The skies and mountains were blown apart.
What remained of Ancestor Huo Wuji's lower body began to disintegrate into nothing.
Over a hundred Core Formation experts from various peaks and allied clans were stunned to silence.
"…I can't sense the ancestor's essence soul."
"Not even a trace… it's as if it was erased entirely."
An elder from Zhulong Peak turned pale.
"Impossible. A Nascent Soul essence soul can flee thousands of li in an instant. Unless… unless it was destroyed in the same strike."
"Is… is Ancestor Huo truly dead?"
A third elder clutched his chest and gasped.
"How did he die so fast!?"
The third elder started to sweat like a timid pig.
"This doesn't make any sense! I didn't even see the sword move! One moment the ancestor's domain was at its peak, the next he's gone!"
"That speed… it surpassed divine sense itself."
"Impossible for a Core Formation junior!"
An old woman with white hair shook her head.
"This isn't the same Li Qingmu who used to scrub toilets in the outer sect for a handful of spirit stones! That waste… that trash who everyone laughed at… he just erased a half-step Grandmaster like swatting a fly!"
Panic rippled through the crowd like wildfire.
"RUN!"
The shout came from a burly Core Formation expert near the back.
In an instant, over sixty figures vanished from the skies like streaks of light that fled in every direction, faster than they had arrived.
High atop Fenghuang Peak's vantage point.
Patriarch Zhen's mouth hung open so wide a bird could have nested inside.
His dignified face was hit with raw shock.
"How strong did this idiot become!?"
His voice cracked on the last word.
It was too funny to watch.
Even the prime elders were secretly laughing.
Song Yan's lips curved into a mild, elegant smile.
She tilted her head as her rich silver hair streamed down her slender shoulders and fertile bosom.
She was radiating with satisfaction.
"Now you have no choice but to acknowledge him as your son-in-law again, Patriarch."
Patriarch Zhen snorted loudly and folded his arms with forced arrogance.
"Hmph! He's still impotent!"
Song Yan lifted one delicate brow.
"He isn't impotent, though."
After all, Zhen Rou was already pregnant.
Patriarch Zhen's face turned red.
He turned his face away and wiped at the corners of his eyes with a sleeve as his voice cracked like a dramatic auntie at a funeral.
"Let this old man believe what he wants!"
Song Yan's smile softened into.
She held back her laughter with grace, but the faint curve of her rosy lips said how much she enjoyed watching the proud patriarch's pride crumble. Li Qingmu had been proving him wrong from the very beginning and he kept doing it in the most spectacular ways.
━ ━ ━ ━
Back in the ruined inner courtyard.
Li Qingmu reappeared in a casual step, as though he had simply stepped out of thin air.
Zhen Rou was taking care of Su Liyue when she looked up and saw her handsome husband.
Her small face lit with pure joy.
"Husband!!"
She sprang to her feet, already rushing toward him with arms wide—only for Li Qingmu to casually raise one hand and stop her mid-dash.
Zhen Rou skidded to a halt as her cheeks puffed out in the most childish pout imaginable.
"Eeeeh~? Whyyy?"
Li Qingmu turned his face away as if uninterested and let out a lazy yawn.
Zhen Rou's pout deepened until her lower lip trembled.
She stomped one tiny foot.
"Bully husband! Big meanie!"
Li Qingmu yawned as he stretched his arms overhead as if he hadn't heard a word.
He focused on the destruction he's caused.
『Hidden Shadow Step truly is the ultimate movement technique that exploits the blind spot in divine sense for a single, perfect instant. And the chaos energy from my chaos core… it seems even cultivators half a step into Grandmaster Realm cannot withstand it.』
A peaceful smile touched his lips.
He slowly opened his tightly closed left fist.
In the center of his palm hovered a tiny, ghostly figure no larger than a finger.
Huo Wuji's essence soul.
He trembled violently, eyes wide with fear.
"W-wait! No—no! Junior, please! This old ancestor swears he won't cause any more trouble! I didn't know you were this strong—I'm sorry! Truly sorry!"
Li Qingmu narrowed his eyes coldly at the trembling soul.
"And what do I gain by sparing you, old thing?"
Huo Wuji's tiny soul froze.
Li Qingmu's voice remained lazy and bored.
"I'm not a patient man. Answer quickly—or I'll destroy your consciousness and refine what's left into a nascent soul seed for Senior Sister Su to break through to Nascent Soul."
Huo Wuji's soul shuddered violently.
"I—I'll do anything you want! Anything! I have a beautiful descendant in the main Huo clan—Huo Qingcheng! A true genius apothecary! Future Grandmaster of the pill dao! She has the Pure Jade Medicinal Physique and countless young masters chase her, but she rejects them all. I'll give you the Huo Clan Marriage Pendant! It grants authority to choose any woman of the clan as wife!"
Li Qingmu hummed thoughtfully.
"Really?"
"Yes! Yes!"
Huo Wuji frantically manifested a palm-sized jade pendant in Li Qingmu's free hand.
A crimson jade carved with blazing sun patterns.
The tiny soul forced a nervous, fawning smile.
『Good… the brat's willing to negotiate. All I need to do is push a little harder…』
He laughed shakily.
"And—and! I'll resign from Zhulong Peak with immediate effect! I'll become an elder of the Li Clan… a protector! I'll serve faithfully!"
Li Qingmu idly tossed the marriage pendant up and down in his hand, lazily catching it each time.
"Nah. I don't trust you."
Chaos energy suddenly swirled around his fingers.
Myriad Souls Chaos Prison!
A secret daoist magic born from his chaos core that forms an inescapable cage which devours consciousness and leaves only a pure nascent soul seed behind.
Huo Wuji's essence soul screamed as the chaos energy dragged him in.
"At least give me back the marriage pendant!"
He cried like a child being disciplined.
"You shameless dog—!"
Li Qingmu turned his face away and whistled an idle tune as if deaf to the curses.
"Nah. I'll keep your descendant as my third wife after I marry sweet Senior Sister Su."
That was Huo Wuji's goodbye.
Li Qingmu yawned again, stretching lazily.
『From everything I've heard, this Huo Qingcheng sounds like a wonderful addition. A medicinal physique… our kids will be extraordinary.』
He chuckled softly to himself.
Zhen Rou had already returned to tending Su Liyue as she gently wiped blood from her senior sister's lips. But the moment Li Qingmu stepped closer, Grand Elder Huo Batian appeared in a flash to block his path with trembling fists.
"Where… is my master!?"
Li Qingmu raised his hand.
A golden seed spun gently above his palm.
"I turned him into fuel for Liyue. She's worked very hard these past days to shower me with love. It's only right I repay her with a proper gift."
Huo Batian staggered back a step, eyes bloodshot.
Li Qingmu stepped past him without a glance.
"I killed your master and turned him into a gift. Go nurse your anger somewhere quiet. In a few years, I'll come marry that delicate flower in your Huo Clan."
Huo Batian's teeth ground together audibly as veins bulged on his forehead.
Li Qingmu glanced back with a tired smile.
"Don't you have any shame left? I won't fight you—I've already won everything. I took the love of your life. I erased your father figure. Soon I'll marry into your clan. And just now, I gave every enemy in this sect a reason to tremble at the Li name. Crawl away and hide. I truly don't care."
Huo Batian's breathing came harsh and ragged.
He was on the verge of tears.
His fists shook at his sides.
Li Qingmu finally reached his women.
The moment he was close enough, Zhen Rou launched herself at him as she wrapped her small arms around his waist and peppered his cheek with kisses.
"Mwah! Mwah! Mwah~♥ Husband was so cool!"
Li Qingmu smiled warmly and ruffled her hair.
"So you saw how awesome I was out there?"
Zhen Rou pulled back just enough to hold up both tiny fists as her eyes shined with adoration.
"Husband is the strongest in the whole world!"
From behind them, Huo Batian boiled even more.
"Li Qingmu! How… how were you so confident you could defeat my master?! Everyone feared him! The stories of his cruelty, his power—!"
Li Qingmu didn't even turn around.
He gave the grand elder a lazy side-eye.
"I defeated him so quickly, I never got the chance to ask who he even was."
Huo Batian stood frozen as his mouth trembled.
『How can a family man… be this powerful!?』