Chapter 238:

Peng Tianqe’s final words faded into silence.

Lin Xuan looked at him without answering. His expression remained calm as his Nascent Soul aura spread across the surrounding area, pressing down upon every remaining cultivator from the Peng and Hao families.

The moment Lin Xuan’s aura intensified, the ground beneath their feet fractured. Several cultivators tried to circulate their spiritual qi to resist, but the immense pressure crushed their attempts before they could even form a proper technique.

Their bodies buckled under the invisible force, and one after another, they collapsed to the ground.

The surrounding cultivators watched in stunned silence as the members of two established families were reduced to lifeless corpses. Lin Xuan had not drawn a weapon or moved from his position. He had merely released his aura, yet no one from either family could withstand it.

Within moments, the last resistance vanished.

Lin Xuan slowly withdrew his aura, leaving behind a scene that none of the witnesses would soon forget.

He had deliberately made no attempt to hide his strength. Now that his Nascent Soul cultivation had been exposed, pretending to be an ordinary family patriarch would accomplish nothing.

The moment he revealed his true realm, he had already anticipated that the entire kingdom would begin reassessing the Lin Family’s position.

There was no point in backing down now.

If anything, this was an opportunity to make sure everyone understood the consequences of standing against him.

Lin Xuan finally opened his mouth, breaking the silence that had settled over the gathering.

“Xu Liang, Xu Mingyuan, Xu Zi.”

The three Xu cultivators immediately straightened and turned toward him.

“For putting your lives on the line to save a child of the Lin Family, I will overlook the crimes your family has committed against mine. You may rebuild the Xu Family in Southwatch City, provided that your family remains loyal to the Lin Family.”

For a moment, the three simply stared at him.

They had never expected that saving Lin Zhaowen would lead them to such an opportunity.

The three exchanged a glance before dropping to their knees.

“We thank the Lin Patriarch for his generosity!” Xu Liang said, his voice trembling with relief.

“We swear that the Xu Family will remain loyal to the Lin Family!” Xu Mingyuan declared.

Xu Zi lowered her head deeply, unable to conceal the emotion in her eyes.

Lin Xuan accepted their gratitude with a slight nod before turning toward the young man standing nearby.

“Zhaowen, you owe these three cultivator and their fallen comrades your life. If the relationship between the Lin and Xu families ever turns sour, you must step in and resolve the conflict yourself.”

Lin Zhaowen stared at him in disbelief.

Wait, what? Is the patriach making me a mediator between two families? Isn’t that a little too early for me?

He was only thirteen!

Sure, the Lin Family had a rule stating that anyone who reached the Qi Refinement Realm could be granted the title of elder.

But that rule had a very different meaning back during his father’s generation, when even reaching the Qi Refinement Realm could take decades of diligent cultivation.

Back then, anyone who managed to reach that realm was already an experienced cultivator who had spent most of their life training.

Things were different now.

The Lin Family had produced so many young Golden Core cultivators that the old rules were beginning to feel almost meaningless.

Yet that did not mean Lin Zhaowen was ready to take responsibility for maintaining relations between two entire families!

He looked at the Patriarch, hoping to find some indication that this was merely a joke.

However, Lin Xuan ignored the bewildered little boy.

“Xu Liang, I want you to meet with our Supreme Elder and tell her everything that transpired here. Zhaowen, take them to her.”

After giving his instructions, Lin Xuan immediately turned and headed toward Southwatch City.

The two cities were separated by hundreds of li, and even with the main roads connecting the kingdom’s settlements, the journey would take a considerable amount of time for an ordinary person.

For someone of Lin Xuan’s cultivation, however, the distance was hardly a concern.

Within minutes, he arrived at Southwatch City and walked straight through its gates.

The city was bustling with activity. Although Azure Willow City was hosting the Winter Harvest, that did not mean the other cities had lost their liveliness. People still went about their daily lives, merchants continued their trade, and cultivators pursued their own interests.

After all, not everyone sought conflict. Some people thrived amid chaos, while others preferred the peace of an ordinary life.

There were always two sides to a coin.

By the time Lin Xuan arrived at the gates of the Peng Family residence, an entire “army” of Peng Family cultivators had already gathered outside.

They stood ready to fight the final battle of their lives.

Lin Xuan’s gaze swept across the gathered cultivators, taking in the children and adults alike. Their faces carried different expressions, ranging from fear and despair to grim determination, but none of them could change the outcome awaiting them.

“I pray that you all reincarnate into a better life,” he muttered softly.

A Glimpse of Cloud.

The moment the words left his mouth, the world seemed to lose all signs of life.

An overwhelming force descended upon the surroundings, swallowing everything within its reach. The ground, the buildings, and every person caught within the technique’s range vanished in an instant, leaving nothing behind but an eerie emptiness.

A Glimpse of Cloud was a devastating martial technique capable of plunging its targets into a trance before eviscerating everything within half a li.

By the time the technique subsided, not a single living soul remained in the vicinity.

After confirming that the Peng Family had been completely eradicated, Lin Xuan turned and headed toward the Hao Family residence.

Today, he would bring everything to a thorough end.

Days passed following the destruction of both the Peng and Hao Families.

It was during this period that Lin Xuan earned a title that would follow him for years to come.

The Unfettered Slaughter Sovereign.

———————————————————

Knock. Knock.

“Who’s there?” Lin Xuan asked without looking up from his paperwork.

“It’s me, Father.”

“Father who?”

“What are you talking about?”

Lin Zhaoyue stepped into the room, looking utterly confused as she stared at her father.

“Nothing, nothing,” Lin Xuan replied, his expression stumped as he sat buried beneath a mountain of paperwork.

Zhaoyue gave him a suspicious look but decided not to question him further.

“Father, Her Majesty says it really is the mist, and she wishes to speak with you if you’re free.”

Lin Xuan immediately straightened his back before pointing toward the enormous pile of documents on his desk.

“As you can see, dear daughter, I’m swamped with work. I simply can’t spare the time to meet her.”

Lin Zhaoyue walked over to the desk and glanced at a few documents scattered across its surface.

“Father, you really shouldn’t keep Her Majesty waiting. If she gets angry, she’ll rain hell down on both of us, and you wouldn’t want that to happen, right?”

“Huh? Uh, no?”

“No? What do you mean, no?” Zhaoyue stared at him in disbelief.

Lin Xuan blinked and looked up at his daughter.

“Wait, what? What are we talking about again?”

“I’m talking about how you’ve been ignoring Her Majesty for the past few days,” Lin Zhaoyue explained calmly. “You’ve practically been procrastinating just to avoid meeting her, but why are you so afraid of her?”

“I’m not afraid, okay? I’m just busy,” Lin Xuan replied, quickly lowering his gaze to the documents on his desk.

He picked up a random sheet of paper and studied it. When he realized he had been holding it upside down, he quietly turned it around and continued pretending to read.

Zhaoyue watched his little performance without saying anything.

Her father was usually quick-witted, but whenever Her Majesty was involved, he seemed to lose some of that cleverness.

She didn’t believe his excuse, but she decided not to press him further. Instead, she pulled out a chair and sat down opposite him.

“Father, Her Majesty is leaving tomorrow. Why don’t you meet her today and at least hear what she has to say?”

Lin Xuan’s fingers paused over the document in his hand. He glanced at his daughter, then at the mountain of paperwork on his desk, as though hoping to find another excuse hidden somewhere between the pages.

Unfortunately, Zhaoyue was looking at him expectantly.

After a brief moment, he sighed and set the paper down.

“Alright, then. Lead the way.”