains completely shut down.

What had they just seen?

That deputy manager, whom they had once reviled, despised, and mocked as a spineless coward and a piece of trash, not only possessed a Tier 2 grand array capable of obliterating those of the same rank, but his own cultivation was unfathomably deep!

This clean, efficient, and unhesitating close-quarters combat technique, which was like that of a god of slaughter.

Let alone them, even that so-called prodigy, Su Hao, could absolutely not achieve this!

Su Yu's expression remained normal as he skillfully ripped the storage bags from the waists of the three Qi Refining 7th Layer cultivators.

Subsequently, he sheathed his sword and directly deactivated the Tier 2 array, which consumed an immense amount of spirit stones.

The array's fluctuations were too great; if it attracted powerful cultivators from outside, it would be courting death.

"What are you dazing off for? Those who want to live, follow me."

Su Yu did not offer an explanation, nor did he play the hero by killing all the enemies outside.

He swept a glance at Su Tie and the others with extreme calmness, left a faint sentence, and turned to walk back into the inner hall.

The road of escape would be long; he needed people to scout the path and needed people to do menial labor.

These collateral members from the bottom, abandoned by the main branch and completely intimidated by the absolute martial power he had displayed, were just the most obedient tools.

Underground of the Spirit Herb Pavilion.

An extremely hidden, wide secret passage, several zhang deep, had been dug through at some unknown time, leading directly to a stretch of rolling barren mountains a hundred miles outside the market.

Inside the secret room.

Su Tie and the dozen or so remaining collateral clan members, looking at the already packed-up family members, the piled-up supplies, and this deep path of retreat, finally understood completely.

It turned out that this Manager Su had long been waiting for this day.

From the moment he began to attach himself to Su Hao.

All his cowardice and fear of death, all his sycophancy, were merely a layer of extremely perfect disguise.

Without anyone noticing, Su Yu had already dug a path of retreat for himself.

The group traveled silently through the tunnel for a full three hours.

When they pushed open the giant boulder covering the exit, which was hidden by withered vines and weeds, the sky was approaching dawn.

The autumn rain had just ceased.

Su Yu stood at the peak of the barren mountain, facing the cold morning wind, and looked back into the distance.

A hundred miles away, the once prosperous and thriving Qingmu Market had now turned into a sea of fire.

Billowing thick smoke shot straight into the clouds, announcing the complete end of an immortal cultivation family.

The main branch was annihilated, its foundation plundered.

Only a very small number of people like them had survived this catastrophe.